Chapter Text
Songhwa checks her watch and mentally recites the date.
October 1, 21.30.
Ah, today I'm on night duty, she thinks while walking slowly back to her office. She just finished a long surgery. Although she did the surgery while sitting, her body still feels the impact of working for thirteen hours straight. She rubs her neck and stretches a little.
The surgery is quite complicated; and while she checked on the patient in the ICU after the surgery ended and made sure the vitals were stable, but she just wanted to check again for any complications. (cause Chae Songhwa is thorough like that.)
She walks and walks with muscle memory alone, letting her feet take her back to her office. She could really use some rest right now, and Seokmin is also on night duty so he'll call her if there is anything wrong.
She reaches her office in no time and opens the door slowly, fully expecting no one. But to her surprise, someone is sitting (and half-sleeping) on her couch.
Lee Ikjun.
Her boyfriend.
She smiles, a small and affectionate smile.
She mentally goes through Ikjun's schedule; ah, right, Ikjun is also on night duty. She sees two boxes of bento rice on her glass table; Ikjun must've bought it and waited for her so they could eat together.
Ikjun registers her presence in his half-dreamland mode and automatically smiles back.
"Hi." He extends his hand towards her and she takes it, and sits beside him on the couch.
"Eo. You haven't eaten?"
"Not yet, I was waiting for you. Aigoo, thirteen hours must be a long time. You did a great job."
She smiles shyly and squeezes his hand. "Thank you for waiting for me until this late. You must be hungry. Bab meokja!"
They eat in comfortable silence, along with light conversations about anything. He asks her about her next camping trip and she perks up; she tells him there's this gorgeous camping site she's been wanting to visit but the location is quite far. He offers to drive for half the route. She agrees and high-fives him.
She asks him about Uju's girlfriend (both of them are going well; Uju is scheduled to go to Eggdrop with Mone and her mom tomorrow after school), about Iksun and Junwan (Ikjun told her; Junwan doesn't know that she knows, just for science purposes), about his parents in Changwon. He told her that his mother has been asking for her to visit in every phone call with him; she laughs and agrees to go with Ikjun the next time he's going to Changwon.
By the time they finish eating, it's almost half past ten. After cleaning the table, Ikjun sits on the sofa, one leg crossing and the other down. He checks his phone for updates on patients, and after Songhwa boils water for coffee, she sits beside him.
The atmosphere is calm and there is no sound save from Songhwa's kettle boiling water. Songhwa closes her eyes, and starts to drift off with the soft hum of her kettle serving as a background, lulling her to sleep. Her head lolls from side to side in a (poor) attempt to stay up.
After checking that there is no case that needs his attention now, Ikjun casts a glance at her and smiles.
"Ya, just sleep comfortably."
Songhwa mumbles something along the lines of water, boil, coffee and goes back to drifting off. He lets her drift off for a moment, and after making sure she is sleeping, he puts his phone on the table.
Slowly, he wraps his arms around her shoulder and pulls her with him to lie down so her head is on his chest. He rearranges them so he hugs her, his left leg on top of her legs on the sofa. He keeps his hand on her back, patting repeatedly, as if lulling her further into dreamland.
He laughs a little when he realizes that she doesn't wake up at all from the process of their change in positions; he knows that she's too tired and she needs this.
He looks down to her and slowly takes her glasses off and puts it on the table. That generates a soft sleeping grunt from her and she snuggles further into his embrace, her hand on his chest.
He melts a little.
"Sleep. I'll wake you up."
Ikjun caresses her hair and kisses her forehead, then goes back to patting her back with one hand and plays with his phone with the other hand.
She smiles in her sleep.
------
[bonus]
Without them knowing, Seokmin witnesses (almost) all of the above from the small window on Songhwa's door.
Apparently, seeing both your Professor and Professor-slash-best friend in such an intimate state can break you for forty-five minutes, at least for Seokmin.
He has been standing outside the door, ready to ask Songhwa for yet another guest lecturing session. When he raised his hand to knock, what he saw made him freeze.
His Professor.
Asleep.
In Professor Lee's arms.
Seokmin's eyes widened so fast that he thought his eyes are going to fall off. His initial reaction was shock, and then after watching them (in shock) for fifteen minutes (time runs faster when you're shell-shocked), he recovered and subconsciously fished out his phone, opening the chats and clicked on the one name on top of his contacts.
He presses call.
"eo, oppa. Wae?" came Seonbin's voice.
He jumps a little at the sound of his girlfriend's voice and he walks away from Songhwa's room to the nearest corner.
"Seonbin-ah."
"eung."
"Did you- do- know- what-" He stutters.
"Know what, oppa? and why do you sound like that? What's wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong, I just- what- Professor-Lee- ah no-- I mean Professor Chae--"
"Professor Chae? why?"
"--and Professor Lee--" He shakes his head, seemingly gathering his nonexistent energy.
"Why? Do you see them together? Did they get together? Is that why you're kind of broken right now? Really?! oppa?"
"Uh--- yes--"
"Assa!! Now you owe me 50,000 won!" Seonbin squeals from the end of the line.
Now that slaps him back to his senses.
"Aish, I shouldn't have told you!"
---- 끝-------