"Hey you!" JaeJoong greeted Yunho cheerfully as he took a seat in front of Yunho at the cafeteria table. He wore his black reading glasses and his scrubs.

"Hi. Busy morning?" JaeJoong nodded as he stuck his spoon into his bowl of rice.

"The busiest. I was in the ER this morning because one of their doctors on call got sick during their shift." He stuffed in a mouthful of rice and began to chew. "How about you?" Yunho shrugged as he took a sip from his tea.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. The afternoon is booked up though." JaeJoong pointed his spoon at Yunho after Yunho had finished speaking.

"That reminds me! Did you get a call from Song Hyun Gi? He brought his niece in last week for a checkup and I ended up recommending you to him because he mentioned he was looking for a cardiologist for his parents." He began to stir his soup before looking back up at Yunho. "He looks completely put together, but it seems like he's pretty much the shoulders of his family. Yunho are you okay?" Yunho was currently choking on his tea. He held up his hand and nodded.

"I'm fine." He grabbed a bottle of water and took a long drink. JaeJoong looked at him, his brows furrowed with concern. "He asked for me specifically?"

"No. I recommended you cause you're the best and he seemed like a really nice guy." Yunho nodded and slowly went back to eating. Hyun Gi was so sneaky. Yunho couldn’t believe that he had gone this far just to meet JaeJoong. He even made up a story about his parents, that were perfectly healthy and lived right there in Seoul, just to poke at JaeJoong. It was the proverbial icing on the cake that he would find this out now with he and Hyun Gi’s party happening tomorrow night.

"Well I'm flattered." Yunho said to cover up what was going on in his brain. JaeJoong winked at him.

"Don't be. I don't use truths to flatter." He forced himself to smile even though his stomach was doing backflips. Every time he shared moments like this with JaeJoong, the desire to tell him that he was engaged seemed to get smaller and smaller. He was well aware that by not being honest with himself, JaeJoong and Hyun Gi, things were bound to get messy. But he was terrified of being the one responsible for chasing JaeJoong away. Especially after just finding each other again.

"What do you use to flatter then?" Yunho asked as he tried to keep the turmoil in his heart and head from spilling out into the open. JaeJoong smiled and tilted his head.

"Well I guess I'd say your looks great in your scrub pants." Yunho raised an eyebrow at the gorgeous man in front of him.

"Should I be flattered now?" JaeJoong smirked.

"Nah. I accidentally told another truth." Yunho rolled up the wrapper from his straw and threw it at JaeJoong.

"Dork."

"Yeah, but you agreed to be my friend so you're responsible." Yunho chuckled and looked down at his tray of food.

"I'll gladly accept the responsibility."

….

Yunho stared numbly at the email, re-reading it for the 4th time since opening it. The department chair of Cardiology had sent him an email requesting his attendance at a conference in JeJu this weekend as a part of the hospitals initiative to compete with university hospitals in Seoul. He considered declining, but the bold highlighted text at the bottom of the email made him hesitant.

As our hospital’s lead Cardio Thoracic surgeon, it would mean a great deal to both Seoul Memorial, and your future consideration to take over as Department Head in the coming months.

He let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. He had worked so hard to just get on the radar of the Department Chair as a candidate for Department Head. Now here he was being presented with an opportunity to show he wanted, and he was actually thinking about turning it down. He glanced at his cellphone. If he texted Hyun Gi now while it was early, then he’d have all day to prepare for the fire and brimstone that was bound to be the result of his news.

Sighing, he picked it up and sent a quick text to Hyun Gi explaining the situation and promising to discuss it more tonight when they were both at home. Just moments after putting his phone back down, it began to ring. Hyun Gi’s picture illuminated the screen. Yunho groaned and thought about let it go to voicemail, but he was engaged to a lawyer who would know Yunho was ignoring him.

After the fourth ring, he finally picked up.

“Hey Hyun. Listen, I-”

“You’re not ing serious! Everything is already planned. You can’t go.” Hyun Gi interrupted Yunho, speaking a mile a minute. Yunho took a another deep breath.

“I get that. But I’ve been waiting forever to be noticed by the Department Chair and this may make or break whether or not I become Department Head this year. You know how much this means to me.” He was met with silence. On the other end he could hear a clamoring of voices followed by Hyun Gi’s harsh demand for quiet before a door slammed shut.

“Yunho, there will be other opportunities. You’re a ing amazing doctor and the best damn surgeon that hospital has. You can’t jump at the first bone they throw you.” Hyun Gi’s voice was calm, but Yunho recognized this tactic. It was how Hyun Gi tended to get his way whenever an argument that Yunho may actually win presented itself. Yunho cleared his throat and straightened in his chair. He wouldn’t be caught this time. Today he had enough ammunition to return fire.

“I didn’t say that to you when you went to several ill-timed luncheons and boring events just to get recognized so you could get closer to your goal of becoming a judge. I distinctly remember you canceling at least 5 dates with me just to attend. I never questioned you because I know how much it means to you. It’s not fair that you can’t offer the same courtesy to me.” From Hyun Gi’s long sigh on the other end, Yunho knew that he had found the leverage he was aiming for.

