“Patient Kim Hyunjin, age 16 and diagnosed with the flu, has been requested to have her blood tests redone. Something about the white blood cells being to low for her age, and the something-chloride being too high.” The nurse said, shrugging as she put a bundle of paper onto the counter.

A young woman looked up, swiveling her seat from the computer to have a look at the paper on the table. She wore a stark white laboratory coat over her wine red blouse and black skirt with her name (Im Yoona, 3rd year Seoul Medical University in small, block letters) pinned on the left pocket. She read it silently – turning over the pages delicately, before raising an eyebrow a moment later and shaking her head.

Hyoyeon messed up again, she thought – rolling her eyes as her eyes fell on a misplaced period in the paper. Turning back to her computer, Yoona sighed as a program loaded in front of her.

“The results are correct but the decimal points were moved when it was typed. I’ll re-print this and send it back up to your station.” She said, waving the nurse off as the latter nodded and started towards the door. A few seconds later, the printer hummed into life as it reprinted the document and Yoona cleared . With a hand on her waist, she marched into the laboratory and called, “Kim Hyoyeon!”

“You rang?” A voice called from behind a refrigerator, before a petite woman (dressed in a lab coat too and hot pink pumps) came out wearing a smile on her face. Yoona let out a deep sigh as her friend blinked curiously at her. “OK, what did I do now?”

“Unnie, you typed the results wrong again. That’s the third time today!” she said, folding her arms across her chest and frowning. She waved the stack of papers at her friend’s face and sighed again. “It’s bad enough that the doctors are rushing us to finish their lab requests, but we can’t waste time reprinting results we already sent out too.”

Hyoyeon took the papers into her hand and skimmed them. “Oops,” she said when she saw the misplaced dots she had typed before and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Yoona. You know I’m not very good with computers right?”

“Aigoo, don’t give me that face.” Yoona complained exasperated but smiling. “Next time leave the typing to me, OK? It was a good thing none of the elder staff got wind of this or else you’re screwed.”

“Thank goodness for their old age that they have to leave early.” She agreed, nodding her head. She took a seat in one of the chairs and took a deep breath. “It’s also a good thing that the younger staffers are all too afraid of us to say anything too. Maybe it’s because today’s our last day here.”

“That’s because you inject kids with needles so mercilessly, Hyo.” Yoona said, smirking. She burst out laughing when she replied by sticking out her tongue. “Hyoyeon-choding, don’t ever change.”

“It’s our last day as interns though… do you and lover-boy have any plans tonight?” Hyoyeon asked, wiggling her eyebrows and grinning. Yoona threw a wad of tissue paper at her and rolled her eyes, her cheeks tinted pink. “You’re horrible, unni and we’re going to dinner like we do every night since we’ve started dating,” she replied, a smile clear across her face.

“Goodness, the two of you date as if you’re both logging in for a shift!” The older exclaimed, shaking her head while laughing. She leaned closer to her friend and pouted. “I don’t know if it’s cute or just plain sad. The two of you really need to be more romantic.”

Yoona waved a hand in front of her face and wrinkled her nose. “We’re romantic enough, unni. That’s all that matters. Besides, shouldn’t you be toning down the romance between you and Eunhyuk-oppa? I’ve heard too many y voice messages on your machine whenever I come over.”

Hyoyeon shrugged her shoulders. “Hey, my man’s a very ual being. I can’t help it if we do well in that department and you don’t.” she teased, earning a slap on the shoulder from her already-too-red cheeked friend. “Don’t be a prude, Yoong. I’ve been in your position too, and I only got over it after I started dating Eunkyuk when I met him at the subway. Who knows? You could meet your one true love at someplace vague too!”

“Donghae is my one true love, unni.” Yoona argued, “and I am not a prude. I’m… just not ready.”

“Not ready? Or not sure with your partner?” Hyoyeon countered, earning another slap on the shoulder. She laughed as she rubbed the sore part and nudged Yoona with an elbow. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you though.”

Yoona laughed as well, shaking her head as she pulled her into a side hug. “Aigoo. Let’s not talk about this anymore, ok? It’s already five in the afternoon and I have to meet Donghae early so I can check up on my dad before visiting hours are over. Could you log my card out for me, unni?” Hyoyeon nodded and watched her pull off her lab coat and fold it neatly into her bag. “And please don’t tell Eunhyuk what we talked about here… he talks to Donghae and that’ll just be weird.”

