Chapter Text
Working as a dentist might seem like an easy job. Clients book their appointments, and you only get occasional walk-ins and such. No toxic workload, no overtime, and you get to enjoy holidays and all. But Joshua doesn't live an easy life. He specializes in pediatric patients. And kids can get as whiney and loud as they can be, especially if they're scared. Because really, dentists or any other professionals in white coats were like monsters in the eyes of these little devil angel incarnates.
Today is another day for Doc Shuu, as his regular patients call him. Half of the day has passed, but he's already done with his scheduled patients. He is just waiting for the time to clock out and finally end his somehow tiring day.
Joshua was blankly staring at the television outside his office when the door chimes rang, indicating a person coming in. He wasn't able to see who it was due to the glass on his office being frosted and only the upper half of the clinic's lobby being seen. He can only see the silhouette of a man, about his height or an inch or two taller than him, with a child whom he presumes is a girl as he can hazily see her hair tied in pigtails.
A few minutes passed, and his secretary went inside his office and gave him the patient's record. The little girl named Sunny Lee needs her first tooth extraction as her first molar teeth have been aching for three days. After scanning Sunny's record, Joshua softly called her in and, with some light knocks on his door, bears a man with the most blinding smile and the softest eyes he had ever seen. Behind him, a toddler tightly hugging his leg, was Sunny, Joshua's new cute and terrified patient.
He can only sigh. This is gonna be a long consultation, Joshua thought.
"Hello, there, little girl! I'm doctor Shuu," he said, smiling widely and offering stickers to ease the toddler's mind.
"Come on, honey bear, Doc Shuu has a gift for you." Sunny's guardian or perhaps her dad encouraged her.
Thankfully Sunny is a cooperative girl. She shyly reached out and took the glittery stickers in Joshua's hand. This made her more comfortable around the doctor, and she started talking.
"Thank you, Doc Shuu. I'm Sunny." she softly said after taking the stickers.
"What a beautiful name! Would you like to play a game?" Joshua asked, trying to make the toddler more relaxed.
This seems to be working as Sunny immediately smiles and says yes.
"Ok, little princess! This is just a simple game. All you need to do is follow Doctor Shuu. Is that fine?"
Sunny nodded and was about to let go of the man beside him when she suddenly asked, "Dada Kyeom join?" looking back between Joshua and her guardian.
Oh, so that was his dad. Joshua would be lying if he said he didn't feel a little disappointed, knowing that the attractive man in front of him might already have a family. Who can blame him? The man is literally gorgeous. But being the professional that he is, he buried his thoughts and focused on making his patient less aloof.
"Of course, Sunny, if your dad wants to join, he can! Right, Dada Kyeom?"
The man in front of him was hesitant, so Joshua side-eyed him before giving his full attention to Sunny.
"Little girl, you will also follow your Dada Kyeom, ok? Are you ready?"
Joshua proceeded to instruct Sunny. The toddler did a great job following him around and lying down on the dental chair without crying until she saw the dental tools. Almost instantly, tears started to form in her eyes, and tantrums were about to be thrown.
Luckily her Dada Kyeom came to the rescue and softly held her hands. "Honey bear is a brave girl, right? Don't worry, Doc Shuu will just look at your ouchy tooth, ok?" he said.
"Sunny, are you ready now? Can you please open your mouth? Promise Doc Shuu wouldn't hurt you." Joshua sweetly pleaded, but the toddler seemed reluctant and would only slightly open her mouth.
"Say ah honey bear!"
With the help of his Dada, at last, Sunny widely opened her mouth, and Joshua could now do his job properly. He tried telling random stories to the toddler to take her mind off it. Her Dada was also a big help in cracking corny dad jokes, which somehow kept the child entertained. However, as much as Joshua wanted to remove Sunny's teeth to end her flame, unluckily, the girl's gums were severely inflamed.
"Ok, done!" Joshua said after examining the child's teeth and asking her to sit down. Meanwhile, her guardian looked confused about why the dentist wasn't extracting the child's tooth.
"Sunny, is it still ouchy, like really painful?" the dentist asked while pointing at the side of his face. The little girl only nodded.
"If that is so, we can't remove it until the ouchy is gone. Do you understand?"
"Ohh..." the kid looked at Joshua, "Yes, doc Shuu."
The dentist guided Sunny and her Dada back to his table. He gave Sunny more stickers before he started instructing the man beside him.
"Sir, I'll write Sunny a prescription for some painkillers and an antibiotic before we remove her molar tooth. Then, let's schedule her extraction three days after taking the medicines." Joshua said to which Sunny's Dada nodded.
"Little sunshine, see you after three days. Drink your medicine, ok?"
The two were about to leave Joshua's office when Sunny's Dada shyly looked back at the dentist. "Hmm," he hesitantly hummed, "can I get your contact number just in case Sunny's toothache worsens."
"Oh," as if some spirit possessed him, the dentist grabbed the sticky and wrote his personal number. "Here, you can contact me anytime if Sunny complains more about her toothache." The two then bid their farewell and left the doctor's office.
Joshua finally breathed when they finally left his clinic. He didn't realize he's been holding his breath for quite some time now. And before Joshua could fully relax, a realization dawned on him. He gave his personal number! What was he thinking? Is he that desperate for the man he just met and potentially risks everything to be a homewrecker?
The dentist was losing his mind despite his poker face facade when the message alert on his phone pinged.
Hi Doc Shuu. Thank you for being patient with Sunny! See you on the 28th. Btw, this is Dokyeom Lee, Sunny's uncle ＾▽＾