take me back to the start.

“Ahjussi,” Kyungsoo enunciates the word as clearly as possible, a small smile curving up his lips, “I’m going to prescribe you antibiotics okay? Make sure you take them after breakfast and after you eat your dinner. And please don’t skip meals again; I’m sure you don’t want your wife worrying about you all the time.”

The hospital was busy, as usual. Doctors and nurses constantly jogging across the hallways and the number of patients entering the building was no joke; but Kyungsoo was more than glad to help the people in need.

The old man laughs but nods nevertheless at the doctor’s repeating orders. “Alright, alright Dr. Do, I sure will.”

Kyungsoo mumbles an ‘okay then’, hanging his stethoscope across his shoulders before scribbling down notes on the patient’s record. “And Ahjussi, please come back to the hospital if ever your cough comes back again, it’s better if you come here earlier before it gets worse.”

His patient stands up from the bed and Kyungsoo immediately reaches his hand out to assist the elder.

“Thank you so much, doctor, I wouldn’t even hesitate coming back here if all doctors here treat me kindly and respectfully like you do.” He chuckles and Kyungsoo nearly stumbles at the complement, “O-oh no don’t mention it, Mr. Joo,” he stutters before he feels his phone vibrating from his coat pocket. He bows towards his patient.“I’ll see you around!”

He watches the old man walk away and disappear among the small crowd of people gathering inside the emergency room before picking his phone up. “Yes?”

“Dr. Do! Dr. Oh Sehun needs you right now at OR 5; patient with serious aortic dissection.”

“I’ll be right there.” He replies quickly, eyes widened in alarm before rushing to the stairs with his white coat fanning out behind him.

“Please finish suturing this up for me, Dr. Ji.” Kyungsoo hands the instrument to the doctor beside him. He takes his surgical mask and gown off before stepping out of the operating room to find Sehun bent down in the waiting area.

“Sehun,” Kyungsoo calls and the other surgeon’s head snaps up. “How did the surgery go? Is the patient okay?” His voice was laced with worry and Kyungsoo quickly shakes his head. “No no, the surgery was fine. The patient’s already stable but his condition sure got worse. Good thing we got to perform surgery earlier.”

The younger sighs in relief before pursing his lips. “I’m so sorry Kyungsoo, I just wasn’t feeling well and all of a sudden the patient had an attack and I just had to—“

“Hey,” Kyungsoo stops him. “Don’t worry about it, I was free anyways and I had nothing more to do but check my records. Good thing you got someone to call me right away before it could have gotten real bad.”

Sehun nods but the frown was still apparent.

Kyungsoo sits beside him on the bench. “Besides, you weren’t feeling well. It’s a big reason for you not being able to endure the whole surgery so I assure you, it’s fine and I swear you wouldn’t get reprimanded.”

Oh Sehun used to go to med school with Kyungsoo at the same university and both had their internship at the same hospital too, only Sehun was a year younger than he was.

“Well then, I guess you’re right.” Sehun sighs. “I knew I should’ve taken a leave since this morning, but I’m feeling quite alright now after taking my meds.”

Kyungsoo opens his mouth to respond only to be interrupted by soft whistling.

“Afternoon guys,” Luhan greets as he grabs a nearby stool and situates himself across the two doctors, handing both each a can of orange soda.

“Dr. Do, the Director wants you to come to his office tomorrow by noon. He only mentioned that it’s for something important though,” he informs. “I think it’s a board meeting.”

“That’s pretty rare. I wonder what for.” Kyungsoo shrugs and thanks Luhan when he notices the latter looking up at the surgeon. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head with a small laugh escaping his lips.

“You look gloomy. Is there anything wrong?” Luhan quips.

“I’m just feeling a little tired, that’s all.” Sehun replies before unlocking the soda tab and Kyungsoo snorts at that. “He’s sick.”

Luhan almost chokes at his drink, coughing a few times before reaching his free hand to touch the younger’s forehead. He waits for a few seconds when he starts to feel heat under his palm. “You are sick,” he deadpans. “Why aren’t you home? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“If I did that I’d miss a lot of work.” Sehun puts the elder doctor’s hand down. “And, I’m feeling cool now so there’s no need to worry.”

