Work Text:
“See you next week, Dr. Do!”
“See you!” Kyungsoo says back, smiling a little as he walks out of his room and down the hallway, passing by the nurses greeting him.
It’s been a long day—nonstop working and patients on the waiting list as he didn’t even get the chance to grab a lunch nor dinner—but he guesses he’d managed just fine to finish all the diagnosed reports to the referring doctors by the end of the day; even with sore muscles and heavy eyelids to account for his overall tired self.
To be honest, he’s tired, really, but even then, he still gets into his car in the basement with a soft smile blooming on his lips, turning on the engine and driving out of the hospital.
It’s already past working hours, so the streets are slightly deserted. This way, Kyungsoo can see the city lights blinking across the horizon as he hums along to the tune of the radio, steering his wheel to the right when he catches sight of a McDonald’s on the side of the street, recalling the messages Baekhyun had sent him this afternoon.
bbaekhyun: this is crazy
bbaekhyun: guess who won’t grab lunch again today?? it’s me!!!!
bbaekhyun: i bet it’s the same for dinner too
bbaekhyun: i’ve planned to eat mcdonalds yknow,, i kinda crave it :(((
bbaekhyun: i guess not today then
And well, maybe Kyungsoo’s reading too much into it, but he still pulls up to the drive-thru anyway; lowering his window as he eyes the menu board on the left side of the pavement.
“Hello, what can I help?” the intercom greets him.
And Kyungsoo thinks of Baekhyun—which he does way too much lately—before the orders leave his lips almost naturally.
“Two double cheeseburgers, please,” he says, recalling that one-time Baekhyun almost starts a whole speech about how much he loves double cheeseburgers with his mouth full at the very same McDonald’s. “With one of them without pickles.”
“Got it,” the intercom says back, whirring a sound of a glitch before shutting off. Everything is almost a blur after that, like all the times he does anything these days with his mind somewhere else and not even knowing where it goes to—paying for the burgers and driving out into the street once more to fall back into pace with the bustling city, before pulling up in the basement of another hospital.
It’s not for work, though—he’s not even scheduled to work here this early of the week—but someone else is, and the smile lights up again on his lips.
“Oh, Dr. Do, it’s good to see you,” Taeyeon greets him as he passes by the nurse station, and he greets her in return, smiling as wide despite the state of tiredness he’s in. “It’s not your schedule today, though, is it?”
“It’s not,” Kyungsoo shakes his head, and through the brief eye contact she gives him, he knows she’s analyzing him—giving him a knowing look as she catches up on Kyungsoo’s intention to be here—and he’s not even surprised that she knows his usual surprise visit to Baekhyun’s work hour. After all, Taeyeon’s been one of his and Baekhyun’s assigned nurses for more than a year, given his shared specializations with Baekhyun. And that’s why, she’s been watching them ever since Baekhyun and Kyungsoo first met as two doctors who shared their room as sonologists in two different shifts.
“All right then,” Taeyeon says, grinning. “I think he’s already on the last patient,” she shrugs. “I won’t hold you back way longer.”
“Of course you won’t,” Kyungsoo says, chuckling as he bids her goodbye to walk towards the room on the left side of the hall, the very same room where he also usually works at the end of the week. But when he arrives there, a pair walks out of the room.
“Ah, Dr. Do!” the woman says, greeting him with warm eyes as her husband closes the door behind them, nodding his head when he catches sight of Kyungsoo. “It’s been so long since we met you, hasn’t it? How have you been?”
“Ah, Mrs. Lee,” Kyungsoo smiles back, before inclining his head back to Mr. Lee. She’s one of the patients he tended to at his past workplace, doing everything they could for a baby to be blessed into their family. “I’m good. What about you? I see you’re expecting again?”
The woman’s eyes light up. “Yeah, it’s our second baby. A boy, as Dr. Byun said. His older sister is at home with her grandmother.”
Kyungsoo smiles, genuinely, because it reminds him again of what brought him to this job in the first place—the people with their own stories who trusted him to help them with all his might—and now, to hear that the family finally has the children they’ve always wanted, it makes him feel happy, too.
“Congratulations,” Kyungsoo says, and the pair laughs lightly, the delight evident on their faces. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“You’re always so kind, Dr. Do,” Mrs. Lee says. “We won’t take your time way longer then, see you some other time.”
“Please excuse us,” Mr. Lee nods his head, before walking away with his wife.
Kyungsoo nods his head back in return, smiling as he waves his hand to the pair before they disappear among the crowd. It is only later that Kyungsoo darts his eyes back to the silver plate in front of the white door of the room, annunciating the name of the man he frequently dreams of every night.
Byun Baekhyun, MD
Sonologist
Kyungsoo takes a small breath, because he’s somehow nervous even though he’s done it so many times, before knocking twice and twisting the doorknob to step inside. He’s not even surprised when there’s a sound of hurried steps and things knocked to the ground before a curious face peeks out from behind the curtain.
“Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun exclaims, and his face quickly morphs into a pleasant surprise as he stands up from his chair, pushing the curtain aside to launch himself into Kyungsoo’s arms.
It’s weird, really, the relationship between them, but Kyungsoo’s known too well that Baekhyun’s the touchy type that he doesn’t even try hard anymore to calm his rapidly beating heart every time Baekhyun’s way too close to his usual liking. But even so, Kyungsoo knows he’s no longer in his teenage phase of dancing around and actually taking relationships seriously—so yeah, Kyungsoo will ask Baekhyun out one day, but it’s certainly not today, so he quickly acts what he knows he can do at this situation: teasing back.