“But this…it’s our pre-wedding party. We’re getting married, Yunho. Isn’t there any way you can just promise you’ll go to the next one or something?” Yunho’s brow furrowed, the momentary victory feeling more like a false start. He was tempted to jump into the conversation he had had with JaeJoong about Hyun Gi’s lies, but he thought better of it. That would come later.

“No, I can’t.” His response was curt and did nothing to hide the anger he was feeling. He actually didn’t know if he could suggest such a thing to the Department Chair, but it was the principle of it. He would have never asked Hyun Gi to make such an exception. Correction: he had never asked for Hyun Gi to make any exceptions regarding his career. Their desire to become the best of the best in their careers had been one of the building blocks of their relationship. Yunho couldn’t believe that Hyun Gi was actually downsizing the importance when it came to Yunho’s goals.

“What do I tell everyone then? That we’re a bunch of flakes who say we’re going to throw an awesome celebration but don’t follow through? And Junsu has already sent out notice that he was closing up-”

“Junsu is our friend so he’ll understand. As for everyone else, you tell them the truth. If you want to make up an excuse about me being sick to make yourself feel better, then be my guest. But I’m going Hyun, and I don’t want to fight about it.” There was another beat of silence before Yunho heard the sound of something metal hitting against wood.

“Fine! But at soon as Junsu can do this for us again, I’m rescheduling the party.” Yunho rolled his eyes but was relieved that the storm of a conversation had passed for now.

“Alright. I’ll see you later.” He ended the call and put the phone down with more force than necessary. The high energy of irritation was slowly seeping out of him, but he was still fired up. A long weekend away from Hyun Gi and talking about the wedding, and away from JaeJoong, would probably be a good thing for his sanity. He let out a slow breath nodded. This was going to be a good thing.

–

At the end of his shift, JaeJoong packed up in a daze. It had been another long day, but he wasn’t complaining. He loved every minute of it, but his body tended to disagree with the back-to-back early mornings and late nights. He grabbed the last of his charts for the day and shoved them into his bag and left his office. He waved goodbye to a few of the other doctors and nurses he passed by. When he got on the elevator, he was surprised to see that he wouldn’t be taking the ride down to the parking garage alone.

Changmin glanced up from his phone when JaeJoong stepped onto the elevator and flashed a blinding smile.

“I was just about to text you.” JaeJoong smiled and moved closer to stand next to Changmin.

“We must be on the same wave length. Going home?” Changmin nodded and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“Yeah for a change. I have a ton of chores to catch up on at home. My cats probably hate me.” Changmin made a silly face making JaeJoong chuckle.

“You’re a cat lady?” He teased enjoying the tiny blush that darkened the other doctor’s cheeks.

“It’s hard not to be when you live alone. Cats don’t mind when you don’t come home at the same time every day.” The elevator dinged and opened on the 2nd floor of the parking garage. JaeJoong looked at Changmin, expecting him to get off, but the elevator doors slid shut and continued to level 1 where JaeJoong was parked. He raised an eyebrow at Changmin.

“I thought you needed to get home to your cats?” The handsome doctor chuckled.

“I think they can wait a little longer. I was hoping to get a chance to ask you on another date.” The hopefulness in his eyes and voice did funny things to JaeJoong’s stomach. But the butterflies, unfortunately, were nothing compared to the ones that fluttered when he was near Yunho. And goodness that was frustrating! He was crushing like a teenager and Yunho was cooler than an ice cube. Despite his charm and flirty teasing, Yunho wasn’t showing any interest beyond friendship. But that didn’t seem to deter JaeJoong the way it should have.

“A second date? I must have gotten really good reviews on the first one.” JaeJoong’s joke made Changmin smile. He tilted his head shyly and looked up at JaeJoong through his lashes.

“Yeah the reviews were fantastic. I was originally going to ask if you were free Friday night, but my plans for what I wanted to do with you that night fell through. Would you be free Saturday instead?” JaeJoong bit his lip and shook his head no.

“Unfortunately, I’m not. The chair of the Pediatrics department requested I represent them at this conference in JeJu this weekend. Rain check?” Changmin smiled his understanding and nodded.

“Of course. I’m not going anywhere. If you manage to get a free moment, we could always talk on the phone.” JaeJoong could feel his cheeks warm up. If his head and his heart ever got on the same page, he and Changmin might have a future. But it was too soon and the last thing he wanted to do was get too far ahead of himself. He first needed to get over the fact that his feelings for Yunho were one-side.

“I think I can do that.” He gave Changmin another smile. “Have a good weekend with you cats.” Changmin rolled his eyes.

“I’ll only ever be a cat lady to you now, won’t I?” They both laughed before they said their final goodbyes and headed to their cars. He headed deeper into the downtown area to the restaurant Ji-Yoo waitressed. W