The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 1

11 🩺 Tired

Exhausted from his busy schedule, Hongjoong looked at his watch.

Three A.M.

After having just hung up from checking back in with Yeosang on the phone, Hongjoong felt particularly drained. He hated that he was always absent when bad things happened, and he wanted nothing more than to go home and be with them, where he the belonged.

But he'd promised Wooyoung he would stay at the hospital, and there wasn't any point in going home anyways, since he had to be back at the hospital by seven for his rounds.

And so, yawning, he made his way down to the on-call room, doing his best not to show his worry for Wooyoung back home too opening.

However upon arrival to the room, he cursed himself for having forgotten that it was shut while maintenance repainted the walls.

Groaning, he turned around, ruffling up his hair as he made his way to another staff room further down from his. His shoes scuffed along the floor as he made his way through the lowly lit hallways, yawning again as he finically made it to the room.

Eyes falling shut already, he opened the door, and was immediately met with a slurping sound, followed by a waff of potent spice.

Eyes fluttering open, he saw a guy sitting cross legged on the couch bent over a cup of spicy ramen, chopsticks up and mouth full of noodles, frozen, looking straight at him. His eyes were wide and unmoving, bright in their surprise, and it was only when he looked into those dark irises that Hongjoong recognised the boy. 'Park Sonsaeng?'

'Mmmh,' Seonghwa replied through a mouthful of food, quickly trying to swallow. He seemed to immediately regret it from heat, but alas, he pushed back the pain. 'I- mmm, so- sowwy...' he forcibly swallowed and stood up very abruptly, bowing respectfully. 'Sorry! I wasn't expecting anyone to come in...'

Hongjoong let out a tired, exhausted exhale as he stumbled inside, letting the door shut behind him. He waved off the boy's respectful bows and gestured for him to sit back down. Inside the room, the only light was that of the moon shining in from outside, and a small golden nightlight that shone out from the corner where you could study if you so chose to. There were two bunk beds, and the one on the bottom of the right bunk looked well used. The others appeared quite bland and empty, and in front of those were the couches that Seonghwa was sitting on. There were desks, shelves full of textbooks on various subjects, and a coat stand, which was where Hongjoong made a v-line straight to.

Peeling his coat off, leaving him in just a set of hospital scrubs with little balloons embroided in the front, Hongjoong then stumbled over towards the beds.

Seonghwa quickly stood up as Hongjoong approached his direction, jumping up to grab a bottle of water off of the coffee table and offering it to him.

Hongjoong, already half asleep and distressed over his family situation, took the bottle, nodding thanks, and took a sip before capping it and putting it back down on the table. He then stumbled over and collapsed onto the other free bottom bunk, kicking off his crocks as he groaned, blissful in the comfort of the softness beneath his tired body.

Seonghwa, unsure of whether he should ignore his elder and keep eating, ask if there was anything he could do for him, or even vacate the room all together, stood, looking quite awkward.

Hongjoong's eyes opened two thirds of a millimeter to see the boy standing, awkwardly in the middle of the room. 'Park Saem,' he groaned, his voice a rumbling deep mess. 'Eat. You might not get a chance later.'

Seonghwa's eyes widened. 'A-ah, y- yes, Kim Sonsaengni-'

'Hongjoong.' He let his eyes fall shut. 'I hate being called formally out of work.' His voice was so slow and low that he wondered whether Seonghwa could even understand what he was saying. 'Call me hyung.'

But alas, he had, and Seonghwa felt himself jolt a little, unsure of how to act. 'O-okay... hyung...' The word felt almost scandalous as it rolled off of his tongue. He'd never called another senior so casually, especially at work, and especially to someone who seemed so... so...

Hongjoong's breath was heavy almost immediately, and as he pulled the pillow over his head, rather than under, his voice drifted softly and sleepily out from underneath it. 'Eat. I'm, just... going........ to...........sl-......ee......'

And just like that, he was out like a light.

Seonghwa wondered just how hard he'd been made to work, for him to fall asleep mid-sentence. He seemed so exhausted and even a little upset as he laid there, and Seonghwa couldn't help but worry. Even the bubbliest personalities of them all got tired, and he wondered whether something had happened to make his perfect beaming smile he'd seen him wear earlier, disappear just like that.

Tip toeing over to the wall, Seonghwa reached down behind the desk and pulled the lamp plug out of the wall, letting darkness encompass them. He then quietly walked over to the bunks and pulled the blanket off of one of the top mattresses. Ever so gently, he spread it out over his senior, who seemed to relax immediately after being covered. It pained Seonghwa to see that even in sleep, Kim Saem still seemed tense and stressed...

Seonghwa returned to his noodles, sitting down on the couch. Finishing up eating as silently as he could, he left the cup on the table before crawling into bed, triple checking that his alarm was on for a couple of hours time, lest he be late again.

But as he tucked himself under the covers, he couldn't help but steal a glance of the redhead opposite him, deep in sleep with a few locks of bright hair escaping out from underneath the pillow. He looked suddenly so young, and no matter how much Seonghwa thought about it, he couldn't get out of his mind just how incredible the doctor was, even deep in sleep beside him.

Wow.

Just wow.

~~~

A/N: second update as promised :) poorly edited/written because I've been writing essays for DAYS now and I'm SICK of editing lol.

Also side note but Bruh, idek how these Wow's keep coming out. I didn't plan for this, lol.