“Good morning, Soyeon.” Song Yuqi comes bounding down the stairs, her feet making an awful lot of noise so early in the morning.

Jeon Soyeon, who’s leaning against the railing of the stairway of the third floor, looks up at her friend and puts her index finger over her lips. “Good morning, Yuqi.” She says quietly, “People are still sleeping, though.”

It is only 5AM, but they had to report to the hospital and ready for rounds by 6AM, so they figured that they should get up early because the bus could take a little while if traffic is bad. It’s their first real day of work so tardiness would not be a good look.

“Oh, sorry.” Yuqi gently hits her head and adjusts her volume. “I’m just so excited to start.”

“I know, me too.” Soyeon agrees and they start to head downstairs.

Outside, the sun is still sleeping along with most of the city. The humidity is killer, though.

“Ahh … this humid air is making my hair all frizzy.” Yuqi complains as she runs her fingers through her hair.

“It’s cute, though. I like your wavy hair.” Soyeon smiles at her a blushing Yuqi.

“Thanks. It takes a lot of work to tame it though.”

“I see.”

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah, best sleep I’ve had in a while. I always get nervous meeting new people, but now that it’s over with … I’m fine.” Soyeon yawns softly.

“I love to meet new people. You can call me a people person.”

“I can see that …” Soyeon hesitates before continuing, “Thanks for inviting me to eat with you and Shuhua yesterday.”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course. Us interns have to stick together. Especially after seeing how weird the second years and the attendings are.” Yuqi laughs, recalling her interactions with Dr. Kim Yongsun.

“Oh yeah.” Soyeon shudders while thinking about Dr. Moon Byulyi.

“There are tons of other interns we haven’t met from the other departments, too.”

“Tons?”

“Yeah, the other surgical departments. We haven’t even been to the Children’s or the Cancer Hospital. Not to mention the non-surgical residents.”

“I see.” Soyeon is so not looking forward to all that meeting and greeting.

“And I see the bus!” Yuqi points at the bus that pulls up to the stop a few hundred feet ahead of them. “C’mon Soyeon, before they leave.” The stop was empty, so Yuqi didn’t want them to pull out before the two have a chance to get on.

Together, they have a little exercise run in the morning and luckily, the bus driver saw them from afar so he waits for them to get on before leaving. “I’m all warmed up now.” Yuqi laughs as she plops down in a seat on the semi-vacant bus.

“I’m awake now.” Soyeon finds it so easy to laugh along with Yuqi.

It takes around twenty minutes to get to the hospital. Traffic was very light in the early morning. Yuqi and Soyeon pass through the main entrance at approximately 5:30AM.

“You should go on ahead, I’m going to get some coffee before rounds.” Yuqi points toward the food court.

“Oh, okay.” Soyeon nods and waves to Yuqi. “I’ll see you later. Have a good day.”

“Thank you. You too. Make friends today.” Yuqi adds.

Soyeon laughs and sticks her tongue out at Yuqi.

“Cheeky girl.” Yuqi hurriedly runs to the cafeteria for a cup of iced coffee. She pauses and then orders a second cup of iced coffee for Minnie, too. After all, Yuqi will be depending on Minnie a lot this year.

After her purchase, Yuqi rides the elevator down to the first floor basement.

-Beep-click-

The keycard unlocks the door to their shared office. Minnie is already there. The room is dark saved for the lamp on her desk. She is busy flipping through charts and making notes. Yuqi clears to try to get Minnie’s attention, but from the muffled sound of music in this quiet room, it seems Minnie has her headphones in.

Yuqi didn’t want to startle the other girl, so she looks around the room and flips the lights on.

Minnie is immediately startled by the sudden change in luminosity. She turns around to find an apologetic Yuqi standing by the light switch. “Hey.” Minnie smiles, but she looks exhausted. Maybe it’s just her eye shadow, but she looks more like a raccoon than a mouse.

“Good morning.” Yuqi smiles brightly. “I brought you coffee.” She holds the cup up but to her disappointment, Minnie shakes her head.

“Thank you, but I don’t drink coffee.”

“Oh.” Yuqi looks between the two cups.

Minnie feels bad for declining Yuqi’s good intention. The younger girl looks a little crestfallen. “It makes me too jittery … I’m a tea kind of girl.”

“Yeah …” Yuqi  sips on her cup.

“You should get changed before rounds.” Minnie motions to Yuqi, who still has street clothes on.

“Oh yeah!” Yuqi quickly puts the cups down and fishes in her bag for the locker key.

“Do you remember where the locker room is?”

“I think so.” Yuqi takes up both cups again.

“Okay, go change. I’ll come find you in ten minutes after I finish annotations on these charts.”

“Okay, see you!” Yuqi leaves the room and tries to remember the turns that Minnie took to get to the locker room. “Looks like I’ll have to drink both of these.”

—

“Good morning.” Soyeon bows to Soojin, who is already in their office and also working on patient charts before rounds.

“Good morning.” Soojin replies without looking up.

Soyeon is already changed into her scrubs and white coat by the time she gets into the room. She watches Soojin while the older woman work. “Do you need coffee or anything?” She asks, wanting to be useful.

“No.” Soojin finally looks up and smiles. “I’m fine, thank you.” She sounds so gentle and sweet. Soyeon really like Soojin’s calmness.

