⚕️　↳ health center

@bae suzy Once or twice a month, Hyunbin liked to make time to volunteer at the health center. It was a nice change of pace and, frankly, a great way to make connections in the community. He'd been introduced to the health center back in college by a senior a few years above him, her grandfather was a surgeon and her grandmother a nurse, and he's maintained a close connection to the facility since. He was just about to get off his shift when wandered in a little girl without an adult accompanying her. Hyunbin looked around the clinic. There wasn't an adult here he didn't recognize and she definitely didn't belong to any of them. He made a quick gesture to a staff member, mouthing, "Do you know where her parents are?" only to be responded with a shake of a head before they had to quickly return to their duties. Well, she was wandering dangerously close to a section of the clinic she definitely should not be in and there was nobody but him to stop her.

"Hey kiddo!" He approached the young girl with a big, friendly smile, crouching down to her level. "My name is Hyunbin, you can call me Uncle Hyunbin," He introduced himself with a big wave, "What's your name?" His eyes kept darting between the child and his surroundings, trying to find any sign of her guardian, but no luck, but there was an air of familiarity about her he just couldn't put his finger on. Was she the child of one of his clients, perhaps? He couldn't recall.

Hana. That was her name. She was good at answering. "Come here, Hana," He beckoned her away from the crowded part of the clinic toward the receptionist, who would make an announcement to find Hana's family once she had the time between patients. In the meanwhile, it was Hyunbin's job to entertain the child. "Are there any games you like to play, Hana?" He asked, and that's how he ended up becoming a sentient jungle gym for this singular child, lifting her small up in his arms over his head as if she were a feather, the sound of her giggling echoing throughout the clinic until he heard hurried footsteps behind him and Hana shouted out, "Mama!"

Oh good, he was just started to get tired. Playing with kids was a full workout. With a relieved sigh, Hyunbin turned around to see the lost child reunited with her mother, something about the mother's voice rang familiar, as did her stature, and everything seemed to click once he saw a clear view of her face.

"Sunbae?" Hyunbin asked, enthralled by her beauty as he once was so many years ago. She was a little older, a little more mature, there was a motherly nature to her visage now, but it was without a doubt the campus heartthrob of his freshman year, Bae Suzy. He couldn't lie, his heart skipped a beat at this reunion. He thought he'd never see her again. His cheeks flushed pink and all of a sudden, he was that fumbling, bumbling, shy college freshman once again. He tried to shield the inevitable smile that grew across his face with his hand and greeted her with a small head nod of a bow. What a coincidence it was to reunite after all these years.

No, Hyunbin, now was not the time to get engrossed in nostalgia, she just reunited with her lost child, who was the splitting image of her. No wonder why she seemed so familiar. "It was no problem," He said, shaking his head politely to her gratitude, "Hana was so brave the whole time." That silly little grin of his crept up on his face again, he couldn't hide his excitement of being reunited with the old campus heartthrob. He blinked his eyes nervously, trying to piece together words from his vocabulary as if it wasn't his job to charm people for a living. "I- " He stuttered, switching back and forth between the words he wanted to say, "W- It's be- It's good to see you again, Sunbae. Are you in town visiting your grandparents? Welcome back!" Whoops, he ended up stringing together all the words all at once in coherently, but could you blame him? Before him stood the woman who laid the groundwork of his ideal type, the golden standard of a woman he never thought he'd see again, anybody would fumble like an idiot in her presence.

She took her eyes off of her for a moment. Only to great her doctor and go over the transfer of medical files to the clinic. Just for a second she put Hana down and took her eyes off of her. Her heart thrummed in her chest as panic took over. Why was she panicking? She knew the clinic like the back of her hand. She spent her summers here... helping the nurses, talking with the staff, playing in the courtyard... so why was this looming shadow of doom taking her over? She checked the play area; not there. She checked the cafeteria; not there. Hana was a headstrong little girl, Suzy knew that she couldn't have gone far. But since the divorce she couldn't stand to have Hana too far away. "You're still in postpartum, it's normal," her doctor would reassure her when Suzy would break down crying about leaving Hana alone for too long. This is normal, she thought to herself. There was a moment of silence, when the clinic seemed to stop around her, her heart the only thing she could hear in her ears.... when she heard it. The soft titter of a laugh that made the hairs on the back of Suzy's neck stand up, her heart stopping -- Hana's laugh. She hurriedly walked down the hall towards the sound, Hana's laughter making the panic settle but her footsteps almost made her take flight. She rounded the corner when her eyes fell upon Hana and... a man? Suzy stopped for a moment, eyes locking in on Hana as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mama!" Hana called out, her little hand reaching out towards Suzy. Suzy smiled brightly, watching her little girl play with the man.

"Baby," she calls out, slowly taking cautious footsteps towards the two before she reached out to grab her daughter's hand. "I was so scared... don't run away like that." Her words were filled with worry, brows furrowing just a bit as she squeezed Hana's hand gently. Her attention turns towards the man, her eyes capturing the sharp features before she smiles gently. "I am so sorry... Thank you for looking after her."

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