“Good evening, Jeonghan.”

“Good evening, Doc. Long day?”

“It could’ve been longer.” Seungcheol grinned at Jeonghan before raising his cup of coffee in cheers before walking away, his other hand tucked in the pocket of his white doctor’s coat.

Choi Seungcheol, heart surgeon, all around nice guy and Yoon Jeonghan’s long time crush. The other nurses called him out on it, and he hated them for it, but it really couldn’t be helped.

-

“He likes cats, he’s good with kids, he cooks and he’s hot. Jisoo, I don’t think you understand just how perfect he is?” Jisoo picked at it his yogurt before raising a brow. “He’s also eight years older than us, drives a Bentley and most probably has a boyfriend. Face it, Jeonghan, your Grey’s Anatomy fantasy isn’t going to play out as well as you’ve planned. Not only is he way out of your league-” Jeonghan scowled at this “- but he’s also off the market.” Jisoo glanced at his watch before chugging down his yogurt and smiling cheekily at his best friend. “Duty calls! Don’t feel bad, Meredith Grey!” Jisoo patted Jeonghan’s shoulder in farewell before making his way out of their cafeteria. Jeonghan pouted as he watched his best friend leave, only to yell out in response:

“Dr. McDreamy had a wife all throughout season one and just look who he ended up with!”

-

It was a bit sad, he wasn’t so proud to admit, but Dr. Choi was just so goddamn good looking, it was too much of a distraction. He had been helping out Mingyu, one of their anesthesiologists, with a patient, only to realize that he had been staring at the surgeon just outside the patient’s room, so much so that the old lady on the bed decided to give her two cents worth.

“He’s quite handsome. If you aren’t going to put my IV in, you might as well go talk to him.” Jeonghan was pretty sure Mingyu wouldn’t let him live this down for a long time.

-

The day Jeonghan’s heart broke was the day Seungcheol’s boyfriend visited him at work. He was small and cute and honestly they looked really good together. One of their med technicians informed him that his name was Jihoon and that he was a music producer. Of course he was a music producer. He just had to be equally good looking and equally successful. Because that was always fair.

“Well, I did warn you.” Jisoo said pointedly, poking his straw into his bubble tea. Jeonghan let out a sad whine, burying his head deeper into his arms as he lamented on his now broken dreams of him and Dr. McDreamy.

“Hey, look at it this way, Meredith Grey had a pining stage too!”

“ you, Hong.”

-

“Good afternoon, Doc.”

“Good afternoon, Jeonghan. Long day?”

“It’s about to get longer.” Seungcheol smiled at Jeonghan’s reply before taking a sip of his coffee. Black, no sugar, no creamer. God, even his choice in coffee was y. Jeonghan swallowed thickly before clearing his throat and forcing a tight smile.

“You know, you… ahem… You should really have something besides coffee.” Jeonghan wanted to hit himself the second those words left his mouth. He cleared his throat again and was just about to apologize till Seungcheol let out a small laugh, running his hands through his hair.

“I really should. Jihoon’s been telling me the same thing.”

Jeonghan’s heart cracked again. “Ah, yeah. Your boyfriend right?” Jeonghan hated how bitter he sounded. He tried to hide it, really he did, but the bitterness was there, and he wanted the earth to just swallow him up and never spit him out.

Seungcheol furrowed his brows in confusion, tilting his head to the side, only to allow the realization to flood through him, his mouth opening slightly before a slow smile spread across his face.

“Boyfriend?” He repeated before shaking his head and downing his coffee, chucking the paper cup into the bin with a grin. “Jihoon isn’t my boyfriend.” Jeonghan watched as Seungcheol gathered his things, only to have him smile that smile that had Jeonghan weak in the knees.

“I’m very much single actually. Just thought I’d let you know.” He winked at Jeonghan playfully before turning around and walking away.

Jeonghan was pretty sure his face was on fire.

-

“That has to mean something, right?” Jisoo looked at his taco thoughtfully before picking it up and taking a bite. “Listen, you might as well just ask him out. If he’s single, then there shouldn’t be anything stopping you.” Jisoo said, a piece of lettuce hanging out of his mouth as he watched his friend munch unhappily on his banana.

“Weren’t you the one who told me that he was out of my league?”

“Yes, but I’m also the one who has to listen to your pining every day. Just ask him out and see what happens!”

Jeonghan pouted before nodding his head and taking a large chomp out of his banana.

Tomorrow. He was going to ask Dr. McDreamy out tomorrow.

-

His plans for tomorrow didn’t follow through. None of his plans ever really did, he really should have expected it. The hospital was in full battle mode and his scrubs were already stained with blood and sweat.

“We need more morphine! More morphine, now!”

It was absolute chaos. There had been a huge accident just a few miles from the hospital, a bus and several cars were involved, all just colliding together like toys, slipping and sliding across the icy roads of Seoul’s winter.

“We’re losing her! Charge it to a hundred, give her all we’ve got!”

They were rolling patients in one after the other and people were barking orders left and right. Everything all just seemed to blur together and Jeonghan felt as if he were on auto-pilot, navigating his way through the ER, patching up people and trying to ignore the pangs in his heart at the sound of their pain.

“We need a surgeon! We need a surgeon right now!”

“Someone get Dr. Choi!” Jeonghan yelled back, eyes focused on patching up a child’s leg. “I’m so sorry, sweetie, I’m almost finished.” Jeonghan cooed as the young girl continued to cry, the fat tears dripping down her cheeks.

“We need a surgeon! Right now!”

“Where the  is Seungcheol?” Jeonghan was about to respond once again with a request for the doctor, only to feel a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find Jisoo by his side, eyes wide with concern and mouth open slightly.

“Han… It’s Seungcheol. He’s one of the victims.”

The ringing in his ears nd the muffled silence he had experienced was terrifying, but not as terrifying as the sight of Choi Seungcheol on the operating table with his eyes closed and his body unmoving.

-

Jeonghan probably shouldn’t be visiting so often. He really had no reason to. But there he was, fussing over his vitals and making sure that everything was as it should be.

He has come to terms with the fact that he was indeed pathetically infatuated with Choi Seungcheol.

“You know, you really ought to stop fussing and sit down so that I can properly ask you out.”

Jeonghan swore he jumped about 4 inches high. He swiveled around quickly, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of Seungcheol, eyes half-open and smile tired but still as perfect and as knee-buckling as ever.

“I was hoping to beat you to the punch, but it seems things never go according to plan.” Jeonghan managed to say before seating himself down on the chair by Seungcheol’s bed. He looked at the older’s outstretched hand before resting his own against it, tangling their fingers together for the first time (yet it was as if they’ve done it a million times before).

“Good morning, Doc.”

“Good morning, Jeonghan.”

“Long day?”

“Not when you’re around.”

---