Archive of Our Own

Sunday, 20:09

“I heard you need some people?” Dr. Zhou asks him, appearing out of nowhere, just like the fairy that she is (not literally) in the ED.

“I don’t Pinky.” Jonghyun answers, walking hurriedly towards the trauma wards.

“Motorcycle accident, lacerations on the face, might have a broken arm, leg, and oh a rib too—but he’s conscious.”

“‘Might’, Hyunbin? Might?” Jonghyun asks exasperatedly as he checks on the patient who doesn’t seem to only have a broken arm, leg and a rib, but a head trauma too.

Great. Just great. Where the fuck are the rest of his team and why is Hyunbin—a first year intern, the only one here?!

“You told me that it’s okay if I’m not sure, and to tell you my findings.” His intern replies with a deadpan. He sighs and checks the patient’s pulse—which luckily is stable.

“Tell me you did a CT. Please.” Jonghyun says which sounds more like a beg.

“Oh, should I?” Hyunbin asks innocently, and it takes all of Jonghyun’s patience not to scream at the other, or worse cry right there in front of everyone.

“Just…” he pinches the bridge of his nose and sees Pinky pulling one of the portable CT scan towards them—thanked God. “Get the others—I need them in a minute. And Dr. Kim too.”

“But aren’t you Dr. Kim?” Hyunbin asks.

“Dr. Kim Chungha, the neurologist, Hyunbin. Now please go before I do something I’ll regret.”

“....so?” Dr. Zhou Pinky asks, a smug smirk on her beautiful face.

“Be here with your team on Wednesday at 8:30 am, I don’t know how you’ll make that work—but just be here, please.”

“Noted Dr. Kim.” Pinky gives him a salute and a wink as she walks back to wherever she came from.

Monday, 11:05

“What’s this meeting for? And why only us?” Seongwu asks looking at them, curious and worried at the same time. Minhyun just shrugs, busy on his phone as he texts his… what should Minhyun call him aside from their usual nicknames? Love of his life? Wait—that’s too… cringey and he’s not sure if they’re at that stage yet—especially when the other is way too busy saving lives, and can only talk to him when he’s free, which is mostly either when Minhyun’s asleep or when he’s in surgery.

But that’s okay, in this line of work that’s normal. He understands—well sort of.

Hope you’ve at least taken a power nap. Remember that you need to rest too. Don’t forget to eat on time okay? - Min

“Did you do something again hyung?” Jihoon, one of the promising nurses in the General Surgery department, says.

“I… didn’t. I think.” Seongwu says looking at the ceiling, pondering if he did do something again.

“You… didn’t flirt with the new nurse, right?” Guanlin asks this time, making Minhyun look up curiously, wondering who Seongwu flirted this time around.

“Who among them? There’s like a bunch of new nurses.” Minhyun states looking at Seongwu.

“I’m not talking to you ‘Mr. McDreamy’.” Seongwu tells him with an eye roll and scoff.

“You just talked to me Seongwu.” Minhyun says rolling his eyes at the childish surgeon.

“I did no—”

“Fighting again eh?” Their Chief General Surgeon, Dr. Zhou says shaking her head as she enters the conference room with Doyeon and Jinyoung.

“He started it first!” Seongwu screams, pointing at him.

“I just asked you a question Seongwu.” Minhyun states exasperatedly.

“There there, let’s continue this childish fight of yours later.” Dr. Zhou says “I have something important to tell you and we don’t have much time, since all of us would be busy after this meeting. So, you guys ready?” Everyone nods cautiously and Dr. Zhou smiles at them like a mother. “Good. We—and by that I mean everyone in this room, will be moving to the Trauma department on Wednesday. Today will be your last shift in the General Surgery department, so finish everything that you need to finish today and then hand it over to Dr. Noh Taehyun’s team.”

“B-but I’m just an intern?” Guanlin says, scared of the sudden move.

“Which is better Guanlin! You’ll be able to learn more new things, able to grow more, and of course be more advanced than the rest of your batchmates. What an amazing opportunity, right?” Dr. Zhou asks excitedly

“I guess…” Guanlin answers not looking up.

“Good, now, our most childish residents.” Dr. Zhou beams at him and Seongwu and they nod, waiting for her to continue.

“You are both on your last year of Residency now, and if you want to advance and explore, widen your expertise, the Trauma department will be a good training ground. You won’t be only focusing on general surgeries, you’ll also be shadowing and assisting top surgeons who can do many and various kind of surgeries. Isn’t that better than being here and doing the same surgery over and over again?”

“Yes… I guess…” Seongwu says in a small voice, an opposite of his always confident behavior.

“How about you Minhyun, what do you think?” Dr. Zhou asks him.

“It’s fine for me, because just like you said it will be a good training ground for us… but, I’m just… I’m not sure if I can do it—I mean, I know I can, if general surgery is involved; but the Trauma department, their cases are all different and I’m not sure if I can help or worse, add more baggage to them.” Minhyun says with all honesty, making Dr. Zhou’s smile grow wider.

“Very correct Minhyun. The trauma department handles different cases, and just when you think that you just have the biggest case, you’ll be shocked to find out that that’s just miniscule compared to the next one, though of course there would be normal cases from time to time, but going back to the point, the reason why I chose you two among all, is because I know both of you can handle it, and you’ll be a great addition to the team, it’s not just you learning from them, but they will learn from you as well. You aren’t my top residents for nothing.” Dr. Zhou says, finishing it off with a wink.

“And us?” Jihoon asks

“The same as these childish residents, minus you guys being childish of course. You guys are some of the most amazing baby nurses that I’ve worked with. You have a lot of potential and I think in the future you’ll be great teachers to your future underlings too. But in order to get to that you need to widen your scope, to learn and be able to handle different cases and adapt to different types of patients, and the person who’ll teach you that and unleash your potential is in the trauma department. Head Nurse Yoon is the most amazing and best head nurse that I’ve met, he also helped and taught me to be this amazing surgeon that I am now, and I think now is the time for you guys to learn from him too.”

“Why am I suddenly scared when you said that you learned from him?” Doyeon says skeptically making Dr. Zhou laugh.

“Oh come on Doyeon, out of all the nurses in our department, you’re the one who resembles me the most.”

“Am I turning like her?” Doyeon asks them shocked.

“You just noticed noona?” Guanlin states matter of factly making all of them laugh.

“So anymore questions?” Dr. Zhou asks waiting for them to say something and all of them shakes their head. “Good. Lastly, I chose the 6 of you because of the reasons that I’ve said earlier, but I want to remind you that the Emergency Department is something else, never ever be lax and think it’s just a minor case of headache, stomachache or high fever. Always double check, and ask if something seems off or you don’t know what to do. I know that you’ve all been grown accustomed and be able to handle surgeries and the like, but the Emergency Department is a different case. You’ll be handling different cases most of the time, like miniscule complaints of headache to suddenly being pulled to an impromptu surgery for a multi-trauma patient. Always… just always be prepared okay?” Dr. Zhou tells them solemnly, making each and everyone of them look at each other warily.

“I know this is all a lot to take… but I believe that you can do it, and they need us—not just the team there, but the patients as well.” The rest of the team nod and Dr. Zhou smiles at them. “And that’s it, finish handing out all your reports and clock off at 19:00, no extending and please go home and rest. I’ll see you all back on Wednesday, 7:30 sharp here.”

“Aye aye chief.” They answer in unison.

Tuesday, 23:25

“That was one hellaaaaaa shift, wasn’t it?” Daniel says as he munches on his gummy worms, twirling around in his chair.

“Tell me about it—it felt like if I took another patient, I’d be needing you.” Dongho tells Daniel, their team’s orthopedic surgeon, as he lounges on the sofa—Jonghyun’s sofa to be exact. He kicks their general surgeon on the knee to give him space to sit down as they wait for the others to arrive.

“What’s with this meeting anyway? I’m exhausted, starving and I just want to go home and watch Grey’s anatomy.” Aron, the head anesthesiologist in his team, says, well it comes out more like a whine.

“Seriously hyung? Grey’s anatomy?” Jonghyun scoffs in disbelief, checking the text messages that he wasn’t able to reply to.

“Hey, it’s a good show, though unrealistic, yes. But it gives me the butterflies, especially when the one who should be giving me that is always busy.” Aron answers.

“Well, I’m sorry if I can’t give you the butterflies that you need because I’m busy saving lives Dr. Kwak.” Minki says sarcastically (as usual) as he enters the room.

“The others?” Jonghyun asks, not even looking up as he busily types in a reply—well it’s more like his usual apology text for replying so late, and of course congratulating his… what should Jonghyun call him? Aside from his nickname that is…

Sorry my reply took so long and is so late… I had back to back surgeries… I’ve taken a nap, had dinner, and am munching on some gummy worms now O~O

Also, congratulations on moving departments~ the emergency department is a good place to learn and that will help you advance too.

