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— 🏥 —
Donghyuck stands up, stretching his limbs and reaching up into the air, feeling all of his tight joints loosen up a bit.
It was his second night on call and he was doing fine for himself, or at least he was doing better than Renjun was just a couple of weeks ago.
It wasn't temporary anyways, his chief resident would be returning from her break tomorrow so he didn't have to worry about staying up for much longer.
"Dr. Lee, aren't you going to leave?" He looked up from behind the front desk, making eye contact with one of the nurses. "It's 12am."
Donghyuck shook his head with a smile. "I wish, but I'm on call tonight again. Are you heading home Ms. Chu?"
"Yes, the baby waits for no one." She grins, turning on her heels, "Tell Professor Lee to treat you some times, since he's having you do all this work."
"I will," He waves his hand, "Goodnight, get home safely."
"See you later."
Donghyuck hummed cheerfully as he heard the faint clacking of heels get further and further away until they completely disappeared.
Today was awfully quiet in the OBGYN wards but he didn't want to jinx anything in fear that something might happen to one of the patients but yet again this field is all about unpredictability.
Just as unpredictable as some of his friends can be.
He flips through the logs, making a mental note for himself to check on a specific patient later when he hears a soft knock on the front counter.
"Did you forget something Ms.Chu—" Donghyuck looks up his words getting cut off as his eyes trail up to a very familiar face.
"Do I look like a pregnant middle-aged woman to you?" Yangyang slaps a hand on his cheek and frowns. "I thought I would age a lot less quickly than that."
The boy scoffs, leaning back in his desk chair in disbelief.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well," Yangyang slowly lifts a plastic bag to Donghyuck's view. "I was wondering if you had time for a snack?"
Donghyuck raises his eyebrow. "You're kidding."
Yangyang turns his head to the plastic bag, in faux shock.
"Oh shit! You're right. I am kidding and I just bought 30 dollars worth of pizza for a ghost!"
Donghyuck rolls his eyes and throws his pen at the boy to which Yangyang expertly dodges. "Shut up." He rubs his eyes tiredly, "Of course I have time for a snack."
"Good because I thought I was gonna have to go search for Mark."
"Don't you dare." Donghyuck moves out from behind the desk, joining Yangyang's side as they walk down the hallway. "Mark's about to lose contact with reality anyway."
Donghyuck scans his card and opens the door to the OBGYN meeting room.
"What? He's preparing for the board?"
"Nope. He's got an EM patient who thinks they're dying because they ate a 2-pound bag of weed gummy bears."
"..."
"At this point, I've learned to not ask questions about the hospital."
— 🏥 —
Mark wanted to bang his head against a wall.
Being an EM doctor has its pros and cons, more cons than pros but Mark is content with his reasons for entering the field in the first place. Granted, he's constantly reminded of why he hates his job but that's not the point here.
Sometimes though… Mark can't help but wonder if it's too late to be sending in that letter of resignation.
"I think I'm gonna die. I feel like a DVD player!!"
He pinched the bridge of his nose, taking one sharp intake of breath in.
"Sir please, you are not dying, you are on Marijuana. You. Are. High." He tried punctuating every word to no avail as the patient continued spinning around on the chair.
"Uh… So is he okay?" His friend asked.
Mark nods, adjusting the stethoscope around his neck. "Yes, he's just fine. He's just a bit frazzled but he should be fine in the morning."
"Oh. Why did he say he was dying then???"
Sometimes Mark hates his job, he really does.
"Your friend has eaten a 2-pound bag of medicated gummy bears. He's going to say some…. Intriguing things."
And 'Intriguing things' was Mark's code for 'Your friend is high as fuck and he's going to say stupid shit.'
"SEGA PLAYSTATION." The patient screeched, bringing attention from the other hospital staff in the EM.
"I would advise him to stay at the hospital overnight and you as well. It's too dangerous to be roaming about, especially in his state of mind."
"I see…" His friend looks down nervously at his sneakers. "He's not going to die is he?"
Mark wants to quit.
He dismisses the guardian and leaves to rest his head against the check-in desk, earning him a pat on the back from a nurse passing by.
"I'm starting to lose faith in humanity." He mutters under his breath
"Again?"
Mark lifts his head a bit, seeing the sweet angelic being that's the one and only Lee Jeno, standing in front of him with a smile that lights up the depressing atmosphere of the EM. He almost wants to cry.
"You happy fucker, give me a hug." Mark practically throws himself on to Jeno with a groan. "What I would kill to have an ounce of your positivity."
Jeno pats him on the back with a chuckle. "Please don't kill anyone to be happy."
"When it comes down it. I just might." Mark sighs, stepping away with a hand on his hip. "What are you doing back at the hospital? You're not on call today."
"Well…" Jeno trails off, "Let's just say I have some family emergency."
Mark raises an eyebrow. Jeno's family was a complete question mark. The only two things anyone knows about them are one: they're loaded and two: they're mysterious and that's as far as Jeno will go to explain them.
"What? Does our director have some ties to your family?" Mark absent-mindedly jokes but the frozen expression on Jeno's face makes him stop laughing. "You're kidding me right."
"No?" Jeno tries, shrugging his shoulders. "Sort of?? It's a bit complicated but I'm sure you'll find out later— Do you know where the V.I.P Wards are?"
Jeno changes the subject because of course he does and Mark has been friends with him too long to play a back and forth game of questions and dodging answers.
"Floor M13 is dedicated to the V.I.P Wards." Mark answers. It's not exactly hard to figure out why Jeno would be going to the V.I.P Wards but Mark can't help but ask. "By the way why are you—"
"Okay cool, I've gotta go now, see you in a couple of hours!"
Jeno bulldozes past him without letting Mark even finish his question, which is typical but the question continues to linger in the back of his head.
What was Mark even gonna find out later?
— 🏥 —
"Shit, shit, shit." Shotaro flings his backpack near the front door, running back up the stairs again in a rush.
Renjun yawns, making his way down the steps.
"Good morning— Oh shit."
"MOVE."
Renjun clings onto the railing of the staircase for dear life as Shotaro zooms past him in a rush. Trying to process what just happened.
"Shotaro if you're going to be in a rush please be aware of the surroundings," Jaemin calls out from the kitchen.
"NO."
The boy sighs. "Well then please make sure you don't slip and crack your head when you run downstairs."
Renjun furrows his eyebrows, making his way into the kitchen. "If you crack your head you would die."
Yangyang and Jaemin share a mutual look of amusement. Only Renjun would take such things so seriously, especially considering he's in the field of neurology.
"It's an exaggeration Junnie." Yangyang sounds out. "An exaggeration, or as Oxford dictionary defines it as a statement that represents something as better or worse than it is."
Renjun and Jaemin stare incredulously at Yangyang.
"What?" He looks at the both of them in confusion. "I placed 2nd in our Vocabulary Spelling Bee back in college."
Jaemin snorts. "When did you even study for that?"
"I studied for like 2 days and gave up at the M words."
"And you still got 2nd place?" Renjun clicks his tongue, "You're so annoying. I can't stand you."
"You still love me though." Yangyang sing-songs, tapping him on the nose.
"Well, I'm certainly having second thoughts." He replies sarcastically. "What are you guys doing in the kitchen anyways? Where's Jen?"
"Jeno had to leave early this morning." Jaemin lifts his mug. "And I'm making coffee."
"And I'm waiting for him to finish making coffee so I can make mine."
Renjun hums, pointing a thumb behind his shoulder. "And what about—"
"JAEMIN WHERE'S MY PHONE?!"
The trio winces at the shrill scream.
"For the 3rd time, it's in your backpack. Just go to the hospital." Jaemin shouted back.
"OKAY."
"And what about Shotaro?" Renjun tried asking again.
"He's… 'Late'." Yangyang air-quotes.
Renjun checks his watch. "It's 5am in the morning."
"He's in a rush."
