The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 1

67 🩺 I Knew It All Along

Sitting on the couch in the on call room a little after one in the morning, Hongjoong glanced up as the door swung open to reveal a familiar face.

'Seonghwa.'

The boy glanced up, a smile already on his lips.

'You're in a good mood this evening.'

Seonghwa bit into a smile that he couldn't contain. 'It's been a good day.'

Hongjoong gave him a warm smile. Noticing that he was in scrubs, Hongjoong decided to wait to ask. 'What has made it a good day?' He said instead, scooting over when Seonghwa came to sit down.

Seonghwa pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket, opened it and snapped it in half - or at least tried, anyway. He put the bigger half in the packet and handed it to Hongjoong, settling back to enjoy his own smaller serving. He smiled to himself, and Hongjoong found himself staring.

'Too happy to even speak, I see,' Hongjoong teased, nibbling on the chocolate.

Seonghwa exhaled a breathy chuckle. 'I'm savouring the moment,' he breathed, closing his eyes as he slid down the couch enough to rest his head on the backrest.

'Mmm, oh I see. My bad,' Hongjoong said, giggling a little. He tried his very best not to stare at Seonghwa as he sprawled out across the couch, making it look tiny beneath his body. Whether he did a very good job at avoiding his stare though, that was up to interpretation.

'Today, was the first time I felt less terrified to make decisions, I got an entire hour for lunch with zero interruptions, Sunbaenim was actually kind of nice to me this afternoon, and I have scrubbed into two surgeries tonight. I don't think it gets much better than this.'

Hongjoong beamed. 'My my. You have had a good day.'

Seonghwa opened his eyes only to roll them, and then shut them again. 'Stop teasing me.'

'I'm not! I'm just listening and acknowledging!' He bit into his lip to stop from laughing at the exasperated expression on Seonghwa's face.

'I can practically hear you giggling.'

'Oh, I'm not allowed to laugh now. I see.' Nibbling on his chocolate, he relaxed down, sitting with his side against the backrest to see Seonghwa. He rested his elbow up on the top of the couch and his head atop his hand. 'The nurses teased me all day, so I'm glad one of us had fun.'

Seonghwa laughed a throaty sound that made Hongjoong shiver. 'That's because you were walking around with a bedazzled purple bow in your hair all morning.'

Hongjoong pouted. 'And what's wrong with that?! The kids loved it!'

Seonghwa opened his eyes and turned his head to the side to see him. 'Nothing wrong with it. You looked very cute. But if I was a nurse on the ward this morning, I would have laughed too.'

Hongjoong rolled his eyes. 'I think you're forgetting something. You did laugh.'

Seonghwa smirked, letting his eyes fall shut. 'Well I didn't lie, did I?'

And he couldn't argue, because no, he hadn't.

Sighing, Hongjoong relaxed. 'I'm glad you had a better day.'

Eyes opening at the sudden seriousness, Seonghwa looked at Hongjoong through curious, twinkling irises. 'I think I have you to thank for it.'

Hongjoong frowned. 'Me? Why me?'

'Because you helped me build some kind of confidence, and gave me a safe place to work where it wasn't such high stress... They do say a good start to the day makes the whole day shine...'

Hongjoong laughed. 'I've never heard anyone say that.'

'Humour me.'

And so Hongjoong did. Smiling, he relaxed down so his head was also resting on the couch, and let his eyes fall shut.

'I'm glad it helped. I knew you could do it...' And as they relaxed, resting their tired bodies for a while, Hongjoong couldn't help smiling.

'I knew it all along.'

~~~

A/N: Aaahhhh it's nexttt noooo