It was strange to no longer have Yerin in the hospital. At least, not with a room where SinB would spend half her time. 

When SinB walked into the hospital for her shift, it felt wrong to be arriving just twenty minutes before her shift and not one hour. It felt even weirder not to stop by the coffee for a black coffee and a vanilla latte. SinB was pretty sure the girl manning the coffee cart even gave her a look when she walked by without stopping. Her whole routine felt off now without Yerin, and wasn’t that a terrifying thought?

SinB got to the locker room and got changed, looking for Kyulkyung. She spotted her by another intern, practically twirling her hair with how hard she was flirting. Closing her locker, SinB walked over as she tied her hair up into a ponytail.

“Morning,” SinB greeted curiously as she walked up to the two.

“Morning!” Kyulkyung replied chipperly. She waved a hand between SinB and the other intern. “SinB, this is Jung Eunwoo. Eunwoo, this is Hwang Eunbi, but everyone calls her SinB.”

SinB trades polite nice-to-meet-yous with Eunwoo then asks, “I’m sorry. I don’t remember seeing you around before. Who’s your resident?”

“Eunwoo just transferred,” Kyulkyung explained, and that made everything make sense. Fresh meat. SinB almost pitied the girl. “You’re here earlier than normal. Is your girlfriend finally out of the hospital?”

SinB felt her cheeks redden as she replied, “She’s not my girlfriend, but yes, she got released yesterday.”

“Sure,” Kyulkyung grinned. She’d given up on telling SinB it was a bad idea to get close to Yerin, so instead, she just mercilessly about it. “Is it alright if Eunwoo joins us for lunch, SinB? She doesn’t know anyone else yet.”

SinB looked to said woman, who was shifting uneasily but still trying to smile. Then she shrugged and said, “Yeah, whatever.”

“That’s SinB speak for ‘yes that’s fine with me’,” Kyulkyung loudly whispered to Eunwoo with an even wider grin.

“Keep that up, and I won’t be buying you that extra cookie for lunch,” SinB threatened, and immediately, Kyulkyung was attached to her arm and wailing about how badly she wanted the cookie. SinB and Eunwoo laughed at her dramatics and pretended to not hear her as they got to know each other a little better.

It wasn’t long after that when Seulgi showed up and assigned SinB to orthopedics. It wasn’t SinB’s favorite specialty by a long shot, but she knew she’d need to know the basics in case of any emergencies. Besides, the doctor she was assigned to was a younger guy with a goofy grin and an even goofier sense of humor. He made it a little easier to be breaking bones all day.

By the time lunch came around, SinB just kind of wanted to take a nap, but instead, she dragged herself to the cafeteria where she easily spotted Kyulkyung and Eunwoo giggling together. 

“You look tired,” Kyulkyung commented chirpily as SinB sat down across from her with a sad looking burger and fries. 

SinB gave her a look and replied, “You’d look tired too if you were running around resetting bones all morning.”

“Orthopedics not your thing?” Eunwoo asked with a sympathetic smile. 

“With these twig arms?” SinB joked, flapping her arms a little. “Not a chance.”

The rest of lunch was spent getting to know Eunwoo, who’s just as crazy and silly as Kyulkyung, but also very sweet. It was towards the end of lunch that SinB’s phone began buzzing. With a slight frown, SinB pulled it from her coat and checked the ID. It was Yerin. With an even deeper frown, SinB excused herself from the table and walked to the hall to answer.

“Hello?”

“SinB! I’m glad I caught you at a good time,” Yerin says happily from the other end. 

SinB shifted on her feet restlessly as other doctors passed her. She couldn’t help but smile though. “Yeah,” SinB replied, “you caught me just as I was finishing lunch.”

“I’ll be quick then! I don’t want to keep you from your important doctor duties. I just wanted to know if you wanted to come over to my place tonight for dinner and a movie?”

“Tonight?” SinB repeated, unsure of what else to say. That sounded an awful lot like a date. “Oh, I don’t know…”

“Come on,” Yerin whined. “I already miss you! It’s so weird not seeing your face first thing in the morning.”

Even though she’d just been thinking the same, SinB still hesitated. Where did she draw the line? When did hanging out with Yerin cross the line into something she couldn’t come back from? With a small sigh, SinB said, “I get off work at eight.”

“A late dinner then!” Yerin said, and SinB could practically hear the smile in her words. “I’ll order tteokbokki and chicken feet, your favorite, okay? I’ll text you my address in a bit, but until then, go save lives!”