Hope you’re resting well~ Goodnight Min~ and talk to you later~ ^~^ - Jju

“Here.” Nayoung says tiredly as Daehwi and Sungwoon follow next.

“And Jisung hyung?” Jonghyun asks as he stands, putting his phone away and directing the half of his team to the table.

“Busy with… wait, Hyunbin’s the only doctor left in the ER?” Sungwoon says double checking their attendance and Jonghyun groans. Not again.

“Don’t worry Som’s there… so?” Daehwi adds, urging Jonghyun to start with their impromptu meeting and taking a handful of gummy worms from Daniel’s stash.

“I’ll keep this meeting short before Jisung hyung goes crazy—and no-one wants that. Another team will come in the morn—” Jonghyun checks his watch and the date. “Yup, morning—in 9 hours to be exact, to fill in for Cheol’s team. So until then, no going home, at least until the new team gets reorganized, which means, uh, another 12 hours of shift again.” He hears a bunch of groans and whines, making his eyebrows twitch in annoyance.

He’s not annoyed at his team—Jonghyun understands where they’re coming from, especially when half of them have been on straight shifts since Sunday, and only getting two hours of nap, three if they’re lucky, since Cheol’s team had been relocated to another branch—and as if that wasn’t enough—the ER, which was normally chaotic with its countless and different cases of patients anyway, seemed to find the perfect timing to double it up—exactly as soon as Cheol and his team left.

“Another 12 hours? My arms are dying, Jong.” Baekho whines.

“Which is more important Baek: your arms or the patients’ lives?” Jonghyun says with a bite, making half of his team look down - minus Sungwoon hyung who seems to find him losing his patience entertaining.

“Just another 12 hours guys and girl. As soon as the new team arrives, I’ll adjust all of our schedules, and I’m sure we—well, not me, but you guys can go home and rest.”

“Are you 100% sure of that Dr. Kim?” Sungwoon asks teasingly.

“Not really, but I’ll try my best to at least make sure you get 6 hours of sleep?”

“And a day off to spend time with Minki.” Aron adds

“Day off is fine, I can give you that, but you have to talk to Jisung hyung on Minki’s schedule though.” Jonghyun says with an apologetic smile.

“Guess you have to make do with Grey’s anatomy then.” Minki says teasing his boyfriend, making Aron groan.

“So who are the newbi—” and before Nayoung can even finish her sentence their pagers beep, announcing that the meeting is over.

“Fuck. Another Multiple-Vehicle collision?! What the hell is going on out there?” Baekho says as they start walking towards the ER.

“It’s winter hyung, that’s what’s happening.” Daniel explains finishing the last of his stash.

“We might need a Neurologist Jong.” Aron adds as he checks on his phone.

“Not might, we really need one.” He says reading the codes. “Minki please call Dr. Chung—wait, she’s in the OR right? Is Dr. Sejeong free?” Jonghyun asks the other.

“She should be… I’ll get her then.” Minki says hurriedly walking towards the nurse station.  They’re almost at the entrance of the ER when Jonghyun hears a crash, and of course, it’s Hyunbin, crashing into a resuscitation trolley.

“That definitely hurt.” Jonghyun hears Daehwi say and he nods in agreement.

“Hwi, you can handle it alone, right?”

“Of course, I have Som as my partner.” Daehwi says with a beam and Jonghyun tries his best not to grimace. Daehwi and Somi are a great duo, he’s proud that he paired the two, though he regrets it because the way they talk to patients—which he’s sure the duo learned from their Diva nurse, Minki—is quite… unnerving.

“Just… try not to uh—say something too blunt again like the last time, okay?” Jonghyun says patting Daehwi on the shoulders. The young resident rolls his eyes and mumbles ‘yes father.’ making him chuckle.

“Here they come.” Nayoung says as the first ambulance comes into view.

Jonghyun lets out a deep breath and readies himself.

Time to save lives.

Wednesday, 8:09

On my way to the ED now. I’m nervous… I can do it right?

Anyway, hope you ATE and SLEPT, and why do you always have back to back surgeries?

Also, I miss you.

-Min

“This is the first time that I’ve seen you in such high spirits, Dr. Ong.” Minhyun comments, looking up from his phone, amused by the giddy resident who’s been whistling tunes as they make their way to their new post in the emergency department.

“I’ve always been like this Dr. Hwang, until you stole my McDreamy title, that is.” Seongwu says with so much sarcasm.

“It’s been months Seongwu, can’t you just get over it?” Minhyun says exasperatedly, typing a reply on his phone, and wishing that the receiver would have his breakfast and needed rest soon.

“Dr. Ong or Seongwu-ssi, Dr. Hwang. We’re not friends, and I like to keep things formal.” Seongwu says pointedly, making Minhyun roll his eyes at the other’s childish behavior just because of a fucking nickname that he doesn’t give a fuck about.

“Also, I won’t get over it, ever. But you’ll lose that title soon, because we’ll be working with the real McDreamy.” Seongwu says with a smirk.

“Then why are you only mad at me when there’s another one?!” Minhyun whispers, snapping at the other doctor. It’s been 8 months since Minhyun arrived and joined Seoul Medical Center: one of the top leading Medical Centers in South Korea and Asia, his dream place where luckily he got an offer to work after finishing his 2nd year of Residency.

“Two reasons: 1. Dr. Kim is the living McDreamy and deserves the title. 2. I just hate you.” Seongwu tells him without a care, and before Minhyun could even ask why Seongwu hates him so much, Dr. Zhou calls their attention.

“A few reminders before we enter. I know I've already said this over and over again and even via text for the past two days, but the Emergency department is a whole different place, expect the worst of the worst, and I want you to be working at your best at all times. We’ll be dealing with different patients and cases—which I know you had your fair share of in the General Surgery, but that’s nothing compared to the Emergency department. Also, never ever underestimate a chief complaint. I don’t care whether it’s measly like the usual stomachache or a drunk patient complaining about a migraine—always check and double check and of course, keep in mind that our priority would be the trauma patients, as that will be the team that we’ll be joining.” Dr. Zhou, their Chief General Surgeon states seriously, a contrast to her usual free-spirited nature.

“This... is a lot to take…” Minhyun hears Jinyoung, the nurse mumble and he can’t help but pat the other on the shoulder, assuring him that it’ll be okay and they can do this—even when Minhyun himself is not sure.

“And lastly, as soon as we step in the Emergency department, I will no longer be your chief—”

“Why?!” Doyeon, the nurse whines a little bit too loud and Dr. Zhou chuckles at the other’s action.

“There can’t be two leaders in one team Doyoung-ah. You, Jihoon, and Jinyoung will be under head nurse Yoon’s care, like I’ve said before, so don’t worry.” Dr. Zhou says smiling tenderly at the two nurses.

“And us?” Guanlin asks—pointing towards Seongwu, Minhyun and himself.

“We’ll all be under Dr. Kim, the Chief Surgeon of the Trauma department. I bet you like that, don’t you Seongwu?” Dr. Zhou says teasingly on Seongwu.

“Of course! Don’t get me wrong sunbae, you’re terrific, marvelous and everything else, but Dr. Kim is such a legend, that having the opportunity to be in his team is you know…wanjeon daebak chincha heol real, amazing.” Seongwu says excitedly.

“I know what you mean, I was part of their team before I was moved in General Surgery. But enough of that.” Dr. Zhou says brushing her arm in the air. “Last reminder—the new team we’ll be on, consists of amazing people, like what Seongwu said. And I know that some of you might build some interest on the others but please, don’t forget to be professional. I don’t mind you guys dating, but I don’t want that affecting the team. And yes, I’m talking about you Seongwu.” Minhyun chuckles darkly as he watches Seongwu wince and say ‘noted sunbae’.

“And with that, we’ll go in.” Dr. Zhou opens the doors and they’re welcomed with high pitched screams of pain coming from a patient who, Minhyun assumes, is having their shoulder relocated to its proper place. Elsewhere, a patient is cursing at a nurse, telling him to be gentle, as the nurse cleans his bloodied face, unfazed by this occurrence. The only one who seems normal is one of the maintenance crew—singing along and bopping his head as he mops vomit off of the floor.

“Welcome to the chaotic world of the Emergency Department. Goodluck, have fun, and I hope you learn a lot during your stay here. Now follow me my dear babies, our shift starts now.” Dr. Zhou says beaming at them, bouncing on her feet as they make their way in, completely unfazed of the chaos and madness that’s happening around them.

He… he can do this right? Minhyun asks himself as he watches nurses and doctors running to and fro as they shout orders in codes all the while entering and leaving bays with blood, vomit, and their hair disheveled.

[8:20]

“Whoa…” Dr. Kim Jaehwan, one of the General Surgeon stops midway, making Woojin, a junior resident crash on his back.