"The hospital sees outpatients at 8."
"He's just—"
"OH MY GOD JAEMIN I CAN'T FIND MY I.D."
"— Nervous." Yangyang finishes with an awkward smile.
"I said everything's in your bag!" Jaemin sighs for the nth time, turning his attention back to Renjun. "Anyways he's going through this weird time loop where he's set his alarm an hour too early and doesn't believe anyone when they tell him he's not going to be late."
Renjun opens his mouth to say something only to shut it and then open it again. "So who's gonna tell him?"
"We were just thinking about letting it play out until he just says fuck it and stops but…" Jaemin trails his sentence off, slowly pouring the hot coffee into his mug.
The thumping steps of Shotaro's feet get louder and louder as he rushes to the front door, keys in hand, and backpack swung over his shoulder in a flash.
He turns back to the trio who still stands in the kitchen, staring at him like they have all the time in the world.
Which technically was true and wasn't at the same time.
Shotaro furrows his eyebrows. "What are you guys doing?! You're gonna be late!"
"I'm sure we will be Taro." Yangyang playfully salutes him. "Have fun getting to the hospital first."
"We'll see you later, yeah?" Jaemin calls out.
"Chop, chop then motherfuckers!" Shotaro huffs. He slams the door behind him leaving the trio to burst out in a fit of small giggles.
Renjun smiles. "Are we really not going to tell him?" Yangyang shrugs.
"Probably not but I've got to say," He takes the coffee pot from Jaemin's hands. "Shotaro is a sweetheart until he's in a rush and starts cursing like a sailor.
"You're telling me." Renjun scoffs.
"Maybe it's for the better that we don't tell him."
— 🏥 —
Breakfast was hectic.
As usual.
Their jobs require them to be on their feet 24/7 so it's almost virtually possible to have even the slightest bit of downtime for themselves.
And being required to be ready for everything meant that they needed to get used to the hospital cafeteria food because convenience store lunches just don't cut it sometimes.
Donghyuck slams his tray on the table.
"I have never been happier to eat hospital food." He sighs happily, sitting himself down at the table.
"You—" Yangyang points at Donghyuck in betrayal. "I bought you pizza last night!"
He checks his watch. "That was 4 hours ago. You know my midnight fuel burns quickly." Donghyuck defends, "Plus, rice is the root of all happiness."
"I'm never buying pizza for you again."
"You will." Donghyuck hums, sipping his soup. "Because you're gonna forget about this in 2 hours."
"Why you—"
"Children, children please. It's breakfast time, no fighting at the table." Jaemin clicks his tongue at them, sitting himself across from Yangyang and next to Donghyuck. "It's 6:30 in the morning gentlemen, please, calm yourselves."
"I would try to act like a civilized human being, but I've been up for..." Donghyuck checks his watch again. "49 hours. So no thank you, it's any man for himself right now."
"Try being up for 73 hours." Renjun pulls out a chair next to Yangyang. "And maybe then we can talk about every man for themselves."
"He doesn't have to because you've already done that for him." Yangyang pinches Renjun's cheek, the boy swatting his hand away.
"Don't remind me." Renjun groans.
Donghyuck looks around the cafeteria. "Anyways, where's Jeno, I thought he was gonna eat with us?"
Jaemin coughs into his fist a little too loudly and a lot too forged. Yangyang furrows his eyebrows next to him.
"What was that fake ass cough about?"
"Nothing! The air has been dry recently so—" Jaemin waves it off, changing the subject. "Uh, Jeno's still…. Busy." He answers quickly before stuffing his mouth with food.
Renjun raises an eyebrow, trying to share a look of concern with Donghyuck who's a little too busy also stuffing his face. He rolls his eyes.
Jaemin never stuffs his face, even if he was extremely hungry. Renjun has seen the man survive on 5 cups of coffee in a single day so maybe it's a little impossible to believe that Jaemin is that hungry on a Friday morning.
"You texted him right?"
"Mmhm." Jaemin gives him a thumbs up.
"What'd he say?"
Jaemin chews on his food, circling his mouth with his finger to tell Renjun that he can't talk right now.
But it's more like he doesn't want to talk right now.
Donghyuck stares at him in concern.
"Damn calm down dude, the food isn't that good." He pats him on the back.
Renjun sighs, setting his utensils down.
"Are you gonna tell me why you're acting so—"
The buzzing ringtone of Renjun's phone momentarily halts his mini interrogation on Jaemin and never in a million years has Jaemin ever been so grateful to hear an emergency call.
Renjun quickly fishes out his phone.
"Hello, this is Dr. Huang with NS." He suddenly stands up from his chair. "10 minutes?" Renjun chews on his bottom lip. "Okay, I'll be right there."
Donghyuck raises an eyebrow. "Do you have to—"
"Fuck, fuck, fuck— Throw away my tray there's an ER patient, I have to go." Renjun makes his table jolt as he practically slams his chair into the table. "Bye! Love you!"
"—Go." Donghyuck finishes his sentence.
The trio watches in silence as Renjun dashes out of the cafeteria in a rush, leaving his full tray of food still on the table. The slight of each other running away due to emergency patients has been a slight that they've grown accustomed to for a while now.
"Well…" Yangyang steals half of Renjun's rice. "Don't mind if I do."
"First you guys come late and now you're stealing Jun's food." Shotaro chuckles, sliding Renjun's chair back out to sit down. "What a way to start a day."
Donghyuck tilts his head, checking his watch for the nth time. "It's not late though, it's 6—" Jaemin smacks him harshly on his back, quickly rubbing on the spot and shaking his head. "What?"
"Anyways." Yangyang coughs, bringing attention to him. "What have you been up to?"
"I've been bouncing around, here and there." Shotaro leans back in his chair. "Today has been surprisingly slow."
"That's because it's still 6—" Donghyuck opens his mouth again only for Jaemin to slap him on the back again. "What!"
Jaemin glares daggers into the boy and does a cutthroat gesture at him as a warning.
Shotaro stares at him with knitted eyebrows. "Uh… Well then, where'd Renjun go?"
"Emergency Room." The trio answer in unison.
Donghyuck steals Renjun's eggs. "And since he's gone it would be a pity to throw away his food so we're helping him out."
"I see. Justify stealing with pity." Shotaro teases, a smile playing on his face.
"Hey." Yangyang takes the bowl of soup off of Renjun's tray. "It's not stealing if they don't know."
Shotaro snorts at the comment, turning his attention over at Jaemin, his expression slowly creasing in concern at the boy still chewing on his food with his face stuffed full.
"Why the hell do you look like a chipmunk storing for winter hibernation?"
Jaemin blinks at him in confusion and shrugs.
"Ah, there's my favorite group of brats," Mark calls out, walking towards their table with a cup of coffee in hand. "And of course there are only 4 of you here."
Donghyuck widens his eyes at the comment, glaring at Mark. "Don't you dare ask the quest—"
"Where's the other 2?" The way Mark grins at him only riles him more.
"I'm going to curse your entire bloodline."
"What is your guy's beef with that nickname?" Yangyang chuckled "I mean first Jeno and now Hyuck, am I the only one who likes the Four Plus Two nickname?"
Shotaro hums, thinking about it for a second. "I mean, I like it, I think it's cute."
"Yeah, it was cute until Jeno accused me of being the downfall to his relationship," Donghyuck muttered.
Jaemin rolls his eyes at Donghyuck, swallowing all of his food. "Jun's got an ER patient and Jeno's busy."
"We work in a hospital. I think it's time to start assuming that people are just busy Markie." Shotaro sing-songs.
"Haha. Very funny." Mark sarcastically notes. "Is Jeno still busy? He's been here since 2am."
Yangyang frowns. "Wait, I was here with Hyuck at 2am. How come he didn't tell us anything?"
Mark sighs, tapping his shoe anxiously. "I dunno, I was gonna ask you guys if you knew anything but he came in to ask about the V.I.P Wards."
