Archive of Our Own

“Has Taeil hyung found him yet?” Doyoung is trying his best to keep the exasperation in his voice at a minimum. What they didn’t need right now is the whole hospital lobby populace getting the earliest exclusive on actor Yuta’s love life. 

“Last I called, Taeil hyung was already driving to his location. So far, the public is buying the close-friends statement from our agency and the rapper’s agency will be releasing a statement in a while to back us up,” Kun’s reassuring voice comes through the other end of the call. He then pauses, switching to friend mode. “Don’t you have your medical exam now? Why don’t you turn off your phone, Doyoung-ah? I don’t think anything new’s gonna blow up in the next three hours.

“Alright. But call me right away if anything goes wrong, okay?”

“Not if I can handle it,” Kun chuckles. “Nothing will go wrong. Now, turn off your phone because Taeyong’s on his way to our office and you don’t want Mr. HR to start nagging.”

Doyoung sighs. “Thanks, Kun. Tell Taeyong not to bother me!”

If there’s one thing Doyoung never understood about company policy, it’s the annual medical exam that takes too damn long for someone whose job requires him to be on his feet at all times. He should be at his desk now, either monitoring the online situation or pre-writing the next press release statements, depending on how the scandal tides. Instead, he’s in these blue hospital pajamas with only his phone in hand, queuing for blood testing and stuck in this hospital for the next two hours or so.

He’s listlessly refreshing Naver trends when he hears his name getting called into the laboratory. Sucking in a deep breath, Doyoung pockets his phone and trudges towards the door, inwardly chanting. It’s just a needle. A tiny needle. Tiny needle.

The staff at the door ushers him to his seat and shuffles back to the entrance after he is seated. Doyoung tries to relax, placing his arms on the cushioned armrests.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Kim Doyoung-ssi,” his assigned medical technologist, reads his name from the chart and places the kit on the table beside the armrest.

Doyoung can only give a small smile as acknowledgment. The medical technologist had this nice honey deep voice but that goes unnoticed as Doyoung’s eyes go to the kit where a few clean vials stood erect and some syringes are unopened in their packets. He can feel his breath slowly become more ragged. Doyoung may be capable of biting invasive reporters with venom in his words and may also have a black belt in judo, but he’s not above his fear of needles. Sure, he’ll probably be okay with bleeding when the job calls for it but to have blood purposely drawn out using this thin powerful metal tip? Hell no.

But does he have a choice? Also, no. He’s a slave of capitalism.

“Please roll up your sleeves a little, Sir.”

He haphazardly pulls his sleeves to rest the bunch on his shoulders and his eyes naturally go to the medical technologist who has just finished preparing the syringe. His brown wavy fringe was plastered messily on his forehead to which Doyoung wonders if it wasn’t an occupational hazard. Also, the boy looked young. Not the usual middle-aged woman who talks so gently like how loving mothers talk to their first graders the moment he starts flinching. 

He jumps a little when a cold hand brushes his upper arm. 

“I’ll be tying the tourniquet now. Can you please ball your hand into a fist?”

Doyoung doesn’t know why he’s nodding like a toddler but he complies and the medical technologist leans closer to wrap an elastic on his bicep. He smelled of disinfectant and a distant musky perfume with a hint of amber. There was barely any contact with the gloved hand but Doyoung could still feel the cold fingers ghosting over his skin. The air conditioning here’s a little intense.

When the inward shiver is gone, the tourniquet feels a little tighter than it should be so Doyoung turns his head to complain. “I’m sorry but isn’t it a little too tight?”

“Oh, sorry. I’ll do it again.” The medical technologist, seemingly flustered, immediately scrambles to get it off Doyoung and proceeds to inspect the skin.

Doyoung observes his face with scrutiny as he does. He had light blush painting his cheeks as he was flustered but tried his best to put on a focused face which somehow reminds Doyoung of bread with dimples. Doyoung holds back a sigh. It’s alright, maybe he’s a rookie. Which means this will take longer than it should. At least he’s quick to apologize which is adorable—

The elastic has been tied again and it still felt uncomfortable, but Doyoung didn’t say a word. He just wants to get out of here.

The medical technologist has now moved lower into his arm, at his cubital fossa (as his cousin, Haechan, had pointed out multiple times in his a-matter-of-factly tone), and was feeling for the vein. Doyoung was always told his hand veins were pretty and that he’d be a good subject for medical practice. But he was never one to agree, especially when the one who needed to practice was his evil cousin. And of course, he wouldn’t allow any needle to come near him unless 100% necessary.

Doyoung closes his eyes before he can even see the medical technologist pick up the syringe.

“Alright, this will be quick, Sir.” There’s a pause. Doyoung thinks the speaker may be looking at him weirdly right now—his eyes were shut tight and he knows he was holding his breath—but a gentler voice comes after, “just like a tiny ant bite.”

He does not have the time to overthink the words. His heart is hammering against his chest and all the feeling has left his legs. He holds his breath and braces for the puncture. It comes and an immediate flash of pain shoots up his arm and he flinches. His leg feels jelly and there’s indistinct screaming in his head. Doyoung can feel his eyes water from how much pressure he’s putting into keeping them shut.

And right when he thinks it’s gonna get worse than this, he hears a light hiss from somewhere in the left and the syringe has been pulled out.

With eyes still closed, he asks in a small voice. “Is it done?”

He could feel a single hot tear roll down his cheeks but that wasn’t the main concern right now. He wants to get off this chair and go home. He hears the syringe being placed back on the kit and then decides to open his eyes.

He’s met with apologetic eyes. Doyoung looks to the side and to this horror, there’s not a trace of blood inside the tube of the syringe nor the vial that’s been labeled with his code. The color drains out of his face before the medical technologist could say anything.

“I’m sorry, Sir. But it was a little difficult to locate your vein. I may have to do it again.”

Doyoung wants to cry. ‘ May have to?’ More like ‘must!’ But it’s anger that comes out. “Look, Mr.”—he looks at the name tag, voice laced with venom—“Jung Jaehyun. You said it’ll be quick!”

