Work Text:
Living life as a musician was harsh. There were times when the crowd was hard to please and there were times when finding a venue was difficult.
Kim Jaehwan hated not being able to find his big break, but he also knew that this was the life that he chose to live. After graduating with a degree in Music, he really had no other choice but to pursue the life of a musician. He was skilled at playing the guitar and he knew he could sing well. The only problem was trying to make enough money to sustain himself. He lived in a small apartment by himself, so making enough money for rent as a bit difficult. He was on a tight budget and could only really afford the necessities he needed.
Luckily for Jaehwan, there was a small café that was hiring for a part-time barista. The schedule was very flexible, so Jaehwan would still be able to play at a show if he needed to. He had no idea how to make coffee, but he was willing to learn.
He needed money and he was willing to learn anything in order to make enough to get by.
On his first day on the job, Jaehwan was assigned with something simple. All he had to do was take people's orders and hand them off to the current barista, Choi Minki. Jaehwan watched Minki make all of the drinks that were ordered with great interest. Minki was nice enough to explain how to make each drink and even taught Jaehwan some shortcuts to making the drinks in case the cafe was busy with customers. At first, making a cup of coffee was a daunting task, but Minki made everything seem easy to do.
Jaehwan shadowed Minki for the rest of the day, but unfortunately Minki's shift ended earlier than Jaehwan's. This meant that Jaehwan wouldn't have Minki to rely on for anything for the rest of the night.
"Don't worry, Shihyun is going to making the drinks. You just have to bring them to whoever ordered them." Minki said before leaving the cafe. Jaehwan frowned, already nervous about what would happen if he messed up. The café was closing in an hour, which seemed so far away for the musician.
"Hyung, can you bring this tea over to the customer over in the right corner? He's a doctor that's one of our usual customers. Oh! Also, here's a cup of coffee for the customer sitting in the booth next to him." Shihyun, another barista, handed Jaehwan two cups on a small platter. Kim Shihyun was the son of the owner of the cafe, but he liked to make drinks and serve customers more than boss other people around. He held the position of manager at the cafe as well.
Jaehwan glanced over in the direction and took a deep breath before walking over to them. It couldn't be too hard, right?
Jaehwan took slow steps over to the customers that were waiting for their drinks. He first placed the cup of coffee in front of the customers in the booth before moving on to place the cup of tea in front on the doctor.
"Thank you." The doctor smiled up at Jaehwan before taking the cup of tea into his hands. He had dark hair and fox-like eyes, however the one thing Jaehwan noticed about his eyes were that there were dark circles under them. It was most likely due to his profession. He was pretty cute, in Jaehwan's own opinion, but of course he would never say that outloud. Jaehwan watched as the customer took a sip of the drink that was placed in front of him.
What happened next was definitely unexpected.
The doctor immediately spit out whatever it was that he had drank and he turned to Jaehwan with a look of surprise on his face, "This is coffee! Sorry, I didn't mean to spit it out like that. I just really don't like coffee."
"I'm so sorry! I must have switched your tea with the customer that actually wanted the coffee." Jaehwan exclaimed, reaching forward to grab the cup of coffee. As he reached forward, Jaehwan accidentally knocked the cup of coffee over, spilling it all over the table and the customer. The doctor winced at the sudden pain of hot coffee spilling on him. He quickly stood up from his chair and Jaehwan tried his best to wipe away the coffee, all while mumbling his apologies.
There weren't many customers in the café, so luckily there wasn't much of a commotion.
"Oh no! Doctor Hwang, are you alright?" Shihyun rushed over to the table when he saw what was happening. The doctor just smiled at the other barista, nodding his head despite being in pain.
"I-I'm fine. He must be new here, so it's alright. Accidents can happen."
"We should bring you to the hospital! I probably burned you!" Jaehwan insisted, feeling extremely guilty about hurting the doctor.
"Is it alright if you come with me to the hospital? I think I can walk, but I need someone to help me." The doctor replied as he started to limp towards the door. Jaehwan turned to Shihyun, who just nodded his head. "Go with Doctor Hwang. Things will be fine here."
