The ER team were out having a celebratory dinner because Taeil had completed his residency. Minseok had been invited since he had spent plenty of time in the ER to hang out with Junmyeon whenever he was bored and thus was an unofficial member of the ER department. Consequently, Eunha had been dragged along as well out of convenience since Minseok was her ride home.

“Congratulations to Tail!” Junmyeon explained while raising his glass.

“Bottoms up!” Minseok hollered, downing his drink in one go.

The table was covered with a myriad of delicious food and a boisterous chatter filled the air. Contrasting with the celebratory mood shared by everyone, Eunha was being unusually quiet. Her eyes kept drifting towards her phone which showed that she had a missed call from Yixing. He had messaged her asking for dinner again earlier, however Eunha had failed to give him a response. By the time she remembered that she had yet to reply to Yixing’s message, she was already sitting in the restaurant with the ER team.

In an attempt to ignore the matter for as long as she could, Eunha occupied herself with drinking, and before she knew it she was having double vision — courtesy of the effects of alcohol. Her phone started ringing in that moment, making Eunha jolt in surprise. That caught Junmyeon’s attention who gave her a quizzical look. Pointing at her phone, Eunha stood up and headed towards the toilets to answer the call which she felt she could no longer ignore. Junmyeon’s gaze lingered on her and his brows etched together in worry at how wobbly her gait was.

“Yixing?” Eunha mumbled into the phone, holding back a hip-cup. “Sorry I didn’t get back to you. I’m at a work dinner right now.”

“No worries. I just wanted to check up on you, to see that everything was okay.”

Eunha frowned as she thought she had detected a hint of disappointment in Yixing’s voice. However it could also have been her mind playing tricks on her — after all she was not in the most sharp state.

“I suppose we can take a rain check on having dinner together?”

“Huh?” Eunha reacted without realising since her brain kept zoning in and out of the conversation.

“Where are you now?” Yixing asked instead.

“At the Japanese restaurant across the road from the hospital,” Eunha mumbled in response. “Why?”

“Nothing. Take care of yourself and don’t drink too much okay?”

“I’m a responsible drunk,” Eunha huffed in defence.

Eunha had no idea why she was getting defensive, and she could only blame the alcohol for how she was behaving.

“I know I know,” Yixing chuckled, and Eunha could already imagine the deep dimples on his cheeks. “Have fun then. Talk to you later.”

Yixing hang up after saying that and Eunha stared blankly at her phone, wondering what he had meant by ‘talk to you later’. They were not exactly in the habit of exchanging messages frequently — much less phone conversations — and they had made no plans of meeting up again anytime soon.

A sudden wave of nausea however prompted Eunha to push any thoughts aside and focus instead on rushing into the toilet. Clearly her body was not responding pleasantly to the drinking and it had decided to purge all contents from her stomach whether Eunha wanted to or not. The sound of her vomiting echoed around the tiled walls of the toilet and Eunha was glad that no one else was in there to hear or witness her miserable state. Stumbling her way towards the sink, Eunha rinsed and then splashed ice cold water onto her face in an attempt to make her mind slightly more lucid.

Taking in a few deep breaths, Eunha patted her cheeks gently before quietly slipping out of the toilet. To her surprise, a hand holding a glass of water was waiting right outside. Eunha’s eyes trailed along the arm and towards its owner, and unsurprisingly she found Junmyeon standing there, a worried expression on his face.

“You’re supposed to be enjoying yourself tonight,” Eunha huffed, taking the water from him. “Not babysit me.”

“I’m a mother hen,” Junmyeon replied with a small smile. “And you looked like you needed some help.”

“Do I look that bad?” Eunha’s eyes widened while she touched her face.

“You do look like you need a bit more sleep,” Junmyeon stated, pointing at her dark eye circles.

“Same goes for you then,” Eunha snorted, quickly emptying the glass of water. “You look like you haven’t slept for days.”

“That’s not too far from reality I suppose,” Junmyeon hummed, leaning against the wall. “Parenting and working as a doctor definitely eats into my sleep time.”

Noting Junmyeon’s physicality, Eunha too leaned against the wall before feeling her legs go weak. Consequently, she slid down towards the ground and opted for a crouching position instead, hugging her knees to maintain her balance. Junmyeon followed suit and pushed himself down into a squatting position.

“I bet that’s the excuse you use whenever someone tries to introduce you to a nice girl,” Eunha chuckled.

Junmyeon’s eyebrows raised slightly. He turned to look at Eunha, his eyes trailing along her profile and committing her features to memory. Fighting back the urge to tuck a strand of stray hair behind her ears, Junmyeon clenched his fists and crossed his arms across his chest.

“It’s a pretty valid excuse,” Eunha pondered out loud, almost as though she was having a conversation with only herself. “Sounds responsible and professional and it’s hard to argue against. It’s like the ‘get out of jail card’ to bail out of dates and relationships.”

“What are you getting to exactly?” Junmyeon nudged at the girl. “Are you looking for a valid excuse to get out of something?”

Eunha titled her head and stared straight into Junmyeon’s eyes. Her eyes were unfocused, however they somehow still managed to radiate a level of command and authority that prevented Junmyeon from looking away. Tapping a finger against the empty glass in her hand, Eunha fell into deep contemplation before clicking her tongue and shrugging her shoulders.

“My parents are getting on my case about being single and I really had to hold back from giving them a piece of my mind,” Eunha grumbled. “Marriages requires so much effort and commitment. It’s supposed to be a joy of life, but it feels more like a duty to be fulfilled.”

“Might sound unconvincing coming from a divorced man like me but, being in a l