our crossed paths | jww.

twenty seven.

"Oh shoot, I'm late!"

The next morning arrived too quickly for Jiwoo.

She woke up in a panic, realizing she had overslept and was late for her shift. Scrambling out of bed, she threw the covers off herself, not even noticing that Wonwoo had been sleeping beside her the entire night.

As she hurried to get dressed, her sudden movements startled him.

"Mmm... Jiwoo? What's going on?" Wonwoo grumbled, groggily rubbing his eyes.

"I'm late! I have to go, sorry!" Jiwoo said hastily, grabbing a piece of bread off the counter as she rushed to the door. She gave Wonwoo a quick peck on the cheek and dashed out of the apartment.

Wonwoo sat up in bed, bewildered and still half-asleep. "She didn't even notice..." he mumbled to himself with a sigh, before laying back down for a moment. But as he heard the door close behind her, he realized she was already gone.

"Typical Jiwoo..."

When Jiwoo arrived at the hospital, some of the nurses greeted her with warm smiles.

"Happy birthday, Dr. Jiwoo!" one of them called out.

Jiwoo waved back and smiled. "Thanks! Let's work hard today,"

After clocking in, she dove right into her busy shift, not having time to dwell on the fact that it was her birthday.

In truth, she'd been feeling a bit off for the past few days—her body ached all over, her back especially sore. She chalked it up to all the nonstop work and the stress of adjusting back to the fast pace of the ER.

Shortly after, a nurse came and approached her, "Dr. Jiwoo, we had 4 admissions last night in a MVA case. All the patients are out from the trauma bay though and..."

Jiwoo nodded, listening to the information. It's going to be a long shift again.

But at least she didn't feel as bad as yesterday.

By lunchtime, Jiwoo decided to meet Seokmin in the cafeteria. She didn't feel like eating alone on her birthday, so she found him sitting at a table with his usual light-hearted grin.

"Happy birthday, birthday girl!" Seokmin said, patting the seat beside him.

"Thanks," Jiwoo muttered, sitting down with her tray. "Ah, my back's killing me, I stood up too long for the past few hours." she groaned.

"Mhm, you should definitely rest. You've been working non-stop. Don't push yourself and get burned out for the sake of the promotion, Ji." Seokmin suggested, eyeing her with concern.

"I'll try to take everything slower, don't worry. Maybe it's just all this lack of sleep that's tiring me out," Jiwoo sighed, stuffing a spoonful of fried rice into her mouth.

"Speaking of sleep....." Seokmin's teasing smirk crept up immediately.

"What?" Jiwoo looked at him.

".... you and Wonwoo finally slept together?"

Jiwoo's eyes widened. She hadn't thought about that until now.

How did that happen?

How did she not notice?

She awkwardly cleared her throat. "That's none of your business."

"Come on! Spill the details!" Seokmin nudged her, grinning from ear to ear.

"No details needed, unless you really want to jump off like yesterday," Jiwoo replied.

The events of her rushed morning came to mind, Seokmin was right. Wonwoo was right next to her when she woke up in the morning, but she was too busy getting ready to even realise.