10.

| 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 & 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬. |

Eunjae P.O.V

"JaeJae, are you absolutely sure that you're okay?"

Sunhee asked for the nth time, wiping my face with a towel, and checking my temperature.

"Sunshine, I'm absolutely sure that I'm okay. I just had a nightmare, which seemed a bit too real, and got freaked. Looking back at it, it's silly, but I'm telling you, I'm okay!"

I loved Sunhee with all my heart, the reason being obvious; she was kneeling in front of me, her hair disheveled, her white, fluffy eye-mask lopsided on her forehead, a towel in her hand, eyes widened although I could discern sleepiness, just because I had woke up screaming.

Despite my protests that I was fine, she continued to wipe my face, and comfort me.

After another ten minutes of consolation, I saw Sunhee begin stifling yawns. I gently pushed her to her bed.

"Sleep," I said, "you need to sleep, I can see you yawning."

"No, JaeJae, I'm fine— oh."

I laughed.

"Get my point? I'm. Fine! Now, go sleep, and let me sleep too."

Sunhee frowned, but nodded her head nevertheless.

"But if something's bothering you—"

"—I'll be sure to let you know," I said, sarcastically.

"No, I mean it, because you're having terrible cramps, and then you wake up screaming like this, so I was really worried."

"I'm sorry for worrying you. But, trust me, I'm fine now, even the cramps are gone. Okay? No need to worry your pretty little head anymore."

I hugged her, and tucked her into her bed, flicking her forehead before coming back and lying down on my own bed.

"Sleep well, JaeJae."

I heard Sunhee mutter in between a yawn, before her soft snores filled the silence.

I smiled.

"You too, Sunshine."

-

"Rise and shine, Sunshine!"

I whipped the curtains open, letting the morning sunlight, well, as much sunlight we can expect in autumn, flood into the room.

Sunhee groaned, pulled her blanket tighter around her and continued dozing.

"We have early breakfast today, and if you don't get your ass out of bed, we won't be eating food," I said, tying my hair up.

I heard Sunhee grumble some inaudible shit from under her blanket.

I walked towards her bed and pulled the blanket off, and asked her to repeat what she just said.

"Why do we have early breakfast?" She asked, hand clutching her head.

"We have our checkup today, you amnesic hungover sack of potatoes."

I giggled when Sunhee let out a confused cry of indignation.

"I'm not a sack of potatoes! Amnesic, maybe. Hungover, definitely. But not a sack of potatoes."

She then proceeded to prove my point, by falling out of her bed, legs tangled with her blue blanket, like a sack of potatoes.

I burst out laughing. "Not a sack of potatoes? Pfft, sure."

Sunhee scrambled to her feet, a finger pointing at me, as if she wanted to lecture me, but when her head began hurting again, she thought better of it.

"Argh, my head," she groaned.

I shook my head, walking upto the cabinet in our bathroom, where we had a packet of pills for curing hangovers.

I took out one pill, filled a glass of water, and handed both to Sunhee, who took it gratefully.

"Let's go eat breakfast quickly. Eating pills on an empty stomach isn't advisable," I said, pulling her towards the bathroom.

She nodded, and went inside, to freshen up.

My throat felt dry, so I grabbed a bottle of water, kept on my bedside table, and drank two gulps.

I hummed in content at the refreshing feeling, patting my stomach.

"Water really does help with cramps."

-

Fifteen minutes later, Sunhee and I were making our way to the cafeteria, for breakfast.

Others were coming with us too, so I suppose that the food wasn't completely gone.

I remember once when I had overslept and had been given leftovers as breakfast, since all the freshly cooked dishes were eaten, and there was nothing left for me.

I shivered. That was traumatising.

That's majorly why I try my best to wake up early, so that I won't have to even come near a situation like that ever again.

"I thought Wednesday's were cheat days?"

Sunhee looked around, frowning at the same type of food we eat every day; various types of cereals, with different types of milk and milkshakes, fruit and vegetable juices, three types of breads with healthy jams and butter.

It was all nice, but it was too. . . healthy.

We had cheat days on Wednesday's, where we got to eat different things, like pancakes, sausages, omelettes, and other greasy dishes which we wouldn't be allowed to eat on a daily basis.

I sighed.

