Kyungha’s eyes sting from staring at the same spot for several hours. The birds are chirping outside, but she’s exhausted, and frankly, feeling the opposite of sunny.

She couldn’t sleep a wink. If she closed her eyes, she saw him. Oh Sehun. Why couldn’t he just stayed in the bubble he put himself in? Why did he have to come back into her life? Kyungha didn’t need him. No, she was definitely better off without him.

This was pointless. She couldn’t figure out why she was trying to convince herself that there was a point to thinking about him.

She watches sunlight filter in her windows. Then, she rolls on her stomach, stretching a lazy limb. She had to get ready. She knew Seulgi was probably blowing up her phone—right, they weren’t on speaking terms.

Kyungha throws her covers off, the floor swaying ever so little in front of her. She closes her eyes for a split second to steady herself.

She throws on something simple and jogs downstairs. Kyungsoo is currently setting down plates on the counter. He’s made crepes. When he catches her eyes, he smiles delightfully—like someone who had a good night’s rest.

“Mornin’ sweets, can you go wake up the two sleepyheads?”

She grunts okay and turns to go back upstairs. Waking Jongin was an easy task, but Jungkook—no, definitely not.

She raps gently on Kyungsoo and Jongin’s bedroom. A husky yes echoes out, and she replies, “Kyungsoo made breakfast.”

Then, she turns right into Jungkook’s room. She tries knocking, but there isn’t an answer. Groaning, she turns the knob, and Jungkook isn’t there. She frowns. If her brother told her to call Jungkook, that meant he didn't know his son was gone. She stands there for a full minute, deciding if it was worth ousting her nephew. She hears Jongin’s footsteps behind her. Quickly scrambling to her senses, Kyungha pulls Jungkook’s door shut behind her.

Jongin cluelessly stares at her. His hair is messy and looks like it’s been pulled numerous ways. She rolls her eyes. They probably had tons of . She’d be a fool if she missed the purple bruise on her brother-in-law’s collarbone. “What’s wrong?” He asks her. Then, his eyes flash in understanding. “The rascal won’t wake up, huh? Here, I got it—“

Kyungha forces a confident smile on her face. “No, no! He’s up. I just—um—he’s in a predicament. He has a situation.”

Jongin furrows his forehead. “What are you talking about?”

She points downwards. “He’s having boy problems.”

Jongin’s eyes widen as a big grin burst on his lips. “Atta boy! Alright, I’ll just see him downstairs. It’s best to leave them alone in the morning when they’re going through this stuff.” She smiles weakly in return, watching Jongin bounce downstairs. She couldn’t be more grateful that it wasn’t Kyungsoo but her kind of idiot brother-in-law.

Taking a deep breath, she opens his door again. Kyungha rolls her eyes as she watches Jungkook wave at her from outside his window. The girl pinches her temple and rushes to open the window. He beams at her, pushing his scrawny limbs inside. “Where were you?” She hisses.

Jungkook scratches his nape sheepishly, then replies vaguely, “out.”

Kyungha laughs incredulously. He must think she’s an idiot because he’s wrong. She catches a whiff of female perfume, and she leans closer, which makes him back up cautiously. “You were out boning someone weren’t you?”

The boy quirks his eyebrows, tilting his head innocently. “I—what?”

She crosses her arms, and he straightens instinctually. “You, Jeon Jungkook, put your in either a or an . Or it could’ve been oral—“

“Noona!” He yells, half-amused and half-horrified. “Keep your voice down. What if Dad came in?” He shivers as the image flashed through his brain. She knew he wasn’t talking about Jongin. If one was in the same room with an angry Do Kyungsoo, he was as good as dead. She couldn’t guarantee the survival of her nephew, even if she liked him the most out of the bunch.

Kyungha smirks triumphantly. “You owe me. I covered for you.”

Jungkook clasps his hands together theatrically before wrapping his arms around her. “You’re the best.”

“Get off of me Jungkook, you smell like ,” she grunts, wrinkling her nose.

“How do you know what smells like?”

“I went to college, Jungkook. Hurry, kiddo. The shower’s calling your name.”

