stolen stares and suppressed smiles

     "Wow, Dr. Shin is out to buy Dahyun a phone?" Gayeong asks.

     The four interns are sitting at their usual table which was beside the huge glass window where the sun perfectly showers them with the vitams they desperately need. They're doctors now, real doctors at a hospital and they barely have the time to go out. Well, except for Baekhyun who mysteriously still has time for a morning jog every single day.

     "Yeah," Baekhyun shrugs, trying to look nonchalant despite knowing how difficult it was to get Seolhee to buy Dahyun a new-slash-ancient phone. "Wow, she must really love kids," Yejun comments and Baekhyun simply agrees.

     The other interns, Gayeong and Yejun, have been asking a lot of questions about Seolhee and him lately. Baekhyun knows they heard rumors about them. Baekhyun hasn't been too discreet in showing their closeness anyway; it was bound to happen. Somehow, Baekhyun wanted people to talk about them.

     But out of respect for Seolhee and her need for privacy, Baekhyun clarified everything by saying that they in the same circle of friend in college but weren't actually that close. Even he was surprised that his story made sense knowing damn well that he made it on the spot.

     Even his co-interns believed him. Only Yejun asked a follow-up question: "So you two were never a thing?" and Baekhyun said no. "Makes sense. Dr. Shin doesn't look like the type who'll date someone like you. No offense hyung."

     But Baekhyun took offense and he did not let go of that. "What do you mean by that?" Baekhyun questioned.

     "I said no offense, hyung. But I've seen your high school photos and you didn't look like Dr. Shin's type," the clueless Yejun replied.

     Baekhyun's nostrils flared, trying to contain his anger. On the other hand, Yixing, who knew everything, was hiding behind his locker door, trying his best to suppress a laugh. "You know nothing about Dr. Shin's type," was all Baekhyun said before storming out of their locker room.

Meanwhile at the mall, while Seolhee is still wearing her frog-printed lime green scrubs, she's holding Dahyun's little hands. At one point she almost teared up by how Dahyun's hand is wrapper around her pointer finger and it was the cutest thing in the world. She swears it has nothing to do with Baekhyun. It was all Dahyun and her natural cuteness.

     "Okay, let's go here," Seolhee leads her inside the Samsung store. They were quickly assisted but the keypad phones were no longer available.

     "If you want, since that's an iPhone, you can go to the Apple service center at the upper floor. They can put restrictions on the phone so she can access only the child-friendly features of the phone," the lady who assisted them says.

     Seolhee and Dahyun thanked her and went to the instructed location. It took less than 15 minutes to set up the phone but Seolhee had already fallen asleep on the waiting area. After finishing the transaction, the then-energetic Dahyun already occupying two chairs passed out with her half-opened mouth.

     Seolhee sighs at the scene. She hates carrying kids, but not as much as waking them up. So without any other choice, Seolhee picks her up, lying Dahyun's head on her shoulder. Dahyun snuggled on her neck and she swore she almost teared up again. She spent years working with kids, and the more she does, the more she appreciates how their little minds work.

     When the sun shone on her face as soon as they got outside, Dahyun woke up, earning a "thank god" from Seolhee because she felt like her arms are about to fall off. Dahyun is heavy.

     "Ice cream," was the first word she said to Seolhee while she's still squeezing her eyes.

     "You want ice cream, Dahyunie? Are you allowed to eat ice cream?"

     Dahyun nods and flashes and excited smile. "Okay, then let's get you some,"

     Behind the mall was a children's park and luckily there was an ice cream truck. Seolhee couldn't help but let out an audible laugh when Dahyun asked for a strawberry ice cream. It was usual for kids to love strawberries, but Dahyun loving strawberry flavors? That's definitely something Baekhyun forced on her, she thought.

     They sit an a bench and Dahyun swings her feet back on forth as they don't reach the ground yet. 

     "Are you gonna be my mom?"

     Seolhee choked on her spit.

     "What?"

     Dahyun shrugs. "Our homeroom teacher said a family has a mother, a father, and a child. I asked dad about my mother but he said we can still be a family even without a mom. But my classmates have one and I wanna have one, too." she says. "So will you be my mother?"

     Seolhee nervously laughs. She shouldn't be getting cold hands because of a question of a four-year-old but it was a big deal to talk about such things with a kid. "Well," Seolhee shifts her body to Dahyun's direction and leans down a little. "I can't be your mom, but I'm a friend of your dad, so maybe you can call me auntie instead. Is that okay with you?"