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You had so many suitors, all with different and interesting personalities. Despite the tons of options, you still happily ended up with your childhood friend, Zayne.
To be honest, you never would have thought that you'd end up dating him. When you first met again after so many years, he was initially stiff and awkward with you. Though your paths inevitably crossed several times due to the nature of your jobs, of course with you showing up at his office to get medical attention after some missions or for your monthly check up.
Those meetings would turn to spending more time afterwards. Eventually as time passed by… both of you would have dinner after work or checkups, the messaging and calls became frequent to the point of both of you checking your schedules to match one another and finding a free day or time to meet each other again, and after several months… the both of you confessing your feelings to one another.
Yet some people still have the audacity to ask you, “Why Zayne?”
On a surface level, the man was indeed nonchalant and stoic, some are a bit afraid with his ‘cold’ personality that with one look he could tame even the most stubborn patients in the hospital. Other people would point out that he has a dry sense of humor, the man was a workaholic, and as always the most irritating judgment you heard was that he seemed like a boring person.
Initially you thought to yourself, why do you need to reason out with these people who question your relationship with Zayne? Back then, you would just answer “I love everything about him. Do I need any other reason to date him? What’s important is that I love him.” But now, you just want to go through every reason and ramble out all the things you love about him to clear all the misunderstandings that people tend to see in your boyfriend.
Your eyes narrow and you click your tongue in irritation. Just the mere fact that you are in a relationship with him, it should already be a clear enough answer that you have seen something with Zayne and that you love him for who he is.
Looking up, you see your boyfriend outside the door gently talking to the mother of one of his patients, before stooping down to talk to the young girl as he passes her a piece of candy. This suddenly made you imagine how Zayne would be once he becomes a father, and you flushed red on the thought about having a family with him in the future. Just the thought of having a mini Zayne and mini you running around would be very cute and lively. You know that he’ll be a great and gentle father.
Your face flushed red, placing your hands on your cheeks before shaking your head. Your mind accidentally side tracked for a bit, and you decided to go back to the main topic on why you chose Zayne as you reminisced several memories about him. Setting aside the shallow reasons ŵlike his success, his good looks, and the fact that you knew him ever since childhood; there were more things about this man, and these aren’t enough to be the reason why you’re dating him.
Maybe you should start first with Zayne’s selflessness and dedication as a doctor. You knew that Zayne would go through any lengths to save one’s life. Remembering the several times you had seen him return back to headquarters injured because he brought back a missing hunter, or the fact that he did a risky surgery despite having an open wound himself. Of course that caused you to scold the man afterwards.
You’re very proud that he's very dedicated and passionate in his career, with Zayne being one of the top doctors of Akso Hospital. He was always striving to find better solutions as he also took the lead for the Evol technology research team at Akso hospital, and hoped that they could find another breakthrough solution and apply them for future surgeries.
Aside from that he really values life so much. Despite being one of the top surgeons, there are times when the surgeries were unsuccessful and you have seen him feeling disappointed and vulnerable, which you do your best to comfort him.
Also with your job as a Deepspace hunter, you were always at the end of Zayne’s nagging and light scolding when it came to your recklessness on missions. But because of this, it made you reflect on yourself and to always keep in mind that Zayne just wants you to also value your life, live it to the fullest and come back home in one piece.
A gut feeling tells that if something bad happens to you, Zayne would definitely feel crushed and depressed. Now you’re doing your best to assess the situations in your missions, making sure you don’t do anything rashly that could endanger your life. Knowing that Zayne would always be waiting for you to come back and hoping to see you alive and unscathed.
Suddenly a hand lands on the top of your head, your body froze on contact, derailing you from your train of thoughts. You look up to see Zayne crouch down to meet you at the same eye level. A grin spreads on your face, before excitedly saying his name out loud and throwing yourself on him, engulfing him in a hug. Hearing the sweet sound of laughter escapes the man’s lips as he presses them on your forehead.
“You seem to be in deep thought, you didn’t hear me call your name several times.” He tells you as he returns your embrace, his arms wrapping around your waist as he buries his head in the crook of your neck.
Your smile becomes wider, playfully tightening your arms around his neck, causing Zayne to chuckle more. “Sorry, since my boyfriend was so busy when I arrived, I decided to think about a certain doctor and if he has already taken his meals on time and got enough rest.”
“That certain doctor named Zayne made sure that he ate his meals on time and rested well during his break time so a certain hunter doesn’t worry.” He responds. “I wonder if she also follows my instructions too?”
Pulling yourself away to look him in the eye, you nod yet a sheepish smile comes on your face. “Of course I did! But that hunter thinks sleeping early is too hard, and that is the only thing she couldn’t do.”
He sighs, a gentle smile comes on his face as he playfully pinches your cheek.
“So stubborn.” He looks at his watch, a frown forming on his face “I still have an hour and a half before my shift ends. Please wait a bit, I’ll be done soon.”
You place both hands on his cheeks, rubbing them. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be here waiting. Do your best doc!”
Zayne gives you that special smile just solely reserved for you, and suddenly your stomach feels like it did a somersault as it gets filled up with butterflies.
His smile is another thing you just love about him. Seeing Zayne smile will always make you feel so giddy and warm inside, especially this particular special smile he just gave you. Those special smiles are the ones you wish to see more often, since his usual one is a subtle one. But it's still one of those smiles that has a huge effect on you and it’s something you have skillfully can spot, despite it just being a slight and quick upturn on his lips.
