The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 2

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Sitting on a bench in the locker rooms, Mingi leant his head against the wall and closed his eyes. Tired, but emotionally moved from a particularly heartwarming shift, he took a deep breath, smiling softly to himself.

Thoughts flooded his mind of the miraculous recovery of a six year old boy, beating his cancer. It once more reminded him of why he loved medicine, and pushed himself so hard in pursuit of it.

No matter how hard things got, seeing those happy moments... it was all worth it. Every minute of the stress, and every minute of the tiredness.

Smiling against the wall, he rested with his ankles crossed and his hands in his lap, feeling warm and bubbly inside - something he hadn't felt in what seemed like a lifetime...

And then the door pushed open.

Stirring from his daze, he opened his eyes...

And his heart suddenly leapt up into his throat as he saw Yunho walk into the locker room, still unaware of his presence...

Or at least until he was midway through pulling his scrub top off, his midriff clearly showing, and Mingi suddenly choked.

Turning around, Yunho's eyes fell upon him with a surprised jolt, and Mingi's breath caught as his lips fell apart.

'Min-ah...?' he breathed, glancing around and seeing that they were alone. He pulled his shirt back on, staring at him. 'Why are you sitting in the corner?'

Mingi swallowed back the sudden flutter of his heart and took an unsteady breath, feeling suddenly very small sitting there looking up at him... 'I just finished work...'

Yunho nodded. Seeming to only think for a few moments, he suddenly walked up to him and sat down beside him; something that made Mingi's heart suddenly leap with butterflies.

But sitting side by side, he didn't even need to look at Yunho to know he was staring at him with that emotion filled expression he'd been using of late... The one that seemed like he thought he would never get to look at him ever again.

He could feel the tension in the air, and he could see how rigid the boy was with awe.

'Yunho, why do you keep looking at me like that?'

He seemed to falter for a moment, glancing down at Mingi's hands in his lap, before looking back up again. 'Because I don't see you much... And-... and I feel like when I do, that I have to somehow make up for all the time I couldn't see you...'

Mingi's breath caught in his throat and his heart leapt into his throat. Biting into his lip a little, he could barely believe how straightforward he'd been.

But his eyes were still locked on him, and Mingi could barely take it. 'Does that mean if you saw me more often, you would stop looking at me so intensely?'

He braved a glance up for a moment, to find Yunho's lips falling apart a little.

'I don't think I should answer that.'

Mingi almost let out a breath in amused shock. He hadn't expected that. 'Why?'

He shrugged, licking his lip a little casually. 'Because it kind of feels like a trick question. If I say no, then you'll keep avoiding me, and if I say yes, you'll give me hope, and then might pull away altogether instead.'

Mingi stared at him for a long few moments, before a small smile grew on his lips. That was the Yunho he recognised... The witty one who wasn't so strictly emotionally confused, and spoke his mind in a way that made Mingi feel safe to laugh.