SinB laughed despite herself and gave confirmation before she hung up. As soon as she pocketed her phone again, SinB felt herself slip back into what was beginning to feel like her perpetual state of worry. She was quickly becoming powerless to say no to Yerin, and that in itself seemed like a problem. Shaking her head, SinB went back to clean up her trash and get back to work.

The rest of her shift went by in a blur of stress and worry, as SinB began to get increasingly frazzled about her upcoming visit to Yerin’s apartment. It only worsened when Yerin texted her address around four. At that point, SinB was relieved to only be doing paperwork. She was so distracted that she probably would’ve killed someone if she’d been in surgery.

By the time eight rolled around, SinB was stiff, her joints almost creaking with how awkwardly she moved as she changed back into her civilian clothing. It was nothing special, just jeans and a t-shirt, and SinB suddenly wished she’d dressed a little nicer that morning. 

“Want to go out for a drink?” Kyulkyung asked her as they walked out to the parking lot, her arm casually looped through Eunwoo’s. 

SinB shook her head, “Thanks, but I have plans.”

Kyulkyung eyed her for a moment before shrugging and saying, “Fine. Tell Yerin I said hi.” With that, she pulled Eunwoo towards her car, ignoring the other woman’s questions about who Yerin was.

SinB watched them go with a small chuckle before heading to her own car. As she started her car, she gave Umji a quick call about going over to Yerin’s, to which Umji just gave her a low hum and told her to be safe. If there was any innuendo meant in that, SinB was firmly ignoring it. The entire drive was spent her tapping nervously against the steering wheel, only half aware of what the radio was even playing. By the time SinB pulled up to an expensive set of townhomes, she felt like she was somewhere between throwing up or passing out. Maybe she’d do both at the same time and get herself out of this.

Instead, SinB handed her keys to the nice man out front who told her, “Miss Hwang? Miss Jung let us know to expect you. I can park your car for you while you head in.”

As someone who’d rather walk a mile than pay the ten dollars for valet parking, SinB felt completely out of her depth. Yerin lived somewhere that just included valet parking. She wasn’t just rich. She was rich. SinB forgot that sometimes, the fact lost between Yerin’s giggles and ridiculousness.

Walking up to the sixth townhome down the line, SinB wiped her sweaty palms against her jeans before knocking, an awkward off-beat rap against the door. It only took a moment for Yerin to open the door, dressed in a soft-looking sweater and leggings. If SinB hadn’t known she was in an accident, she would’ve barely been able to tell. The only thing that gave it away was the slightly awkward way she held her arm.

“You made it!” Yerin beamed. “Come in! The food should be here soon.”

SinB did as she was told, shuffling in like one wrong move might kill her. She hovered in the entry way for a moment before remembering her manners and taking off her shoes. 

“Go ahead and take a seat!” Yerin called out to her as she disappeared into the kitchen. “Wine or beer?”

“Water is fine,” SinB replied. “I drove here, remember?” Not to mention, having her inhibitions lowered around Yerin just seemed like a really bad idea. 

Yerin showed back up with a glass of wine in one hand and a water bottle in the other. She handed the water to SinB just as the doorbell, and after firmly telling her to stay put, she went to go get the food. When she came back and laid everything out, SinB was impressed with everything she’d gotten. 

“I’m going to put on whatever is on TV, is that okay?” Yerin asked as she settled herself right beside SinB on the couch, barely leaving any space between them. “Oh, I love this movie!”

At first, SinB jumped at every little movement and could hardly focus on the conversation, but it soon became clear that Yerin meant it when she had said she just missed SinB. She didn’t try anything, merely asked SinB how work was and talked about things from previous conversations. As SinB was reaching for her second helping of tteokbokki, she realized she’d been ridiculous. Yerin was her friend. 

“Thanks for dinner,” SinB said just before she shoved a huge bite into .

Yerin giggled at her and gently wiped away some sauce from the corner of SinB’s lip. “No problem,” Yerin told her. “The least I can do for someone saving lives, right?”

SinB finished chewing before she asked, “You sort of do that too, don’t you? You’ve mentioned that you volunteer since you don’t really have a job.” 

“I did mention that,” Yerin nodded, looking at SinB differently now. She gives her a small smile and explains, “I help out at women’s shelters almost every day, whether it’s helping fix things around the place or donating or just talking to the women. A lot of them are so lonely.”