Jaehwan thanked the young barista and quickly made his way over to the limping doctor that was waiting at the entrance of the café.
"My name is Minhyun, by the way. Hwang Minhyun." The doctor said, introducing himself.
"I'm Kim Jaehwan. It's nice to meet you... under these strange circumstances." Jaehwan replied, chuckling a bit. Minhyun just smiled back and walked slowly, limping as they made their way to the hospital. The café was just a few blocks away from the hospital, so it wouldn't take long to get there.
"Can I place my arms around you to help me walk? You can say no if it makes you uncomfortable." The doctor said as he stopped walking. Jaehwan hesitated for a moment, but the sight of the young doctor limping his way all the way to the hospital wasn't pleasant.
"Sure, that's no problem." Jaehwan said softly and Minhyun wasted no time in placing an arm around Jaehwan. He carefully draped his arm across Jaehwan's shoulders and the barista placed his arm around Minhyun's waist.
It was a bit awkward, holding onto a stranger like this. Jaehwan glanced up at the doctor who was just focused on walking towards the hospital. He was still wincing in pain due to the burn.
"So, you're a doctor, right?" Jaehwan asked softly as he took his gaze off of Minhyun.
"Yes and no. I'm just a resident doctor, so I just work under the supervision of a senior doctor. If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" Minhyun asked, turning his head to smile at Jaehwan. Jaehwan could feel his face heat up under the doctor's stares and he knew his was probably blushing.
"I'm 23, what about you? You look pretty young." Jaehwan asked, feeling a bit curious about the young doctor. They still had another block to walk before reaching the hospital. It was night already, so there weren't many people walking in the city.
"I'm 24, so I guess we're close in age." The doctor chuckled, which made Jaehwan smile a bit.
It wasn't long until the two reached the hospital. Jaehwan felt very out of place in the emergency room where Minhyun had checked in. There weren't many patients around, so the doctors were roaming around and checking in on the few patients they had. Jaehwan could just feel the amount of intelligence around him. Minhyun was taken into an empty room and had requested that Jaehwan stay with him for the timebeing. Jaehwan stayed, feeling responsible for the mess that he had caused.
"Oh? Minhyun, why are you here?" A nurse said as he stepped into the room Minhyun and Jaehwan were waiting in. Minhyun was already seated on the hospital bed and Jaehwan was sitting to the side on a chair that was left in the room. "And who's this?"
"Hey Sungwoon hyung. I had a little accident at a café and this is Jaehwan, who helped me walk over here. Jaehwan, this is Sungwoon hyung, a nurse here at the hospital." Minhyun said, introducing Jaehwan to his co-worker. Jaehwan stood up from his seat and bowed at the nurse, feeling surprised that Minhyun had not told him about how Jaehwan was the one that burned him.
Sungwoon bowed as well to greet Jaehwan before turning to Minhyun, "Okay, you know the drill. I'm just going to check your vitals and Doctor Kim will be in. You need to change in the hospital gown too."
Jaehwan watched as the nurse checked Minhyun's temperature and blood pressure. It was a bit ironic, seeing a doctor in the emergency room. Jaehwan always wondered how doctors scheduled their own doctor appointments. Did they just check themselves? Or did they have their own doctor?
"Okay, now strip and change into the hospital gown." Sungwoon said casually as he left the room. Minhyun laughed at his friend's nonchalant answer and just hoped he didn't actually talk to patients like that. He took the hospital gown that was placed on the foot of the hospital bed before turning to Jaehwan. "Is it alright if you step out for a moment? I just need to change my clothes."
Jaehwan nodded and quickly left the room to give the doctor some privacy. He stood awkwardly in the hallway, watching as nurses and doctors walked passed him. Jaehwan could see Sungwoon at the end of the hallway, dealing with another patient.
Was Minhyun always busy like this?
"Is this Hwang Minhyun's room?" A voice asked and Jaehwan turned to the side and saw a man standing there. He didn't have a white coat like a doctor and he wasn't wearing scrubs, like a nurse would. He was dressed in a nice pair of pants with a blue buttoned up long sleeve shirt. He had a name badge attached to his shirt pocket as well and it read, 'Yoon Jisung, Director of Operations'.