“That happy to see me?” Kyungsoo lifts his brow, a hint of smirk pulling on his lips, and he can see a sly smile quickly playing out on Baekhyun’s face, a wink for Kyungsoo to deal with in his heart.
“It seems you’re the eager one, though, seeing that you’re here,” Baekhyun grins, and Kyungsoo only rolls his eyes, setting the McDonald’s he’d bought on the table next to him.
They’ve been doing this for almost a year now, this push-and-pull dynamic that always leaves Kyungsoo tingling with excitement and keeps him up at night since the day they first met in the on-call room a year ago. He doesn’t know how it started, but somehow, they ran into each other even more after that, either at the hospital or even at grocery stores, and without knowing it, they became closer—and here they are.
“McDonald’s?” Kyungsoo says, inclining his head to the wrapped food on the table, and he sees the moment a big smile flashes across Baekhyun’s face, feeling a strange kind of warmth bloom in his chest.
“Oh my God,” Baekhyun breathes, and Kyungsoo doesn’t know if it’s his Baekhyun-induced brain or the light in the room, but Baekhyun’s eyes actually shine, and Kyungsoo swears he can see fondness between them if he’s not too distracted with the way Baekhyun launches himself again at him, laughing almost too happily.
“I know you always got me. Love you, Soo!” Baekhyun exclaims as he instinctively kisses Kyungsoo’s cheek, but it’s at the same time that both of them belatedly realize what Baekhyun’s done. Suddenly, the room goes uncharacteristically quiet; Baekhyun going rigid in his arms and Kyungsoo’s brain running a million things per mile, and he can only stare at Baekhyun as his brain stops working.
“Uh,” Baekhyun says as he unlatches himself from him, eyes darting everywhere but Kyungsoo, his stance antsy and his cheeks deeply red. “I mean,” he clears his throat. “I wasn’t—”
And maybe, Kyungsoo is too tired to think anymore that time. Perhaps, the time to stop dancing around is now, and maybe, Baekhyun feels the same way as him; so he only steps forward, each step reducing the distance between their faces until it’s only centimeters apart, feeling Baekhyun’s breath like a sizzling touch on his lips.
He stares at the way Baekhyun licks his lips—the very same lips he always wants to taste—and he wants it; wants to close the distance between their lips and finally knows the way Baekhyun’s lips feel against his, but Kyungsoo only stops there as he waits; waiting and waiting and giving Baekhyun the time to push him away if he doesn’t want this, doesn’t want him, and Kyungsoo waits, in the seconds when everything slows down around them, his heart beating even more frantic than ever.
But he doesn’t get to count the time anymore when Baekhyun’s lips are on his the second after, the world coming to a stop and a fast blur of movement at the same time, when Kyungsoo closes his eyes and kisses Baekhyun back as he pushes him forward, his hand traveling up to touch the back of Baekhyun’s neck where he’s sensitive.
Baekhyun moans slightly in return, and now more than ever, Kyungsoo craves it, savors it, as his tongue reaches the roof of Baekhyun’s mouth where their tongues collide, with the kind of rhythm Kyungsoo knows and recognizes as theirs—the similar push-and-pull he always loves between them. It’s slow but paced at the same time, leaving him breathless but addicted, and so, Kyungsoo pulls back reluctantly, trying to catch up for air.
“Well,” Baekhyun says before licking his lips, and honestly, Kyungsoo wants to kiss him again.
“Well,” Kyungsoo says back diligently, still trying to take in everything that’s going on.
“McDonald’s?” Baekhyun asks, and Kyungsoo doesn’t expect it at all that he bursts into laughter, his eyes curving and his lips forming those hearts Baekhyun’d proclaimed he adores.
“Way to ruin the moment, sure,” Kyungsoo coughs with laughter, and he catches the way Baekhyun looks back at him in return, feeling his heart explode at how much fondness he sees. “So your McDonald’s is more important than me?”
“It’s about my life and death, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun sighs dramatically, leaving his side and reaching for the plastic bags of McDonald’s. “I haven’t eaten since dawn, you know.”
“So have I,” Kyungsoo shrugs, taking his pack of burgers and sitting down on the chair usually set for patients across from Baekhyun.
Baekhyun fake gasps. “You haven’t eaten since morning? What a couple we are!”
Kyungsoo snorts. “A workaholic one, for sure.”
Baekhyun scrunches his face, taking a bite of his double cheeseburger. “That’s you, not me.”
“Says the one who frequently hasn’t eaten until past dinner,” Kyungsoo retorts back. Baekhyun only grins at him, and it’s quick before they fall into a comfortable silence. It’s easy between them, the kind of atmosphere when Kyungsoo feels as if he doesn’t need to come up with a topic to discuss, simply savoring the time they have together in shared silence. It’s only later that Kyungsoo feels the need to confirm, to make sure everything wasn’t an illusion twenty minutes ago, that he starts to speak again.
“So,” Kyungsoo says. “Are we a couple, then?” he asks.
Baekhyun looks back at him, and he realizes that Baekhyun’s flustered, the slight part of Baekhyun that not everyone sees; and it’s cute, seeing him that way. “Well,” Baekhyun says. “Of course,” he nods. “If you want to.”
“Of course I want to,” Kyungsoo quickly says, feeling a wide smile form on his lips. He’s almost worried it’d split his face in two. “I’ll drive you home then, boyfriend.”
Baekhyun laughs, and the sound rings loudly throughout the room, reverberating in his heart as Kyungsoo feels the tiredness from before long forgotten through the night.
Maybe, he needs to thank the bags of McDonald’s for this moment—for the happiness he feels and the way Baekhyun holds his hand firmly in his grip—and Kyungsoo thinks, faintly, that he needs to thank the on-call room for bringing him to meet Baekhyun in the first place.