“Okay.”

“But, if you want to look over these charts that I’ve annotated before rounds, you’re more than welcome to. We still have about twenty minutes.”

“Yes, please. If you don’t mind.” Soyeon hops over to Soojin’s desk.

“It’s a light load, we only have about five patients to work on today. The other residents have already started to make their visits before the actual rounds.”

“Oh, I see.” Soyeon brings the files back to her desk. If the other people already left, then that means Soojin was waiting for her. She smiles as she glances over toward the older woman before flipping through the charts. As a speed-reader, she is able to quickly look through the charts and grasp the primary concern for each patient.

At the end of the twenty minutes, she finishes the stacks of files and is ready to go.

“Dr. Moon …” Soojin quietly starts, “She likes to call on people who meets her eyes … so if you don’t want to get called on, just hang back and avoid looking at her.”

“Ah.” Soyeon nods.

“Unless … you like to get called on?”

Soyeon just grins and shrugs her shoulders.

“I figured.” Soojin smiles knowingly.

Soyeon follows Soojin out of their office.

—

“Good morning, Shuhua.”

Shuhua jumps when she enters office, having expected an empty room and finding Dr. Choi Sooyoung waiting for her.

“H-Hello.”

Dr. Choi is a tall woman with dark brown hair and a warm smile. She sits on one of the office chair with her legs crossed just at the right angle to show off how long  they are. Those tight pants make her legs look so skinny compared to Shuhua’s.

“How are you this morning?” Dr. Choi smiles charmingly.

Shuhua blinks after a few seconds. Her life has taken a weird turn the last two days. “I’m fine, thank you.” She turns around to find a spot to put her handbag down and to avoid Dr. Choi’s gaze.

“I’m your guide for this week.” Dr. Choi is looking at Shuhua as if studying her. “We had drawn straws to determine the order of training. I’m the lucky one to go first.”

“Thank you.” The normally talkative Shuhua is so shy in front of an authority figure.

“That box has all your scrubs and white coat.” Dr. Choi points toward a cardboard box on the sofa. “Bring it with you, I’ll show you to the locker room and we will begin rounds when you’re presentable.”

Shuhua nods meekly and picks up the box. “What is your specialty, Dr. Choi?” It seems rude not to make conversation with one of her teachers.

“Mostly the abdomen and its contents. A lot of hernia repair, gallbladder removal and appendicitis. But sometimes we get the fun stuff, too. Like GI resectioning, tumor removal, and all that jazz.” Dr. Choi pulls her hands in her pockets and leads Shuhua out of the room.

“Will I get to see any of the … um … fun stuff this week?” Shuhua asks, her eyes bright and full of hope.

“Yah. That’s kind of sick of you to hope for that.” Dr. Choi scolds her.

“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant …”

Suddenly, Dr. Choi’s laugh cuts her off. Shuhua knows she’s been had. “I’m just messing with ya, kid. I know what you mean, we’re surgeons. We all live for the fun stuff. I’m not sure if we have any this week. But if we do, you’ll be the first person I page.”

Shuhua smiles and nods. She’s not even mad that she had been fooled.

“Here it is. I’ll wait for you to get changed …” Dr. Choi fishes in her pocket and puts a key in Shuhua’s hand. “This is for your locker, number six.”

“Thank you.” Shuhua looks up at her and smiles brightly, almost like a sweet little puppy.

“Just don’t take too long, alright? We’re on a schedule.” Dr. Choi pats her shoulder.

“Okay.” Shuhua quickly ducks into the locker room while Dr. Choi waits outside.

It is not long before Shuhua dons the blue scrubs and white coat. She definitely looks more like a surgeon now, even if there is still a newbie air to her. She ties her long hair back into a pony-tail and meets Dr. Choi outside.

“Great, you look the part now.” Dr. Choi hands her a clipboard and a new pen that is engraved, ‘To Shuhua, from Dr. Choi Sooyoung.’ A blatant attempt to win her affection.

“Thank you.” Shuhua blushes as she puts the pen into her chest pocket.

“Keep it safe.” Dr. Choi smiles and motions for Shuhua to follow. “Normally, residents would get ready before and present the patients at rounds. However, you are new and we have no other residents to guide you. We will be doing things a bit differently.”

Shuhua nods along and listens carefully.

“We will join the medicine department’s gastroenterology team. It’ll be a good opportunity for you to learn how to present cases at rounds.”

Shuhua has to power walk to keep up with Dr. Choi’s long legs. They’re no joke and she doesn’t attempt to slow down for Shuhua either.

“After rounds, we will go over our cases and see what the appropriate intervention would be. You’ll do some research on techniques after we decide. After lunch, we will meet in my office, where you will present your information.” Dr. Choi talks at the same pace as her walk. “Got it?”

“Yes, I think so.” Shuhua tries to recount the information in her head as they enter the elevator.

“What’s your number?”

“Huh?”

“Your phone number.” Dr. Choi pulls out her phone and hands it to Shuhua.

“Oh.” Shuhua quickly enters her number, even though she feels that she is cornered into it.

“I’ll text you my number, too.”

“Okay.” Today, monosyllabic words are Shuhua’s best friends.

