The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 1

22 🩺 By Chance

Seonghwa stretched, yawning as he glanced up at the clock on the wall.

Eleven fifty-nine pm.

He'd been studying all afternoon after work and had finally decided that he was sick of sleeping in the on-call beds and wanted to go home. Since he was debriefing with his academic tutors tomorrow, he wasn't required for rounds the next day, and so it was the perfect opportunity to head home.

So, grabbing his things from his locker, he started making his way towards the staff carpark.

However, just as he had almost gotten to the empty foyer of the hospital's west wing, he realised that he'd left his phone in the on-call room.

'Shit,' he murmured, turning around.

The hospital was quieter at night, and Seonghwa preferred it this way. There was something about all that bustling movement that was almost sad.

But now, it was quiet, and there were minimal people about.

Having retrieved his phone, he made his way back down the dimmed halls back to the west wing.

However the moment he stepped into the foyer, he noticed a wash of red in the corner of his vision.

Kim Hongjoong?

Walking out, Seonghwa leaned forward a little (even though it did absolutely nothing for his line of vision) in an attempt to see the person's face. He was sitting on a seat in the waiting area, head bent down over his phone, messenger bag and paperwork on the seat beside him.

However Hwa's footsteps pulled the person's attention, and the red head turned around.

'Seonghwa?' His voice was full of surprise, deeper and with that raw tint to it that he'd heard last night in the on-call room.

'Kim Sonsaeng..?' Seonghwa's voice held a hint of surprise as well, as he awkwardly made his way over. He looked the doctor up and down, noticing that he was in plain clothes rather than his scrubs.

'It's past midnight and I'm officially off work. You don't have to call me so formally.' He stood up as Seonghwa made it over to him.

Seonghwa tensed a little as he nodded. 'A-ah, yeah... Are you headed home?'

'Sure am.'

Seonghwa looked around. It was just the two of them. 'Oh...' he rubbed his neck awkwardly, glancing at the door to the car park. 'Then what are you doing sitting here?'

An amused smirk rose on Hongjoong's lips. 'I was supposed to be car pooling, but he's gone into an emergency surgery.'

Hwa nodded. 'Oh, so you're just waiting for him to finish?'

Hongjoong nodded, huffing a sigh as he looked at his watch.

Seonghwa shuffled awkwardly on his feet. 'What kind of surgery is it?' he asked, unsure of whether that was an appropriate thing to ask.

'Cardio thoracic.'

'Oh... then he'll probably be a while...?'

'Probably...'

Seonghwa looked around again, more for something to do. He wasn't too sure whether he should continue the conversation, especially since he looked quite stressed. Something seemed to still be on his mind, and Seonghwa wished that there was a way that he could help. He found himself a little disappointed that that chirpy smile that he wore wasn't showing.

Although it felt like now was the proper time to end the conversation and head in their own directions, it felt somehow wrong to leave him alone, especially like this... Seonghwa racked his brain for something to say, but there was only one thing that came to mind, and before he could even stop himself, the words were spilling out of his lips. 'Did you want to get a drink while you wait?' Internally, he cursed himself over, and as he cringed hard, he imagined himself hitting himself in the mouth repeatedly, cursing his lack of restraint. He probably thought he was being weird now...