Shotaro hums, deep in thought. "What were those Wards for again?"
"Rich people." Yangyang starts counting off. "Politicians, CEOs… Other rich people jobs." He shrugs.
"He's a rich kid from a rich family with rich people ties to other rich people." Donghyuck comments. "Is it that hard to believe he has something to do with the V.I.P Ward?"
"That's true, I just wish he would tell us if something was going on."
Jaemin clears his throat. "Guys, guys. It's Jeno we're talking about here. He'll tell us when he's ready." He smiles reassuringly. "Let's just wait until then."
Yangyang bites the inside of his cheek and nods. "I guess you're right."
His smile gets a bit wider.
"When have I never been?"
"Anyways, in light of V.I.P Wards and recent news, have you guys heard? About Director Lee."
Jaemin jolts up at the mention of the Director, starting to nervously pick at his food while the trio stares at Mark in utter confusion.
"The Hospital's Director? What about him?"
"More like what do we know about him?" Donghyuck comments. "As far as I'm concerned nobody knows anything about Director Lee other than the fact that he owns the hospital and he's old which is something I can say about literally any Hospital Director in South Korea."
"Touché." Shotaro agrees. "But what's going on?"
"He collapsed in his office last night. He suffered a heart attack and he's currently resting in a V.I.P Wards on life support."
The news was a shock, after all the mysterious Hospital Director that they worked for but barely knew was suddenly passing away but even so, it wasn't the first time they've experienced the news of death.
"... Oh my."
"Do you think he's going to make it?"
Mark takes a deep sigh. "Who knows. But…" He looks around nervously, his voice dropping an octave into a whisper. "The special assigned nurses in the V.I.P Wards overheard something else."
The four residents looked at him with anticipation. After all, their days in the hospital cannot be spent without a bit of gossip.
"What?"
"He wrote a will… For his grandson."
— 🏥 —
Director Lee passed away that morning.
It was around 9am when all the hospital faculty had received the message that he had unfortunately passed and they were all encouraged to attend the funeral of their late Director that would be organized at the hospital.
But news like that can't halt the hospital activities for even a second and only 30 minutes later, the hospital returned to its busy schedule.
Renjun sighed as he chewed on his 3rd steamed bun of the day otherwise known as his replacement breakfast because the cafeteria didn't start serving again till lunch and unfortunately, desperate times call for desperate measures.
He had heard the news after he had gotten out of surgery, meaning he was a bit less informed about the situation than anyone else was. But yet again, with the way their Hospital Director had conducted his like, it was almost like nobody had known him at all.
Renjun can't help but have an uneasy feeling in his chest that there was something else to this. He sighed, his hot breath steaming in the cold air, sometimes it was better just to wait than to ask questions.
"Why am I not surprised you're eating a sandwich out in the freezing cold with no one else in the courtyard."
Renjun doesn't have to look up to know who it is. Sometimes he feels as if his friends have a magical power to appear whenever he clouds himself in his thoughts for too long. Some days it's sweet, other days, it's creepy.
Today… It's warming.
"Ah, I see you've finally decided to stop playing this weird game of hide and seek in the hospital for…" Renjun shrugs, looking up at him. "What? 8 hours?"
Jeno doesn't say anything for a second. Only bringing his hand up to pinch Renjun's cheek and he lets him because he doesn't mind.
"Yeah… I've been busy." He retracts the hand staring at the boy deeply in the eyes with both hands stuffed into the pockets of his white coat.
And Renjun stares back at him.
"I know, Jaemin said the same thing."
"Did he?"
Renjun doesn't answer the question, reaching both hands up to squish Jeno's face together.
"You look like shit."
Jeno smiles in his hands and Renjun feels slightly reassured that the sweet boy he knows still exists. But the same smile that seems to swoon everyone's heart looks tired, not forced, but worn out.
"Do I?"
"Yeah, 100%." Renjun lets go of his face and pats the spot on the bench next to him, which Jeno obliges to sit down. "You know the kids would kill you if they saw what you looked like right now."
The boy smirks in amusement at the scenarios of how his friends would react and then frowns jokingly. "What do you mean? Is this not the '8-hour resident that hasn't eaten or drunken coffee' You were thinking of?"
"No you idiot." Renjun flicks his forehead and forces him to hold a sandwich which has already been unwrapped and prepared for him. "Donghyuck has been up for 57 hours now and he doesn't look like he's at the Grim Reaper's door like you are and you know how he gets when he doesn't get sleep."
Jeno nods, gently squishing the meat bun in hand. "Oh, I know that a little too well."
"So do you want to tell me what's bothering you so much?" Renjun peels open a can of coffee. "And why is Jaemin helping you hide it?"
"Darn." Jeno feigns disappointment. "I really need a better person to tell my secrets to."
Renjun narrows his eyes at the boy.
"Lee Jeno."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry." Jeno presses his lips together in a thin line. "Are you free tonight?"
"What?"
"I think I owe all of you a lengthy explanation and I want everyone to be there to hear about it." Jeno kicks his legs forward. "I want to do it like we do every Friday night. Just going out, eating, talking, but this time I just have some extra news to tell you."
"Of course I'm free." Renjun pats him on the back. "And the kids will be too, you know they will."
Jeno snorts, "Well we work at a hospital so we can't say that for sure."
"No they will." Renjun holds out the can of coffee in front of Jeno. "They will make sure of it."
He pouts at Renjun, looking at him thankfully. "Mom—"
"If you call me mom I will snatch both the coffee and sandwich back and leave your ass hungry."
"Yes sir." Jeno shuts up and takes a bite out of his first meal of the day.
But at least he won't be eating it alone and he has a lot to thank for that. Working in a hospital and growing up in a family like his, Jeno has learned to manage his emotions and control his facial expressions but he can't ever seem to hide how he feels when he's in front of his friends and maybe it's for the better this way.
It's better to have someone to be there for you at the end of the day.
"What should I do with you now?" Renjun mumbles to himself. "I can't spend my day dwelling on what's bothering you now can I?"
Jeno tilts his head at the boy with a goofy grin plastered across his face.
"It's very flattering that you would want to fill your head with the thought of me, Injun."
"Don't push it or I'll push you off the bench."
The boy frowns. "I'm the one that's sad and needs cheering up here."
Renjun hums, now slightly anticipating Jeno's answer. "Oh yeah? Then what can I do for you?"
Jeno grins at this, pondering on his answer. Sometimes Renjun cares for them more than he'll ever admit to but that's just Renjun.
He scooches a little closer to the boy, their thighs touching each other.
"Jeno what." Renjun finally asks, scooting to the side a bit for some centimeter of personal space.
"Lend me your hand."
The boy raises an eyebrow but obliges as he slowly sticks out his hand towards Jeno which the boy happily takes and places on his head.
".... What is this?" Renjun instinctively starts carding his fingers through the locks of Jeno's hair.
"Something that makes me feel better."
Renjun scoffs but he doesn't retract his hand. "You're an overgrown child."
The boy hums, letting himself relax at the touch. "And you're the person that agreed to become best friends with one."
"Is it too late to burn that contract?"
Jeno grins at him.
"Way too late."
— 🏥 —
"Dr. Liu this is the third time I've seen you walk into the hospital cafe." Ningning, the cafe cashier folds her arms. "I think it's time for an intervention."
"Don't like you're the responsible bar owner trying to stop me from having one too many beers." Yangyang frowns, handing her his card. "It makes you sound like my mom."
"You've eaten 2 slices of double chocolate cake, a dozen macarons, and had 2ncups of iced americano in the last 3 hours!"
"I am your best customer aren't I?"
Ningning rolled her eyes. Even she had to agree with that statement. "Yes, and without you, I'm pretty sure our cake sales would plummet." She grabs a medium-sized cup and pulls out a sharpie from her apron. "Let me guess. Your order's going to be one double chocolate cake, half a dozen macarons, and a medium iced coffee?"