“Hyung, you can’t just stop midway! You’re blocking my—oh my god.” Woojin says, dazzled by the 7 people in front of him.

“Hi!” Dr. Zhou says, greeting Jaehwan, but latter just gapes at her, making Doyeon next to her giggle.

“Look at what you’ve done Dr. Zhou.” Jihoon says chuckling.

“Can’t help it—that’s just my charm. Oh look! Hello there young one! I’m Dr. Zhou, where’s Chief Kim?” Pinky says, pinching the cheeks of Woojin.

“Uh… Chief—the Chief… is… uh…” Woojin says—well more like him blabbering.

“Another one down, more to go.” Seongwu announces sheepishly.

“Omo! Look we have here!” Jisung says exuberantly, giving Pinky a warm hug.

“I’ve missed you Jisung oppa, it’s been a long time.” Pinky says hugging Jisung tight.

“It really has been our dear fairy.” Jisung says releasing Pinky and looking at her team one by one. “So, I take it, these are your babies?” Jisung says nodding towards the group.

“Yup, guys, this is Yoon Jisung, the head nurse of the trauma department.” Pinky beckons the three nurses to come forward. “This is Doyeon, Jihoon and Jinyoung oppa, I’ve trained them from what I learned from you and Jonghyun, and I hope they’ll be helpful during their stay here, please take care of them well for me.” Pinky says smiling proudly.

Jonghyun? The Chief’s name is Kim Jonghyun? Minhyun shakes his head. Can’t be. That’ll be too much of a coincidence. Besides, Jonghyun is a Cardiothoracic Surgeon, so how can he also be the Chief of the Trauma department?

“If you’ve made it here, then you’re the best of the best. I know Dr. Zhou, and she is one of the strictest and most meticulous surgeons that I’ve met, I don’t need to teach you anything else, besides the know-hows and how to adapt to the Emergency Department, so you can breathe now, you don’t need to be afraid of me.” Jisung says smiling at the trio.

“And you three, I take it, are the surgeons?” Jisung asks Minhyun, Seongwu and Guanlin. The three answers with a nod. “Sadly, your Chief is still in the Operating room, but he should be done soon. Anyway, welcome aboard, the first 24 hours in the Emergency department is the hardest, but if you make it after that, you’ll be okay.” Jisung says making the three surgeons gulp in nervousness.

“Hmm… Let’s go to the locker rooms first so that you can change… oh wait.” Jisung says as he walks towards Jaehwan and Woojin who’s still stuck in place, ogling at the new team. “Woojin, please give those files that you’ve been holding for the last 5 minutes to Dr. Kang, and tell him to be in the conference room in 15 minutes, and call the others that are free too. Also Jaehwan—you have a patient waiting for you, so please get yourself together.” Jaehwan and Woojin nod—still a little shaken, but now moving as they go towards where they were instructed to go.

“Now, let’s do a short tour as we make our way to the lockers—then we’ll meet with whoever’s available in 15 minutes.” Jisung says ushering them as he and Dr. Zhou fill each other in on their life updates and gossips, while Minhyun and the others smile and nod towards every person who’s gawking on them, and at the same time observe the chaotic place.

[9:08]

Jonghyun walks tiredly towards his office as he checks his phone. He breathes out a sigh of relief when he sees his schedule is still the same and that his next scheduled surgery will be later, at 15:15. He checks his unread messages and smiles when he sees the other’s message telling him to eat and rest, and that the other misses him.

Just finished a surgery, and to answer your question: It’s just like that in our department, we usually have back to back surgeries on a daily basis. ^~^

I’ll eat later after my nap. I feel like my eyes are about to close any minute now T_T

Good luck on your first day Min! Stop doubting yourself, I know you can do it!

Also, I miss you too.

Badly T_T  - Jju

Jonghyun then checks the time and its only 9:08 which means he still has 6 hours of free time, well, technically 3 hours, since he has to do his rounds at 12:30, assess the state of the patient who’s going through a surgery at 13:30, and do a pre-surgery meeting with his team at 13:45. He opens the door, still busy with his thoughts—with a nagging feeling at the back of his head that he missed something important, yet his tired brain can’t just remember what.

“Boo!” Pinky says hiding behind the door, surprising Jonghyun and making the latter drop his phone.

“So it was you who I forgot.” Jonghyun states, picking up his phone and checking for damages.

“Wow thanks for the warm welcome bro?” Pinky says annoyed as she takes a seat in the sofa. Jonghyun chuckles and ruffles the other’s hair—making Pinky squeal in annoyance and swat his hand.

“Do you want me to buy you a cake? Or throw a welcoming party with the banner: ‘welcome back to the trauma team, our dearest fairy, Pinky nim’.” Jonghyun teases, noticing a gummy bear wrapper on his chair—courtesy of Daniel, of course.

“I would love the latter, but I’ll save that offer for later. So a cake will do for now.” Pinky says lying down in the sofa.

Jonghyun grimaces—he really should change his door passcode so that his friends would stop coming uninvited and take a hint that his office is not the On-Call room.

“And your team?” Jonghyun asks with a sigh as he leans on his chair—stretching and relaxing his tired back from the 6 hours of surgery that he had to do.

“Already running around in the ER.” Pinky says smugly.

“Who’s watching after them?” Jonghyun asks worriedly as he looks at Pinky who seems to be so at home and carefree.

“The nurses are all under Jisung oppa’s watch, and I trained them well, so I have nothing to worry about. Guanlin the youngest and the intern of the team is under Baekho’s care, so nothing to worry about that too, and the last two are senior residents—I don’t have to babysit them.” Pinky says flicking it off on her fingers.

“Pinky…” Jonghyun starts exasperatedly making Pinky chuckle. “This is the Emergency Department, it’s a whole lot different from the General Surgery department, even if they’re senior residents, they still need time to adjust...”

“And that’s what I’m doing now Jonghyun. They have to adjust and adapt quickly, and me being there, watching over them would only make those two depend on me.” Pinky states matter of factly. Which is true, Jonghyun says in his mind.

“Whatever you say then. Just please make sure that they won’t add to the chaos—especially Seongwu. You did remind him not to uh, flirt around didn’t you?” Pinky chuckles an of course. “Good. Our hands are already full with Hyunbin, I don’t need Seongwu adding more to that.”

“I know.” Pinky says laughing, making Jonghyun laugh too. “You look like shit Jong.”

“I know. Only had 6 hours of sleep for the last 3 days. Take the wheel for me?” Jonghyun says invitingly. Pinky gives him a motherly smile as she stands up and pulls him to rest at the sofa, putting a blanket over him, just like how Jonghyun did years ago when the other was still an intern.

“With pleasure Chief.” Pinky says smiling at him and takes her leave.

“Thank you Pinky, and welcome back our dear fairy.” Jonghyun tells her, not as the Chief or a sunbae, but as a friend, a brother.

“Thanks bro.” Pinky says winking “Now sleep. I’ll tell everyone not to disturb you until your next schedule.” Jonghyun answers with a hum, as snuggles in the comfort of his blanket. He hears the sound of the lights being switched off and the doors softly closed as he drifts off to sleep.

[14:10]

“There you are!” A loud voice calls his attention, making Minhyun look up from the patient’s file that he’s been studying for the last 20 minutes.

“Me?” Minhyun asks pointing towards himself, confused by the other.

“Yes you. You’re one of Pinky’s surgeons right?” The other asks and Minhyun nods uneasily. “I’m Dr. Kwak—yes, I know how funny that sounds, so just call me Aron.” Dr. Kw - Dr. Aron, he corrects himself—says in a friendly manner, making Minhyun chuckle and relax.

“Hwang Minhyun, I’ve heard a lot of stories about you Dr. Aron.” Minhyun says with a smile offering his hand to the other.

“What kind of stories? Knowing Pinky, it’s probably rumours.” Aron says shaking his hand “but let’s talk about that later, we need you in the operating room.”

“Uh… like right now?” Minhyun asks nervously and shaken. He’s—he doesn’t think he’s ready for this yet.

“Yes, like right now, this instant.” Aron says with an apologetic smile. “We need to go there right now so you could get ready in time. We have approximately 45 minutes before the operation starts.”

“But I just got here today and I don’t think—”

“You can.” Aron says clapping him on the shoulders “You won’t be here if Pinky thinks you’re not adept to be in the ED, so be confident.” Minhyun nods and the other smiles at him. “Great now, let’s start walking and I’ll brief you on the way there.”

[14:30]

“Finally the princess has arrived! Now be a good nanny, and take care of our neophyte. I have to prep my babies.” Aron says as soon as Baekho arrives in the locker room at the OR.

