The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 2

302 🩺 Visiting The Library

Yunho had been incredibly tired after his last night shift in a row. He hadn't even trusted himself to drive to uni after his shift, and he'd just about immediately fallen asleep on his desk in the ethics hall.

But the instant the faint sound of movement beside him drew him from his sleep, and Mingi's gentle voice whispered 'get some more sleep~' he was wide awake...

Okay, so maybe once his initial jitters subsided, he had fallen asleep soundly with his head on his desk, resting against Mingi's arm... but once two hours of lectures had passed, and Mingi had woken him for question time, he'd been wide awake once more.

Especially, as they filed out of the hall, and fell awkwardly into step in a random direction neither of them had seemed to have picked...

Yunho's stomach was filled with butterflies for some reason, and as they walked and their elbows occasionally brushed, he felt like a brand new eruption of butterflies would explode each and every time. Despite the cold, his skin was feverish, and as he kept trying to open his mouth to speak, no words surfaced...

'So... library?' Mingi finally asked, looking up at him.

Yunho cleared his throat and nodded - albeit a little too aggressively.

And so almost comically, the two had to take a sharp turn to head in the direction of the main library. It had been embarrassing, but Yunho quickly came to realise that he didn't care, so long as he was still getting to walk with him, and be with him...

His heart felt tight in his chest, and his pulse was brisk, to say the least... But inside him, he couldn't deny he felt incredibly relieved... He had missed this... Badly...

And even if they were shrouded in awkward silence, it didn't matter.

He felt happy.

And in that moment, that was far more important to him.

~~~

Walking up the stairs into the library, as Yunho had gone to walk towards the study area, Mingi suddenly put his hand on the inside of his elbow, catching his attention.

'Come this way,' he whispered, leading him off in a completely different direction.

Yunho frowned, looking around in confusion, but letting himself be dragged off anyway. 'Where are we going?' he asked under his breath, conscious of the noise restrictions.

Corralling him around a corner, Mingi led him to a staircase he'd never actually seen before. 'I found another part of the library,' Mingi said softly, as they climbed the staircase side by side with his hand still resting on his elbow...

Yunho felt his heart flutter, unable to help his skin from burning. But alas, he tried to remain normal. And so looking around, he realised they were heading into an older part of the library - a quieter one, at that.

Mingi smiled as they reached the top of the stairs and he gazed around at the old bookshelves - rows and rows that extended all the way back into the building. 'There's a small medical section near the back, but there's no tables... I kind of prefer it here though... Less distractions...'

And Yunho knew exactly what he was talking about: The scratch of pencils, the tapping of keyboards, the turn of pages, the footsteps of people passing by, sneezes, coughs, groans...

Here, the stillness, was a welcome bliss.

Being led back into the stacks, he couldn't help but stare at the multitudes of books on the shelves... He'd always loved reading, but had only ever been given medical books to read.

Walking through these stacks though... there were just so many sections, and he couldn't help but wonder what was hiding behind the covers in the literature section, or in the fiction section...

Mingi suddenly pulled them out of the aisle, a few shelves before the end of the room, and as he did, Yunho saw a small hand written sign that read medicine and veterinary science.

They ventured about halfway down the stack before Mingi finally - and regretfully - let go of his arm and put his bag on the ground. 'I might go find our textbooks,' he said gently...

And without even thinking, Yunho suddenly looked up and said 'I can help.'

Mingi's dark eyes rested on him for a moment, before he nodded, smiling a little. 'Okay... How about I look for law, and you look for ethics?'

Trying hard not to be distracted by looking at him, he nodded, feeling a little like an idiot as he did.

And apparently Mingi found his behaviours comical too, as suddenly, his lips pulled into a stifled smirk. He nodded, before backing away a little and then finally disappearing around the end of the stack, out of sight.

Yunho's lungs suddenly screamed for air. Whether it was because he was significantly sleep deprived, or because he was just giddy with the fact that for the first time in literally months, they were spending time together again... he felt over the moon...

But with the joy, came something else...

Glancing down at his elbow, he couldn't believe that his skin was still tingling where Mingi's hand had been. It made him feel even more jittery, and somehow, it had his mind wandering to the night back in his kitchen...

He had been so incredibly jittery, then, too...

At the time, it had been nauseating, it was so strong. He had wondered whether that had been a bad thing...

But now, feeling just a hint of that tingly feeling in his stomach... He was starting to almost crave it...

Shaking his thoughts from his head, he focussed on the task at hand - book hunting.

At least that was something he knew how to do.

But after a few minutes, the moment he had found the book he was looking for and half pulled it from it's spot, he caught a glimpse through the shelf...

And seeing Mingi on the other side, he froze mid-movement.

Mingi hadn't noticed yet, and it felt kind of strange to look upon him without his knowledge.

But Yunho just couldn't take his eyes from him.

Dazed, only one word came to mind.

Beautiful.

His soft skin, dark eyes, and crimson lips...

Yunho shoved the book back into the shelf and made his way around to his side, unable to hold himself back.

And as Mingi glanced up in surprise, his cherry red lips parted in surprise.

'Yun-ah,' he whispered.

~~~