Kyungha rushes downstairs, her stomach grumbling and the smell of food calling her name. Jongin and Kyungsoo are standing hip to hip, and her brother is gushing. Signs of tension have dissipated, and it’s like the rift between them never occurred. When they look at her, she points to the back of and vomits.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at her antics. “Where’s J?”

She takes a seat in front of a delicious plate of piping crepes. Kyungha reaches for the Nutella, because duh. “In the shower,” she answers distractedly.

Jongin whispers conspiratorially, “he’s going through puberty, Kyung! Our boy is finally at that stage. Who’s going to tell him? Ooh! Can I do it?”

Kyungsoo looks horrified at the notion. “Oh god, he’s actually growing up. I always thought Mom was dramatic when she said that we grew up too fast, but it’s weird when I’m actually living through it.”

Kyungha snorts. “What? Did you think he was going to be a little boy forever? And Jongin, I don’t think you should give him the talk. He’s already—“ She stops herself. , she wasn’t supposed to say anything.

Her brother blinks, and Jongin looks puzzled. “Why not?” They ask in unison.

She laughs awkwardly, concentrating on spreading the hazelnut spread. “Look, I wouldn’t trust you. Not you, Kyungsoo.” She glances pointedly at her oblivious brother-in-law. “Jongin, you’re more likely to teach him how to have a than offer any valuable advice.”

Kyungsoo nods understandingly, which sends Jongin into an offended outburst. At this time, Jungkook steps into the kitchen. “Morning, dads.”

Kyungha nods to him as he sits down next to her. The other two men sit down across from them. Jungkook begins eating, but he stops when Kyungsoo’s eyes are dead on him. “J, we have to tell you something.” He freezes, turning to look at her with an I-thought-we-established-the-fact-that-you-wouldn’t-say-anything look.

Then with frightened eyes, he mouths something similar to what did you do?

She shrugs, enjoying the scene that plays out.

Kyungsoo begins as if he’s speaking to his class. Mind you, he teaches elementary students. Jungkook is thirteen and horrified. “When little boys grow up, they have wet dreams and indecent thoughts—“

But Jongin cuts with his usual and hardly appropriate thoughts, “honey, basically, your is gonna be more proactive now. See, you’ll probably have random boners—and sometimes, those boners when you see people you like. Well, it doesn’t have to be people you like, it could be just pure oh he-slash-she makes me —“

“Oh my god, Jongin! You’re so crude!” Her brother cries, covering his face.

Jungkook looks like he's lost his appetite. He looks green. Kyungha can only feel sorry for him, but not really because he was the one who snuck out.

“I’m only telling the truth! Honestly, it’s better to get it straight and over with than going around it, right?” Jongin turns to look at the other two for acknowledgment.

“Sure, dad.” Jungkook looks very, very uncomfortable as he stares anywhere but his dads.

Kyungsoo just sighs and begins to eat, disregarding everything his husband just spewed. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard about how works. I wouldn’t put it past you middle-school kids. Just so you know, there are different types of —“

“ to , to —although you can’t really do that one with what you currently have—there’s also oh! to . We do that sometimes, but if you’re feeling real fancy and you're both consensual—“

Kyungha bursts out laughing as Jungkook chokes on his water. Kyungsoo looks like he wants to die. Jongin blinks as if he didn’t divulge information that no one asked for, “what?”

Kyungsoo glares. “For s sakes, Kim Jongin! Tell me, do you hear half the things you say? Is your brain just empty space? Why did I marry you? I can't believe this. I can’t even ing believe you. Our son will probably have nightmares, and it’s your fault.”

Jungkook breathes. A beat of silence passes, and Kyungsoo’s able to regain his cool. Jongin just looks unashamed. “Dads, I just want you to know. I’m straight, so just—please spare me the details.”

Jongin nods understandingly, but Kyungha believes his loose mouth isn’t done. “Of course, J. Sorry, I kind of went off the rails. But I can definitely tell you everything you want to know about straight . In my prime, I’ve done , thigh play, 69—which is overrated by the way—“

Kyungsoo exchanges a pure homicidal glare toward his husband, which successfully shuts him up. Kyungha bites her lips to keep from laughing. Meanwhile, Jungkook looks like he won’t be finishing his breakfast.

There’s just never a dull day in this household.

