Chapter 10 The child doctor

“Oh my!! Hyukjae what are you doing here? Are you okay, or have you gotten hurt? What could you possibly have managed to do to end up here. Should I talk someone to get you help faster or maybe fetch you some ice. Are feeling cold? Maybe a blanket would be of better use for you now.”

“Hey hey, Donghae calm down. I´m fine, you don’t need to worry about me, okay?! I was out on a date and she crushed her hand between two bowling balls. And now I´m just waiting for her to come out and our friend to arrive so we can take her home.”

Donghae took the seat next to the taller man and let out a breath he seemed to have held in. The brunet male turned so they where looking at each other and smiled softly. He took a hold of the black-haired man´s hand. They ended up sitting in their chairs, silently basking in one another’s company.

Minutes went by before Hyukjae decided to ask the question that had been lingering in his mind since he´d first sawn the other male. “Can I ask you something Donghae?”

The spoken to nodded and looked at the person next to him with quizzical eyes.

The kindergarten teacher cleared his throat, “Are you working here at the hospital? Considering how you are dressed and that you are here. I always thought you´re a student. How old are you even?”

The shorter man begun to shake, not long after his loud bright laughter boomed all around them and everyone sitting in the lobby with them. Making some of the other people in the room with them stare in their direction. When he had calmed down a bit the brunet dried his cheeks from stray tears that had fallen. “Well, it´s half studying and half working. I study to become a pediatrician, and now I am doing my internship here. Which I guess counts as working, right?! Unless I do my internship, I won´t have experience and all that. Which makes me a failed medical student. About the other thing about my age… I think it´s not that many years between us. I´m born in October, so I´ll become twenty-seven in autumn. You should have been born about the same year as me, right? I can´t believe that you thought I was that much younger than you. These looks seem to be deceiving you.”

Stare was all the older could do at the information he had just been dealt. Donghae was gonna become a doctor. A children’s doctor non the less. A handsome doctor of course, because of course some higher power couldn’t just have given the brunet the looks. Oh no! He had to have a brain leading him to a career with status and money. The man could save lives!!

That´s when Hyukjae registered the other´s age. “Wait! We´re the same age?! But you look so young usually.”

Donghae´s eyes brighten up (as if it was humanly possible for them to shine brighter, Hyukjae would have denied it if he hadn’t seen it himself). Being born the same year, just months apart, seemed to be something thrilling in the younger´s mind.

The man opened his mouth to say something when his stomach suddenly grumbled, making a pink hue take over the elder´s cheeks and the tip of his ears. It hadn’t been that long ago since he had food last, but playing sports (bowling counted as a sport, right?) apparently drained his energy and his body felt the need to remind him that it should be re-filled.

“Wait here Hyuk, I´ll fetch you something to eat from the cafeteria. Workers discount and all that. I would be a fool if I didn’t take advantage of it every now and then.”

Before the man in question had the time to register what the other had said and in turn given him a response, the doctor to-be had already walked away. The raven-head followed the younger´s retreating form as the man in question made his way in a quest for food.

A short time later the younger was back in his seat next to Hyukjae. His arms were full of all kinds of snacks and drinks. He handed over two cartons of strawberry milk saying he had seen how many of them the raven had in his fridge. There were packages of muffins and melon bread. A box of Pepero and another orange package with small cookies was also in the mix of sweets. Donghae gave one of the packages to Hyukjae. The rest of the snacks he placed in his lap. When his hands were free he tried to open his own carton of chocolate milk, when he didn’t succeed he started to pout.

The older saw this and placed his opened strawberry milk in Donghae´s hand, taking the latter´s own brown drink to open it for him. While he opened the chocolate one he saw the brunet sip of the pinkish milk and grinned brightly when their eyes met. In a spur of the moment Hyukjae took a sip himself when he finally managed to open the carton containing the chocolate milk.

Donghae let out a low giggle and swap the drinks back to their original owners.

The following minutes the two chatted among themselves about what had happened during the days they hadn’t seen each other. Donghae complained one second about working too much, sleeping too little, and missing proper food. In the next breath the latter was telling funny stories that had happened at the hospital and saying how much he enjoyed spending his days there.

Jumping in between emotions like no one Hyukjae had known before. Making the latter as unique and interesting as humanly possible. Had it been anyone else the older doubted he would have had the same feeling towards that person as he did when it came to Donghae.

Hyukjae told the brunet about the adorable students at the kindergarten and how he somehow always got to act out the roll as an animal. Most of the times it being a dog. Not that he minded (he thought it was really endearing). Donghae sat with him and gushed over the children, sharing stories of his own of kids visiting the hospital. The doctor to-be marveled over how easy it seemed to be for the older when it came to children, especially with answering all of their questions so smoothly.

A loud voice cut through their conversation when a tall guy walked over to the duo. He had tanned skin and black hair that was styled slightly upwards, his face was handsome and Hyukjae felt a tad bit smaller from where he sat. The man wore a similar outfit to Donghae´s and the teacher quickly figured out that the other man had to be working with the shorter.

“Donghae I was looking for you. I though you were only going to the toilet, but time passed, and you never came back.