“Thank God.” Dr. Kang breathes out in relief and smiles at Minhyun. “I’m sorry for such short notice, Daniel, the other Dr. Kang is nursing a punch from a patient so…”

“Yeah… I heard… he’s okay right? Seongwu told me that the patient punched him… a bit too strong.” Minhyun says with a shrug, putting on his lucky scrub cap that Jonghyun gave him before.

“He’ll be fine, it always happens, especially when he’s relocating a dislocated shoulder.” Dr. Kang answers with a chuckle. “Your cap though, that’s so like Jonghyun’s.” The other adds.

“He has a cap like this too?” Minhyun asks curiously.

“Yeah, he has a bunch of Pokemon, and turtle caps.” Dongho answers with a chuckle.

Wow. Another coincidence? Or do surgeons with the name Kim Jonghyun just share the same tastes? Which, for him, would be good, because he’s sure that whoever is named Jonghyun and has the same weird taste for animated caps, is a great person, just like his Jonghyun.

Minhyun hears his phone beep and immediately checks it.

I’ve eaten now! ^~^ good luck on the surgery! I know you can do it! - Jju

Minhyun sighs and puts his phone in the locker. He can do it just like Jonghyun said, right?

“You suddenly look like you need a blood transfusion… are you nervous?” Baekho asks, observing him.

“I am…” Minhyun sighs “This is my first Open-Heart surgery and… it’s not that I feel like I can’t do it, I know I can… but I’m just nervous, that’s all…”

“It’s normal to be nervous… especially when you haven’t performed it before.” Baekho says, smiling at him “But let me tell you, that you don’t have to be. Jonghyun, the one that you’ll be assisting is the best of the best, the only thing that you would probably be doing is suctioning and suturing—which even Hyunbin, actually no, Hyunbin might pierce an artery because of nervousness, but you get what I mean, right?” Minhyun nods and chuckles. “Good.”

They hear a knock on the door and he sees Daehwi peeking in. “Hate to break this heart to heart talk, but the Chief just called and told me to gather everyone in the operating room for the last preparations.” Baekho nods and stands, pulling Minhyun up.

“Ready?” Baekho asks him. Minhyun smiles confidently “Ready boss.” Making Baekho chuckle and pat him on the shoulders.

[15:00]

“5 more minutes and the star of the afternoon would be here.” Aron jokes, leaning onto the wall.

“I’ve been here 2 years and I still wonder who’s the star… Is it the patient? Or the Chief?” Yoojung asks curiously.

“Of course, it’s the patient! Because it would be gross if it were Jonghyun.” Baekho answers with a grin, doing a weird high five in the air with Aron.

Daehwi who’s standing next to Minhyun shakes his head, watching the two, who Minhyun notices are acting like kids. “It can be both, of course the patient would always be the star, but you have to give credit to Jonghyun hyung too, the way he gracefully operates, gentle yet precise on every move—just wow.” Daehwi announces making Yoojung nod in agreement.

“Strongly agree on that, I’m always amazed at how he works.” Sanggyun, the team’s perfusionist, Minhyun learns, says in a very chill manner.

“Hallelujah! Kim Sanggyun talks!” Minki announces dramatically making the others laugh, including Minhyun.

Minhyun’s been in the OR for the last 30 minutes, preparing and getting briefed by Daehwi and Baekho, but he never heard the perfusionist say anything, aside from some weird grumbling that Jinyoung thought was his stomach talking.

“I talk Minki—there was just nothing important to talk about earlier.” Sanggyun says rolling his eyes.

“Wow. So Jonghyun is much more important than me asking you if the machine is working right?” Minki asks with a scoff.

“I answered you with a grunt.”

“You’re unbelievable. This is why you’re single Sanggyun.” Minki says

“What the hell does that mean?” Sanggyun asks the other, Minki replies with a loud grunt as he types something on the laptop, making the rest bellow with laughter.

“I never expected the trauma team to be this hilarious.” Jinyoung says in between laughs.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg little one, wait until everyone's adjusted with the whole team—you’ll begin to question yourself why you’re in a team of crazy people.” Minki states. “Found it!” And just like that, the OR is filled with NSYNC's ‘Tearin’ up my heart’.

“How appropriate.” Aron says snickering.

“Quit playing games with my heart better be there.” Baekho says stretching his neck. Minki checks the playlist and nods.

“How about Plus One’s ‘Here in my heart’, oppa?” Yoojung asks and Minki nods again.

“Wow. Literally all 90’s boy band songs with a ‘heart’ in the title is here.” Jinyoung says astonished, checking on the playlist.

“It won’t be Jonghyun if he doesn’t do that. Speaking of the devil, they’re here.” Aron says standing straight, face suddenly full of seriousness a contrast to his joking manner earlier. Minhyun looks around and sees the same expression with the rest of the team—minus him and Jinyoung who are back to being nervous again.

“We can do this right hyung?” Jinyoung whispers next to him as the patient is being transferred to the operating table.

“Hyung? Minhyun hyung?” Jinyoung nudges him, but Minhyun doesn’t budge and instead remains unmoving, staring and completely shocked at the man in front of him.

Because of all places, Minhyun never expected to meet Jonghyun here.

Especially when Jonghyun told him that he’s a Cardiothoracic Surgeon.

But here he is, the so-called love of his life,

Right in front of him, in his OR scrubs and Onibugi scrub cap.

Not just as a Cardiothoracic Surgeon, but also as a Chief Trauma Surgeon—his Chief Surgeon to be exact.

He’s smiling at him.

As if nothing‘s wrong.

[15:25]

Minhyun doesn’t know how long they stayed like this, just staring at each other, both of them trying to read each other’s thoughts. On Minhyun’s part—his mind is full of questions on why Jonghyun didn’t tell him who he is, especially when Jonghyun seems to know that he would be joining his team, when Jonghyun actually had time to do that especially when just an hour ago the former texted him and even wished Minhyun a good luck on this surgery that he would be leading.

Is it so hard for Jonghyun to text him an ‘Oh hey, I found that you’ll be joining my team, and also don't be surprised, I’m actually the Chief of the trauma department ^~^’ with that fucking cute emoticon of his?

Or better yet: ‘Hey, I was busy and forgot to mention that we will be in the same team from today onwards, and I’ll be your Chief. Very Grey’s Anatomy right? ^~^

Also, I’ll be the one leading the impromptu surgery that you’ve been pulled into. Fighting and I love you~ ^o^’

Okay that ‘I love you’ was just a part of Minhyun’s greed to put some certainty in this vague relationship that they have.

Is that it? Is that why Jonghyun didn’t tell him anything because he thinks that Minhyun doesn’t have the right to know? Especially when their relationship, whatever kind this is, is just so vague?

“Propofol has been injected, the patient should be unconscious in 3 minutes.” Minki announces, Jonghyun nods, still looking at him, trying to read his thoughts.

“Endotracheal tube is now inserted, and mechanical ventilation has started. Patient is under general anaesthesia and is now unconscious.” Aron says and Jonghyun nods, smiling at Minhyun, before clearing his throat.

“We’ll now start the Coronary artery bypass surgery of patient Bryan Yoon. Bryan Yoon ssi, himnaeseyo.” Jonghyun announces, making Minhyun scoff with his eccentric MENT at the end, he sees Jinyoung trying his best to stifle a laugh next to the Chief surgeon, but fails in the end.

“Scalpel.” Jonghyun and Baekho say at the same time, as Jonghyun starts to open the patient chest, while Baekho on the other hand opens the leg of the patient to harvest bypass grafts.

“Forceps then a clamp.” Jonghyun orders as Jinyoung passes him one. “Hold this for me Min.” Jonghyun says not noticing he just called him by his nickname making the others in the room look at them in bewilderedly, minus Baekho and Daehwi that is.

“Another clamp Jinyoung, and get ready for suction Minnie.” Jonghyun says yet again, with another of his nickname. Thank heavens Minhyun’s wearing mask or everyone would see him blushing at the sudden endearment, and from being the center of attention, though Aron probably noticed, especially since he’s looking at Minhyun with such a mischievous smile.

“Just a little bit more and we’ll be in the heart…” Jonghyun mumbles as Jinyoung wipes the Chief Surgeon’s forehead with tissues. “Can you pull this up? Higher, just a little bit—there, just right there babe, perfect.” Jonghyun says as he goes deeper, still not noticing what he just said as Minhyun tries his best not to smack the other on the head.

“Amazing.” Minki comments amused and chuckling.

“I’m always amazing Minki, didn’t you know that?” Jonghyun comments still working on the last opening.

“I’m not really talking about you, but sure. Whatever floats your boat Jonghyun.” Minki says checking the circulation monitor.

“About to harvest grafts Jong, you done opening yet?” Baekho asks not knowing what’s happening

“Done. Chest is now completely opened. Start now Baek.” Baekho nods and continues, singing along to Backstreet Boys’ ‘Quit playing games with my heart’.

“All done.” Baekho announces. “Alright, that’s my cue.” Aron says injecting heparin to the patient to inhibit blood clotting.

