Give Me || Suga FanFic

One.

Rae's breath escaped in misty puffs, lingering in the frigid winter air as she allowed herself to simply breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

She relished the short minutes with her blue medical mask tucked beneath her chin, while admiring the quietness of Seoul. The city was a peaceful phenomenon at the moment. With the pandemic having hit months before, the whole world had been at a near standstill.

Things were slowly improving, and that did make her hopeful, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't dreading the return to real-paced life again. Rae had found she preferred the slow quietness compared to fast paced chaos that her life had once been.

Rae's brother would often call and report how the world was returning back to normalcy in Stevensville, Montana, their hometown in the states. He would poke fun at the fact that South Korea was so advanced yet still under such a tight lockdown. Rae would quickly remind him that a town of 2,000 people compared to 9.7 million would evoke quite different COVID-19 requirements.

"Rae!" Ji-Sun's happy tone rang in her ears.

"Ji-Sun," Rae nodded to her, closing her eyes and tilting her head towards the small rays of warmth emitted from the faraway sun, trying to focus on that instead of the crunching of the frozen snow beneath her white tennis shoes.

"You need to be an example, Rae, put your mask back on," Ji-Sun said jokingly, her voice impersonating Chang-Woo, pulling Rae's mask haphazardly over her nose. Rae giggled at her attempt to mock their district manager.

Ji-Sun continued her dramatization, shaking her head in disapproval, her high ponytail almost whipping into Rae's face. "Even though you wear this, literally all day, you are not entitled to a two-minute break. We are the role models, we are the experts. If we don't respect the rules, how do we expect others to?" Ji-Sun's voice deepened as she did her best to wrap up her show.

Rae raised her eyebrows. "Are you done?"

Ji-Sun smirked. "Did it sound like him?"

Rae chuckled. "The similarity was uncanny," she confirmed as she rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm them from the cold. Even with her scrub jacket on, the cold found its way to her bones. She knew she would only last a few minutes, but she was determined to enjoy every single second she could.

Ji-Sun sighed beside her. "Well, I have had my fill of fresh air for the day! Enjoy freezing your butt off, while I go buy a hot cup of coffee. Want anything?"

"Herbal tea, please, with sugar," Rae submitted her request.

Ji-Sun gave her a thumbs-up as she turned around to go back down the stairs. "You got it. I will see you at work!"

Ji-Sun and Rae had been friends for almost two years, having met during their final year of nursing school at Yonsei University while doing clinical rotations. Rae, a foreign exchange student in her fourth year of nursing school, felt like a fish out of water, navigating the challenges of learning Korean and adapting to life in Seoul. Ji-Sun, with her impeccable English and outgoing personality, had taken Rae under her wing, making the overwhelming city feel like home.

After graduation, both Ji-Sun and Rae were offered positions as travel home nurses in Seoul. While the job was decent, it was primarily the promise of good pay that persuaded them to accept. They made the decision to share an apartment, and since then, they had been inseparable.

Rae enjoyed the cold sunshine a few minutes longer before heading down the stairs to her well-used 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe, her most prized possession since arriving in Korea. The engine barely sputtered to life as she turned the key in the ignition, and she made her way to work.