nurse's office | minsung ✓

40

Minho wasn't good at talking about himself. He wasn't the kind of person to open up easily—not even to the people closest to him. It was easier to focus on what needed to be done, to drown himself in tasks and goals rather than emotions. It's not that he didn't feel things. He just had a habit of tucking those feelings away, like files on a cluttered desktop, waiting to be sorted but never getting around to it.

His journey as an engineering student hadn't been easy. No one really understood what it took—not the late nights tweaking a formula, the back-to-back meetings with project supervisors, or the endless trial-and-error sessions on problem sets that seemed impossible to solve. He was good at it, though. Really good. Professors and recruiters praised him, calling him a natural. And maybe he was.

But that didn't mean it wasn't exhausting. Success came with pressure. The weight of expectations—professors who anticipated brilliance, classmates who relied on him, and now...Jisung, who needed him more than ever.

He ran a hand through his hair as he stared at his notebook, where half-finished sketches of circuit designs lay scattered. An email from one of his supervisors blinked on his laptop screen, asking him to refine the pitch for their latest project. The same project that had earned him a rare opportunity: the chance to collaborate on a research proposal with one of the country's top engineering firms.

It was a dream come true.

So why did it feel like a burden sometimes?

Minho sighed and closed the laptop. Normally, he would've spent the entire evening working on it—polishing the pitch, reviewing specs, and fixing every tiny flaw. But right now, there was something more important.

Jisung.

The name alone made the tension in Minho's chest loosen just a little. He glanced toward the other room, where his favorite person in the entire world was hunched over a notebook, stubbornly scribbling away at his old notes. The kid never stops, Minho thought fondly. Jisung was many things—dramatic, emotional, impulsive—but he was also fiercely determined. And that determination sometimes burned him out.

Watching Jisung go through the emotional rollercoaster of studying for the bar exam had been...hard. Difficult, dismantling. Minho wanted to do everything he could to help, but there were limits. He couldn't take the exam for him, couldn't study for him. All he could do was be there—offering quiet support, making whatever food he could, and keeping Jisung grounded whenever the anxiety became too much.

And that was fine. If Minho was good at anything, it was being steady when everything else felt chaotic.

The thing about being an engineer, Minho realized, was that you had to find solutions. There was always a way to solve the problem, no matter how complicated. Sometimes, it took time. Sometimes, you had to try a dozen different approaches. But the answer was always there, waiting to be uncovered.

Supporting Jisung felt a lot like engineering. It wasn't easy, but Minho knew he'd figure it out. He had to.

Because at the end of the day, what mattered wasn't the projects, the pitches, or the endless stack of expectations. What mattered was him. Jisung.

Minho stood up from his desk, stretching his arms above his head. He had a million things to do, deadlines breathing down his neck, but tonight, those things could wait.

Jisung needed him. And Minho didn't care if the world had to stop—he'd be there.

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