A/N Okay, so first of all I want all of you to take the legal advice written here with a grain of salt. I’m not a medical professional so I don’t know anything about remedies in general XD This fic is purely fiction so don’t follow any advice written here. But one thing’s for sure, try not to get sick everyone ^^

Sinb grumbles under her breath as Sojung drags her across the hospital parking lot, brows furrowed and lips in a pout, she tries to tug her hand back from the tight grip the older woman has but it was obvious Sojung wasn’t about to let go of her anytime soon.

“Eunbi I swear I’m going to lift you over my shoulder if you try pulling away again.” Sojung threatens, grunting a bit as she struggles to get Sinb to move faster.

“You can’t even carry a chair properly.” Sinb mumbles to herself, thinking that she’s said it low enough for Sojung not to hear, but unfortunately for her the woman did.

“I heard that.” Sojung glares, while Sinb just stuck her tongue out at her in reply.

She sighs at the younger woman’s stubborness and decides to let go of her, instead placing her hands on her hips looking like a mother about to scold her child.

And scold her she did.

“Can you even hear me right now?” she asks the redhead.

Sinb frowns a bit before lifting her hand and pinching the air in front of her, eyes squinting as she looked through the space between her fingers, “Just… A little bit.”

“And aren’t you scared you might not be able to hear me completely?”

Sinb gets a sudden flashback of the number of times Sojung’s nagged her for the smallest things, “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Hwang Eunbi.”

“I’m joking! I’m joking!” she quickly takes a step back at the woman’s aggressive tone, “Do I really have to though? I searched on google and it said that it’s gonna go away after a while and if symptoms persist, consult your doctor.”

“Does google understand the pain you’ve gone through the previous nights?” Sojung questions and that managed to silence Sinb entirely, though if Sinb was completely honest, she just wasn’t able to hear her well enough to formulate a coherent response without looking like an idiot.

It was all because of the pain is Sinb’s right ear that has been persisting and getting worse for the previous days. It all started with a mild pain that she usually got when she would wear her earbuds for a long period of time, but she apparently made a mistake and continued wearing them despite the pain. Now it’s progressed, her ear feels like it’s got cotton balls shoved inside it, her jaw screamed in pain whenever she opened to eat or chew or just open any wider than she usually does, and her right temple was killing her. It felt like there was a needle stuck on it and she couldn’t pull it out.

Unable to see her suffering any further, Sojung insisted they see a doctor.

The only problem though is Sinb hated going to the hospital, she sincerely believes that enough willpower can overcome any illness. And she considers that belief to be the main reason why she hasn’t stepped foot in the hospital for years.

But this was a different case, it’s been almost a week and the pain still wasn’t going away, no matter how much willpower Sinb has.

“You weren’t able to hear me properly right?” Sojung asks upon seeing the blank look on the woman’s face.

“I heard you!” Sinb exclaims, covering up her blunder, “Fine, let’s go see that doctor friend of yours, but if she says it’s nothing you owe me a week’s meal.”

“And if she thinks it’s serious then you do the laundry until next week.”

Sinb hesitates for a bit, a voice in the back of her mind saying that this probably was not a gamble that she should be placing her bet in, but her pride overpowers her gut feeling in the end.

“Deal.”

Sojung holds out her hand, “Shake on it.”

Sinb rolls her eyes and does as she’s asked to, gripping Sojung’s hand tightly in hers and giving it a firm shake only to find out that Sojung used that opportunity to drag her inside again.

“Let go! I’m not gonna run away, sheesh.”

 

---

 

“I still think I don’t need to be here.”

“Just accept your fate Sinb.”

Sojung sighs in exasperation at the stubborness the younger woman was showing. Being her roommate for years, she’s pretty much dealt with it on numerous occasions and suffice it is to say that she’s basically acted as Sinb’s mother these times. What to expect when the woman was acting like a child most of the time? Sojung swears that one of these days all her hair will turn white just from the stress Sinb gives her.

They were currently sat outside the doctor’s office, waiting for Sinb’s name to be called. They were lucky enough to have scheduled an appointment at an early hour given there weren’t much outpatients there yet and so they can relax a bit, knowing they wouldn’t have to wait for too long before it was their turn.

As if on cue, the door to the office opens and a nurse, who Sojung found to be absolutely adorable, stepped out whilst staring at the clipboard she held in her hands.

“Hwang Eunbi?” the nurse calls out.

Sinb looks up from her seat and makes her presence known by raising her hand. The nurse smiles upon seeing her and informs them that the doctor was ready to see them.

They notice the nurse chuckling slightly when they’ve entered the office.

“Is there something wrong?” Sojung asks.

The nurse stops and stares.

And just stares.

“Wow, you’re tall.” she blinks, her eyes not leaving Sojung’s figure, slightly agape in amazement.

Sojung allows a smirk to make its way to her face upon hearing her words. She normally didn’t like anyone mentioning about her height but when it’s a person who’s looking up at her with the cutest face she’s ever seen, she wouldn’t even mind if the nurse asked her for her exact measurement.

“What were you laughing about though?” Sinb intervenes with Sojung cursing her in her mind for ruining the moment.

Snapping out of her current state, she turns to Sinb and grins, “Ah, I just thought it was funny how we have the same name. I’m an Eunbi too!”

She does a little hop in place as she says this and Sojung swears she was about to melt on the spot.

“And Doctor Jung is going to be the one to take care of you.” the nurse continues, “So I’m basically sharing both of my names with two people right now.”