The medical technologist, who he knows now as Jung Jaehyun, looks like a cat that has been shooed off from the dining table as he mutters another apology while removing the elastic tourniquet from Doyoung’s arm.

“I’m really sorry, Sir.” He steps back to give a deep bow. “I’ll have you relax a bit for around 2 minutes or so before we can start again.”

Doyoung can only huff in disappointment. Of all the times he’s come to the laboratory for blood sampling, this may prove to be the longest. Double the agony it seems.

He watches as Jung Jaehyun excuses himself and disappears into the room that has a restricted sign above it before emerging behind the glass wall, seemingly talking to a lady with a low bun who was wearing a lab gown. He can only guess it’s his boss when he sees Jung Jaehyun look down while the lady seems to be giving him an earful. Doyoung would be sorry right now if not for the dulling pain in his arm that seems to be exacerbated by the cold air blowing from the air conditioning vents.

When Jung Jaehyun returns, he apologizes again and inspects his arm, gently rubbing soothing patterns around the (failed) puncture area. Doyoung traces his motions with his eyes until the former clears his throat. “Would you be okay if we use the same arm, or would you prefer we switch to the other side?”

Doyoung contemplates for a bit. He’s not sure he’d want both of his arms aching after this whole medical exam fiasco, but he’s not sure his left arm would be able to take another traumatic experience for today. So he looks straight into Jung Jaehyun’s eyes and says, “Maybe my right arm would be better.”

He shifts in his seat to find a comfortable position for his right arm on the armrest. His nerves are acting up again, knowing that the horrors are about to commence once more. When he rolls up his sleeves, he finds Jung Jaehyun holding the elastic hesitantly, looking at him as if wants to say something.

“Hmm? Is everything alright?” Doyoung should definitely not be the one asking the professional this question. But seeing Jung Jaehyun hesitant makes him a lot more nervous than he already is, so the urge to assert control is strong.

What comes out of Jung Jaehyun’s mouth next is something unexpected. “Would you like to hear a funny story?” he blurts out, the tips of his ears turning so red that it catches Doyoung’s eyes.

Doyoung doesn’t know where this is going but nods anyway. Jung Jaehyun was now tying the tourniquet around his upper arm. He looks away from the site and decides to look at Jung Jaehyun’s face instead.

“You know how they joke about people in healthcare being bad dates because of their work schedule?” Jung Jaehyun starts, voice a little shaky. Doyoung hums in encouragement for him to continue.

“It’s me. I’m the bad date,” he laughs a little. 

When he sees the edges of Doyoung’s lips turn up in amusement, he continues.

“My friend set me up on a date which I totally forgot about because Ms. Bae gave me extra work in the lab so I clocked out really late and obviously was bone-tired. But when I got out, my friend called me, panicking that my date had been waiting for me for an hour already.” 

Jung Jaehyun’s talking voice was so low and Doyoung could only stare at the dimples that showed as he talked. He then sees that Jung Jaehyun had already picked up the new syringe.

“When I got to the bistro where we’re supposed to meet, there were so many people that I didn’t there was a little step at the entrance and guess what? I feel down rather ungraciously, like a smack on the floor.”

Doyoung can feel cold hands on his arm but laughs a little, imagining the clumsy medical technologist in his scrubs actually doing that—but of course, he couldn’t have been wearing hospital scrubs to a date, right?

“Someone helped me up and well, he was good-looking.” Doyoung’s ears perk at the pronoun. “But then he says, ‘Jung Jaehyun-ssi?’ and I was like how does this man know me, and then he says, ‘When Jungwoo said you were in the medical field, I didn’t expect you’d actually come in uniform.’”

Doyoung laughs, the visual in his imagination in scrubs was actually accurate. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the medical technologist was now lowering the syringe toward his arm. He closes his eyes.

“I was horrified. I totally forgot to change clothes because my original plan was to crash on my bed.” Jaehyun drones on. With eyes closed, Doyoung’s visualization of the scene in Jung Jaehyun’s retelling comes alive again. “I guess I was kind enough because he insisted that we eat something and maybe some drinks. I was so dumbfounded that I just said yes. So there, we each got beer and sat across from each other and, oh god, he was actually so nice and accomplished that I felt sorry I showed up in scrubs. In my embarrassment, I decided to chug the beer—not my best decision—and it’s suddenly all over me because I was so sleepy that I gave myself a beer bath.”

At this point, Doyoung doesn’t know if he should laugh or feel sorry but fails to hold back a snort. He can hear the comedic horror in Jung Jaehyun’s voice as he speaks.

“It could’ve been sexy but I was cold as fu—” he pauses, remembering he’s still in his workplace, “—fudge and my scrubs weren’t offering much insulation while soaked in beer so he had to take me on this real walk of shame towards the bathroom and offered his coat. Now I have a coat sitting at the top of my fresh laundry pile that I don’t know how to return because why would I even show myself again after everything that’s embarrassing?”

Jung Jaehyun was actually so dramatic, quite unexpected from how he looked, that Doyoung giggled. And then he feels the elastic come off his arm.

“Glad you find my predicament amusing, Mr. Kim. We’re done!” Jung Jaehyun announced.

Doyoung opened his eyes, confused. He looked at the kit and indeed, there was a vial filled with his blood. “Oh?”

There was a proud grin on Jung Jaehyun’s face. “You’ll be receiving your results by email within 24 hours, Sir. Thank you so much and I hope you get home safely.”

The medical technologist finishes his spiel yet Doyoung is still frozen. Did he really successfully not cry while getting his blood sample taken? And by a clumsy professional at that?

“Oh wow,” was all Doyoung could say. “Er, thank you, Mr. Jung.”

Jung Jaehyun helps him up and bows, once again apologizing for the mishap earlier. Before leaving, Doyoung gives him a small smile saying, “wish you luck on your dates.”