Yangyang makes an error buzzer sound. "Nope. That's where you'd be wrong because—"
"— Because now you're going to order two slices of double chocolate cake?" She deadpans at him.
"Absolutely."
Ningning presses her lips together at the failed attempt to pry Yangyang away from the shackles of sweet treats and coffee and starts picking up his cake in the display case.
"Anyways, since you're already here." She points a thumb towards the seating lounge. "Maybe you can talk some sense into Dr. Lee."
Yangyang perks up at the sound of the last name, following her finger which points directly at a passed-out Donghyuck on a lounge chair in the corner of the cafe.
He breathes out a deep sigh.
"Oh, dear."
"Yep." Ningning agrees with him. "Came in here 30 minutes ago, dazed out of his mind, and just passed out on the chair without ordering anything."
Yangyang groans. "Can't you just kick him out?"
"You don't think I would've already done that if he hadn't hissed at me for ruining his daydream?"
"Touché."
Donghyuck was violently terrible at waking up and his friends had unfortunately experienced his wrath first hand. Even if you as so get him to open his eyes the next step of action is to prepare yourself to either get a smack across the face or get ready to square up because he will fight you for ruining his precious nap time.
And sleep was a luxury they could barely afford.
Ningning grins brightly at him, the first smile he's seen her wear today and it's the fakest one yet. "I'll bring your orders over so just go sit yourself down." She pats him on the back as a form of encouragement.
“Yeah, yeah. do me a favor and throw in another iced americano on my card?”
“The more the merrier!” She chirps, humming happily as she returns to the front counter.
Yangyang sighs, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his white coat. He strolls over to the seemingly passed-out body of his friend who could not give two fucks if the holy spirit took him right then and there.
"Hey," Yangyang nudged the lifeless leg with his foot, getting no response back. Typical. "If you don't wake up I will have to resort to violence and I would like to finish residency first before I'm kicked out of the hospital." He pushed the leg harsher this time with no response again.
Ningning walks over cautiously, a tray of Yangyang's orders in her hands.
"Any luck?"
"Does it look like I have any luck?"
She shrugs, gently dropping the tray on the coffee table. "Well, I have a job to do so I will wish you the best of luck from afar." Ningning gives him a thumbs up that doesn't make Yangyang feel any better about the situation.
"I have a job too!"
"Well, you certainly haven't been doing it for the past 3 hours." She flips her hair back returning to the front counter.
Darn. She makes a good point.
Yangyang sighs and shrugs, "Alright, time to resort to violence."
He reaches down and barely hesitates when he pinches Donghyuck's nose which wakes him up immediately.
"MOTHERFU—" The boy gasps awake in shock, staring wide-eyed at Yangyang. He put a hand on his chest like he was clutching his pearls.
"Good afternoon Dr. Lee." Yangyang's face curls up in a creepily sweet yet sinister smile that gets a little too close for comfort. "I see I have woken you up."
"By murdering me?!" Donghyuck kicks Yangyang in the leg making the latter yelp in pain. "Who the hell wakes someone up like that anyway?"
Yangyang raises an eyebrow. "I told you I would resort to violence." He frowns.
"Oh, I'm sure you did." Donghyuck scoffed. "While I was half asleep!!"
"Well, you still heard it."
“I’m gonna kick your other leg and make you immobile.”
“Oh no. I’m so scared.” Yangyang monotonously states, plopping himself down in the chair next to Donghyuck. “Spare me oh great lord Donghyuck.”
Donghyuck flicks him on the forehead. “Shut up. I’m stealing this.” He snatches the plate of chocolate cake. “Why would you order two cakes?”
“Desperate times call for desperate measurements my friend.” Yangyang picks up his cup of coffee while handing Donghyuck his own cup. “And it is certainly a desperate time now.”
“I’m surprised I haven’t gotten any calls yet, considering how more hectic everything has gotten with the news.” Donghyuck fishes out his phone, raising his eyebrows at the information on his screen. “It’s a shock how fast things can happen.”
He extends his hand to show Yangyang the hospital message, encouraging any and all available hospital staff to attend the funeral that would be held 2 days from now.
“Well the hospital doesn’t run by itself,” Yangyang chews on his straw. “Just because this happened doesn’t mean everyone is supposed to drop everything.”
Donghyuck retracts the phone and stares at the screen for a while before pocketing his phone. “Anyways. Are we still on for dinner today? It’s Friday.”
“Are you asking me to turn down a free meal?” Yangyang deadpans. “Of course we’re still up for dinner, is that even a question?
“Okay, fair.” He snorts at Yangyang’s answer.
“Who was supposed to plan dinner this week again?”
Donghyuck takes a sip of his coffee. “Well… Jeno said he found a new steakhouse he likes but I’m not sure if he’s even on the same plane of existence as us anymore considering he’s been playing an elaborate game of hide and seek for like 6 hours.”
“Is this a roundabout way of saying Jeno isn’t gonna pay for dinner?”
“More like it’s a roundabout way of saying that our best friend may have been kidnapped and we would have no way of knowing.”
“Darn. I was hoping to eat steak today.”
“You never change Yangyang.” The familiar voice catches both of their attention making the two look up at the unexpected but pleasant and very weary third party. “Your head’s always somewhere else.”
“Why do you just pop up everywhere Mark?” Donghyuck rolls his eyes at him. “Also how is it that you look more like shit than you did this morning.”
“I can ask you the same thing Donghyuck.” Mark mockingly reiterates as he yawns and stretches his arms and legs, sinking himself into the lounge chair. “We work in the same hospital, if we didn’t see each other we would both be fired.”
Yangyang snickers. “Why is it whenever you two are within 3ft of each other it feels like one of you is going to start swinging hands?”
“It’s a more efficient way of communicating, what can I say?” Donghyuck hums. “What brings you to the cafe?”
Mark checks his watch. “I’ve got a 10-minute break and I was curious as to why Yangyang was taking his 3rd trip into the cafe so I decided to join you, also I bear some good news.”
Donghyuck nearly chokes on his coffee. “Pardon me— This is your third time in the cafe??”
“What? You got anything else better to do at 10am?”
“I don’t know?” Mark snorts. “Maybe your job?” Yangyang places a finger on Mark’s lips to shut him up.
“You’re gonna get me fired Markie so let’s stop talking about my poor decision choices on a Friday.”
Thankfully, Donghyuck changes the subject and Yangyang keeps his job.
“So what’s this good news that you come bearing?”
Mark smacks Yangyang’s hand off his face. “Well… Jeno hasn’t disappeared off the face of the earth.”
Yangyang and Donghyuck look at each other, straightening themselves up a little bit.
“Well shit, I guess I do get to eat today.”
Donghyuck narrows his eyes at Yangyang, shaking his head at the boy. “You’re ridiculous. Where is Jeno right now anyways?
“I’m not sure. He just sent me this cryptic text message and a photo.” Mark slides his phone out of his pocket, swiping through his screen. “He looks pretty happy right now, looks like someone is giving him head pats.”
“Let me get this straight- Jeno disappears for 9 hours and the only time we hear from him is when he’s getting head pats?”
“I mean, just look.” Mark tosses Yangyang his phone, the screen displaying Jeno and Mark’s messages, Donghyuck leans over his shoulder.
And Mark is right. (Not that there was any reason for him to be lying in the first place)
There Jeno is in all his glory, a rather quick selfie taken with the short and sweet text message reading, 'Tell the guys I'm doing more than okay.' He has a goofy smile on his face but the only thing both Yangyang and Donghyuck can zoom in on is the hand that sits on top of the boy's head, the familiar birthmark registering in their minds.
"Wait a s- WAIT A DAMN SECOND." Yangyang pauses, zooming in on the photo. "Is that who I think it is??"
"Oh my god." Donghyuck sits back in the lounge chair in disbelief.
