.24.

"Maybe you should talk to him about that before going home." Jieun suggested while Haru took it into consideration. "Yea, I should." Haru popped out her phone from her pocket, typing in his name when a figure halted next to them. 

"Jieun, Haru," He called from behind, making the two glanced back.

"Dr. Moon," They greeted in unison while he kept a friendly smile. "Are you guys going home already?" He asked, trudging along with them through the empty hall. "Yea, I feel like I'm twice as tired ever since I took the morning shift." Jieun yawned, stretching her neck to one side. To make it fair for all of them, they made a rotational system where in everyone would only spend at least six months in their designated shift and would switch schedules after that. Since both of them came from the closing shift, their body needed a lot of adjusting, having the willpower to drag themselves out of bed at five in the morning. 

"Me too." Haru said, tapping her back with her fist, as though it would relax those tight muscles. 

"Aren't you two hungry? Why don't we grab something to eat?" Dr. Moon brought up out of the blue which sounded too suspicious. Jieun narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing him, "Hm, Dr. Moon. I've known you for five years, and I know there's always an ulterior motive over this simple invites." 

He averted her gaze, tight lipped, and didn't argue back. He sighed in defeat, "Okay, you got me." 

"Spill it." She demanded and it took him no time to say what his intentions really were. "Why don't we grab something to eat and then go out for a drink after?" He rephrased his sentence. They both shared a look while Taeil waited in anticipation, but to his dismay, the two proceeded to leave instead. Taeil frowned when they started walking away, "Wait, wait,", he caught up with them, stopping them by the shoulder. "Okay, then, why don't we just eat samgyupsal and then drink soju while we're at it?" He persuaded once more but to his dismay, they only shook their head in response. 

Taeil exasperatedly groaned, glaring at them, "You two are no fun."

"Who in the right mind would go drinking at four in the afternoon?" Jieun argued and Taeil was quick to answer back, "Ah, the sleep deprived people such as us." His said in a matter of fact, as though it was a no brainer question to begin with.

"No offense, Dr. Moon, you may have some kind alcohol issue instead." Haru said which made Jieun snort a laugh, "I agree with Haru."

This earned them an angry scowl from him, but the two seems unfazed while they both shared a laugh. But Taeil knew he haven't used all the tricks from the book, and the last one was a sure bullseye in getting these two to come. 

A faint smirk appeared on his face and said, "It's my treat." 

The laughing stopped, ears perking up from the word, their eyes met and nodded at the same time. They turned at Taeil with a determined look, "Let's go, Dr. Moon." 

Well, based on human experiences and in some kind of written law, every agreement made has always a proposition. For Moon Taeil, drove with pain and sadness due to his on and off relationship, his only main agenda was to get drunk, hoping that it could wash the pain. 

"So Seohyun broke up with you for the third time?" Jieun asked, watching Taeil pour the soju in their glasses. 

A long sigh escaped from his lips, "Yea," he kept his focus on filling it up to the brim. "What did you do this time?"Haru raised an eyebrow, swallowing hard upon realizing that Dr. Moon isn't here to just relieve his stress but will probably drown himself with alcohol instead. "Well, last week was our seventh anniversary and I forgot." Dr Moon nonchalantly said. He stared dotingly at his drink on the table, he lets out a musing smile, "I went home late and she was already waiting for me to celebrate it, she even prepared a nice dinner and bought a cake. That's when she started crying and then told me she couldn't see herself living in a half empty house, where she could rarely see my presence."  

His two hoobaes remained sitting in silence. Usually when Seohyun breaks up with him, he would usually shrugged it off, assuming that it would pass off later on, that Seohyun just needed the space. He knew Seohyun like the back of his hand that on the next day, Taeil would bring her some flowers and a box of chocolates as an apology and this would make it look like they never had an argument to begin with. 

"We always have those small petty fights but Seohyun might've been serious about breaking up this time." Taeil said before taking his shot at one go. Haru can't help but grew concerned for Taeil and Seohyun, since they were one of her close friends. She knew Seohyun back in college, where she was already dating Taeil at that time. Seohyun was two years older than her, but she mostly hung out with her rather than her classmates. She adored Haru like her own little sister to the point where Taeil ends up being the thirdwheel instead. 

Taeil shot her a look, raising an eyebrow, "I'm surprised Seohyun haven't mentioned this to you yet." Haru was quiet as she had the same notion as him. Even if they barely kept in touch, Seohyun would text him regarding Taeil, telling her that it wasn't a big deal and that she just wanted some space. This time, it was different. Maybe Taeil was right. Maybe Seohyun was serious about it. 

"Don't worry, Dr. Moon," There was a slight smile, reaching out to give him a comforting pat on the back, "Seohyun just needs to clear her head for awhile." 

Taeil let out another sigh. "I hope so." He handed them another shot, sharing a quick toast before downing it all at once. 

There was only a few minutes left before Jaehyun finishes his shift. Slipping out from his white coat and hanging it inside his locker. He then started fixings his things inside that was cluttered with piles of papers and books, finally having the time to organize it as well as his thoughts. Checking his phone, he haven't received a single text from Haru since yesterday that he assumed she must've forgot to contact her when she got home last night. But he noticed how she suddenly acted strange after that encounter she had with his during his rounds with Dr. Kim. 

"Oh, Dr. Jeong," A voice called ou