After that sudden knocking on her new neighbor front's door (maybe not the quiet 'knocking' because she was 'ringing' the doorbells. But, whatever), Karina didn't hear the girl playing her guitar anymore at twelve for four days straight, which she was grateful for that.

Despite how ashamed and embarrassed she has been with herself since that day. Too coward to ever meet her new neighbor, by accident or not.

If she ever saw the other girl, in their apartment's lobby, or near the elevator, Karina would immediately U-turn to hide herself behind the lobby big collum or behind their big black vase for dear life.

Back to her nursing job at the hospital, Karina currently checking the BPM of her eighty-six-year-old patient. He is a wealthy man, but despite all the wealth, he is all alone. His wife died eight years ago from cancer. His two children left him and never visited him.

Somehow, Karina felt sorry for him that she was always there to talk to him despite her daily rounds weren't always with him.

"How did you feel today, Grandpa? Did you have your meal?", Karina asked as she wrote down his pulse on a piece of paper. A warm smile crest on her face as she did.

"I'm feeling good, miss. You see? They gave me my favorite food today?", the old man said despite having only three teeth left. Karina chuckled at his words before she bent down to unwrap the wrapper off the man's arm.

"I see. Did they give you a bungeo-ppang?"

The old man nodded his head happily as his tiny eyes squinted. "Yeah. It was delicious", his giggles somehow bring warmth to Karina's heart. Karina put down the checklist on the trolley as she tied up the BPM checker. "How much did you eat? One? Two?".

"Only one. You know I didn't have many teeth left", the old man keep nodding his head slowly and Karina gladly answered him with a melodious hum. "Tell me what else did you want? I'll let the other nurse know. Maybe—", Karina said before she bent down again. "I can buy something for you?", the nurse smiled, keep looking at the old man's face.

When she knew that he only had less than two weeks to be alive.

"Oh, you don't need to, young miss. I've had enough things I like in my life", the grandpa smiled. "I got lots of money. I can buy", he nods his head again with the same tiny smile.

Karina slowly pulled away, grabbing one of his hands with hers, and caressing them gently with her thumb. "Just tell me if you need anything, okay? All the nurses here will do anything for you!", Karina smiled, assuring him.

"Anything?"

"Anything", Karina nods, confirming. Replying to the warm smile he always gave her on every visit.

*****

Karina gently closed her locker shut again, walking back to the ward's front door with Aeri waiting for her with her usual groggy smile.

"Oh, come on girl! I'm hungry and I might die in five seconds", the Japanese whined but Karina just looked straight at her friend with an expressionless face, lifting up one of her hands as she folded her fingers one by one.

Five.

Four.

"What are you doing?", Aeri asked but Karina kept silent.

Three.

Two.

One.

"Hallelujah. Uchinaga Aeri is still alive and fine. Yay", Karina lifted both her hands in the air, cheering with her deep emotionless voice as Aeri rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Oh— come on! I'm gonna die, for real!", the Japanese pulled Karina with her toward the cafeteria, causing a sudden growl to come from her stomach. "See? My stomach is angry! You've made them angry!".

They walked down the escalator, towards the cafeteria near the lobby area "It's not my fault that you are hungry because you didn't take your breakfast", Karina argued and her friend immediately argued back.

"Blame you for calling me early in the morning, bawling out of the blue that you get strange feelings about your red flag boyfriend!", Aeri smacked Karina on her arms before the taller girl smacked her back.

"Blame you back because you made me think that he is such as red flag!", another smack.

"Well, blame you back again because you didn't trust me that he is such a red flag!", another smack.

"Well, I don't know! I tried your suggestion to keep asking him for a picture, but he kept declining. We fought last night because of your silly suggestion!", another smack.

"Then, just break up!", another smack.

"What? Did you think it was that easy? I love him and how should—"

"Karina?", the tiny voice pulled both two young nurses' attention away from their fights towards the figure, two meters away beside them. While Aeri just squinted her eyes in confusion, Karina's eyes widened in shock. "N-Neighbor?", she said before hiccuped once from the shock.

"Neighbor?", Aeri asked back at the taller girl, but Karina kept looking at her left and her right. Sadly, their hospital lobby had no big and thick collum, nor a big vase for her to hide behind them.

That tiny figure with short ginger hair, and a baby blue-colored oversized hoodie happily walks towards the two nurses with her tiny smile and cute steps. "You work here?", she asked with her tiny grin.

The taller nurse was almost at a loss of words.

"A-Ah... yeah. I am. What are you doing here?", Karina asked back, suddenly tugging her hands between Aeri's arm, giving unpredictable SOS signals.

"Me?", Winter pointed at herself with her left hand before she quickly lifted up her right hand. "I'm here for a check-up. My right hand keeps acting silly, so I stopped playing my guitar for a while", the small girl said before she smiled again.

Ah. So that's why she stopped playing her guitar for four days straight? Karina was glad that she didn't play them, but at the same time feeling sorry for her for not being able to play them for a while.

What? At least Winter played some doped warmth tunes that are good for one's ear to hear. The only problem is that she played them at the wrong time.

Aeri keeps looking back between Karina at Winter with a questioning expression. She slowly leans into her friend's ear, "Is she the one that plays the guitar every single night?".

Karina could only answer her with a nod before Winter started to talk again.

"I guess I'll see you later? Bye, Karina", the girl giggled as Karina slowly lifted one hand up, waving back at the smaller girl with a dumbfounded expression.

"Oh... O-Okay. Bye"

Winter waved back as she walked away from the lobby until her figure disappeared from the two girls' eyesight. As Karina's eyes keep darting at the last location of Winter before she disappeared, Aeri stared at her friend with a smirk before she smacked Karina with her hand at the back.

"Why don't you tell me that your new neighbor is such a cutie!", Aeri squealed happily which finally brought Karina's back to reality.

"She's not!"

"Really? What I saw just now was totally the girl version of Pocoyo, smiling at you! Look at how she walks! Are you kidding me? 'Black metal aura', bullshit", Aeri smacked her again on the back.

"Seriously? Can you stop smacking me for a second? I might sue you for physical assault!"

"Sue me! Bring it on! Come on! Sue me!"

"Shut up! You're such an embarrassment to the hospital community!"