#nct 127 fic

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[10:24 am]

#8 hospital au + #63 everybody knows/mistaken couple + Pediatrician!Johnny

warnings: implied chronic illness, language

As the words fell resonated around the room, you watched the woman in front of you. The sob that came from her was like a knife to the chest. Her husband wrapped his arms around her, trying to give her comfort while his own heart was breaking. They were lucky to have each other to lean on.

It never got easier to share the news with families. With only a few words from you, their entire world changed, shifted in ways that you couldn’t understand.

You clasped your hands together, trying to hide the tremor that was working its way to the surface, “I’ll let you guys have some time. The nurse will follow up with you in a few minutes, please let him know if you need anything from me.” Turning from the couple, you bit your lip to keep the tears that were brimming in your eyes. “Hey, Mark,” you greeted the young nurse who had been hired just a few months prior. “Give the couple in there 10.”

Mark knew more than anyone that diagnosis like those were hard on families. They hoped for the best but lived with the reality of the worst.

“Is it?”

You shook your head. The rates were unspeakable. To say those little words again would have you sitting over a bathroom toilet your entire lunch break.

“Just make sure that they have all of the information they need. If you need anything from me, let me know.”

His eyebrows pinched together slightly as he nodded, “Sure, but- um-” you watched as he shifted nervously on his feet, “Are you-”

“I’m fine,” you tried a smile. “Just a headache. Nothing some Tylenol”-and a long nap- “won’t fix.” Departing with a pat on the shoulder and a tight grimace, you made your way to your office. If you got there and locked the door before anyone saw you then you could have your cry.

The door of your office didn’t budge as you jiggled the handle. “Please,” you attempted to open it again. “I just need you to work with me.” Locked. “Stupid piece of shit,” you gave the door a hard kick.

“Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but maybe don’t take it out on yourself,” Johnny Suh leaned against the wall next to you. “I mean. I don’t think you would like me to have to take a look at you, would you, Doctor L/n? I, of course, have no qualms.”

“Leave me alone, Doctor Suh,” your turned your face away. He couldn’t see you cry. If he saw just how vulnerable this part of your job made you, he would just use it against you.

His heat and warm scent enveloped you as he moved in closer, “Come now, Doctor. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that maybe your first judgment of me was wrong.”

You shook your head refusing to answer him. Just opening your mouth you knew that the frustration and anguish you were feeling would come pouring out. The door knob jerked again and you slammed a palm against the door.

“Y/n,” oh no, he was using your first name. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just,” you sniff. “This stupid door locked me out of my office again.” A tear fell down your cheek and you tried to wipe it away before he saw.

Johnny’s hand came up to rest on your arm, “Come on,” the light pressure of his hand guided you away from you door, “Don’t cry.”

Just like a man to not want you to show any emotion because it made him uncomfortable. Johnny is a doctor; he should be able to handle an array of strong emotions. So should you. You shouldn’t feel that much pain anymore. You should be able to disconnect from those emotions while you are at work.

“I don’t know what’s running through that beautiful head of you, but whatever it is, you’re wrong,” the door to a separate office swung open and Johnny quickly led you inside. “Here you go, sit.” His hands slid down your arms, guiding you to a plush couch. “Now you want to tell me what’s actually going on?”

You lip quivered as you tried to suppress a sob. Dark eyes caught yours as Johnny’s finger caught your chin, tipping it up so he could take in your face. A deep furrow pressed in between his eyebrows. His concern finally broke through your barrier. It didn’t matter that he may use it against you, you had to get it off your chest, “He’s one Johnny.” You raised a hand to cover your gasping breaths. “One. And I had to tell his parents that.”

“Shh, shh. It’s okay,” his arms reached for you and pulled you into his chest. “I understand.”

He would, wouldn’t he.

“I know that it hurts to give them that news.”

You shook your head, “I shouldn’t still be feeling this way. I have done this long enough that there should be a disconnect.” His shirt crinkled under the grip of your hands on his back. How was it that the one guy you were always trying to avoid was the one to comfort you then?

“I disagree,” his breath covered the top of your head. “Being able to empathize and sympathize with our patients makes us more humane. It makes the hard time seem less daunting and the good times even better. If we disconnect our patients don’t feel like they are being taken care of or like we just look at them like another lab experiment.” You sank further into him as he rubbed a hand up and down your back. His fingers made small circles across your spine every time your breath hitched and you had to wonder why he did that. “Every single one of your patients love you because you connect with them beyond just a diagnosis. You work yourself to the bone and then you put in more work to check up on families and kids that came in here months ago. Parents appreciate that and kids know that you are one of the safe adults. In this field there is nothing more important.”