“Use your head, Oh Sehun, use that big brain of yours.” Luhan rolls his eyes, gently flicking the said doctor’s forehead. “You’re just going to infect people with the possible diseases you have. As a doctor, shouldn’t you consider your patients’ health conditions first?”

Sehun opens his mouth for a millisecond before closing them shut again.

“Luhan’s right, you really should stay at home. Staying in the hospital isn’t good for you either.” Kyungsoo adds.

The surgeon nods his head anyway and tosses his empty can to the trash bin in the corner of the waiting area before flicking Luhan’s forehead back in return.“I was about to go home okay, there’s no need for you to lecture.”

“I wasn’t lecturing. I was just stating a fact,” the head nurse retorts, rubbing the knocked area on top of his eyebrows. “And hitting me wasn’t nice.”

“You hit me on the forehead a lot, just making things a whole lot clear.”

“I only hit you like ten times my whole life! And it’s not like I’m beating you up. ”

“Apparently that’s still hitting. Use that big brain of yours.”

Sometimes, Kyungsoo wonders to himself when oblivious people like these two would be able to distinguish their true feelings for each other.

“Both of you don’t chase each other in the hallway! This is a hospital for Pete’s sake.”

It was another beautiful Monday morning; just another typical at the hospital and Do Kyungsoo starts his day with his daily rounds, checking up the current conditions of all his patients with and a few interns and nurses tottering behind him.

“Please check on his blood pressure and oxygen saturation every hour, Dr. Han.” Kyungsoo says as he adjusts the IV fluids attached on the patient before scrawling on his clipboard, “and please contact his guardians right away.”

“I understand, Dr. Do,” the intern says as he bows and scurries away to do what he was instructed by his senior.

Kyungsoo turns around when a nurse approaches him. “Good morning Dr. Do, there’s a patient waiting for you downstairs,” she says “he says he’s been having chest pains since last week and uh, he personally requested for you to check him up.”

The doctor was taken aback at this, “Did he say the reason why he personally requested for a specific doctor? Is he a VIP then?”

She shrugs, “I told him you were on your rounds but he insisted on waiting. He didn’t say anything else though, even his name.”

A dozen of familiar people flash through Kyungsoo’s mind and  he wonders why this person  specially chose him. There were lots of doctors in this hospital who were way better than him so what exactly does this person need?

“Dr. Do, are you going to examine the patient or should I call Dr. Oh Sehun instead?”

“Oh there’s no need for that, I’ll attend to him right away.” Kyungsoo shakes his head and follows the nurse to the emergency room, still confused in thought.

Dr. Do Kyungsoo will now check you up sir, and uh if you wouldn’t mind please take off your cap, it’d be more comfortable and convenient.”

Kyungsoo was led to the ER where he found a young man, seated in the bed with his back slouched and a red cap covering the upper half of his face and Kyungsoo wanted to peek so badly already.

The patient still stays silent and doesn’t remove his head piece. Kyungsoo turns to the nurse, “Please give us a minute, I’ll call you if I need your assistance,” he smiles at her and she bows thoughtfully before making her way back to help other patients.

The doctor keeps his distance. “So,” he clears his throat, “You mentioned that you’ve been experiencing chest pains for a week now?”

The patient nods his head and Kyungsoo smiles at the improvement of patient- doctor interaction. “Is it okay if I check you up then?” he brings his stethoscope up and the young man removes the first two top buttons of his button up shirt.

Kyungsoo’s jaws almost drop (but he closes them quickly) because the neckline looked a lot familiar and it brought back really weird thoughts into his mind. He ignores this and assumes it was just his eyes doing dangerous things to his sight.

He puts his stethoscope on as he leans in and sets the diaphragm just on top of the patient’s chest area. The doctor listens in concentration when the patient suddenly places his hand on top of his cold ones and Kyungsoo was too surprised to react when the young man looks up, slightly tilting his cap upwards to reveal his hidden features. “My heart’s been hurting since a long, long time ago.”