“Alright, let’s see where those medicine nerd are …” Dr. Choi looks around and waves to some nurses sitting at their station.

—

“… And that’s how you present cases during rounds!” Minnie smiles and closes the file in her hand.

“Wow, that was intense.” Yuqi’s eyes are wide like a deer in headlights.

Minnie grins and nods, “You’ll get used to it before you even notice. Don’t worry.”

“I hope so.” Yuqi follows Minnie out of the room as she tries to remember everything that was said during rounds.

“Well, most of our patients are stable at least. We just have to do the post-op follow up with Mrs. Shin, the craniotomy patient from yesterday.” Minnie stifles a yawn.

“Should’ve taken that coffee from earlier, eh?” Yuqi jests as Minnie rubs the bleariness from her eyes.

“Yeah …” Minnie blinks slowly, “I had like 4 hours of sleep in 48 hours. Caffeine would be nice, but I get too jittery with coffee.”

“I gotcha!” Yuqi says a little louder than she meant to, but after drinking most of the two cups of coffee, she’s starting to get a little hyped.

“I need to get something after we see Mrs. Shin.” Minnie yawns again, for some reason the tiredness is starting to catch up to her.

“Why don’t you go get some tea? I’ve got this!” Yuqi chirps loudly. Again.

Minnie looks at her with a slight raise of her eyebrow.

“Really. I can do it. I did a rotation in the neurosurgery department in med school. I’ve done post-op exams before.”

Minnie searches Yuqi’s face for a brief moment, unsure if she should rely on her. After, this is only her second day with Yuqi and she hasn’t tested the new intern yet. Something tells her that she could trust this girl, though.

“Give me a chance. I can do it!” Yuqi presses loudly.

“Okay … page me if you need anything or have a question.” Minnie relents and hands the file over to Yuqi. “I’m going to the resident lounge, I’ll be back in 15 minutes.”

“Okay, I won’t let you down!” Yuqi cheerfully waves to Minnie before going into the patient’s room.

Minnie laughs softly at how cute the younger girl can be before she head toward the resident lounge. She cannot wait until her shift ends in a few hours and she can be off for the next day.

—

“And that’s how I would treat this patient.”  Soyeon concludes her answer.

“Good job, Dr. Jeon.” Dr. Moon nods and gives her a thumb up. “You came prepared.”

“Thank you.” Soyeon smiles coyly, trying to hold back her confidence so it doesn’t look like cockiness.

“That concludes this morning’s rounds. If everyone can follow up with their patients through out the day and report anything critical to me.” Dr. Moon waves to everyone as she makes her way out of the room.

“Whew.” Soyeon lets out a held breath, it was exciting but also extremely pressuring to have the attention of so many doctors in the room.

“Good job.” Soojin says with a soft smile. Soyeon is growing fond of that shy smile.

“Thank you.” Soyeon follows Soojin. “I was a little nervous.”

“I know, you spoke really fast.” Soojin leads Soyeon to her patient. “But you answered really well and I could tell Dr. Moon was impressed.”

“You could?”

“Yeah.”

Soyeon’s teeth gleamed as she a power-watt smile. “I’m glad!”

Soojin suddenly turns to her and hands over a small square. “Here.”

It’s a gold star sticker.

“What’s this?” Soyeon is puzzled as she takes the sticker.

“A little recognition.”

“Thanks!” Soyeon slips the sticker into her pocket.

“Hi Mr. Kim, how are you doing?” Soojin suddenly switches from her shy smile to a bright, cheerful one while her voice also gets a bit louder.

Soyeon greets the patient as Soojin goes over to the exam. She observes a different Soojin in front of patients. She’s more cheerful and outgoing. Her actions are more lively and sweet. She asks about their day and their family. But she reverts to her quiet self when she’s alone with Soyeon.

“We have one more person to visit. Then we will write the treatment plan for them. I have a meeting before lunch. We can reconvene after lunch?” Soojin sketches out the schedule for the rest of their day.

Soyeon is glad to have a bit of quiet work time to herself.

—

There are few sounds more pleasing to Minnie’s ears than the sound of hot water pouring into a cup. As she dunks her tea bag into the cup, she holds it closer to her face to let the steam wash over the skin and the scent getting stronger as it brews. Taking a deep breath, Minnie breaks into a smile as she leans further into her chair. Her weary body appreciates the rest, even if it’s in this uncomfortable chair.

“Minnie, you’re finished with your rounds already?” Soojin’s quiet voice breaks the silence.

“My intern is doing the post-op exam, but yeah we’re pretty much done.” Minnie turns around to look at Soojin, who’s pouring herself a cup of coffee. “You’re done, too?”

“Yeah, I have a conference call with Yulje Medical about a heart transplant in about ten minutes.” Soojin sits down at the seat across from Minnie. “You trust your intern to do the post-op on the first day?”

“Trust is … a strong word.” Minnie takes out her tea bag and blows on the steaming surface to cool her drink. “But Yuqi makes me have confidence in her. It’s hard to explain.”

“No, I get it. I have the same feeling about mine.”

“Really. That’s a big compliment coming from you.” Minnie puts down her cup as she laughs.

Soojin rolls her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Like you don’t compliment people that often … Ms. Ice Queen.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“You guys are fighting again?” Miyeon announces her presence from the door.