***

Doyoung gets called into the office clinic at lunch two days later. After a whole morning of answering and making calls to rearrange actor Yuta’s schedules, he mourns the loss of a few minutes of his precious lunchtime because of this trip to the clinic. When he opens the door, he sees Dr. Cho reading records.

“Hello, Dr. Cho. I completed my annual medical exam and sent over the results yesterday. Did I miss anything?”

Dr. Cho turns towards him, hands clasped. “Ah, there’s been a small problem with your blood test results. Nothing too bad but if I may ask, did you get enough sleep before getting your exam?”

“I slept my normal amount, around 4-5 hours, I think.”

“Hmm. How about food?”

“I followed the fasting instructions and I think I went over a little more than necessary but that isn’t that much of a problem, right? I asked my cousin about it, in case.”

“I see. I’ll have to request you take supplementary tests as well then so we can have something more conclusive. Nothing big to worry about but just in case.” Dr. Cho smiles and starts writing on a request form. 

Doyoung feels a chill down his spine. He absolutely cannot face another blood sampling episode less than a month from the last. It hasn’t even been a week yet.

He begrudgingly takes the slip of paper from Dr. Cho, half-heartedly promising he will go back to the hospital to take the tests as soon as he can.

***

It’s a whole month later and Doyoung has long forgotten the request slip that’s stuck on his refrigerator door behind the bunny magnet he got from Haechan last Christmas. He wasn’t lying to the doctor per se, his schedule was just packed due to the abundance of drama press conferences, new album launches, product endorsements, and the sprinkle of scandals here and there he was to deal with concerning the artists in his agency. He never made it to the hospital because his rest days are non-existent as well.

Likewise, it has also been a whole month since the medical exam fiasco and if Doyoung vaguely remembers the clumsy medical technologist with a ruffled fringe and cute dimples, the thought doesn’t get to linger long enough.

Doyoung’s currently driving to a press launch for Yuta’s new endorsement. The dating scandal from a month ago turned in their favor as soon as the actor’s rumored boyfriend, rapper Mark Lee—who also happened to have everyone falling for him—gave a shout-out to his “close friend” Yuta in an Instagram live, thanking him for agreeing to be part of his upcoming music video. Said music video was coming out in two weeks and so far the PR team has been really hyped with all the engagements the articles have been getting. Good publicity for once means everyone is likely getting performance bonuses at the end of the year. That includes Doyoung’s paycheck of course.

When he gets to the venue, Yuta is in the middle of signing albums and talking to the fans one by one. Doyoung goes straight to where Kun’s standing beside the giveaway merchandise table.

“Took you long enough,” Kun smiles.

“Sorry, the newbie accidentally sent the email he was supposed to schedule for tomorrow and I had to call the news site to postpone any release, which involved a lot of negotiation,” Doyoung lets out a stressed sigh. “You know how those sharks are.”

“Oof is it the same newbie that also posted the article with a typo in the headline?”

“Yup, the legend,” Doyoung cringes at the memory. “Xiaojun needs to calm his nerves if he wants to keep working in PR.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him on the next MT,” Kun gives an assuring smile before they both receive a hand sign from Taeil, who was on stage behind Yuta, asking for assistance.

At the end of Yuta’s fan sign, Kun takes over the stage to announce the ongoing social media challenge before Yuta gives his final speech.

It’s still 4 P.M. on a Wednesday, the very middle of the workweek and there are still two grueling hours before Doyoung can clock out. His back aches more than usual and the empty coffee cup in his hands didn’t seem to do its magic this time. Maybe I should take a day off or something.

“I’ll send Yuta home. Thank you as always, my favorite people!” Taeil waves them goodbye, and Yuta gives them a small salute from inside the van.

“Get some rest, hyung!” Kun waves as the van leaves, then he turns to Doyoung beside him. “Are you still going back to the office?”

Doyoung nods, fishing for his car keys in his pockets. “Yup, come on. I bought my car.”

They walk to the parking lot in silence. Kun gets to the passenger side first. When Doyoung makes a beeline for the driver’s side, his legs give up on him and he wobbles. White spots start to dance in his vision as he braces himself against the car and tries to shake them off.

He hears a car door open and some quick steps. “Oh my god, Doyoung! Are you alright?” Kun’s arms are immediately around him, helping him up.

“I think… I’m about to blackout.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital. You’re getting pale!” Kun assists him to the passenger’s seat and buckles the seatbelt securely around him. Doyoung passes out before Kun even maneuvers the car out of the parking lot.

When Doyoung comes to, he finds himself lying down with an IV drip right above his head. There’s the sound of a chair scraping against the floor tiles and then his eyes find Taeyong standing over him. “Doie! Thank goodness you’re up!”

Doyoung attempts to sit up and Taeyong makes a fuss about rearranging the pillows to make him comfortable. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was about to clock out of work when Kun called to tell me he took you to the ER, asking who your guardian was. So I called Haechanie but he still had an exam until 8 P.M.—he’ll probably get here later—and since you technically fainted on the job, HR’s here to compensate,” Taeyong rambles the way he does when he’s on mother hen mode. “Also, I’m here because my best friend is a chronic over-worker that needs to be tied to a bed once in a while.”

“That’s very kinky of you, Mr. HR,” Doyoung snickers. 

Taeyong rolls his eyes and hits him with the washcloth he’s holding.

His attending physician who introduces himself as Dr. Kim Suho swings by an hour later and tells him they’ll be observing him for a few days. He informs Doyoung that they’ll be giving him iron drips for his severe anemia. Apparently, his previous blood test showed signs but since no supplementary test was done (Doyoung’s fault for not coming back), they weren’t able to conclude. So now, he’ll be stuck here for a minimum of 3 days.

Doyoung groans as soon as the doctor leaves. Actor Jaemin’s drama debut press conference was going to be on Friday. He’s about to complain when Taeyong literally shoves an apple slice into his mouth. “No talking about work while you’re recovering!”

“But–”

“The company will not collapse just because you didn’t work for three days. Kun’s got everything in control!”