She chuckles again as she says this, before gesturing to the seats and tells them that the doctor will be with them shortly. They sat down as she requested, and so Eunbi the nurse moved to leave them alone but not before Sojung was able to raise a question.

“So your name’s Jung Eunbi?”

“Hm?” the nurse turns to face her and bobs her small head with a smile that just made her seem fluffier in Sojung’s eyes, “Yeah! But you can call me Eunha to avoid confusions.”

She then leaves the two of them inside to do her other tasks.

“Eunha…” she repeats under her breath. Sinb just stares at her weirdly.

Sojung notices the stare and straightens herself up, “What are you looking at?”

“You had something in your eyes just now.” Sinb points out, “I think… They were heart-shaped or something.”

Sinb snickers right after but was effectively silenced by a slap on the arm.

“I haven’t even examined my patient yet but I already know what she’s coming in for, Sojung-unnie.” an unfamiliar voice spoke, causing the both of them to turn to the source only for Sinb to find herself forgetting how her lungs are supposed to work.

“It wasn’t that hard of a slap!” Sojung quickly defends herself, then turns to Sinb who’s gaze wouldn’t leave the doctor’s figure who’s sat behind her desk before them, “It didn’t hurt that much, did it?”

“Huh?” Sinb stares, asking with her gaze what she was talking about. Sojung just offers her a tired glare.

“Can you just help this little kid out, Yerin? I hate having to repeat myself everytime I talk to her.”

Sinb seems to have snapped out of her frozen stupor at that point, “Who you calling little kid?”

“Oh so now you can hear me?”

“You two can be stand up comedians one of these days.” the doctor interrupts, and almost at the same time Sinb quickly behaves at the hint of a scolding tone at her words, “But let’s leave the comedy aside for now and focus on what’s wrong. Hwang Eunbi, right? I’m Dr. Jung Yerin, you can call me Yerin if you want or Dr. Jung like most of my patients do. Whichever you prefer.”

Sinb just nodded dumbly, not even understanding what she just said. She only heard “Eunbi” so she must have asked for her name right? She curses this ear of hers for not being able to hear properly.

“Sorry, is it okay if I scoot closer? I can’t quite hear you properly…” Sinb tells her, deciding to throw aside her pride for the sake of this pretty doctor to do her job easier.

“Ah, sure.”

Sinb eagerly pulls her chair closer to the desk and takes the time to admire the doctor’s features with unwavering interest. At the same time Sinb was asking herself how such a person could be real. Those cheeks? That nose? Her lips? And those eyes, she can’t find it in herself to look away from those eyes, even as they were focusing on something else and not her.

“Let’s see, it says here your ear’s been hurting?” Yerin looks up once, awaiting for her confirmation. When Sinb just stared back without any form of movement, she blinks, “I’m sorry, should I speak louder?”

“Ah, wh– sorry. You were asking something?”

Yerin leans back a bit, narrowing her eyes a bit and regarding Sinb for a small second. Said patient shies away from the look, it almost seemed like she did something wrong for a moment there.

“This won’t work, hold on a second.”

Sinb watches as Yerin stands up from her seat, heads over to the corner of the room and grabs a spare stool sitting there. Bringing over the stool, she places it a mere foot away from where Sinb’s chair is and takes a seat on it.

She was close. Very close.

And Sinb’s heart and lungs were working in tandem at that exact moment, her heart pumping blood to her face and her lungs nearly gasping for air since Sinb’s brain had practically shut down at the proximity between her and the pretty doctor. All coherent thoughts are Error 404 Not Found.

Yerin stares straight into her eyes and it took all of Sinb’s willpower not to explode. How can someone be this beautiful?

“Is this better?”

*How do I even answer this when I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack? *

Sinb just nods again, a stiff smile plastered on her face as she tries to keep her senses together.

“Good. Can you hear me properly?”

“Y-Yes…”

“That’s good to know. Now, how long has it been since it started hurting?”

“I think… around 5 days or so?”

Yerin then proceeded with a few more questions, like what she did before the pain started, what exactly she felt, and if she’s experienced any other symptoms beside jaw and ear pain and headaches. All the while Sinb practically worked her brain to it’s maximum capacity, as her mind was in a jumble and she was almost sure that if she loses focus, the chances of her saying something stupid that she will probably regret later on are huge.

Finally, to her relief the barrage of questions was over and she thought she can finally relax when Yerin stood up to grab something from a nearby drawer, but was proven wrong when Yerin approached again, with a stethoscope and otoscope in hand. It didn’t even take a genius to know what she was going to use them for.

“I’ll be giving you a quick checkup first before we go ahead with your actual problem.” Yerin tells her, taking her seat on the stool again, but this time she was closer. How is that even possible? More than that, how is Sinb supposed to survive this?

It was then they both heard a snicker from the side and both of them looked up to see Sojung covering with her hand but even that failed to hide the smile and amused expression she was sporting. All while looking straight at Sinb.

“Sorry, I just remembered something funny.” she waved them off, “Don’t mind me.”

Yeah, right you were probably laughing at me, I swear–

The sudden feeling of something touching her chest cut off her thoughts completely. Looking forward properly, she was met by Yerin’s brown orbs gazing into hers, a smile on her face that made Sinb feel like a damn spotlight was being shone on her face.

Mr. Sun, you can go and rest now. I think we’ve found a perfect replacement.

“Eunbi-ssi, I will need you to take a deep breath and exhale when I say so, alright?”

Sinb could only nod, not knowing what else to say. Her vocabulary probably decided she was a lost cause and abandoned her completely.

Trying her best to calm her raging heart down and doing her best to ignore how Yerin was literally half an arm’s reach away, she closes her eyes and feels Yerin place the stethoscope gently on her chest.

