Junmyeon had somehow managed to pass the next couple of days not running into Eunha; though that was likely because he had been bombarded with night shifts again. Today however he had the normal day shift and just as luck would have it, the moment Junmyeon arrived at SNUH, he saw Eunha talking casually with no other than Yixing.

“They’re sticking together in the hospital premises as well now?” Junmyeon frowned.

Eunha and Yixing had not noticed Junmyeon staring at them and obliviously stepped inside the lift. Junmyeon remained rooted where he was, keeping his eyes on the digital numbers above the lift and his frown only deepened when it displayed that the lift had stopped on the floor where the NICU was located.

“Good morning doctor Kim,” Taeil greeted cheerfully, having also just reached the hospital

Junmyeon however paid no attention to the young resident and was instead lost deep in his thoughts.

“She’s really letting him waltz around all over the place,” Junmyeon exhaled while shaking his head.

Taeil looked at Junmyeon in confusion as the doctor headed towards the ER, still not noticing Taeil presence right next to him.

・・・

“And here I present you the NICU. This is arguably the most hardcore and intense location of the hospital,” Eunha announced, her voice slightly muffled by the surgical mask. “Please make sure to wear the protective gear properly. It would be a nightmare if anything got contaminated.”

“This is way more strict than the normal ICU,” Yixing observed, feeling slightly awkward in the get-up.

“Of course. The N stands for neonatal, so the patients here are critically ill infants who have much weaker immune system; even the lightest breeze could be fatal.”

Stepping inside, Eunha was immediately greeted by Chanyeol who was easily recognisable despite wearing a surgical mask due to his tall stature and large ears poking out of his surgical cap.

“This is nurse Park, he is a core member of the antenatal team,” Eunha introduced them to each other. “This is Zhang Yixing from Phoenix Flame Pharmaceuticals.”

“Pleasure to meet you nurse Park.” Yixing bowed at Chanyeol. “Have to admit it’s not often I meet male nurses working in antenatal.”

“I suppose most people of our gender shy away at the mention of morning sickness and contractions,” Chanyeol chuckled. “Are you here trying to win over our dear anaesthetist Mr Zhang?” 

“Please just call me Yixing, and yes, I’m slowly but steadily making her warm up to me.”

Though Yixing’s face was covered by the surgical mask,  Eunha could easily visualise his dimples from the way his eyes crinkled in the shape of half moon.

“Then you can just call me Chanyeol.” The male nurse returned the friendliness. “And good luck, Eunha’s quite a handful.”

“I have my ways around people,” Yixing hummed, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “By the way, if you are part of antenatal then why are you in the NICU? I may sound silly but here the babies are born already, so shouldn’t this be the domain of the postnatal team?”

“Generally if they are out of the tummy then yes they are within the jurisdiction of postnatal.” Chanyeol nodded. “However NICU is frequently understaffed. Those who’s expertise lie with infants are actually on the rare side, so whoever is available gets stationed here. That’s the case for Eunha as well since anaesthetists are quite valuable. Right Eunha?”

“Hmm,” Eunha hummed while checking on an intubated infant. “To be honest we are stretched out quite thin. But then again, anyone in the medical field are overworked unless they work in a private practice. Plus NICU is a stressful place that scares off interns from applying to ob-gyn or paediatrics. But I can’t blame them. It’s rather disheartening when you see underdeveloped babies grasping for their lives throug