Chapter Text
It was almost a typical day at work for Doh Kyungsoo. The only problem with the day was that he hadn’t been able to sleep well last night, so he was looking like a zombie while doing his job. He felt so sleepy that his wish was to lay down in one of the hospital beds and sleep there. Beyond being so tired, it was one of these days that he would have to stay in the hospital for hours longer.
He really didn't know how to say no when they asked him to work overtime.
Anyone who saw Kyungsoo for the first time would be put off, after all, most of the time he is always serious, he doesn't smile much, but this also makes people think he is a serious and focused professional. However, every now and then he had some expressions... let's say ‘scary’, he wasn't very well received by the children at the hospital. These expressions were becoming much more common that day.
It was clear that Kyungsoo wasn't having one of his best days, his frown betrayed him to anyone who saw him. Something not very difficult for Byun Baekhyun to notice, one of the cooks who works in one of the restaurants on the way back from the hospital. Byun met Kyungsoo halfway to the hospital almost every day. Over time — after realizing that they took the same route every day — he began to observe him along the way, and also when he went to have lunch or dinner at his restaurant. In the end, after watching him for so long, everything that involved Doh Kyungsoo did not go unnoticed by Baekhyun, who always had his eyes on the nurse, which ended up causing him to develop a platonic love for him since the first day Kyungsoo had first gone to his restaurant.
It was normal to see him in the restaurant with a girl, he almost never showed up alone, whether for lunch or dinner, so he thought she was his girlfriend or something like that. He made a point of always serving both of them, he had already told his employees that the one who served Doh Kyungsoo was only Byun Baekhyun, even though his job at the restaurant was to prepare the food with his cooks and not serve it as a waiter.
He had never tried anything to get Kyungsoo to notice him — especially since he thought he was dating —, he was content with just being able to observe him and know that he was okay. For this reason, Baekhyun liked to leave notes with motivational sayings or just a few words along with some healthy and energetic snacks that he left anonymously at the hospital to be delivered to Doh Kyungsoo. Obviously the hospital receptionist knew very well who sent those little gifts to the nurse, but she had an agreement with Baekhyun so she wouldn't say anything if she had a 50% discount at his restaurant.
Byun made all the snacks after there were no more customers at lunch time and the restaurant was closed, it was a gift so it had to be done with care and affection.
The foods with the best flavors are those that are made with dedication. That's what he always said to his employees.
He knew how tired Kyungsoo must always be because of his work, so he just wanted to help him in some way.
(...)
Kyungsoo sat in one of the available chairs and let out a tired sigh. He knew that if he closed his eyes he would be able to sleep sitting in the chair. He ended up laughing restrainedly when he imagined himself sleeping in the chair, while snoring and drooling.
To be laughing alone then the situation was really critical…
He was taken out of his thoughts when he felt the presence of someone else next to him, he opened his eyes to see who it was and a tired smile appeared in his face when he saw that it was his coworker and friend, Hyejin.
“Why that face? Have you been going out to parties without me?” Hyejin asked in a joking tone, hoping to get at least a laugh from his friend. Something that unfortunately did not happen.
“I haven't been out in years and you know it” he replied after letting out a tired sigh. “I couldn't sleep, insomnia attacked.”
“And have you tried drinking something to see if it wakes you up a little?”
“No, I didn't have time. It seems like I'm the only nurse in this hospital, they always call me!” he complained, rolling his eyes dramatically, but then smiled happily knowing he was doing his job well. “As tiring as it is, I like it. But today... today is being difficult. I could lie down on the floor just to take a nap” he spoke pointing to the ground, which made Hyejin laugh at the groggy way in which her friend was speaking.
“Aigoo, I think you need a coffee…” Hyejin said after stopping laughing and putting her right hand to her friend's shoulder, squeezing it in a gesture of comfort. “Or go to lunch at that restaurant... the one with the notes and snacks from your secret admirer” she added, winking at Kyungsoo just to tease him, as she loved seeing how embarrassed he got when it was about the person who wrote the notes.
Kyungsoo widened his eyes, which were already round and large by nature, causing him to have a funny expression and making Hyejin laugh again. He couldn't believe Hyejin was bringing that topic again. He felt his ears burning hot when he remembered the notes he started receiving a few months ago, and the snacks that started to accompany the notes shortly afterwards. The notes didn't have anything much, just nice messages, but he was a little embarrassed by the way Hyejin spoke. His ears were a proof of that.
He quickly remembered the first time he received a note. He hadn't quite understood why he had a piece of paper with his change, he read what was written on it and was surprised by the encouraging words, even if simple. He remembered that the first one he received said something like:
“I know it can be, and is, tiring to work all day.
But remember, you are helping lives!
So work hard and work with your ♡, which I know is huge.
Fighting!”
Kyungsoo had found it strange that the note coincided well with his profession, but he decided to ignore it and took it as a nice souvenir from the restaurant.
He continued to receive notes like this every day he went to the restaurant, missing them when he went to a different restaurant and noticed that he wouldn't receive any, until one day he told Hyejin about these notes he was receiving and asked if she was receiving it too, being surprised when the answer was negative. Hyejin was all excited because Kyungsoo probably had a secret admirer and that he should investigate to see who the author of such notes was, mainly so that his friend could get some and stop being so grumpy in his daily life.
Hyejin only made comments like that so that her friend would be embarrassed, her biggest mission in their friendship was making him blush.
When he decided to think a little about Hyejin's encouragement, at first Kyungsoo was undecided, he didn't know whether or not he was going to find out who was writing the notes, he even thought about asking the waiter who always served him at the restaurant why he received the notes every time when he was going to pay for the food, but decided to leave it alone. As much as he felt curious about who wrote the notes, he didn't want to stop receiving them. He liked to think he had someone who wanted his well-being.
After about two months of receiving the notes, Kyungsoo started to receive as many notes when he went to lunch at the restaurant as at the hospital, and when he received it at the hospital it always came with a snack, which always made him a little curious about who did that for him.
Besides, these treats really did him good on days when he felt more discouraged.
Today was one of those days.
In the morning he had barely arrived at the hospital and found out that his schedule was already full of things to do, in addition to being called in for a conversation in which he was asked to work overtime. He hadn't had the courage to deny it, even though he already felt tired before lunch time even arrived.
Now there was less than an hour until lunch time and he could rest a little, but he never remembered the notes or that he needed to eat something. And when Hyejin reminded him, he felt an immense urge to go to the restaurant to order something to eat just so he could receive a note, and he felt embarrassed about it.
“You can deny it all you want, but I know you like receiving these notes” Hyejin said, getting up and pulling Kyungsoo with her by the arm. “Let's eat something and get your note of the day, there are just a few minutes left until our break.”
Kyungsoo just let out a sigh and followed his friend through the hospital corridors, he wasn't in the mood or patience to go against Hyejin's ideas at the moment.
And also because internally he was dying to know what would be written in the note of the day.