"Yes, he's in there." Jaehwan said awkwardly, not sure if he was actually supposed to reveal that information.
The young man knocked on the door, "Minhyun, it's Jisung. Are you finished changing?"
"Yeah, you can come in! Can you tell Jaehwan to come back in too?" Minhyun called out and Jisung smiled at Jaehwan before opening the door to let both of them in.
Jisung walked in first and he chuckled at the sight of the doctor sitting on the hospital bed. Jaehwan caught sight of the doctor and immediately looked away, blushing at the sight of him. Minhyun was wearing the hospital gown with the back open, but the gown wasn't long enough to cover the length of his thighs.
"That's a pretty bad burn you have there." Jisung said as he spotted Minhyun's thigh. Jaehwan frowned at the sight of the burn and the guilt came rushing back to him. The size of the burn appeared to be the size of Jaehwan's hand and the skin was red and blotchy. It looked painful, but Minhyun still had a small smile on his face.
"I-Is that going to scar?" Jaehwan said, still staring at the burn. Minhyun pulled the gown down as best as he could, trying to hide the burn from Jisung and Jaehwan's eyes.
"Possibly. Yongguk will be coming in to inspect the burn. Anyways, I need to get going. You can take tomorrow off Minhyun. It was nice to meet you, Jaehwan." Jisung nodded at both Minhyun and Jaehwan before leaving the room. Jaehwan stared at the door for a moment as the young man left.
"That was Yoon Jisung. He's the director of operations here at this hospital, so he's technically my boss." Minhyun said and Jaehwan nodded his head, not sure what to do with that information. Minhyun was introducing him to his co-workers even though they had only met about an hour ago.
Minhyun and Jaehwan spent a few more minutes conversing and the two got to learn a lot about each other. Jaehwan learned that Minhyun was from Busan and that he moved to Seoul to attend a medical university. He also learned that Minhyun truly was a regular at the café and that he was usually there every day after his shift at the hospital. He always drank tea because coffee was too bitter for him.
Jaehwan told Minhyun about his musical endeavors that weren't going too well. He even told the doctor about miserable he felt about not having shows to play at. Minhyun encouraged him, saying that the only way to have his popularity grow was to perform at whatever venue he could get. His big break could happen at any possible venue, so it wouldn't hurt him to keep trying.
Moments later, a doctor knocked on the door before poking his head in. He had a slight grin on his face when he greeted his patient, "Minhyun hyung! Fancy seeing you here in the emergency room. How are you feeling?"
"Hey Yongguk. The burn on my thigh is still a bit numb, but I don't feel that much pain anymore." Minhyun replied. Jaehwan let out a sigh of relief, feeling happy that Minhyun was no longer in a lot of pain.
"Let me just take a look at your thigh and I'll have Sungwoon bring you some ointment. How'd you get this burn?" Yongguk asked, as he leaned in closer to Minhyun's thigh to take a look at the burn. Jaehwan held his breath when he saw the doctor move closer to Minhyun. He would have been very uncomfortable, if he was in Minhyun's position, however the young man seemed perfectly fine with having another person so close to him.
"Even with the ointment, this is probably going to scar your skin a bit. I'd say be careful when you take a shower for now, okay? Nothing seems to be life-threatening though, so you'll be able to go home tonight." Yongguk said and Minhyun nodded his head with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Thanks Yongguk, I owe you one."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just doing my job. Sungwoon hyung will be back in soon!" Yongguk said as he left the room. Jaehwan was surprised at how short the doctor's visit was, but he assumed the visit was short only because Minhyun himself was a doctor.
"I'm so sorry about burning you. I can't believe I managed to scar a customer on my first day." Jaehwan sighed, staring at the doctor with a frown on his face. He just hoped he wouldn't get fired.
"Accidents happen, so don't worry too much about it." Minhyun said as he glanced back over towards Jaehwan.
Jaehwan let out a sigh and he tugged at his hair, still feeling upset about what he had done. Minhyun was being extremely nice about the entire situation and he didn’t seem to mind having a burn.
