After a week of work, nothing felt as amazing as filling their bellies with good food. ShinAe and Eunhee sat opposite each other and enjoyed a shared plate of mandu and kalguksu. 

"Can you believe it?! That stupid is working there." Eunhee exclaimed in outrage, with full. 

ShinAe flinched from Eunhee's tone. Straightening up, she passed Eunhee a napkin. "You said, she's in theatres?"

Taking the napkin off ShinAe, she dabbed and swallowed her mouthful. "Theatres, peri-op, post-op..I don't know, one of those. They all look the damn same with their blue scrubs." Eunhee waved her chopstick around. 

With dropped shoulders, ShinAe hung her head low. "First Kai, now Yoojung. Why are they flocking to our hospital? It's like the world is set out to make me miserable." She never dreaded going back to work as much as she did now. 

Eunhee dropped her chopstick down and waved her hand in the air. "Wait, wait, wait a minute." She leaned forward and blinked at ShinAe with a head tilt. "Did you just say Kai? The damn cheating scum of an ex boyfriend, Kai?" 

"...Yeah." ShinAe lifted her head and nodded. 

"He works at Severance?!" Eunhee choked.  With a slight pout on her lips, ShinAe nodded her head again. 

"I'll be damn. Didn't think I'll be fighting a this year, but it looks like I'll be fighting two." Eunhee slammed her fist on the table making the cutlery and plates shake.

ShinAe reached over and patted Eunhee's fist with a stern expression. "No. No fighting, Eunhee. You know how I feel about that." Eunhee pouted and turned her head to the side, not liking ShinAe's disapproval. She suddenly thought of something and perked up."Firstly, this isn't fighting." She held out a finger. "But..can I castrate Kai?" Eunhee grinned while doing a cutting motions with her finger. 

"No. NO." Horrified by Eunhee's question, ShinAe vigorously shook her head. "That's bloody murder, Eunhee." She hissed. 

Eunhee chuckled with a wave of a hand. "Oh, he's not going to die. Fun fact: Men can survive without their balls." 

"Fun fact or not, you're going to behave and not attack Kai or Yoojung." Frowning at her best friend, ShinAe pointed at Eunhee with her chopstick. 

"The least you could do for not letting me 'attack them', is rub Jaehyun in their dirty little faces." Eunhee smiled was so wide, ShinAe swore it lit up the restaurant. 

"And why would I do that?" 

"Firstly, he's practically your boyfriend. Secondly, rub it in their face that you've moved on. That will show them." 

ShinAe gulped and felt her blood run cold. "Eunhee, don't say that. That's silly. He is not my boyfriend. We're just friends." ShinAe wasn't super fond of Eunhee pressing that label on them. It brought up a mixed of her emotions. With that label, there are so many risks with it. Boyfriend? It made her feel vulnerable. She didn't want to be vulnerable. 

It terrified her.

But at the same time, did was it that obvious? 

Letting a shaky breath, ShinAe gestured to Eunhee. "Eat your food before it goes cold." She then changed the topic, "What should we do later?" 

Eunhee watched ShinAe fidget in her seat after she mentioned boyfriend. It wasn't a shy and embarrassed movement. It was more like what Eunhee just said jabbed her side and made her fidget in discomfort . "Should we go shopping?" Eunhee didn't press on. 

ShinAe gave her a weak smile. "Sure."

After finishing up their meal, they took the train and walked to Shinsegae department store. With their arms hooked around each other, they excitedly explored the many stores. Eunhee went on a shopping rampage and bought so many things. It was like she was banned from the world and was just released back.

"Look.at.this.mug." Eunhee exclaimed while running to the displays. ShinAe shook her head with a smile and followed Eunhee. 

Eunhee held up the cup that had lemons printed all over it. "It's so adorable." She squealed while holding it close to her face.  "ShinAe, isn't it cute?" Eunhee asked ShinAe, hoping to get a reply.  Instead of getting an uninterested answer from ShinAe like she usually did, Eunhee was left with silence. Bringing her attention to ShinAe, she saw her bestfriend eyeing her phone. 

