T/W: Discussions of plastic surgery, minor mentions of alcohol and drug use

“Just right through here please, take a seat by the table for now.” Kyungsoo said softly, reaching to grab a fresh pair gloves.

His next patient was sniffling slightly, well, he thought she was. He couldn’t really differentiate between sniffling and attempts to breathe through her nose. When Kyungsoo turned to look at her again, he faked a smile. On the inside he was cringing…

The girl had come in looking like she was dressed in a halloween costume, black eyes and bandages across her face and around her cheeks. Kyungsoo had heard from another member of staff that she was a walk in who had come in complaining of pain and a fever, and Baekhyun had practically screamed at the sight.

“So, your notes say you recently underwent cosmetic rhinoplasty, correct?”

She nodded. The poor thing looked absolutely dishevelled. Cosmetic surgery often took it out of the patients, lethargic, achy and desperate for a soothing bath. Her long, caramel coloured locks were oily and tied up in a messy, knotty bun, and her face was swollen and bruised. She looked like she’d gone three rounds with a boxer, no amount of concealer could cover those black eyes.

“And are you pleased with the results?”

A shrug.

“Have you had a follow up appointment yet?”

She blinked, but it was slow. A quick glance at her notes showed she was on some very strong painkillers. Lovely. “I went on Monday, the doctor said everything looked fine, but he didn’t really listen when I said that there was fluid coming from the stitches.”

Kyungsoo sighed. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Korea was well known for cosmetic procedures, but unfortunately not all the doctors were honest. Kyungsoo had heard it all before, the doctors would ignore signs of infection until they could no longer be held accountable for their sub par hygiene regulations.

“Am I okay to have a little look? I just want to see how your breathing is.”

She nodded, shuffling on the bench. Kyungsoo grabbed some sterile mini forceps and a torch, tilting her head back to see up. He could already see some signs of infection around the stitches, pus and redness. Most likely very uncomfortable.

“Have you been able to breathe through your nose properly, like you could before the surgery?”

Humming, she blinked again. “I’m not too sure, when I lie down I find it harder to take breaths through my nose, but he said it was because there was swelling.”

“Well, yes, some of it would be attributed to swelling but there’s supposed to be cartilage keeping your airways wide enough for you to breathe.”

Looking up, he could see the problem. Slight deviation.

“What doctor did you go to?”

“One in Gangnam, my friend recommended him to me, I have his card if you’d like it?”

He didn’t want to take offence, but part of him felt like she was saying he needed a nose job himself. He smiled, took the card and got ready to clean the stitches. She’d need to be on a strong course of antibiotics to fight off the infection, he didn’t want her to have any further complications, even though she may have just read him…

Whilst he cleaned, he explained that there was a problem with the cartilage causing the breathing problems. She was shocked, but she probably shouldn’t have been, as it turns out she’d paid a very, very low price for the procedure. Doctors that asked for that low an amount probably didn’t know what they were doing, or at least didn’t have a specialty. Kyungsoo had friends who’d had procedures in the past, but they’d done so much research to find the right doctor that their results were perfect and natural looking. Surgery was not something you wanted to do on a budget.

After she was referred to ENT, he stopped at the nurses station. A quick google of the website printed on the card showed the doctor she’d seen, and his supposed ‘portfolio’ of work. He tutted, this guy looked like a total fraud. No one would be able to perform surgery to that level of quality for such a low price. He was in two minds to report him to the board and the police.

“Why are you looking at plastic surgery offices?”

Jumping, Kyungsoo turned around, back to the computer with his eyes wide. Jongin was giving him a puzzled look, but Kyungsoo couldn’t really focus on that. He was looking at Jongin’s glasses. He didn’t even know he wore glasses! He looked so cute-

“Earth to Kyungsoo, you there?” he waved a hand in front of Kyungsoo’s eyes, snapping him out of his daze.

“It’s nothing! Someone came in with an infection post surgery, this was the guy who did it.” he gestured back to the webpage.

“Ah, I see. I thought you were looking for yourself or something…”

“No, no. I- I actually quite like my nose…” Kyungsoo emphasised his point by running a finger down the bridge of his nose.

Jongin laughed. “Me too, it’s cute.”

He didn’t know why, but instinctively he covered his nose, and the lower half of his face as he blushed, making Jongin laugh even more.

“Before you bust a vessel from blushing so hard, do you want to get dinner with me after work tonight?”

Without uncovering his face he nodded, trying to convey a smile with his eyes. It seemed to be a success, but he could never be one-hundred percent sure.

“Perfect, I’ll meet you by my car?” another nod.

After Jongin left, mumbling something about his supervisor getting at him for the amount of time he spent in the ER, Kyungsoo finally uncovered his face, but he couldn’t help but still feel flustered. He had to talk to the pharmacist about getting some antibiotics sorted for his patient, but he couldn’t really focus. Jongin called his nose cute.

“Hey, Sehun! Look! Kyungsoo’s blushing.” Minseok called from the other side of the nurses station, glasses balanced precariously on the end of his nose. Sehun walked behind Minseok, arms full of patient files, giving Kyungsoo a coo before continuing to wherever.

“Shut the up, Minseok, or I’ll tell Luhan you don’t like his cooking.”

Paling, Minseok ducked his head down and carried on typing away, ignoring Kyungsoo’s smug look.

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