And his lips… those lips that would honestly drive you crazy from the sweet honey dripping yet reassuring words that he tells you, or from those small pecks on the lips to the open mouthed kisses that would slowly trail around your body to please and leave you feeling boneless. Slightly flushing red, you subconsciously place your right hand on his cheek as you caress the bottom of his lip with your thumb.
Zayne, slightly surprised with your action, takes a hold of your hand as he plants a kiss on your palm before intertwining his fingers with yours. Turning your hands over, he gently kisses the couple ring on your finger before landing a few more kisses at the back of your hand.
Slowly looking up with a gentle smile, he takes a good look at you before leaning in and giving you a quick peck on the lips before reluctantly standing up to leave his office.
You were once again left inside, watching him pass through the door as you wave goodbye at him before it shuts close. It’s just a few seconds after he left but you’re already missing his warmth and a pout comes on your face. But deep down inside you’re very happy and content with how relaxed Zayne is now. It’s a huge development from how Zayne was once very awkward and not comfortable with doing these sweet gestures anywhere at the start of your relationship, but now he is the one who initiates them.
Calming down, you wanted to resume your train of thoughts.
‘Where was I again?’ It takes a few minutes before you are able to recall that you were just thinking about the numerous things that you love about Zayne.
Not a lot of people see it, but Zayne was indeed such a warm person and he will always be your stable rock that you could lean on anytime for comfort. Surely you wished that people would get to know him more, and not turn away because of his initial ‘cold’ demeanor.
When you were struggling to process Grandma’s and Caleb’s death, he had always been by your side and letting you cry your heart out as he comforted you through those tough times. It was one of the reasons that made you fall for him. There were days when you would rush into his arms at Destiny Cafe after a rough day, and he would tell you several comforting words before saying “You look better with a smile on your face.”
Zayne is a very caring man. Aside from him caring for his patients, he’s very caring to you. ‘Of course, not in a patient kind of way’ you thought. He doesn’t outright tell you that he does, but his actions say otherwise.
You couldn’t forget when you found out from Dr. Greyson, that Zayne had volunteered to be swapped into your mission after seeing your name on the list. It really made you wonder why the head surgeon of the cardiac division was assigned to such a mission, when he wasn't even on the initial list for the medical team. Until you found out he has his own motives on those so called coincidences.
Another instance of him being so caring is that Zayne has kept a track on your red days, he even takes note of the brand of pads you use and your usual comfort food, buying them in advance for you. When the cramps were too much to handle, he would take a day off to tend to your needs, making sure that you were comfortable throughout the day.
He is someone you could depend on, he's very meticulous, reliable and responsible. Just when it comes to your out of town trips or even just for a date, he’s always came prepared and ready with a plan. There are times that he would look up on the place beforehand.
Seriously, thinking of all of Zayne's good qualities you could just ramble on and on about him.
Then you remember that one of your colleagues told you that Zayne was rude when it comes to his comments, then proceeded to show one of your posts with Zayne’s usual roasting comments. Which made you laugh at your guy friend, of course you'll receive some roasting, ever since you had met him again, both of you would banter and try to one up one another. “Please, we wouldn't be friends if we don't banter over the pettiest and mundane things.” You're childhood friends, of course the roasting is normal, because you also do the same to him.
Before you could continue, a yelp escapes your lips as once again Zayne's face was close to yours. “ZAYNE!”
A mischievous smile spread on his face, his eyes filled with mirth with your reaction “Don't tell me that you're still thinking about my wellbeing?” He teases you.
You flushed red, obviously getting caught once again being deep in thought. “Back so fast?”
One of Zayne's eyebrow raises up, looking at you before shaking his head. “It seems that you haven't noticed the time, my shift is already over.”
“Huh?” Whipping out your phone from your pocket, you look at the time and indeed Zayne's shift is over.
Sheepishly smiling at the man before leaning in to place a chaste kiss on his lips.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Thinking about the reasons why I love you so much.” You honestly answered him. Giggling as you see his ears and cheek gradually turned red.
The man leans in, his lips close to your ears “Then what are the reasons why you love me?”
To be honest, if you were to continue your thoughts about how much you love Zayne, it might take forever until you finish. There are so many reasons why you love this man so much.
A sigh escapes your lips as you dramatically look at him, “If I were to enumerate them all, we would be an old couple until I get to the end of the list.”
Zayne smiles, chuckling at your response. He gets the hint that you won’t tell him, but he’s sure that you’ll blabber several reasons in the future.
Since it’s time to go home, you looked over to Zayne “Let’s go over to your home tonight.”
Before you could stand up from your seat, Zayne doesn’t move out of the way, keeping you trapped between his arms as he looks at you with full adoration.
Cutely blinking at the man with a confused look on your face, his face moves slightly closer to you.
In a low voice he tells you. “I love everything about you.”
Your face heated up, bashfully looking away because of Zayne’s bold statement. A satisfied smile came up on his face before taking your hand and gently pulling you up from the couch. “Let’s go.”
Nodding, both of you left his office and Zayne quickly talks to the head nurse about the patients' needs before he leaves. As you pass by the nurse station, you see Dr. Greyson and Yvonne, they give you a wink and nod. Yvonne points to her phone as she gives you an okay gesture before waving goodbye.
A satisfied smile came onto your face and hopefully your plan goes without a hitch, since Zayne’s birthday is around the corner and you want to give him a birthday that he’ll never forget.