two worlds: jaeyong

6

once entering the new space, taeyong could immediately tell that at least the hospital tried to make sure they felt comfortable. the bed frames were so new to the point the foam and wrapping hadn't been taken off. white linen sheets and other bedding materials were also set out, along with extra blankets in case.

"well, at least even though we were forced to come here, our living conditions are acceptable," taeyong says to his group, who just nods to what he says.

"can i take the bed closest to the window?" donghyuck asks his hyungs. he had a habit of staring out into the nighttime sky every night; it was sort of a stress reliever for him.

"sure, and i call the one under the air conditioning," doyoung sticks his tongue at a glaring sicheng.

"i'll take the remaining bed, i really don't have a preference on where i sleep," taeyong let the others choose first. in the end, he had the bed that was closest to the door.

the closets were also something that definitely stood out. well, they don't even know if they consider it a closet. more like a standing cube made of fabric and mosquito netting with a wooden rod. it soon made sense to them why they were only allowed a duffle bag of belongings. there was absolutely no space for the bulky luggage.

"wow, the bathrooms have actual toilets," donghyuck shouted from the area he was inspecting.

"of course there are, what were you expecting?" sicheng could only laugh at the antics of the maknae.

"hey, don't laugh. jaemin told me that when i go to a military base, i would either use a porta-potty or dig a hole in the ground."

"that troublemaker," taeyong rolled his eyes, laughing at the resident's attempt at scaring his friend.

"not related, but did anyone see how jaehyun was staring at taeyong?" doyoung asks out of nowhere and that just made the surgeon's face blush so hard.

"how could we not, he didn't even try to conceal it," sicheng joked along. "not to mention how his ears turned red when taeyong did his little salute."

"hey, hey, don't assume anything," the leader whined. "donghyuck, help me."

"sorry hyung, but i would be lying if i didn't say i ship you two," the resident sheepishly says to his mentor.

"ugh, y'all are impossible," he shakes his head while placing his hands on his cheeks. "anyways, he can't possibly be like that to someone he just met."

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"oh my god johnny, did you not see how beautiful he looked with his hair brushing with the wind," jaehyun ranted to his friend while the two were on their daily inspection of the armory.

"dude, you cannot be this whipped for someone you just met," johnny rolled his eyes at how immature the other was acting. heck, he acted like a 16 year old girl who just found her first love.

"i'm not whipped," jaehyun protested. "just that i find him pretty."

"if you only found him pretty, your ears wouldn't be that red when talking about him," and jaehyun unconsciously touched his ears. "and besides, since when were you so interested in someone?"

he was right. for the whole time he's known jaehyun, he never took him as someone who was interested in crushed or love. not that he didn't care about it, just that it was never a priority for him. while johnny was going on blind dates and gatherings, jaehyun always stayed behind to either study or train.

"since i found someone who is my ideal type," jaehyun stated so seriously that johnny couldn't help but laugh a little.

"bro, you have an ideal type?" johnny couldn't imagine that his uptight friend even thought about this.

"yes, doesn't everyone," he rolls his eyes at his malfunctioning friend, going back to checking the condition of the guns.

"well, let's hear it, mr. whipped."

"one, i'm not whipped. and two, my ideal boyfriend is someone who's pretty and handsome at the same time, dedicated, and witty."

"wow, when did you have the common sense to think about this?"

"yah!"

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taeyong walked around the whole base, trying to get a feel of things. passing through what he assumed to be a training field, he paused when he saw the figures on the grass.

a group of children were sitting in a circle, looking patiently at the figure who was stirring something in a big pot. he then took the plates that already had rice in them and placed what looked to be curry on top, passing it out.

taeyong couldn't help but think he had seen the person somewhere before, but where?

"there, look!"

taeyong looked up and saw that the children had seen him walking, them pointing at him. they all motioned for him to come closer. while walking towards the gorup, taeyong couldn't help but smile when he saw how cute they all looked.

(italicized words are conversations in arabic)

"hello," taeyong waved his hand once he came, being answered with a chorus of hellos by the children. he was mentally cheering that he still remembered to speak arabic after spending some time as a volunteer in the middle east a couple years back.

one of the little girls whispered inside the ears of who appeared to be her sister and pointed at taeyong while doing so. the older girl then turned to taeyong and told him what her sister told her.

"my sister said that you are a pretty person," and taeyong smiled at the complement.

"thank you, and i hope she knows that she's beautiful as well," the little girl blushed at the compliment.

"well, doctor lee, it's been a while," the other adult smiled at the doctor and gave a little salute. "do you remember me?"

"how could i forget you, jungwoo?" taeyong smiled seeing how well his former patient was. "i'm glad to see you back to work."

"thank you! and lucas is here, he wanted to say hi again but he has something going on right now but i'm sure he will see you during dinner."

"don't worry about it. now, would you like to explain what's happening?"

"these are kids who live in a nearby village. they come to the base a lot because we have food and other resources that they don't have. so before meal times, i would cook something in big batches, like curry or soup, and feed the kids before heading to the dining hall," jungwoo smiled at how the kids were eating their food. and taeyong realized just how much they needed the food.

"what happened for them to be so thin like this?" he looked worriedly at jungwoo.

"there was a big civil war and even when it ended, a lot of rebel groups still remained so they will often time take over small villages, like their's, and plummet the few resources they have."

taeyong knew that the situation here was poor but he wasn't expecting it to be like this. then a bell rings, breaking his thoughts and also causing the whole group to stand.

"you all go back to your homes but i put out some bags of extra food just in case close to the oak tree," and the children all cheered while they all ran to the location, shouting thanks in the process.

"well, we should go to dinner as well," jungwoo picked up his large pot and started walking, taeyong jogging to catch up and the two walk side by side to the dining hall.