“We’re not fighting.” Minnie shakes her head and picks up her cup again.

“Tell your friend to be less annoying.” Soojin nods toward Minnie.

“She’s your friend, too.” Miyeon sits down next to Minnie. “You’re done already?”

Before Minnie could answer, her pager rings from inside her coat’s pocket. She set her cup down for the third time and reaches inside. As soon as she sees the message, she turns and gets up immediately. “I gotta go.” With those words and that expression, her friends could tell that something is seriously wrong. She starts sprinting out of the lounge.

“I hope everything is okay.” Miyeon mutters as Soojin nods.

“I have to get to a conference call … let’s check on her later.” Soojin gets up with her coffee cup. “She didn’t even get to drink her tea.”

Miyeon looks at the steam that’s still rising from the cup and sighs. “Poor Minnie. She must be tired.”

—

“Is this how your people do things, Dr. Kim? You leave post-op exams to a first day intern?” The surgery department head bellows as his voice echoes in his office. Yuqi can only shrink further into herself as he stares dagger at Dr. Kim Yongsun, her attending. “What will happen to the reputation of this hospital? This department? If this gets out.”

“Sir …” Yuqi tries to pipe up.

“I’m sorry, sir. Dr. Song is my responsibility and I was complacent. It won’t happen again.” Dr. Kim Minnie, Yuqi’s resident, stands with her gaze lowered but visibly upset.

“It is not Dr. Song’s fault, sir. She barely had a chance to exam Mrs. Shin before she started seizing. At least we caught the bleed now before she went home and suffer worse outcomes.” Dr. Kim Yongsun calmly replies and shakes her head, “The important thing right now is for Dr. Kim and I to go in to repair the bleed before it gets worse. This is no time to place blames.” Yuqi is surprise at the firm voice that’s defending her. Is this the same shy Dr. Kim?

“Fine. Go do that. But I will have your heads if anything goes wrong.” The angry old man barks his order before waving them out.

Yuqi tensely follows both Dr. Kim’s out of the office. She cannot bare to bring her head up to meet their faces. She had just gotten to Mrs. Shin’s room and barely had a chance to touch the woman before she started vomiting and convulsing. For some reason, Yuqi froze and couldn’t call the code as a flurry of people run around her to help the patient. Eventually, Minnie ran into the room after receiving an SOS page.

“Dr … Yuqi?” Dr. Kim Yongsun, the stranger-shy surgeon finally speaks again. “It wasn’t your fault.” She nods and raises her fist in a motivating manner. “Fighting.”

Turning to Minnie, Dr. Kim Yongsun, pats her shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault either … I know you’re tired, but I’ll need you to assist me again, Nicha.”

Minnie nods quietly.

“See you in the OR.” Dr. Kim waves to both women before departing.

“Minnie …” Yuqi starts to apologize.

“Don’t say anything.”

Yuqi feels sorry and ashamed for her inadequacy. She was so adamant in being able to handle the post-op, yet she froze when the patient started to have a seizure.

“I’m …”

“I gotta go.” Minnie turns away before Yuqi could finish her apology.

It’s been a while since Yuqi felt this small and incompetent. She wish this day was over already.

—

“Hey. You’re Shuhua right?”

Yeh Shuhua turns toward the sweet voice that’s above the background of the cafeteria. “Oh hi.” She nods at Miyeon, who’s smiling sweetly at her. She couldn’t even remember Miyeon’s name so she remains quiet.

Shuhua continues through the serving line after offering her short greeting.

“Where are your friends?” Miyeon looks around the crowded cafeteria.

“I haven’t seen them all day.”

“I see. First day can be busy for interns.”

Shuhua nods. She didn’t want to say that her day is rather smooth and she didn’t have too much to do other than providing a report to Dr. Choi after lunch.

“I can get your lunch, consider it my treat.” Miyeon generously offers as she follows the cute girl through the line.

Miyeon always liked cute things, people, and animals. Shuhua just happens to match her perfect type of cute with wide eyes, small mouth, and ivory white skin that glows in comparison with her jet black hair. Shuhua looks just like a cute doll, one that Miyeon would love to dress up in cute outfits. A bow here, some glitter there …

“No, thanks.” Shuhua shakes her head and holds up her wallet. “I have money.” She’s not interested in being a pity case or anything of the sort. She’s always wary of strangers, especially ones who are too friendly too quickly.

“I know, but as your sunbae, I can treat you.”

“It’s alright, I don’t report directly to you.”

“But I insist.”

“And I insist that I pay for myself.” Shuhua reaches the end of the queue, where a nice cafeteria worker is waiting to ring up her order.

“Why are you being so stubborn?” Miyeon huffs, unsure why this stubbornness is making Shuhua seem even cuter.

Shuhua ignores her and pays for her meal. Not forgetting her manners, she bows slightly to Miyeon before jetting off.

“Oooh, wait for me~” Miyeon hurriedly pays for her meal and follows Shuhua to a table, much to the younger woman’s chagrin.

Since it is not orientation day, the cafeteria is much quieter and less crowded. It is a lot easier to find a table that’s to the corner of the room and next to a bright window.

