Jihoon wasted no more minutes, booked a cab, and along with Y/n, reached the nearest hospital located on the outskirts of the city.

This hospital was the closest to the temporary residing location of the future archeologists till their internship programme ended.

As soon as they entered the hospital lobby, a cacophony of beeping machines, murmuring voices, and the shuffle of footsteps ranged through their ears. The air was heavy with the odor of disinfectants mingling with the faint aroma of cafeteria food.

Jihoon stepped forward towards the reception to book an appointment, while Y/n went ahead, crossed the reception area and got herself seated in the waiting room. She looked around her surroundings, in one corner, a nurse bustled about, her footsteps quick and purposeful as she attended to her patients.

Her eyes soon got fixated on a child who rested her head on her mother's shoulder, her expressions wary and confused with a flicker of pain. Her gaze shifted onto the guardians accompanying the patients of varying ages with worried emotions written onto their faces.

A wave of discomfort washed her over as she heard a female voice groaning in pain, her voice echoed from the operation theatre located across the end of the lobby. Y/n sighed in relief on reminiscing about the decision she made while deciding her path in life.

Y/n's mother and father always wanted her to choose medicine as her future profession, to help those in need. But she was always been curious about histories and evolutions. How humans and other organisms evolved in different parts of the planet and how different civilisations and dynasties grew and witnessed their downfalls.

Her parents did not appreciate her decision to opt for a different career option, but the rebellion inside Y/n was already sure, as witnessing blood regularly and keeping up with the hectic study schedules was not the best choice for her mental health.

She soon cleared the national archeological entrance exam and entered the Seoul National University's affiliated college of archaeology, marking a new beginning in her life and unleashing the miraculous changes that awaited her.

By this time Jihoon arrived and got seated on the empty chair resting beside Y/n. Her lashes slowly started getting heavy from the weariness, as yawns escaped from her mouth. Her eyes suddenly got wide open, as she was startled by a high-pitched voiced lady standing in front of her asking whether Y/n was the one she was referring to.

"Yes, I am Lee Y/n," Y/n quickly answered, and the nurse, with a cheeky smile plastered on her face, told both of them to follow her.

Both of the friends entered the doctor's cabin, the fluorescent lights cast a sterile glow over the white-tiled floors, while the soft rustle of curtains being drawn added a touch of intimacy to the otherwise clinical atmosphere. Y/n's eyes landed on the handsome man sitting on the doctor's seat, his eyes were focused on the papers spread on the table in front of him. The rectangular-shaped frameless spectacles rested perfectly on his slim nose bridge, his fair skin glistened from the sun rays escaping from the window behind him.

Stuck on her feet, Y/n confusingly wondered as to why he chose a hospital located on the outskirts of Seoul, towards the countryside, while her eyes continued tracing the man in front of her.

"Lee Y/n, right?" The doc finally interrogated after a long awkward silence, to start a conversation.

Y/n's train of thought suddenly crashed and fell over the bridge when she realized her embarrassing trance.

"Y-yes," a stammering voice slipped from her tongue, and Jihoon proceeded to roll his eyes, making an ahem sound in between. He signaled her to move forward. Y/n's cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she couldn't help but think how she labelled herself as a creepy person in front of the doctor she just met.

"So tell me about your condition?" The doc asked as soon as she sat on the chair resting across the table and waited for her to speak.

She side glanced at Jihoon, who was sitting beside her and was trying to ignore his friend's gaze, but then he instantly shoved his elbow into hers, his sharply inclined eyes now glaring right in her soul, signalling her to speak with her otherwise fluent tongue.

"There's something that's causing my stomach to ache."

"Hum, did you probably eat more than usual, causing indigestion?"

Y/n slowly shaked her head, "No I swallowed something that shouldn't be swallowed. Please help me take it out of me."

"Miss Lee, firstly, you need to describe it to me. How it looked like and how it went inside your body? Only then we can look up for further procedures." the doctor further questioned, getting slightly impatient by Y/n's words.