"I'll make it up to you. I'll make you free drinks at the café if they don't fire me!" Jaehwan said as he stood up from his seat. The doctor just chuckled at Jaehwan's response, feeling a bit amused.
"As long as you make me tea and not coffee, I'll accept the drinks." Minhyun replied as he recalled the bitter taste of coffee he had previously had. He was the only doctor in the hospital that never drank coffee. Sometimes, Jisung would tease him about it, saying that the doctor probably needed twelve hours of sleep to cope with the lack of caffeine.
"But you can head on home now, Jaehwan. I won't be here in the hospital for much longer and I would hate to take up any more of your time." Minhyun continued on, smiling at Jaehwan. The young man glanced at his watch, surprised at how late it was. It was nearly eleven o'clock at night, meaning they had been together for almost two hours.
"Are you sure? I don't mind walking you home." Jaehwan said, taking a few steps over towards the doctor. Minhyun shook his head with a smile still on his face, "It's fine, really. I live really close to the hospital anyway so I can get home by myself."
Jaehwan hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave Minhyun by himself. He wanted to make sure Minhyun got home safe, but the doctor seemed as if he was going to be alright. The burn was still a blotchy red color, but Jaehwan was sure Minhyun was going to be given some sort of medication.
"Alright. I'll see you around, I guess." Jaehwan said, still feeling a bit hesitant about leaving Minhyun alone. He took a few steps towards the door before turning back to face Minhyun, "You'll still come back to the café, right?"
"Of course. That's the best place in Seoul for tea." Minhyun replied, causing Jaehwan to grin. He bowed his head politely towards Minhyun before leaving the room. As he shut the door behind him, he saw Sungwoon walking towards the room with a small container of medicine with him.
"Oh hey! Are you leaving?" Sungwoon said as he approached Minhyun's waiting room. Jaehwan smiled and nodded his head.
"It was nice meeting you! Thanks for helping Minhyun walk to the hospital. He normally doesn't like asking for help." Sungwoon said before walking into Minhyun's room. Jaehwan blinked, watching the door shut behind Sungwoon's back.
If Minhyun didn't like asking for help, then why did he ask Jaehwan?
-
The next day, Jaehwan received a call from Minki saying that he wasn’t actually fired for spilling a drink on a customer and that his next shift would be the day after tomorrow.
That left Jaehwan with two days to himself and his guitar.
He was feeling a bit inspired and decided to write a new song to play at his show that was scheduled for next month. He was going to be busking in a busy side street of Seoul, so he was definitely going to have a crowd. He just hoped that crowd would turn into a willing audience.
The lyrics and melody came to him easily and he didn’t have much trouble composing the song. He had inspiration, though he wasn’t quite sure where his inspiration had come from.
It probably just came from his new part-time job. Making money was always a great inspiration.
After a few hours of composing, Jaehwan remembered that it was finally time for him to go grocery shopping. To save money, Jaehwan typically only went grocery shopping once a month. He was able to scrape by with little to no problems at all.
There was a local market nearby his small apartment that he was a regular at. He was known by most of the merchants there and they were nice enough to give him small discounts whenever he was shopping for meat and vegetables.
The local market was in the alleyway that was nearby his apartment. It was the middle of the week, so there weren't many people shopping at the time. Luckily, this meant that Jaehwan didn't have to fight his way to get his choice of groceries. Jaehwan threw on some random clothes, making sure he looked somewhat decent before heading out to the market. It was a quiet autumn morning, so there was a certain coldness in the air which meant winter was soon approaching. Jaehwan zipped up his jacket to keep his warmth.
"Oh! Jaehwan! I haven't seen you in a while." A merchant called out once Jaehwan entered the alleyway. Jaehwan quickly made his way over to the merchant with a smile on his face, "You know I only come here once a month! Do you have anything good for me?"
This particular merchant usually told Jaehwan about all of the good deals that other merchants had. He also told Jaehwan about whose produce and meat was fresh, making it easier for Jaehwan to choose which merchant to talk to. He was an old man that reminded Jaehwan of an old man he used to know when he was growing up.