“Why do you have to follow me? Where are your friends?” Shuhua wanted a little quiet time to look over some patient files before her report to Dr. Choi. Though, now that she thinks about it, one of Miyeon’s friend is that beautiful woman. “Like … Soojin …”

“Oh, she’s coming for lunch in a little bit.” Miyeon smiles, seeing Shuhua’s eyes light up like Christmas lights on a tree.

“S-she’s coming?” Shuhua could hardly contain her excitement that she stutters.

“Yeah, she’s on a conference call and then she’s going to come have lunch with me.”

“With you?” Shuhua asks with a confused, sad puppy look that really tickles Miyeon.

“Yeah, she is my friend … who you asked about …” Miyeon laughs and points toward the door, “there she is!”

Shuhua follows the direction of Miyeon’s fingertip and looks toward the goddess, who is strolling into this ordinary cafeteria. “Wow …”

Each time Shuhua sees Soojin, she feels her self-control slip further and further away. slacks open and the kaleidoscope vision tunnels around Soojin. It looks like the woman is filming a shampoo commercial and walking around like a super model.

“Hey, Soojinnie.” Miyeon waves to her friend.

Soojin looks indifferent toward Shuhua, but to Miyeon, she offers a small smile and settles into a seat next to her. “Hi.”

“How was the conference call?” Miyeon scoots over to give her friend some room.

“Boring and a bit longer than necessary.” Soojin opens her lunch bag and keeps her eyes on Miyeon, ignoring the gawking Shuhua across from her.

“Soojin, you remember Shuhua from yesterday?” Miyeon offers Shuhua a little help.

“Uh huh.” Soojin turns to look at Shuhua, who attempts to look half-way decent. “Yeh Shushu.” Soojin playfully repeats the mistaken name that Shuhua said from the day before.

Hearing the teasing tone coming out of Soojin’s mouth causes Shuhua to shiver with happiness. “Hi.” That’s all she could think of to say.

“Hello.”

“What did you bring for lunch?” Shuhua points to Soojin’s lunch bag in curiosity.

“Soojin packs her lunch all year round.” Miyeon states proudly. “Well, minus the occasional lunch conferences.”

Soojin gives her friend a little smile and opens her lunch bag to show some veggies and a heaping serving of meat.

“Wow, that looks amazing.” Shuhua exclaims, watering as she looks over the glistening pieces of meat. She feels her cafeteria lunch is severely lacking in every way compared to Soojin’s feast.

Soojin laughs softly when she sees Shuhua drooling. It’s the second time that the younger girl has drooled near her in two days. She can’t help but feel a bit sorry for the child.

Feeling a little generous and maybe a little bit of pity, Soojin uses her chopsticks and picks out some pieces to put onto Shuhua’s lunch tray. “Here … try some.”

Excitedly, Shuhua claps and gets into it. She practically swallowed the grilled meat whole, barely taking time to chew and savor. “It’s so delicious!” Her stuffed face makes her look like a hungry hungry chipmunk.

“Slow down, you’re going to choke.” Miyeon laughs at Shuhua’s cuteness and tries to reach over to pat her arm, only for Shuhua to swat her hand away.

Shuhua shoots Miyeon a pointed look before turning into a sweet puppy toward Soojin. “Thank you. You’re amazing. Please let me buy you dinner … as repayment.” Her eyelashes flutter as she props her chin on her palm. “It’s the least I could do.”

Soojin snorts and rolls her eyes. “Please let me eat in peace.” Even though she rejects Shuhua’s advances, the small smile on her lips is very telling for Miyeon. Soojin can be so hot and cold sometimes that it’s hard to have an accurate read on her mood. But, Miyeon can tell that right now Soojin is in a semi-good mood.

Soojin is not the type to flirt with anyone or date anyone out of pity. However, she is very kind and softhearted, despite her cold demeanor. Miyeon has gathered as much through the year that they’d spent together.

Miyeon smiles and watches the two interact for a bit before she looks around the cafeteria.

“Did you find out what’s going on with Minnie?” Soojin notices her friend’s brief distraction.

“I sent her a text to meet at lunch, but she hasn’t responded … it didn’t even say ‘seen’ so I think she’s probably in surgery or something urgent.” Miyeon sighs.

“Didn’t she just come out of a double?” Soojin swats Shuhua’s hand away from her hair.

“Yeah, so she must be so tired right now.”

“Maybe she fell asleep somewhere.”

“That’s not like her …” Miyeon shrugs off the cheerless thought and brings back her sweet smile. “But I’m glad you guys are here.”

Shuhua nods in agreement, but more or less because she gets to see Soojin and eat Soojin’s cooking.

They eat together for the rest of their break before going separately toward their appointments.

—

The brightness of the sun briefly stuns Soyeon right before the warm summer breeze embraces her. She pushes the rooftop door wider as she steps outside to the outdoor seating area. The hospital, like a lot of modern buildings, have a small green space on the rooftop to encourage employees to get some sun once in a while. It has a few vending machine and a designated smoking area as well. Soyeon brings her lunch up here to get some fresh air and alone time with music.

Soyeon considered texting her new friends to see if they wanted to join her, but decided against it because she really wanted some time alone to reset her thoughts. There aren’t many people up here today, so she doesn’t have a hard time finding a bench to sit on. From the plastic bag from the hospital convenience store, she brings out a sandwich, a drink, and some tangerines. With her earphones in, she starts to munch on her sandwich while staring out to the landscape beyond the hospital. Being on a slight hill has its advantage, because Soyeon can see so far into the sprawling city in front of her. Her thoughts begin to wander to the years behind her, where all that hard work led to this moment … of her sitting here eating this convenience store sandwich.