“Done suturing. Sanggyun you can now start the cardiopulmonary bypass.” Jonghyun instructs, stretching his neck as he waits for Sanggyun to finish.

“Bypass done, cardioplegia is now injected. You can start in 20 seconds.” Sanggyun announces.

Minhyun looks at the heart, completely amazed as he watches the heart start to slowly beat until it completely stops. “See that? That’s the heart not beating Min. Amazing yet terrifying, right?” Jonghyun says, just like those times when they’re in his apartment and Jonghyun tells him about his surgery.

“Yeah…” Minhyun answers. He sees Jonghyun wink at him and he chuckles.

“Okaaaaay… when did these two get close?” Baekho asks looking back and forth at them. Minhyun sees Jonghyun’s face change, realization finally hitting the other of his tongue slips, and how he was so comfortable with Minhyun. Jonghyun nods for him to go and take Baekho’s place as Minhyun is in charge of suturing and finishing Baekho’s surgery on the leg.

“I met him in medical school. Clamp please Jinyoung.” Jonghyun says with a shrug as he goes back to work.

“That’s funny, I didn’t see Minhyun while we were in medical school. Did you Baek?” Aron says teasingly.

“Didn’t either…” Baekho mumbles as he starts placing the vein graft.

“There’s a lot of students in SNU hyung, you can’t possibly see and know everyone.” Jonghyun says.

“I know. But isn’t it weird that Baekho and I haven’t met him? Especially when we shared the same classes together. Right Minhyun?” Aron asks him.

“Scissors please Yoojung ssi.” Minhyun says focussing on suturing. Because what else can he say? Jonghyun and him didn’t meet at SNU—he didn’t even go there. And he’s sure as hell that the bar is not a medical school either, even in his drunk state that time. He hears Aron laugh and Daehwi snorting in front of him.

Focus Minhyun. This isn’t the right time to get distracted.

“Just focus on the surgery hyung.” Jonghyun commands. “We’ll be done in 21 mins, get ready to restart the heart Sanggyun.”

“Noted babe.” Sanggyun answers making Jonghyun glare at the other, as the rest of the team laughs. Minus him and Jonghyun that is.

“Are you done with the leg…” Jonghyun says, leaving his sentence hanging, making Minki say the word babe for him as the other mumbles a curse at the nurse. “...Dr. Hwang?”

“I’m done. Daehwi’s closing up now.” Minhyun says moving to stand next to Jonghyun to assist him when the heart restarts.

“Good. We’re done. Restart the heart in 30 seconds Sanggyun. And focus everyone.” Jonghyun says as he moves back to stretch his back.

“Heart will be now restarted.” Sanggyun says. Minhyun watches as the heart start to move in a small detail then slowly going back to its normal beating.

“Heol.” Jinyoung whispers in front of Jonghyun and him.

“Amazing right?” Baekho says smiling at the young nurse.

“Truly amazing. I almost feel like crying…” Jinyoung says in amazement making Jonghyun chuckle.

“Don’t cry though, we can’t have you crying.” Jonghyun says. “Vitals hyung?” Jonghyun asks Aron.

“Stable, you can start suturing now.” Aron says in a serious manner.

“Suction Min...hyun.” Jonghyun says and he nods.

Minhyun notices that as soon as he drained some of the blood covering the heart something’s off “There’s something wrong—” and before Minhyun can finish his sentence, the sound of the monitor suddenly start to beep erratically.

“Heart rate going too fast. I’m going to inject heparin.” Aron announces and Minhyun watches Baekho and Jonghyun nod, unfazed on what’s happening.

“Focus on suctioning Minhyun.” Jonghyun says calmly.

“Yoojung add another bag of blood, Jinyoung move back, Daehwi will assist Baekho now.” Minki commands as Jinyoung nods nervously.

“Heart’s going back to normal rhythm. Can you guys finish in 4 minutes?” Aron asks.

“Make that three—I’m on the last 1 Jonghyun, you?” Baekho asks.

“Almost done, get the chest tubes ready Jinyoung.” Jonghyun orders.

“Last 3 minute boys.” Aron reminds the two, and the two surgeons nod.

“Done here. Baek?” Jonghyun asks

“Done. Vitals hyung?” Baekho asks Aron.

“Back to normal. I’m going to inject protamine now.”

“That was close…” Jinyoung says

“Not really, that usually happens during a bypass.” Jonghyun says coolly.

“You can now place the chest tubes Minhyun and Daehwi.” Aron says as Minhyun and Daehwi switch places with the two surgeons.

“You’re doing great, for a first timer.” Jonghyun says as he watch Minhyun wire the sternum together.

“Thanks.” Minhyun answers shyly.

“Why does that sound so… kinky?” Aron asks.

“Because that’s how your mind works.” Minki comments making the rest laugh.

“I’ll do the suturing Min hyung? Minnie hyung? Minhyun hyung? Now what should I call him?” Daehwi asks no one.

“Minhyun hyung is fine.” Minhyun answers with a chuckle.

“Of course, because only Jonghyun can call him Min, right Jonghyun?” Aron teases.

“Vitals hyung.” Jonghyun says exasperatedly.

“All stable babe. I can’t believe that Jonghyun, of all people is living my Grey’s Anatomy dream.” Aron says making Jonghyun roll his eyes at the anesthesiologist.

“So how did you two really meet?” Baekho asks looking at them curiously. He shrugs and nods towards Jonghyun, the other sighs “At the bar, on Aron hyung’s birthday party.”

“Wow.” Everyone says—even Daehwi who should be focused on suturing.

“Is that why you’re suddenly gone - like poof?” Aron asks. Jonghyun just nods, suddenly finding Daehwi’s suturing interesting.

“You can stop looking at this now chief, I’m done.” Daehwi announces teasingly.

“Vitals hyung?” Jonghyun asks Aron.

“Stable and completely normal Jonghyun.” Aron says beaming.

“19:10 the Coronary Artery Bypass surgery of patient Bryan Yoon is finished and successful. Thank you guys—minus you being asses most of the time, but still, it’s a pleasure to work with you and of course to the two new addition to our surgery team.” Jonghyun smiles and nods at him and Jinyoung.

“You’ve all worked hard guys. Also, thank you Bryan Yoon ssi, sugoi.” Jonghyun says finishing off, making Minhyun grimace and cringe on the other’s MENT again.

“It’s still not too late for you to find another babe Minhyun.” Aron says shaking with laughter.

[21:03]

Minhyun breathes in, telling himself that it’s now or never—no matter what the outcome will be. Because when else right? They need to talk. He needs some answers. Even if those answers will be the end of his and Jonghyun’s… well whatever relationship this is.

It’s about time they deal with it now, like he said: now or never.

He breathes out and knocks on the door of Jonghyun’s office.

“Come in Minhyun.” Jonghyun says tiredly.

~

“Here, you haven’t eaten right?” Jonghyun asks passing Minhyun a sub as he sits in the chair in front of him.

“Yeah. Thanks.” Minhyun answers looking down on sandwich.

“The patient?” Jonghyun asks in between bites.

“Stable… we need to talk Jonghyun.” Minhyun says looking straight into Jonghyun.

“Aren’t we talking now?” Jonghyun says teasingly, trying to ease the tension, which sadly doesn’t work.

“You know what I’m talking about Jonghyun.” He says not looking away, Jonghyun sighs and nods.

“Ask away then Minhyun.” Jonghyun tells him, and Minhyun chuckles darkly.

“I will, though I don’t know where to begin.” Minhyun answers sardonically. Jonghyun reaches for his hand and smiles at him apologetically, which somehow makes it more painful for Minhyun. “Why did you lie and told me that you’re a cardiothoracic surgeon Jonghyun?”

“I didn’t lie. I am one.” Jonghyun says looking away.

“That’s bullshit Jonghyun, and we both know it.” He sees Jonghyun wince and sigh.

“I… I didn’t think that what started as a one night stand would turn this serious... by the time that I realized it, I just couldn’t find the proper timing… and before I knew it, it was  already too late, and you’re already moving into my team.” Jonghyun looks at him apologetically. He should find that offensive, but he feels the same way, especially when the first time that they met, they were just too drunk and in need of… well.

So when did things start to change between them? Was it that time when they saw each other a week after at Subway getting their dinner on their way home, which ended up him spending his 1st night at Jonghyun’s place? Or was it the third the time, when Jonghyun asked him out for lunch after a month, and this time, they both started getting to know each other like normal people on a date, but it was lived short as Jonghyun was called back in the hospital...

“Okay, I understand why you weren’t able to tell me before, but you had hours today to tell me that we were going to be in the same team Jonghyun—especially when you can manage to text me, but you didn’t. Instead you chose to show up just like that, as if you didn’t care at all about how I’ll feel.” He says letting it all out.

