Chapter Text
Beeeeep Beeeeep Beeeeep
It’s 5AM when Seokhyung’s alarm goes off. As he wakes up and looks for his phone to turn off the annoying beeping sound it’s making, he is greeted by the warm bright rays of the sun. After a nice stretch and some light exercise, he heads downstairs and prepares for work.
He begins his typical morning routine by taking a shower, cooking some breakfast, and brewing a huge pot of coffee. On any other normal day, it usually just takes him about half an hour to get ready, but today was a different. Last night’s events were indeed life-changing and it was simply impossible not to wake up in a super good mood the next day.
Today was the first time in a long time that Seokhyung felt at peace—like everything in his life finally made sense. And it was all thanks to Chu Minha, his girlfriend. GOD. He still couldn’t believe he finally had the right to call her his.
He took his sweet time and left his house 2 hours later with a cup of freshly-brewed coffee in hand. Amongst the bustling streets of heavy morning traffic, he couldn’t help but admire the red and orange leaves falling from the trees lining the sidewalks.
“Ahhh... I wonder what Minha’s doing right now. Her duty must’ve started 2 hours ago.” He smiles at the thought and glances out the window again, relishing the morning scenery while a sweet melody from the radio plays in the background.
“Waaahhh.. the trees are so pretty. I should take Minha out for a date in the park before autumn ends.”
Halfway through his journey, he hears his phone beep. Just one glance at it and he blushes like crazy. Turns out it was a text from none other than his ‘Honey’ and like clockwork, the light in front of him turned red so he stopped the car and grabbed his phone.
“Good morning, Oppa! Have you eaten breakfast? I saw that your schedule today doesn’t start until 9AM so you should take your time and have a healthy meal. See you later!”
He started typing out his reply-”Nope. I’m actually on my way to th...”- when the red light suddenly switched back to green so he placed his phone down and continued driving, a little bit faster this time.
“...”
“...”
“...”
With a heavy sigh, Minha continues to stare at her phone for a good minute, three dots appearing and disappearing from the screen.
“Huh, Oppa must be busy. I’ll just look at his reply later then. He’s probably still cooking right now or taking a shower...” Her minds drifts away a bit and her face reddens at the thought of Seokhyung coming out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around his waist.
She shakes away the not-so-innocent thoughts and focuses back on the patient charts that are currently staring her in the face. She’s been up since 4AM anyway so she blames her lack of sleep for the wild imagination she just had—but damn, she couldn’t deny how good her boyfriend would look in that scenario.
Speaking of hot and spicy things, a fresh out-of-the-shower Yang Gyosunim wasn’t the only thing on her mind. She left her house as soon as she woke up and had completely forgotten to grab a bite before she did her morning rounds. So now, besides a steamy image of her professor, a warm serving of kimchi jjigae was also running around in her mind. Even just the idea of eating a bowl of kimchi jjigae was enough to make Minha’s stomach rumble.
Nurse Han, who was just beside her, hears her stomach growl. She swiveled her chair and urged Minha to go eat at the on-call room. The station was quiet and there were no urgent patients at the moment anyway.
“Go ahead and eat some breakfast, Minha Seonsang. Don’t worry. The other nurses and I will stay here and take care of the patients.”
At first, she refused and said that she could survive until lunchtime but the sound coming from her stomach proved otherwise. Because as soon as she replied, it made another grumbling sound so she had no choice but to accept the offer and start walking towards the on-call room.
As she turns at the end of the long hallway, she sees a familiar figure hovering outside the door.
“Is that Gyosunim? No way... it can’t be him. He’s still at home cooking breakfast or taking a shower... or... something.” she blushes again at the mention of a shower.
As she inches closer and closer to the door, the figure becomes more and more clear. The brown coat, purple hoodie, denim jeans, and blue vans all point to him.
“But it can’t be...”
She takes another step towards the guy waiting in front of the door when he suddenly turns around.
Both of them flinching at the sight of each other, shocked by each other’s presence. But the stunned looks on their faces slowly turned into huge grins.
