Jimin walks into the viewing room after doing rounds on all her patients. Mark had already been there, elbow on his knees, chin resting on his palm. His legs were anxiously tapping on the floor, jerking his whole body with the movement.

 

“How’s it going?” 

 

Mark is startled by her voice. 

 

“The surgery is going good… but…” He frowns and Jimin raises her eyebrows at his reaction. 

 

Jimin looks down and only sees Soojin and Dr. Im with the rest of their surgical crew. 

 

“Minjeong didn’t show…” Mark says with a gulp. 

 

“What?” Jimin’s body is in alert mode. 

 

“Y-Yeah… I don’t know either.” Mark scratches his head, “neither of them knows where she went. But Dr. Im seemed pretty pissed that Minjeong was a no show.” 

 

Jimin glares at him, “why didn’t you tell me sooner?” 

 

Sputtering, Mark shrugs. “I-I… Y-You were doing rounds and—,” 

 

Sighing, Jimin leaves the observation room and taps her pockets for her beeper. She doesn’t find it, but she does ask one of the nurses to send her a beep. 

 

At the end of the hall, Jimin squints her eyes at the familiar figure speaking to Dr. Kwon. 

 

Dr. Byun? 

 

With heavy steps and clenched fists, Jimin stomps her way towards the two. The chief of surgery catches sight of her trudging through the halls, anger illuminating around her very visible. 

 

“What is he doing here?” 

 

Dr. Kwon lays a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from losing her professionalism. “Now, Dr. Yu. We don’t need to cause a scene.” 

 

“What does he want?” 

 

Dr. Kwon heaves a sigh. “He’s asking to speak with me privately in my office.” 

 

Jimin’s eyes are steel against his obnoxious gaze. “About?” 

 

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” Dr. Byun spats harshly. 

 

She glances at Dr. Kwon, before taking a deep breath and directing her question towards Dr. Byun. “Where’s Minjeong?” 

 

The man doesn’t answer, staring her down with disgust. “You know if you would have disappeared like we agreed on, Minjeong would have been just fine.” 

 

Jimin clenches her jaw. “Permission to hit him, Dr. Kwon?” 

 

“Absolutely not.” The chief of surgery grits between her teeth, looking around at their surroundings with caution. “I will talk to him. Privately, Dr. Yu.” A hand pushes her back slightly, Dr. Kwon standing between the both of them. 

 

“Minjeong’s on the roof.” Dr. Kwon whispers to Jimin, who’s steel gaze falters at the mention of Minjeong. Her eyes soften with worry. 

 

“I’ll deal with him. You’re dismissed, Dr. Yu.” 

 

Jimin glares at Dr. Byun once more, before rushing to the rooftop. She doesn’t bother waiting for the elevator, using the stairs to get there faster. 

 

Once she reaches the rooftop, Jimin sees Minjeong standing still in the middle, eyes looking into the distance. It was dark, and a little windy from the night. 

 

Catching her breath, Jimin slowly approaches Minjeong. 

 

“Minjeong.” Jimin tries hard to keep her voice free of panic, only soft and the right volume to not startle Minjeong. She wonders how long Minjeong had been standing up here. The timer in the surgery showed two hours when she had walked in, but Jimin assumes it’s been longer. 

 

“The sky is pretty.” Minjeong softly says after the call of her name. “It’s really pretty, Jimin.” 

 

Jimin’s heart constricts, stopping a few feet behind Minjeong. “Yeah?” 

 

She could see the subtle nod of Minjeong’s head. Jimin didn’t have to ask her what had happened. It was never a good thing when Dr. Byun came around. She could only imagine the things Dr. Byun had told Minjeong to kill her spirits once again, and just thinking about it angered Jimin. 

 

“Can I look at the stars a little while longer, Jimin?” Minjeong quietly asks, “alone.” She hugs herself as a gust of wind comes by. “I just need to think.” 

 

Jimin blinks when her eyes start to sting. She takes off her white coat, walking towards Minjeong, and unfolding her arms from her chest. Minjeong’s arms hang at her sides, and Jimin’s front presses against her back with warmth. 

 

Slipping Minjeong’s arms through the sleeves of her white coat, Jimin makes her wear it for extra warmth. She takes the openings of her coat, tugging them towards Minjeong’s middle to wrap it around her warmly. Her arms encircle Minjeong into a hug from behind as well. 

