made of poison ;

Jangwoo listened to her words carefully, nodding simply as she spoke. “I suppose you’re right,” The nurse answered with a small shrug, giving up on his snooping. He obviously would be getting nowhere with Sunhee, and whatever secrets she was keeping were her own; Jang had enough to deal with as it was.

“Well, I hope you have a good shift, then,” He said, holding the door open for the woman politely, allowing her to leave first. He had no idea what direction she could be headed; the hospital had many floors, and oftentimes the volunteers were assigned certain areas to work in depending on the day. Because Sunhee was here on her own accord, and because her status allowed her to do nearly anything she’d like, she may just pick whichever floor she felt most comfortable with.

When Jangwoo agreed with her, the witch offered him a smile. It had been the answer she had expected to get from him. Nodding her head to him, she didn’t lose time at leaving the room when he opened the door for her. It had been a polite gesture and she wasn’t going to complain about it now, especially when Sunhee was already late. Her uncle was probably waiting for her at the patient’s room. It would only be a matter of time before another doctor started to get suspicious about her uncle’s persistence in not taking care of the ill patient. “Good luck for your shift.” She simply said before she turned around to leave.

He hated to think such a way, but Sunhee was easily his biggest competitor when it came to being one of the head doctors of the hospital. The girl was always pleasant enough, and Jangwoo had no intentions of making an enemy out of the sweet volunteer, but he also had to keep his career in mind. He was entirely unaware of her abilities, but he knew that being the president’s niece put her at an unfair advantage already.

Of course, if he decided to work on his healing powers, he could easily perform miracles on patients, giving himself an advantage as well. However, Jangwoo had promised himself shortly after discovering his abilities to keep his skills purely human while working. Unless it became a life or death matter, it would be best to keep everything he was capable of tightly sealed.

Therefore, he was forced to keep going in this odd limbo he’d created for the two in his head. Pleasant competitors, perhaps, though he was entirely unsure if Sunhee felt this way about him at all. Her excuse for being in the hospital seemed flimsy, which gave him the impression that she might be hiding something from him. Jangwoo knew it was really not his business to ask someone with her influence, but the idea that Miss Park was becoming suddenly secretive irked him to no end.

“Ah, really? Everyone showed up for their shift today, though,” Jangwoo smiled, hoping to seem more friendly than nosy, “All of them healthy as can be, too. So I guess you could go home if you wanted, then. Surely you have better things to do on your day off?”

The witch had to hide a sarcastic smile at the man’s answer. Everything about her typical role was so convincing, because Sunhee also believed in her own lies. They were not only part of her false story, but also part of some illusive truth. If she had to be under some truth test at the moment, any machine would conclude that she wasn’t saying a lie. This was the reason why. However, she would have to admit that she was a bit surprised that the man didn’t seem to buy her excuse. It was almost like a challenge – the best type of challenge, of course.

“Why would I leave?” She shrugged her shoulders slightly. “I’m already here and I don’t have anything to do today. I had some project to finish, but I already cancelled with my classmates. It’s nothing we can finish the project tomorrow.  The patients are more important. Wouldn’t you agree?” The question wasn’t tricky. It was a direct question and there was no sarcasm or poison in her voice. She was simply pointing out something, knowing this was something Jangwoo would disagree with her. It was part of their ‘secret code’ of being a proper doctor, a savior of the sick people.

In the recent months, Jangwoo’s days at the hospital had begun to feel longer and longer. With only several remaining weeks before he became a surgeon, he was more than through with working as a nurse at the hospital; his hands were becoming restless, antsy for something more than just the basic blood work he’d been doing for years now.

Four hours into his shift, he was assigned a new student volunteer to show around the hospital, and the man had to keep from groaning. He’d given countless tours, and never truly understood why his job included babysitting students in their first six months of medical school. Leading the younger girl around aimlessly, he made his tour quick, short, and simple, only slowing down if the girl’s face began to screw up in confusion.

“Lastly,” Jangwoo said, excited to finish, “This is the volunteer locker room, where you can get what you’ll need at the beginning of a shift.”

Pushing the door open wide, he revealed the room, as well as Park Sunhee, who apparently had decided to come in. “Oh – sorry, Miss Park,” Jang smiled and gave a small bow as both an apology and greeting. “I was under the impression you were off today?” Moving to the side to allow their newest volunteer to look, Jang swept his arm between the two in an introduction. “Miss Kim, this is Miss Park, she’s the president’s niece, and I’m sure she’ll be one of our best doctors soon.”

The volunteer was swift with making pleasantries and excusing herself shortly after, most likely just as eager to be finished with her tour as Jangwoo had been. “I didn’t know they paid you for overtime,” The nurse laughed, raising an eyebrow in hopes of an explanation. 

Finding excuses were the worse part in a lie. Still, Sunhee couldn’t deny that she was always very lucky when it comes to lies. They were natural to her. Lies were instinctive. Perhaps lying was part of her genetic code. While her mother seemed to be harmless and innocent, she couldn’t say the same about her father. The witch had only met him a few times before killing him and the man seemed to be the ‘asshole’ type of man. Lies might have been natural to him too. No need to say that Sunhee wasn’t very worried about lying to the man in front of her. She would like to believe he would trust her words.

Eyeing the new volunteer for a brief moment, the witch didn’t take the time at analyzing her for too long. She wasn’t someone she needed to fear. The corners of her lips curved into a smile, bowing her head slightly at the volunteer. She couldn’t deny that she was pleased with the title. This is Miss Park, she’s the president’s niece. Yes, she was. This had been one of the reasons why people don’t seem to be surprised at seeing Sunhee so often at the hospital. Plus, this also meant she had some important status in their society and that had been something Sunhee and her uncle had wanted since their family arrived at Pyro Hills.

“Hopefully, you mean.” The witch corrected Jangwoo when he mentioned about her future job as a doctor. There was a voice in her head saying that she was going to be one of the best, but Sunhee had to remember that she was a sweetheart to everyone in Pyro Hills and this was obviously not the behavior expected from someone like her.

As soon as the volunteer left the room, she felt a bit more relieved, knowing that she didn’t have to worry about her anymore. She focused her attention on Jangwoo, smiling slightly. “I don’t get paid.” She pointed out with a laugh, because it was truth. “I like to help. It makes me feel useful.” Even if I hate how needy people are. “It’s also winter and sometimes, the staff doesn’t come to work because of random colds. Pyro Hills is a small town. It’s always tough to find a good replacement, isn’t it? That’s why I’m here.”

Yeah people assuming things about history based on their own racist attitudes.

“I guess that makes sense? I was never a big fan of history, to be honest.”

Columbus knew he hadn’t landed in India. And the Incas didn’t think the Spanish were gods. It’s all just retrospective racism. 

“Retrospective racism?” She asked her. History had never been her favorite subject and the type of history that she studied was also a bit different from this.