"It's a stony kind of a thing emulating the size of a bead. That night when I discovered it, I was lying on my bed and just staring at it but a wild thought of taking a selfie with the glimmering stone clutched between my central incisors and posting it on my SNS, crossed my mind but didn't end well, and that stone went ahead on exploring my body."

"COME ON! Doctor! Let me tell you she's a very clumsy human with a mind of an ass!" Jihoon frustratingly blurted, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a very long time, while Y/n just waited for them to exit the cabin. The doc exchanged glances with the both of them, grimacing Y/n for a while, and finally heaving a sigh.

"I might have seen these kinds of cases before but supposedly not in your age group. Anyways, we'll get your CT scan done, and then decide anything further."

THIRTY MINUTES LATER

After going through the procedure, they both headed towards the waiting area. Y/n occasionally kept on giving side glares to Jihoon but didn't say anything because she knew it was her fault after all. She quickly approached the resting chairs aligned together, ready to get seated, but a strong force on her arm pulled her backwards.

"Are you a freaking creep, Y/n!? Do you even know how embarrassing it was for the two of us when you kept staring at him for no reason ?" the male friend accompanying  Y/n spoke in a low voice while gritting his teeth and arching his brows.

"Are you a bastard? Leave my arm first or else I won't hesitate to punch you in the mouth," Y/n retorted while keeping her voice low.

Jihoon sighed and dropped his grip from her arm, seating himself on the empty chair. The atmosphere between them felt heavy as if a pause in time had magnified the awkwardness that lingered in between.

Y/n quickly realised her mistake, as there was silence from her friend's side.

"Sorry, if I unintentionally embarrassed you somehow."

Jihoon scoffed and sealed his lips even more while ignoring Y/n's gaze and looking elsewhere.

"Yah! Wooz-

Y/n slightly whined but stopped suddenly when Jihoon shot her a glare, in response.

"Can you stop being so serious? I even apologised, which is quite rare in itself."

"Right, I feel so happy."

Y/n lips lengthened into a smile, but it soon faded when Jihoon completed his sentence.

"To know that girls are perverts too."

"Not again, you paleboy," Y/n mumbled and rolled her eyes.

Briefly after, a person with a white coat around his wide shoulders stood right in front of them. The doc carried the reports in his hands and an unfamiliar look was plastered on his features that Y/n couldn't resolve and made Jihoon worried.

The three of them went ahead, towards the cabin once again and quickly took their seats. The medical professional swiftly took out the plastic sheets from the envelope and slid them in front of them.

"Look, this region right here is your upper abdomen, and this region right here is your lower abdomen which seems perfectly fine. Your stomach shows no signs of damage either, and everything seems pretty normal which raises my doubts. I am not being rude, but Miss Lee did you swallow something ?"

Y/n gaped at the doctor, as his words reached her ears. She gulped hard, her tongue froze, unable to word a sentence. Her eyes then shifted onto the sheets in front of her. She stared at them with curious eyes, in search of something that would prove that she wasn't lying.

"Doctor, are you sure that you spotted nothing in the report? It's a small pebble, and maybe it skipped from your eye! Please have a look again." Jioon nervously uttered, his eyes carrying a look of devastation and worry.

The doc shook his head and continued,  "I've already done it many times and even got it checked by the professor above me," he concluded.

Y/n was blown away by his statement, her mind was still comprehending everything when suddenly she remembered her morning routine, how she took some digestion tablets last night, "Maybe it went out during my morning routine."

"It's possible, considering the size you are referring to," Doc said.

"But then why was it still aching?"

"Can be due to the damage it caused to the internal linings while it stayed there."

Y/n hummed in response, as things got more clearer, her mind slowly coming at ease.

"But I'll still write you a prescription, follow it for at least five days. And if you notice anything unfamiliar, then this is my business card and you can directly call the number right here."

The doc handed the business card to Y/n, and she read his name in her mind.

Dr Cha Eun Woo.

"Have a nice day Miss Lee."

✧

PS: So hey everyone once again,
Did you like it? The cameo appearance of our ASTRO boy !!!
I hope you did. BTW does anyone have any idea about what's happening to our clumsy y/n? And where did that bead go?
I'll leave this for you to guess.