“Chu Minha seonsang.. Annyeong! Are you done with your morning rounds?” Seokhyung says as he looks at Minha lovingly.
“Oh I... uh... just finished them, Gyosunim. But...” she leans in closer and whispers into his right ear—the gentle puff of air sending chills down Seokyung’s back, “...Oppa, why are you here?”
Seokhyung turns his head towards Minha and laughs, his nose slightly grazing Minha’s cheeks. Their faces were so close to each other that from afar it would look like they were making out.
Seokhung’s sudden movement suprises Minha, making her jolt backwards and straighten up. She lets out a small cough and cuts the tension in the air “But Gyosunim, you don’t have anything scheduled before your 9AM surgery. And now, it’s just... 7AM.”
Seokhyung slightly scratches his neck and tilts his head down. Feeling a bit shy he replies, “I actually prepared some breakfast for you so I decided to come early and leave it at the on-call room. I know you're busy but you should still eat.”
Minha blushes at his reply, “Ohhhhh perfect timing, Gyosunim! I was just about to eat. I haven’t had breakfast yet and my stomach has been growling like crazy.” she said as she grabs his wrist and pulls him towards the inside of the on-call room.
The door behind them slammed shut. Little did they know that Nurse Han was standing just a few meters away, hiding at the corner. She thought Minha would appreciate having some company while eating but judging from what she just saw, it looked like Yang Gyosunim got it all covered so she turns around as quietly as possible and heads towards the canteen instead.
As they both enter the on-call room, Seokhyung gently places the bag he was carrying on the table. Minha’s heart melts once she sees the neatly wrapped purple lunch box.
All of a sudden she throws her arms around him and buries her face in the crook of his neck. Her actions fluster Seokhyung who was shocked at the sudden contact. Although he stayed silent, he clearly had a lot of questions in his mind.
“It’s okay, Oppa. Everybody is either working at the station or having breakfast at the cafeteria.” Minha answers his questions like she was able to read his mind.
After glancing left and right, his hands slowly reach around her waist to pull her closer to his body, making sure not an inch of space existed between them.
"And here I thought that I was gonna be the first one to break the work-relationship rules." he thinks to himself and chuckles lightly.
“Thank you for this, Oppa.” Minha says, her voice slightly muffled because of her snuggled position.
Seokhyung kept smiling at the fact that Minha kept calling him 'Oppa' instead of 'Yang Gyosunim.' It might have been against the third rule she just made last night but he was willing to let this one slip.
He looks at her with love in his eyes and replies, “You’re welcome, Minha-ssi.”
They stay in that position for a few more seconds before Seokhyung takes a step back. “Minha, you should eat now. You must be hungry and the others might come here looking for you.”
Minha nods and finally detaches from Seokhyung, “Ne, Gyosunim~”
Seokhyung begins unwrapping the lunch box and neatly arranging the food containers filled to the brim with grilled fish, egg rolls, seasoned spinach, bean sprouts, and steamed rice. He grabs another bag and takes out a food thermos, opening its lid to reveal a red, steaming puddle of stew.
“I made this jjigae with Eomma's kimchi. She and Jeongwon’s mom made it last month. Oh wait! Can you handle spicy food? If not, I can just bring this back home...”
Minha cuts off Seokyung’s mumbling, “No no no, it’s okay, Gyosunim. I’ve actually been craving kimchi jjigae! Thank you for the food.”
Her reply eases his nerves and Seokhyung looks at her with a satisfied look on his face and casually slides all the food towards Minha’s side of the table.
Dying to eat a warm bowl of kimchi jjigae, Minha grabs a spoon place and tastes the soup right away.
“This is so delicious, Gyosunim! This is just what I needed. I didn’t know you were such a good cook.” she smiles at him and he smile back, fondly caressing the top of her head and tucking away a strand of hair behind her ear.
Minha was telling Seokhyung a mountain of compliments when her phone suddenly rings. She rushes to take the call and sees the caller ID ‘Mom.’
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“Oh Eomma? Yes.. I am eating right now. Mwo?! What do you mean you’re on your way to the hospital? Here at Yulje hospital? Right now?”