Kyungsoo’s body parts stops functioning right then and there when eyes—these familiar eyes stare up at him mischievously and a well known smirk making his insides scrunch up, making his blood simmer unknowingly.

“Hello, hyung.”

He pulls his hand back swiftly with a flabbergasted expression and his words were wedged in the back of his throat before he managed to sputter out, “J-Jongin?”

His supposed to be patient, who turns out to be Kim Jongin, laughs cheerfully as he hops out of the bed and opens his arms to heave Kyungsoo into a tight hug before pulling back. The doctor remains stiff and unable to move in shock.

Jongin pulls his lips into a small pout, one that was almost similar to a lost pet. “Hyung! Don’t you miss me? You look like you’ve seen me rise from the dead.” Exactly.

“O-Of course I’m glad to see you.’ Kyungso’s lips curve up into a wobbly smile. “Jongin I thought you were still on your internship in the States? Why did you come back so suddenly?”

“To visit you of course,” the younger winks at him and Kyungsoo couldn’t help himself but hit the other’s chin with his knuckles playfully. “Stop joking around will you?”

Jongin chuckles, “I just got home earlier this morning and I got breakfast for a while then I decided to come by and check on you.”

“Without telling me? You should’ve called me first before your flight so I would’ve been able to fetch you from the airport.” Kyungsoo frowns a bit before patting Jongin’s chest cautiously, worried. “But your chest doesn’t really hurt does it?”

“Ah yes it did hurt,” Jongin makes pity faces. “But that was before Doctor Do Kyungsoo came to my aid.”

“Jongin!” Kyungsoo seethes face flushing crimson as he spots a couple of medical personnel gazing at them. “Keep it down will you? And pretending to have a heart disease isn’t proper.”

“Okay, okay,” the younger snorts in disbelief before glancing at his wristwatch, aware of how busy Kyungsoo is at work. “Anyway, since the great Kim Jongin is back, why don’t we have dinner together? For old times’ sake. Lunch should be fine too, if you’re okay with it.”

Jongin sees Kyungsoo flinch but he doesn’t mention this nor does he show any signs of notice. “Please?”

Kyungsoo places his stethoscope in his coat pocket. “I have a meeting to attend to at noon so uh, dinner would be great.”

“Dinner.” Jongin hugs Kyungsoo one last time before putting his cap back on. “I’ll call you!”

It’s been a couple of years since his arteries have flipped badly like this.

Kyungsoo reached the conference room just in time for the meeting to begin. Doctors from the different departments were gathered in the rows of seats and the director stood on the platform, a huge grin plastered on his face.

Director Ahn clears his throat before starting, “I know everyone has hectic schedules today so I’m glad that all of you are present and made time to attend this short meeting. So let’s cut to the chase, I want this to end as quickly as possible.”

Kyungsoo was expecting something urgent but well, damn.

“I want to introduce to everyone our new cardio specialist,” he begins, “who finished his internship at one of the distinguished colleges in the States and apparently was chased after lots of international hospitals. But among all of those, we’re fortunate that he chose to work in our hospital.”

Murmurs of appreciation were heard and Kyungsoo mentally pleads it’s not who he thinks it is.

“Let us proudly welcome, Doctor Kim Jongin.”

Oh no.

Kyungsoo almost kicks the seat across him but he thankfully doesn’t because he was too engrossed in watching Kim Jongin—Doctor Kim Jongin step up in front and loud claps follow after. He was receiving handshakes from all the seniors and was praised as if he was the new smartest, youngest doctor in the hospital (which probably is true but let’s not assume things).

He stands up from his seat and walks to the aisle, along with the others and approaches Jongin with a hard grip on the hand. “Cardio, eh? Great choice and congratulations Doctor Kim.” Kyungsoo grits his teeth quietly with a forced smile, making sure only the younger would hear him. “And seriously, who knew you’d be working here? I’m surprised,” he teases.

