The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 1

29 🩺 Dinner's Ready Yeah

'Sangieeeee!'

Wooyoung's voice preceded him running down the hallway straight up to the door and almost balling his friend over the moment he stepped in the door. He barely had time to take his shoes off before Wooyoung was dragging him down the hall towards his bedroom, all the while talking a million miles an hour, five tones higher than normal.

'Woo, babe, you're speaking too fast, what the hell are you saying?'

As Yeosang pushed the door open, he saw Hongjoong sitting cross legged on the window seat with golden fairy lights in his hands, untangling knots.

'Joongie Hyung and I have been redecorating. Look!' He flipped the light switch off, and the room became alight with golden light. Across the top of his bead head and along the wall above where his Hyung was sitting, were little fairy lights strung between the hanging plants Wooyoung had in his room.

Yeosang nodded, impressed. 'Wow, Woo. You two have been busy.' He tried hard not to laugh at the smirk Hongjoong gave him as he continued untangling lights.

'Hyung and I did so many things today. Ohmigosh, it was sooo much fun. Although I think I might have broken him. He looks a little like a wind up toy that's run out of wind...'

Yeosang's lips pulled into a wide smile of their own volition. 'You're getting old, Hyung,' he joked as he crossed the room to stand behind Hongjoong and admire his work. 'You're going to sleep well tonight,' he said, reaching down to hold a loop for him while he pulled a long tangle of lights through it.

'Yes, I expect I will probably die.' He leaned back, half against the wall and half against Yeosang's chest and rested his head back, closing his eyes.

Yeosang couldn't help but feel that in that moment, he'd not seen Hongjoong that happy in a very long time... Sure, he was always happy when he was with his patients - especially when they were all smiles and butterflies and giggles. But nothing of that compared with what Yeosang saw now. It was a different kind of happiness. The way his face lit up... it was so heartwarming that it was almost sad to see...

'Did you two have a good day?' Yeosang asked softly, running fingers through the boy's soft red hair.

'Mhm,' he hummed, the way he always did when he was content. 'It was nice.'

'Mm? What did you guys get up to?'

His lips pulled into a smile. 'We slept in, had breakfast, watched a movie, went down to feed the ducks and had a picnic for lunch. And then we kinda just played board games and listened to music for a while. Until Woo wanted to redecorate the apartment.'

Wooyoung came running over and plopped down on the window seat before Hongjoong. 'Hyung even played some guitar again! I listened and it was nice...'

Yeosang raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. 'Oh? I haven't heard you play in ages.'

Wooyoung practically radiated happy vibes. 'It was amazing. Remember how the apartment used to be filled with music all the time in the background?'

Yeosang smiled at the memory. 'Yeah, I think I still have a video somewhere of Hongjoong sleep-playing.' He giggled at the mental image. 'I'm surprised you remember how to play, Hyung. It's been years since I've seen that guitar move from next to the tv cabinet.'

Hongjoong groaned. 'Don't remind me. Today has been full of reminders of how little of a life I have.'

Wooyoung whined. 'That's not true, Hyung! You have plenty of life!'

Hongjoong smiled. 'Is that so?'

'Yes! It is so!'

'Aww,' Yeosang cooed. 'Well this is great that you guys are bonding and all, but Sangie is hungryyyyy. Can we eat now? Pleaseeeee?'

Wooyoung almost bounced up and down in anticipation. 'Hyung and I made a special dinner! You're gunna love it! It's your favourite!'

Yeosang's heart melted, and as Wooyoung stood up and grabbed both his and Hongjoong's hands to drag them away (almost tangling the oldest up in the fairy lights), he realised yet again, how lucky he was to have two such good friends.

'You should have made your favourite, Woo,' Yeosang said as he and Joong were dragged out towards the kitchen.

'No~o~o~o~o~! You were working hard allll day, and we wanted to make you feel better.' He pushed Yeosang down into his usual spot at the dining table and dragged Hongjoong off into the kitchen. 'Right Hyung?'

Hongjoong chuckled as he used a tea towel to bring over a hot pot of stew. 'Yeah Sang, Wooyoung thought you might have felt left out,' he said as he took the food over to the table. He dropped his voice to a whisper. 'He was very distressed,' he added, just for Yeosang's ears only.

Yeosang nodded. Wooyoung did usually become more chatty when he was coming out of his anxiety. In the moment, he would go silent, but afterwards, Woo once explained that the excitement from things turning out okay in the end always made him feel hyperactive.

'Woo hun, come give Sangie a hug so I can thank you for dinner.'

Wooyoung looked up from his task, his eyes wide and innocent. He stood up and walked over, more somber now. Yeosang stood up and opened his arms for the younger, letting him walk in against him. 'I'm glad you guys had fun today. You deserve some time to spend with Joong alone. I know you miss him a lot.'

Wooyoung squeezed harder. 'It would have been better if you were here too though...'

'We have plenty of time for the three of us. But you two also need time to catch up and spend time together by yourselves. So don't feel bad that I was at work. Okay?'

'Okay...'

'Plus, you make it sound like my day was awful! I'll have you know I saw a cute guy drop all of his stuff all over the ground at uni before I came home.'

Wooyoung squealed and suddenly pulled away to stare at Yeosang. 'Tell me more. What kind of cute? Like, sweet cute, or conservative cute?'

'Like, puppy cute. He was adorable. I felt bad for him.'

Bringing the last of the plates and cutlery from the kitchen, Hongjoong interjected. 'Did you help said puppy pick up his stuff? At the very least?'

'Are you kidding me?!' Wooyoung groaned. 'Did you get his number?!'

Yeosang rolled his eyes, sitting down at the table. 'It was more like, admiring from afar. Some teacher went over and helped, and besides, I was in the lot, and he was out the front of the library.'

'That's not that far!' Wooyoung said, as he served Yeosang the first amount of stew.

Yeosang rolled his eyes. 'This was supposed to be a nice way to take your mind off of the negative stuff, and now suddenly I feel attacked,' he joked.

And as the conversation went on, Yeosang couldn't help but look at his brothers, and appreciate the moment in time, the three of them together, happy, a family, once more.

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