a game of push and pull

Something switched in Baekhyun after that encounter with Seolhee when she asked him to be nothing but colleagues. He could only think of one thing, and it goes along the line: hell no.

     Seolhee is waiting for the medical record of her new patient who just came in when Baekhyun stands next to her. "Yes, Dr. Byun?" Seolhee raises her eyebrows.

     Instead of answering, Baekhyun takes a step forward, now too close to even look at him straight in the eye. She had to tilt her head up just to come eye-to-eye with Baekhyun. "What are you doing?" Seolhee asks, her voice alarmed.

     "Nothing?" Baekhyun says nonchalantly. Seolhee takes a step back and looks around to make sure that no one is watching them.

     "What the hell is your problem, Baekhyun?"

     "Oh now I'm Baekhyun?" he smirks.

     "What is your problem, Dr. Byun?" 

     "Nothing, just admiring my gorgeous, kind, and talented attending,"

     Seolhee almost pukes. She makes a gagging gesture that made Baekhyun chuckle. "This is inappropriate, Dr. Byun. I'm your attending and you're my intern, remember?" she says, pertaining to the conversation they just had yesterday.

     "Yes, I know that. I remember. But still, I'm just an intern who finds his attending attractive," Baekhyun tilts his head and gives her a cheeky smile.

     Seolhee is speechless. Her eyebrows are furrowed as if she's trying to figure out what Baekhyun is up to. "What is happening right now? Am I being pranked?"

     Baekhyun shakes his head. "It shouldn't be so hard for you to believe that you're attractive, Dr. Seol."

     "Dr. Shin. I told you it's Dr. Shin,"

     "I think Dr. Seol suits you better,"

     Seolhee furrows her eyebrows even more, frowning at the weirdo standing right in front of her. "Are you on something, Dr. Byun? Because if you're high or drunk, or something, you can't be in here right now,"

     "High on your beauty maybe,"

     "Ew?"

     Baekhyun chuckles. He takes another step forward and leans down on her until she can feel his hot breath on her neck. "All I'm saying, Dr. Seol," he says in a raspy whisper. "Is that I'm just an intern who may have developed a little crush on you," then he straightens up, gives her a breathtaking smile, and pats her head, making Seolhee jump a little.

     What the was that?

There it is again, Seolhee's most dreaded moment: not being able to get Baekhyun off her mind. It feels illegal having Baekhyun telling her he has a 'little crush' on her.

     "What in the world is that supposed to mean?" Seolhee ruffles her hair.

     "That means that he's trying to win you back," Tahee says while munching on the hamburger, the one that was supposed to be Seolhee's lunch but Tahee kept staring at it until she gave up and gave it to her.

     "But that feels illegal, like I'm about to be a family wrecker or something,"

     "I don't think your ex would try to win you back if he has a girl at home. Shouldn't you give him the benefit of the doubt at the very least, Doc Seol? He sounds like a nice person,"

     "But he has a kid!"

     "So? You like kids, right?"

     Seolhee just stares at Tahee as she remains focused on her burger. "I feel like you're the reincarnation of my grandma with those big words of yours. The benefit of the doubt? Where do you even learn those phrases?"

     "I read a lot, Doc Seol. You should try that too. Maybe if you do, you'll stop asking a kid for advice,"

     Seolhee frowns and makes an ugly face, scrunching her nose and rolling her eyes at Tahee. "I am a big reader," she defenses.

     "Except medical books, Doc Seol! My god. How can you be so intelligent and stupid at the same time?" Seolhee looks at the 13-year-old girl as she scolds her. She's dumbfounded at her remarks.

     "You should read novels too, the romantic kinds," Tahee suddenly looks excited. "I'm not a religious person but I do sometimes think God made you for me," Tahee quotes and squeals. "And that's on Normal People. You should read those and learn from them, Doc Seol."

     Seolhee gazes in amusement. "What? Is that even suitable for kids like you? What the hell. I thought you were supposed to read Harry Potter or Percy Jackson at that age. Not cheesy romance books that may even have rated-18 scenes!"

     Tahee rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "As I told you, Doc Seol, you know nothing about kids nowadays!" she fights back.

     "Uggghh," Seolhee groans and stands up from her seat. She fetches Tahee a glass of water before going on her clinical shift for the day.

She doesn't enjoy being in outpatient care as much as she enjoys being inside the operating room. However, she takes delight in meeting new people every day. Since she's been working for 70 hours this week and it's only Friday, she had to use the rest of her shift in the clinic.

     Today, she's already bored because patients are coming in one by one at almost one-hour intervals. She ducks her head on her desk to maybe take a quick nap before another patient comes in.

     However, a few minutes later, just as she was about to fall asleep, her door opened and there was Baekhyun.

    "Hi Dr. Seol," he says gently. Baekhyun isn't wearing his coat so the veins in his arms are more visible now and they surely didn't go unnoticed by Seolhee.

     "Why?"

     "The other interns just finished their shift at the ER and went home," Baekhyun says, taking a seat across her desk where her patients sit.

     "Oh, okay, good. Are you going home too?"

     "Not if you want me to," Baekhyun winks.

     Seolhee sighs. "What are you doing, Baekhyun?" she says with a tired voice. Baekhyun sighs too and stares at his feet. Baekhyun opens his mouth to speak but he was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door.

     "Dad, I was bored," Dahyun comes inside an