"Wookie serious about that idol thing, huh?" Changmin asked Kyuhyun as he fumbled with the grey necktie he was trying to put on. "I already feel lonely without him. Yah, help me out here," he called onto his buddy to help him with his tie. "Nevermind.." changing his mind once Kyuhyun turned to face him with a pathetic look on his face and a dark blue necktie knotted in the strangest looking way, you'd think it must've been a weird fashion trend he started.

"I'm just done with this thing," he flapped one end of the hanging necktie. "Remind me to get the ones with zippers so I don't have to deal with this stupid  everyday," he mumbled,  his hands clumsily raking the necktie off but failed miserably.

"What stupid ?" asked a female voice all of a sudden. 

"Ohh, it's you. The necktie,  you know how much I hate it," he answered Sora who just walked into the uni changing room.

The Locker Room.

The place where the doctors usually head to as soon as they arrived in the hospital--changing from whatever clothes they came in with into their formal attires, ranging from buttoned up shirts with neckties and A-line skirts, or scrubs--depending on their schedule and department. 

"Here, let me help you Kyuhyunnie," Sora helpfully reached for the tangled mess around Kyuhyun's neck. "Where's your girlfriend, by the way?" she asked as she rolled her eyes, hating herself for asking that question. Shouldn't she be here sorting this thing out? I know I would..

Sora thought she had obtained eternal peace once she made it clear to herself that she should accept the fact that she should just forget about her unrequited one sided love for Kyuhyun. Since they will be working together, it would be wise of her to just be friends with Mi Ra, however hard that might be for her. Sora was a sensible girl to start with. She had always been so. It's just that when it comes to feelings and the matter of the heart, one can't help to be selfish.

"Umm.." Kyuhyun didn't quite know how to break it to his friends about his relationship with Mi Ra--the fact that their ship didn't quite sail. "Mi Ra.. She.. Umm.."

The door abruptly opened.

"Oh I thought I was late--"

Silence.

Mi Ra was still holding onto the door knob, with the door opened just half way. She stared--unable to make any kind of movement.

They stared too. 

Kyuhyun and Sora failed to make any movement, surprised by the sudden grand entrance she made. Meanwhile,  Changmin was staring too--at the three of them, wondering how they'll each react towards the awkward moment happening in this real time lapse. A girlfriend, suddenly barging into a room only to find his boyfriend and a female aquantance intimately fixing his necktie. Wow.. Couldn't get anymore dramatic than that, he thought.

It was Mi Ra who reacted first, as if somebody had pressed the 'play' button and resumed the scene of that awkward moment.

"Uhumm" she cleared and walked towards the lockers, trying her best to hide her face, looking away from the two, as if inverbally saying 'carry on, I don't give a '. Wow, Kyuhyun. Already? 

The reason she cleared was because a lump had formed there and she didn't want her voice to hitch when she talked, making her sound like she's about to drown herself in tears. Yes, she was aware that she was the one who had asked them to remain as friends. But, that day, he-- I-- we-- didn't he-- damn.

Meanwhile, Sora immediately let go and stepped back from Kyuhyun and turned towards her opened locker, pretending to get something from it. Perhaps a cliff, so she could jump off from it? Sora knows how a girl would feel like to see her man with another woman in that kind of situation. She had live to experience that couple of times with her ex-boyfriend. It was never her intention to start off with Mi Ra on the first day of work like so. It wasn't intentional. 

Kyuhyun gawked at the two feeling puzzled--god bless his stupidity when it comes to stuff like this. He shifted his view to a chuckling Changmin and lifted his brows, mouthing a 'mwo?' only to have him shrug in ignorance. Shifting back to Mi Ra, he noticed that she looked different today. Even when her back was facing him, he could see that she looked sweet and profesional at the same time in that cute looking A-line dark blue skirt and a white buttoned-up blouse that looked so fluffy with laced collars. She must have taken a lot of time to make that bun resting happily on her head. He silently praised her uneven hair, as the loose strands created a careless, y look on her. My sunshine never fails to blind me with her beauty.

"Umm.. Mi Ra ya, did you miss your bus this morning?" Sora asked, smiling. Smiling?!

Sora. Oh Sora. 

Mi Ra couldn't believe Sora was initiating a conversation with her. She secretly wondered if the lady got up on the wrong side of her bed or took some weird pills which had altered her behaviour.