Soyeon smiles to herself at the ironic thought. Just as she starts to wonder if it was all worth it, she notice some movements on a bench not far away to her left. She turns to find Yuqi sitting alone with her hands making wiping motions across her face. Soyeon takes off her earphones and stands up immediately. As she steps forward, she hesitates for a second, should she rush over right now and catch Yuqi in this vulnerable moment? They aren’t even close friends yet … but no matter, Yuqi seems like she’s crying really hard.

“Hey …” Soyeon steps closer, “What’s wrong, Yuqi?”

Yuqi looks up in surprise, her normally happy eyes are wet and red with sorrow. “Soyeon …” She turns to try to wipe off the tears and hide her face from Soyeon. “It’s nothing.”

“You don’t have to say it.” Soyeon sits down next to Yuqi, keeping a respectable distance. “Here, use these.” She hands Yuqi some napkins from her plastic bag.

“T-thanks …” For some reason, having this minimum level of kindness makes Yuqi cry even harder, despite her best efforts. She takes the napkins and dabs under her eyes.

“Yeah …” Soyeon sits with Yuqi as the other girl sniffles quietly.

After about five minutes of silence, Soyeon puts one hand on Yuqi’s shoulder. “Here … have some.” She hands Yuqi three tangerines. Soft is not a word people would use to describe Soyeon, but in this moment, that’s the exact word use. She is normally awkward with people, so she doesn’t know how to cheer someone up right away. But she wants to help her friend.

Yuqi looks at the small fruits in her hands and suddenly starts to laugh between sobs. “What … why …”

“I bought it from the store … for lunch.” Soyeon awkwardly answers.

“Thank you …” Yuqi smiles a little.

“You’re welcome. Do you want something to drink?” Soyeon motions to the vending machines behind them.

“No, I’m … I’m okay.” Yuqi smiles and reaches over to pat Soyeon’s hand, as if to thank her for her kind thoughts.

“Oh okay.” Soyeon goes back to to being quiet. Though, she looks down at the hand that Yuqi had touched. It felt warmer than before.

“Thanks, Soyeon.” Yuqi smiles gratefully.

“Anytime.” Soyeon coolly nods, “Is there anything I can do?”

“No …” Yuqi hesitates before telling Soyeon what happened.

Soyeon listens quietly, nodding along as Yuqi animatedly recounts her morning.

“So now Minnie’s mad at me.” Yuqi lets out a loud huff and slumps her shoulder.

When the younger girl finally finishes her story, Soyeon has a rather serious look on her face with her brows wrinkled up and everything. “It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong, though.”

“I know, but I can’t help but feel like I’m responsible somehow.”

“If anything, it’s Minnie’s fault for leaving you alone.”

“No! That’s why I feel responsible, because I was the one who convinced her to trust me.”

“She should have been more diligent …”

“No, I …”

“So it was not your fault nor Minnie’s.”

“Right.”

“Then why are you so upset?”

“I don’t know, because I got Dr. Kim and Minnie chewed out by the chief?”

“So it’s his fault?” Soyeon sounds serious, but for some reason Yuqi knows that she’s playing.

“No, silly!” Yuqi can’t help but laugh at Soyeon’s funny expression.

“Do you want me to go talk to him?” Soyeon feigns a serious look, “I can give him a stern speech about improperly chewing people out for no reason.”

“No!” Yuqi laughs harder, wiping tears away from her eyes. This time, at least they’re not sad tears. “No, please don’t.”

Soyeon joins Yuqi in laughter at the ridiculousness of her offer. Yuqi is really pretty and cute when she laughs. Even though Yuqi’s voice is more on the husky side, her loud laugh is as sweet as a bird’s song or a bell’s chime to Soyeon. She can’t help but get pulled into the younger girl’s emotions.

“That made me feel a bit better. Thanks, Soyeon.” Yuqi rests her hand on Soyeon’s shoulder.

“No problem. I’m glad.” If Soyeon didn’t have such strong grip on her emotions, she might have blushed at the touch. “I have to go meet with Soojin to discuss some treatment plans now… are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I better go check on how the surgery is going.” Yuqi sighs and rises from the bench along with Soyeon. She puts two tangerines in her pocket and starts to peel one. “Thanks for lunch.” Her eyes are still puff and nose still red, but she seems a whole lot more cheerful than before.

“Stop thanking me.” Soyeon smiles and waves to her friend. “I’ll see you later.”

“See you.” Yuqi waves back and watches Soyeon disappear from the garden.

—

“Yuqi … you’re still here.” Minnie pulls off her hair bonnet as she dumps her surgical gown into the basket.

“Yeah …” Yuqi nods and searches Minnie’s face for an answer.

“She’ll be okay.” Minnie answers the unasked question.

“Thank God.” Yuqi lets out a held breath and slumps down on the ground for a bit.