Doyoung deflates. Admittedly, he knows he’s an over-worker. He likes being busy with his Outlook calendar filled to the brim and color-coded. He’s good at compartmentalizing the work-life balance that works for him. He enjoys watching his agency actor’s dramas after work, which also seems like work since he gets random ideas for features. The bottom line is, Doyoung likes working.

“I already got the boss to sign your sick leave approval with an extra day for after you get discharged,” Taeyong informs him. “You’re so lucky HR’s your bestie.”

“Would be kissing your feet now if you aren’t such a nagger.”

So when the night came and Taeyong had left with his work laptop and phone hostage, Doyoung was left staring out the window, itching to get something done. He had already texted Haechan not to come by tonight and instead sneak in something sweet for him the next day, knowing how tired the younger must be after an exam. Without company for the night and the lights turned off, Doyoung is left with his thoughts—which weren’t much except all about work. It’s work that has been the center of his life lately. 

Time’s trickling past one in the morning when there’s a soft knock on his door, followed by the sound of the door carefully sliding open. Doyoung can vaguely make out the outline of the person who enters: a man, about 5 '10, with bangs slightly unruly, wearing scrubs, and holding a kit. It seems that the man isn’t remotely aware of Doyoung’s eyes on him or that the patient is awake. When he reaches the bedside, he sets his kit on the table and turns on the small lamp.

Doyoung squints at the sudden brightness. When his sight adjusts, he stares at the man who was busy prepping. A lightbulb switches on his brain. Jung. Clumsy medical technologist. Gorgeous messy brown hair. Dimples.  

When the man turns to him, he jumps a little when he finds Doyoung staring. “Oh, hello, Mr. Kim. I didn’t notice you were awake,” he smiles sheepishly.

“Hello, Mr. Jung. Fancy meeting you here,” Doyoung smiles a little. “Out to get my blood again?”

“I promise it won’t be a tragedy this time, I just need a tiny prick on the finger.” The tips of Jung Jaehyun’s ears slowly turn red. “I was actually hoping you were asleep so you’d never know about it.”

“You make it sound like a crime,” Doyoung jokes to lighten the mood. If he recalls correctly, the medical technologist was easy to fluster and even though he looks adorable when he is, Doyoung doesn’t want his blood involved. “So any new updates about your coat story?”

Jaehyun who was busy labeling the vial snaps to look at Doyoung the moment the question is asked, his smile growing wider into a cheeky grin. Something warm spread across his cheeks at the memory of their embarrassing first encounter.

“Let’s see,” Jaehyun pauses to think and motions towards Doyoung’s hand, asking permission for the finger prick. 

Doyoung scoots closer to the side so his arm is more accessible and willingly places his hands on top of Jaehyun’s gloved one. Jaehyun flips his hand palm up and starts to clean his ring finger with a cotton swab, adding pressure subtly at the base. 

“Well, it’s nothing eventful really. I got it dry cleaned and thankfully no evidence of the stain,” Jaehyun begins. “Unfortunately and fortunately at the same time, I had to work extra shifts so I didn’t really have time to go return them myself.”

Jaehyun hovers the lancet over the finger and the prick comes and goes quickly. Doyoung sees the drop of blood and averts his gaze to the window.

Aware of Doyoung’s flinch, Jaehyun continues on with his story while collecting the drops of blood from the prick as quickly as he can. “Handed it over to my friend, who arranged the date in the first place, and he graciously returned the coat for me. Also, I think it’s officially over with that setup. The date texted me a ‘thanks, bro’ when he got the coat so there’s that.”

Doyoung chuckles and then he hears the sound of the vial getting placed back on the rack. He turns to look at Jaehyun who was now putting a cotton ball with pressure on his finger. “So you got bro-zoned.”

“Well, at least it’s better than me owing him a damaged coat, I guess?” Jaehyun finishes by wrapping his fingertips with a small bandage. “All done! Didn’t feel like anything this time, right, Mr. Kim?”

Doyoung did feel the prick but didn’t feel it as intensely as he thought he would, thanks to someone’s lovely voice moving his thoughts away from the pain. “Yeah,” he nods slowly. “This time qualifies as an ant-bite. Thought it might’ve been a simulation for punching holes through a document except that I’m a piece of paper.”

“That’s a very interesting way of describing finger-pricking.”

“I deal with a ton of paperwork daily, I feel one with them now.”

Jaehyun laughs at that, his eyes crinkling in crescents. “Maybe next time we meet I wouldn’t be pricking your skin or something.” 

“Sounds nice.”

“Anyway, I still have to collect other samples. Get some sleep, Mr. Kim,” Jaehyun starts walking backward, giving him a wave.

“Just Doyoung is fine. Thanks, Mr. Jung.”

“Jaehyun,” the medical technologist flashes him one last smile before he exits the room.

Doyoung falls asleep with a small plaster on his ring finger. He dreams of ants and comfortable banter.

***

“No, I think I should call the nurse, hyung. The iron drip should’ve been done by now but look,” Haechan is poking his nose through the black improvised covering of the iron drip above his head, “it’s still halfway.”

“Alright, alright. You’re the medical person here.”

“I’ll be right back!” Haechan chirpily skips out of the room.

Doyoung just deflates. Even after a full 8-hour sleep and pretty dreams, his head is starting to feel heavy. He decides to keep his eyes closed.

Haechan had arrived early in the morning with a big basket of fruits (courtesy of his boyfriend, Renjun—bless him) and the promised donuts he snuck in. Since he got here, the younger one had been fussing over his laboratory records, scolding him about not resting enough and not taking the iron supplements his mother had sent over. Doyoung thinks Haechan is just enjoying getting him to be an actual patient after 2 years of him avoiding being the dummy for Haechan’s medtech practical exams. Also, Haechan should really be in school now.

When Doyoung hears the doors slide open, he doesn’t bother to open his eyes and just says, “Haechan-ie, don’t you have school in a while?”