Mark stares awkwardly at the both of them. "Uh… Is everything okay—"
"I'm gonna murder Jeno."
"WHAT. WHY?"
Mark snatches back his phone in a hurry as if it was his life that had been threatened. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked incredulously at both Donghyuck and Yangyang.
"I can't believe this he—" Yangyang chokes in his sentence. "He got head pats from Renjun!"
Mark blinks at the both of them, severely confused.
"... What?"
Donghyuck slams his cup on the table. "THAT'S NOT FAIR."
"HELL YEAH, IT'S NOT!" Yangyang chimes on
"What is going on anymore?" Mark sighs.
"I've been awake for over 50 hours! Where are my head pats??"
"I— Well, I haven't been awake for 50 hours but I deserve head pats too!"
Mark raises an eyebrow and chuckles, sitting back down in the chair. "Jeno getting head pats from Renjun is what you're worried about?"
"Um yeah?" Yangyang replies to Mark as if that fact should be obvious by now. "I mean c'mon when was the last time Renjun gave head pats to someone?"
"Like 2 hours ago?" Mark freezes up when he feels two pairs of eyes staring daggers into him. "Not me!" He clarifies, "I didn't get head pats from Jun but the med students did."
"... Oh my god." Donghyuck buries his face in his hands. "WE ARE THE EXCEPTIONS."
"You're just now realizing that?"
"No, we've always known it just hits harder when it's in your face." Yangyang sniffles, wiping a fake tear away from his face. “Anyways Jeno is on our blacklist now.”
“For getting head pats?” Mark asks in bewilderment. “Can’t you just ask him for head pats?”
“Oh please.” Donghyuck brushes Mark’s suggestion off like it was the most ridiculous solution ever. “Getting an ounce of affection from Injun is when you know you’ve won at life.”
“And I’m guessing you haven’t won at life yet?”
“Of course I have, who do you think I am?” Donghyuck scoffs, offended that Mark would believe he spent his whole friendship with Renjun without snatching hugs and some kisses? Impossible. “But I like reliving the feeling of winning at life.”
Yangyang snickers. “Go figure.”
“Do you guys ever go to work?” Ningning eyes the trio as she sets down a cup of coffee in front of Mark. “Or do you guys just walk around the hospital in scrubs and hang around the cafeteria and cafe all day?”
“Don’t jinx it Ningning.” Yangyang groans.
“Trust me, it’s a fucking miracle we’ve even been sitting down and talking for this long.” Donghyuck clarifies.
Mark sighs, taking a long sip of his coffee. “It’s just the calm before the storm.”
— 🏥 —
Nurse Ha stares in disbelief as Shotaro happily skips up to her with two very fidgety and nervous figures behind him.
"Dr. Osaki…" She pinches the bridge of her nose. "I thought you told Professor Nakamoto you were going to fetch your phone…" The nurse glances at the two figures behind him. "And you come back with 2 med students."
"And my phone!" Shotaro grins excitedly to her unimpressed expression. "Oh c'mon Ms. Ha, they've been stuck in the lounge room for 2 hours now, I couldn't just leave them there."
"Is that really the reason?"
He scratches his, feeling slightly guilty. "Other than the fact that Dr. Huang came and took one of the other med students and left two behind, I felt bad okay?"
"And so you took both of them?"
"Yep." He gestures to one of them as if he's about to introduce his own children, "The tall one is Jisung and the even taller one is Sungchan!"
She opens her mouth to say something else but Shotaro's unwavering smile and strong aura of enthusiasm prevents her from saying another word. She sighs.
"Alright, go ahead, Dr. Nakamoto had to stop by his office for something so he'll head to the PICU later." She shoos them away.
Shotaro perks up in excitement and gestures for the med students to continue following him.
"Have you guys gotten a tour of the hospital yet?"
Jisung and Sungchan look at each other and shrug.
"No? Not really…" Jisung answers.
Sungchan nods. "The intern had been pulled away at the last minute so we couldn't really get a tour."
"Yeah, that happens." Shotaro chuckles. "During my 1st year of residency I didn't even know the hospital had a bathroom on every floor but you'll get used to the layout eventually."
The trio turned the corner, stopping at two double doors that led into a less lively hallway than the previous one they were just in. Shotaro opens the door and lets the two students go in before him. They both look around curiously at the much more isolated hallway.
"Uhm… Where are we going?" Jisung asks, continuing to follow Shotaro.
"PICU." Shotaro lets out a laugh at the boy's blank expressions. "It's the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. I probably should've told you guys before I dragged you out."
He leads them to the end of the hallways coming at a security-locked entrance with glass doors, bringing up the ID on his pocket protector, Shotaro unlocks the doors and pushes into the PICU. The room is quiet apart from the whirl and hums of the machines that hover over the incubators and the hospital beds, a very different place from the other wards they've been to.
"Dr. Nakamoto has a patient with an undiagnosed condition, we're suspecting a genetic disorder but nothing is sure yet," Shotaro explains quietly. "After he performed surgery the baby had to be put on the ECMO machine due to complications with its heart stabilizing. Any questions?"
Sungchan and Jisung look at each other with unsure looks but nod anyway.
"Don't be shy, you guys should be asking questions whenever you feel the need to." Another voice appears from behind the front desk, startling both students and Shotaro included.
"Wha—" Shotaro spins around on his heels at the sound of the voice. "Jaemin! What are you doing here?"
"I was asked to watch to be on front desk duty." The boy smiled mischievously. "And I see you're on babysitting duty."
"It's not babysitting duty," Shotaro rolled his eyes. "It's a part of our jobs to teach the newbies some basics."
"Look at you taking responsibility like the adult you are." Jaemin teased. "They grow up so fast."
"There you go being overdramatic again." He shakes his head, gesturing to the med students who felt like their existence had disappeared for a short period of time. "Anyways, this is Sungchan and that's Jisung. You might have seen them around."
Jaemin hums. "Yeah, they look familiar." He tilts his head in curiosity. "Isn't there a third one with this trio?"
"Chenle? Renjun snatched him to observe a coil embolization but he didn't want to only grab two people and leave one behind so he grabbed one med student so the other two wouldn't be lonely."
Jaemin smirks. "Yeah sounds like something Renjun would do." He looks at the two boys, noticing one that's slightly more familiar than the other. Jisung perked up at the sight of Jaemin's familiar face.
"Ah… The Prince of GS…" He mumbled mindlessly to himself, earning a punch in the rib courtesy of Sungchan's elbow.
Shotaro turned around in confusion, a small and amused smile playing on his face. "The what of what?"
Jisung was about to open his mouth again only to see Jaemin frantically shaking his head behind Shotaro, making a cutthroat gesture for him to stop whatever he was just going to say immediately.
It's not like Jaemin hated the nickname but the only person who was aware of the nickname, aside from the med students, was Renjun, the creator and founder of the nickname in the first place and god forbid if the nickname spread any further then that and reached his other friends? Jaemin wouldn't be able to live it down.
"Uhm… No, it's nothing."
Jaemin let out a sigh of relief giving a thumbs up to Jisung as Sungchan stood there, completely clueless as to what was going on.
But of course, Shotaro was unconvinced, spinning himself back around to face Jaemin, now a cheeky smile spread across his face.
"Do they really call you that?"
Jaemin groaned and slumped back into the desk chair. "Why would you ask him what he said if you already knew?"
"I just had to make sure if it was correct” He grins teasingly at him. “You know how I like confirmation."
"Your evil smile is showing Taro." Jaemin frowned, pinching the boy's nose in an attempt to get the smile off his face but Shotaro was unwavering.
"Nonsense. I'm just feeling a bit cheerful today."
Jaemin scoffed. “Yeah, I’m sure you are now.” He sighed, resting his head on the palm of his hand. “I’m guessing you’re gonna tell this to the guys?”
“Are you kidding?” Shotaro almost sounded offended at the insinuation. “I’m going to tell the entire hospital faculty!”
