a/n: me trying to remember what i learned. lmao. drabble in the same au w original twt thread about med student!hoom 

minimum edit. lapslock. 

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seungcheol sits at the edge of his bed with his hands splayed out on a pillow, still in his towel. he'd barely gotten out of the shower after an extremely strenuous gym session (it was his own fault for being too competitive, trying to out-lift mingyu on the weights) when jihoon had intercepted him and sat him on the bed, before starting to examine his hands. 

with jihoon as his roommate, this is perfectly normal. twice a week (usually more than that) jihoon asks him become an anatomical model. he doesn't complain, happy to stand idle while jihoon inspects every inch of his body, mumbling to himself as he consults a colourful anatomy atlas. other times, they role-play doctor and patient, as jihoon practices his clinical skills, running physical examinations on seungcheol, just like he'd learnt in class. 

this semester jihoon's studying the muscularskeletal system, so seungcheol's been working hard at the gym to make sure that he's got enough muscle tone to help jihoon learn (and maybe impress him a bit, heh). 

jihoon's sitting opposite him, palpating every finger joint, before flexing them back."proximal interphalangeal joint. distal interphalangeal joint." he says, as he does it. and seungcheol finds it mindlessly relaxing as jihoon does it to all his ten fingers; thinking about how pretty jihoon's hands are. how gentle he is. and that little pout on his lips that he unconsciously does when he's focused - oh, so adorable. seungcheol can't help but grin to himself. 

jihoon's done with seungcheol's fingers, moving on to the palms. he squeezes them gently, before reporting: "no signs of muscle wasting on thenar and hypothenar muscles." 

"good." 

"i'll be checking your wrist joints now." jihoon says, still holding seungcheol's hands. 

"wait." seungcheol grips jihoon's hands tighter, and smiles brightly. "this is nice."

a deep blush blooms onto jihoon's cheeks, and he doesn't move. 

"if you wanted to hold my hands, you could've just told me." seungcheol teases him, gently caressing jihoon's fingers, marvelling at how slender they are. these hands had touched him in so many different places, done so many things; but still so delicate. he wishes that he could lift jihoon's fingers up to his lips and kiss them, treasuring how precious they are -

jihoon swears under his breath. if he could hook himself up to a blood pressure monitor at that moment, his readings would skyrocket and he'd have to take a beta-blocker to help control his heart rate. 

"what did you say?" seungcheol asks. he didn't quite catch what jihoon had said. 

jihoon puts on a professional expression. "i have to meet wonwoo in a minute, could you let me finish?"

"of course." regretfully, seungcheol lets jihoon's hands go. 

jihoon begins instructing seungcheol to do a few simple motions - curling his fingers and spreading them apart ("flexion, extension. adduction, abduction." jihoon mumbles).

"why are you meeting wonwoo?" seungcheol asks conversationally. he'd learned from past sessions with jihoon that these physical examinations are simply just awkward at times as jihoon does his work and seungcheol sits there like a doll being played with. 

"we're going to the library to study." jihoon replies. "now could you just turn your hands around, so that the palms face downwards?"

seungcheol complies, pronating his arms. he doesn't drop the conversation, though. "you could study with me here." he continues, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. he doesn't mind being jihoon's simulated patient for the rest of the night (because he's got a paper to write, and this is a good excuse to procrastinate). 

"we're doing pathology." jihoon counters. he knows that seungcheol squirms when he sees the gruesome sample pictures of diseases that litter jihoon's class notes. besides, wonwoo's practically a pathology whiz, and jihoon needs his expertise. 

"i see."

jihoon continues examining seungcheol's hands methodically ("please touch the tips of your fingers to your thumb, one by one - opposition.") before moving towards the wrists, giving simple instructions with a demonstration of the movements for seungcheol to copy ("flexion, extension. radial deviation. ulnar deviation."). 

"that's it."

"really?" seungcheol wishes that it could've lasted longer. he likes spending time with jihoon, even though half the time he has no idea what jihoon is doing to him (he should really listen to jihoon's explanations before he begins each test, but he simply zones out and ends up admiring jihoon's cute little face instead). 

jihoon nods. "thanks for helping out."

"always happy to help." seungcheol grins, casting his pillow aside. 

jihoon doesn't budge from his seat. seungcheol waits patiently, because jihoon looks like he's got something else to say -

"you could join us for dinner, if you want?" jihoon had promised to meet wonwoo for a quick bite at the convenience store; but he feels weird leaving seungcheol to fend for himself after taking advantage (heh) of his body. 

seungcheol leaps at the invitation, accepting it with a bright smile. "sounds good. just let me get dressed." he hurries over to his dresser, hunting for something nice and comfortable to wear. 

"i don't mind if you go shirtless." jihoon mumbles.

"what was that?" seungcheol pulls a shirt over his head hurriedly. 

jihoon brushes it off, blinking innocently. "nothing." he's watching seungcheol's lower body; wishing for his towel to accidentally fall off. he wouldn't mind reviewing the anatomy of the inguinal area, which would be most effective if enough skin is exposed; because learning from an actual human (seungcheol) helps him understand more than just staring at textbooks. 

seungcheol's already dressed, shoving his feet into his shoes. "let's go, jihoonie." he's excited at the prospect of food. 

"right." jihoon snaps out of his trance (admiring seungcheol's body, which is now sadly hidden under his oversized clothes) and begins shoving his notes into his bag. he'll head straight to the library with wonwoo after dinner for a marathon session of pathology (which can be depressing at times, learning about so many things that can go wrong with the human body). 

seungcheol watches jihoon heft his heavy bag onto his shoulder as they prepare to leave the room. "let me carry that for you."

"it's fine." jihoon insists, clutching the straps. 

"these muscles just aren't here to make me look good, y'know." seungcheol quips, flexing his arm. too bad his biceps are hidden under his long sleeves. 

"i'm perfectly capable of carrying my own bag. thanks."

"alright, doc." 

"in-training." jihoon corrects. 

"doc-in-training."