Except that it isn’t Haechan’s high tone that answers him, but the opposite—a deep voice. “Uh, I just dropped by to see if you like sweet red bean porridge.”

Doyoung immediately sits up to see Jaehyun peeking through the doors, with the same yet messier mop of brown hair on his forehead but sans the hospital scrubs. He quickly realizes that this may be the first time he’s seeing the medical technologist in casual clothing.

“Oh, why are you still here?” Doyoung frowns, the worry laced in his voice. “Didn’t you work the night shift, Jaehyun-ssi?”

“I actually just got out of work. Had to extend a bit at the lab to finish some analyses,” Jaehyun explains, unsure if that’s the right thing to say to ease Doyoung’s frown. He quickly changes the topic by raising the plastic bag he had in hand. “The stall just opened and I got this porridge for you. It’s still warm and ahjumma makes some of the best porridges.”

“You didn’t have to Jaehyun-ssi,” Doyoung gives him a grateful look, pausing to contemplate. “But I won’t reject sweet food.”

Jaehyun grins and places the bag on the table, proceeding to take out the cup and open it. “Don’t tell your doctor I gave you his. Not that it’s illegal—you could really use some sugar in your blood with those sample results.”

“I keep forgetting you know me at a blood-results level.” Doyoung takes the spoon and starts digging in before he remembers to say thank you. The porridge smelled so good and was the perfect kind of warm, sweetness immediately melting into his tongue. As someone who rarely gets the luxury of long lunch breaks, it sure feels heartwarming that he gets to enjoy and savor something as simple as a porridge snack.

When he looks up, Jaehyun is looking at him with a fondness that’s so much warmer than the sweet porridge he brought. Doyoung is taken aback and internally panics, wiping his mouth quickly. “Oh my, that was rude of me,” he laughs awkwardly. “I didn’t even get to thank you properly yet… thank you for this, Jaehyun-ssi.”

Jaehyun looks down and smiles to himself. “Glad I came across the stall, then.” Deep inside, he knows he didn’t just ‘ come across’ the porridge stall that’s three blocks away from the hospital but Doyoung didn’t have to know.

There’s a bit of a pause where the two of them are just smiling at each other until it slowly becomes awkward when Jaehyun speaks again. “Do you have someone with you today?”

“Oh, yes. Haechan is here but he went out for a bit.”

“That’s good to know,” Jaehyun hums, masking his slight disappointment. “I better head home and crash to get some sleep. See you later, Doyoung-ssi!”

He gives a small wave before turning towards the door. As soon as he slides it open, he bumps into Haechan who’s walking back into the room with a nurse in tow. Jaehyun bows with a soft apology before scurrying away, not waiting for anyone to say anything.

“Doie hyung~ I didn’t know you had a friend coming over at this time,” Haechan exclaims suggestively as soon as his eyes land on Doyoung. “Who was that?”

“Just the medical technologist I befriended so he doesn’t kill me with the syringe,” Doyoung gives Haechan’s scrutiny a nonchalant shrug and diverts his attention to the nurse who is now replacing the iron drip.

***

For someone used to constantly moving around in his line of work, it was tiring to be stuck in a hospital bed all day. While there's a limited view of the outside world through the window, Doyoung can tell that the weather today was just amazing. He can only wish that actor Yuta’s outdoor shoot was going well. On a normal day, he would’ve been at the set with Taeil, talking to the brand representative like he always does. Instead, he’s lying in bed with the big basket of fruits beside him that Taeil had delivered earlier, with a kind note telling him not to worry about anything for the shoot. He’s already been here for three days and the doctor had extended his stay because his iron levels were still so low.

Long story short, Doyoung is getting nothing mentally stimulating except get-well-soon s from his friends and coworkers and he’s starting to get bored. The book Taeyong had brought over yesterday was now sitting abandoned on the side table, having finished the whole thing already. 

The door swung open and what Doyoung expected to be the lunch lady was replaced by Jaehyun in his scrubs holding the hospital food tray. “Lunch delivery!”

“Hey,” Doyoung smiles. “Are you working early today?”

“Shift schedules just changed so I’m here during the day this time,” Jaehyun pulls the table towards the bed and places the hospital food trap atop it. “I’m taking an early lunch break since there’s some machine maintenance going on at the lab. Mind if I accompany you for lunch?”

“Oh, sure,” Doyoung raises an eyebrow. Shouldn’t machine maintenance happen during non-operating hours? Odd. He decides not to voice his thoughts.

Jaehyun sets the utensils in front of Doyoung before he settles down. “I noticed your friends seemed to have work and your cousin—he’s so energetic—told me he had classes today and that you might get bored so I figured you could use some company.”

“Lee Haechan went to talk to you?” Doyoung rolls his eyes dramatically, his words with no real bite. Haechan has been bugging him about Jaehyun since they met yesterday. Blessed with social skills, Haechan was sure to find him even with tight-lipped Doyoung. “If he’s been bothering you, I’d like to apologize for that annoying brat.”

“No, no, he didn’t really bother me. He just introduced himself since he didn’t get to say hi yesterday, I left rather abruptly.” Jaehyun adds, “I was looking for a lunch buddy anyway.” 

“You didn’t have to come all the way here, Jaehyun-ssi. It’s a bit far from the lab.”

“You said that yesterday, too. And, I literally work in this hospital so it doesn’t count as far, Doyoung-ssi.”

“Really, you didn’t have—”

“But I want to.”

“Oh.” Doyoung doesn’t know what to say to that. What’s going on? His mind starts short-circuiting.

While Doyoung is rendered speechless, Jaehyun pulls out a lunch box from his bag and places it beside the hospital food tray. He opens it and reveals a nicely-plated home-cooked meal. There’s rolled omelet, braised chicken, and of course, kimchi.

Doyoung’s eyes widened in amazement. “Did you make these?” 

“Yup. Had some extra time to cook a meal since I woke up earlier due to the shift schedule changes. Here, try some!” Jaehyun places pieces of the braised chicken on Doyoung’s plate as well as kimchi.

