Narrator's POV

"I'm stupid," Mina muttered faintly with closed eyes. As much as he wanted to touch her and tell her otherwise, Donghae gulped and looked down at his notes. She had been repeating the same words since her first appointment with him two months ago. "And I deserve to get tripped on purpose and eat lunch alone," she continued.

"Who told you that?" he asked softly.

"Haemi." Mina choked on the word. Her hands unknowingly gripped the velvet cushion where she was lying on. "It's easy for her. She's pretty. And I'm not. I'm stupid. I deserve to get tripped and eat lunch by myself. Stupid, stupid...tripped and fall face-first on the floor. Everybody laughed. My knees were scratched...eat by myself...stupid and ugly–"

Donghae tensed. "Mina..." The name slipped out of his mouth. As soon as she heard it, she spoke so quickly and unstoppably. "Young Mina? Ne, sunsaengnim? I got up, took my test paper, and realized that I got a B+. Wow, Mina, you're so smart. Not really, but thanks. Mom, mom! I got a B+ on my Science test! Mom? I'm sorry, Mina. Your mom and I are getting a divorce. You said you wouldn't leave, dad. You told me the story about the moon and the sun and the moon and the sun and the moon and the sun and the–"

"Mina!" the psychologist exclaimed, pushing his swivel chair to her side and calming her down, despite the woman lying still and motionless from the cushion. "And the sun was hot. It was summer. Your father told me about this psychologist recommended to him through a friend. My real father or the man you THINK can replace my father? Oh don't talk about him like that," Mina blabbered on.

With an apologetic look, Donghae let the clipboard fall from his grip. The woman still had her eyes closed yet there was a tear glistening right at the corner. It was getting worse, as if his every question would reopen wounds inside her. And now she was stuck to replaying conversations as randomly as they occur in her mind.

"And about the psychologist? Well, I'm going to set you up an appointment on Tuesday. She didn't say it, but I know she thinks depression is a contagious disease. The word disease came from the prefix dis- and root word ease. I'm sick of something that brings people out of ease. I have something that makes people uncomfortable. I'm stupid. And I have something wrong in me."

The observing doctor, feeling more and more sorry for his patient, didn't know how to tell her, how to make her believe that she was different. Not stupid or sick or weird, but different. Everyone else is. And he wanted to add that everyone is perfect in their own way, but it might sound cliché, and everyone must have told her that already. And besides, Donghae knew he had imperfections too.

"There's something wrong with me. The doctor smiled at me. He looked kind. He smelled like his mother did his laundry and like he wanted me to want him and breathe him in so deeply that I'll forget how to exhale. And he looked at me as if he was shoving it down my throat that he was beautiful and I was not. Yet his voice sounded sweet and comforting as he told me that there was nothing wrong with me and at that time, I wanted to feel again but I'm too dirty and stupid and worthless and lonely and–"

Donghae reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Mina," he called out in the same sweet and comforting voice she had first heard. Mina opened her eyes, sat up, and popped a pill into , swallowing and forcing it down her dry throat. For a while, she just sat there like nothing happened, like she hadn't just shaken up his world with the words that came gushing out of .

With his gaze solely focused on her, "Are you feeling better?" he asked faintly. Mina shook her head no and raked her fingers through her hair. He thought she looked pretty when she does that, but then the woman stood up, ready to leave. "When will you realize that I won't get any better, doctor?" Mina sighed and fumbled for her pockets before tossing thick roll of crumpled bills towards the man.

Without another word, she walks out of the room, straight out into the long corridor that leads to the hospital lobby. In a blink, Donghae had shimmied out of his lab gown and rushed out to follow her. If he hadn't known she was suffering from severe depression, he would have thought she was perfectly fine. And it was a mystery he would like to try solving.

"So..." he started to make her feel his presence.”What does Young Mina do after an appointment to the doctor?" Donghae had his hands clasped behind him as he scurried along, his feet desperately trying to match her pace. "Nothing." And Mina came to a halt in her tracks. "Please do something worth your time. Please don't waste your time on me."

"I'm not wasting my time, believe me," Donghae declared innocently, like a five-year-old kid caught stealing sweets. Realizing she had talked too much, Mina continued walking, ignoring the man following her closely behind. In no time, she had reached the bus stop. Mina sat without so much as a thud and stared far into the distance.

