Yerim had never thought of herself as a great cook. She was only really adept at making basic meals, ones that provided more sustenance than flavor. If she wanted something that tasted good, she would go out to eat. So, naturally, she never really cooked for anyone. However, she found herself standing in the middle of Sooyoung’s kitchen, scampering back and forth between open cupboards and drawers, trying her hardest to put something at least half-decent together.

    Yerim knew that the process of quitting a drug cold turkey was a rough one. In fact, certain drugs could kill you if you tried to stop doing them that way (luckily, was not one of them). What the young nurse didn’t expect, however, was for the effects of the withdrawals to begin taking hold so quickly. It had only been two days now since Sooyoung’s last dose, and she was already experiencing some symptoms. The doctor was irritable, depressed, and moody. She had a hard time getting out of bed, not even to get food, water, or the bathroom. As a result, Yerim had decided to take care of her. Both girls had two days before their next shifts, and Yerim feared that wouldn’t be nearly enough time for Sooyoung to recover. Withdrawals always got worse before they got better. She pushed this thought from her mind; they’d figure out the details later.

    As the young nurse went about throwing together a very basic soup (she knew that Sooyoung probably wouldn’t want anything that required intense chewing), she remembered the moment that they’d decided it was time to dump the remainder of Sooyoung’s into the toilet. She remembered the look in Sooyoung’s eyes as Yerim had taken the (rather large) ziploc bag and upended it into the toilet, the powdery white drug fluttering into the water like snowflakes on a pond. Sooyoung had stood in the door as Yerim had done it, her hands gripping the frame so tightly that her knuckles were beginning to blanche. That was the second time had Sooyoung broken down.

    It was shocking; the doctor had dropped to the floor, sobbing loudly and clutching her knees to her chest. It was such a contrast to the icy, lab-coat wearing despot that she normally portrayed herself as that Yerim had been unable to react for a moment. Then, Sooyoung became childlike, sitting there in her pajamas, her words coming mostly as incoherent sets of vowels as tears and snot ran down her face. Yerim then sprung into action, running over and holding the doctor tight, her hair and whispering words of comfort. When Sooyoung had calmed down enough, Yerim had led her to bed and tucked her in. Sooyoung’s cries gradually began to soften into light snores, though she refused to let go of her lover’s hand until she was completely asleep. Yerim then sat there for awhile, carefully cleaning up Sooyoung’s face with some tissues before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead and departing to obtain a few sets of clothes and other necessities from her apartment.

    When the brunette had returned, Sooyoung was sitting on the couch, hugging herself and shivering while she tried to watch TV. She had looked tired and disheveled, with deep bags under her eyes. As soon as she saw Yerim walk in the door, her eyes widened and her lower lip quivered. This was her third breakdown.

    “I woke up and you weren’t there,” she’d said pathetically, her voice absent of its usual commanding tone, “I thought you said you weren’t gonna leave me alone?”

    “I didn’t,” Yerim whispered, placing her bags down and rushing over to cradle the black-haired girl, “I was just getting my stuff from my apartment.”

    “Okay… well, you should’ve told me first,” Sooyoung huffed.

    “Next time I will. I’m sorry.”

    Yerim then planted a soft kiss on the doctor’s cheek before escorting her to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth, showered, and then went back to bed. It took her awhile to fall asleep again, but once she did, Yerim had then gone off to the kitchen to cook.

    Admittedly, Yerim hadn’t expected Sooyoung to be so needy. It was immensely adorable and mildly annoying at the same time. Of course, she knew it wouldn’t last forever, and Sooyoung would be back to her usual self soon. For what felt like the thousandth time in the past couple of weeks, Yerim found herself wondering how she’d gotten herself into all of this. Life was weird sometimes.

    The brunette walked into Sooyoung’s room carefully, bowl of hot soup in hand, tiptoeing over the carpet in order to make as little noise as possible. She took a seat in the stool at Sooyoung’s bedhead, placing the bowl of soup down on the nearby nightstand before attempting to awaken the slumbering doctor.

    “Sooyoung,” Yerim whispered, gently patting her lover’s arm, “Wake up, sweetheart. I made you some soup.”

