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The last thing Wooyoung remembers before everything went black around him was the wind brushing his hair out of his face and his heart pumping a hundred times a minute from the adrenalin rush. He faintly remembers Yeosang’s laugh when he stumbled over the older’s skate and Seonghwa’s words of protest when Wooyoung kicked it on the road.
He recalls how brave and fearless he felt when he jumped on the board and how the wheels came to life when he pushed himself down the road with his right leg. Seonghwa was on his heels for a few seconds trying to convince him it was a bad idea considering how many beers he had drunk. But Wooyoung wasn’t having any of this and just pushed himself more, leaving the oldest far behind him enjoying the cold wind on his sweaty forehead.
It only took ten seconds and one pebble for Wooyoung’s face to come crashing down onto the tarmac and luckily for him, the pain didn’t have time to settle properly before his eyes rolled back into his skull and his mind shut down from the shock.
✰
Thursday night was usually a quiet night at the hospital even when Jongho was assigned to the emergency room. There always were your typical car accidents which were more or less gruesome, various types of kids with twisted or broken bones and your usual lots of drunken people with amazing stories.
Jongho was just finishing with a five-year-old kid who managed to stuck a plastic toy so far up his nostril his dad couldn’t take it out by himself when one of his co-workers came to him with a new file.
“Here, this one's for you,” Hongjoong said while slamming the papers on the table with a loud thud, “male, twenty-one, smashed his face on the road because he thought he could skate after four beers.”
Jongho whined at the last statement, “Why do I have to deal with the drunks tonight?”
“Because, first of all, I’m older so just do what I say and second of all, I already took care of the other drunk who came earlier with the fishing hook stuck in his thumb so you’ll deal with this one,” replied Hongjoong, his tone firm but a gentle smile was still gracing his features.
Unlike what the situation seemed to be, Hongjoong really had a soft spot for the younger. Even if Jongho was freshly graduated from nursing school and ended up in the same hospital as Hongjoong only a few months ago, Hongjoong could feel how forbearing and gentle he was with the patients. They weren’t close enough yet to know why Jongho chose to become a nurse but whatever the reason was, Hongjoong knew he was meant for it the moment he saw Jongho comforting a baby in a matter of seconds when no one else was able to do it.
“Believe me, you won’t regret it,” the other nurse said already leaving the room to get back to the waiting room where more patients expected him, “if you only look at his right side, he isn’t that bad looking,”
Hongjoong threw a wink at the end of his sentence and left the room, giggling, before he even heard Jongho calling his name in a very offended manner.
✰
Jongho quickly went through the file on his way to his new patient and really, nothing stood out in his medical record that Hongjoong didn’t already say to him. The only new thing Jongho learned was that his name was Jung Wooyoung and two of his friends were with him when the accident happened. According to the file, Wooyoung already got a nice dose of anaesthetic because the doctor had to stitch him up so Jongho only had to change his bandage, clean the wound if needed and let him rest until the next morning since he was already too late to send him home.
Two men were already waiting in front of the room when Jongho finally showed up and he assumed they were Wooyoung’s friends Hongjoong mentioned earlier.
“Is he okay?” the taller asked when Jongho was close enough, jumping out of his seat when he saw him.
“According to his medical file yes, your friend is fine, he just has a nasty cut on his eyebrow arch but the doctor took care of it, five stitches were needed but everything went fine,” Jongho sent them a smile and instantaneously their shoulders dropped from the tension, “I’m going to see if he needs anything but in the meantime you can both go home, he’s probably going to be out for the night and you can come to pick him up tomorrow morning. The secretary will explain everything on your way out.”
With a deep bow and a myriad of thank you, they went their way while Jongho knocked on the door to let himself known before coming in.
Wooyoung was comfortably tucked in the hospital bed with an IV slowly dripping analgesic in his blood and a big bandage on the left side of his face. Groggily, he turned his head towards the new noise and even with a slightly puffed out lip and a black eye, Jongho had to admit, Wooyoung wasn’t bad-looking at all. Wooyoung sent him a very relaxed smile and even waved in Jongho’s direction before slurring a bearly comprehensive ‘hi there’.
Jongho tried to remain professional and bit the inside of his cheeks in order to not laugh and after taking a deep breath, finally came close to Wooyoung.