 

Minjeong bites her trembling bottom lip hard, eyes closing tight at the sense of warmness that surrounds her aching heart. 

 

Oh, how Jimin’s hugs make her feel safe. 

 

“Okay, my love.” Jimin whispers right next to her ear. 

 

Minjeong squeezes the arms wrapped around her. “Thank you.” 

 

Jimin holds her for a minute longer, before placing a soft kiss on her temple. Her arms loosen and the warmth of Jimin’s hug is gone, but the tender whisper of affection still keeps her heart warm. “I love you.”

 

Jimin walks away, but she stays quietly by the door. Her arms keep her warm as she hugs herself, leaning against the concrete wall. Her eyes stare at the back of Minjeong’s head, giving her all the time she needed to be okay. 

 

It’s never easy to see Minjeong like this. Jimin knows how hard Minjeong works to develop a mentality that is healthy for her, now, and even when they were young. Everytime Minjeong finds that confidence, the pressure that’s put on her shoulders by her parents’ ridiculous expectations ruins everything. 

 

It causes Minjeong to spiral every single time. 

 

Just when Jimin thinks Minjeong could believe it for herself, whether it stems from her own confidence, or from Jimin’s constant boast of pride for her, that little light within Minjeong is always destroyed by her parents unrealistic expectations. 

 

Jimin wants to protect her from all of it. She wants Minjeong’s little light to grow and radiate through her smile. Through newfound confidence. Just.. everything. Jimin wants Minjeong to shine bright and be happy. Always. 

 

Jimin sees Minjeong’s shoulders start to shake, the younger woman’s head dropping as she cries to herself. 

 

She almost runs to Minjeong. 

 

Almost. 

 

Jimin stays put, fists clenching at her sides to fight the urge to hug Minjeong and tell her everything will be alright. 

 

Minjeong wanted to deal with her emotions by herself right now. She’ll respect that. 

 

She has no choice but to watch the love of her life crumble all over again. Jimin could hear Minjeong’s cries from where she had been standing, even if it was a good distance away. 

 

But she waits patiently anyway. Holding in her own tears because Jimin needed to be strong for Minjeong for when she turns around and falls into her embrace again. 

 

Minjeong cries to herself for almost half an hour. And Jimin watches till she is finished. The younger woman’s head tilts up to the sky, wind drying her tears. 

 

Jimin looks up with her, admiring the stars in the sky. Smiling softly, her eyes fell back to Minjeong who continued to revel in the little twinkles in the dark. Minjeong had always preferred stars over the moon, or the sun. Jimin remembers they would watch the sunset together when they were younger, but when the stars peeked out of the dark, and twinkled down at them, that’s when Minjeong would get the most excited. 

 

Jimin always settled to staring at the brightest star in her arms, eyes filled with affection and heart beaming with love. 

 

God, Jimin loves this woman so much. 

 

When Minjeong releases a big sigh, she lowers her head and turns around slowly. Catching sight of Jimin at the door, she’s surprised. The older woman only greets her with a small smile. 

 

Minjeong’s eyes sting again as she walks towards Jimin, who ends up meeting her halfway through the distance. 

 

Jimin’s arms immediately take her in, hugging her so tightly with love, it makes Minjeong cry again. 

 

“Shh,” Jimin soothes her, “I’m here, my love. I’m here.” 

 

Minjeong’s fists clutch tightly onto Jimin’s scrub top. 

 

Jimin pulls away, wanting to wipe away Minjeong’s tears and say words that the younger woman needed to hear. But, when her hand reaches to cup Minjeong’s cheek, the younger woman hisses away. 

 

“What—,” Jimin is surprised, concern washing over her. She then sees the red and slightly swollen mark on Minjeong’s cheek. “Minjeong?” She carefully places her hand on Minjeong’s other cheek, eyes wide against the red mark. 

 

Minjeong pulls away, slightly pushing against Jimin’s chest. “It’s fine.” 

 

“He hit you?” Jimin’s voice rumbles with anger. 

 

“It’s fine.” Minjeong repeats. 

 

“No, it’s not fine.” Jimin counters, “has he done this before?” 

 

Minjeong sighs softly, mostly exhausted from overwhelming emotion. She reaches for Jimin, “please don’t be angry.” 

 

Jimin blinks,