The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 1

26 🩺 Sad Boiz

San and Mingi walked into the Waru Waru Chicken just after six in the evening. It was already bustling in the restaurant, but just as they started to worry that they wouldn't get a table, they heard a voice call from behind them.

'San! Min-ah! Over here!'

The two turned to see Seonghwa sitting at a booth in the corner, his bag and coat on the other bench to reserve the side.

'Quick, San! Take a photo! Seonghwa's early!' Mingi teased as they walked up and joined their friend.

'Oh shut up. Good thing I was early otherwise we wouldn't have gotten a seat. Now everybody say, thank you Seonghwa.' Seonghwa held a hand behind his ear as he listened.

'Ha. Ha.' San said, rolling his eyes. 'You crave praise too much. Min and I aren't even late. We said six twenty! It's six eleven. We're early too.'

Seonghwa rolled his eyes. 'No appreciation for my hard work I see.' He feigned a saddened sigh. 'It's a cruel, cruel world.'

'God San, just tell the man what he wants to hear,' Mingi joked, pouring each of them water from the flask. 'He's going to sulk all night now.' He giggled before sighing, looking at his friends sitting around him. 'Guys, it's been so long since we all met up together...'

San and Seonghwa nodded sombrely.

'Adulting sucks,' Seonghwa said, nodding as he took a cup of water.

'Yeah but we gotta get used to it now or we'll end up forever lonely, angry old men...'

Just then, San's phone began buzzing in his pocket. 'Hold up,' he said, pulling it out to see the caller ID: Yunho.

'One sec guys,' San said, turning towards the hall to take the call.

'Yun-ah. What's up?'

There was a scuffling on the other end of the phone, and what sounded like the slamming of a door before he heard Yunho take a deep shaky breath. 'San-ah, are you busy? Can we get a drink?'

Glancing at Seonghwa and Mingi, San internally kicked himself. Shit, he thought. 'What happened?'

The shaky breath on the other end of the phone was a dead giveaway of his friend being on the verge of tears. Yunho was definitely not one to cry in front of other people, and so it was like a giant waving his red bedspread in front of San's eyes.

'I can't do it- I- I can't do this anymore- San, shit, I- I'm suffocating, my fucking parents-'

San wanted to strangle those people. Why the fuck would you bring a child into the world, only to fucking neglect and bully them? There was a very good reason he'd only met them once or twice over the years. San kicked himself for not being able to do more to help his friend.

Glancing at the others, San tried to think. 'Yun-ah, one sec.' He put his hand over the microphone and turned to his friends. 'Hey guys, I'm so sorry... Do you mind if I invite my friend...'

'Your middle school friend? Yunho?' Mingi asked, a concerned look on his face.

San winced. 'Yeah... I know you guys don't know him... I just... He's not really doing very well at the moment and I'm worried about him...'

Seonghwa got up from the table and tapped San comfortingly on the shoulder as he stood. 'I'll order another serving of chicken.'

San gave Seonghwa what he thought was probably the most thankful smile he'd ever given him in his life. 'Thank you, guys,' he said softly, looking at Mingi as well.

Raising his phone to his ear, he spoke. 'Yun-ah, you still there?'

'Yeah...'

'Come to Waru Waru chicken. Hwa and Min are here... Is that okay?'

He heard Yunho groan. 'Oh shit, sorry San! I totally forgot that you said you were meeting your friends. Shit, sorr-'

'Yun it's fine. Seonghwa already ordered chicken for you. Come. Please? We can talk after... Okay? Just come. Please?'

Yunho took a deep shaky breath, clearly trying to steady himself. 'San-ah, I know I always said I'd meet your high school friends if you wanted me to, but I don't really think that I'm in the shape to do it tonight...'

San wanted to kick himself. He wanted to go to Yunho, but he also knew that he'd promised for months that he'd be here for this dinner. They'd been reserving this night off for so long... It was rare for them all to be together... He'd come to a Y in the road, and he had no idea what to do...

Mingi snatched the phone from San's ear, spooking him.

'Hello? Yunho? It's Mingi~. Nice to meet you finally, but since I already feel like I know you so well, I'm gunna get straight to the point. Do you know San looks like a sad puppy at the moment?'

San watched Mingi listening on the phone.

Yunho sniffed. 'Hi Mingi. Is he sulking again?'

He chuckled. 'Not yet, but probably in a second. He looks like he's just been given an ultimatum.'

'Ahh... Yeah sorry about that. I forgot you guys were having dinner tonight. Sorry to interrupt.'

'Naw~. San!' Mingi said excitedly, pushing his roommate's shoulder. 'You told him about our dinner! Eek, I'm soft.' He smirked as San cringed and rolled his eyes. 'Yunho, San's morals are too high for him to tell us what goes on in your life other than the fact that you have been in the middle of an existential crisis.'

'Uh, yeah... I suppose you could put it like that...'

'Come have dinner with us. Please? We won't judge you. We are all in the middle of a meltdown of our own at the moment, so we will all have something in common.'

'Mingi...'

'I'm serious! I'm currently about to drown in uni work, Seonghwa's OT mentor is basically a walking, crabby, one dimensional textbook with arms that hates him, and San is about two seconds away from strangling his boss. Come eat dinner with u~u~u~s~. We're all dying in our own ways. Come? Okay? I've been dying to meet you as well.'

He heard a soft, sad laugh through the phone.

'Good! I'll take that as a yes. San! Yunho's coming.'

A soft exhale drifted through the phone. 'Okay. I'll be there... Thank you, Mingi.'

'Welcome~~~ Meet you soon!'

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