Ten

Sooyoung squeals so loud that Hyukjae has to clamp a hand over to quieten her down. A few nurses glance curiously in their direction, while the only other doctor grunts in his sleep and turns around on the couch. Hyukjae throws a pointed glare at his best friend until she nods apologetically—not that she really means it, he knows—, and then lets her go reluctantly.

“You guys kissed?” Sooyoung exclaims again in a barely hushed voice. “Really? On the first date?”

Hyukjae sniffs moodily, adverting his eyes away. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he can hear Donghae snicker at his obvious discomfort. That makes him want to both cringe in embarrassment and laugh along. “Yes,” he retorts bravely, reaching for his white coat and putting it on. “What about it?”

“I didn’t know you were the type,” she muses thoughtfully as she ties her hair up into a pony tail. “And here I thought that you were still from the old school.”

Hyukjae reaches out to kick her shin but she’s swift enough to avoid it, a smug smirk spread across her pretty face. “Shut up,” he huffs with a frown. “Look, just because I’m a—”

“I don’t mean that,” Sooyoung rolls her eyes at him, although her tone softens significantly. She closes the door of her locker with a screech and leans a shoulder against it, observing him with sharp eyes as he pretends to be rummaging through his stuff. “I mean that even emotionally, you’re usually more… cautious than that. You like to follow those rules for romantic dates where you don’t get to kiss them on the first night, no matter how much you’d want to. I remember you waited almost a week before kissing Boa for the first time, right? Even though we all knew that you really liked her.”

There’s a pause, only broken by the snores of their sleeping colleague, before she rests an apologetic hand on Hyukjae’s arm. “It’s not a bad thing that you kissed him on the first date. I just wanted to tease you; I’m sorry if it offended you, Hyukjae.”

“No,” he sighs and gives her a small smile. “It’s okay.”

Sooyoung returns it and stays quiet for a blissful moment, until a mischievous gleam lights up in her eyes once again. “Now,” she giggles in excitement, prompting him to groan exasperatedly. “Tell me everything about your date! About Donghae! Where did you guys go? What about the flowers? Is he a good kisser? Who paid for dinner? Did you hold hands? Are you guys boyfriends now?!”

“Nope,” Hyukjae shakes his head resolutely. He straightens up and gathers his patient files for the day, then practically runs out of the staff room. “No ing way I’m telling you anything, you gossip!”

Who’s Boa then? Donghae asks as Hyukjae stops at the reception of the ward and greets Hyorin with a friendly grin. Boyfriend.

There’s a hint of jealousy that shadows his soulmate’s voice, prompting him to chuckle amusedly. She’s my ex-girlfriend.

Oh. A brief silence. Is she… is she your first match?

Nah, Hyukjae replies truthfully. She isn’t.

It’s only when Hyukjae is about to take in his first patient of the day—Mrs. Yoo, pregnant with her second child—that he hears Donghae’s voice in his mind again. Lunch today? his soulmate asks hopefully, as if he’d say no.

Hyukjae smiles, both at his patient and at Donghae. Of course. Boyfriend.

*

It’s already way past lunchtime—around three o’clock in the afternoon—when Hyukjae finally shows up at the coffee shop, shivering from head to toe and fresh snow melting in his hair. Expression alert, he looks around the room for Donghae and then brightens up quickly when he finds him standing behind the counter. He wrings his hands together out of what Donghae guesses to be nervousness and walks up to him, a sheepish grin spread on his flushed face.

“Hello,” Hyukjae greets him while panting a little, as if he ran all the way from the hospital across the square. Before Donghae can utter a single sound in return, he leans over the counter and presses a quick kiss on the corners of his parted lips. “I’m so sorry I’m late, but there was an emergency at the ward; I had to stay longer to make sure everything was okay with my patients, and—”

“Hyukjae, it’s okay,” Donghae laughs reassuringly. He takes his apron off and throws it carelessly to Ryeowook, who sends him an exasperated look when it lands on his face, and then saunters around the counter to join him at the other side. “I heard you stressing out through your mind earlier. I thought I’d still wait for you so we can have lunch together!”

Hyukjae smiles down at him, thankful, and melts eagerly into his arms as soon as Donghae tugs him into a hug. “Thank you,” he mumbles against the skin of his neck, his lips cool. “You didn’t have to but… thank you.”

You’re welcome, Donghae says softly as he turns around to tell his coworker that he’ll be out for his lunchbreak. “So, what happened?” he continues aloud and grabs his coat. “Is everything okay at the hospital?”

“Oh, yes!” his soulmate nods happily, following him towards the doors. “Sorry if I worried you. One of my patients gave birth a few days earlier than expected. The baby is fine, though! His weight isn’t quite there yet but there shouldn’t be any further complications, I’ll make sure of it.” His tone sounds so fierce that Donghae smiles fondly at his determination. “The delivery took a long time, which is why I’m so late.” 

Donghae hums in understanding as they both walk out of the coffee shop and into the cold December weather. Shivering slightly, they reach out for each other’s hands without a second thought and then head down the snowy streets, in hopes of finding one last place that would sell them lunch at this hour of the day. After buying snacks and hot drinks successfully, Donghae decides to lead his soulmate a little further down to the lesser known part of their district.

“Where are we going?” Hyukjae asks curiously and looks around, sipping idly on his hot chocolate.

Well, remember that thing we talked about on Friday night? About me helping you to get a Christmas tree? Donghae says while reaching out to wipe his soulmate’s chin clean of the sweet drink that trickled down a little.

They stop at the end of the sidewalk and wait for the lights to turn green, stealing bites of each other’s food with mischievous grins and playful protests.

“We’re doing that now?” Hyukjae blinks bemusedly, eyes wide in surprise. Really?

“Yeah!” Donghae exclaims. “Why