“Now take a deep breath.” Yerin instructs and Sinb follows, inhaling until her lungs were full.

However, the action just made it harder for her to concentrate the moment practically took a lungful of Yerin’s scent, it was probably the perfume she was wearing and Sinb cannot think of anything else besides the fact that Yerin smelled really nice and her efforts of calming down just got flushed down the drain.

“Hey, are you nervous?” Yerin chuckles, making Sinb open her eyes and look up at her. The way the doctor’s eyes were looking at her with such gentleness just made her heart rate spike up, “Calm down. This won’t hurt you.” she gestures to the stethoscope while unable to keep the smile off her face.

“I-I know that.” Sinb swallows, forcing down the blush she could feel on her face.

“Okay. Let’s do this again, take a deep breath.” Yerin places the stethoscope at the same spot as Sinb does as she was instructed.

By some miracle, she managed to finish up without any more blunders and waited for what Yerin would do next at the same time bracing herself for whatever it would be.

So when Yerin suddenly cupped her face in her palms, despite how gently she did it, Sinb’s first reaction was to jolt in surprise.

Yerin pulled away instantly, staring at her in concern, “Sorry, did that hurt?”

“N-no!” she quickly answers, “I was just surprised.”

“Really? That’s a relief.” Yerin smiles again and proceeds to hold her face once more and raise her chin so she would look at her properly. Sinb forgot how to breathe again as Yerin leans closer a bit while holding a small penlight in her hand, “You’re not used to skinships then?”

“I-I guess not?”

“Shame. I happen to be a clingy person.” Yerin mumbles, turning on the flashlight and aiming it to the side before moving it straight to one eye then repeats the same process on the other.

Meanwhile Sinb was just wondering what Yerin meant by that statement when she jolts the moment Yerin pushes gently at the area just beneath her right ear. She wasn’t able to pay attention properly enough to hear Yerin’s warning beforehand.

“So it hurts right here?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Can you open your mouth as wide as you can? Stop when you’re unable to.”

Sinb follows willingly and stops.

“Looks like you have difficulty eating if you can’t open your mouth any wider than that.” Yerin observes, taking notes, “I’m going to check your temperature first since you mentioned having a fever yesterday.”

The rest of the checkup moved swiftly from then and Yerin soon gave her a proper diagnosis and was currently in the process of writing down a prescription for her. Turns out that she had an ear infection that wasn’t all that serious, as Yerin commented, but it was definitely uncomfortable so she suggests treating it quickly so Sinb won’t need to endure the pain any longer than necessary.

“You’re otherwise fine, Eunbi-ssi, so long as you keep up the medication you’ll finally be able to stop have shouting matches with Sojung-unnie here or else I might see you again when you both complain of having sore throats.” she chuckles at the dry glares the two give her at her statement, “Other than that, you’re fit as a fiddle. Come back again in a few days alright? Especially if the pain doesn’t stop.”

“Is that it Yerin?” Sojung asks, moving to stand up. Sinb doing the same albeit slower.

“Yep. I’ll see the both of you in a few days.” Yerin flashes them a smile and waves at the two in farewell.

Sinb swallows a bit before speaking, “Thanks Dr. Jung.”

“Just call me Yerin, Eunbi-ssi.” she insisted and her smile got wider when Sinb nods her head.

“You can just call me Sinb then, Yerin-ssi.” she mumbles, “Since your nurse is also an Eunbi.”

“Oh, now that you mention it that’s true.” Yerin hums in agreement, “Then have a safe trip home, Sinb-ssi.”

Sinb tries to fight off the smile pulling at her lips and just bows lowly towards her in thanks while practically stumbling out of the office with Sojung in tow.

“You know I saw something in your eyes the whole time, I’m surprised Yerin didn’t notice.” Sojung remarks teasingly once the two had made it outside and into the parking lot, “I’m pretty sure they were heart-shaped or something…”

Sinb just hisses at her, chasing after Sojung the moment she breaks off into a run.

She just hates it when Sojung is right.

 

---

 

Four days. Four days passed by so slowly for Sinb, she may as well have considered herself aging ten years older with how slow time was running.

And finally, those four days have come to an end and she was once more in front of the same hospital she hasn’t stopped thinking about since a few days ago. Well, not exactly the hospital, but one of the doctors working in it.

“And why are you coming with me?” Sinb looks off to the side at the tall woman standing beside her.

“What? I’m not allowed to be here?”

Sinb squints at her, “Nice try. We both know how you’re looking forward to seeing the other Eunbi today.”

“And get her number.” Sojung adds with a confident smile, “Meanwhile there’s you who’s just as whipped for a certain doctor.”

“Am not!”

“Then why are you all dressed up like you’re going on a date?”

Sinb pauses and looks down at herself. Contrasting to the large shirt and sweatpants that she wore during her first visit to the hospital, she was now sporting a pair of black skinny jeans, a pair of slip ons and her favorite blue button up shirt that was a size bigger than normal tucked in from the front.

“T-this is how I always look.” Sinb clears at having been caught red-handed, but then again, she didn’t really make any attempt to hide it. Her room had looked like a tornado had come along and ransacked it, last she remembered.

“Sure.” Sojung just says, unconvinced, “Let’s just go.”

Making their way down the familiar hallways, Sojung and Sinb were met by the same nearly empty waiting area just in front of the office. There was seemingly less people there at the moment as compared to before and it made them wonder why, given that the hospital looked quite busy first they entered.

They approached the office the same time the door opens, revealing a certain familiar nurse that made Sinb look over at Sojung with sly grin.