Orientation is a mixture of scaring interns away and scouting. Some departments brag about them being the best department—plastic surgery. Then, there are departments like General that are happy campers who are trying to get rid of any wimps.

Kyungha is being toured in the hospital after being divided into groups. She doesn’t see anyone she knows. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t hope to see Seulgi.

“Alright, this here—is our clinic. We take any patients who come in for concerns. It’s a lot calmer than the emergency room. We have a trauma department within the emergency room, so we get many cases. The only tip I have for you is to just try to stay awake. If you sleep for one second, you’re screwed. Kim Jongdae is the epitome of—“

Lo and behold, the girl gets knocked gently on the head with a pair of knuckles. Her group grows silent when she watches the girl groan, “he’s behind me, isn’t he?” She curses under her breath and turns to see a handsome average height man with cheeks for days. He has bright twinkly eyes, but there’s a big smirk on his face, which destroys every ounce of innocence one would think he has.

Kyungha blinks, puzzled, as the interns around her laugh when he begins to scold the girl, a fourth-year resident if she had recalled correctly.

His name sounds familiar, and then she realizes he’s from Sehun’s journals, which means—

Before she can make a conducive thought, a tall, familiar man donned in a doctor’s gown similar to Jongdae wanders up to his fellow attending. Her jaw clenches. He worked here? She’d recognize him anywhere.

“Jongdae, are you bothering cute little Sam again?” Sehun, ing Oh Sehun, asks with his usual -dropping smile. Kyungha feels the atmosphere around her change, heat bubbling around her.

She turns to see all the females with wide eyes and swoon-y smiles. She rolls her eyes automatically. For god's sake. How could she not know? How?

Someone nudges her, and she turns half-heartedly. “Hey, it’s you!”

Kyungha tilts her head as no memories come to her. “Sorry, who are you?”

The girl smiles like Kyungha didn't just offend her at all. “I’m Irene. You’re Korean, right? I think your name was…um, Kyungha? You can call me Joohyun. We met last night—er morning?” Seeing that Kyungha still looks lost, she snaps her fingers. “At the club?”

The girl who stormed off. That Kyungha does remember. She nods slowly. “Nice to see you again.”

“Same! Where’s Seulgi? Is she not in this group?” Joohyun asks, looking around.

Kyungha doesn’t have the strength to answer when she’s reminded of last night. “She’s somewhere.”

Joohyun trails off with her talking when she realizes Kyungha isn't really listening. Who can blame her? Kyungha’s distracted by the put-together Oh Sehun. The one who’s blatantly flirting with Sam, their tour guide.

She stares at his bright eyes and easy smile. She stares at his posture, the way he lazily leans against the counter, twisting his slender torso—a posture that exudes confidence. Confidence unrivaled by anyone and everyone. He’s in a league of his own. It’s never been more clear to her. She’d never reach him.

Sehun is extroverted, not to say that he isn’t anymore; he definitely still is, annoyingly so.

His dark hair is mussed back, smooth against his perfectly proportionate head, and she’s irritated that she can’t pick out any cowlicks—still unable to pick out his imperfections.

He looks professional in his doctor’s gown, and she’s extra annoyed that his navy blue scrubs gives his skin a milky glow.

When Sehun and Jongdae wave them off, Kyungha’s plain thankful that he doesn’t notice her mixed in with the crowd.

Their guide, Sam, continues around the entire hospital, and by the time lunch rolls around, they’re dismissed. Kyungha decides to go for lunch in the cafeteria, but as she approaches the tables, she realizes there aren’t any seats.

She turns into a corner to see a little girl—around eight—sitting alone, staring at her lap. Kyungha stands by her table, waiting for her to look up. The girl’s eyes widen in fright.

Kyungha smiles gently, rifling through her bag for a chocolate bar. She pulls out one and places it in front of the girl. She’s used to carrying around candy due to the increasing demands of her niece and nephews. “I’m not going to murder you. Your mom probably told you to run away from strangers who give you candy, right?”

The girl nods, her bangs falling in her eyes.

“Great news. I don’t have a white van. And I also work here. Does that make me credible enough?” Kyungha realizes that she sounds really cryptic, and it isn’t helping her case.

