Sungyeol already was reading in another patients file, sitting in the corner at the window, sipping water. It was an all too familiar picture for Woohyun. 
Sungyeols long hair was falling into his face, while he was playing with the hairband and reading in concentration. 

Woohyun plopped down next to him, his worried gaze never leaving the younger, tired doctor. 
“What's up, Hyun?” he flipped to the next page. 
“Stop looking at me like that Woohyun, what's wrong?” Sungyeol didn't look up again. 
Woohyun sighed. “Can you at least look at me when you talk to me, Mr. I'm too cool to look at my Best Friend while talking to him Dr. Lee Sungyeol.” 
Though Woohyun had kind of been hurt by Sungyeols behaviour today, all ill feelings towards him vanished the second Sungyeol looked up from the papers with tired eyes and a blending smile on his face.

“Repeat that, I think I like that nickname.” Sungyeol snickered. 
It was as clear as water to Woohyun that Sungyeol tried to change the subject, but not this time. 
“A nickname is supposed to be shorter than your name, isn't it?” Woohyun grinned back, but quickly replaced his grin with a worried grimace.

“Your outburst today. Care to fill me in? It just couldn't have been because of one empty paper, could it?” Woohyun had propped up his arm, leaning his chin onto his hand and gazing worriedly at him.

Sungyeol hated that, hated that Woohyun could read him too well. Only sometimes though. Most of the time it was useful because Sungyeol never talked about his feelings on his own.

Sungyeols grin vanished in an instant. He gripped the pen in his hand hard. 
He shook his head slightly and went back to reading his papers for a few minutes, Woohyun giving him the time he needed. 

“It's not only about one paper. That wouldn't have been a problem to explain Hyun. They didn't fill out two weeks worth documents. Two weeks, Hyun, two weeks. You know what that means, don't you? You and I both know that the chances of Mrs. Oh making it are slim. And as if it wasn't bad enough about her condition, they ignored the instructions I gave and wrote them down into the file. They endangered her already weakened body even more.” Sungyeol paused, letting out a frustrated sound.
Woohyun just continued to stare at him, though he dropped his arm from the table and clutched his chairs' arms. 

Woohyun had to lean in in order to catch Sungyeols next words.
“Hyun, I'm so scared.” And the look in Sungyeols eyes made Woohyuns insides churn. There was fear, panic and anger evident. But what shocked Woohyun the most was the hate he saw in them and if he knew that the hate was directed at Sungyeol himself.

“It's my fault isn't it? I should have checked the file every now and then. Maybe then it wouldn't have gotten out of hand like this.” 
Sungyeol shook his head slightly before dropping his gaze back to the papers, shutting his feelings behind that facade he wore to work again. 

This was a clear indication that he didn't want to talk anymore. Woohyun couldn't be angry because he behaves just the same way if he doesn't want to talk about something. 
He scooted closer with his chair to Sungyeol and leaned over to read in the file. 

“Which patient is this, Yeol?” Woohyun asked, examining the routine check up documents. Blood pressure, heart rates, sugar levels – everything seemed fine. 

Sungyeol snickered.
“Never read the file of your crush, Hyunnie?” 
That statement had earned Sungyeol a punch onto the arm.
“This is patient Kim Sunggyu's file?” Woohyun looked over the documents he had read a few seconds ago again.
“Mhm. He seems to have problems with walking or lifting his arms. When I checked his lungs today again, he seemed to have problems with breathing too. I gave him a portable respirator.” 

Woohyun stayed silent for a few minutes, a frown on his usually gracefully face. 
“Yesterday he seemed to be okay, though.”
Sungyeol threw him a look and Woohyun added “Yeah, yeah I get it he has to have something to be here, at this station, yeah.” 

Sungyeol flipped through the whole file, pulling his small notebook out again and writing a few notes down. 
He flipped back a few pages and then forward to the page he was reading and then he looked at his notes. 
Suddenly it all clicked.

“Woohyun.” he whispered, earning a confused glance from the addressed man. 
“You said when he was admitted he was able to walk perfectly fine by himself?”
Woohyun nodded. 
“Yeah. But now he kind of needs help all the time, be it someone who supports him or a wheeled walker.” 

Sungyeol pursed his lips, tapping them with his pen. “Can he walk with crutches?” 
Woohyun paused for a second. “Never tried that. Why are you suddenly asking me these things-” he stopped himself midsentence. 
“Oh. You think it's something muscular?”