“Thank you Dr. Do.” Jongin replies just like he did with the rest of the compliments but Kyungsoo does not fall deaf and overhear the mockery in the younger’s voice.

The said meeting ended up much quickly than he had expected and Jongin was still in the middle of a crowd of people so Kyungsoo had left the room first and attended to his surgery which was scheduled for the rest of the afternoon.

Scalpel, suction, blood, anaesthetics, busted organs, oxygen.

The beeping of machines and the pumping of the oxygen tanks were the only things heard in the operating room, echoing throughout the quiet enclosed area.

Kyungsoo was too occupied with his surgery, sweat rolling of his forehead and hands exhausted from the long hour of fixing the blockage of the arteries when he looks up and spots the new doctor watching him from outside the glass panes with an amused look.

He ignores the younger and goes back to finishing and cleaning things up before finally finishing his surgery.

“Great job, doctor.” The interns and nurses assigned in assisting, bows towards him and Kyungsoo bows back with a thankful smile. He takes of his surgical attire then heads straight to the locker area to switch his scrubs into casual clothes.

It was already seven in the evening and Kyungsoo shrugs his backpack over his shoulder, eager to get out of the hospital and stay at home, under the warm protection of his bed covers—not until someone decided to ruin that.

“Hyung!” someone calls from behind him and the doctor stops in his tracks. There’s shuffling from behind him until he’s face to face with a grinning Jongin.

“You still up for dinner?” the younger asks and Kyungsoo looks down at his too casual clothes. “This was quite unplanned Jongin so unfortunately I wasn’t able to bring clothes decent enough—“

“Don’t worry Hyung no one would look at what you’re wearing if they have something better to look at.”

“If you’re referring to your face then—“

“No, no I am absolutely not referring to my face but I guess that could work too.” Jongin laughs then quickly adds, “I’m just playing around I was actually referring to yours.”

Kyungsoo’s guts make that swerving things again and before he knew it, Jongin was already halfway dragging him to the parking area. Jongin unlocks the front seat door of his car for Kyungsoo before making his way to the driver’s seat.

He starts the engine. “Where does our Doctor Do Kyungsoo wish to dine?”

Kyungsoo puts his seatbelt on before telling Jongin to put on his too. “I don’t feel fancy today so I hope you wouldn’t really mind if we just have soju. I haven’t drunk those for quite a while now. They don’t really have those type things in the States, right? So I’m guessing you miss drinking too.”

“Wise choice. Soju it is.” Jongin steps on the pads and they both search for stalls in the evening streets of Seoul where soju is served with different sorts of delectable food. They don’t talk about anything for the entire duration until they finally spotted one stand found beside the river.

They enter the large tent and situate themselves not very far in the corner.

“Ahjumoni, can we get two bottles of soju and grilled meat here please?” Jongin calls out kindly and a kind looking woman in her 50s give them a nod.

“I’m surprised you picked this place,” Jongin starts their conversation with a friendly smile, “didn’t you use to dislike alcohol? I mean, you usually don’t come to these places except when I forcefully drag you to drink with me.”

“I think my alcohol tolerance is better now,” Kyungsoo replies proudly, “so I drink when I have spare time but with all my plans and agenda, guess I’m not able to do it all the time.”

“I think that’s good then,” Jongin says as their orders were served on the table and they start placing their meat on top of the griller, not forgetting to say their thanks to the auntie before she left, “because if you couldn’t help yourself and unconsciously get drunk, no one would bring you home.”

“I’d sleep here then.” Kyungsoo sticks his tongue out and Jongin shakes his head disbelievingly.“Anyway, when’d you finish your internship? I thought you wanted to work there?”

The younger shakes his head. “I finished it last year. I was thought about it for a long time and finally decided to work here. Moreover, I’m more familiar with Korea rather than the States. This place is way better.”

“I admit I was quite surprised when you were introduced earlier today,” Kyungsoo flips the thin pieces of meat with the tongs. “You came looking for me with a heart diseases and left as if it was the most casual thing. You didn’t even tell me you were working with me at the sam