Nurse : What do we do? He doesn't have an appointment today. And you just got off work.

Dr.Ban : That's all right. Let him in.

Nurse : Okay. (-smiles-) You are the best.

Dr.Ban chuckled as the Nurse left with a smile and not seconds later another knock was heard.
Jimin opened the door at the approval from inside and noticed his doctor, hanging his coat back on the hanger.

JM : You can carry on if you have work. I will just silently stay here for a while.

Before Dr.Ban could react, Jimin was already walking ahead to the couch- centered to a small coffee table.
The psychiatrist carefully observed his actions, as Jimin casually rested himself with his lowered head.

Dr.Ban : Would you like some Chamomile tea? I am gonna make some for myself.

Jimin lifted his head up to his direction, to find him still standing in the same position and slowly nodded. His benevolent nature, not letting him drop the doctor's humble offer.

JM : Sure.

The psychiatrist well accustomed with his patient, didn't force him to talk his worries and simply granted him the space however he requested.
He left the room completely to Jimin such that the latter feels more secure and well guarded. And spent a good fifteen minutes in the hospital mini staff café, located in the same floor. To provide Jimin with the required time and space in solitary.

Soon to have returned, not making much noise, the psychiatrist slightly opened the door with his elbow-both hands occupied carrying cups. Jimin was constantly getting a call from his manager that he tried to avoid for the first half of the time. But, finally received it as the doctor quietly entered the room. He placed his cup in front of him, letting Jimin speak through in privacy.

JM : (-over the call-) Yeah, hyung?

Manager : Why weren't you taking my calls? I am looking for you everywhere. Where are you? I will come get you n-

JM : No, I wouldn't tell you where I am.

Manager : Ya, Park Ji Min!

JM : I just want to be alone right now. I will come back on my own.

Manager : Jimin-ah, what is wrong? Huh? Your show schedule is in three hours, you have to be present with the members. And it's a live broadcast on top of that. You do remember, don't you?

JM : Yes, I do. Give me thirty minutes or so.

Manager : (-gives in-) All right. I will give you that. But, please do return and if anything, receive my calls.

JM : Okay~

Jimin ended the line and rested his phone on the table. He stared down at the cup, placed in front of him and let out a silent sigh.

Neither the singer nor the doctor uttered a word for the next few minutes. Until, something clicked on the latter's head and he busted out.

Dr.Ban : Oh, right! I watched the KBS festival yesterday. (-specifying himself-) Why, the one, where idol groups perform, and they receive awards too.

JM : You startled me.

Dr.Ban : Oh, did I? Well, you startled me too. Khueee... the moment I turned on the TV, you people were on, performing. You looked so intimidating. (-sings and dances along-) "Hey Na Na Na"

JM : (-chuckles at him-) You got some moves there.

Dr.Ban : Hey, are you looking down on me? Don't! 'Cause in med school, uh, I used to be the drummer of our band. (-reminiscing good old days-) Oh, I was good.

Jimin chuckled again, watching him reminisce and smile in his thoughts.

JM : I didn't look down. It was just really unexpected and weird to imagine you doing that. It's so not you.

Dr.Ban : Then, what do you imagine me doing? What am I?

JM : (-innocently-) A psychiatrist(?)

Dr.Ban : (-gasps-) Do all my patients see me like that too?

JM : (-in a monotone-) Yes, they do.

Dr.Ban was instantly brought to an existential crisis. He realized, he had been so immersed in his job title that he lost the cool Ban Jin Sang, he built in medical school.

Jimin, noticing his break down, didn't know what to do. He found himself in a packed situation.

JM : Umm... are you going to cry?

Just as he asked that, Dr.Ban chuckled at the book he was reading and looked up at him.

Dr.Ban : Huh?

JM : You seemed like you had a crisis... But no longer, I guess.

Dr.Ban : Oh, yeah. I got over it. I was laughing at this comic. It's hilarious. (-grins-)

JM : (-scoffs lightly-) That recovery sure was fast.