But the girl breaks out into a smile, and Kyungha knows she’s got her. She unwraps the Hershey bar, handing it to the girl who happily takes a bite.

“Oh god, no. Did you just take a bite?” She holds a hand to her chest, pretending that it offends her greatly.

The girl laughs delightfully, sticking out her tongue.

“Where’s your mother?” Kyungha asks, leaning back in her respective chair.

A shadow falls over her eyes, and she shakes her head. Kyungha doesn't say anything and pokes her head.

"Who takes care of you here?” She asks after a beat. The girl slumps even more as she waves her hand around her, dismissively. Since the girl hasn't been speaking, Kyungha assumes she has a speaking disorder or deficit. Instead of continuing to ask her any more questions, she instructs the girl to lead her to her hospital room.

The girl takes her hand and pulls her to the pediatric ward. A frantic nurse dashes down the hallway, but she skids to a stop once she sees the two of them.

The nurse cries out in relief, grabbing Kyungha’s hands tightly. "Thank you so much for finding her, sweetheart.” Then, she kneels to reach the younger's eye level. “Dani, I told you that you can’t disappear like that.”

Kyungha stands back, watching the little girl or Dani as the nurse had called her stare blankly back at the nurse. Her gaze drifts. Everyone got sick. Kyungha knew that. People all died someday; no one had the power to live forever. It made perfect sense, but children never deserved it.

They didn't experience life fully. They haven't had the chance to explore their aspirations or dreams. The girl was probably a terminal patient, seeing how she was familiar with her way around the hospital.

She couldn't help but walk away. Kyungha didn’t have the heart to see anymore nor was she interested.

After a couple of days, Kyungha was officially on call. Kyungsoo wouldn’t stop hovering around her even to the last minute when he rushed outside to hand her a bag of toiletries.

Good gracious, she couldn't wait to get rid of him. When she reached the hospital, there was already a group of interns in the lobby. There are several residents standing near them, some older and some just one or two years above them.

They're informed that they’ll be all split evenly within medical teams that consist of a mix of residents. Kyungha is grouped with Seulgi and Joohyun. There’s two second-years, one third-year, and three fourth-years.

The oldest in the group, Sergio, tells them their chief resident is Lisa, and they’ll rarely speak to an attending.

“It's important that you cuties talk to your second years, okay? Second years, don’t be s. Let them learn from you. We’re a teaching hospital for a reason.”

Vernon, one of the second-year, says, “speak for yourself, Serg. You’re still bitter you didn't beat Lisa for the position.”

Sergio wrinkles his face. “Vernon—oh, Vernon.” He clucks his tongue. “Always the back talker. You know, I always hated you—“

“Boys,” Charity, a fourth-year, cautions. Her tone is icy. “We’re supposed to be setting an example. If I hear another peep, don’t come crying to me when you’ll be working on all of the rectal exams.”

Vernon shudders, “of course, your majesty. But I bet Sergio would love to do them all.” Kyungha watches Sergio throw his arm around Vernon’s neck, but it honestly looks like Vernon’s being strangled.

Charity doesn’t notice, so she beckons them all to continue walking. The third and fourth years eventually have to leave to do rounds on their patients.

And surprise, surprise, Vernon and Joshua are all smiles now that the older residents are gone. “Okay! Now’s the fun part.”

Joohyun gasps, “are we—are we going to see patients in surgery?”

The second-years exchange looks. “Tough luck, sweetie. We lower residents don’t typically step inside an OR,” Joshua informs.

Vernon whoops excitedly, scaring the three interns. It turns out. Vernon was excited for them to take over his paperwork.

After changing into scrubs, Kyungha found herself typing up report after report. Does Vernon ever do his work at all? Her fellow colleagues weren't much happy either. Joohyun looks like she’s about to fall asleep on her laptop.

Meanwhile, Seulgi isn’t batting an eye in Kyungha’s direction. They haven’t said a word to each other at all. Joohyun’s been chattering alongside with Seulgi, but she’s currently snoozing on her computer. Eventually, the GS resident workroom only contained Joohyun’s soft snores and the clacking of their respective keyboards.

Kyungha clears . “Seulgi.”

Seulgi glances up, her expression completely neutral.