“Thank you,” it was a soft whisper into the crook of his neck, but you knew he heard.

He hummed lightly, “They don’t understand how much it takes out of you. But I do. So today, I am your doctor.” Pulling away from you he brushed away the hair and tears that stuck to your cheeks. “As your doctor, I am prescribing you one nap and two Tylenol.”

“How much medical school did it take you to figure out how to make that diagnosis?” you blinked up at him as he pushed you to lay down on the couch.

Grabbing a small pill bottle from his counter he shook it lightly and grabbed a bottle of water, “I think it was my third year.” He smiled down at you, and though you would never admit it out loud, it was kind of nice. Johnny was a nice person to have as a friend.

“Really,” you tucked your hands under your head. “I think it was my second year.”

“I knew you were the smarter one,” he set down the bottles and stepped toward the door, “Though I think that was always obvious. I mean I can’t be the pretty and smart one, can I?” You laughed a long with him. Even through the ache in your head, it did make you feel better. Johnny really was a miracle doctor. “Get some rest, find me later.”

“Thanks, Johnny.”

“Anytime.” The door clicked shut behind him and with a smile on your face you drifted to sleep.

The sly smirk Mark gave you when you wander back to the nurses station an hour later dropped when Johnny wandered up and squeezed you shoulder, “Feeling better?”

“Yeah, thanks,” it wasn’t hard to give him a smile then. "I may have to invade your office more often.“

He shrugged, “Feel free to use my couch anytime.” And he walked away from you. No, you didn’t look at his butt, you were looking at the piece of paper he had tucked into his back pocket.

Mark screeched in your ear and you turned to find him quickly typing in his phone, “What are you doing?”

He hid his phone behind his back, “Nothing.” Red colored his cheeks as you continued to stare at him. “Glad you’re feeling better.”

He may have avoided your scrutiny then, but if the looks that nurses started throwing your way meant anything, he would be hearing from you again later.

@hachanbaecon

Tue, 03 May 2022 22:19:27

Next to you, Next to me

4. Coffee Shop AU + 60. Poorly Timed Confession

Flowershop owner!Taeyong x Cafe owner!Reader

Warning(s): language

“So what do you think?” You passed the cup over to Taeyong.

A frown settled on his lips as he looked down at your creation, “You’re sure you’ve done this before?” He watched you skeptically.

So latte art wasn’t your forte, that didn’t mean that he had to make it seem like you had just done a crime against humanity, “I swear, I have,” you leaned over the counter, pushing the cup a little closer to him, “I know it’s not the best looking, but I promise you that it is going to be the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had.”

He hummed, pushing his open laptop to the side to grab the cups with both hands and bring it to his face. There was something so nerve racking about watching the man take a deep breath of the hot drink before taking a large swallow. His face puckered slightly and he yanked the cup from his mouth.

Had everyone been lying to you before?!

Your mom swore that it was good, and though your brother didn’t drink coffee, he liked your tea and pastries.

“I’m so sorry, you don’t have to drink it. I’ll work on it. Here give me the cup,” you reached across the bar to grab the cup that he pulled from your reach.

“NO!” he yelled, “No, it was just hot. I didn’t think about that before I took a big drink.” And you thought that you saw a faint smattering of red on his cheeks. He quickly took another drink, “I love it.” He smiled at you and you tried to believe it, but it was hard when you could see how hard he was trying to make everything seem okay.

“You don’t have to lie to me. Even if my coffee isn’t good, I plan on still opening the café. I put in too much time and money for this to fail.”

Taeyong frowned again, “I’m not lying to you. You’re going to be great. And hey, you’ve already got one customer.” He pointed to himself, “You know I’m right next door, that’s why I came over, because I’m nosy. I’ve seen you here the past few weeks and curiosity finally drew me over.” The smile on his face eased your nerves and you were starting to trust the truth behind his words.

“Right,” you looked across the road to where the small flower shop sat. Taeyong shuffled his feet and you remembered that he probably just stopped by to say hello, not sample your sub par coffee. “If you want I’ll get you a lid for your coffee and you can be on your way.” He was probably busy and didn’t want to be gone long.

“Oh- yeah,” he tucked his hands in the flower shop logoed apron he wore, “I’m sure you’re busy getting ready, didn’t mean to pull you from your work.”

“You didn’t,” you pressed the plastic lid on the cup. Taeyong grinned shyly at you as he made his way to the door, “Feel free to stop by anytime.”

He tipped his head at you, “I will, thank you for the coffee, it’s delicious.”

Yeah, maybe it wasn’t so bad.

“Wait, wait, wait, you went to SSU too!” you grinned at the man across from you. Taeyong had become your first regular customer. Well, your only customer, considering that you weren’t open yet. Every morning since that one two weeks earlier he stopped by like clockwork.