Sungyeol stood up, pulling his hair back into a ponytail. “Hyun think about it! The only way to describe his decreasing ability of walking is either a muscular disease or something related to the rheumatology department. But since rheumatism or osteoporosis doesn't affect your ability to breath, I'd say it's something muscular!” 

Woohyun stared at Sungyeol, shocked, disbelieving. 
“Sungyeol, that can't be true. He's already nearing thirty, diseases like this show in the early childhood, if not when they're infants!” Woohyun was now standing too. 

This gave Sungyeol something to think of. 
“Right. You're right, at least the Duchenne disease is. Isn't it better to get him checked through it? Something's clearly wrong and we need to find out what before he dies.”
Woohyun looked at him with a pain stricken face. 

“Of course. Yes, otherwise he wouldn't be here. Right.” Woohyun put the chair back into its old position and looked at Sungyeol. Woohyun was distressed and Sungyeol could see it.
“I'll leave on time today and we will have a wonderful, cozy evening okay? Like we used to in university.”
Sungyeol patted Woohyuns head, throwing him a dazzling, gum revealing smile. Woohyun returned him an equally broad smile while he put the file away.

He couldn't wait for it. Truth to be told, Woohyun, as well as Sungyeol, had missed their traditional evenings together, where they would lounge around  doing particularly nothing but talking and joking. 

After the promise Sungyeol gave, the day seemed to pass faster than expected and Woohyun found himself  back in Sungyeol's office. 
Woohyun was currently changing back into his casual clothes while Sungyeol emptied the coffee machine, his white coat already dangling off his office chair, his table as neat as ever. 

Woohyun stretched leisurely, waiting for Sungyeol to clean the last bit of his office. He let himself fall down onto the sofa with a silent plop, stretching his legs out before pulling them onto the sofa and lying down, his arms linked behind his head. 
He stared at the ceiling, listening intently to Sungyeols silent humming. 

Sungyeol disposed the last piece of trash. He threw on his jacket and bag.  He grabbed the two empty mugs.
“Come on, let's go before someone stops by and tells us to stay overtime.” 

Woohyun didn't need to be told twice awas already on his feet, his jacket on thrown over his shoulder. 
“Don't you want to wear that?” Sungyeol gestured with a flip of his hair towards the jacket draped over Woohyuns shoulder.

Woohyun just shrugged.
“No, let's just get the hell out of here. I can wear it later.”  Sungyeol just grinned in response. 
They dropped the mugs off on their way out. Sungyeol didn't  bother saying his good byes to the others. He had had enough of them for today.

The second they stepped out of the hospital Sungyeol threw his arms up and let out a lout screech. 
Woohyun first shook his second but followed his best friend suit. 

Both were laughing loudly after they were done. 
“My next shift is in, like, three days. Three days to sleep. I will sleep these three days through.” Sungyeol, apparently happy with his plan, nodded in approval. 
Woohyun just snickered.

“I would say lucky you but then I look at your shifts and I'd rather say poor you.” 
Sungyeol threw him a mock glare. “When's your next shift? Oh hey! Let's get some things to eat for today!” He pulled Woohyun into a convenience store.

“My next shift is tomorrow. Got a two.” Woohyun took a basket and immediately filled it with sweets. 
“What, a late shift? How are you supposed  to go to work tomorrow if we stay up late?” Sungyeol looked at Woohyun concerned, spreading a feeling of gratitude through the latter. 

“Don't worry about that, little boy. If you can work for 80 hours straight, then I can work with 4 hours of sleep too. Besides, it's better than the early shift. I hate waking up at 4 am.” Woohyun walked towards the aisle with the drinks.

He pulled out a bottle of Soju, until Sungyeols huge hand grabbed his wrist. 
“Nurse Nam Woohyun are you seriously planning on getting drunk today? Even your healthy body won't sober up until your shift and I can't let you work with alcohol in your blood.” Sungyeol gave him a stern look.

“Wow, Yeollie. Relax, I wasn't going to drink today. Tomorrow, after my shift. I have the day off the day after tomorrow.” Woohyun gave him a cheeky smile. 
Sungyeol just rolled his eyes, though his smile gave him away. 

Woohyun put three more bottles of Soju in. 
Other than that Sungyeol put in some vegetables and other ingredients Woohyun needed to cook. 

After paying for their stuff, Sungyeol literally skipped to their apartment, Woohyun jumping in and slamming the door shut with his foot.

They had a small fight about who would shower first, again, and Woohyun won, again. So while Woohyun was showering, Sungyeol put their new stuff away, storing the vegetables and meat in the refrigerator and the drinks in the freezer. The soju was stored in one of the cupboards. 