Dr.Ban : Yeah, I just phased it out. Well, I can still become the cool Dr.Ban Jin Sang. I am not even forty yet.

Jimin giggled lightly, witnessing his overflowing enthusiasm and finally took a sip from the hot tea.
Dr.Ban observed that and smiled to himself, feeling accomplished that he was half way through.
He believed, the stress relieving properties that Chamomile specialized in, would calm him down if he was feeling any kind of anxiety.

And as the professional formulated it, in a short while of him drinking the hot beverage, Jimin felt more relaxed. Not identical as a medicated tranquilizer, the tea just teased the right amout of alleviation in him. Therefore, he finally broke his silence over his brood.

JM : It's hard.

Dr.Ban shut his comic book, and walked over to the couch with his cup clasped in his palm. He quietly sat across Jimin, sipping on his tea. The singer, having his eyes fixed at his hands doing a habitual scratch, gradually unpeeled the wraps of his angst.

JM : So much, that I want to hide from the spotlight. And the more I do, the more I dread to go out again.

Dr.Ban let his words be well absorbed in the air for a while, as he rested his cup on the table gently.

Dr.Ban : All right. You can do that. You can hide until you feel better.

Jimin sniffled, waiting for his doctor to place his entire point.

Dr.Ban : But, don't stay in for too long. Even hibernating animals have to come out from their hides in summer. In human words, these seasons are called "phases".

JM : (-lifts his gaze at him-) Phases?

Dr.Ban : Right. And we as humans have a little bit of advantage too.

JM : Oh, what kind of advantage?

Dr.Ban : We get the choice to determine the duration of these phases. It's all in here. In the head. (-points along-)

Jimin dropped his sight back into a blank space. Even though, he could understand the doctor making sense, Jimin was simply not ready to accept it yet.

JM : But, I don't want to go out of my hide. Now or... ever.

Dr.Ban : The animals come out looking for food in summers. What could be your motivation? Perhaps, your loved ones, your stages...

The professional trailed off, letting his suggestions play out in Jimin's inner vision. For the latter, to find his reason himself.

JM : Loved ones... stages.. I-I do love them. But, the frustration inside just doesn't let me out. I keep wanting to escape it, by hiding from everything.

Dr.Ban : (-hums in agreement-) That frustration is nothing but 'winter' to hibernating animals. The frosty gush and dry chaos of the outside environment, that's what keeps them stuffed inside.

With every word of analogy, they were fitting in place with his own terms. The glamour and stardom of the outside that he felt undeserving were his winters. He realized, the frustration inside was more so a fear of the outside.

The singer, as if cued, was presented with an answer promptly to the doubts that had just started to form.

Dr.Ban : We just need to find your summer. Something that reassures you against the cold winter. A space or presence you feel comfortable to be outside.

The resolution was not piecing together for Jimin, just as well as realizing the problem did moments ago.

Dr.Ban : Find that is your homework now.

Jimin ever so lightly nodded. He  stayed silent however, taking another sip from the cup. He was aware about feeling more appeased and wondered if it was the tea.

JM : I like this. What was it again?

Dr.Ban : It's Chamomile. Also good to aid sleep. Have some before you go to bed; it will help.

JM : Ah, good to know.

It didn't leave his scrutiny, that Jimin was trying to escape admitting to the facts. Even so, Dr.Ban liberated him to absorb and comprehend things in his spontaneous pace and didn't further weight over his words.

Dr.Ban : I guess, the thirty minutes are over now. You should attend to you schedule. Remember, "Not doing anything is . . .

Dr.Ban & JM : (-in sync-) . . . like a slowly acting poison to the human soul."

Although, he wasn't trying to push him away before he stirred up on his own. Yet, he felt Jimin needed the propel to act on the quoted lines.

Dr.Ban : (-smiles-) See you on our next session.