7 am, he knocks on the door and you unlock it for him,

7:02 he hands over the menu you were working on and orders something new,

7:05 he takes one sip of his drink gives you his first thoughts

7:06 you chat with him about whatever is on his mind as you go about setting up tasks you have to do for the day

7:15 he goes back across the street and you only catch peeks at him through the window until you leave or he closes

The same thing for almost two weeks. You couldn’t even be upset that the man was getting free coffee and pastries off of you. He was good, attractive, company that you grew closer and closer to inviting to dinner with every passing day.

“Yeah, I got my degree in horticulture and botany. I wanted to stay close to home, but branch out some. I graduated about four years ago.”

Delight and shock lit up your face, “No way, me too. I bet we passed each other on campus or maybe even had a class together.”

Taeyong watched you calmly, a somewhat knowing smile on his face, “We may have had a business class together once.” He shrugged.

“It would be like fate,” you pushed the chocolate croissant he ordered with his tea over to him and took his dirty cup.

He chuckled softly, “Yeah.”

“Speaking of fate,” you checked the notepad you had sitting next to a cash box on the counter. “I have finally set a date for the grand opening.” A small squeal left your lips and you jumped in place. “It’ll be next Friday!”

Taeyong blinked owlishly at you before a grin crossed his face, “That’s amazing! And so soon, but amazing! I’m so happy for you.” You thought that he was going to jump over the bar and hug you. You wouldn’t have been complaining, if he had. Instead he ripped the croissant in half and offered one part to you. “This calls for celebration!” You would have rather had dinner with him, but he was still here and happy for you, so you couldn’t complain.

“Thanks, Tae.” You said through a mouth full of bread and chocolate.

He raised his half in toast, “Just doing duties as a friend and neighbor.”

And maybe something more? You had thought about it a lot over the past few weeks. He seemed to like you. There was nothing stopping both of you from just exploring whatever chemistry there was between you both. Still that little niggling of fear crept it’s way in and no one likes to be rejected. Plus, you are so busy with the store opening, it’s just not a good time to ask him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” You watched him open the door, letting in a cool breeze that smelled of clean air and fresh cut grass.

“Not if I see you first,” he took a bite of his croissant and strolled across the road, taking your heart with him.

He wasn’t there.

It was the day of your grand opening and he wasn’t there.

T-1 minute until everyone around you watched as you cut the small ribbon that crossed in front of your café. Taeyong literally worked across the road, how could he not be there?

You needed to try to get rid of the hurt. If you didn’t, then no one was going to think you were very happy about opening the shop you had spent weeks working on.

“You ready, darling,” a stout old lady who was a part of the city board stood next to you.

You gave her a grim smile, “Of course.”

“Oh dear, I know that there are a lot of emotions that come with this, but try to focus on the happy ones.” She shoved a pair of scissors in your hands that had to have been made for giants. “You’ll be busy enough with the new cafe, don’t worry about having too much time on your hands,” she laughed good naturedly.

“It’s not that, it’s-”

“Wait!”

Your head snapped up as the voice met your ears. A car door slammed and you saw Taeyong round his small pickup truck. In his hands was a large bouquet, along with a picnic basket. There was a grin on his face, but you could sense the urgency of his steps as he got shuffled up to you.

“Shit,” his glasses were skewed on his face as he finally stood toe to toe with you. “So, I totally meant to be here before now.” He set down the basket and held the bouquet out to you. “These are for you. Um- congratulations on opening your shop and I’m so proud of you.” He patted around his pockets. “I have something to say to you. I wrote it down. Well, you see, I was wondering if- You know I have been wanting to do this for weeks, but was nervous and then this morning it hit me that I could ask you here.”

“Taeyong,” you stopped his rambling.” Thank you for the flowers. I appreciate them, but I don’t have enough hands to hold them and cut the ribbon.”

“Right,” he grinned sheepishly, “I’m holding you up, sorry.”

You grinned back as the crowd started counting down, assuming you were finally ready to open shop.

Hesitating a second after they said one, you threw another glance at Taeyong, “And I like you too. So yes, I will go on a date with you.”

The ribbon split in two just as his mouth did and you laughed as he wrapped you up, spinning you around in a circle. “Now?” He looked hopeful.

“How about after we close tonight?”

“But the wine will get warm.”

“Lucky for you, I know a nice new café that has the perfect industrial fridge for that.”

“I may have to check it out,” Taeyong linked a hand through yours. And you tugged him to follow the people that had started to trickle in.

“I think you may just like it.”

“I think that it will be my favorite place to be”

“Oh really,” you raised an eyebrow at him. “Why is that?”