“I’m gonna poison your breakfast tomorrow.”
“I’m kidding Jaem," Shotaro poked his cheek. "It's a cute nickname, your secret is safe with me."
"Sometimes you can be too good for this world Taro," Jaemin admitted. "But other times you're just the devil in disguise."
The boy's smile gets impossibly wider. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You've got to stop hanging out Donghyuck."
"I'll start doing that when we aren't living in the same townhouse."
Jaemin opens his mouth to say something when he is sadly interrupted by the buzzing of his phone.
"Oh," He stands up and scrolls open the text message. "I'm gonna head out for my rounds with Dr. Jung, so I'll be heading out first. If Nurse Jo comes by later, tell her I'm with him."
"Yeah sure, of course." Shotaro checks his watch. "Do you think you can make it in time to join us for lunch?"
Jaemin frowns and thinks about it for a second. "Maybe? I'll be a bit late though so you guys can eat without me." He shrugs on his white coat.
"Will do."
“And Shotaro?”
“Hm?”
“If anyone finds out about the nickname, I will make sure you starve for breakfast tomorrow.” Jaemin flicks his forehead.
Shotaro raises both of his hands in defeat and nods. “Yes, yes I solemnly swear I won’t tell anyone about the nickname blah blah blah- By the way, who came up with it?”
“I think we’ve spilled enough secrets today.” Jaemin sing-sons as he slips out from behind the front counter. “Plus, I don’t think I have time for chit-chat right now.”
“Of course,” Shotaro smacks him on the back. “Keep up the good work Prince."
Jaemin playfully salutes him as he leaves the premises. Leaving many unanswered questions. Shotaro spins back around.
"So anyway, back to where we were do you guys have any questions?"
The two boys smile awkwardly at each other, shaking their heads.
"Nope, no questions at all."
Jisung leans next to Sungchan's ear, going below a whisper. "Are we just supposed to pretend Dr. Osaki just didn't get threatened by the same person he's gonna eat lunch with later?"
"Stay out of it, just— Stay out of it." Sungchan says between his teeth.
"Me and Dr. Na are friends, that's why we talk to each other like that." Shotaro clarifies, kind of amused at their poor attempt at whispering to each other. "But I don't suggest you talk to anyone else like that."
"Oh… So are you guys close?"
He nods. "Yeah, we met in med school, along with some other doctors that work in the hospital."
"Is that possible?" Jisung tilts his head. "My parents said that I would be too busy for friends when I got into med school."
"Of course it's possible, it's not a crime to have close-knit friendships.'' Shotaro crossed his arms, leaning against the front counter. "It's healthy and you're always going to have someone there to talk through your problems with because when it comes down to it, nobody will understand your pain more than other med students, of course, it's important to focus on your studies but don't completely throw away your social life."
"But I thought doctors were married to their jobs?"
"No we are," He agrees. "But we've got lives of our own. Hobbies and interests that we still find time to indulge in, as much as it seems like we live in the hospital, you can still love, hate, and do your job without jeopardizing your personal life."
"I didn't know you were going to be giving med students a life lesson lecture inside the PICU, Dr. Osaki."
Shotaro grins as he checks his watch "Professor Nakamoto, you're 5 minutes late."
"I know, I know." Yuta mumbles, gathering his things together at the front desk, he glances at the confused students, he looks back at Shotaro. "I thought you said you were getting your phone, two med students don't look like a phone to me."
"I'm doing some charity work."
Yuta chuckled. "I expect nothing less."
— 🏥 —
When the afternoon rolled around, the hospital staff were greeted with a new piece of information, something that made them realize just how little they knew about the late Director of the hospital.
"Holy shit."
Renjun heard a splat on the table, knowing fully well that he just spilled a bit of chocolate pudding on the table but he can't seem to be bothered, not with what's currently in front of him.
They were in the lounge room, technically on a lunch break but yet again when does anyone in the hospital ever have a regular lunch break? One of the very few moments that they've learned to cherish is the moment when they can finally have time to fill their stomach with something other than coffee and hospital air.
Coincidentally, today, almost all of them were free to eat lunch except for Jeno who was still assisting a surgery, and Jaemin who was still with Professor Jung on his rounds.
"Uh oh, we've got a code chocolate pudding, I repeat code chocolate pudding." Donghyuck mocks the sound of the intercom. "I repeat-"
Renjun smacks the back of his head. "Oh shut up." Donghyuck sticks his tongue out at the boy. "Have you guys seen this?"
Yangyang raises an eyebrow, blowing on his noodles. "Seen what?"
"This!"
Renjun shoves his phone in the boy's direction, the article about Director Lee's unfortunate passing last night popping up on the screen. He was the long-time director of the SM Medical Center so the news of his passing was practically plastered everywhere.
"Ahh…" Shotaro hums and shrugs, "But who doesn't know about that? The Director died this morning, practically everyone and their 3rd cousin knows about that."
Renjun rolls his eyes, "Yeah, yeah I'm not talking about that- I'm talking about this."
He scrolls down, pointing a finger at what they should really be looking at.
There's a split second of the two boys reading the article silently before they finally come across exactly what Renjun is talking about.
"Oh my god…" Yangyang drops his wooden chopsticks into the plastic ramen bowl, snatching Renjun's phone from him as if he couldn't believe what he'd just seen.
Shotaro dropped his jaw, leaning back in his chair in shock. "Holy shit indeed."
"I know right? Do you think Jaemin knows?" Renjun grabs a nearby box of tissues to clean his mess, "You know how those two have their twin telepathy."
Donghyuck stares at them in amusement. "Since when have you guys been so interested in Director Lee?"
"We're not." The trio said in unison.
"It's just— There's something else…" Yangyang trails off, continuing to read the article on Renjun's phone. "You've got to be kidding me."
Donghyuck uncaps his water bottle, raising an eyebrow. "Well is someone going to inform me or are we going to have to play a game of charades because the last time we did that Shotaro almost broke his fibula."
Shotaro frowns. "You try imitating a kangaroo! Also that was like 3 years ago man,"
"Still brings a tear to my eyes every time I think about it." Donghyuck sniffs, wiping a fake tear across his face. "Anyways, anyone care to tell me this piece of information?" He takes a swig of the water bottle.
Renjun chews on his bottom lip. "Well…"
Yangyang looks up from the phone, lips pressed in a tight line.
"Apparently Jeno was his grandchild."
Donghyuck spits out his water into the nearby trash can.
“HE’S WHAT.”
“Look!”
Yangyang slides Renjun’s phone over the table to Donghyuck who finally gets on the same page.
“Oh my god…” Donghyuck slaps his forehead in disbelief. “My best friend was rich as fuck this entire time and I had no idea.”
Shotaro looks up at the ceiling as if he’s contemplating his life’s choices. “Well, we all knew he was well off; we just had no idea he was THAT well off.”
Renjun frowns, folding his arms over his chest. “I don’t get it why didn’t he just tell us?” He hums, deep in thought. “Did he think we were gonna ask him for money?”
“I mean… We probably would've.” Yangyang jokes, eliciting a snort from Shotaro and Donghyuck but still leaving Renjun deep in thought.
“Do you guys think Jaemin—“
“Hey, guys! What’s for lunch too— Okay why is everyone staring at me like that…”
And just as all bad timing moments occur, Na Jaemin walks through the lounge room door, a bright smile on his face that barely manages to balance the confused and shell-shocked atmosphere in the room.
“Na Jaemin.”
“Yes?”
Renjun gathers his thoughts, before taking a deep breath.
"Did you know that Jeno was Director Lee's grandson?"
There's a split second where Jaemin's expression realizes he's fucked as he breaks out into an awkward smile, his feet moving to walk backward out of the room.