“Oh, you’re here?” Eunha greets upon seeing the both of them with her usual bright personlity that was almost similar to the bright personality of the doctor she was working with. Sinb can’t help but wonder if this was some sort of qualification for them…?

“We just arrived.” Sojung replies, “I noticed there’s fewer patients than last time though, did something happen?”

“Ah, some people cancelled their appointments last minute, so it’s pretty loose today.” she answers while looking over her clipboard, “Dr. Jung’s still seeing a patient at the moment, I’ll call for you when she’s finished.”

“Sure, thanks.” the both of them made their way to two vacant seats just positioned nearby the office and waited and watched as Eunha went off to do her duties.

It looked like the perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation from what Sinb was seeing but her seatmate was awfully rooted to her seat.

“What are you waiting for? Did your confidence take a vacation or something?” Sinb asks only to receive a glare from the other.

“Don’t rush me. Can’t you see she’s busy?”

“She literally said they weren’t that busy earlier… Should I call her for you?”

“Hey, don’t you dare–”

“Eunbi–!”

Sinb struggles a bit as Sojung clamps a hand to , successfully keeping the younger woman from saying anymore at the same time looking over concernedly at Eunha who seems to have heard her name and was looking back at the two with a slight tilt of her head in wonder.

“She was… just talking to herself.” Sojung tells her accompanied by a laugh that she can safely say was the most awkward laugh she’s ever heard. A robot would have done better.

Eunha lets out a laugh at that, “Sorry, I’m still not used to seeing any other Eunbi that isn’t me.”

“That’s fine. What are the chances anyway right?”

Sinb taps Sojung’s hand on desperately, telling her to let go because she was already having a hard time but it seems that her attention has completely been taken over by the small nurse.

She was literally saved by the opening of the office door and Yerin stepping out while aiding what seems to be her patient whose foot was inside a cast and was struggling a bit with her crutches.

“Sorry for the trouble Doctor…” the woman says, righting herself up with one of her arms slung across the doctor’s shoulder. Sinb’s eyes visibly narrowed at that.

“It’s fine. It’s always difficult during the first few times but you’ll get used to it soon enough.” Yerin answers her with her usual bright smile, ans assuring tone, “Don’t go running too fast in the forest next time, alright?”

“Duly noted.” the woman grins as she removes her arm from Yerin’s shoulders and straightens herself up.

“How is she?” Eunha approaches the two and asks, concern lacing her tone as she takes over in helping the patient out, “Is it serious?”

This time it was Sojung who was narrowing her eyes at the woman.

“Hey, you’re the one who took the x-ray on her foot.” Yerin chuckles, “She’ll be fine in a few days. Thankfully, it wasn’t as serious as we thought it was but it’ll be better if she avoids doing anything strenuous for the next days so she’ll recover faster. You hear me Yuna?”

“No running for you missy.” Eunha adds wagging her finger at the taller woman, “Do you need help though?”

“Yewon messaged me just now, she said she’s on her way.”

“Alright, I’ll accompany you to the parking lot then.” Eunha tells her to which Yuna replies with a thankful nod.

It was that moment when Sinb realized Sojung was no longer beside her and when she looked around, she saw the older woman already with the two and seemingly offering help in accompanying them. Sinb can only blink. When did she get there so fast?

Wait a second, is Sojung leaving her alone?

“Eunbi-ssi, it’s your turn.” Eunha calls out to her while supporting Yuna.

“Oh, you’re already here?” Yerin greets, finally having noticed her presence, “Come on in then.”

“Uh…” Sinb turns to Sojung only to find her already gone. Again, how in the world is she moving so fast? She was just there a second ago!

“Sinb-ssi?” Yerin calls once more, “Is your hearing still bad?”

“No! No, I can hear just fine now.” Sinb quickly jumps to her feet and heads inside, thanking Yerin for keeping the door open for her. The familiar office once more fills her vision, and contrasting to her first impression at entering the hospital, she found the whole place comfortable and relaxing. She never thought she would say this, but she wouldn’t mind staying here for a while.

“Looks like you’ve gotten better.” Yerin says, taking her seat behind her desk while gesturing for Sinb to do the same, “No more pains or headaches?”

Sinb shakes her head, “It’s definitely gotten better than before. Though it does still feel a little sore still. It feels like my jaw’s a bit stiff I guess?”

“That’s understandable.” Yerin nods in approval, “I’m actually quite glad to hear that. That stiffness should be gone in a few more days. You haven’t been aggravating it too much have you?”

“Well… I haven’t used any headphones or earbuds recently if that answers anything.”

“Good.” Yerin nods her head in approval, “I’ll just give you a quick examination so I can see for myself if it’s recovering well.”

Cue nervous heartbeat.

Sinb still remembers the feeling of Yerin’s soft hands and the way she handled her gently during her examination a few days ago and it’s been unable to leave her mind for the past days. Now that she was going to go through it again, she doesn’t really know what to feel. Excited? Nervous? Why is she even thinking about how Yerin was touching her?

Wait, that sounded wrong…

“Looks like you’re all good.”

“Huh?” Sinb snaps her head towards Yerin who was already walking away from her. It’s already over? She didn’t even feel a thing! Was she that deep in her thoughts or did she just blank out completely without knowing?

Either way, it did not go the way as she hoped.

“Your ear’s recovering nicely.” Yerin explains, taking her place behind her desk again, “At this rate, it shouldn’t cause you any more problems. But if you feel anything weird, come see me right away.”