Doyoung hums as soon as he has a bite. “This jjimdak tastes really good!”

“What if you’re just saying that since you’ve been desensitized by the bland hospital food?”

“No, really. This tastes like it’s from one of those family restaurants, no kidding!”

Jaehyun laughs bashfully at the compliment. The two of them continue to talk about food, soon learning that they both were the type to prefer cooking at home but rarely get the time to because of their hectic work schedules. They also talk about the dishes they like cooking and dishes they wish they could pull off. One or two topic diversions later, Jaehyun also goes on to explain the hospital cafeteria menu scheduling, and Doyoung talks about his top 10 favorite burgers in the city.

When they finished the meal, Jaehyun insisted on peeling an apple for Doyoung to snack on in the afternoon. He soon got summoned by his supervisor and had to go back to work, with a promise of dropping by later after his shift. 

Doyoung would be lying if he says he was not looking forward to it.

It’s already 10:00 PM when Jaehyun shows up again. He finds Doyoung snoozing, a book in his hands, and his glasses threatening to fall off his nose bridge. He carefully walks to the bedside, retrieving the book from the patient’s hands and placing it on the table. While he’s figuring out how to remove the glasses without waking Doyoung, the latter stirs awake.

“Ah, Jaehyun-ssi,” Doyoung fixes his glasses and unceremoniously runs a hand through his hair as he blinks off sleep.

“Sorry I woke you up,” Jaehyun quickly pockets the hand that was just hovering over Doyoung’s face seconds ago. Inside, he wanted to squeal at how soft Doyoung looked with unruly hair and glasses.

“No, no. It’s alright. I didn’t even notice I dozed off in that position. Would’ve been really bad for my neck so technically, you saved me.” When Doyoung meets Jaehyun’s eyes, he catches it again: the fond look he can’t seem to understand. Jaehyun was pursing his lips such that his dimples were showing and his cheeks reminded Doyoung of bread. “Did you just clock out of work?”

“Yeah, I just did. I had a lot of backlogs due to the maintenance earlier.”

“Isn’t it late already?”

“I kind of lost track of time in the lab. My friend who’s working the night shift had to shoo me out,” Jaehyun admits sheepishly. 

Doyoung chuckles. He knows that all too well. “You’re a workaholic, I see.” He studies Jaehyun’s face. In the few conversations they had with each other, Doyoung had come to find how you can see Jaehyun’s thought process on his face—his expression changing ever so slightly as the thought forms, like wearing your heart on your sleeves. So Doyoung waits for the retort.

“Says the person who’s on his work phone 24/7 according to his cousin and friends.” 

Yup, there it is. Doyoung laughs. “Has anyone ever told you that you think visibly?”

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“You’re cute when you’re thinking,” Doyoung blurts out, his internal panic meter going haywire the moment the words leave his mouth, and immediately scrambles to recover. “I mean, I can really see the journey of your thought process with your facial expression. It’s like the expression ‘thinking out loud’ but instead of loud, it’s ‘thinking visibly.’ You think visibly, Jaehyun-ssi.”

Jaehyun stares at him like he just explained the quantum theory in gibberish. “I do not understand what you just said but I’m gonna nod because my brain’s too tired to process that.” 

“To be fair, I don’t even know if I said what I said correctly,” Doyoung admits. “And also, I never said I wasn’t a workaholic as well.”

It amazes Doyoung how easily the conversation happens between the two of them, despite working in industries that are so different from each other except for the work schedule. Talking with Jaehyun always feels comfortable and easy, such that Doyoung doesn’t even have to try too hard to keep the conversation going, it just flows with bits and pieces of comfortable silence in between. 

They both get lost in random anecdotes about life events and mini rants that they don’t notice the clock striking midnight until the medical technologist in charge of taking Doyoung’s blood sample enters the room. Only then does Jaehyun take his leave with another “see you later.”

***

Doyoung is bouncing on his feet as he walks around the room in fresh clothes. It was his fourth day here and Dr. Kim had come in early to tell him that his blood tests were showing improvement and that he could be discharged within the day. Haechan was now processing the discharge papers and Taeyong had promised to pick them up to drive them home when they were done.

He feels rejuvenated by the mere thought of finally being able to come home to his soft mattress and get ahold of his laptop. His mailbox and call logs must be bursting right now.

There’s a knock on the door and a familiar shade of brown hair greets him. “Oh, where’s Haechan-ie?”

“Why are you looking for the guardian instead of the patient, Mr. Medical Professional? Also, I don’t think I still need another blood test.” Doyoung crosses his arms, trying to hold back a smile.

Jaehyun lets himself in and walks towards him. “Heard you’re finally getting discharged today. Good to see you in casual clothes, Mr. Patient.”

“Don’t think I qualify as a patient anymore, you’d have to come up with another one,” Doyoung challenges playfully. “Is your shift starting soon?”

“It doesn’t start in at least an hour. I purposely came here early to celebrate my least favorite patient’s discharge.

“If I’m your least favorite patient, then you’re my least favorite medical technologist,” Doyoung retorts. “That was the first time someone had a hard time looking for my vein, even worse than Haechan’s practice ones.”

“Hey!” Jaehyun protests and hides the paper bag he was holding behind his back.

It was only then Doyoung even noticed he was holding something as his focus was mostly directed at the handsome medical technologist’s face. “What’s that? Lemme see!” Doyoung tries to sidestep around Jaehyun to see the bag but Jaehyun dodges his every move. 

“Well, I was supposed to reward my least favorite patient with the burger he praised so much that it’s the top of his favorite burger list, but since he had insulted my blood sampling skills… I’m rethinking,” Jaehyun says smugly.

Instead of a whine which Jaehyun had predicted, Doyoung gasps. “Oh my god, you got the limited edition McDonald’s burger?” 