"Uh… SO ANYWAYS." He's already halfway out the door, "I think Professor Seo is calling me— Is that Professor Seo down the hall? I think that's him— I should probably go— I HAVE A MITRAL VALVE REPAIR SURGERY TO ASSIST. BYE."
Jaemin dashes, leaving the four boys only even more confused than previously.
"He knew," Renjun says lifelessly.
Yangyang groans. "Of course, he knew! 100% he knew before all of us did."
"He just ran away instead of answering, unbelievable!" Donghyuck throws his hands up.
"He doesn't even do MVRs!"
Everyone stops to look at Shotaro with their eyebrows raised.
He blinks back at them.
"What? He's not even in Cardiothoracic Surgery."
— 🏥 —
Jeno knew there was something wrong when he walked out after assisting a gastroschisis procedure.
The surgery had gone well but after washing himself off, and informing the parents of his patient, there was certainly a difference in the way the hospital staff had interacted with him.
Because now, there were way too many eyes watching his every move.
It's not like gossip isn't common in the hospital but the faculty have other tasks to attend to rather than busy themselves with random rumors.
"You're awfully popular today Dr. Lee." Kun snickered lightly. "It's like you've become a hospital sensation over the course of 3 hours."
Jeno rubbed his nape nervously, awkwardly laughing. "I guess?"
He felt very out of the loop of things, he had been in surgery for over 3 hours and now everyone is staring at him like he was a dog loose in a hospital.
Let's just say it's not the greatest sight to be a part of after just getting out of surgery.
They both take a well-needed stretching ch break at the front desk of the Pediatrics Department. Jeno noticed one of the nurses staring at her computer screen and then looking at him and then staring at the computer again, going back and forth as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Is there something on my face?” Jeno tilted his head, straining a smile.
She blinks at him and vigorously shakes her head. “Oh no! It’s nothing,”
“I guess Director Lee isn’t the only one at the center of attention today,” Kun said light-heartedly. “You’re quite the celebrity yourself.”
Jeno feels himself jolt at the mention of the late Director, laughing it off.
“Me? Hardly.”
“Well, I suppose it’s nothing.” The professor checked his watch. “It’s almost lunchtime so you should grab something to eat. I have to head back to my office to finish up a report.” He pats Jeno on the shoulder. “Good work today, I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, of course.”
Jeno sees his professor off and finally takes a breather, which is seemingly impossible to do when there are so many pairs of eyes watching his every move but Jeno just shakes it off. He has other business to attend to.
During such a precious free time such as this, Jeno would be dashing to go peat with his friends but today puts him in different circumstances because the first place the pops into his mind isn’t visiting the guys in the break room but rather heading straight to the V.I.P Wars, the exact place he’s been all morning and frankly the only place that makes him nauseous of even stepping in but he has to.
It’s not like he has a choice, to begin with anyway.
Jeno takes a deep inhale and exhale but the sudden clicks of distant high heels distract him from doing so. Jeno can practically feel his eyebags get heavier as he lifts his face only to see the last person he would expect to come down the hallway of the Pediatrics Department.
His older sister.
Suddenly the heavy eyebags on Jeno's face have been mentally slapped off as seeing his sister practically gives him a reality check.
"There's my favorite sibling." Yeeun's smile gets brighter as she comes closer to Jeno. "Mom told me you would be here."
Jeno lets out a soft laugh. "I'm your only sibling."
"Yeah I know that's why I said it." Yeeun slides her sunglasses off her face, immediately making a face of disdain as she looks at Jeno clearly. "Oh god, you look like shit." She slides the sunglasses back on her face. "That's better."
"You're horrible." Jeno rolls his eyes, running a hand through his hair. "Well I've been on my feet the entire day and I just got—"
"Did you get any sleep?"
"What?"
Yeeun crosses her arms. "I'm asking if you got any sleep, Jen."
Jeno sighs. "No."
"I figured as much." She looks at her little brother who looks so tired. "C'mon, let's get you fed."
"Wait Yeeun but—"
"You are in no position to decline," Yeeun states sternly. "Go eat, I'll take care of grandma." She pushes him forward.
Jeno turns around staring at Yeeun with puppy eyes but she isn't having any of it.
"I'm fine though I'm okay—"
"Go."
"But—"
"Lee Jeno I will kick your ass now move." Yeeun pushes him forward to move him out of the Pediatric Department.
Jeno groans. "Fine, but I'll head straight to the V.I.P Wards as soon as I do."
"I don't think so." She smacks the back of his head. "Go talk to your friends, I think they need some explanations."
"I will, just I'll have to do it later…"
Yeeun cocks a brow. "You're gonna do it during your Friday dinners?" Jeno nods. "Well, it might be a little late to wait for that time to come around."
"What's that supposed to mean."
His sister pauses for a second, staring at Jeno quizzically before she opens her mouth to speak again.
"You've been in surgery all day haven't you?"
Jeno blinks at her and slowly nods. "Yes… What does that have to do with anything?"
Yeeun presses her lips together in a thin line, expressing concern over Jeno's lack of knowledge on what's currently going on. Hse digs through her purse and fumbles on her phone pulling up an article about Director Lee's passing.
At first, Jeno wanted to say, 'so what?', it's an article about the Director's death. There have been swarms of articles that have come out like that one ever since the news broke out, so what makes this article any different.
Then Jeno scrolls down further and then reads Yeeun's name and then he scrolls further…
And suddenly all the weird stares and nervous glances make sense because low and behold there's Jeno's name right there on the fine print of the website, typed out clear as day.
He looks up at Yeeun in shock who can only muster a small smile.
Well, this certainly wasn't good.
— 🏥 —
Jeno was probably the 6th person to hear about his grandfather's passing. After his mother, father, aunt, uncle, and elder sister, the news finally reached him.
Frankly, he wasn't as surprised or shocked as he thought he was going to be. But yet again, he was never that close or liked his grandfather that much, to begin with. The guy was always so strict, so tough, so loveless, it was hard for Jeno to even grow a liking towards him.
He'd gotten the call from his sister who had already booked the first plane ticket back to Korea the moment she heard.
Yeeun was always prepared and Jeno admired his elder sister for always being a bit more level-headed than he was. Even after they got off the phone, Jeno couldn't stop thinking about how she dropped everything despite still in the middle of completing her fellowship in America just to see their grandpa.
Their grandpa always did favor Jeno's elder sister over himself.
Jeno let out a deep sigh as he pocketed his phone, stuffing his hands into his sweats and feeling the cold air on his face. It was 5am in the morning and the sun hadn't kissed the horizon yet and Jeno knew exactly what was coming.
He finally went back into the apartment after taking a well-needed breather to calm his mind. But instead of continuing his calm facade, it all breaks away when he comes face to face with Jaemin, looking like a ghost ready to haunt and nearly scaring Jeno out of his own skin.
He jolted, almost cursing under his breath.
"Jesus fuck—" Jeno half-whisper, half-screams. "What are you doing here?"
"Couldn't sleep, I saw our room door was open." Jaemin folds his arms across his chest. "Your turn."
"My grandpa collapsed."
Jaemin chokes on the air, completely caught off by the answer as if it was the late thing he was expecting to come out of Jeno's mouth, and speaking truthfully, it was. "The Director?? Is he okay? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jeno brushes off. "I mean, we weren't close but I hope he's going to be okay, I'm not sure if it sounds too good but he's still my grandpa."
"I understand." Jaemin presses his lips together in a thin line. "So, what's going to happen now?"
"Well, I'm gonna head to the hospital and meet up with my parents and… We'll see from there." Jeno sighs. "I just don't know how to feel right now."
Jaemin pats him on the shoulder. "Hey, it's okay to not know what to feel, but if you ever need to talk, you know you have like 4 other people you share a flat with right?"
"Yeah, you're right." The boy chuckles, which quickly dies down. "But… Please don't tell the others. Not yet, anyway. I'll come clean tonight."
Jaemin cocks an eyebrow. "You know this will be all over the news right?"