The minute Sungyeol came out of the shower dressed in his pajamas, hair dripping wet onto the towel on his shoulders, Woohyun had placed their dinner on the living room table. Both of them plopped down in sync next to each other. Woohyun grabbed the remote and was about to lift his feet onto the empty spot on the table if Sungyeol wouldn't have slapped his legs and raised his eyebrows at him.
Woohyun pouted but dropped his legs back onto the floor. 

They ate in silence, for the first half an hour or so. Until Sungyeol decided to tease Woohyun.

“Hey, Hyunnie. Have you thought about how you'll seduce Kim patient without the the head of the department, or anyone else, noticing?” Sungyeol grinned from ear to ear, biting down onto his chopsticks. Woohyun on the other hand, started coughing. Had he just swallowed the wrong way or was it just out of shock? Woohyun himself didn't know but he knew that the shock was written all over his face and posture. 

Sungyeol patted his back, a gesture to help him out of his misery. It would have helped, if Sungyeol would have stopped teasing him. 
“I think he's cute. Don't you think he's cute? He has an adorable smile don't you think so? I mean you seem to like to make him laugh.”
Woohyun was now a deep shade of red. Sungyeol took the plate from Woohyuns hands and slapped his back hard. A few coughs later Woohyun was turning back to his normal shade of color. 

Woohyun threw Sungyeol the nastiest look he could muster up. Sungyeol though, just laughed unaffected. 
“Look at our cute Woohyunnie taking an interest in someone else!” Sungyeol leaned forward again, pinching the still frowning Woohyuns cheeks. Sungyeol was still grinning, displaying his brilliant white teeth and gums.

Woohyun swatted his hands away, hiding a smile. He took a hold of his plate again.
Sungyeol was sitting cross legged on one side of the sofa, facing Woohyun. Woohyun copied Sungyeol, just that he was facing the other. 

Woohyun tilted his head, watching Sungyeol carefully. Sungyeol though, was looking at his plate, acting like he wasn't the reason Woohyun had nearly choked to death. 

“Hyun, tell me. What's so interesting with Kim Sunggyu?” The question was asked with utmost curiosity, there was no hint of mocking or malice. Just curiosity. 
And Woohyun then decided all over again, that Lee Sungyeol was too curious for his own good. 

He stood up, taking the plate from Sungyeols hands and glancing briefly at the big brown, curious eyes. 
Sungyeol stood up, too, taking their glasses and followed Woohyun into the kitchen.

There was another brief silence, while Sungyeol pushed Woohyun away from the sink. He turned the facet on, starting to scrub and clean the plates throughout. 
“I honestly don't know. He was really weird at first, you know? Acting all bossy and pretending to be cold hearted and stuff.” Woohyun paused again, drying thoughtfully the plate Sungyeol just had scrubbed spotless. 

“But you know me” and Sungyeol knew something self praising would come “I can read people pretty well.” Sungyeol agreed. Woohyun had this ability to read people like an open book.

“Kim Sunggyu wasn't as hardhearted, as cold as he pretended to be. Though he is bossy.” Sungyeol snickered at the last part, Woohyun joining him. 

The second plate made its way into Woohyuns hands. “I don't know when it started, but I know that I'm attracted to him in one way or another.” Woohyun looked at the plate he was drying with a distant look and small smile on his face.
Sungyeol was watching him. He had never seen his best friend like this. 

“It's weird isn't it?” Woohyun let out a puff, starting to dry the plate again.
“You were always the one to fall in love easily.” Woohyun dodged in time a splash of water, giggling.
“Hey! That's not true! And stop changing the subject, this is about you and not me!” Sungyeol crossed his wet hands, a dripping sponge in his gloved hands.

Woohyun just gave him a knowing smirk.
“Remember when we were in Uni and you met this really really pretty med student in your year? And how she-” 
Sungyeol let out a screeching sound and threw the sponge at Woohyun, who caught it with ease. 

“Alright alright, I'll forget it!” Woohyun said in between his laughter.
Sungyeol didn't ask him about the patient anymore and Woohyun had thought that he had given up on making him talk. Yet Woohyun knew better and that was fine.

They were sitting back in the living room again, this time on the floor, their backs leaning onto the sofa. 
Each of them had a glass with orange juice. Sungyeol had stretched out his long limbs, where as Woohyun had pulled them up, resting his arm on one of his knees.