Doyoung’s looking at him with such pretty star eyes that Jaehyun gives him sooner than later. He hands the McDonald’s bag to Doyoung to which the latter beams and immediately brings it over to the table to unpack the treasure. “It smells so so good! I haven’t had this in a while.”

He takes one for himself and hands Jaehyun another. “I’ll enjoy the burger, Jaehyun-ssi!” Doyoung announces in delight before he starts chomping down.

Though not a big fan of burgers, Jaehyun watches Doyoung chew cutely before making a big bite of his own burger. He also takes out the fries that come with the meal and silently inches it closer to Doyoung.

Jaehyun is almost done with his burger when Haechan enters the room, speaking before he could even finish opening the door. “Took forever to get to the cashier, that was a long ass queue— Oh. ” He stops in his tracks when he sees the two of them looking cozy on the hospital bed. “Hey, Jaehyun-ie hyung! Glad you made it before we left,” he sends Jaehyun a wink which doesn’t go unnoticed by Doyoung. 

The older cousin narrows his eyes toward him.

Flustered Jaehyun immediately stands up and digs into the bag for a burger. “Here, I got one for you, too, Haechan-ie,” he says while trying to send signals with his eyes. Suspicious, Doyoung thinks.

Haechan bats his eyes ridiculously at Jaehyun before accepting the burger and moving on to talk about how many offices he had to go to just to settle the discharge papers along with a random remark— "I can’t believe I became a parent even before having kids, all the moms in the queue thought I was a teenage dad”—which made Doyoung and Jaehyun burst in laughter.

Taeyong soon arrives, ready to take Doyoung (and Haechan) home. “Doie, I moved the car to a closer parking space so we don’t have to walk too far,” he says as soon as he enters. Then he spots Jaehyun sitting at the side and gives him a thorough scan, eyeing him from head to toe before Doyoung flings himself around his best friend and whispers into his ear, “Your resting bitch face is scaring him!” Taeyong then softens his expression and gives Jaehyun his HR consultant smile. “I’m just kidding with the head-to-foot but just so you know—which I know you already do—you’re handsome.”

The remark makes Jaehyun cough awkwardly. That bluntness was quite unexpected. He gets up to shake hands with Taeyong and introduces himself. The four of them talk for a bit until Jaehyun has to take his leave as his shift is about to begin.

The four of them talk for a bit until Jaehyun has to take his leave as his shift is about to begin.

On the drive home, Haechan fills Taeyong in on how Doyoung met Jaehyun and all the random hospital encounters he had witnessed, an exaggerated retelling if you ask Doyoung. He sits there quietly, not bothering to interject in the conversation, knowing full well that the two would gang up on him if he protested. 

When Haechan finishes his story, Taeyong turns his attention to Doyoung. “So, did you make plans with your new friend to meet soon?”

Doyoung can only roll his eyes at whatever his best friend is implying. But he just shrugs and says, “Maybe.”

He has no idea who squeals first but one thing’s for sure, he may or may not get damaged eardrums from this duo. He looks out the window to distract himself, naturally drifting to thoughts of syringes and dimpled smiles. 

***

It’s supposed to be Doyoung’s day off. After a long month of promotions and events to go to, he finally has an empty weekend on his calendar, that is, until he gets held hostage by none other than Haechan. 

“Are you sure you’re fit to be in the medical profession? I don’t think you’re allowed to tie your patients into a chair,” Doyoung taunts, straining against the blanket the younger had tied around his torso. 

“Some patients require special steps to be able to perform the procedure, hyung. No two patients are the same,” Haechan sing-songs.

“I seriously suggest you rethink your career path while you’re not yet a junior, Haechan-ie,” Doyoung can only let out an exasperated scoff. It’s futile to even attempt to argue with his stubborn cousin. “Can I at least get my phone so I can distract myself?”

Haechan shuffles around the living room, looking for Doyoung’s phone. “Now that you mention it, call Jaehyun-ie hyung!” he says as he tosses the phone into Doyoung’s hands.

“Why would I call Jaehyun?”

“Because he’s my mentor and role model! He succeeded in blood sampling you twice, once is already a good record in itself!”

To be fair, Haechan isn’t exactly wrong. He isn’t right either. Doyoung instantly gets flashbacks of his first meeting with Jaehyun and the failed extraction on his left hand. “I wouldn’t even exactly call it successful…” he trails off.

However, Haechan is nothing but persistent so he whines and proceeds to tug at Doyoung’s arm continuously.  “Hyung~~ call your boyfriend!”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Doyoung side-eyes him and attempts to shrug off his hands from his arms but fails because of his limited mobility.

The younger one pauses, seemingly considering what Doyoung had just said. “Well, that’s true. But there’s a ‘yet’ somewhere there,” he teases. 

Doyoung rolls his eyes and focuses his attention on his phone instead, scrolling his contacts until he lands on Jaehyun's image. He hesitates a bit, remembering that Jaehyun may be preparing to go to work at this time. At the corner of his eye, he sees Haechan giving him what looks like an attempt at puppy dog eyes. He shakes his head and presses the call button.

It only takes three rings for Jaehyun to answer. His deep voice resonates through the receiver. “Hey, I was just about to text you.”

Just as Doyoung’s about to speak, Haechan screams with glee. “Set it to loudspeaker, hyung! I wanna talk to Jaehyun-hyung, too!” 

“Shh! Haechan shut up–” he attempts to kick Haechan’s feet but the younger one easily dodges. He keeps his leg up to set a boundary between the two of them and gives his cousin one last glare before turning his attention back to the call. “Hey, Jaehyun-ie!”

“How’s your day off?”

“I was enjoying it for the most part. Unfortunately, Haechan has decided to be a menace and held me hostage in our living room.”

“Am not! I just need practice, Jaehyun hyung! Doyoung hyung’s being dramatic.” Haechan interjects from where he’s seated, somehow still joining in the conversation that isn’t on loudspeaker.

Jaehyun laughs from the other line. “He needs a dummy for his extraction practicals?”