JM : Yes. And, I'm sorry about today... for not letting you leave.

Dr.Ban : Well, I am gonna have to practice drums. Thanks to you for reminding me that.

JM : (-grins-) Sure, you should always do what makes you happy.

Dr.Ban : Absolutely! Ooh. You had today's thunder quote.

Jimin, who came in with a sullen face, now left the cabin with a smile. Before he singled out to crash there, the singer was at least confident that he would certainly feel better, meeting his doctor.

The latter, following him out in his trench coat, dropped by the reception to take off.

Dr.Ban : Ms.Geum, any queries from the in-patients?

The concerned nurse, also his personal assistant for all his patients, answered him of no complications. She was also the one from earlier and smiled to him as she passed on a comment on Jimin's case.

Ms.Geum : You were really cool today, Doctor Ban. (-thumps up-)

Dr.Ban : Right? I am cool.

He seemed lost in this thoughts, the nurses there shared a confused glance and stirred him up.

Dr.Ban : Onh, everyone great work today, see you tomorrow.

The staff blinked at him, casually leaving just like that, calling himself cool out of nowhere.

Intern Nurse : I heard psychiatrists are themselves out of their minds. That must really be true.

Ms.Geum : Hey, don't say that. He just acknowledged what I had remarked.

Intern Nurse : Ms.Geum. Do you lik-

Ms.Geum : (-cutting her off-) Stop running your mind in weird directions and work properly.

Intern Nurse : Yep. I apologize.

Getting the intern to pay heed to her work, a mystic smile could be seen plastered around Ms.Geum's lips.

Dr.Ban, with his car, drove out of the hospital premises like every day, routinely.
The only interaction he had in the entire day were limited to the hospital boundaries. And so far so, he has made his peace with it, keeping his guards up, high like a skyscraper.

Behind the professional mask, sometimes goofy, the psychiatrist lived a pretty frozen life. But, hated to victimize himself in the eyes of others. Thus liked to remain neutral or feign a happy face, just so people were less interested in his matters.

He drove his way in tranquility, a complete silence inside the car.
There was a sea coast that would always fall in the connective of his home and the hospital.

And as he rode through that length, the doctor would always spare a glance at the breathtaking sunset, while returning home everyday.

Today, however, the far end of the sea had already feasted out the sun. The faint coral hues still lingering around the surface of the water body, brought a smile on his face nevertheless.

What he couldn't discern from the moving scenery, was a lady in black-seated a few feet away from the shore.

The faint reflection of the sun, falling on her skin made such a beautiful sight that simply broke out all the societal standards. Her insides were rather in a state of an ugly seizure, on the counterpart.

A recurring call that have tried to intrude her space for the fourth time, she landed her hand in a thought to switch her cellphone off. Only for her pinky to have swiped the green icon by accident.

"Dan Hwa-!" was the only thing that could blast through the line, before the gadget turned off.

Her sight not once, moving from the sea currents waving back and forth. As if her eyes devoid of any warmth, face devoid of any expressions and her body feeling paralyzed-only one thought crossed her mind.

"What if I disappear?"

"What if I disappear. . . too?"

With the navy sky blanketing over the corals completely, Dan Hwa now laid flat on the sand. Her arms stretched out and plopped restfully.

The sky above, painted a dark navy with a few stars spread here and there, looking for their constellation.

It did not flow through her numb facial skin, that a tear sneakily escaped down the corner of her eyes.

The cause to this unexplained pain, the sequences played blurry in her vision. No resolutions, no definitions, simply a block of moving images.

People often tend to react subjectively towards their emotions and situations. And so she wondered, unjustified hurt confuse and maim one's soul like nothing else. The permanent sore it leaves in one's heart, either freezes in time or spreads around further like a virus-with an ordeal despond, that it is too late to get any better.

The real question, however, is-when is it 'too late'? Can it be viewed objectively, that it's never too late, regardless of the person or the circumstances. Or be accepted subjectively, that you realize it, when it's already too late.