"Why are you so forgetful? We have checkup today! The staff can't have us eating unhealthy things just before a health checkup. That's like eating chocolate right before a dentist appointment; simply disrespectfully cheeky."

Sunhee grimaced, nodding.

We piled up slices of toasted bread on our plates, pieces of fresh fruits to go along with it.

We were silently eating our food when I saw the older Mr. Choi talking with a few of the doctors who usually conduct our checkups.

Choi Heesung was the one who started arranging these checkups for us. If it wasn't for him, Heemang wouldn't even bother about our health, and would just pretend as if nothing happened.

It wouldn't really be surprising, seeing as how he doesn't even bother to remember our full names. The times he does interact with us, it's as if he's speaking with vermin, and refers to us as if we're all objects.

The only person's name he remembers properly is Sunhee.

I supposed that was because she was one of the oldest employees here, if we could be considered as employees.

I realised that I had never asked her about how she got here, and why she's still here. Both of us silently agreed to never bring up our pasts, and always shift topics every time we go near it.

Some things are best left locked in the past.

Wait a minute. . .

A thought suddenly struck me; Sunhee's surname is Choi, and so was Heemang's and Heesung's.

And their name all had 'Hee'.

Usually, family members have the same surname and syllables.

I frowned. "Choi Sunhee," I said, slowly.

She looked up at me lazily.

"Ouch, to what do I owe the full name?"

"Choi Heesung," I continued, ignoring her, "Choi Heemang."

She now had her eyebrows raised. "I don't follow. Why are you saying these names?"

I repeated the names, putting emphasis, this time, on the parts of their names that were same.

Realisation lit up in her eyes, along with wonder.

"Oh, wow. . . oh, damn! I never noticed that!"

She seemed genuinely unaware to the suspicious connection between their names. Either that, or she was a brilliant actor.

"Really?" I asked, still sceptically apprehensive.

"What, you think these people are my family members?" She asked, with incredulity, although I could discern a hint of confusion.

I stared at her for a while, and she stared back, as if daring me to speak further.

A bell rang, signalling the end of our mealtime.

Right now, it also happened to signal the end of the intense tension between Sunhee and I, who just got up and left.

I had a sinking feeling that she was angry at me, and wouldn't speak to me for the entire day.

I felt bad now, because I had broken our unspoken rule; never bring up the past. Me, questioning their surnames had indirectly insinuated that I thought they were her relatives, family.

And talking about our families was forbidden. For good measure, I'd say.

Regretting my decision of even opening my mouth, I walked towards the clinic room.

It wasn't anything special, just a large hall, filled with female doctors for our comfort, and curtained partitions for privacy.

I sat down in the queue, waiting for my turn, but not really registering the time that passed, as my mind was preoccupied with my fight with Sunhee.

This wasn't the first time we had ever fought, and it wasn't as severe as our other fights, but something told me that I had hit a sore spot this time.

I probably shouldn't have stretched it further. . .

"Cha Eunjae." I heard a lady at the front of the queue call out my name.

I stood up, and walked inside the nearest curtained closure. A doctor I had seen around here, but never really bothered to get acquainted with, was standing, looking at the notepad in her hands.

"So I heard that you're on your period."

I nodded at her.

"Well, then, I won't be taking a sample of your blood, since you're already losing more than enough."

There was a playful twinkle in her eyes, which made me feel much more comfortable.

She did all the usual stuff, checking my vitals, et cetera. After ten minutes, she asked me to go to the washroom and check how much blood flow I was having.

I obliged, but was in for a shock;

there was not a single drop of blood on the pad.

x x x

A / N

I feel as if this chapter is half-assed, because it took me, like, a week to plan what actually happens in this

(the fight wasn't even in the original plan💀 but hey, plot holes why not) (plus, it's part of my AU)

is sunhee acc related to them?! Or is eunjae just overthinking like me?

I would highly advise you all to read all the stories of the series that I'm making,, in the same AU, so that y'all can understand what actually happens

The stories aren't out yet,, this is the first one (kinda) ('I'm fine' is the shortened version of another story, so you could read that too)

This is supposed to be a short story, so I'm not gonna beat around the bush, and just get to the main part, since we're already ten chapters in. (The next chapter may be shorter shsjjd)

Vote, spam, and comment otherwise SunJae (sunhee and eunjae) won't become friends again
(im serious💀)

Ciao~

-xo-
:]