“I’m sorry Minhyun...” Jonghyun says grasping his hand. This should comfort Minhyun and take all the pain and hurt that he’s feeling, but it doesn’t.

“I don’t need an apology Jonghyun, I need answers. I’m tired of second guessing, I’m tired of asking myself what kind of relationship do we really have.”

“Do we really have to put labels on it Minhyun? Can’t we just… stay like this?” Jonghyun asks him, more like a plead.

“Then what is ‘this’ exactly Jonghyun? We’ve been doing ‘this’ for the last 6 months.” Minhyun asks, losing his temper.

“I don’t know…” Jonghyun tells him, looking away.

“Then tell me when you do.” He says, standing up and leaving Jonghyun.

Thursday, 3:15

Minhyun wakes up to the sound of the door closing and the lock clicking. He opens his eyes and scans the room, sees someone taking off his coat, revealing his muscular back—which Minhyun is all to familiar with, just like the back of his hand.

“I’m pretty sure that you’re not allowed to lock the doors of the On-Call room Chief.” Minhyun tells Jonghyun, voice still husky due to sleep. He hears Jonghyun chuckle and walk towards him, as he slips in next to Minhyun.

“You can, if you’re the Chief that is.” Jonghyun tells him, kissing him on the forehead. Minhyun sighs and looks at Jonghyun.  

“Why are you here Jonghyun? You have your own office to sleep in.” He says tiredly.

“The Kang brothers are currently occupying it.” Jonghyun says leaning back to the bed.

“There are still two On-call rooms next to this Jonghyun, I’m sure you can sleep there.” He says turning his back to Jonghyun.

“Aron hyung and Minki are occupying one and I’d rather not share a room with them. The last one is—can’t I just… can’t I just be with you?” Jonghyun asks, embracing him and kissing the back of his head.

“Depends… Do you have an answer now?” Minhyun asks, more like a whisper.

“...I do.” Jonghyun tells him in the same tone.

“Then?”

“I miss you Minhyun. I miss you even when I just saw you hours ago… I want to be with you so badly... even when I know I shouldn’t because I still don’t have an answer and that I’m only hurting you… but I just can’t stop myself from coming here, to be next to you.” Jonghyun tells him in agony.

“Can… can we just stay like this for now… just for a couple of hours?” Jonghyun pleads him, and Minhyun turns, facing the other and nods.

“For now.” Minhyun tells Jonghyun.

Jonghyun smiles at him and pulls him close, kissing the top of his head.

“Thank you.”

Friday, 8:07

“You’re dating Kim Jonghyun, the Kim Jonghyun?!” Seongwu asks appearing out of nowhere, and seething mad at Minhyun, as he does the last of his patient rounds.

“When did you start having an interest in my life Seongwu? Especially when you told everyone in the station and I quote: ‘Hwang Minhyun? He’s just a big-headed surgeon who thinks he’s glorious and amazing just because he’s good at everything’.” Minhyun says mockingly and irritatingly. Annoyed that he had to repeat what the very immature surgeon said about him yesterday.

“So… you did hear that…” Seongwu says suddenly looking ashamed.

“How can I not hear you Seongwu when you’re talking so loud?!” Minhyun spits furiously, stopping and calming himself down before walking again. He sees Jihoon putting an IV in a patient, with Guanlin next to him.

Guanlin sees him and nods, giving him space to check on the patient, who’s currently sleeping.

“How long has he been sleeping?” Minhyun asks checking the patient’s pulse.

“10 minutes now.” Guanlin says checking his watch. “His labs are out, all are normal… Another case of Influenza A.” Guanlin says, biting his lip in worry.

“Damn. That’s the 20th case of Influenza A since we got here.” Seongwu states.

“I know hyung, which is what worries me. We still have a long list of patients that we need to attend to, and I hope they don’t have the same findings, because that will be scary and alarming.” Guanlin says sighing.

“Just make sure to isolate them as soon as they show the same symptoms…” Minhyun says, patting Guanlin on the shoulders. “You guys are holding up okay right?” Minhyun asks Guanlin and Jihoon.

“Yup, had a proper sleep earlier. Thank God the On-Call rooms aren’t locked today unlike yesterday.” Jihoon says adjusting the IV drip, which makes Minhyun blush beet red.

“You okay hyung?” Guanlin asks looking at him. Minhyun nods and clears his throat. “Yeah, it’s just cold that is.” He hears Seongwu snickering next to him.

“Maybe you need to rest at the On-Call room Minhyun, or better yet, do you need me to call someone, let’s say… the Chief?” Seongwu asks sheepishly and Minhyun instantly kicks the other on the shin, making Seongwu grumble curses at him.

“I don’t think you need to call him Seongwu hyung, he’s here.” Guanlin says nodding towards Jonghyun, making Minhyun jerk sideways, which almost gives him a whiplash.

Minhyun stares at Jonghyun who’s talking animatedly with Daniel, with Daehwi, Somi and Jinyoung following them behind. This is the first time that he sees the other doing his rounds and being the ‘Chief’ that he is outside of the OR.

And damn, now he understands what Seongwu meant when he said that Jonghyun is the real and living McDreamy, because he is. Especially when he look so hot and charismatic when he’s just wearing a regular doctor’s coat like the rest of them. Fuck, even the stethoscope on his neck makes him look sexy! And  if that isn’t enough, Jonghyun’s hair—the one that Minhyun likes to scrunch whenever they kiss—is disheveled in a sexy manner, with bangs parted revealing a bit of his forehead—which Minhyun badly, really badly wants to touch right now.

“Hyung? Oh my god, he went into shock.” Minhyun hears Guanlin say but he couldn’t care less especially when Jonghyun’s now looking at him, smiling that bright and killer smile of his, making Minhyun forget that their relationship is in a fucking mess right now.

“Dr. Hwang.” Jonghyun greets him with a smile and bow—making Minhyun snap back to reality.

“Chief.” He answers curtly, putting his hand at the back and bows, as both of their teams greet each other. He feels a warm gentle touch on his hand, making Minhyun glance back and see Jonghyun’s hand with his. He looks at the back, checking if anyone notices and meets eye to eye with Daniel and the other smiles, giving an okay sign as Jonghyun talks with Guanlin regarding the patient.

“How smooth.” Minhyun hears Daehwi mumble making Somi and Jinyoung chuckle. He immediately pulls his hand away from Jonghyun, but of course the latter only grips it tighter, making him groan.

Jonghyun looks at him and smiles, making Minhyun roll his eyes at the other.

“Another case of Influenza A. How many patients have we have with that this week?” Jonghyun asks his entourage.

“55, if we included this and the 3 that we checked earlier.” Somi says counting in the air.

“That’s a lot…” Jinyoung says.

“It is. I hope you guys have had your flu shots. We don’t want the team to get it too.” Jonghyun says and Seongwu suddenly raises his hand.

“Yes Seongwu-ssi?” Jonghyun asks raising an eyebrow at the other.

“I don’t think I had my flu shot yet, can Dr. Daniel administer it?” Seongwu asks openly—too openly making the former General Surgeon team feel very embarrassed of the other’s action.

Jonghyun shakes his head in amusement and nods at Daniel to answer Seongwu’s question.

“Yeah sure I guess…” Daniel says with a shrug.

“Good! Let’s do it during our break in the On-Call room then!” Seongwu answers beaming at Daniel, making the latter blush.

“Someone please stop him.” Jinyoung groans

“I—we can do it here Seongwu-ssi, there’s no need to do it in the On-Call room.”

“But—” Seongwu says but gets interrupted by Jonghyun’s throat clearing. “How about the staff lounge Seongwu-ssi? At least there you’ll have the privacy that you don’t need for a vaccination.” Jonghyun says more like a warning for Seongwu to behave.

“Fine.” Seongwu says with a pout.

“Good. We’ll take our leave then.” Jonghyun says smiling and nodding towards Seongwu, Guanlin and Jihoon.

“Breakfast?” Jonghyun asks for only Minhyun to hear.

“Answers?” Minhyun asks, not giving in to Jonghyun this time.

Jonghyun looks down and shakes his head, smiling apologetically at Minhyun before finally letting his hand go.

Saturday, 00:31

“It feels like a month has passed since we’ve gathered like this, don’t you think?” Dr. Zhou says chuckling and passing them sandwiches.

“Tell me about it sunbae. I don’t even have the energy to drive and go home.” Seongwu says drained and exhausted.

“Really? I beg to differ oppa, especially when you seemed to have so much strength when pulling Niel oppa to the On-Call room earlier.” Doyeon states impishly, making Seongwu yell a ‘Ya! Kim Doyeon!’

“Seriously Seongwu? Didn’t I remind you that you can’t flirt with the rest of the team?” Dr. Zhou says, as if she is lecturing a misbehaved child, well Seongwu is in fact a misbehaved child, Minhyun thinks, chuckling.