The doubts and confusion continually hammered her head, releasing more waters through her eyes.

As if it was a nature's way to get back to her, a cold raindrop spat on her forehead. Wanting to slowly break her out of the numb shell she was encased into.
From one to two simultaneously, from that to innumerable quantities, the raindrops now began to shower all over.

It was an unseen moment, to watch the drops, directly fall on you unbiased. With a few, dropping in her open eyes, Dan Hwa closed her lids gently, feeling the rain-beat against her bare skin.

Occasional warm tears were now perceived on the corner of her eyes against the comparatively cold rain water. Sensations slowly waved back into her nerves, just like the water in the shore.

Her conscience with a defeated sigh let her remain still, beneath the fall, to live this thoughtless cease from reality.

Under the hide of nature, Dan Hwa silently and openly cried out her nameless pain.

Few hours later, she opened her eyes to a clear sky and her drenched self. It took a moment for her to get familiarized by the surroundings.

"Lady, are you okay?"

She whipped her gaze to the source of the middle aged male voice on her right and immediately sat up straight. Nerved up, Dan Hwa, with anxious actions, clutched on her belongings and zoomed out of the place with her bike.

The care taker of the sea coast, blinked at her direction in confusion. He took an answer for himself that she should be fine, if that run was real. And continued to clean after the rain.

Dan Hwa cycled as fast as she could paddle through the chain. Almost in a shiver of the extra blow of cold air, hiting her wet clothes and hair.

Just as she reached her single apartment, she sneezed and entered the washroom sniffing long.

Taking a warm shower to wash away the dirt, Dan Hwa covered herself in heavy duvets.
If anything, she was self sufficient and knew to take care of herself.
Not a proper meal, having no energy for it now, she had some fruits and took concerned medicines to dial down the fever.

Hoping to be fine by morning, Dan Hwa cozily tried to sleep. Only to be distracted by a call, coming through in her home telephone. The sound of it irritated her so much, that she finally got up to answer it.

Recalling about her phone, she switched it on and plugged it to the charger beside her bed and left the room.

Out in the hall, just as she stretched out her hand towards the phone, the ring went off. Dan Hwa sighed and decided to wait a little for the person to call again.

Meanwhile, finding the remote to television on the couch as she settled down, the designer simply turned on the wide screen. Feeling, that would be a good past time and swiped the channels listlessly. Upon noticing a familiar face, Dan Hwa stopped at 'Hello Counselor' reality show and rested the remote beside her.

"Annyeonghaseyo, this is actor Baek Chan Heo. Thanks for having me today," spoke the guest of the aired episode from the screen.

Ms.Yeongja : Did anyone know this? Our Baek Chan-ie is a close relative of the evergreen Actor Mr.Baek In Ho.

Half of the mass, a little surprised, the other half was already acquainted with the news.

Chan Heo : (-formal smile-) Well, it is true, but I get a lot of misstatements about that.

Ms.Yeongja : Oh? What type? What do they say?

Chan Heo : That, he is my father.

The screen flashed his big chuckle and the audience's clueless smiles.

Ms.Yeongja : Oh, really? But, you do look like him though. People saying that totally goes for you.

Chan Heo : Owh, thank you. That's really an honor.

Mr.Tae Gyun : Then, shall we clear that misunderstanding now? Reveal your real relationship with him on national television. Come on. Hit the nail on the head.

Chan Heo : Ah... well. He is my Uncle. My Dad's younger brother. Not my father.

There were all kinds of reaction from the crowd, learning about the unexpected relation of the young actor with the most popular star. Back in his days and even now.

And just as Dan Hwa expected, the phone call came through once again and she muted the show-receiving it.

"Hey! Baek Dan Hwa!" almost yelled the line in her ears.

________

Who do you think it is?
I bet you wouldn't expect this reveal. ;)