“Hello mister Jung, my name’s Choi Jongho, I’ll be your nurse for tonight, I’m here to see if you need anything.” Even if it was a rehearsed speech, Jongho always tried to put compassion in his words because he truly cared about others’ well-being. He wouldn’t be a nurse if he didn’t care.
For a minute Wooyoung stayed silent and Jongho just went to check his IV, see if it needed to be changed or not before Wooyoung finally spoke to him.
“I think I need a pair of lungs,” he said, tongue heavy in his mouth because of the painkillers.
“New lungs?” Jongho snorted but quickly coughed to mask it, “why?”
“Because you took my breath away nurse Choi.”
Jongho bit down on his tongue, hard, to not laugh at the cheesy pick-up line and he just rolled his eyes back while looking at Wooyoung.
“I think you hit your head pretty hard mister Jung, you’ll probably need to get a brain scan tomorrow just in case,” after making sure the IV was secured and full for the night, Jongho made his way to the foot of the bed and took some notes down on the file. He put it down on a table just to pick up a strange-looking machine and went back on the right side of his patient. Expertly, Jongho wrapped the plastic around Wooyoung’s arm and pushed a few buttons. The thing around Wooyoung’s arm started to swollen before coming to a stop with a beep.
“Hm, your blood pressure is a bit high,” noticed Jongho before noting it down again in the file.
“It’s because you’re so pretty, my heart started beating a lot faster as soon as you came in the room,” replied Wooyoung who was trying to follow Jongho’s pace but his head was simply lolling from side to side and Jongho had to admit, he looked very cute while doing this with his tousled hair.
“Or it could be a sign of tachycardia, heart diseases aren’t a joke mister Jung,” reprimanded Jongho but his words truly had no bite to them.
It wasn’t the first time someone tried to flirt with Jongho. Maybe it was the fantasm of the uniform, maybe it was because of the painkillers, just like in Wooyoung's case, but Jongho was used to it and he tried his best to stay professional. But the way Wooyoung was doing it was different from the others and it was hard for the nurse to not coo at the man who looked adorable and snuggly, all tucked up in his bed. If you could try to forget once again, the huge bandage that was covering the left side of his forehead and the bruise that was starting to form under his eye, Wooyoung truly was a handsome man. Jongho wanted to give in Wooyoung's game but he also had a moral code to follow and he didn't want to take advantage of the older man.
Wooyoung snorted at Jongho's reply and closed his eyes for a few seconds and Jongho thought that maybe the painkillers were too strong and they managed to knock him out for good. Whatever was the case, Jongho still had to tend to his bandage and with feather-light touches, he started to peel off the white gauze off his forehead. The cut was nasty, all red and purple and blue but the doctor truly did a good job with the stitches. With a clean cotton ball, Jongho dabbed away the dried blood and probably went a bit too hard when he saw Wooyoung making faces.
So he wasn't truly out.
"I'm sorry if I'm hurting you," whispered Jongho, suddenly well aware of how close he was from Wooyoung.
"It's okay, I actually like it when someone's a bit rough with me," and Jongho knew that if he had his eyes open, Wooyoung would have winked like it was something he should be proud of.
Jongho sighed, rolled his eyes again but fought a smile creeping up his face.
“My job isn’t to hurt you mister Jung, you need to tell me if it does hurt so I can change your meds if needed.”
Wooyoung just hummed in acknowledgement and after that, they fell in comfortable silence with Jongho tending to Wooyoung’s wound and Wooyoung almost purring when Jongho carded his fingers in his hair to push them away. Jongho was glad Wooyoung wasn’t looking at him otherwise he would have seen how red in the face he had become.
“Done,” Jongho whispered again to Wooyoung and while he was going to step away to throw all the dirty pieces of cotton, Wooyoung wrapped his fingers around Jongho’s wrist to keep him close.
His hold was gentle and Jongho could have broken free anytime he wanted but the heat of Wooyoung’s fingertips on his skin made him stop. Slowly, Wooyoung opened one eye, his good one, and lifted Jongho’s hand to his lips. Like an old gentleman, Wooyoung brushed his bruised lips over his knuckles in a very light kiss of the hand.
“Thank you very much nurse Choi, you truly are the very first sweet thing I wouldn’t mind tasting,” and even if his words were still slurred by the meds, Jongho felt the sincerity in them and his heart suddenly picked up the pace.