Seongwu glares at him and Minhyun mumbles a ‘what’ to the other, daring Seongwu to say whatever he wants to say, which Minhyun shouldn’t have done—especially seeing that smirk that’s now forming on Seongwu’s lips.

“In my defense, I have to do that because the staff lounge is full and I need to get my flu shot. Completely different from someone who was locked in the On-Call room with another someone.” Seongwu says with that pesky fake smile of his.

“Well… I’m pretty sure that Jonghyun and Minhyunnie here aren’t just flirting, completely different from you who found another victim in the form of an innocent Doctor, Seongwu-yah.”

“Sunbae!” Seongwu whines dramatically.

“Just stating the facts Seongwu. Right Minhyunnie?” Dr. Zhou asks him, but he can see the worry on his former Chief’s face. Minhyun looks away and just nods, not knowing how to answer Dr. Zhou, when he himself doesn’t know the answer. He hears an exasperated sigh and Minhyun doesn’t need to check to know where it came from.

“How are you guys doing?” Dr. Zhou changes the topic and asks the maknaes of their team.

“Good, I’m mostly shadowing Baekho hyung and learning a lot from him. He also told me that I can join him in surgery.” Guanlin says smiling his gummy smile.

“That’s great. You’ll learn a lot from him Guanlin, especially when he has a vast of specialties under that big arms of his.” Dr. Zhou says proudly. “And you Jihoon?”

“Learning how to be sassy and a boss under Boss Bunny’s care.” Jihoon says joking making the Dr. Zhou and Doyeon laugh. “But kidding aside, Minki hyung taught me a lot and even how to assist an Anesthesiologist during an operation.”

“Minki is one of the best nurses that I’ve met. Even Jisung oppa is scared of him because he might snatch his head nurse title anytime soon.”

“Agree, though Jisung oppa is unbeatable, Minki oppa is on a different level too. Who trained Minki oppa though? Jisung oppa said it’s not him?” Doyeon asks.

Dr. Zhou looks at him and smiles “Jonghyun.” Making Minhyun choke on the sandwich that he was peacefully munching on.

“Minki is part of Jonghyun’s initial team when Jonghyun, Baekho and Aron are still at the General Surgery department.”

“Really? Is that why Minki hyung is so adept during the Surgery?” Jinyoung asks in amazement, remembering the Coronary Artery Bypass surgery that he got pulled into on his first day.

“Yup.” Dr. Zhou says taking a bite of the sandwich.

“Is Minki hyung the only nurse in their team then?” Jihoon asks this time. Dr. Zhou shakes her head, suddenly looking somber.

“No. There was… another one.” Dr. Zhou says gloomily.

“Who?” Minhyun asks looking at Dr. Zhou. The latter looks away, and looks down on her sandwich instead.

“Dr. Zhou?” Minhyun asks again, and this time Dr. Zhou looks at him, an apologetic smile in her face. “I can’t—”

“Paging Chief Kim, your husband is waiting for you at the conference room.” Yoojung announces over the general loudspeaker making everyone in the room choke on their sandwich. Well not everyone, as Minhyun notices Dr. Zhou grew pale, for the first time ever.

“You’re married?” Seongwu asks completely shocked and still coughing not even caring about how Minhyun would feel at the moment.

“Are you dumb Seongwu? We’re at the staff lounge, so clearly Minhyun is not the husband waiting for the Chief at the conference room.” Doyeon states, scrubbing salt into Minhyun’s wound.

“Hyung… you okay?” Jinyoung asks holding his hand, the only one who seems to care about him.

“Paging Chief Kim, your husband is waiting for you at the conference room.” Yoojung announces again, as if the first announcement didn’t already hurt Minhyun.

“What’s going on?” Jihoon and Guanlin both say at the same time confused on what’s happening.

“That’s a trauma code… Stand up guys, break’s over.” Dr. Zhou announces seriously.

[00:55]

“Is everyone here?” Jonghyun asks, addressing the room with Jisung, the Head nurse, and Dr. Kim Chungha and Dr. Kim Sejeong the Neurologists following behind him.

Half of the team mumble a nervous ‘yes’, meanwhile the rest just nods, awaiting the Chief’s orders.

“Good. I’ll start.” Jonghyun somberly announces, taking his seat at the head. The Chief sighs and then looks at them. “It’s a Multiple-Vehicle Collision. 9 Vehicles, 21 casualties… Our center will be handling 10 of them, 4 of those are children, who will be transferred immediately to the pediatric department, 2 are pregnant women and will also be transferred immediately. Which leaves us with 4.” Jonghyun announces.

“1 of whom has neck and back injuries and will be handled by Dr. Kim Jaehwan, Woojin, and Hyunbin. Kenta the anaesthesiologist will join you, together with Yoojung and Sohye. You should start preparing now, because he’ll be the first to arrive.” Jonghyun says and the newly formed team nods, taking their leave.

“Jaehwan…” Jonghyun calls the other.

“Don’t worry about me Jonghyun, worry on the rest.” Jaehwan says with a smile and Jonghyun nods with a sigh, making the rest that were left grow more nervous.

“Nayoung, you’ll be leading team 3 together with Sungwoon hyung and Guanlin. Mina, Samuel and Seonho will be assisting you together with Dr. Chungha and Dr. Sejeong, and you will go directly to the OR once the patient arrives. Sungwoon hyung will brief you. You may go now…” Jonghyun says, his face full of tiredness as he watches the latest team take their leave.

“Team 2, another multi-trauma patient, the wife of the patient that team 3 will be handling. Pinky you’ll take the lead, together with Jisung hyung. Daniel, Seongwu, Doyeon, and Somi will join you.” Pinky nods and pats Jonghyun on the shoulders before taking their leave, leaving the rest of them.

“Lastly, our team. We will be handling the last Multi-trauma patient. The good news is that we don’t need a neurosurgeon.” Jonghyun says trying to break the ice. Minhyun hears Aron’s sardonic ‘ha. ha. ha. Very funny Jong.’, which actually makes them chuckle.

“Our roles in the team will be the same as before with the addition of Jihoon this time. Aron hyung and Minki for the anaesthetics and circulation, Dongho and I will take the lead, Daehwi and Jihoon assisting Dongho, and Jinyoung and you, Minhyun will work with me.” Jonghyun announces looking at him.

[01:30]

“What’s taking him so long hyung?” Jihoon asks impatiently as they wait for the trauma patient to arrive.  

“Must be the traffic. Ha ha ha.” Baekho says with the same icy style that seems to be ‘in’ here in the emergency department.

“Guess that’s not the case.” Aron says nodding towards the incoming ambulance.

“Jinyoung, notify Jonghyun that the patient is now here.” Minhyun orders the young nurse, and the other nods, running to the trauma surgery room.

“You ready Minhyun?” Aron asks as the ambulance stops at the entrance.

“Like we have a choice?” Minhyun answers with chuckle, making Baekho and Aron laugh, which confuses Jihoon.

“Only been in the emergency department for four days and but already turning into us. Congrats.” Aron says, proud, while patting him on the shoulders. Minhyun rolls his eyes and mumbles a ‘whatever.’

[01:45]

“Vitals hyung.” Jonghyun says not even looking up, instead he is busy looking at the arm of the patient.

“Didn’t I just tell you that Jonghyun?” Aron answers almost snapping as he’s busy putting on his lines.

“I need it now hyung.”

“Temps wait how did it go up that fast?” Aron says taken aback

“Inject Ibuprofen first hyung. Scissors Jinyoung.” Jinyoung immediately passes the scissors which Jonghyun uses to cut through the patient’s shirt, revealing his upper body, which weirdly is covered in measle like rashes.

“Shit. Is this?” Baekho says understanding whatever’s on Jonghyun’s head, which only makes Minhyun and rest confused.

“I’m not sure… Jihoon, call the nurse station now and tell them to get in touch with the EMT that brought our patient.” Jihoon nods and immediately goes toward the intercom, doing what Jonghyun ordered him to do.

“Done?” Jonghyun asks and Jihoon nods. Jonghyun sighs and looks at each of them, and looking at Minhyun last.

“I think the patient is infected with an M2 or worse M3 virus.” Jonghyun tells them still looking at him.

“What?!” Aron says loudly

“I’m not sure, okay?” Jonghyun says looking away from Minhyun and facing Aron. “But you heard the reports of the EMT. His rashes aren’t just normal ones, and I don’t think its measles either.” Jonghyun says worried and skeptic. Making the rest of the team look at each other

“Wh-what do we do now…?” Jihoon asks, voice shaking.

“The same as earlier, but we need to take some of his blood first for checking. Call the Infection Control department Daehwi.” Jonghyun orders, extracting blood from the patient.

“Hyung, they’re on the line.” Daehwi says holding the phone for Jonghyun.

