ACT I | SCENE V

❝BREAK ROOM❞

CAREFUL SO AS not to wake her, yoongi lifted haneul into his arms. cradling her against his chest, he followed rian into the building. "why are we in a hospital?" he asked when they stepped into the elevator.

"oh, i'm a nurse. today's my day off but i need to make a quick stop here." she replied easily, adjusting the bags in her hands so she could press the button for the ninth floor. "and haneul's mother is here as well." she added, looking at him. "oh, is she a nurse as well? or a doctor?" he inquired.

"no, she's a patient." she answered softly, eyes fixated on the doors. yoongi's eyes rounded at her words, his sharp intake of air only audible because of the enclosed space. "a patient?" he echoed. "yes," rian answered, clearly unwilling to divulge more information.

he didn't probe for answers, glancing down at the child in his arms. a sick mother and a father who didn't even know about her existence. if a nurse had to take care of her, her mother's illness was likely quite severe. and haneul probably lived in and out of the hospital. it seemed to him like she was already living a pretty tough life at a young age.

she was too young to understand a lot of what was going on around her. so he imagined that she was blissfully oblivious of everything, basking in doe-eyed wonder. a small sigh slipped past his lips. it was better for her that way. he only hoped her mother had somehow managed to make a few plans for her child's future. he shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts. it shouldn't matter to him. it wasn't like he planned to see either her or rian after this. it didn't matter to him.

the elevator dinged, announcing their arrival before the doors slid open. rian led the way, weaving through busy hallways as medical staff hurried past them. he glanced around as some of them gave rian nods of acknowledgement before continuing on their way.

she finally stopped at a door, opening it to reveal what yoongi saw to be a break room. he followed her in, wincing when the door slammed shut behind him. his gaze flickered down, a sigh of relief escaping when he saw that haneul was still asleep.

"um, you may lay her down over there." she pointed to a small grey sofa in one corner of the room. nodding, he made his way to it, carefully placing the sleeping child on it. grabbing the afghan which had been neatly folded and left on one arm of the sofa, he pulled it over haneul.

looking up from her, yoongi watched rian place some sticky notes on snacks she'd purchased at the grocery store before placing them in the fridge. squinting, he was able to read the words she had hurriedly scribbled with her left hand on the colourful paper. for choi haneul. do not touch.

she glanced up as she shut the fridge, meeting his gaze. "thank you so much for the ride, and for helping bring haneul up, and also for putting up with her tantrums." she said with a small smile. he pursed his lips, nodding his head once.

"i better get going." he pointed towards the door. "i'll walk you out." she offered. he shook his head hastily. "oh, there's no need. i think i can find my way out." he assured her. "and you need to stay here with haneul." he added, eyes moving to the little girl momentarily. "she's safe here. and nurse kim would be here any moment. he'll watch over her."

"still, you don't have to bother. i have a good sense of direction." he replied, hands coming up. "alright, if you insist." she conceded after a moment's silence. he made his way to the door, brows raising when she followed. "i told you i had things to do." she stated, obviously catching the look on his face.

"alright. ladies first," he opened the door and stepped aside. she walked past him before he followed suit, shutting the door behind him gently. "well then, goodbye, miss son." yoongi's gaze shifted to her, bowing his head quickly. "goodbye, mr min." rian mirrored his actions.

pressing his lips together, he turned around and walked back the way they had come. that was the end of that. luckily, haneul had fallen asleep. he didn't know how he would have been able to get away otherwise.

glancing at his watch, he suspired deeply. he had no choice but to reschedule his meeting. pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialled a familiar number. "hello, president min." the soft spoken voice replaced the ringing in seconds.

"jeon jeongguk, what have i told you about calling me president outside of work hours?" yoongi chastised. "sorry, hyung." jeongguk apologised. yoongi's nose scrunched at the mention of the word. "please, i don't want to hear that word again today." he groaned. "sor—" jeongguk seemed to catch himself before he repeated his mistake. "alright, hyung. what is it that you need?"

"the meeting i had scheduled today, cancel it. i won't have enough time to brush over the details and i can't go in blind. please, reschedule it for some other day." he informed the younger man who had been his secretary for years now. "okay, hyung. i'll do that. but may i ask why?"

"something out of my control came up." yoongi's eyes shut briefly at the thought of the events that had occurred. "i understand." there was a brief pause before jeongguk spoke. yoongi almost scoffed. there was no way that he would, if yoongi explained what he had just come out of. "that's all. enjoy your weekend, jeongguk." he combed his fingers through his hair. "thank you, hyung. you too." jeongguk responded.

ending the call, yoongi shoved the phone back in his pocket. finally, he could head home and put his groceries away. and maybe get some work done before he took a rest. this was the first day in a long time that nothing had gone the way he'd planned.

he just hoped that it would be the last.

🌻🌻🌻

who will tell yoongi that what he hopes and what i plan probably won't align half the time? he might have escaped this time, but for how long? hehe. ah, i hope this wasn't too boring.
also say hello to koo over the phone haha! thank you for reading!