Spitting Image | Jeong Jaehyun

72

"I'm sorry I didn't wake up on time" Kira mumbled into her phone, a feeling of guilt swelling in her chest as she overslept, not hearing Jaehyun's calls to wake her up to tell her he was flying out either.

"It's okay, you're still sick so you should get all the rest you need" he said, speaking to her through his airpods as he waited in the lounge to board his flight with the other boys. His eyes graced over the youngest one who looked duller than usual.

"I think there's some type of bug going around" he said, hoping that Jihye wasn't the next one to get sick either since he wouldn't be there to take care of her.

"Hmm, you should be careful, don't catch a cold" she said, sniffing and he chuckled through the phone at the slight hypocrisy, biting back a snarky comment so she could save her energy.

"They're still making you come in for work when you're sick?" He asked, worrying about her

"It's my first day, I can't miss it or else they'll hate me" she said, ruffling around on the other side as she dressed herself appropriately into work attire. The voice over the intercom made him realise it was time to head towards his boarding gate

"Babe that's me, I'll text you when I land okay?" Jaehyun said through the line and she hummed in response, bidding him a quick goodbye before ending the call.

Jihye had already been collected by the new sitter who was, as promised, a cute old lady that Kira was very fond of already. Although Jihye had pulled a tantrum for Kira to pick her up from school, she settled for being brought to Kira's office after school to wait until she got off work instead.

The doorbell rang through Jaehyun's apart just as she was about to slip on her shoes and she furrowed her eyebrows wondering who was here so early in the morning. She opened the door, meeting Jaemin face to face, seeing a timid Jisung and an unbothered Chenle by his side.

"Hey Kira" Jaemin smiled brightly and she smiled back

"Oh hey Jaem, what are you doing here?" She asked, opening the door wider for the three of them to come in

"I left my jacket here at the party—well Jeno's—and our stylist wants it back" Jaemin said, pointing towards Jihye's room and she nodded, letting him go ahead to take his jacket

"I heard you're a fan...are you sure you're not a sasaeng?" Chenle asked brazenly and she widened her eyes, pointing to her chest defensively with a slight scoff

"Chenle...why are you doing this...they're dating" Jisung awkwardly explained and Chenle's eyes widened

"You're dating our Jaehyun?" He asked and she smiled nervously, realising not every single person was aware of their new situation even though it was pretty valid

"Yeah...only recently though" she said and Chenle nodded slowly, still surprised at the new information

"Why didn't you tell me?" Chenle asked Jisung with slight betrayal

"You never asked." Jisung shrugged

"It's nice to meet you Kira" Chenle smiled with a wave, much more happy to talk to her now and she chuckled at his instant switch up

"I'm the same age as Jaemin, you don't need to speak for formally" she said and he laughed

"Does that mean you're still in college? Or did you just graduate?" Jisung asked and she nodded

"This is my final year of dentistry, I'm actually working for the rest of the semester...hence the work clothes" she said smiling sheepishly at the boring clothes in comparison to their baggy jeans and hoodies. Jaemin had found the jacket by now and joined the other three in the hallway.

"So you're a dentist?" Chenle asked, slightly grimacing at the thought of having a job where you need to look into people's mouths all day

"Yeah pretty much" she chuckled, being used to the reaction, leaving out the front door with the the boys.

"How was the ball by the way?" Jaemin asked with a smile and she raised her eyebrows in confusion

"What?" She asked, taken back slightly

"The masquerade ball, you told me about it at the party" Jaemin clarified and she nodded her head in realisation

"I must've been too drunk to remember...it was fun but I left right after midnight" She explained, getting into the elevator with them, being forced to remember the mystery kisser that she still had no idea of. She decided to cut her sentences short about it, not wanting to spread it out even further between the guys.

The group soon parted ways and she thanked Jaemin for offering her a ride to her new office in their staff car but ultimately decided to take the subway instead to avoid being caught with them. The office wasn't too hard to find, Jaemin had also mentioned that it was super close to their agency and that's where he had gotten his braces put in and often went for checkups. Apparently it was a hotspot for many other Korean celebrities too.

"Kira Lee?" The receptionist said, getting her attention and she stood to her feet, ripping her eyes away from admiring the artsy office interior that caught her eye.

"Dr.Song is ready for you" she said and Kira nodded, nervously smiling as she got flashbacks from actual dentist visits, although this time she was the one to soon hold the big injections and cold metal things that she actually new the names of now.

"You must Kira, nice to meet you. Have you had any other clinical experience prior to this?" The dentist, and now her supervisor, asked, diving straight into the topic, and she shook her head, awkwardly waving at the patient in the reclined chair chair getting a check up.

"The office is run pretty simple, I'll need you here Monday to Friday, 9-5. You'll be in charge of mostly sedation and getting used to working with the tools to prepare you for the dental hospital for your next term. You can go change and help me with the next patient" he said and she nodded, grabbing the uniform that was neatly laid out onto the table before leaving to the staff changing room where she briefly met a few other students that were there for this term, including a few classmates from her university. She didn't feel like she fit in at all, but she tried to stay positive knowing it was only her first day in the door anyway.