“Then you’re saving lives,” SinB shrugged. “It’s different from a doctor, but it’s still helping, you know? It’s definitely less blood.” She paused and tilted her head. “Is that why you didn’t become a doctor? The blood?”

Yerin laughed loudly at that and shook her head quickly. “No, nothing like that. I’ve always liked helping people, and I’m sure my father would’ve loved if that took the form of medicine, but it always felt so fast-paced and impersonal to me. I like seeing the same women every day for months, getting to know them, helping them piece-by-piece, until they’re able to leave. Even then though, I keep in touch with some of them.”

“That’s amazing,” SinB said softly, and it was. She always knew Yerin had a good heart, but she could just tell from the way she spoke just then that she meant every word. Yerin wanted to help those women in any way she could. “You’re amazing,” SinB amended belatedly, flashing a shy smile.

Yerin smiled back then looked down at her hands. “Now you know why I do what I do. Why do you do what you do?”

“I’m surprised Eunha didn’t tell you,” SinB said. She set her chopsticks down and slumped against the couch to get more comfortable. She glanced at Yerin, who was watching her intently, then looked away. “I was eleven, and my parents took me to the mall. Christmas was just around the corner, so we were out doing some last minute shopping. We were on our way out when a man stopped us, waving a gun in our faces. My dad tried to calm him down…” SinB stopped, taking a shaky breath, while Yerin reached out to cover her hands with her own. “My dad took two shots to the stomach. The guy ran. People tried to help, but the blood… It was everywhere.”

Yerin squeezed SinB’s hands tightly and whispers, “I’m so sorry, SinB.”

“For a long time, all I could think was, if only I knew how to save him,” SinB admitted. “That idea is what made me become a doctor. If I know how to save people, no one has to go through what I did.”

“You’re the amazing one,” Yerin told her. She lifted SinB’s hands to her face and placed a soft kiss on the back of them. “I wish everyone had as good intentions as you.”

“It’s nothing,” SinB mumbled, pulling her hands away from Yerin. “Anyways, my mom tried to help me as much as she could after that. She ended up working herself sick. I had just become an adult when she got sick. Then she just didn’t get better, you know? It happens.”

This time Yerin pulled SinB into a hug, and SinB let her. She melted into the comfort. It’d been a long time since she talked about her family. It didn’t hurt as much as it used to. She wasn’t crying, but it still hurt nonetheless. SinB let Yerin hold her for who knows how long until they ended up just resting on the couch like that with Yerin’s arms around her. 

They fell into a comfortable silence, and SinB almost fell asleep until she felt Yerin’s lips brush against her forehead. In an instant, SinB sprang from the couch, almost tripping over her own feet to get away. What the hell was she doing? She could get fired for this.

SinB felt like she was two seconds from hyperventilating, and when she looked at Yerin, the other woman only watched her with sad eyes.

“Would you like some ice cream?” Yerin asked suddenly.

SinB blinked. “What?”

“Let’s have ice cream,” Yerin said. “There’s something we should talk about.” 

Yerin didn’t wait for an answer before walking to the kitchen, leaving SinB no choice but to follow her. Five minutes later, the two of them ended up at the kitchen table with bowls of chocolate ice cream in front of them. SinB poked at hers while Yerin watched.

After the silence began to feel suffocating, SinB shifted in her seat and asked, “What did you want to talk about?”

“My previous engagement,” Yerin replied.

SinB paused, spoon midair. “Oh?”

“I just thought you should know,” Yerin explained gently, “that my fiance didn’t get fired just because he broke my heart. There was much more involved in it than anyone in the hospital knows.” Yerin sighed and gave SinB a feeble smile. “I’m sure you’ve heard plenty about how I made my father fire him after he hurt me, but I need you to know I didn’t do anything like that.”

SinB pressed her lips together then admitted, “I figured. You aren’t that kind of person.” When Yerin just kept smiling tiredly, SinB says, “I’m sorry. I ruined a good evening, but I just… This could go very wrong, Yerin.”

“I know,” Yerin replies simply.

SinB sighed then threw down her spoon. “I’m not saying we can’t be friends, but I just… We need boundaries, you know?”

“Boundaries,” Yerin repeats, staring down at the two uneaten bowls of ice cream. “I can do that.”

SinB smiled tensely, “Okay, then we can be friends.”

“Friends,” Yerin nodded. She smiled back, but it was tremulous and shaky and SinB wanted nothing more than to not be the reason she looked so hurt. She wanted to comfort her.

Instead, SinB just nodded and echoed blankly, “Friends.”