"Ahh that. Gurae.. I missed the first bus. I'm just lucky that the second bus was earlier than usual today. If not, I wouldn't have made it on time," she grinned with that cute eye-smile, tucking in all ugly feelings behind ..Yeah thanks to the second bus, I just had to witness that housewife scene you did with Kyu. Damn why was that second bus early today?!

Small meaningless conversations took place between the two and the other two males couldn't help but to exchange odd looks with one another.

"I didn't know they were that close," Changmin muttered to the still puzzled looking Kyuhyun. The later just nodded, agreeing with him that he couldn't recall a moment seeing the two ladies being in good terms. Soon, the room was filled with a handful of other newbie-doctors like them and it got noisier than before.

Just then, the door to the small room cracked open again and in came--who?

"Hyung!" Kyuhyun blurted out, excited to see his housemate-hyung, Park Leeteuk, while the others quiet-down gradually.

"Hey hey.. It's Park paksa-nim here, ok? How you girls doing?" he flashed them his sweetest smile to his favourite two donsaengs, revealing that dimple of his.

"We're good, sunbae!" chirped the excited looking Oh Sora, and that made her number one fan, Leeteuk, just want to dunk her in a cup of coffee. 

Yes, he adores her that much.

Above all, Park paksa-nim is quite the professional one when it comes to work. He cleared his throat and smiled to the room full of freshly graduated doctors, keen to start their working phase of life. "I am your coordinator for your week of induction here in Seoul National University Hospital. The hospital welcomes you and congratulates you lucky brats for being the exceptional ones who were chosen for your placement here," he smiled as the rest clapped in unison and cheered a little bit at his speech.

The rest of the day was spent touring the hospital, getting familiar with the special rooms and other places. There wasn't enough time to be goofing around and they paid serious attention to whatever it was that came out of Leeteuk's mouth.

"Right, before we have our lunch breaks, I will now assign you guys to your respective mentors. This is important , so listen up, people," he tapped his ballpoint pen to the clip board he was holding, warning them as some were beginning to slump in their seats.

"Shim Chang Min, Kim Joon Myun, Oh So Ra, I will be your mentor," Leeteuk smiled to himself and then glared at Changmin who groaned 'argh why am I with the national step sister..' a tad bit too loud. "Let's see.. Baek Su Min, Tae Soo Jin, and Cho Kyu Hyun. Your mentor will be Dr Jo Eun Hee. You know her, Kyuhyun, don't you?" he asked the younger male, who seemed to be swallowing hard and perhaps even cursing that sly Park paksa-nim silently for purposely giving him a hard time. "and last, but not least, Kim Mi Ra, Kim Soo Hyun, and Kang Min Hyuk, Dr Lee Donghae will be your mentor. Ok? Have lunch now and you'll all have a session with your mentors later," Leeteuk finished his long briefing and left them to chat and whine about their groups, while some disperse to the cafe quietly.

Changmin went over to Kyuhyun who had his palm in his face. Mi Ra could hear Changmin say 'you're dead' to him and she couldn't help but to wonder why. She was about to head for the cafe when her arm was being tugged.

"Yah.. Gatchi?" Sora smiled and linked her arms with Mi Ra's, asking her if they should go together. Although she found it horribly weird, Mi Ra was also glad that she could be on good terms with Sora, the least. A friend would be just what she needs, or so she thought.

"I hope you didn't misunderstood what happened this morning, Mi Ra ya. You know how he is, hopeless when it comes to neckties!" she laughed, as if it was the funniest thing that had ever happened in the history of the human kind. Mi Ra pretended to laugh along. Me? No. I didn't know he was hopeless like that. And why are you apologizing? I thought Kyu already told you that--we're not ..

***

Sora was nagging her about her kiddy-portion for lunch and that she should be eating more, saying that a few rolls of gimbap aren't going to feul enough energy for Mi Ra. It wasn't long before the other two guys joined them--Kyuhyun casually taking the seat beside Mi Ra as Changmin unvoluntarily sat beside Sora.

"Yah Kim Mi Ra.. As much as I hate to, but I'll have to agree with Sora The Explorer here. You should be taking more than that, Mi Ra ya.." Changmin stated, earning a grunt from the one beside him, cursing him that she thought the world would be peaceful enough that Ryeowook wasn't there, but it wasn't.

As two started to banter and bicker, Kyuhyun felt like an , to be honest. He didn't really know how he should act in front of their friends. They didn't know that they weren't together anymore, but does that mean he should act comfortable with Mi Ra? Would Mi Ra like that?

