The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 1

23 🩺 Giddy

Hongjoong hadn't been so giggly in a very very long time. Sure, the two drinks he'd had probably had a good lot to do with it, but he also had come to find that he actually really liked Seonghwa's presence. It had taken a while for the younger to stop being so carefully spoken and come out of his shell, but the moment he relaxed, it was impossible to miss how striking he was.

Sitting at the bar next to him, knees almost touching, Hongjoong could feel his cheeks burning - surely from the alcohol...

'So then what happened?!' Hongjoong asked, watching as Seonghwa sat back in his seat, running his index idly over the rim of his glass. Hongjoong wondered if he even knew he was doing it - he'd done it for most of the night.

'Well I had to do it, didn't I?'

Hongjoong burst out laughing, hardly believing what he was hearing. 'You skinny dipped in the town fountain?!'

Seonghwa's expression went defensive, a hand flying up to signal him to wait. 'Everyone else did it! I couldn't just decline!'

Hongjoong saw him start to crack, laughing a little to himself as he listened to his own story.

'I would never have pegged you as a break-the-rules kind of guy,' Hongjoong said, taking a sip from his drink.

'Oh please. Can you honestly tell me that you've never done anything that was stupid in the moment but ended up making for a good memory?'

'Oh, plenty.' He watched in amusement as Seonghwa's eyes widened, laughing a little in surprise. Joong smirked at the thought that, despite asking him, Seonghwa clearly hadn't actually expected him to agree.

'Like what?!'

Hongjoong sighed, thinking back. 'God, there's too many to choose from. Pick a topic.'

'A wha-' Seonghwa laughed. 'You've got, that, many?!'

'Hell yeah I do! Shoot. Name one topic.'

'Any topic?'

'Any topic.'

Seonghwa bit his lip as he thought, and Hongjoong couldn't stop himself from noticing as the pillowy cushion went a flushed red... 'Okay, what about teenage parties?'

Hongjoong groaned. 'Oh god. Could you have picked a broader topic?!'

'Well how was I supposed to know if parties constituted as a large portion of your teenage years or not?!'

'Good point. I'll take that.'

Hongjoong hummed, thinking. 'Ooohkay. God, oh I'm gunna regret this one.' He watched Seonghwa take a sip of his lime lemonade, since he was driving.

'So there was this guy at school that used to hold these ridiculously rowdy parties on weekends. Looking back, I have absolutely no idea what his parents were doing every weekend, but anyways. Not the point. So a friend of mine was sleeping with one of the popular guys that was always attending these parties, and so he got us invited to kinda like, the inner circle.' Hongjoong rolled his eyes, thinking back. 'Dear god I have no idea why he dated him. Anyway, still not the point.' He smirked as he saw Seonghwa giggle a little at his story telling expertise, or lack thereof.

'So this guy's backyard backed onto the botanical gardens, and we were all sitting around in a circle playing some weird version of spin the bottle truth or dare. But we weren't allowed to pick one of the two. Whoever won scissors paper rock got to choose for whoever the bottle pointed at. And of course, fucking Wooyoung won - he's the friend - anyways. And of course he picked dare.' He cringed at the memory.

Seonghwa seemed to be enjoying the story. 'What did they make you do?'

Hongjoong laughed. 'I had to choose between two. Either streak across the entirety of the botanical gardens or do seven minutes of heaven with the school twat out in the fucking open.'

'So what did you choose?'

'I stripped off so fast. There was no way I was going to roll around in the grass with that guy in front of everyone, privately maybe, but publicly, no thank you.'

Seonghwa choked, and Hongjoong's medical eyes immediately surfaced as he patted his back.

'S-so you streaked across the botanical gardens?' Seonghwa managed to choke out, his eyes gleaming as he regained his composure.

'Yeah, and I got arrested for public indecency.'

Seonghwa's eyes widened, before he burst out in laughter. 'You what?!'

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, nodding. 'Almost cost me my place in uni, and again applying for med school too. No joke.'

'Jesus Christ...' Seonghwa looked absolutely gobsmacked, and Hongjoong loved the look on his face. 'I can't believe you did that...'

'Oh it's fine. Looking back, it's exactly like you said. Felt stupid in the moment, but it makes for good memories. I regret nothing - except maybe not looking around that hedge before running out... Fucking cops hiding behind trees...' He grinned, as Seonghwa continued cackling.

'What else did you do?'

Hongjoong leant back, rubbing his neck as he thought. 'There were so many stupid things we did... I once burned my eyebrows off - and my eyelashes in the process - to prove to Wooyoung that they'd grow back...'

Seonghwa laughed again, and Hongjoong found himself thoroughly enjoying the sound.

'You're joking?!'

'Nope.' Another memory popped into his head. 'Fuck, I almost forgot! One night I pierced my own tongue as well with a saucepan lid and a stainless steel chopstick after eight consecutive tequila shots.' He almost laughed himself at the horrific memory.

'You wh- oh my god... d-did it hurt...?'

'Fucking oath it did! I've still got a scar.' He poked out his tongue, showing the white little scar near the tip of his tongue.

'Okay you win. I can't top any of those.'

The two giggled, Hongjoong noticing that the bartender was smirking to himself from over in the corner, obviously listening in on their conversation.

'I don't know, you seem to have done pretty well with your fountain skinny dip...' He watched as Seonghwa groaned in embarrassment, his cheeks flushing a light shade of pink.

And while the two were enjoying their night, chatting away about their pasts and laughing about the interesting choices they'd made in their youth, time flew, neither realising as the hour hand spun around the clock again and again and again...

~~~

A/N: Okay that's enough now lol. I can hear Bang Chan ringing in my ears. 🙄