“Is your hand okay?"

Sitting in the hospital garden, Yeonbin basked in the summer sun while sitting on one of the benches alongside her father, who was enjoying it much more than she did. She glanced down at her bandaged hand. “It’s getting better.”

“Dr. Byun did well,” her father chuckled as he surveyed her hand. “You were lucky to have him around.”

A soft smile spread upon her cheeks, she would agree. Her mind at the time wasn’t as sharp as it normally was because of an obvious reason, leading her to cut herself on porcelain fragments almost stupidly. She probably would’ve made much dumber decisions afterward.

“I guess I was,” she replied, biting the bottom of her lip, recalling that moment of Baekhyun treating her hand.

It was silent momentarily, silent enough to where she could hear the soft breeze had rustled some of the nearby plants. 

Her father then broke that tranquility. “Now, are you sure you’re not falling for him? You seem quite different now.”

Yeonbin turned and glanced at her father dumbfounded. The older man was staring - studying - her expression as an indicator of her answer. She wasn’t falling for Baekhyun. It couldn’t be, why would she anyway? Just because he’s handsome, perfect, reliable in situations, just plainly nice to be around? No, that wasn’t the case. 

“Me?” Yeonbin pointed to herself in disbelief before chuckling. “I-I don’t think so.”

After answering him, there was that feeling in her that felt like she was lying. But it couldn’t be. She couldn’t be falling for Baekhyun.

“Remember what I said? Denying it would only make the effects stronger. You’re falling for him, I can sense it.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Yeonbin rolled her eyes and snorted. 

“Still denying, huh? I’ll just watch it all go down from a distance. And I’ll be the one saying “I told you so” when it happens,” her father let out a laugh. 

Glancing down at the time on her watch, she made the decision to leave. “Whatever… I’m just going to go back to work. I’ve been here long enough,” she announced as she got up from the bench. “I’ll see you later and don’t stay out here for too long, you don’t want sun damage on your skin.”

“I won’t. Ever since you introduced me to using sunscreen more often, I’ve been careful with how I treat my skin,” he nodded, acknowledging her statement. 

“I’m always looking out for you,” Yeonbin smiled. “I have to go now, see you!”

“Bye sweetheart!” The old man held up his hand to wave. “Don’t overwork yourself.”

Yeonbin dipped her chin to acknowledge his advice. “I won’t!”

The air outside was comfortably warm just as summer was starting to come in. After spending a good amount of time outside in the hospital garden, Yeonbin made her way into the building almost dreading the thought of having to work for the first time in a while. As the glass doors slid closed behind her, the air conditioning inside the hospital quickly took away the warmth that she had enjoyed over her skin. 

As Yeonbin approached the door to her office, she fished out for her keys and unlocked it. Careful not to strain her palm any further, Yeonbin held the knob of her door and turned it slowly before pushing it open. Turning on the lights, her eyes then looked toward her desk, widening at the sight of a gift bag on the surface. It was quite wide in size, leaving her to wonder what could possibly be in it or even how it got here. She made her way toward the bag and reached for a note that was hanging off of it. 

I hope you like the items that are in the bag. I put a lot of thought into it hehe

A subtle smile made its way over her lips. At the bottom of the card, there was a signature that she couldn’t decipher who it could be from. It looked like a loopy chicken scratch of some sort. She was curious who it could be from and how their gift ended up in her office before her arrival. With a shrug, Yeonbin then reached into the gift bag and felt soft fabric along her hand, almost causing her to flinch. Hesitantly, she then pulled out the item.

It was heavier than she expected but she was still able to pick it up with one hand. Taking it out of the bag, the rectangular item and how it was designed made it obvious that it was a first aid kit. It then hit her that the bag was from Baekhyun. Who else would give her a first aid kit after what had happened two days ago?

Setting the first aid kit down on the desk, her hand reached back into the bag and blindly d inside for the other item, her fingers came into contact with a smaller object that felt like cardboard. Taking it out, her eyes scanned over the design before realizing it was a mug - the same one he had gifted to her before. 

Looking back at the handwritten note, Yeonbin broke into a smile before chuckling softly to herself. It was something simple yet she found herself swayed by it like it was the biggest gesture that anyone had ever done for her. It was sweet, regardless of how small the gesture was. If only she could thank him right now it would’ve been nice. 

Biting the bottom cushion of her lip to stop herself from smiling even more widely, Yeonbin placed the mug and first aid kit back into the bag and carefully set it beside her belongings. Glancing out of the window that displayed an ideal summer scene that she would want to be part of for a longer period, she only let out a sigh and sat herself down at her desk to start another mundane day. Except for this time, her eyes would sometimes glance over at the bag or the window and a small smile would dawn over her face.

-

After wrapping up a meeting, Yeonbin bid her goodbyes to her colleagues before walking away. Glancing down at the files in her hands, she skimmed over the text, recalling the discussion from the past two hours to give herself a refresher. The second half of the meeting was boring and all that was mostly occupying her mind was to return back to her silent office and recharge for the rest of the day in her own company.