Swallowing, she continues, “a few days ago…I—um—I ed up.”

“Oh, you ed up? You think so, Kyungha?” Seulgi’s tone is full of bitterness, and Kyungha feels bad.

“Y-yes, okay. I did. I lashed out at you. You were just trying to help. I realize that now. So, I’m sorry. Can we not do this thing anymore?” Her words resemble rapid-fire as if keeping the words in for more than a second would burn her tongue.

Seulgi doesn’t say anything, so Kyungha glances down at her screen with exasperation. Well, she tried. At least.

Then, the girl across from her bursts into laughter, startling Joohyun who almost falls out of her chair. "I can see why you never apologize. You're just so terrible at it.” Kyungha, unimpressed, watches Seulgi wipe a tear from her eye. “I wasn’t really that pissed. I just wanted to see what you were going to do.”

Kyungha rolls her eyes. “That’s unfortunate. I wasted my breath.”

Seulgi sticks her tongue out childishly.

Joohyun glances between the two. “I don’t get it. How do you guys—is Kyungha always like this?”

Seulgi agrees easily, “yep. She’s the youngest one here, but also the one who acts like she constantly has a stick up her . You’ve got the right person.”

“So you’ve guys made up?” Joohyun confirms and then breaks into a relieved sigh. “Oh thank god! I thought I was in some weird o. I was so uncomfortable all day.”

Kyungha breaks into a smile as the other two laughs.

“I haven't heard laughter in here in a long, long time. Crying is normal. Laughter? Eh, not so much. Can I assume that means you sweethearts are done?” Vernon sounds like he’s vaguely threatening them.

Joohyun immediately throws a hand over as if that did anything to erase the evidence. “We weren’t laughing!”

He snorts, “at least be a better liar.” Joohyun cowers, eyes darting sheepishly. “When I come back, you guys better be done.”

The girls rush to finish a little before 7 PM. Since the other two are too afraid of Vernon, they forced Kyungha to go find him. With no strength to argue, she went out to look for him.

Kyungha stopped by the front desk in their area to find out where he had gone. The head nurse told her she saw Vernon in the PICU. She thanked the nurse and jogged toward the direction of the PICU.

The automatic door slides open, and she runs right into someone. And it isn’t romantic in the slightest way. Her nose smashes against something hard, a shoulder. Kyungha stumbles back and falls on her . She groans, cupping her nose. Tears burn in her eyes. God, it hurt like a motherer.

“Crap, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” She rubs her eyes and turns to look up. Kyungha’s breath hitches. “Sweetheart? Is that you?” He cups her face with one hand and thumbs her nose with another. His hands are big and warm, and she hates the way her heart stutters out of its normal rhythm. She especially hates the way her body wants to lean into his touch.

She curses under her breath, then heaves a breath, trying to collect her cool. Or whatever she had left because she honestly didn't know. “Yes, it’s me. Do Kyungha.” Her words come out rough and jumbled.

Why couldn’t the fates get off her ? All she wanted was to have a good day. A day without him interfering. Was that too much to ask for? “I have to go.” It’s an automated response. Kyungha can’t even remember how many times she's used it on him. She moves away from him, breaking from his hands. Warm and big. Comforting. In this big, strange place. He makes sense, but at the same time, he doesn’t. He's never made sense to her.

Her cheeks burn with the residual heat from his hands. In her own twisted way, she misses them.

Sehun frowns, eyebrows knitting in concern. “Kyungha, wait.” He’s calling her by her name. Her stomach flips, and she bites her cheeks. Instead of walking away, she stops, just a little.

“Do you think we should talk?” He asks, so soft she could hardly catch it above the periodic beeping of machines. There are worry lines around his eyes because she knows, even if he had ed up, he still cared about her. Maybe as a little sister. A friend. Or whatever else she was to him—Kyungha wasn’t going to stay around long enough to figure it out. And she loathes him for this. . It’d be so much easier if he was an .

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she whispers. It’s quiet in the PICU, so she’s sure he can hear her.

He lingers behind. “Are you sure, sweetheart?”

“It’s easier that way,” she replies curtly. dries at the habitual use of his favorite pet name for her. And for once, Kyungha’s grateful toward Sehun for not following her.