It was almost 10 o’clock.

What could it be?

With a regretful heart, he placed the can of beer on the table and picked up his cell phone. It was a text message from the guardian of ‘Bibi’, a Yorkshire Terrier he was familiar with.

[“Teacher, I’m really sorry, you’re not at the hospital now, are you? I’m contacting you because of Bibi.”] Bibi had come to the hospital yesterday. Bibi often visited, so it couldn’t be a severe illness.

Eun Woo didn’t dislike her. She was pitiful for taking care of her deceased daughter’s pet so dearly, but above all, the lady was a good person.

He recalled her giving him homebrewed sikhye during last Chuseok, wondering whether he, living alone, had properly celebrated Chuseok.

[“If there’s an emergency, I’ll go out.”] The phone rang as soon as he contacted the guardian. ‘Bibi.’ appeared on the cell phone screen. As soon as he pressed the answer button, an anxious voice came from the other side.

“Teacher, I’m sorry. You’re on break. You’re home now, right?”
“It’s okay. What happened to Bibi?”
“Bibi was playing with a toy and bumped into a sharp place, and the skin got torn.”
The lady’s voice choked up.

“How big is the wound?”

“It’s just the size of a thumbnail. It’s not deep…….”
“Is there a lot of blood?”
“No, strangely, there’s almost no blood. But Bibi keeps licking it, worrying about it. What should I do?”
Probably, the skin was slightly torn. It would have been enough to apply some disinfectant and get it checked out tomorrow. But……

Eun Woo raised his head and looked at the clock. There was nothing else to do anyway.

It didn’t even take 10 minutes to walk from Eun Woo’s house to the hospital. It would be better to go there, disinfect it briefly, and comfort Bibi. Otherwise, the lady would blame herself all night for letting Bibi play with the toy.

“Come to the hospital. I’m going out now.”

“Can I really do that?”
“Yes. Don’t worry and come.”
He grabbed his clothes and rushed out. It was past 10 o’clock, so there would be nobody at the hospital. He wanted to open the door and turn on the lights before ‘Bibi’ arrived. When the hospital came into view, the signboard was turned off, but light from inside could be seen leaking out.

“Who’s that. Is it Teacher Choi?”
Or it could be the director who sometimes patrols when he is bored at night.

When he carefully entered, there was someone in his consultation room.

A woman was sitting on a chair, her head resting on a book on the examination table, and she was sleeping with a snore. Small stature, hair rolled up in a bun.

“Ms. Yu Seol Hee.”
Why is she sleeping here?

The book open in front of her was a book related to disc hernia. She must have studied hard. The notepad she was holding was densely filled with related content.

Even when he approached her, she had no clue and was deeply asleep. She muttered something.

What is she saying?

Curious, he bent down to listen.

“Teacher Ok…… no, that’s…… I’m sorry.”
He covered his mouth with one hand to suppress his laughter. She looked so serious, as if she was getting scolded.

Is she getting scolded by me even in her dreams?

Am I too harsh?

Seol Hee has a habit of making mistakes when she gets nervous, so Eun Woo sometimes pointed it out bluntly, was that a burden to her?

Eun Woo observed her twisted face closely.

Her face, as small as his palm, had closely packed features. Depending on what she saw in her dreams, her tightly closed eyelids twitched briefly, then stopped moving and she sighed. It was his first time looking at her face so closely.

“Uhm.”
Was she rebutting Eun Woo? Her thick pink lips moved as if to say something. Seeing her like that, words flowed from Eun Woo’s mouth.

“Cute.”
Surprised by the word that suddenly came out of his mouth, Eun Woo quickly stepped back.

Cute? No, no.

Then, Seol Hee stretched out the arm she was using as a pillow, yawning as she got up.

“Aw….”
She saw Eun Woo in front of her, and her arms, which were stretched out to the sky in celebration, froze. Then she blinked her eyes and looked at him.

“Teacher Ok?”
This posture is also cute.

Eun Woo stifled a laugh that was on the verge of bursting out, looking at her with a stern expression.

“Why is Ms. Ok at our house?”
She blinked for a while, staring blankly at Eun Woo, as if she hadn’t fully woken up.

“We’re at the hospital. Wake up.”
“Hospital?”
Only then, after looking around wideeyed, did she realize she had fallen asleep at the hospital. Her cheeks turned crimson.

“Ah, right. I fell asleep. I’m sorry. Uh… But… You left work earlier.”
And then, Seol Hee screamed out loud, her eyes wide open.

“Is it morning already?”
Watching Seol Hee’s expressions shift rapidly before his eyes, like watching a drama or a sitcom, was quite amusing. But he knew that the ‘beepbeep’ would soon follow.

“It’s still night. I came because there was an emergency. So, wake up.”
“I see. Understood.”
Seol Hee hurriedly cleared the books off the examination table. As soon as she moved the books, Eun Woo sprayed disinfectant all over the table.