“A-are we done then?” Sinb stammers, berating herself for sounding so disappointed when all Yerin did was do her job.

“Pretty much, unless there’s something else you want me to check on?” Yerin raises a brow as she leans forward, her expression inquisitive as she looks at Sinb carefully meanwhile Sinb feels like being under a microscope, but to her surprise, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. If anything, she quite likes how Yerin’s eyes were on her.

She groans to herself, the more that she thinks about this, the more that she sounds like a ert with her thoughts.

“You’re looking a bit red, are you having another fever again?”

“No.” Sinb shakes her head, quickly denying the assumption, “I’m fine.”

“Really? No dizziness or anything? Chills?”

Sinb manages a smile in her direction and just nods in assurance, “I’m good.”

“I see… I guess that’s that then.” Yerin stands up from her seat, with Sinb doing the same, “You have a safe trip home, Sinb-ssi.”

“Right. Thanks for your help Yerin-ssi.” she says.

The moment both her and Sinb head out the door, the latter couldn’t help but feel crestfallen at the turn of events. Disappointed was an understatement, just the thought that she wouldn’t have any reason to visit Yerin again was a depressing thought. To be fair, everything that had transpired between them had remained under professional terms, with Yerin being the doctor and her the patient. She doubts things would progress between them any further than that, especially since they’ve literally only met twice. That’s not enough reason for Sinb to blatantly tell her that she wants to see her again without looking like a lovestruck fool. Doing so might even make Yerin uncomfortable and refuse to see her altogether.

Sinb understands that she was thinking too much on this. She finds Yerin attractive, that’s all, but is there anything wrong in getting to know the woman better? If you like someone, then wouldn’t your first action be to want to be with that person as much as possible? It sounds reasonable if anyone asked her, but she can’t be too aggressive, unlike Sojung who was probably already asking for Eunha’s number right at this moment.

Still, if she really wants to see Yerin again, moping around and doing nothing would definitely not produce any results.

“Eunha, who’s my next patient?” Yerin asks.

“Ms. Oh canceled her appointment too so you’re free as of the moment doctor.”

Sinb’s ears perk up upon hearing that Yerin had nothing else to do after.

“Really?” Yerin raised her brows in surprise, “Why is everyone cancelling all of a sudden. Did something happen?”

“Not that I know of.” Eunha shrugs. It was only then Sinb noticed that she was alone and the tall giraffe was nowhere to be found. Looking around one more time, her brows furrow slightly when she was unable to find the woman anywhere.

“Did Sojung-unnie go somewhere?” Sinb asks the nurse who seemed to have stiffened up at her question.

“Oh uhm…” Eunha chuckles nervously, “She mentioned heading home I think?”

Finding the nurse’s actions slightly suspicious, she brushes it aside thinking that it wasn’t that big of a deal. At least not as big of a deal as Sojung leaving her alone to head on home by herself.

“She left me alone?” Sinb asks in disbelief, then began grumbling under her breath, “She’s the one who insisted to fetch me here, I swear when I see that giraffe–”

“I think she wasn’t feeling all that well so she headed straight home.” Eunha interrupts meanwhile Yerin and Sinb just stare at her blankly.

A full minute later, Yerin breaks the silence, “If she wasn’t feeling well, she could have just headed back here. I mean, we’re in a hospital…” Yerin points to herself, “I’m a doctor.”

“Oh. Right.”

“And you’re a nurse Eunha-yah.” Yerin adds.

“I guess so…?”

Sinb doesn’t even understand what was happening. All she cares about right at that moment was why Sojung bailed out on her and the only way to find out was to call her.

To her relief, the older woman answered in one ring, “Where are you?”

“At the parking lot. Are you done already?”

“We just finished.” Sinb says, slightly intrigued on why Eunha would say that she already left. And why did Sojung sound so lethargic, “Did something happen?”

“Somewhat. Do you mind if I take a quick drive around for a bit?”

Sinb frowns slightly in concern, thinking that it must have bothered Sojung a lot if she wanted to be alone like this. Her moods were easy to read, having been her roommate for as long as she can remember, and so she understands that if Sojung wanted somw time for herself, she should at least give that to her.

“Yeah sure, that’s fine.” she tells her gently, “Be safe.”

“Thanks. If you need me to pick you up, just shoot me a text.”

“Alright.” Sinb agrees and finally hangs up, looking up at the two who were seemingly waiting for her to say anything. Quickly formulating an excuse, she tells the two that Sojung had somewhere she needed to go for the moment.

“I see. Must be her work.” Yerin remarks, before bringing up her arms above her head in a stretch, “Anyway,” she grunts, “I’m starving. Should we head out for lunch, Eunha?”

Sinb feels her senses tingling upon hearing what Yerin just said, and as if an imaginary light bulb just lit up right on top of Sinb’s head, she quickly calls for the two’s attention before they walked away.

“Actually, I was just about to go have lunch. Maybe I can treat the both of you?” she offers, praying in the back of her mind to all the deities that she knows to make her plan work, “Well, since Sojung-unnie’s not here. We were supposed to head out to eat but now I’m alone so…”

“Of course. You don’t even have to treat us to anything.” Yerin brightly tells her, sounding just as excited as she is, “We’d love it if you can join us. Is that fine with you, Eunha?”

The nurse nodded, lips curved into a smile, “Unlike Yerin-unnie though, I won’t say no to free food.”

Sinb laughs at her statement, “Take it easy on me.”

Eunha purses her lips, “I can’t promise anything.”

“Don’t worry Sinb-ssi, we’ll split the bill in case of an emergency.” Yerin teases, earning a slap on the shoulder from the shorter woman causing her to laugh even more, “Let’s go?”