“Woohyun I'm really worried for you.” 
This was the Sungyeol he knew. Straightforward. Honest. 
Woohyun turned slightly his head to look at Sungyeol, his head still resting against the sofa. 
“Why about me? I am sure I have more of a reason to worry about you.” Sungyeol let out a bitter laugh.
“That's my job risk, Woohyun. I don't want you to be suspended though. If this comes out..” Sungyeol trailed off, not finishing his sentence. Sungyeol threw his head back lightly again. 

“It won't come out Candycheek, because there's nothing to be exposed anyway, is it?”
Woohyun tipped his glass back, drinking a bit of his juice.

Sungyeol stayed silent for a while. At first, he had hated that nickname but he came to adore it as years passed and now he loved it when Woohyun called him by that. Though he never would admit that. 

“There is though, there is. Woohyun, if it would have been anyone else walking in, be it Nurse Dongwoo or a nurse student whom you could have intimated by your experience.. you would have seriously been in trouble, you would have probably had to face charges. Don't you see? You think it's not that big of a deal and apparently Kim Sunggyu foes too, but what if his family hires a lawyer when seeing the way you treat him? What if the patient will sue you on his family's behalf?”

Woohyun could hear the concern, but deep under that concern fear was buried. 
Woohyun swirled the drink in his glass. 

“Yeol, you do understand right? That I really like him? And it feels like he does too. And I don't mean the platonic way. Not the friendly way.” Woohyun didn't want to look up. 
“I know he's a patient and I know it's wrong and I'm probably breaking a dozen rules and I'm a hundred percent sure I'll end up in jail for at least a year, if not more, if I'm wrong but I think it's worth the risk.”
Sungyeol was staring his juice down, fiddling with his free hand on his sleeve, ripping the hole in the sleeve bigger. 

The silence stretched on and this time it was Woohyun who felt fear rising in him. He risked a glance at Sungyeol who had that same look on his face when he was trying to figure out a patients diagnosis. 

Sungyeol put the glass onto the floor and started to play with his sleeves all over again, propping one leg up. 
“I'm not the one to tell you whom to love Woohyun. Neither you nor I can choose whom we fall in love with.” Sungyeol looked up at Woohyun. His eyes were glittering with unshed tears, with bottled up fear and worry. 

“It's not like I'm going to stand in your way, so stop looking like I'm gonna leave your , god damn it!” Sungyeol cracked a smile. Woohyun smiled back, the tension, fear, suddenly disappearing like they had appeared. 

Sungyeol drew his eyebrows together again, crinkling his nose a little up and pursing his lips slightly. He was still playing around with his sleeves, his thumb sticking through the freshly widened hole. 
“Are you sure? About him liking you too, I mean.”
Woohyun gulped down the remaining bit of his juice. 
“I'm pretty sure he does. I won't make a move though. I'm not ready to loose my job yet. Who will pay the rent?”
Sungyeol laughed and Woohyun joined, the tension and fear instantly dissolving into thin air. 

“You know,  I don't care. If the person you like is a patient or not. As long as they make you happy, I'm okay with that.”
Sungyeol gave him one of his trademark gummy smiles.

“Sungyeol?” Sungyeol looked up after refilling Woohyuns and his own drink. 
“Do you really think it's a muscular disease?” Woohyun looked at his friend with worried eyes, hands anxiously twisted around his glass.

Sungyeols gaze softened. “Let's not talk about that now, okay? I will tell you as soon as we're done with the tests.”
Woohyun nodded, at least he tried. And when he tried to answer, his voice betrayed him and he suddenly started to cry without knowing why. Sungyeol instantly wrapped him up in a hug.

The taller boy wasn't one for skinship and it even surprised Woohyun himself that tired doctor had, without hesitation, pulled him into a hug. Without questioning anything, without any shame, he sobbed into Sungyeols shirt. Woohyun felt Sungyeol rubbing small circles onto his back, which where oddly calming him down. 
Every so often he hear a soft “It's going to be okay”. 

How long they had stayed in that position, neither Woohyun or Sungyeol knew. Frankly spoken, neither of them cared anyway.

Even after Woohyuns small outburst, the evening turned out to be still one of the most enjoyable days they had spent together.
They went to bed at around 3am. And that was earlier than Woohyun had intended. Sungyeol had nagged him into getting at least 7 hours of sleep before his shift and Woohyun reluctantly gave in. 

Sungyeol told him to leave everything where it was, that he would clean it up the moment he woke up later. Woohyun eyed him suspiciously but didn't say more. 
They set up their blanket bed. As soon as both hit the pillow, they fell asleep.