“Very unsanitary my dear mister Jung, you shouldn’t put everything in your mouth,” replied Jongho visibly flustered but not enough for Wooyoung to truly realise it, mind clouded with chemicals.
Jongho gently pulled out his hand from Wooyoung’s hold who easily let it go and it warmed Jongho’s body to see him so pliant. They made eye-contact and the twinkle in Wooyoung’s eye told him a whole other story.
“I’m done with you for tonight,” Wooyoung whined and pouted at these words and before he could make any salacious comment, Jongho went on, “if you need anything, you can call me with this little button right here.”
“Would be easier to call you if I had your phone number,” Wooyoung said while trying to raise an eyebrow but only managing to cock his head on the side as a confused puppy would do.
Jongho shook the little remote with the nurse symbol on it before tucking it on the side of Wooyoung’s bed, “I know it’s going to fuel your fantasies but you just need to press this button and I’ll come,” before Wooyoung could add anything else, and he would have, considering his smug smile, Jongho raised his index up with a warning gaze, “only for emergencies.”
Once Jongho got an ‘aye, aye captain’ out of Wooyoung, he patted his knee and went on with the rest of his patients.
✰
Obviously, Wooyoung didn’t really listen to the ‘only for emergencies’ instruction or he had a very broad definition of ‘emergency’.
Every time the little red dot of room 117 lit up on his dashboard, Jongho knew he was going to face whatever problem Wooyoung invented again. He knew deep down that Wooyoung wasn’t in real danger but his conscientiousness always got the best of him and he had to check in on his patient.
“You really do come every time I pushed this button,” Wooyoung said in awe as if it was truly something to be surprised.
“It’s my job mister Jung, I could be fired if I didn’t come and check on you,” replied Jongho resigned, arms crossed over his chest, his minty green uniform shirt doing nothing to hide the muscles in his arms. Jongho swore Wooyoung licked his lips while looking at them but in the darkness of the room, he wouldn’t have bet on it.
It already was the third time Wooyoung called for him during the night and to be honest, Jongho was curious to see what lies Wooyoung was going to say this time around.
“I think I have a fever,” Wooyoung pouted cutely and Jongho sighed again, already making his way to Wooyoung’s side.
Jongho knew Wooyoung didn’t have a fever. He couldn’t, not with all the anti-inflammatory drug in his system but he indulged him anyway. Tenderly, Jongho put his hand on Wooyoung’s forehead to check if his skin was burning or not. It was soft to touch but only mildly warm just like any other human being. Jongho was going to call it a night and leave when Wooyoung took his wrist in his hand for the second time already and pushed his hand down on his chest.
“It’s probably a love fever,” Wooyoung whispered while batting his pretty eyelashes, “I hope it’s highly contagious because I don’t want to be the only one with that disease.”
“We’re going to put you in quarantine if it’s contagious, don’t want some pandemic in our hospital,” replied Jongho with the steadiest voice he could muster, his hand trembling over Wooyoung’s heart. If he were to press a little more on the skin, Jongho was sure he would be able to feel Wooyoung’s heartbeat.
The room was quiet now and Jongho didn’t know why he hadn’t already left because they didn’t do much except bathing in each other presence and for a moment, it felt good.
“You know nurse Choi, you truly are the most beautiful human being I’ve ever seen and I might have a concussion but I can assure you I’m already in love with you.”
Jongho's face truly went beet red at these words because of how of raw they felt. Maybe it was the drugs talking, maybe it truly was Wooyoung but in both cases, Jongho felt his heart beating against his ribcage and he was glad for once that the sound of the heart monitor was loud enough to hide it. Why did this man fall so hard for him? Could it be this love at first sight thing? Did Jongho even believe in such a myth? Sure, Wooyoung was cute and funny and maybe a bit of a drama queen when it came to tending his wound but his voice was soothing and Jongho just felt, different with him. Like he already knew the man from a long time ago but just craved to know him more.
"Maybe you do have a fever," Jongho managed to reply, his voice soft and wavering, "You're delirious, how can you love me when you don't even know me?"
Wooyoung snorted, actually snorted, at Jongho and just sighed, effectively caging Jongho’s hand between his own two hands, pressing on his heart just a little more.