"The pears here are the freshest in the market, but I'm sure you already know that. I know you like tomatoes, but this other young man just came by and took most of my fresh tomatoes already. He told me he was making spaghetti for his son, isn't that cute?" The merchant said, chuckling a bit.
Jaehwan smiled and nodded his head, agreeing with the merchant, "That does sound cute. Do you know if anyone has some decent lemons? I've been wanting to make lemonade lately."
"Oh yes! Head down over to the lady that usually sells apples. She has some lemons today."
"Thanks again!" Jaehwan said, nodding his head as a goodbye. The merchant waved his hand, letting Jaehwan go on his way.
The market was a bit empty today, filled with only the usual merchants and the regulars that visited the market daily. There was one unusual couple that was wandering through the market. Jaehwan had never seen them before, making him a bit curious about them.
"Daniel, stop eating all of the peaches! Save some for me."
"Don't worry about the peaches, Seongwoo hyung. You'll have enough for a few days."
"Those are supposed to last a week!"
Jaehwan knew he wasn't supposed to eavesdrop on other conversations, but these two were particularly loud when speaking. He didn't have any reason to start a conversation with them, so he simply let them walk by without saying a word.
He wondered if they would become regulars at the market, like he was.
-
"Jaehwan! Can you brew some coffee? Medium roast, please!" Shihyun called as he walked behind the counter. It was a busy day at the café when Jaehwan returned for his scheduled shift and Shihyun thought it was best to let Jaehwan start his training for making drinks. He had already mastered brewing tea, but that was the easiest drink to make, minus water.
Jaehwan stared at the jars of coffee grounds that were in a particular order, unlabeled. Minki has told him which jar had medium roast, but Jaehwan was having trouble recalling that information.
"It's the middle one." Minki whispered as he walked behind Jaehwan. He was balancing a tray of desserts on his hand and was busy restocking their dessert case.
Jaehwan carefully took the jar off of the shelf and measured the correct amount of coffee grinds for one pot of coffee. He watched as the coffee started to brew on the pot. This was his very first pot of coffee.
"Jaehwan! We need another pot of dark roast to be made!" Shihyun called again as he walked by, scribbling something on his notepad. Jaehwan quickly got to making that pot of coffee when the bell at the entrance rang, signaling that customers were walking in.
"Welcome in! Oh, Yongguk hyung!" Shihyun said, rushing over to the entrance. Jaehwan turned his head at the sound of the familiar name. To his surprise, there were three recognizable faces standing at the entrance of the café.
Hwang Minhyun. Kim Yongguk. Ha Sungwoon. All still in their hospital scrubs.
"Hey." Yongguk nodded his head towards Shihyun before walking back over to an empty booth. Shihyun pouted a bit at the lack of attention, causing Sungwoon to laugh. "You know he doesn't like talking to you in public."
"He's just mad because I got to the bathroom first this morning. Did you guys want the usual?" Shihyun said, smiling at the other doctor and nurse.
"Yes please." Minhyun smiled down at Shihyun before glancing behind the young man, spotting Jaehwan at the counter. He waved his hand and Jaehwan awkwardly smiled back, still in the middle of brewing another pot of coffee.
"Don't spill any on Doctor Hwang this time." Minki said, as he set a tray on the counter. He placed two cups of medium roast on it before pouring tea into a mug. "Here Jaehwan, take this over to them."
Jaehwan let out a nervous sigh before carefully picking up the tray. The doctors and nurse were sitting in the closest booth to the counter, but that didn't mean Jaehwan was clear of obstacles. He was still worried about dropping the tray. He made his way over to the booth with slow but steady steps, making sure to hold onto the tray with two hands just in case.
"Here are your drinks." Jaehwan announced once he reached the booth. He set the two cups of coffee in front of Yongguk and Sungwoon before placing the cup of tea in front of Minhyun. "Enjoy!"
"Thanks, Jaehwan." Minhyun said as he wrapped his hand around the mug. Yongguk and Sungwoon immediately reached for the sugar and cream for their coffee.
"You look really familiar..." Yongguk said as he squinted his eyes, trying to focus his sight on Jaehwan.
Jaehwan brought the tray up to cover half of his face, feeling timid under the young doctor's gaze. Minhyun chuckled at Jaehwan's reaction before speaking, "He's the one I was in the emergency room in a couple days ago, remember?"
