eunrae felt like ripping all her hair out .
she thought she escaped from hell a . k . a . high school years ago , but enrolling herself into medical school only meant she had to do it all over again , with two times the stress , three times the workload and four times the responsibility .
talk about " chasing your dreams as an adult " .
here she was , on a rare day she didn't have to worry about being called for shifts , sitting in front of the study desk , staring blankly at her textbooks and the stack of notes her classmates lent her while she was away . the faint noise of guns being fired and hendery yelling at his stupid pubg teammates could be heard from the living room , adding onto the frustration .
dropping out sounded like a great idea in that moment .
for a second , it was all she could think of . she had a stable job . she had professional medical knowledge . she had everything she needed . becoming a doctor wasn't one of her top priorities . her family was starting to struggle from the amount of money they had to invest in her higher education . there was literally no reason for her to put herself through hell .
she heaved a sigh . picked up her phone .
the station 118 discord was as busy as ever , and so was yangyang's tiktok account . her classmates moonyoung and raeil were out on their hot girl weekend as usual , being the two richest people on campus with an extraordinary hobby of dissing un - woke white girls . the hot networkly ceo she followed on twitter had a rare post about his girlfriend eating fried chicken . everyone seemed so ... carefree , so chill , living perfect lives .
unlike her .
she heaved another sigh . her entire body was starting to get sore from hours of making notes and not absorbing anything , and she could feel her legs start to cramp .
as if everything couldn't be worse , kun sent an important message into the announcements channel in the station 118 server .
🔊🔊 ANNOUNCEMENT ‼️ 🔊🔊
ALL FIREFIGHTERS 👩🚒👨🚒 AND PARAMEDICS 👩🚒👨🚒 OF STATION 118 🚑🚒🚑🚒
THERE WILL BE A PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST 🏋️♀️🏋️🏋️♂️ TOMORROW 🗓 AT 9AM 🕘 ! ALL PERSONNEL 👩🚒👨🚒 ARE REQUIRED TO ARRIVE BEFORE 8.30AM 🕣 OTHERWISE ATTENDANCE WILL BE FORFEITED ⛔️🚫❌
IF YOU HAVE READ ✉️ 📩 📨 📧 THIS MESSAGE 📱 📲 PLEASE REACT WITH 🔥
normally , kun's copypasta messages and ten's constant teasing would be enough to cheer her up despite the dreadful news , but that day , she only felt ... well , dread . dread for tomorrow , the day after tomorrow , and every other day after that .
she didn't want to live like this .
tears welled up her eyes . her lips started trembling . before long , she was crying silently , into her hoodie sleeve , tears dripping all over her freshly written note . the ink smearing everywhere only made her cry harder , seeing all that hard work go to waste .
it was at that moment hendery barged in , loudly announcing that he was making an announcement .
" hey , love ! let's g — oh no . "
without another word , he rushed over to her side , wrapping her into a hug .
feeling his warmth , eunrae cried even harder . she wanted to stop , but she just couldn't — it was like her inner dam of stress and frustration and everything bad just unleashed itself .
" hey , hey , love , sshhh , it's okay . " he ran his fingers through her hair , gently calming her down , " it's okay . i know it's hard . "
" it's so fucking hard ! " she sobbed , " i - i - i just - i can't do this anymore ! "
" i know , i understand . it's okay to take a break . you deserve one . "
" but i can't c - catch one ... "
he stopped in his tracks . that was something he definitely did not think about . he let her cry a little more , till he could feel her choked sobs subsiding .
" i feel like quitting . "
eunrae felt hendery tense up . she remembered him telling her that he had the exact same thought while he was in the fire academy too . he only made it through because he had no choice and his only way was up and it just wasn't in his bones to quit .
to her surprise , this was his reply : " it's understandable to quit . "
" but ... "
" it's your choice . all i can do is support . you don't owe anyone anything , you don't need an excuse or an explanation . you deserve the entire world and everything that makes you happy , and if this is what suits you the most , then do it . i trust you . "
" ... should i ? "
he looked at her , tenderly wiping the tears off her cheeks . " if it's what you want , yes . "
" i don't know . "
" well , here's a useless way to know : use the owo choose thing . if owo's choice makes you feel like you need to object that decision , then you know what your real choice is . "
" that's ... actually a great idea . " she sniffled .
" whatever choice you make , love , it's yours . i'll be with you till the end of the line . cheesy iron man line , but whatever . "
" it was captain america , hun . "
" whatever it was , i love you . " he said , planting a gentle kiss on her forehead . " now , do you need me to arrange your notes for you ? "
eunrae nodded .
" i love you too , god . you're the best . "
