NOTICE: There will be some mild swearing in this one; just mentions of it, nothing major. But if you don't like it, please forgive me and don't read it. And this is unbeta-ed too, so please forgive me again for any typos or grammatical errors.
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Pain.

That was all Ji Hyo could feel when she opened her eyes, or at least tried to. The fluorescent light above her made it hard to do so, immediately making her eyes sore the moment she cracked them open. So she settled on squinting them to at least see her surroundings better.

She could vaguely feel something heavy on her chest and her arm hurt when she tried to move it, and whenever she took a breath, her lungs flared up in pain. Her head was pounding as well, whether that was an injury of hers or a side effect from the light, Ji Hyo doesn’t know.

“Oh, I’m glad you’re finally awake,” a voice said from beside her.

By this time, Ji Hyo had already grown accustomed to the light so her eyes were opened wider now. She turned to her right and saw a big, muscular man in scrubs.

“Wha-what...who the hell...are you?” Ji Hyo managed to croak through her dry throat, letting out a series of coughs after.

The man quickly moved to get a glass of water and held the straw straight to her lips, patiently waiting for Ji Hyo to finish sipping through it. When she weakly pushed the straw away from , indicating she was fine now, the man put the glass on her bedside table before turning back to the clipboard he had previously discarded on her bed.

“Hey ahjussi, I asked you a question. Who are you?” Ji Hyo asked again, her eyes following his movements like a hawk.

But the man only ignored her question. “What’s your name?”

Ji Hyo could do nothing else but answered, albeit with a huff, “Song Ji Hyo.”

“How old are you?”

“38 years old."

"Date of Birth?"

"August 15, 1981."

"Marital status?"

"Single. Yah! What’s next after this, gonna ask me about my weight?”

“How much do you weigh?” The man asked teasingly, putting down the clipboard on the bed and leaning on it, smirking at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Ji Hyo glared as menacingly as she can at him in retaliation. Why that little...

When she stayed silent, the man let out a little chuckle. He moved to the other side of the bed to check her IV drip, with Ji Hyo still looking at him and watching his every move. The man made a hum of acknowledgement as he wrote a few things down on the clipboard.

When she had enough of just lying down, Ji Hyo moved to sit up but before she could even make herself comfortable, the man had immediately went to her side and laid her back down again.

“Yah ahjussi, if you won’t let me sit up, at least answer my question,” Ji Hyo grumbled in annoyance.

The man smiled at her, with a hint of a tease. “I’m Kim Jong Kook, and if it wasn’t already obvious, I’m the nurse assigned to your case.”

“A nurse?” Ji Hyo didn’t believe that one bit. “Yah, if this is one of my friend’s pranks, just come clean with it. Who was it this time? Yeo Jin? So Min? Young In? Bo Young?”

“I don’t even know who those people are. But if you really don’t believe me, I’ll show you my ID.” Jong Kook handed her a thin piece of plastic that was previously attached to the pocket of his pants, how Ji Hyo never saw it was beyond him.

Ji Hyo received the card, reading his name, title, date of birth and expiry date of the ID. She returned it after a few moments, still skeptical of Jong Kook.

“Huh. You sure you aren’t one of those stripper nurses that will suddenly strip in front of me and give me a show?” she tried once more.

At this, Jong Kook bellowed in laughter, even reaching up his eyes and swiping away a tear that came out from how hard he was laughing. This only made Ji Hyo even more annoyed, scowling like a kid who wasn’t allowed candy.

She huffed again. “I wouldn’t put it past you if you are. Or judge you, even. I mean, with those muscles of yours...God only knows how many women you’ve had hooked with them.” Ji Hyo whispered the last part, hoping that Jong Kook didn’t hear it, and thankfully he didn’t, if his laughing was any indication.

“Trust me, Ji Hyo-ssi, I’m a nurse. And for as long as you are in my hospital’s care, I’ll be of your service,” Jong Kook assured after he had composed himself, flashing her another genuine smile.

“Alright Jong Kook-ssi, if you are my nurse, please get me a doctor because I really wanna know what the hell is going on.”

Jong Kook gave her a thumbs up with a cheeky grin before leaving her room and coming back after a few moments with a doctor in tow.

Jong Kook quite liked his new charge.

So it turns out that Ji Hyo had been in an accident the night prior, a car accident to be exact. A drunk driver had ran a red light and consequently rammed into the bumper on the driver’s side, where she was, when she was driving home from work. The car hadn’t toppled over nor did it hit a nearby lamppost, only skidding a few feet away from where it was hit and turning around a few times like a top. Thankfully, Ji Hyo wasn’t hurt very badly: only a broken wrist and two fractured fingers on the same hand, a concussion and bruises on her legs and on her chest, which probably explained why breathing right now hurt.