"Oh! That's where I've seen you before! Nice to meet you, I'm Kim Yongguk." Yongguk said, introducing himself to Jaehwan. The barista smiled and bowed his head to be polite as he introduced himself.
"I'll need to take my barista back behind the counter. Enjoy your drinks and please tip us nicely!" Shihyun said as he suddenly appeared by Jaehwan, who never heard him coming. Yonggguk smirked at Shihyun, watching as he dragged Jaehwan away. Sungwoon chuckled at Shihyun's statement as he took out some money from his wallet to tip.
The rest of the day went by like a blur to Jaehwan. He was so busy making drinks and serving customers that he had no idea his eight-hour shift had already ended. If Shihyun hadn't told him, Jaehwan probably would have continued working for the entire day.
Jaehwan left the café as soon as he could and he immediately regretted that he didn't bring a thicker jacket to work. The autumn air was as cold as ever and all he had was a light sweater over his café uniform. He rubbed his hands together as he stepped out of the café, already feeling the cold air against his skin.
"Jaehwan!" A voice called from behind the young barista, causing him to turn around. Jaehwan could see that someone was running over to him and it took him a few moments to realize that it was Minhyun. The young doctor looked warm in his coat, it made Jaehwan feel jealous.
"Hey, Doctor Hwang." Jaehwan said, testing out the name. Minhyun scrunched up his nose at the sound of his name.
"Call me Minhyun or hyung. Either one works." Minhyun said as he noticed that Jaehwan was shivering. He quickly took off his coat before draping it over Jaehwan's shoulders, much to the barista's dismay.
"You didn't have to lend me your coat." Jaehwan said, feeling secretly thankful for what doctor's coat. Minhyun was wearing another sweater, so he was still had an extra layer on himself.
"You were shivering. It's my obligation as a doctor to make sure everyone is healthy and it would be bad if you caught a cold." The doctor replied with a smile on his face. Jaehwan rolled his eyes at his statement and said nothing to argue with him.
"Anyways, are you doing anything tomorrow afternoon?" Minhyun continued on to say, surprising the barista.
"No, not that I know of. I don't have a shift at the café tomorrow." Jaehwan said softly, feeling warm with Minhyun's coat around him. It was a bit too long for him and the sleeves were definitely too long for him, but there was a certain warmth to it that made Jaehwan feel safe. The coat had a high collar that went all the way up to Jaehwan's chin.
"Do you want to have lunch with me?" Minhyun said as he tilted his head to the side a bit with a smile on his face. Jaehwan froze in his spot, unable to say anything quite yet. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it when words wouldn't come to mind.
Minhyun's smile faded when he noticed Jaehwan's hesitance to answer, "You don't have to say yes..."
"No! I want to have lunch with you. Sorry, I just didn't know how to say yes." Jaehwan said, looking away for a moment. He didn't know how to look Minhyun in the eyes.
"Oh, okay. I'm glad. Anyways, can we meet in front of the cafe tomorrow at noon? There's this new restaurant that just opened up around the block." Minhyun said with a wide smile on his face, It was evident to see that he was happy Jaehwan said yes to having lunch together.
"Alright, that sounds good. C-Can I have your number?" Jaehwan said as he looked up at Minhyun. He was surprised he took the initiative to ask for the doctor's number, but Minhyun agreed almost immediately. He took out his phone as well and the two exchanged numbers.
Suddenly, Minhyun's phone beeped and the doctor glanced at the screen. He let out a sigh before smiling apologetically at Jaehwan, "Sorry, the hospital needs me. You can keep my coat until tomorrow, I think you need it more than I do. I'll see you tomorrow!"
The doctor gently pat Jaehwan's head before walking back in the direction he came from. Jaehwan stared at Minhyun's retreating figure with a small pout on his face. He was a bit unhappy about the doctor's sudden exit, but he was still happy about seeing Minhyun again tomorrow.
He carefully buttoned up the doctor's coat, thankful for how warm it was.