“Let’s eat!” Eunha cheers, already going on ahead of them. Yerin and Sinb share a look and a smile before following the nurse to the elevator.

Looks like fate was working along with her this time and she’s thankful for it.

 

---

 

“Sojung-unnie!” Sinb barges into the older woman’s room without knocking, successfully interrupting the woman from whatever she was doing.

“What!”

“Hit me.”

Sojung stares at her before standing up from her bed and began punching her fist into her palm, eyeing Sinb threateningly, “I thought you’d never ask.”

“Wait! You’re not even going to ask me why?”

“I can just ask later.”

After the cat and mouse chase that lasted for around 20 minutes, the two were sprawled atop the living room carpet, panting heavingly at the sudden exercise they had, and a tiring one too. Sojung never really got to hit Sinb properly, but the younger somehow lost her footing somewhere at the bottom of the stairs and rolled down like a barrel to the floor. She was okay, except she gained a minor sprain on her ankle because of it.

“So? What’s with your sudden request?” Sojung lifts herself up from the carpet to get a better look at Sinb, “Don’t tell me you plan on using that as an excuse to see Yerin again.”

The way Sinb turned her head to look away was more than enough of a confirmation for her.

“Are you stupid? If you want to see her, just go see her, not get yourself injured like this.” Sojung slumped back onto the carpet with a small groan, “And you didn’t have to make me run all over the place.”

“You need to stretch those old legs of yours…”

“My legs are long enough, I don’t need to stretch them any more than necessary. And who you calling old?”

Sinb just gasps out a laugh before falling silent, letting herself recover from all the running they just did.

“So what’s this really all about, Sinb?”

Sinb takes a minute to think of a proper answer, taking note of the serious tone Sojung just used, and she understood that it wasn’t a time for jokes, “I like her.”

“Yerin?”

“Yeah…”

“You literally just met twice though?”

“And you met Eunha just once before asking for her number which she refused to give you, by the way.” Sinb turns her head, a brow raised, “I still can’t believe you moped around just because of that.”

“Hey, she coldly told me ‘no’. Ah, just thinking about it is hurting me again.” she whines, grabbing a throw pillow nearby and hugging it against herself tightly as she curls up on her side. Sinb can practically see the pout on the woman’s face which was uncharacteristic of her confident personality. Perhaps, just like Sinb, Sojung did come to like Eunha more than she expected.

“Did you think of trying again?” Sinb asks her.

“Of course I did, I just don’t know how.”

“You’re hopeless.”

“You’re one to talk, succumbing to injuring yourself just to find an excuse to see Yerin again.”

“Yeah, I guess this is pretty stupid.” Sinb sighs, “But anyway, I got my injury, you got your excuse to meet Eunha-unnie so you can try again. Now book that appointment and I’ll start praying for you.”

“I hope you fail.” Sojung tells her.

“I hate you too, now make an appointment.”

 

---

 

Yerin raises a brow upon seeing the information of the next patient she’s going to see in the next few minutes. Looking up at Eunha and silently asking if what she just read was actually what was written, the nurse just gives her a shrug in reply.

“Should I call her in?”

“Yes please, I’m quite curious what happened this time.” Yerin tells her, fixing herself up and smoothening out the creases of her coat. Her eyes caught a glimpse of her perfume peeking out of her bag and she wonders whether she should spray some on or–

“You look excited.” Eunha says in a teasing tone before she opens the door while Yerin just offers her a tired glare in response.

“You’re seeing things.” she answers, shooing her away with a gesture of her hand. Eunha just lets out a giggle before making her way out, but before Eunha was completely out the door, Yerin called out for her.

“Besides, aren’t you the one looking really happy right now?” Yerin grins upon seeing their expressions had switched places, her with a smile and Eunha with a glare that looked more like a pout.

“Eunbi-ssi, the doctor will see you now.” Eunha called from outside the door, her eyes ocassionaly turning to Yerin just to see her reaction. The doctor scrunches her nose and sticks out her tongue at the nurse quickly earning a gleeful laugh in return.

Though, she wouldn’t really deny Eunha’s claims. If anyone asked her for the truth, she does look forward to seeing Sinb again. After their spontaneous lunch the other day, she’s seen her patient in a different light. She was easygoing, playful and quite a good storyteller. Yerin couldn’t even remember the last time she had that much fun with someone over lunch.

Sinb at that time was a strike contrast to the person she saw as a patient. It was relaxing to have been able to hang out with her outside of a hospital setting and she can already feel that she would be a good person to spend her free times with. She was actually planning on asking for Sojung’s help since her appointments with Sinb were done when she recovered, but this works just fine. Though she would prefer Sinb not getting hurt.

So when Sinb had entered her office with a limp and Sojung by her side helping her out ease herself into the chair, the concern she felt was immediate.

“You know, being a regular customer is fine, but not in a hospital Sinb-ssi.” Yerin remarks as soon as their gazes meet. Sinb just grins back innocently.

The doctor lets out an amused sigh, finding her expression adorable, “So? What happened this time?”

“She fell down the stairs.” Sojung jabbed a thumb at the younger woman’s direction while Yerin’s eyes shot up in surprise.

She was about to call Eunha for a quick x-ray when Sinb quickly corrected, “I didn’t fall, I just lost my footing at the last step. Don’t make it sound worse than it is.”

“It’s basically what happened.”

“No it’s not.”

Do these two not do anything but bicker all day? Yerin can’t help but wonder how they’ve stayed roommates for that long if it was all they did.