Minnie takes a deep breath and slides on the ground next to Yuqi. “Sorry I was mean to you earlier.” She sighs and turns to Yuqi. “I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She takes a deep breath and continues, “I made a lot of mistakes when I was an intern as well. Today, I was frustrated at myself for not taking better care of you … like my sunbaes did for me.” Her eyes lower to her hands, “I should have been a better sunbae.” She looks to Yuqi after a moment of silence.

“Thanks …” Yuqi nods and turns toward Minnie, silently hoping her eyes aren’t red anymore. She doesn’t want her sunbae to know that she cried. “… for apologizing.”

“Will you forgive me?”

“…” Yuqi stares at Minnie for a second, letting the other woman simmer in discomfort before smiling widely. “There’s nothing to forgive … let’s start over tomorrow.”

Minnie laughs and slaps Yuqi’s shoulder. “You had me going there!” She shakes her head and leans back against the wall. “I’m off tomorrow, so you get Dr. Kim all to yourself.”

“What?!” Yuqi gasps loudly. “How … why …”

“I’ve done two back to back overnights and this was a double …” Minnie looks at her watch, it’s almost 6PM. “I need to rest. You’ll be fine, she’s more gentle than a lot of other attendings.”

“I’m not worried about me, I’m worried about her!” Yuqi shakes her head, “she’s so shy … what if I scare her away?”

Minnie laughs and slaps Yuqi’s shoulder, again. “You won’t, she’s not that big of a chicken. You’ll learn a lot from her … it’ll be a good do-over for today.”

“If you say so …” Yuqi feels a bit more relieved. “I’ll just have to work harder tomorrow.”

“That’s the attitude … here, have some chocolate.” Minnie digs into her scrubs’ pocket but Yuqi shakes her head.

“No offense … but I don’t want your pocket chocolate …” Yuqi looks down at the rather squished looking piece of Hershey’s. She reaches into her own pocket, “I’ve got my own pocket tangerine.”

Minnie laughs and slaps Yuqi’s shoulder, one more time. “You’re funny, Yuqi. I think we’ll be just fine.”

“Yeah, I think so, too.” Yuqi laughs along as she massages her shoulder.

The two sits there for a bit longer, eating their respective snack, before saying goodbye for the day.

—

A week passes by and the interns are completely comfortable with their new routines. Yuqi, Shuhua, and Soyeon form a lunch and study trio. They also gets together in Shuhua’s office to keep her company. Soyeon is witty and awkwardly funny, but she has a surprising side full of aegyo. Shuhua looks seems very immature, but is actually mentally strong and focused. Yuqi is always energetic, but is very thoughtful and sensitive.

They occasionally sits with Minnie, Miyeon, and Soojin for lunch. The six of them try not to talk about work all the time. They start to get to know each other’s preference for music, movies, and hobbies. Despite the rough start in the beginning, everything starts to fall into place for the younger girls.

—

“That would be 4,000 won, please.” The cafeteria worker slides the money tray toward Shuhua.

The young woman reaches into her white coat and realizes that her pockets are empty except for a pen and her phone.“Oh no …” Shuhua pats around her white coat, trying to find her wallet. She could’ve sworn that she had put her wallet in her pocket this morning.

The cafeteria worker could tell that Shuhua didn’t have her money and a line was forming quickly behind the young intern. “Miss …”

Shuhua is bright red as her eyes tear up, she couldn’t pay and isn’t going to resort to begging. “I … don’t have my wallet …”

The worker feels sympathetic toward the young woman, but she couldn’t let her have food for free due to cafeteria policy. She sighs and shakes her head, “I’m sorry, but I have to get the next customer …”

Nodding, Shuhua takes her food tray and puts it aside before leaving the line ashamed. She’s never forgetting her wallet before and she doesn’t like the looks that people are giving her. She’s not poor nor is she trying to get food for free. Can’t they understand that? Feelings start to bottle up inside her as her cheeks burn hot and her eyes water. Her stomach starts to rumble at this inopportune time, causing her to fold her arms over her belly. She quickly makes her way toward the door to avoid the looks, but as she reaches the entrance she collides into a taller body just as the door opens. Shuhua bounces back, almost falling, but a hand grasps around her forearm and keeps her from tumbling backward.

“Watch where you’re going, kid.” Soojin’s soft, smooth voice reminds her.

“Unnie …” Shuhua looks up at Soojin with wet eyes and pouts, causing the older woman to be taken back.

“What … I didn’t bump you that hard.” Soojin frowns and rests her hand on Shuhua’s shoulder.

“I don’t have money!” Shuhua cries loudly, all shame abandoned, ignoring the stares from other people.

“What?” Soojin frowns harder in confusion.

“My wallet!” Shuhua’s loud broken explanation serves no one any good. “I don’t have it and they won’t let me have food!”

“Oh …” Soojin rolls her eyes and sighs, “That’s all? I can give you some money. Just stop crying.” Is this pity?

“I don’t want it anymore!” Shuhua whines.

“…” Soojin pulls Shuhua away from the door, toward a nearby table, and away from prying eyes.

Shuhua follows without resistance, feeling the warmth from Soojin’s hand on her forearm. Even between sobs and tears, she smiles a little bit.

“Can I eat some of your lunch, unnie?” Shuhua bravely points to Soojin’s lunch bag as they reach their seats.

Soojin looks between Shuhua and her food. “You don’t even know what I packed.”