-
The next day, Jaehwan woke up too early. It was only eight o'clock in the morning, but Jaehwan was already wide awake, cleaning his apartment. He rarely cleaned his apartment, but he had nothing to do before meeting Minhyun for lunch, so cleaning seemed like a good distraction.
He wasn't sure if Minhyun had asked him to lunch as a friend or if this was possibly a date.
Jaehwan didn't want to assume Minhyun's sexuality either. The doctor could just be asking him to lunch to get to know him as a friend, but a small part of Jaehwan was hoping it was more than that.
After cleaning his apartment for a few hours, Jaehwan thought it was best to start getting ready. He didn't want to seem too overdressed, so the barista decided to wear dark jeans with a nice green sweater. He made sure to wear his own coat and he had Minhyun's coat placed in a bag.
It was a cold day, just like the day before, but this was more bearable compared to the frigid cold from the day before. There were many people bustling along the sidewalk and Jaehwan almost missed his turn. Luckily enough he spotted Minhyun from a block away thanks to the doctor's tall height. It wasn't even noon yet, but Minhyun was already waiting for him.
"I left early so that I could be the first one here." Jaehwan said, grinning at his approached the young doctor. Minhyun just shrugged before a smile appeared on his face.
"I like being early. Plus, I live around the corner so it only took me a few minutes to get here." Minhyun said as he started to walk down the sidewalk. Jaehwan tried his best to keep up with his strides, but the young doctor had long legs that made it difficult. Minhyun seemed to notice Jaehwan falling behind, so he slowed down a bit.
"Here's your jacket, by the way. I washed it." Jaehwan said as he lifted the bag that had Minhyun's coat in it. Minhyun was wearing another coat this time, but it didn't seem as warm as the one he had let Jaehwan borrow.
"Oh, you didn’t have to wash it! Thank you though." Minhyun replied, taking the bag from Jaehwan. He still had a smile on his face and Jaehwan had to resist the urge to stare.
Minhyun was cute.
Really cute.
"It was the least I could do." Jaehwan mumbled as he looked away from the doctor. The two walked around the corner and down the block until Jaehwan spotted the new restaurant. He had read about it in the newspaper the day before and was surprised Minhyun was taking him to this particular restaurant. Jaehwan had read that it was hard to get into the restaurant unless you had reservations and reservations usually were made days in advance.
"My friend had a reservation here and something came up, so we're using his reservation instead." Minhyun whispered as they stepped into the restaurant. Jaehwan surveyed the nearly full restaurant, feeling incredibly underdressed despite all of his efforts of choosing a decent outfit. Minhyun was wearing jeans as well, but he looked more like a model than just an average person.
The two were seated at a table in the middle of the restaurant and Minhyun had even pulled out the chair for Jaehwan to sit on. Jaehwan smiled at how polite the young doctor was.
"Thank you." Jaehwan said as he sat down. He carefully picked up the menu and flipped the pages, looking through what the restaurant had to offer. There were a variety of choices that Jaehwan could choose and it was almost overwhelming.
"This place has so many choices." Minhyun said, looking through the menu as well. Jaehwan peeked at Minhyun over the top of his menu and caught sight of the young doctor concentrating on the menu. He had a cute confused look on his face as he was flipping through the pages.
After a few more minutes, Jaehwan and Minhyun finally decided on what to order. They both wanted to try something new but they didn't want something too unknown, so they decided to order some pizza. It was a juvenile choice, but both Jaehwan and Minhyun were excited about eating.
Lunch went relatively well. They had talked a bit more about themselves and where they grew up. Jaehwan had never been to Busan, so he made sure to ask Minhyun a bunch of questions. Jaehwan grew up outside of Seoul, so there wasn't much for him to say. Minhyun asked Jaehwan about his hobbies and what he liked to do outside of work, but the only thing Jaehwan could think of was composing songs and performing. The young doctor even asked Jaehwan to write a song about him, but Jaehwan just laughed it off.
Jaehwan learned that Minhyun was a reserved person and that he didn't have that many friends due to his hectic schedule at the hospital. He concentrated most of his time and energy into working as a doctor. Minhyun was truly devoted to his life as a doctor.