“You have to live a little, Yoona!” Hyoyeon said as she began to walk towards the door, “One day, I promise you, you’ll know what I mean!”

Yoona rolled her eyes at her statement and said nothing as she stepped out of the laboratory. Pulling out a cellphone from her pocket, she quickly typed in a message without looking around her… and as luck would have it, she found herself sitting on her bottom on the floor and looking up to a man who’s expression didn’t match to the look of surprise on hers.

He was tall and lean, towering over her with a non-descript expression on his face as he looked at her. The black jacket he wore fit his broad shoulders loosely and was in contrast with the slightly fitted white shirt he wore inside. Slowly, he went down on one knee and began to pick up the wads of paper that fell off her bag and folders without a word and handed them to her. “Thank you,” she whispered, blinking curiously at him as he stood up slowly and held out his hand. She stared at his open palm for a moment before realizing it was meant for her. Yoona sheepishly took it and stood up carefully, dusting her skirt clumsily as she did so.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” She said, bowing apologetically at the man in front of her. He nodded, patting off a small patch of dust on her shoulders blouse and then bowed as well before continuing down the hall and into the elevator.

Yoona watched him walk away, wondering why her cheeks warmed for a moment before her cellphone beeped.

[ I’ll meet you there. See you. ] The screen said, and Yoona sighed—resuming her walk and consequently putting her wonders (and warm cheeks) to rest.

“How is your work treating you these days?” She asked the moment he walked into the door and dragged his feet. She leaned back and waited patiently as he took out a board and quickly wrote down a response.

/ It’s fine. / The board read, and Sooyoung sighed—shaking her head as she pushed back against a pillow and he sat down on a chair right next to her bed. She was slightly pale under the cream white of her patient clothes, but looked fine nonetheless with the constant smile on her face. “You only have to arrange the albums back into place, right? Meanwhile Yuri does all the talking.” She said, tilting her head to the side. “I hope you haven’t thought about wringing her neck with that blabbermouth of hers. Shim Changmin, It’s not nice to kill your adoptive sisters you know.”

She was eight when her parents adopted a surly 14-year old Shim Changmin into their lives. Sooyoung had only begun to accept Yuri as a sister when she had been adopted two years before he came along. He hadn’t changed much from then—but he at least spoke once or twice a day back then, and his words were always interesting to hear. He was a protective brother, albeit his stoic demeanor and unwillingness to speak. Still, they had always felt safe with him…

/ She’s busy with Minho, so it’s okay. / Changmin shrugged, raising an eyebrow. He quickly added another statement under the sentence. / How are you feeling? /

“You should just talk – it’d be easier to understand you if I didn’t have to wait for you to write it down,” she complained, pouting. When all she received in response was a blank face, Sooyoung sighed once again, loudly this time and nodded. “I’m doing a lot better than last time you were here. The cute doctor assigned to me has helped a lot. A little eye-candy never hurt.” She said, grinning cheekily.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head at her, but let a small smile creep into his face for a moment. / You should think about getting better first before flirting. / He wrote, shooting her a look, / you’d have better luck if you were standing upright and not just lying in a heap. /

“Writes the man who’s not had a relationship in years and has never spoken since… practically forever!” Sooyoung exclaimed, pushing him with a hand on the shoulder playfully. “I can flirt well in any position, brother. Your sister’s pretty hot you know.”

She laughed when he made a face and rolled his eyes again. She breathed in deeply, letting her dimples deepen beneath her smile and tapped his arm softly. “I miss hearing your voice, Changmin. It’s been too long, don’t you think?”

“Neither of them is ever going to come back. You should be over it by now… I mean, Yuri and I are.” She watched his face for any sign of emotion—but none came to pass. Sooyoung sighed, shrugging her shoulders. No response as always, she thought watching his eyes wander beyond her. “Well, can’t say I didn’t try again today.”

“But I promise you, one day, you’ll find something you’d be willing to break your promise for.”

Changmin considered her words, letting his mind drift aimlessly to an image of a woman looking up to him from the floor and then nodded—erasing it in his head as he patted her hand slightly. / Want a pie or something? / he wrote, offering her a slight lopsided smile and ignoring her curious expression. He stood up without waiting for her to respond, letting the door hang open and his adoptive sister wondering.

Yoona waited patiently in one of the tables inside a cozy, little restaurant three blocks away from the hospital. She glan