    Sooyoung’s eyelids fluttered open gradually, and she looked somehow looked more tired then when she’d gone to bed. Yerim found that she couldn’t stand seeing her like this; she felt a physical tugging at her heart at the defeated look in Sooyoung’s eyes. To her surprise, however, Sooyoung smiled at her, the sickly mask she wore breaking away and revealing something that was almost like her old self.

    “My princess cooked for me?” she asked jocularly, although her voice was low and weak.

    “Yeah, she did,” Yerim whispered, moving a few strands of hair away from Sooyoung’s forehead, “I can’t guarantee it’ll taste good, but it’s good for you.”

    “I’m sure I’ll love it,” the doctor answered without hesitation, “If only because you made it.”

    Yerim was unable to contain the flood of emotion that filled her body, bending over and pressing her lips to Sooyoung’s. She instinctively deepened the kiss, pressing the tips of their tongues together while the older girl’s shoulders. Sooyoung began to melt into Yerim’s touches, her breaths coming heavy and wanting. She reached up and wrapped her arms around the younger girl’s shoulders. Upon feeling the weakness of Sooyoung’s grip, Yerim remembered that she still needed to eat, so she detached slowly and sat up. The doctor pouted and whined slightly, her eyebrows crinkling in frustration.

    “I’m supposed to be taking care of you,” Yerim said with a chuckle, “I can’t do that if I get distracted by your kisses.”

    Sooyoung rolled her eyes, but a small grin had formed itself on her face.

    “Fine, whatever. But you have to feed me.”

    “Okay, I do that for my patients all the time. It’s like you forget I’m a nurse.”

    “Then I’ll be paying close attention to your technique,” Sooyoung replied with a wink, “To make sure you’re doing everything right.”

    Yerim grabbed some extra pillows so that Sooyoung could sit up comfortably. She then brought the still-steaming soup over, blowing on the first spoonful in order to ensure that the doctor wouldn’t burn .

    “Do you blow on the soup for all of your regular patients?”

Sooyoung just loved antagonizing Yerim, even when she was ill.

    “I don’t,” Yerim said offhandedly, “But you’re not a regular patient, are you?”

    Yerim then brought the spoon forward, and Sooyoung obediently opened , allowing Yerim to feed her. She took a moment to fully absorb the flavor before swallowing, causing the younger girl to sigh in defeat.

    “Well,” Sooyoung said carefully, “It’s not amazing, but it’s not terrible either. It gets the job done.”

    Yerim laughed. Dr. Park Sooyoung was one of the most brutally honest people she’d ever met. To her credit, she continued to eat without much complaint, barring one time where Yerim spilled a very tiny droplet of soup, a transgression that Sooyoung refused to forgive until the brunette provided her with no less than three kisses.

    “I’m gonna go get these dishes cleaned up,” Yerim said once Sooyoung had completely finished her food, “I’ll bring you some water when I’m done.”

    “Okay,” Sooyoung said, resettling her body to lay down fully, “Be quick, though. I miss your cuddles.”

    “Of course. It’ll only take me two seconds,” Yerim said, standing up, “Oh, by the way, you should find a cover for work. I was planning on calling Joohyun to ask her.”

    “Why would I need a cover for work? I can just fight through-”

    “No,” Yerim ordered sternly, placing a finger over Sooyoung’s lips to silence her, “You’re sick. And you know that you’re only gonna get sicker. You need to take some time off.”

    “But my patients… I don’t trust anyone else with them. You know how some of the other doctors are.”

    Yerim sighed.

    “There has to be someone in the hospital you think is close to your greatness,” the younger girl said sarcastically.

    Sooyoung’s eyes stared into the distance then as she lost herself in thought. She on her lower lip as she contemplated, a habit that Yerim found absurdly cute.

    “Well, there is one person,” she said, “She graduated in the same year as me, second in our class.”

    “I’m assuming you were first?”

    “Naturally. She works in pediatrics but she’s quite talented, she should be fine in an ER setting.”

    “Alright,” Yerim said, taking out her cell-phone, “Can you get her name and number for me?”

    “The number should be in my phone in the living room. Just go through my contacts and look for the name ‘Son Seungwan’.”

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Merry Christmas (Eve)!

I figured you guys would appreciate some cute Joyri interactions after the sad chapters before. I wonder what's gonna happen if Joohyun and Seungwan end up working the same shift? I guess we'll have to see (:

Thanks for reading<3