"Don't you get lonely?" Jaehwan said, unable to stop himself from asking.
Minhyun hummed softly as he thought of his answer, "A little bit. I go back to Busan to see some old friends about once or twice a month."
Jaehwan nodded his head at the reply. Moments later, the pizza was placed in the middle of the table and the two started to eat. Jaehwan was sure that this was the best pizza he had ever tasted. It was just a normal cheese pizza, but somehow it tasted even better than usual.
Minhyun was also enjoying the pizza and he ate three slices of it, which was more than what he usually ate. There weren't any slices left by the time he and Jaehwan became full. They had managed to finished the entire pizza within an hour and they were both quite full.
"Remind me to come back here." Jaehwan said as he patted his slightly bloated stomach.
"Only if you take me with you." Minhyun replied, as he sipped his water. Jaehwan chuckled at his reply before taking his wallet out. He took out a few bills of money to help pay for the meal, but his companion just shook his head, "I already paid for the meal."
Jaehwan blinked twice, staring at the doctor with a confused look on his face, "What do you mean?"
"I paid in advance..." Minhyun's voice trailed off as he looked to the side. "I mean, I'm the one that asked you out, so I should pay."
"Ask me out? So does this mean you consider this as a date too?" Jaehwan said, deciding to be straightforward about his question. He wanted to know where exactly Minhyun was standing in his situation.
"W-Well yeah, I mean... Unless you weren't interested?" Minhyun said softly, looking down at his hands.
Jaehwan could feel the blush spreading throughout his cheeks, "No, I'm definitely interested. I just wasn't sure if you were, you know-"
"I am." Minhyun said, interrupting Jaehwan mid-sentence, catching the young man off-guard. Jaehwan's blush deepened and he let out a small cough, feeling unsure of what to say next. The doctor sitting across from him smiled until a sudden beeping noise rang between them and Jaehwan frowned, recognizing the sound from last night.
"Is that the hospital?" Jaehwan asked softly and Minhyun frowned, nodding his head.
"Let's head out of here." Minhyun said as he stood up from the table to put his coat on. Jaehwan did the same and he snuck a few bills onto the table to leave a tip for the waiter. Luckily for both Minhyun and Jaehwan, the call came after they had finished eating.
The two exited the restaurant and they started to walk in the direction of the hospital. Jaehwan knew Minhyun had to leave soon, but he still wanted to spend some time with him now that he knew what the doctor's intentions were.
"I'll give you a call later tonight, okay?" Minhyun said as the sight of the hospital came into view. He wasn't sure what case he would have to work, but he knew it was an emergency because they called him in on a day he was supposed to have off. They walked closer to the hospital until they reached an entrance near the emergency room.
"Okay, I'll be waiting." Jaehwan replied, watching as Minhyun walked into the hospital. Jaehwan stared at the doors and let out a sigh before turning back around.
He managed to take a few steps in the direction of his apartment before he heard Minhyun's voice calling back to him, "Wait!"
Jaehwan turned back around and the doctor nearly knocking him over in a hug. The barista managed to keep his balance despite the weight of the doctor on him.
"Yes?" Jaehwan said, looking up at Minhyun with wide eyes. It was a bit nerve-wracking to be so close to Minhyun.
Minhyun smiled and cupped Jaehwan's cheeks, leaning in closer to the young man. Jaehwan's closed his eyes, not knowing what to expect from Minhyun and he heard the doctor chuckle softly before feeling his lips press against his forehead. It only lasted for a moment but Jaehwan could feel himself blushing once more.
"See you later." Minhyun whispered before pulling away from Jaehwan. The barista opened one eye to peek at the doctor who quickly ran back inside of the hospital.
Jaehwan stood there for a few more minutes, on the busy sidewalk of Seoul. He kept staring up at the hospital even though he knew the doctor would be in there for a few hours. He quickly shook his head and started to walk back to his apartment because he had a long shift tomorrow and he needed to get enough rest to last through the shift. There was a chance that Minhyun would be able to visit the café tomorrow as well, since he was a regular at the café.
The young doctor was an interesting person and Jaehwan was excited about getting to know him more.
Hopefully everything would work out for the two of them.