“Hello? Yes, Good Morning to you too Sir. Hehehe…” Jonghyun says making them scoff in disbelief. Jonghyun rolls his eyes and continues talking “So… we might have a patient infected with an M2 or M3 virus… uh-huh, I already took a blood sample and no, we didn’t start the surgery yet…” Jonghyun pauses, and a smile suddenly forms on his face. “Oh really? That would be amazing, let me just ask my team.” Jonghyun moves away from the receiver and smiles at them “They say they’ll get us food because we’ll be in isolation, so what do you guys want to have?”

“Fuck you Jonghyun. I just want to live.” Aron says bursting into tears.

[03:11]

“We’re almost done, I just have to suture this. Baek?” Jonghyun asks Baekho, who’s also busy doing the same.

“Done in 3.” Baekho mumbles.

“Vitals hyung?” Jonghyun asks, still just as chirpy, completely opposite from the rest of them who are emotionally and physically all tired.

“All good Jonghyun. Now hurry up, my burger’s getting cold.” Aron says jokingly, though his voice sounds so husky, probably because of the crying earlier.

“I will hyung. Min?” Jonghyun calls him.

“What?” Minhyun answers with a tired voice.

“If I—” Jonghyun’s about to say but gets interrupted by Minki’s screeching.

“Don’t you fucking dare continue whatever shit you’re about to say Kim Jonghyun. We’re all walking out of this OR alive and fabulous.” Minki says furiously glaring at Jonghyun, making the latter chuckle.

“Stop being overdramatic and let me finish Minki.” Jonghyun says with a chuckle.

“Fine, say what you want to say.” Minki says with a scoff.

“Thanks. So…” Jonghyun starts

“So?” Minhyun asks, suctioning the excess blood off the patient’s abdomen.

“How about we finish this surgery first love birds, and do whatever reconciliation you both need to do later, since we have a lot of time to do that until his lab results are out.” Dongho says mockingly.

“You’re so mean sometimes Baek.” Jonghyun states.

“And you’re not even denying anything now Jonghyun. An improvement.” Baekho states. “I’m done, you?”

“All done. Let’s close up and eat those burgers.” Jonghyun says smiling.

[04:05]

“Breakfast?” Minhyun asks, taking a seat next to Jonghyun and handing him the cold burgers that the Infection Control Team have brought them.

Jonghyun smiles and takes his hand instead, interlacing it together. “How about answers instead Min?” Jonghyun asks, a sad and tired smile painting his face.

“Right here and now?” Minhyun asks, nodding towards the other members of the team who are all huddled not far from them, and of course their patient who may have or may not have been infected with an M2 or M3 virus and who is peacefully recovering after his successful surgery.

“Yes, right now.” Jonghyun says leaning onto the wall.

“Go ahead then.” Minhyun says, taking a bite of his burger. Jonghyun chuckles and looks at him amused.

“What.” Minhyun grunts as he chews.

“You’re not even going to ask me questions?”

“I’m too tired to even talk Jonghyun, let alone think of a question that I know you won’t be answering anyway.” Minhyun says, making Jonghyun look down and sigh.

“I was afraid Min.” Jonghyun says, voice filled with sadness and pain.

“Why?” He asks putting his burger down.

“Because I knew that the moment I told you the truth, things would change and I was so scared of that… I don’t want things to change Minhyun... I don’t want whatever this is that’s going on between us to change just because I couldn’t find the right timing, because I was too late. Again.” Jonghyun says not looking at him.

“Why do you assume that things would change Jonghyun?” He asks, pulling Jonghyun’s hand, making the other look at him this time.

“Because it happened to me Minhyun.” Jonghyun tells him, finally taking off his mask, showing Minhyun the scars that he tried so hard to cover. “And I don’t want that to happen to us too.”

And it hits Minhyun. The real reason why Jonghyun was so secretive, why no matter how much he tried to climb over his walls, he just couldn’t.

“If you don’t want that to happen to us, then you have to start opening up and telling me things, instead of leaving me hanging and second guessing everything.”

Jonghyun sighs and nods.

“5 years ago, before Aron hyung, Baekho, Minki and I moved here, to the Trauma department… we were in the General Surgery…” Jonghyun pauses and looks at him. Minhyun nods, urging for him to continue. Minhyun already has a feeling where this is going especially when Dr. Zhou wasn’t able to answer him earlier.

“I was dating someone back then… and our relationship began to change after the move... Our schedules didn’t match… I was in back to back surgeries just like now, and we just couldn’t find the time. We started having disagreements about small things, then big things, and it went and on… until the car accident happened.” Jonghyun stops and looks at the patient that they’ve just operated on. Minhyun holds Jonghyun’s hand tighter, telling him that it’s okay not to tell him and that he understands. Jonghyun looks at him and shakes his head, a sad smile on his face.

“We were supposed to meet that day, but again, being the fool that I was, I forgot about the time… by the time that I remembered, he was already in the ER and about to go through surgery…”

“Is he...?” Minhyun asks and Jonghyun nods.

“He is alive. But still, it doesn’t change the fact that a part of what happened was because of me… because I was too busy saving people’s lives… that I forgot about the ones who I love the most…”

“Do… do you still love him?” Minhyun asks, wishing that he didn’t.

“Yes and no.” Jonghyun tells him with a smile “I don’t love him the way that I did before, but he’ll always be a part of me. Though you don’t need to worry about that, he’s happily married now.” Jonghyun says nudging him on the side teasingly.

“I’m more worried about the fact that you know he’s married.” Minhyun says dryly making Jonghyun laugh this time.

“He invited me to the wedding. After all, I was the one who saved his life.” Jonghyun says proudly.

“Wow, and here I was feeling bad about you the whole time.” Minhyun says shaking his head in disbelief.

“Ahh… I should have changed the story then…” Jonghyun says with a smirk, interlacing their hands back together.

“So…” Jonghyun starts again.

“So?” Minhyun asks.

“That’s my answer. And this time I need yours.” Jonghyun says, trying his best to look confident and play it cool, but failing at it.

“Ask away then.” Minhyun says with a chuckle.

“Do you still want this—this relationship that we have, to be a real one…?” Jonghyun asks him nervously.

“Depends…” Minhyun answers, looking away from the other.

“On?” Jonghyun asks worried.

“You.” Minhyun answers.

“Stop being so vague Minhyun. It’s killing me.” Jonghyun tells him impatiently, which only makes Minhyun laugh.

“That’s how you treated me for the past 6 months Jonghyun, a little retribution won’t kill you.” Minhyun says teasingly, making Jonghyun groan as Minhyun sees Minki going over Jonghyun’s OR playlist.

“Do I have to wait for another 6 months?” Jonghyun asks, whining.

“Yes and no.” Minhyun answers with a smile as NSYNC’s ‘Tearin’ up My Heart’ plays in the room, making Jonghyun glare at Minki.

Jonghyun looks at Minhyun then, face full of sincerity and warmth. “I love you.”

“That took you long enough dumbass.” Minhyun says pulling Jonghyun into a kiss, as their other teammates scream ‘finally’ and woop on them.

“Uh… sorry to interrupt, but the patient has tested negative for M2 and M3 virus, and he can now be move to the ICU.” Taeyong, part of the Infection Control Team informs them, making the rest cry out of joy, including Baekho, who’s actually crying the loudest.

“And congrats Chief Kim.” Taeyong says, winking at Jonghyun before taking his leave.

Jonghyun beams and smiles at Minhyun.

“Yeah, thank you.”

A year later

“If you aren’t so busy in the ED and was mindful of the time, especially when I reminded you so many times to clock off at 19:00, like you were supposed to do, we wouldn’t be this late, stuck in traffic and about to miss a reservation, which I had so much difficulty to book at a very expensive restaurant—Are you even listening to me Minhyun?” Jonghyun asks exasperatedly, growing more irritated at his boyfriend—who is busy looking ahead, not even listening and caring about him, which annoys the hell out of Jonghyun because he is proposing tonight.

“I think there’s an accident babe…” Minhyun says, opening the door. “Yup, definitely a car accident, 3 cars to be exact.” Minhyun says, taking his bag from the backseat. Jonghyun immediately stops him, pulling him back inside.

“We’re off duty Minhyun. Please—I beg you, just this one night, can’t we be just regular citizens, going on a date?” Jonghyun pleads the other, making Minhyun chuckle and kiss him on the forehead.

“We can’t, I’m sorry.” Minhyun tells him and goes out of the car.

“How about my proposal Minhyun!” Jonghyun screams, stomping on the road, making everyone look at him.

“Which is more important Jonghyun: your proposal or the patients’ lives?” Minhyun asks with a knowing smile, waiting for his answer.

Jonghyun curses out loud, taking his backpack on the backseat as he calls 119 on his phone.

Well fuck proposals. It can wait.

For now.