“You just sprained your ankle then?” Yerin asked, already making her way out of her chair to approach the woman.

She knew she should have sprayed on some perfume.

“In a nutshell, yes, but we don’t really know how bad it looks so we thought to ask for an expert’s opinion.” Sinb tells her coupled again with an innocent smile. At this point, Yerin was almost sure she was making that expression because she didn’t want to get caught doing something ridiculous.

Making an appointment with her just for a sprain sounds weird enough, normally people would self-treat at home. If they wanted an expert’s opinion, Sojung could have just called her and asked over the phone. Also, as far as she remembers, Sinb wasn’t the type of person who liked going to hospitals much.

Yerin almost lets out a laugh at her thoughts. She’s had patients who would do this: get injured intentionally just so they could see her again, but being the medical professional that she is, she gave them a thorough scolding and a threat that she would refer them to another doctor if they did anything like what they did again.

And Sinb wasn’t an exception.

Yerin also wasn’t one to beat around the bush and prefers to lay it down straight just so she could get her point across much faster. Though, Sinb’s injury did sound accidental now that she thinks about and she didn’t want to sound presumptuous so she’ll let her off for now.

“It doesn’t look all too bad, but it’s definitely not good either.” Yerin had taken to the stool again and had just finished unwrapping the bandages to get a better look. She held the foot gently in her hands and subtly tried to twist it various angles but not too much that it would hurt, "Seeing how bruised up it is, it’ll probably take a few days or so. I suggest not putting too much pressure on it, use an ice pack at least once a day over it and it should be good as new.

Other than that, there’s nothing else I can do. I can prescribe you some pain relievers if the pain becomes too much to handle, but it looks like you don’t need it and I don’t want to give you unnecessary medication."

“I think I’ll be fine.” Sinb mumbles, and when Yerin looks up after rewrapping the bandages, she can see the look of fascination on the younger woman’s face. Their eyes meet and she offers her a smile.

“Just for the record though, Sinb-ssi.” Yerin says, fastening the bandage securely and putting her foot down as gently as she could, “I hope I really don’t see you here again.”

That seems to have taken her off-guard if the shock on her face was anything to go by.

“I hate seeing people with illnesses in general, you know? It’s why I became a doctor in the first place so I could help them out with their pain.” Yerin explains, “That said, I prefer seeing you healthy and uninjured so make sure to take good care of yourself. I don’t like repeat customers here unless it’s for their annual checkup.”

“Oh…” Sinb blinks rapidly, “R-Right. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Yerin smiles a little at the look of disappointment that showed on her face, but was quickly replaced by the same stoic look she’s seen her wear on some ocassions. Probably to cover up what she really feels.

“Are we done?” Sojung asks suddenly, her gaze darting from Sinb to her, within it was a hint of worry for the younger woman.

“I’ll prescribe you some painkillers, but don’t take them unless absolutely necessary, understand?” she tells Sinb who just nods silently.

Okay, now she feels bad.

Accompanying the two to the door, Sojung opens it for them and steps outside with Sinb about to follow but was stopped in her tracks when Yerin reaches out and holds her wrist to keep her from going.

“Yerin-ssi?”

Said doctor just smiles and rummages inside her coat pocket with her free hand, pulling out what seems to be a calling card from inside and handed it to the younger woman.

“Schedule an appointment next time.” she tells her patient.

Sinb draws her brows together in confusion but takes the calling card nevertheless, “But I thought you didn’t want to see me again?”

Yerin laughs. She feels bad for having sounded that way and ended up with Sinb misunderstanding her. Perhaps she might have done it intentionally because she found it cute when Sinb waa sulking, who knows though? But she was more than willing to clear things up because as much as sulky Sinb is cute, she thinks a happy Sinb is better.

“I said I don’t want to see you here.” Yerin clarifies, “Because being here means you’re sick and not in a good condition. I’d much prefer it if we can meet again outside next time. I quite enjoyed your company when we had lunch.”

Sinb blinks once, then twice before realization set in and a second later, she was beaming even though she was trying hard not to make it show, “Oh…” she says, before smiling from ear to ear as she stared at the calling card like it was some sort of undiscovered relic that was worth millions of dollars. Yerin couldn’t help but smile as well.

A happy Sinb was definitely better.

Patting her shoulder, she nods her head outside, “I’ll schedule the first appointment so recover quickly alright?”

“I’ll be back on my feet before you know it.” Sinb assures her with overflowing confidence that Yerin found herself admiring.

“I’ll look forward to it.” Yerin then sees Sojung approaching the both of them and so she leans a bit forward, close to Sinb’s ear and whispered, “Call me.”

She leans back and sees Sinb looking dazed and unfocused.

“What’s wrong with you?” Sojung asks when she was close enough.

“Nothing.” Sinb quickly says, stumbling a bit in her step as she exits the office, “Let’s just go.”

“Have a safe trip home you two.” Yerin waves to the two as they walk away to which they reply with a wave of their own. Sinb was practically using her entire arm to do so, and she can’t help but find it cute.

“She’s quite cute isn’t she?” Eunha approaches, waving at the two as well.

“Which one? For all I know you might be referring to my tall friend.”

“Maybe? Maybe not?” Eunha just sticks her tongue out at her before waving a piece of paper in front of her.

“Oh~ looks like little Jung is stepping up her game.” Yerin raises a brow at that, a grin plastered on her face as she laughs.

“Like you haven’t, I saw what you did back there.” Eunha answers.

Yerin shakes her head in amusement, “Seriously… what in the world are we doing during working hours.”