Her heels clicked against the tiles of the floor as she made her way back to her office. It was somewhat quiet until there were some quickened footsteps from behind her. Yeonbin didn’t bother wanting to see who it was - knowing there was some emergency being the root cause of it and she didn’t want to get in the way. However, the person hurriedly walked in front of her, their back was and seemed familiar. Cocking her head to see their side profile, her eyes widened seeing who it was and her heart managed to pick up its pace on its own.

“Baekhyun?” Yeonbin then paused, realizing what she had said out loud. And of course, that had gotten his attention and the man turned his head toward her.

“Hey, we’re being informal at work now?” he questioned cheekily, his pace slightly slowed until he was walking beside her. 

“N-No,” Yeonbin shook her head. “It was a mistake really…”

“Okay then, I’ll take it as a mistake,” Baekhyun chuckled even though she knew he didn’t consider it as a mistake.

Remembering his gift from earlier, Yeonbin glanced down at the tiles. “I, uh, just wanted to thank you for the gift today. It was really thoughtful of you.” She then looked up to see his reaction.

“No need to mention it, it’s the least I can do for you,” Baekhyun responded. He then scratched his head as his pace began to pick up again, “And look, I have to apologize… I would love to stick around and talk to you but I’m a little busy right now. I’ll see you when I’m free, okay?” He gave her an assuring look afterward.

Her spirits began to fall but she was able to hide it with a small smile. Their interactions lately were always cut off by the inconvenient timing of work. “Oh, okay. And when will that be?”

His lips formed into a thin line as he hummed. “No idea. But regardless of how long it is, you can wait for me, right?” He then smirked as his hands went into the pockets of his pants.

With a quick nod, Yeonbin smiled, “Yeah, I can.”

“Alright,” he smiled before putting his hand up to wave. “See you, Yeonbin.”

She returned the gesture back. “Take care.”

Dipping his chin, Baekhyun turned in a different direction and lightly jogged down the corridors. Yeonbin stopped in her tracks to watch him before he disappeared behind a corner. Hopefully, she would see him soon, her “thank you” felt too rushed for her liking.

-

It was late and usually, at this time, Yeonbin would be tucked into the comfort of her own bed while working on her laptop. However, she had received a heavier workload than normal on this particular day and it was best she would do all or rather most of it while she was still here. 

Her lights were off, the floor lamps that were placed around her office were the only sources of light that she enjoyed having on as opposed to the tiring, fluorescent ceiling lights - which she rarely used at all. It was comfortable and reminded her of her home. Yeonbin’s eyes remained on the glowing screen of her computer as her fingers quickly danced over the keyboard in hopes of finishing this last assignment before leaving home, it could probably take up to an hour if she was entirely focused.

A soft knock on her door prompted her to slow down. Glancing at the time on her monitor, she sighed. Why did it have to be now of all times? And who could possibly visit her at this hour?

Masking her subtle annoyance, Yeonbin called out, “Come in.”

The door slowly opened and Baekhyun entered her office before closing the door behind him. He greeted her with a soft “hey” and small wave.

Stunned by his unplanned visit, Yeonbin sat up in her seat and tucked loose strands of her hair behind her ears. The annoyance has slowly disappeared. “Hey,” she greeted. “What brings you here?”

Baekhyun slowly walked over and sat down on the couch before lazily adjusting himself to a more comfortable sitting position - basically manspreading. “I had nowhere to go since I’m now free, so I wanted to pay you a short visit. Just like I said I would earlier,” he said with a small smile.

Somehow that made her feel delighted inside. It wasn’t often that someone would think of her when they were free. And it was almost heartwarming that he lived up to what he had said earlier.

“Oh,” Yeonbin nodded, trying to hide her smile. “I thought you wouldn’t remember.”

“You sound disappointed,” he said with a chuckle before he sat himself up off the couch. “Should I leave?”

“No, you can stay here.”

Slowly, he sat back down to his sitting position. “Okay then. So, what are you doing right now? It’s getting pretty late,” Baekhyun asked.

“I’m just finishing up this one last thing before I leave,” Yeonbin gestured toward her computer. “I might get it done within an hour if I don’t get distracted.”

A lazy smile dawned over Baekhyun’s face. “Ah, you’re still busy now. But good thing I won’t be much of a distraction then.” He then sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I was thinking of taking a short nap here, I haven’t slept in a while. If you don’t mind...”

Yeonbin observed him, it seemed like the case. Even with only the lamps in her office on, she can see the subtle shade of sleepiness forming under his eyes. Based on how he was sitting, it seemed like he was going to sleep any minute. 

Her eyebrows knitted together. “No, I don’t mind and you haven’t slept lately?”

He slowly shook his head. “I was up on my feet for over nineteen hours. And I hardly ever sleep. I almost contemplated on getting some anesthesia and knocking myself out temporarily,” he joked. “But, I wouldn’t do that. So now that I’m available, a short nap would be a good thing to do.”

“You should, you need it.”

Baekhyun yawned before he snorted, “Yeah, definitely.” He then laid himself down on the couch, resting his head on a throw pillow that was placed against the couch’s armrest. Turning on his side to face her, he then asked, “If I get paged while sleeping or once you’re done with your work, will you