He leaned in a bit closer to her and whispered, "you want me to get you something?".

Don't lean in like that, Kyu. I can't stand that wonderful woody scent of your Tom Dao. I don't like to hear your rough breaths only audible to my ears. Or the way the warmth of  it brushing the skin of my ears and neck. Just--don't. 

It was impossible that Mi Ra could miss what Kyuhyun just whispered to her, but it was as if she just did.

"Don't worry 'bout me, guys," she addressed them generally. "I had a heavy breakfast this morning," she lied, offering a fake smile as she continued to stab the pathetic looking rolls of gimbap with her chopsticks and chewed on them.

What. Why. Did she just ignored me? Kyuhyun looked at her quietly, only getting a 'what?' when she turned to look at him. 

"Kim Mi Ra? Wanna join us for an ice breaking session for our group?" cried Kang Min Hyuk from two tables away from them. He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

"Ohh. Ok."

Watching her leave his side without even a word nor a look, Kyuhyun felt somewhat hurt. He eyed his beloved walking in between Minhyuk and Soohyun, her group members. 

"Did you guys fight again?" Sora asked coldly, snapping Kyuhyun's attention back to the table. His silence assured her that she was right. "Un-believable. You two should--"

"We broke up."

***

"Please tell me if you are in a relationship, I don't want to be getting into any trouble if get too close to you," Kang Min Hyuk teased  Mi Ra, as she just smiled and filled in necessary forms, ignoring him.

"Leave her alone," Kim Soo Hyun sided her and she was thankful for that. They were both incredibly good looking guys, even Mi Ra had to agree to that, but being the kind of girl who had gone through so much, she wasn't one to get all excited and giddy just by the mere fact that she was surrounded by godly-looking guys. 

"Well, this is an ice-breaking session. So, why not, right?" Mi Ra laughed it off and the three of them took turns to ask what ever the hell they wanted to ask each other, breaking the layers of ice surrounding them. Of course Mi Ra kept that crucial thin layer of ice about Sehun safe. Only those deserving will soon come to know about it. 

The two boys shared their personal information with her and Mi Ra thought that they were going to be nice friends. Minhyuk, being the goofy one was more of the cute looking. Mi Ra felt somewhat related to him, as he did mention that he came from an average family and all he wanted to do was save lives and earn tonnes of money. He always managed to slip in a naughty wink towards her, knowing that Mi Ra wouldn't take it personally.

Soohyun, on the other hand, came from a wealthy family. He didn't say so, but when he mentioned that he used to part-time in his dad's company, which was Kim K Group, they immediately were aware of his family's wealth. Nonetheless, the reserved punk said that he didn't give a damn about his family as he just wanted to concentrate on building his own life. 

Wow.. These people are no joke. Mi Ra thought. 

Just as they were laughing at Minhyuk's jokes, Mi Ra's laughter suddenly faded out. In came Changmin, Kyuhyun, and Sora--who was standing a bit too close to him, perhaps their arms were glued together--Mi Ra thought. She had so many questions to ask Kyuhyun, so many things to say. But today, there really wasn't a time where she could squeeze in to spare for him. Even if there was, she would waste it upon feeling angry at him about the early morning event. 

Just then, Donghae and another doctor stepped into the waiting room where the six of them were in. 

"Ohh, Mi Ra, thank god I found you," Donghae heaved a sigh as soon as he spotted Mi Ra. 

"Wae, sunbae nim? Is something wrong?" she stood up and bowed at the two of them, attempting to peer at the other one, who was looking down to the clip board he was holding. 

"Ahh. Please tell your group members, I can't have a session with you guys today, something came up in the OT (operation theatre) and we have to be there, gurae Jung paksa-nim?"

Jung--paksa nim? 

That name echoed in Mi Ra's thoughts--and as soon as the so called Jung paksa-nim lifted his head up to nodd and smile at Donghae, Mi Ra felt her breathing got heavier and suffocating. She could feel the airways in her lungs get tighter by the second. The next thing she remembered was voices calling her names in a blury, muffled sound and darkness seeping in the corners of her eyes.

"Mi Ra.. Mi Ra!!" Kyuhyun patted her cheeks.

Kyu--Kyuhyun? She gave him a weak smile, before it became pitch black. 

Wow, Mi Ra. *wipes off sweat*

So much for the first day of work, huh?

I'm not 100% satisfied with this chapter,

but I hope my subbies and readers

are able to grasp the gist of it.

//runs off to a corner and cry//