“Living our lives.” Eunha bumps her shoulder a bit, “By the way, she was your last patient. Do you want to celebrate this a bit?”

Yerin gives her a thumbs up for that, “I’m feeling good today so it’s my treat.”

Eunha cheers.

“You and your love for free food.”

“Food is more delicious when it’s free.” she says, “Now come on! I know just the place.”

Yerin was about to follow when she feels a faint buzzing from inside her pocket. Taking her phone out to check, a smile quickly lights up on her face upon seeing the message a certain someone sent to her.

If I recover in three days, will you go out with me again after our first appointment?

Yerin quickly types a reply and pockets her phone, following Eunha inside the elevator.

We’ll see in three days then.

 

---

 

Yerin was busy with her outpatients as usual. For this day, it seems to have doubled as compared to before. Some were coming in for their annual checkup while most were new. All in all, she already expected a busy day ahead of her.

All in day’s work, perhaps.

“Eunha, how many patients left?”

“Just two left.” her nurse replies, to her relief. Just two more and she can rest and relax before she has to make her rounds later. Stretching her neck a bit, she ushers in the next patient, who was thankfully only suffering from the flu. She does a quick examination, prescribes him some meds and sends him on his way.

Yerin slumps back on her chair, grimacing a bit at how stiff her shoulders and back were getting. Well, sitting for long periods of time wasn’t a good thing and she would usually do quick exercises to keep the stiffness away, but the sudden influx of patients had rendered her stuck to her seat at least until everything had calmed down.

“You look tired.” a voice suddenly speaks up causing Yerin to look up abruptly the moment she found the voice familiar.

“Sinb?” she gapes in surprise seeing her former patient approaching her desk with a small bouquet of flowers in her hands.

The two had hit it off quite well during the first time they went out with just the two of them. Despite Yerin’s busy schedule, they managed to squeeze some time to meet up at random places. It’s been a month full of meet-ups and their so-called appointments and suffice it is to say that the more they went out, the more they looked forward to seeing each other again.

“Hey.” Sinb greets, sitting down on the seat before her.

Yerin stares at her for a while before finally understanding what this was all about.

“Hey, I said I don’t want to see you here again.” Yerin glares at her playfully, unable to keep the mirth off her tone, “I assume you’re my last outpatient for the day?”

“I didn’t really schedule an appointment though? Technically, I’m not your patient, but I wanted to check on how you were doing.” Sinb adds softly and handed her the flowers, “And to bring you this.”

Yerin receives the flowers gratefully, taking a quick whiff and humming in approval, “You should have just called though.”

“That kind of ruins the surprise now does it?” Sinb grins, leaning forward, “You look a bit stressed though, something with work?”

“Not really, there’s just been more people today than usual. Right now, I want nothing more than to shut my eyes and rest.”

“Am I disturbing you?” Sinb asks worriedly, “I can come another time if you want to rest.”

“No~” Yerin whines a bit, holding onto her hands to keep her from going anywhere, “I like you here.”

“You just said you don’t like seeing me here.” she teases.

The doctor pouts slightly, “You’re not a patient right now so it doesn’t count. Just stay for a bit.”

Yerin then slumps down tiredly on her desk, eyes closing slightly.

“If you’re that tired, you should lay down you know.” Sinb tells her, reaching over to brush off some stray hair covering her face.

“If I do, will you stay with me?”

“If you want me to, then of course.”

Yerin opens her eyes and looks back at Sinb who was staring at her with a fond look on her face. Smiling slightly, Sinb ushers her out of her seat and brings her over to the bed meant for examining patients.

“Did anyone use this today?” Sinb asks.

“No.” Yerin replies, already crawling onto it and laying down on her stomach, her face buried into the pillow, arms stretched on top of her head and staying that way, just showing to Sinb how drained she was.

The younger woman chuckles, “Lie down properly, you’re going to hurt your shoulders like that.”

“Yes doctor.” Yerin’s muffled voice says, turning in place with a lot of whining and grunting paired with an annoyed expression. She stares at Sinb who was sitting on the bed beside her for a while before stretching her arms out to her.

“Join me.” Yerin beckons.

“Isn’t the bed a bit too small for the both of us?”

A pair of puppy eyes and a sad pout was all Yerin needed to get the woman to succumb to her whims. Soon enough the two of them were snuggled closely together on the bed, Yerin’s arms wrapped securely around Sinb’s waist and her head resting comfortably on her shoulder.

“You really are a clingy person.” Sinb remarks, bringing her hand up and fixing her hair a little.

“Do you hate it?”

“Normally I would, but I’ll make an exception for you.”

Yerin grins and snuggles herself further into Sinb’s warmth.

“Yay.” she cheers in a groggy voice. Sinb chuckles.

“There’s actually another reason why I came here.” she tells her.

“What is it?” Yerin looks up at her curiously.

“I wanted to ask if you’re free tomorrow night.”

“Oh.” Yerin smiles, “Well you know I’m always up for it. For now, I want to focus on this appointment first.”

Sinb humms in agreement, “This one’s not on schedule though?”

Yerin pats her waist gently, “Sometimes unscheduled appointments are also nice. Now shut up and just make the most of it. It’s not everyday you have a pretty girl laying with you.”

Sinb snickers at that, “Alright, just rest then.”

“Mmm. Though hopefully next time we do this, we take it out of my office.”

Their gazes meet for a short bit, a knowing smile on their lips. Despite not having said anything, they both understood what it meant.

Scheduled or unscheduled appointment, either way was fine. What mattered is that they spent it together.

-END-

A/N How did I even manage to write all this within a day, I don't even know XD