A bus stopped, with a handful of passengers exiting. "Aren't you going to get in this one?" Donghae asked, suddenly appearing beside her. He sank on the bench and lay down ever so calmly, like it was the most normal thing in the world to be lying down on a bus stop. His head was near enough to her lap just for her to hear him.

"It's dirty," Mina told him. He wasn't sure if she was talking about the bench or herself, but he sat upright anyway. Donghae scooted closer, inching nearer until their shoulders were touching. She flinched away. "Sorry," he muttered and they both watched as the bus went on its way. "So tell me the story about the sun and the moon."

The woman looked down at her lap, tilted her head sideways, and finally peeked at him from the corner of her eyes. She thought he had fitted nicely in his clothes and that he deserved to know the story. There was a gleam in his eyes as he watched everything unfold in front of him. "The sun loved the moon so much he died every night to let her breathe."

Donghae smiled and glanced towards her direction, but she had already looked away. "And your father told you that?" he pressed, to which she just nodded. Mina wanted to look at him more, but then she realized nobody would want a stranger to stare at them. "And after all this time, I don't understand it," she exhaled.

The man turned to look at her questioningly. "I don't understand love," Mina clarified. "Do you believe that actions speak louder than words, doctor?"

In response, he shrugged. "I mean, yes, I do think actions speak louder than words. But then by 'louder', you mean words are already loud, and that actions are just louder than that."

Mina closed her eyes tightly shut, her expression pained. When she opened her eyes, he swore they looked shattered and broken. "When I was seven, my mom and dad would fight every night. They curse and swear and yell at each other over and over and over and over and..." she paused, realizing she was getting ahead of herself. "Then he would hit her."

"Then I figured, maybe one of their wedding vows included 'I hate you, and then I love you' and it's like they want to push each other off the top of a building then rush to the bottom to catch the other. It's..." Mina trailed off. "Confusing?" Donghae tried, facing her. She met his gaze and then looked away. "I don't know. I've already talked too much."

He laughed. "When I was in third grade, I learned that for a person to survive, he only needs water, food, and shelter. And I took it literally. I didn't have a steady set of friends until high school. Then I met this girl." When Mina stole a quick glance, he looked happy, like the thought brought him a glimpse of the time when things were in place.

"She stuck with me through good and bad and it felt like I fall in love with her over and over again whenever I saw her," Donghae continued. "Back then, I swore I was going to marry her someday and we'd live in a house together and I'd help her wash the dishes. But – don't take it against me – women are just so difficult to understand! It's ugh."

Mina unknowingly smiled, but Donghae was too engrossed in his story that he didn't notice either. "Like, one time, I asked her out to watch a movie and then she asked me what she should wear. I mean, for heavens' sake, guys just put on the first thing they see from their closets. But back then, I thought I loved her, so I told her it'd be cold inside the theaters so she should wear a sweater."

"She agreed and I waited outside her house. After about half an hour, she came out wearing something different! I mean, why would you ask me what you should wear if you won't follow it anyway?!?" he shrieked. By this time, though, Mina burst out into a fit of laughter. In front, buses heading different directions sped past them but Donghae kept his gaze on Mina.

The woman looked away, feeling embarrassed. Clearing , "And then what?" she cued, urging him on. He rubbed the back of his neck and also looked away. "Then I chose to take up psychology in college so I could understand her better. On my sophomore year, we just kind of fell apart. She found someone else and I just didn't care about her anymore," he replied, concluding his story.

"When she said it was over, I didn't cry. I didn't even feel bad about it. I just...I just realized I never even needed her." Donghae stretched his arms out and yawned. Mina looked at him. "You realized all you needed to survive was–" "Water, food, and shelter," they said in chorus before grinning to themselves. "How about you?" Donghae asked. "What do you need to survive?"

Mina shrugged and kept her head down. "I didn't need much. And I wanted very little. To love and be loved in return is one thing." She had a small smile painted across her lips. "I used to tell myself that if I ever found someone, I would inspire him to be great and I would give him anything he'd ask for and we would be weird together but..." She shook her head. "I think I'm just going to be the only weird person in the world."

For the nth time, Donghae looked at her. He remembered how relaxed her laugh was just moments ago. "Do you think the antidepressants are working now?"

Mina nodded.