Her phone glared with a notification from Jaehyun. The screen looked bright and the vibration felt more stronger than usual. It was like when hesitation entered her mind, her phone wanted to refute it and egged her on to reply. *Just answer him. He's just being a nice friend.* 

*Are you really just friends?*

*ShinAe, don't answer him so eagerly. Don't just throw yourself out like that.  You're just going to fall harder and hurt yourself.* Her head was bombarded with confliction. Feeling overwhelmed by her own thoughts, ShinAe shut her eyes to try and clear herself. With a shaky breath, she shoved her phone back into her back pocket and raised her head. She caught sight of Eunhee staring at her and plastered a smile on her face.

Eunhee held out the cup and asked again. "Cute, right?" 

"Mhmm." ShinAe nodded. 

-    -    -    -

Friday came around and ShinAe was up and off to Busan in the early peaks of morning. With a small backpack and a bag filled with clothes, ShinAe was prepared for her journey. ShinAe bought a few new sets of clothings for her mother. Seated on her allocated seat on the KTX, she watched as the sceneries moved and passed her.

The array of settings changing before her eyes, just like people did. ShinAe watched as the man who said he would carry the world on his shoulders for her, disregarded her feelings and heart like it was a piece gum on the street. She watched her healthy mother, go from a hardworking woman who didn't need a calendar to remember appointments and important dates, to someone who could not retain memories that were just made one day ago.

But not all progression she has witnessed was negative. ShinAe has witnessed Eunhee go from a woman who despised men, to a woman who found love and is smitten for her man. 

ShinAe was envious of Eunhee. She wished she was able to open her heart fully and embrace a new relationship without any hiccups. But as ShinAe remembered, love was complex. Love isnt a straight path. Love is a rough path with gravel and potholes. It was uneven with twist and turns. Everyone will experience it differently and she can't compare her progress with love to Eunhee's. ShinAe knows that, but she can't help but feel so hopeless about her lack of progress.

Taking a deep breath, ShinAe leaned her head against the seat and shut her eyes. Giving herself a moment, she opened her eyes and focused her mind on her visit. It was not the time to mope around with her struggles. ShinAe lifted her phone into her view. She attempted to unlock her phone but unexpectedly her phone screen went black and blank. Pressing on the power button, her screen flashed the low battery symbol on the screen. Scrambling into the clutter that is her bag, ShinAe felt around for the portable charger. To her dismay, she did not bring it with her. 

"Damn it." Hissing to herself, she slumped into the chair.

After a 3 hour train ride, she arrived at Busan. Stepping outside the train station, she inhaled the sea crips air. Busan was breathtakingly beautiful. ShinAe's mother always enjoyed the crisp air of Busan and how it always made her feel calm, and because of this reason, ShinAe picked this particular nursing home for her mother. Although it was a long journey for herself, it always brought ShinAe immense happiness when she saw how much her mother loved the place. 

Approaching one of the taxi's parked by the station, she entered the vehicle and told them her destination. Our lady of the rosary nursing home was half an hour away from the bustling city of Busan. Arriving at the stone walls and metal gates of the nursing home, she pressed on the red button at the intercom. After a few ring, a female answered the intercom. 

"Hello, I am Kim Minjung's daughter, Kim ShinAe. I have a case confernece at 11am." ShinAe tiptoed to talk into the intercom. 

"Hello ShinAe, I will buzz you in." The female said as she opened the gate. Hearing the gate buzz, ShinAe pushed it open and entered the facility. 

Making her way into the building, she was greeted by the receptionist. "Good morning ShinAe, just have a seat on the side. I'll let the clinical manager know you're here." The receptionist gestured to the seats in the side of the room. 

Nodding her head with a smile, ShinAe was about to sit down but she turned around and