The alarm ran out loudly. And with a groan, Soeun untangled herself from her warm blanket and slowly sat up. She yawned as she stretched her limbs out to wake up the muscles in her body. Her eyes was still closed while she slumped forward, still dozy from her long slumber. Still, the alarm rang in the background - her ears grew numb to it. Until the cold draft flown into the room from the side cracks of the window, Soeun shivered and began to peek with one eye to locate her phone on the nightstand. The feeling of the screen of the device came into contact with the tips of her fingers. Grasping it, she brought it in front of her. 

She didn't remember her alarm sounding less annoying along with her lockscreen being a picture of Soojin. 

Wait...

Soeun eyes widen in realization. Immediately, she tapped on the green accept call button and brought the phone to her ear, then waited for the line to connect. After a couple of rings, the line went through. 

"YAH!" The older on the other line yelled. "I've been trying to call you for the fifth time! What were you doing?!"

Soeun could already feel her ear ringing. "Sleeping...?"

It went quiet. Soeun had to double check her phone to see if Soojin was still on the call - she was. 

"Ssong-ah, are you feeling okay? You realized it's 1pm, right? You usually don't sleep pass 10am." 

Feeling a bit confused, Soeun looked up to the wall-mounted clock above her desk. 

Soojin was right. It was 1pm like she said it was. But why was the older girl calling her?

"Ssong-ah? Are you still there?"

The younger snapped out of it. "Huh? Yeah!" She looked around the room for her calender. "What's the reason you called-" Then there it was, the calendar with today's date circled and writing, 'meeting with Soojin unnie for her break at 1pm' staring at her. 

AH FU- "I'm so sorry, unnie! Give me about 10 minutes, and I'll be there!" Soeun scrambled out of her bed and tripped over her blanket before dashing into her closet. 

"Wait Soeun-" 

The called ended right when Soeun was trying to pull a shirt over her head. Throwing on some jeans and quickly attended her usual hygiene, she was out the door with her feet half-wedged into her shoes. And of course, not forgetting a coat along with her car keys. 

--

Arriving at the hospital down the street from their apartment, Soeun pulled up front and texted Soojin to inform her. 

To Jinnie unnie: 'I'm right in the front. Come out whenever you're ready.' 

From Jinnie unnie: 'Alright <3' 

Unconsciously, Soeun felt curve into a smile. 

Soon, Soojin emerged from the sliding doors of the building, dressed in her white doctor's coat, blouse, and jeans. Her medical ID dangled around her neck. The older had her winter coat in her arms as she walked towards the car. Pulling the front door open, Soojin slipped right into the passenger seat. 

"You didn't have to rush here, y'know? If you feel exhausted from work yesterday, you should have rest instead." The young doctor ran her fingers through her hair to fix the loose strands and offered Soeun a smile. 

And wow, did Soeun felt her heart race. After a couple of years of living together, she had always found her unnie fixing her hair extremely attractive. Oh, and don't even get her started about how perfect Soojin's smile is because she knows she would write over a thousand page essay on it. 

Soeun was brought out her daze as Soojin flicked her on the forehead. Flinching, Soeun brought a hand to rub away the pain and let out a whine. 

"Yeah, I think you should have taken that extra time to rest. It seems like your mind isn't fully awake yet." Soojin patted her on the cheek. Then she took the time to take off her doctor's coat, throwing it off to the backseat, and buckling in her seatbelt. 

A bit pink. "No, I'm fine. It's just that you took too long." Soeun playfully joked. Her hand on the gear shift pulled it into drive as she tried to hide her flushed face by directing her attention to the road instead. 

"I did not!" Soojin recoiled. "At least, I wasn't the one that overslept when she was the one that wanted to spend time together today." 

Soeun felt a hand on top of hers on the gear. Not having to look down, she already knew it was Soojin's. Between the two of them, Soeun was often behind the wheel since Soojin paid for most of the rent for their apartment - it was a mutual agreement (and it's not like Soeun minded driving Soojin to work every morning and picking her up later at night). And this developed Soojin's habit of holding Soeun's hand every time they would be in a car together. 

"W-whatever." Soeun muttered, and turned away to look out her window when they approached a red light as her face turned red. 

--

"So, why did you suddenly wanted to go out?" The older took a sip of her hot coffee. 

They ended up going to their favorite cafe, the place where they have met for the first time. Seated at a booth, Soojin and Soeun sat across each other after ordering their usual drinks, consisting of sweet coffee, and a slice of their favorite dessert, strawberry cheesecake. (Okay, maybe Soeun wasn't that big of a fan it, but would she buy millions of it to make Soojin happy? That answer was a yes.) 

"Well, you know. The holidays are coming up, and I thought it was the best time to hang out together after we both been busy with work these past couple of weeks," And maybe it's the best time to finally tell you "and I-I've been meaning to tell you something." Soeun started to feel anixous. Her palms started to feel clamy. Her eyes started to avoid any form of eye contact. 

"Oh really? What is it?" Soojin tilted her head in curiosity with her fork cutting halfway through the cake. She looked at the younger with bright eyes and anticipartion.

Cute. No, Park Soeun! Don't distracted now! Just tell her! "I-I was wondering if... um..." Feeling going dry, Soeun couldn't organize her words anymore. "T-That whether if you got your Christmas shopping done! Yeah... That's definitely what I wanted to ask..." Oh my god, I'm such an idiot.

"Oh." The fork cut straight through the cake. Soojin scooped up the piece and brought it to . "I've got Jiyoon's, Jaehee's, and Jihan's ready and wrapped. I'm still waiting for Jimin's and Hyewon's to come into the mail. And I haven't had the time to find yours yet because the hospital's been really busy lately." She ate the piece of cake on the fork. 

Soeun watched as Soojin let out a sigh and her eyes dimmed a bit. Was she expecting Soeun to say something else? Thinking it was just all in her head, Soeun pushed the thought aside. 

"O-Oh ok. You know, you don't have to buy me anything this year if it's a hassle, especially when I know you're busy with work." Taking a sip of her coffee, Soeun almost spit it out after she had forgotten to blow on the hot liquid first, resulting in a burnt tongue. She let out a series of coughs. 

Soojin chuckled. The doctor reached out with a napkin and dabbed at Soeun's mouth. "You're such an idiot." 

Soeun rolled her eyes as her cheeks blushed again. "But you love this idiot." She smirked. 

"And you're lucky I do." Soojin pinched her cheek and returned the smirk. 

As if Soeun's heart wasn't already going to explode, it felt like it had somersaulted for the nth time. Yup, only this girlmade her feel this way. And now, all she wanted to do is smack herself for being unable to confess to her. 

Then Soojin's phone rang. That's when Soeun knew their time together had to end.

"I guess it's time for me to head back to the hospital. They're going to need me soon." Soojin stood up from her seat first. "Thanks for the treat, Ssong-ah. And let's meet up again next time during my breaks." She took the opportunity to peck the younger on the cheek before heading out of the cafe. Both the cup and plate were left empty. 

Still sitting in her seat, Soeun's mind malfunctioned as she couldn't believed what had happened. Then she shook her head to stop her brain from completely stopping and jumped out of her seat to catch up with Soojin outside. 

Next time for sure, Park Soeun.