The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 1

162 🩺 I'm Srsly Running Out Of Title Ideas

Rubbing a towel against his head, Mingi walked down the hallway to the living room to find San and Seonghwa sitting at the table.

'Oh, Hwa~' Mingi breathed, causing the two to turn around. 'I thought you had a date?'

'Ya! How could you not tell me that you and Yunho weren't talking?!' Seonghwa stood up and walked over, taking him by the shoulders.

'Aww Hyung~, calm down, I'm okay~. Which is besides the point, how did your date go?! I could barely believe my ears when San told me you finally asked him out.' Mingi gave him a smile, but he could see that Seonghwa wasn't done.

'Ya, Song Mingi. You should have told me! I would have come straight over!'

Mingi rolled his eyes. 'Hwa, you're too dramatic for your own good.' Shaking him off, Mingi dragged him over to the table, chuckling a little as he saw the amused look on San's face.

Forcing Seonghwa into his seat, Mingi sat down beside him and picked up a piece of fruit from the bowl in the middle of the table.

'Min-ah... Are you sure you're okay?'

Mingi brushed it off, rotating the apple in his hands. 'Hyung, I'm okay. I'm even going back to work tomorrow. You don't have to worry.' He reached over and patted him on the shoulder. 'I asked to move departments, and they put me in Gynaecology. How's that for funny?'

Seonghwa rolled his eyes. 'Stop trying to change the subject. You-'

Mingi gave him a small smile, swallowing back the pain overflowing from his chest. 'Hwa. It's not the end of the world. Time ticks on, Hun.' Mingi gazed down at the apple for a moment before putting it back in the basket.

'Are you really going to go back to the hospital tomorrow?'

Nodding slowly, Mingi bit lightly into the inside of his cheek. 'Mmm.'

A silence fell over the table, filled only by that of the crickets outside, the electric rumble of the fridge in the background and the extremely slow ticks of the clock that was hours out of time with drawn out seconds longer than the norm.

Seonghwa's unsure, shaky voice brought Mingi from his thoughts of whether going back was really a good idea... 'I-I don't know if I should say this... But... I- uh, I think... I think Yunho was asking about you...'

The ache in Mingi's chest throbbed for a second with the reminder of his kindness, and how that kindness wasn't attached to someone who would ever feel the same way he did.

'What do you mean?' San asked softly. 'Asking? Asking who what?'

Seonghwa glanced at Mingi, as though to judge whether or not he should say any more.

'Hwa I'm fine.'

'W-well... it's kind of a grape vine... but apparently Yunho asked his student, Jongho if Yeosang had heard from you, and Yeosang asked Hongjoong if he knew anything, and that's how I found out...'

Mingi sighed. 'Yunho isn't cruel. He didn't do this on purpose, it just makes him uncomfortable. I can understand him entirely.'

'Min that doesn't mean that you're not hurting.'

'Hwa it's really, honestly fine. You're making this out to be so much more than it is. I literally only just realised how I felt, and it's not like I even felt that strongly for him. We're not in high school anymore. I've had my first heartbreak. This is a piece of cake~.'

He gave his friend a wide smile, reaching out his hand and resting it on Hwa's forearm. 'Which is besides the point. This is twice now you've avoided talking about your date. Spill. San and I were making bets on what would happen, so you can't leave anything out. Okay? We have chores and who is cooking dinner for two weeks at stake.'

That was what he said, and he smiled when Seonghwa finally relaxed, trusting his words, but as Mingi glanced at San, he felt his heart pull.

San's expression showed understanding, but also concern, and Mingi appreciated that he hadn't spoken up about just how pained he felt. The truth was, he just didn't want to talk about it. Full stop. And as much as he loved having Hwa come over to talk, he just didn't want to talk about that.

And so as the conversation finally changed, Mingi felt himself relax, all the while hoping that it would provide just enough of a distraction, to get himself through tomorrow, and each day after that.

~~~

A/N: it takes me longer to find the fking scene photo than to re-read over the chapters, fml