ACT X | SCENE L

❝SIDE ATTRACTION❞

A SIGH SLIPPED past rian's lips as she stretched her cramped arms above her head. "is that your 'i'm getting off work soon' pose? how can you strike that pose every time your shift is over?" a voice behind her said. she turned and grinned at taehyung. "hello, kid. finally out of surgery?" she said. "yeah, i just swapped out with nurse byun. wait, did you just call me 'kid'?"

before she could reply, a loud voice carrying across the large hallway caught their attention. "nurse son! nurse kim!" chanmi waved her arms in the air as she headed towards them. shutting her eyes, rian pressed a hand to her head. "announce our identities to the world, why don't you?" taehyung piped as soon as the woman caught up to them. "glasshouses, tae." chanmi glared at him. "both of you need to learn to control your volumes." rian chirped.

"why did you abandon me, you asshole?" chanmi turned back to taehyung. "why do i have to wait for you to get changed?" he retorted almost immediately, giving her a look. chanmi sneered at him. "rude. we left the or together. what's with the attitude, punk? want me to send you back there on a bed?" she began to roll her shoulder, hand clenched into a fist. staring at her for a moment, obviously trying to hold back a laugh, he finally snorted.

"are you rushing off to go see your queen or something?" rian asked with a teasing lilt to her voice. "you ditched me because you couldn't wait to see your girlfriend, huh?" chanmi gave him a dirty look. both women saw the slow change in his countenance as they mentioned his girlfriend but the words were already out of their mouths.

their eyes rounded at his sour expression. "no way," chanmi gasped. "don't tell me," rian let out at the same time. "did she cancel on you again?" they chorused with incredulity. taehyung's head bobbed in a sullen nod. "how many times has it been now? what the hell?" chanmi frowned. taehyung simply sighed in reply. "i'm going to fight her. the only one allowed to make you upset is me." she began to roll her shoulder again.

rian's lips curved in a small smile, her hand coming up to pat him on the back. "she must be really busy at work, huh?" she mumbled. "i guess." his voice was low. "is she working in the blue house? is she in the secret service, the army? does she part-time at the pearly gates? why is she always busy whenever they make plans? he's busy too but he still makes time. it's not like he has that much free time to sit around on his ass waiting for her."

rian couldn't help the snort that slipped out and she quickly pressed a hand to her mouth. "'part-time at the pearly gates.'" she mumbled to herself with another giggle. "at least one of us is laughing." taehyung remarked, giving her the side eye.

she promptly cleared her throat, straightening her expression. "well, while i don't know what she's currently working on that has her so busy all days of the week that she can't make out any time to see you, violence is not the answer." she shot chanmi a pointed look. the younger woman grumbled something about her being far too nice for her own good. rian turned her gaze back to taehyung, "maybe you can try surprising her at work one of these days. when's your next day off again?"

"thursday." taehyung answered. "then you can go have lunch with her, thursday." she suggested with a smile. he thought for a little while before nodding his head. "okay," he smiled a little. "she better appreciate it." chanmi muttered with a scrunch of her nose.

"where are you off to, anyways?" taehyung asked, changing the subject. "i'm going to see haesun before i leave." rian answered. "ah, i'm coming too. i want to see haesun noona." he grinned. "me too!" chanmi chirped. "you two literally just got out of surgery. aren't you tired?" rian asked. "nah," the two chorused. shaking her head in disbelief, she let out a breathy chuckle.

"well, we weren't in surgery as long as the last time. so this feels like a br—" chanmi suddenly stopped talking, her attention on something else. "hm?" her brows furrowed. "he's here again." she said. taehyung and rian followed her gaze, taehyung catching on first. "today, it's this floor, huh." he remarked with a frown.

rian finally noticed the man. she vaguely recognised him, recalling that she'd seen him a few times in the past week. and as taehyung had said, he was on a different floor each time. she found it curious but she rarely dwelled on it, going about her business. the couple of times she'd happened to meet his gaze, she did feel a bit off.

"i don't know why but he gives me the creeps every time i see him." chanmi visibly shivered. "me too." taehyung's eyes narrowed. "something just doesn't feel right about him." he commented. "i've never seen him do anything but sit around. he doesn't make appointments with the doctors or visit anyone. it's like he just comes to sightsee. and it's so weird." chanmi rubbed at her arms.

"maybe the person he came to see doesn't want to see him?" rian shrugged, giving the man the benefit of the doubt, though she did agree that he was a bit off. almost on cue, both of her friends turned to look at her, their faces contorted in incredulity. "are you trying to make excuses for someone you don't even know?" taehyung's voice was full of disbelief. "exactly, we don't know him." rian smiled, hands going to their backs to urge them forward.

just then they made eye contact with the strange man. the three turned away almost immediately, looking straight ahead. "see? fucking creepy." chanmi whispered as they passed by him, holding her arm up for them to see the goosebumps that now covered her skin. rian laughed and shook her head. "let's just go." she said, ignoring the odd feeling of eyes following her.

when taehyung slid the door to haesun's room open, two pairs of eyes looked their way. hoseok's lips curved into a warm smile as his eyes met his best friend's. "ri, tae, mi." he called them by their nicknames, his gaze moving over them. "hyungnim!" taehyung cheered the same time chanmi squealed an excited "orabeoni!"

the older man's eyes shut, head shaking. "chanmi, i told you to stop calling me that." he sighed. "no. it's my new favourite thing." the young woman refused with a cheeky smile. "i swear to—" hoseok pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. rian simply chuckled.

"i'm here too, you know." haesun remarked, lifting her head up slightly. taehyung was the first to rush to her side. "of course, noona. who do you think i came here for?" he grabbed her hand, patting it gently. chanmi rolled her eyes at his words, walking over to the other side of haesun's bed. "we came here to see you; we're just surprised to see him after so long."

"you can blame my dad for that." hoseok grunted, getting on his feet to give rian a hug. "i literally ran away just to see haesun." he confessed. "do you see the hierarchy now?" rian remarked playfully, looking at the trio as she got closer to haesun. "it's okay. haesun is more important to us than he is too." taehyung said in a purposely nonchalant tone.

hoseok simply shook his head, not at all surprised by the trajectory of the conversation. "jealous," he commented, "the lot of you."

chanmi clicked her tongue. "you wish, orabeoni." she replied. "i hate to say it, but on this rare occasion, taehyung is right." the man in question shot her a glare which she ignored. "we're only here for haesun. you're only a side attraction, eonnie is the main show."

hoseok made a show of putting a hand on his chest and feigning an expression of hurt. "ri, can you believe what they're saying to me?" he turned to his best friend. rian tilted her head, a look of mock confusion on her face. "i don't understand. am i supposed to summon sympathy for you? because i can't seem to find any."

"you three are only confident when you gang up on me. or at least try to." hoseok remarked with a soft scoff. the other four simply burst into laughter. with all of them together, the atmosphere was light with fondness. enough for rian to almost forget that they were convened in a hospital room. and she cherished those moments.

🌻🌻🌻

cue awkward throat clearing. hi guys it's been forever! sorry i've been mia for so long but i had a lot of things to sort personally so it was hard  to be online. i hope y'all have been good though! i missed writing about my babies (and you guys of course) and i'm so happy i can get back to it. there'll be a double update today so look out for that. take care of yourselves and stay hydrated, butterflies!
love, t 💛