Sungyeol woke up late in the afternoon, feeling for once refreshed after a day off. 
Woohyun had long left for work. Sungyeol tapped into the kitchen to get breakfast, or in this case lunch, ready. 
He didn't have to worry about that though, because Woohyun had cooked for him too. Sungyeol made a mental note to thank Woohyun later. 

Forearmed with his plate and coffee, he dropped himself onto the sofa and started to eat slowly. Sungyeol loved eating slowly, enjoying his meals throughout. Sadly his few breaks were never long enough to enjoy a meal and get a few minutes of sleep. He had gotten used to gulping everything down in a matter of seconds.

An hour or so later he picked up all the dirty dishes and started to wash them. Clean as Sungyeol loved them, he put the dishes back into their respective places. He cleaned the entire apartment, not that it was much.

Sungyeol took the trash out and after washing his hands he slipped back into his pajamas. 
He was ready to sleep again, catching up on all the sleep he missed. He barely had closed his eyes when his beeper started to go off. 
“God damn it, I'm not on call duty!” Sungyeol grumbled particularly to no one but himself.

He muted his beeper and went back to sleep. Apparently, some almighty force above him didn't want Sungyeol to get any sleep, as his phone started to ring violently, disturbing the beautiful silence Sungyeol admired and missed every so often. 

Irked, Sungyeol got up and grabbed his phone from the table. 
It was someone from the hospital. Sungyeol groaned. 

He picked up and was greeted with the usual beeping of machines. 
“Hello?” Only now did Sungyeol notice how tired he sounded.

“Dr. Lee, sir, is this you?” a rather distraught female voice asked. 
Sungyeol sat down onto the floor, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Of course it's me, who would answer my phone otherwise? Now, what's so urgent that you got to wake me up on my well earned day off?”

The female stuttered a little.
“Well, Dr., the problem is this. Here's a man, a relative of one of your ICU patients, who wants to speak to you. He says it's urgent.” 
Sungyeol sighed.
“Who is it? Can't it wait until I'm back, like Monday?” 
“I told him to come back on Monday as well, but he insists that it is important and that he needs to talk to you immediately. I of course-” Sungyeol cut the girl off midsentence.

The sooner he got it over with, the earlier he could go to sleep.
“Fine, give me the relative.”
She seemed to be out of it for a second, until she composed herself and gave a small “Yes doctor, I will do so.”

Rustling was heard, until a deep voice broke the silence again.
“Are you Doctor Lee Sungyeol?” 
Sungyeol tried to remember a possible relative who had such a deep voice. 
“Yes I am.  You said you had something urgent to ask. May you please identify yourself?” Even now, with Sungyeol trying to control his voice, a thick layer of tiredness was heard clearly out of his voice. 

“I'm patient Oh's son. My father told me about your conversation. I am not happy with what he told me, doctor. It sounded like you gave up on my mother, and seeing you not here but at home, in your comfortable bed I assume you really did.” He heard the boy sneer. 

Sungyeol frowned. “Sir, with upmost respect, I do not think that you are in any position to tell me that I gave up on your mother. It is a hard time for you and especially for her-”
Sungyeol was cut off rudely. “Do you know how long I have been trying to talk to you, Dr. Lee? For weeks now. Every time I was sent away with 'Come back later, Dr. Lee is taking his break' 'Dr. Lee is in a meeting' or 'Dr. Lee is currently taking care of a patient, please come back tomorrow!' and my absolute favourite, 'Dr. Lee has his day off today, come by next week'. You see Dr. Lee? All you do is play around, leaving my mother out there to rot instead of helping her.” 

Sungyeol couldn't believe his ears. Anger flared up, though he managed to control it well. 
“Mr. Oh, I think you should go home and take a good nights sleep. You can come by my office on Monday and ask me any question you have. But right now, I want to have a little of sleep. I didn't sleep for the past five days. If you would excuse-”

Again, the young man didn't give him a chance to end his sentence. “You didn't sleep for five days and you're treating my mother? With no sleep?”

Sungyeol sighed. No matter what he said, it seemed to make the situation worse.
“Like I said, Sir, come by my office on Monday. I will make sure you won't be sent away. Now excuse me, I need to leave. Have a nice weekend, Mr. Oh.” Just like that, without giving the son a chance to reply, he canceled the call. Sungyeol sent a message to Woohyun that his phone would be off and that he shouldn't worry. With that he turned it off and went back to sleep.

exams are just around the corner and yay!! being a double engineering major certainly doesn't make it any easier ; O ; 
but i promise to update as soon as i can!!

Wordcount: 4323