I freshened up in the bathroom before heading back to the treatment center, feeling a bit dissociated from everything as I rode the elevator to the seventh floor again. I ran warm water over my hands, the transition from the harsh winter weather that I hadn't anticipated brutal. Everything felt so real that nothing felt real at all.

The curtain was still opened halfway from when I left and as I approached I saw that my dad's seat was empty. Seokjin spotted me before I could turn away to avoid being alone with him, explaining the absence.

"He went to the bathroom and mentioned that you probably hadn't eaten since your flight. It was my day to bring snacks for us but he said they have your favorite chips and candy in one of the vending machines." He clarified.

I remained standing, already turning back around as I replied. "I should go help him."

"He's fine. Mrs.Taylor's kid is here today and likes putting money in the machines so he walked with him." Seokjin noted, gesturing toward my seat.

"You take turns bringing snacks?" I asked as I sank back into the soft cushioned recliner.

He noticed that I was shivering, leaning away from me to retreive a blanket from the other side of his chair. He offered it to me and even though I was freezing I shook my head, holding up my hand to refuse. "I'll just wear my coat." I grabbed the quilted jacket that was still too thin for the current weather to drape over myself. For some reason I didn't want to breathe in his scent if it were carried in the blanket.

"He takes Monday and I do Tuesday for snacks since we both come on those days. I'm here by myself on Wednesday but sometimes he comes to sit with me if he feels up to it." Seokjin didn't seem phased by my behavior, moving on to answering my previous inquiry.

"So you've known each other long enough to coordinate snack schedules?" I fired seemingly mundane questions at him since there was nowhere else to aim, giving me answers that built toward slight understandings.

"It's been around three months since we officially met. I've been here for a while so everyone around here knows me at some point. We ended up beside each other during his last cycle of the first course of chemo for him and he told me he was making the move permanently when he found out he needed another course." He talked as if it were the most normal conversation in the world.

When I didn't reply, staring at him blankly, he looked up at me. As soon as he met my eye I turned toward the large tote bag I'd become used to lugging around, reaching so far in that half of my arm disappeared.

"I should be writing this down." I fiddled through the pile of junk inside, searching for a pen and paper.

"I'm sure he has all the information back at his apartment." He seemed concerned about the frantic way I slapped the small notebook I always kept with me on the table by my chair, continuing with my hunt for a pen.

I sounded exasperated but honestly, I just needed something to do. I hadn't been settled for more than an hour and was already wired, understanding why everyone in the center brought things to occupy their time. "Just tell me again."

"Here." He interruped my digging, holding out the pen he'd been using for his puzzles. I grabbed it by the edge, tucking a flyaway piece of hair behind my ear as he repeated my dad's treatment schedule. "He's on his first cycle of treatment, so he comes twice a week for four weeks and then has a week off. It's the second week of the cycle. That'll repeat for four cycles and he'll be done with this course of treatment."

I scribbled nearly every word, following up for more information. "And we bring snacks on Monday's?" I confirmed.

"Monday's." He repeated with a chuckle. The sound made me look up from my paper. Seokjin watched me intently, pressing his chin into his palm with a smirk.

"What?" I wondered, my voice clipped at the look he gave.

Before he had a chance to respond my dad walked back down the row, snacks carried carefully between his fingers in one hand while he rolled his IV pole alongside him with the other.

He looked down at his handful of snacks. "I didn't know if you were on your hot chip or cheesy chip kick so I got both." He spoke, unaware that Seokjin had been sucked into a small info gathering session. I closed my notebook and handed Seokjin his pen before my dad ever looked up at us, tucking away my notes to reach out for the snacks.

"Thanks." I observed the way he sat down, letting out a small grunt that I wasn't sure was from pain or age.

I tore open the bag of hot chips and dug in, the mindless motion of munching a welcome distraction as I covered my emotions with food.

"How long do the appointments usually last?" I asked my dad after a half hour, our eyes trained on the crime show that played on the mounted TV.

"I should be done in an hour or so. Jin will finish another hour after that and drop us off at the apartment." He replied. So we were waiting for Seokjin too. I was torn between being thankful that my dad at least had someone he connected with out here and hating that it happened to be my last soulmate.

My thought was cut off by another that I voiced. "I didn't think you were supposed to drive after treatment."

"I have someone who drives me to my appointments." Seokjin explained from the other side of my dad.

I had to stop myself from making mental notes about him and fight the natural inclination to be curious. I nodded even though he couldn't see, tucking my legs underneath myself to wait out the rest of the time.

The theme song to the show we were hooked into started to become a blur after the end of another and I slipped into sleep, waking when Julia was halfway through removing my dad's IV. I popped up with fervency and an apology.

"I wasn't supposed to fall asleep." I blinked at the bright lights, Julia waving me off as my dad responded.

"It's fine, you've been traveling a lot. I forgot to ask, how was Faye?" He thanked Julia as she placed a piece of medical tape over his injection area.

The corners of my mouth turned down when I realized my hands were tucked under a blanket, the same one Seokjin offered earlier. It'd been placed over me while I slept and smelled woodsy with notes of fig and cedar.

"She's good, she was worried about you. Hobi too." I nodded, quick to hold on to my breath as I folded the blanket, passing it on to my dad who handed it to Seokjin before releasing.

They fell back into their usual chatter, bantering about food and making jokes back and forth, the same sound that I'd been greeted with summing the appointment.

Seokjin insisted that I wear the extra scarf and hat he kept in his bag of seemingly everything to keep me warm. I declined until my dad joined his urging by pulling the hat over my head and swinging the scarf around my neck like a child, leaving me with the hypnotizing scent of Seokjin without ever having touched.

Several people called out goodbyes to them on our way to the first floor, a man dressed in a suit opening the door to a black town car when we stepped onto the sidewalk. "Mr. Kim." He nodded toward Seokjin and then my father.

Seokjin walked to the passenger's side, climbing into the front seat while my dad scooted across the back. I'd been expecting a family member of his to pick us up, someone who spent the appointment running errands or working, not a driver. He smiled politely, giving me the same curt nod as I took the seat next to my dad.

The ride to my dad's apartment was quiet. The radio played softly in the background but I could tell my dad was tiring, letting out several yawns in the few minutes it took to reach the front of the apartment building.

I thanked Seokjin and his driver one more time, my dad's voice filled with exhaustion by the time we entered the apartment. Even so, he mustered up enough energy to give me reminders of things to do, starting with getting a thicker coat.

After making sure he was comfortable in bed I turned my attention to the papers that were scattered on the small dining table. I hadn't noticed them before, in a rush to get from the apartment to his appointment. It reminded me of the disorganized way he kept paperwork for the restaurant before my mom took over, but instead these were sheets about his illness, sticky notes with dates and times that I guessed were his way of tracking appointments. I noticed a single one on the refrigerator with an upcoming date, the closest appointment outside of his chemotherapy sessions.

I took my time putting everything in order, adding things to my to-do and to-buy lists for a few hours before jumping into unpacking. Being in a new place had me feening for art-filled walls and instruments used as decor.