“But I know it’ll be good because you made it.”

“How do you know that?”

“What you made last time was really good!”

“Okay … so you don’t want to buy food from the cafeteria … but you want my food?”

“Yes!”

“… I’m going to get some coffee and something for you to eat with …” Soojin replies with some resignation.

“Hooray!” Shuhua is happy to have worn Soojin down a little bit. Normally, she’s not one to let people pity her, but if that’s what it takes for Soojin to pay attention to her … then at least it’s not a bad first step.

Soojin shakes her head and rolls her eyes as the younger girl claps her hands in excitement. She is a little pleased that someone is excited about her cooking, though. Miyeon and Minnie always praised her food, but they don’t have nearly half of the excitement that this Shuhua girl has. Soojin feels almost as much pride in her cooking as she does her surgical skills, so this certainly hits the spot for her.

When Soojin comes back, she brings with her a plate, some silverwares, and a cup of iced Americano.

“Do you like that drink … unnie?” Shuhua is not typically good with honorifics, but for some reason it feels so right to call Soojin her unnie.

“Yeah … oh, I forgot to get you a drink. What would you like?” Soojin starts to share some of her food onto the spare plate for Shuhua.

“Can I drink some of yours?”

“No.” Soojin quickly shuts that down. As much as she has started to like Shuhua’s attention, she won’t put up with the cheesiness of the younger woman’s strange infatuation with her.

“Aww … why not?” Shuhua whines, as she accepts her plate from Soojin.

“That’s unhygienic.” Soojin answers matter-of-factly. “We can be friends, but please stop acting like you’re into me or something.”

“But I am into you.” Shuhua blinks dramatically. “Very much into you. So so so into you.”

Soojin gives Shuhua a look of warning. She doesn’t like games like this, people pretending to like her that way when they first meet her. “You barely know me.”

“I know enough.” Shuhua smiles and points to Soojin. “Your name is Seo Soojin, you’re kind enough to share food with me …”

“That’s all it takes?” Soojin laughs, “give you some food?”

“Yes and no.” Shuhua shakes her head adamantly, “You make good food and I fell for you the moment that I saw you.”

“And what did you see that made you fall for me?” Soojin is curious.

“I’m not sure yet … I saw you and my heart spasmed … and then your food tasted so good.” Shuhua tries to count in her head all the ways that made her fall for Soojin.

Soojin rolls her eyes again. “That’s not a good prognosis, as a Cardiothoracic surgeon, I advise you to have that heart spasm checked out.”

“Can you check me out, Soojin-unnie?” Shuhua smiles coyly.

That is a smooth one. Soojin totally set herself up for that, so she can’t even argue back. “Just eat your food.”

“Okay, unnie.” Shuhua answers extra demure tone as she smiles sweetly at Soojin.

What has Soojin signed herself up for? Will she ever win against this strange, stubborn girl?

—

Yuqi enters Shuhua’s office, which is their unofficial base now since no one else shares the office with the youngest.

“Hey, Soyeon.”

“Hi, Yuqi.”

“Have you been here long?”

“No … about an hour or so?”

“Whatcha working on?”

“Just some research for this surgery that Soojin is assisting with tomorrow.”

“I just watched Minnie perform most of a surgery by herself.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, she’s amazing. She wasn’t nervous or anything … I hope to get to their level soon.”

“We’ll get there eventually, they were interns like us once.”

“I know. But I just feel like I need to do more, you know?”

“Take it at your own pace, Yuqi. You don’t need to go by anyone else’s speed.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Of course.”

“Okay, Miss Genius Cardio surgeon.”

They laugh together and work together for a few more hours. As the sun sets, they start to pack everything up to go home. Since they live in the same building, they often go home together.

“Would you mind if we drop by my office to pick up some stuff?” Yuqi left some reading material that she wanted to check out later.

“Sure.”

Together they head toward Yuqi’s office. When they get out of the elevator, they catch a glimpse of Miyeon ahead of them. She’s carrying some take-out bag with her. As they start to call out to her, she enters Yuqi’s office after inputing the code. Minnie must have told her their code, even though she stressed to Yuqi not to tell anyone. Yuqi feels a bit slighted because she didn’t share their door code with anyone, including her friends.

“She’s here late.” Soyeon makes a soft comment.

“Yeah …”

As the reach the door, they notice that the room is slightly dark and only half of the lights are on. Yuqi reaches to put her ID on the pad, but Soyeon pulls her hand down.

Through the narrow window on the door, they watch as Miyeon leaves the take-out on one of the desks and walks over to Minnie, who’s sleeping on the sofa. Minnie is probably exhausted after her surgery and took a nap. Miyeon perches on the edge of the sofa and fixes Minnie’s bangs before gently the sleeping girl’s cheek.

Yuqi and Soyeon’s cheeks turn bright red and they quickly turn from the door as Miyeon leans down to kiss Minnie’s lips.

Without saying anything to each other, they both turn back and run toward the elevator again. They speed walk toward the bus stop and when they’ve finally seated, they both stare straight ahead and avoid talking about what they just witness. It was a private moment that they intruded. It was the first time they’ve witnessed anything so intimate, so they are at a loss of words.

Yuqi wonders how she would be able to look at Minnie tomorrow.

Some things can’t be unseen.