“Uh huh, and of all the people in his circles it really had to be me.” Doyoung is trying to pry Haechan’s hands off of him as the younger continues to protest.

“Sucks for you. Would’ve volunteered to be his dummy in your place but I have work later.”

“I guess I’d just take the fall to save the medical profession and suffer a few bruised veins today.”

There’s a pause. Doyoung can only imagine Jaehyun’s face while thinking: the subtle movements of his eyebrows, the blinks that happen as quickly as the thought passes through his mind, and he’s probably biting his lip while all the thinking happens, making his dimple show on one side, the indent changing so slightly every few seconds. It’s tempting to poke a finger through his dimple every time. If anyone asks Doyoung, Jaehyun’s thinking face is definitely one of his favorites among the many Jaehyun faces. His visualization is interrupted when Jaehyun speaks again.

“Say… what if I distract you with a story while he performs his practice? Just like old times?”

“You speak as if it was decades ago. It hasn’t been three months since you were the culprit of my vein abuse.”

Jaehyun laughs. “So, do you want a story or what?”

His pride won’t let him agree so easily so Doyoung hums to keep Jaehyun on his toes. “Alright.”

Jaehyun then asks to talk to Haechan for a while. What he’s telling Haechan, Doyoung has no idea, probably just tips on how not to kill him in the process or something. Or maybe Doyoung’s just thinking so highly of Jaehyun’s virtuous side because Haechan is just nodding and agreeing with a cheeky grin on his face.

When the phone is back in Doyoung’s hands, Haechan is already preparing to disinfect his arm. “So story time,” Jaehyun begins. He then goes on about the resident (Johnny, whom Doyoung had met during one of his visits to the hospital) meeting his ex in the ER yesterday. The ex wasn’t the patient but the new boyfriend was, so you can only imagine how awkward it had been with the three of them in a small confined space. 

The rest is history as Doyoung and Jaehyun continue to gossip over the phone. Haechan does his thing and the Jaehyun distraction scheme works like magic. Doyoung barely remembers anything pricking his arm.

When they finish, Haechan teases him right by screaming into the phone, “Jaehyun hyung when are you gonna ask Doyoung hyung on a date?”

He hears Jaehyun laugh and say he has to go to work now. They end the call and Doyoung looks at his cousin pointedly. “What makes you think I wouldn’t be the one asking first?”

***

Being surrounded by people in the medical field who loved to nag made Doyoung appreciate his soft-spoken physician more. He’s been diligently taking the supplements Dr. Kim had prescribed for him and has also gotten check-ups on a more regular basis. Within a few months' time, he has become so comfortable with the familiarity of the hospital he frequents, either as a visitor picking up a certain medical technologist from work or as an outpatient who needs to get lab tests done.

He’s currently seated inside, patiently waiting for the assigned medical technologist to begin when Jaehyun peeks from the restricted door. “Oh, I thought you were just picking me up. You should’ve told me you needed to get a test.”

“Last minute decision to get it done today,” Doyoung informs him. “Can you wait for a while?”

Jaehyun walks closer and stands at the sides, a respectful distance from the work area. His coworker services Doyoung with unwavering attention and gets the sample drawn as efficiently as possible. Despite getting used to this, Doyoung still shuts his eyes and holds his breath when the procedure is done. Thankfully, this one was painless and quick.

When they get out of the hospital, Doyoung attempts to tease Jaehyun about the coworker doing a great job and that he should come for a test when he’s on duty. “That was one time, Doyoung-ah,” Jaehyun huffs in annoyance, pouting slightly. 

Doyoung almost coos at his facial expression. “Come on, I’ll get you home so I can still catch the premier of Yuta’s new drama.”

“Oh right, it’s tonight. Wanna have a watch party instead?” Jaehyun offers. “I have a couch and plenty of junk food lying around my apartment.”

He’s been driving Jaehyun home whenever they hang out but he’s never been inside his apartment. Jaehyun has been to his place, mainly because Haechan keeps inviting him over whenever he needs help (Doyoung can’t do anything about that) and when Doyoung feels like cooking a lot and he needs another opinion other than just Haechan. So this will be a first, he blushes, “sounds good.”

Doyoung makes himself comfortable on Jaehyun’s large couch as the pilot episode plays on the TV. Normally, his attention would be 100% on the drama—the lines, the cinematography, the acting performance—looking for the perfect moment to write as a feature for the pilot reception press release. However, with Jaehyun sitting so close, wearing comfortable clothes, and smelling like a saint, Doyoung’s mind has been all over the place.

It’s midway through the episode when Jaehyun starts mindlessly playing with his fingers, putting pressure on the tips as if he was about to pull out his lancet and practice finger-pricking at this very moment. However, unlike the gloved hand that held his before extracting blood, the hand now was warm, slightly clammy but Doyoung doesn’t mind. 

He then became largely aware of how closely they were sitting next to each other now. He wonders if Jaehyun is as hyper-aware of the proximity as he is. Doyoung looks at Jaehyun’s face to read any sign.

Like any cliche, Jaehyun catches him staring and smiles, his charming dimples enough to make Doyoung’s head swim. “Did anyone ever tell you that you would’ve been everyone’s favorite dummy if you were a medical technology major?” Jaehyun says as he traces the veins on his hands.

“Yeah, Haechan has repeated that so many times I can hear his voice in my sleep.”

Jaehyun pouts. “Awe, I’m not the first?”

“You’re not special. I know my hands are pretty,” Doyoung says smugly. “You’re the first to ever fail to take my blood sample though. Seriously, how did you even fail when my veins are popping out like this?”

“I guess I was too busy getting flustered by your pretty face?”

Doyoung rolls his eyes but giggles to hide the blush that’s spreading across his face. “You’re lame when you try to be cheesy.”

“Only because I lose words when it’s you.” Jaehyun stops tracing his veins and instead laces their hands together, grinning but not looking at him. 

Warmth envelopes Doyoung as he takes their clasped hand onto his lap and leans over to poke Jaehyun’s dimple. This is nice.