A/N: I'm back back back back back again! If you'd like, i've made a writing blog adrenochromewrites where you can check out my other stuff. Thank you for reading! sorry for the lil cliffhanger.

T/W: Mentions of alcohol, injury and homophobic slurs

Jongdae was really beginning to feel like his life was one big comedic tragedy being written by some lonely with no life because it was starting to become ridiculous. First off, as he was gearing up to submit his nursing application for the next school year, one of his references fell through. The first up of the week. Then he found out that the hospital was trying to reduce the number of hours per shift, which subsequently meant he’d be earning less each day. The second up. 

But the ultimate up was seeing that bastard Park Chanyeol standing at the reception desk, making Baekhyun laugh.

He’d come in late, his sleep that night had been awful, so he already knew the day was going to be bad. But honestly he didn’t think it would get this bad in a span of a couple of hours, once again, he was proven wrong. 

After throwing his stuff into his locker, which earned a certain look from Sehun who was just about to go off shift, he trudged to the desk. Chanyeol had gone, finally, so he took his seat silently, normally he’d say ‘good morning’ but Baekhyun wasn’t even paying attention and to be honest, he wasn’t even in the mood.

The whole shift was probably one of the most awkward he’d ever done, even beating his first ever shift where he didn’t actually know what he was doing. His interactions with people were off, he was forgetting protocols and important logins. Baekhyun didn’t really even notice, because he was too busy gushing about what it was like when he went for coffee with Chanyeol. Shocker.

He’d never once cared about Baekhyun going out and dating, having a good time because he never actually saw it. But now he was ing around with someone who worked in the same hospital, the same department, it was like torture. He hated Park Chanyeol. He hated that he knew so much about him because of Baekhyun. He hated how he seemed so nice. He hated everything.

Finishing his shift, he did his usual, stood in the smoking area while he thought about what he was going to try to do for the rest of the day to numb his brain. Cooking was just out of the question, he had some expensive ramen which would be his gourmet cuisine for the evening. His TV did some weird static whenever he switched it to the only channel with decent shows on, and he actually ran out of beer and vodka two days ago. He was stumped.

His phone buzzed; a WhatsApp message from Sehun.

‘Drink??’

Well, he didn’t have to ask twice.

Sometimes some of the people who worked in the emergency department would meet up, always at the same bar, the one with the cheapest drinks. Of course, it was difficult to get a big group together, because it was next to impossible for everyone to be off work at the same time. Comes with the job title. Jongdae wasn’t going to complain though, he preferred there to be a smaller group of people, he didn’t want everyone to know how much of a mess he was.

The bar was dinky, run down and had the faintest smell of stale beer. But they had some cool 50’s and 60’s jukeboxes and a pool table, which was enough to keep them all distracted from the stench and generally poor decor. He couldn’t drink a lot, he was supposed to be driving, and he wasn’t about to be paying for a parking ticket from the city council for leaving his car overnight (again). One beer was enough.

Sehun was seated in a booth near the bar, looking half asleep as he scrolled on his phone. When Jongdae sat in front of him, Sehun wordlessly pushed a beer bottle to him. Half of Jongdae’s brain wondered how bad he looked to get a free beer, but the other half was just happy he got a free, ice cold drink.

“So, what’s up?” Sehun asked, delicately placing his phone face down onto the table. Jongdae took a swig.

Where did he even start?

Picking at the bottle label, he sighed. “There’s just a lot happening and I don’t know how to deal with it rationally.”

“Elaborate.”

“I’ve spent the last five years working to save up for nursing school, I have the qualifications to get in, I just needed the money. But recently I’ve just been thinking maybe I’m not cut out for it after all,” It was like word vomit, once he started he couldn’t stop. “And to make it worse, the person I’ve been trying to build the courage to ask out is now with someone else, all because my was too chicken to say anything before.”

As if he was processing what Jongdae had just said, Sehun sat in silence, pursing his lips together. Humming, he took a swig of his own beer. “Well, to start, I know for a fact that you can finish nursing school, especially if you’ve been saving for this long. It shows you have the drive and determination if anything.”

Jongdae supposed he was right, if he’d saved up as much as he had and given up, it would have made everything pointless. He knew it was his true passion, he wasn’t the type to be a receptionist forever. Not that he had anything against people who were, it just what his heart was in. Plus the psychological strain was slowly but surely shortening his lifespan.

“And second, I don’t really know how to help you there I’m not exactly experienced in that field.” He continued gloomily. 

“Useful, thank you.”

“I try.”

Weighing up the pros and cons, Jongdae decided against revealing the name of his crush. He wasn’t sure what Sehun would do with the information, and it was better to be safe than sorry, especially with matters of the heart. Though part of him wished he could open up to someone, as he knew he would feel better if he just told someone how he truly felt. Keeping things bottled up the way he was doing wasn’t benefiting him in the slightest.

Sehun hummed once more. “Honestly though, the second point… if you really like this person, you just want them to be happy, right?”

Jongdae nodded vigorously. 

“Then I guess… you just have to let them be happy with the one they choose to make them happy? If that makes sense.”

It did make sense, and Jongdae already knew this. But part of him didn't want Baekhyun to be happy with someone else, he wanted to be the reason for Baekhyun’s happiness, not stupid ing Park Chanyeol.

He knew he could do better.

He stared down at the table gloomily, fiddling with the half empty beer bottle. “Yeah.” The sadness in his voice was palpable. 

The junior doctor could see it, and he looked panicked. Jongdae presumed that the whole reason Sehun had asked him to come to the bar was to try to cheer him up, but so far all he’d done was give him hard pills to swallow.

Laughing nervously, he slapped at Jongdae’s hand. “But I mean there’s always another option!”

He didn’t even look up, just half rolled his eyes. “Like what?”

“You can make them jealous, you know, show them what they’re missing and all that.”

A light bulb slowly flickered on in Jongdae’s head.

Meeting Sehun’s eyes, he gave him a suspicious look. “Explain.” 

“It’s simple. I mean, you’re a handsome guy, no homo-” 

“Sehun, you’re literally biual.”

“That’s not the point, my point is, start looking after yourself, get yourself on the right road and refresh your look then you’ll become irresistible. You’ve got to make them think that they made the wrong choice.” 

Jongdae nodded, before scowling. “What’s wrong with my haircut?”

Sehun fixed him with a look of pure annoyance. “Jongdae, be honest, when was the last time you got a haircut?”

Truthfully, he hadn’t actually paid for a haircut in over a year, he’d been doing it himself the last few months too. Barbers in Seoul cost a lot, you know? “I see your point.”

“I’ll help you if you want.”

Jongdae contemplated it, Sehun seemed relatively fashionable with his smart shirts and sweaters. His hair was okay, not really Jongdae’s type but he could definitely pass as a model. Nodding, he made a mental note to try to find a decent