But after hearing her predicament, Ji Hyo could only sigh. There goes her plan of a week-long vacation in Jeju. Eh, at least she still had a hot nurse who took care of her.

The doctor had advised her to stay for 3 days more, if only to monitor her concussion and to see if she had any other underlying injuries that they had overlooked. And stay did Ji Hyo do.

—

On the first day after the doctor had visited Ji Hyo, two of her best friends roommates, Yeo Jin and So Min, came to visit her.

“Oh unnie!” So Min exclaimed once they entered Ji Hyo’s room. “Thank God you’re okay!”

Ji Hyo could only roll her eyes fondly at the younger girl. “So Min-ah, no need to worry. It was only a minor accident,” she tried to console her friend.

“Minor accident my , you try receiving a call in the middle of the night saying that your best friend had gotten into a car accident and was under surgery for broken bones,” Yeo Jin snarked, but Ji Hyo could notice the concern and worry laced in it.

Ji Hyo sighed. Okay, point one for Yeo Jin.

“I’m sorry, guys, but I promise you, I’m fine now. I only have some bruises, a concussion, a broken wrist and some fractured fingers. At least, they’re not as major as the call made it out to be,” Ji Hyo said.

She opened her arms signaling that she wanted a hug. So Min dropped in her embrace first, pressing a kiss on her cheek too. Yeo Jin came second, succumbing to a chance for a hug with Ji Hyo whom she was worried about since the night before.

After the hugs, Jong Kook chose that time to enter her room. With a wide smile, no less. Yeo Jin’s and So Min’s jaws dropped at the sight of him. Wow.

“Good afternoon, ladies. I’m here to check on Ji Hyo’s vitals,” Jong Kook said with a little bow.

“Hello, Jong Kook-ssi,” Ji Hyo greeted him back first, seeing as how her friends were still speechless.

“You can come check me after, Jong Kook-ssi!” So Min perked up, sending the nurse a wink once she picked her jaw up from the ground.

“And me too!” Yeo Jin piped after.

Jong Kook chuckled at the two girls’ silliness while Ji Hyo rolled her eyes. Trust her friends to hit on the nurse who’s in charge of her.

“Jong Kook-ssi, meet my friends. This is Choi Yeo Jin,” Ji hyo pointed to the tall girl on her left, “and this is Jeon So Min.” Ji hyo then pointed to the shorter girl on her right.

Jong Kook’s eyes widened in recognition, “Oh, are these the friends who you thought put me up to prank you?” he teased.

Ji Hyo blushed and hid her head in her hands bashfully. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Same friends who you also thought had sent a stripper for you in the hospital?” Jong Kook teased again with a cheeky grin.

“Please don’t remind me of that, Jong Kook-ssi. That was embarrassing.”

“Kurae~, Ji Hyo-ssi.”

Yeo Jin and So Min watched their interaction carefully. Was Jong Kook flirting with their friend? It seemed so, if the burning blush on Ji Hyo’s neck and ears were any indication.

It wasn’t long after that that Jong Kook finished checking on Ji Hyo’s vitals and bowed out of the room with the reason that he had other patients to check on. Once he left, Yeo Jin and So Min immediately turned to Ji Hyo.

“Ah, unnie! He was hot! He’s perfect for you!” So Min gushed, and Yeo Jin nodded in agreement. 

“Yah! Don’t say that! He’s my nurse, he’s not supposed to treat me as anything but a patient he’s supposed to take care of,” Ji Hyo denied weakly.

“If you’re not going to hit that, then I think So Min and I will make our move,” Yeo Jin said.

“No!” Ji Hyo suddenly exclaimed.

Yeo Jin and So Min raised their eyebrows at her. That was a weird reaction. But it definitely proved that she felt something for the man, even if she didn’t know it. Ji Hyo widened her eyes when she realized what she had done.

“I mean,” Ji Hyo coughed awkwardly to compose herself, “it’s going to be weird because he’s my nurse and you’re my friends.”

So Min squinted her eyes skeptically, “Sure, unnie.”

Ji Hyo quickly changed the subject after that, with those two taking the bait, finally falling into comfortable chatter that didn’t make Ji Hyo’s heart race, and it wasn’t even the good kind. A few hours had passed, and Yeo Jin and So Min decided to leave, having