"I don't need to know you to see how beautiful and kind you are," he sighed, content with himself and with Jongho's body heat seeping through his linen t-shirt, "when your heart knows, it just... knows. Mark my words nurse Choi, we're bounded to be together."
And with that, Wooyoung was back in dreamland in a flash, leaving a very flustered and lost Jongho behind him.
✰
Fortunately for Jongho, Wooyoung didn't wake up during the night after his little speech and Jongho had the whole night to think about the whole situation. When his shift ended, he went to the changing room and when he left the room, he wasn’t a nurse on duty anymore. He simply was Choi Jongho with one goal in mind.
On his way to room 117, he stopped at a vending machine and once he was in front of Wooyoung’s door, he lightly knocked on it, his stomach twisting in every direction while waiting for an answer.
When no one responded, Jongho still pushed the door open and slid in the room without a sound. He was getting very good at sneaking in the patients’ room at night without waking them up so it was child’s play for him.
Wooyoung was still sleeping and even if he toppled face-first on the ground the evening before his face had this unnatural glow to it that would make any trendsetters jealous. With light steps, Jongho came around the bed and sat right next to Wooyoung’s hip and couldn’t help himself when he pushed a strand of hair away from Wooyoung’s eye.
Jongho actually had to lightly shake Wooyoung awake because time was ticking and he didn’t really want to explain to Hongjoong why he was watching his patient peacefully sleeping when he was now wearing his civilian clothes. The whole scene sounded creepy even to him.
“Hey, nurse Choi, did I call you again in my sleep?” asked Wooyoung while rubbing his eyes and whining once he remembered he rubbed his bruised eye, “Or did you hear my heart calling for you?”
“My shift ended a few minutes ago, I’m not a nurse anymore, you can call me Jongho.”
“Oh, so we’re already making progress in this relationship, we’re on first name level,” Jongho swore he heard Wooyoung whispered a shy ‘nice’ between his teeth before adding, “you can call me Wooyoung then.”
“Alright,” Jongho paused, “Wooyoung.” and this simple word brought the brightest smile on Wooyoung’s face. Weird to think that a simple name could make someone this happy.
“Actually, I came to check something with you,” Jongho kept going, “here, take this.”
In his outstretched hand was a little white pill and Wooyoung took it without hesitation, swallowing it in a second.
“Wait,” he said after doing it, “are you allowed to give meds to people when you’re off duty?”
Jongho laughed. Genuinely laughed at that and just rested his hand on Wooyoung's shoulder before giving it a squeeze.
"These are not meds, they're mints because you didn't brush your teeth since God knows when and I really need to kiss you to know if what you're saying is true or not."
Jongho could feel the tips of his ears burning from his own boldness but the shocked look on Wooyoung's face was priceless. Jongho had to give him another candy because the other one was useless since he had swallowed it whole and they stood unmoving and awkward while Wooyoung was sucking on his freshener.
"There, all done," he finally said while darting his pink, almost reddish tongue at Jongho, to prove him he truly finished.
Jongho didn't waste more time than necessary and just dove on Wooyoung's lips trying to be careful of his bruised side. The angle was terribly uncomfortable and Jongho only kissed half of Wooyoung's lips because he was actually too scared of hurting the other man if he pressed too hard on his injury. But despite the overwhelming scent of mint and how bad his neck was hurting, the kiss was somehow perfect. Wooyoung was warm and his lips were plush, not chapped even after the night and his fingers resting gently at the base of Jongho’s nape made the stretch of his neck bearable.
It only lasted a few seconds but the kiss left Jongho panting and he tried to catch his breath when resting his forehead against Wooyoung’s. It was like a firework just light up in Jongho’s mind and body, fingers prickling with electricity. He knew he had to go back home and sleep for this whole situation to actually calm down but Wooyoung’s kiss seemed to have started a fire in his belly.
“Should I assume you believe me now?” Wooyonug breathed, so close his strong minty breath crashed right in Jongho’s mouth.
Jongho sat up straight and gave a knowing smirk to Wooyoung before slipping the box of mints in his hand. He didn’t really answer Wooyoung’s question but before he truly left the room to go home and take a shower to calm down he did say to the other man:
“I wrote my number on the pack, you better call me Jung Wooyoung and prove to me we’re truly destined.”