"Of course I do," Jeno ran his fingers through his hair. "How can I not."
"Guys?" The two boys whip their heads around to find Renjun at the entrance of the staircase, thankfully half-asleep and still confused. "Why the fuck are you two standing in the dark talking like psychopaths?"
Half asleep Renjun was always a bit more straightforward than normal Renjun.
"Jeno got a call and is thinking about leaving without brushing his teeth." Jaemin lied quickly, turning around to guide Renjun back to bed, "Go back to sleep Jun, it's still too early."
"That's gross."
"Yes it is, don't hang out with people like him." Jaemin takes the boy by his shoulders, spinning him around to lead him back, only before turning his head back to Jeno to shoo him away. "We'll talk about this later, go head to the hospital."
Jeno salutes him as a thanks and tiptoes back into his room.
The ride to the hospital is uneventful, the only thing Jeno can think about when he arrives is what is the right thing to say.
When he does make it to the hospital he goes straight to the V.I.P Wards. The special treatment rooms his grandfather had implemented for the wealthy and influential patients that came to the hospitals.
Who knew one day he would be laying in one of those rooms himself.
Jeno walks in and feels his breath hitch in his throat. Everyone is gathered around the coffee table, sitting down in silence. He can hear faint beeps of the monitor in the background, where his grandfather lays peacefully on the hospital bed.
His parents and relatives all look at him, there's a lawyer next to his grandmother.
He knows where this is going and nobody has to even say anything.
Jeno's mother opens her mouth first.
"Your grandfather wrote a will."
— 🏥 —
The group had other things to worry about rather than continue to dwell on the fact that their friend has sort of lied to him this entire time but it's not like the thought ever went away.
It was still in the back of their heads even after their lunch break had ended and they continued with their tasks.
And Jeno… Jeno was now stuck with breaking the news to them even though they already had the full picture of everything that was going on.
He was essentially going to break the news that has already been broken and maybe try not to die at the hands of his friends.
Renjun shuts his locker.
"I just can't believe it. Why wouldn't he tell us?"
"People have their secrets." Yukhei, shrugs. "I'm sure you're hiding things from them too."
Yukhei was the chief resident of pathology and also Renjun and Yangyang's personal consultant to rant to in Mandarin when they have a lot to say but can't express it in one language.
"Yeah, but the so-called 'stuff' that I'm hiding is shit like when I ate Yangyang's tub of caramel ice cream and then blamed it on Jaemin during our 2nd year in university on March 12th."
Yangyang peeks out from behind his locker door. "Wait, you ate my ice cream? And memorized when you did it?"
"You didn't hear shit." Renjun dismisses quickly and turns back to Yukhei. "You hide things like that but not that your grandpa was the Director."
"Why? Are you betrayed that he didn't tell you?"
Renjun stops, he thinks back to earlier this morning when Jeno found him in the courtyard and promised he would explain himself. He never expected that explanation to be about this.
"No." He sighs. "I'm not."
"Then I don't think you have too much to worry about." Yukhei pats his shoulder. "I mean he did tell you that he'll come clean."
"Are we still going to pass over the fact that you ate my ice cream?"
Renjun ignores Yangyang's confusion.
"You're right Yukhei. I think I'm just a bit… I dunno, disappointed?"
"It's alright. You guys are close-knit buddies, I'm sure it'll go fine." Yukhei gives him a thumbs up.
"So we're not going to talk about the ice cream thing?"
"No." Renjun straightforwardly answers, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "Well thanks, Yukhei, I'm gonna head out first."
"It's no problem, I'll see you tomorrow if you're called in."
"Which I probably will," Renjun corrects, heading for the door. "Bye get home safely."
"Don't fight with your friends."
"We won't!" Renjun yells, halfway out the door.
Yangyang makes a noise of confusion. He pulls his sweater over his head. "But I thought you were gonna wait for me? Aren't we heading out together?"
Renjun peeks his head through the door. "I'd rather not answer your questions about that tub of ice cream so… No thanks!"
"But Jun!"
"Nope!"
Yangyang grumbles, quickening his changing pace as Yukhei laughs at him fumbling around.
Renjun walks down the corridor of the 5th floor which is admitted a lot more peaceful and quiet than it was this morning, only the occasional nurse or student passing by.
He slides into the elevator, it's empty, surprisingly. Renjun breathes out a sigh. He knows he shouldn't fret over things like this, he knows Jeno will explain everything eventually but at the same time, he doesn't know what kind of reaction to have.
Angry? Sad? Nonchalant? All of the above? None of those emotions at all?
Renjun shakes the thoughts out of his head, once Jeno tells them, then he'll decide how to react. He watches as the elevator doors slowly close before hearing a distant voice call out.
"Hold the elevator!"
He can hear the patter of footsteps as they get closer. Renjun smiles to himself, it must be Yangyang. He sticks his foot in the opening crack and waits for the figure to round the corner and hop into the elevator but instead of seeing Yangyang come around, instead, he sees someone else,
It's Jaemin, who looks equally as shocked as Renjun when he sees the boy standing in the elevator. He almost forgets to come inside.
"Hey," Jaemin says, breathless from the running. He hadn't seen Renjun since lunch and it felt like not seeing him for a week.
The same thought had gone through Renjun's head. It wasn’t as if he had been avoiding Jaemin on purpose but after lunch, the hospital had gotten a lot busier, which meant they couldn't really just settle down and talk to each other and Renjun isn't sure if it was a good thing or not.
At first, Renjun thought he would be angry at Jaemin being aware of Jeno's secret and not telling anyone but then it hit him. Jeno's secret was for Jeno to tell and one for Jaemin to keep hidden until Jeno was ready to tell everyone.
"Hi," Renjun replies back normally. Jaemin blinks at him and he blinks back. Finally, Renjun smiles. "Are you gonna come into the elevator or is my foot going to get crushed by the doors again?"
"Oh right." Jaemin presses his lips together, coming inside with Renjun as the doors close. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay."
Jaemin coughs into his fist, leaning against the wall. The distance between them is uncomfortably long, it makes them feel like strangers and the silence is so loud at the same time.
"So…" Jaemin stares down at his feet, noticing the way he starts tapping them. "You're not? Angry?" He glances to the side to peek at Renjun's expression, which is pleasant.
"No I'm not angry," Renjun assures. "I'm just… passive, right now."
Jaemin opens his mouth to say something else but his words are retracted upon hearing Renjun's answer. "Wait really?"
"Yeah, I mean. I'm not angry, why would I be angry? I don't have a proper reason to be."
"Uh… Jeno lied to you for like our entire friendship and I helped him cover it, I think that's a pretty good reason to be angry."
"It's almost like you want me to be angry." Renjun tilts his head. "Is that what you expected?"
"Yes— Well no, actually." Jaemin stops tapping his foot. "I didn't know what to expect but it just kind of seemed like the most reasonable response to this situation."
Unexpectedly, Renjun feels a smile curl on his face.
It was funny how Jaemin was weirdly nervous about how Renjun and their friends would react, how he dwelled on the thought that they were all angry at him. and Renjun thinks at best the angriest person would probably be Donghyuck and that's not a lot of anger.
But he can't help that at heart, Jaemin cares a lot, not too much but a lot and that's just like him to do so.
"I think you need to stop watching episodes of Penthouse and lay off the soap operas for a while." He pinches the boy's cheek. "The dramatics are starting to get to your brain."
Jaemin looks at him with surprised wide eyes. "So you're not angry?"
"That's the second time you've asked that question." Renjun lets go of his cheek. "And the answer is still the same."
"Jun!"
Renjun isn't exactly sure what happens but one moment he's completely normal and then the next he's tackled by Jaemin in a tight hug.
"What just happened??"
Jaemin ignores Renjun's struggle, swaying the boy side to side. "You're too sweet for your own good, you should be angry at us! Cursing me and Jeno out like a sailor! Smacking me over the head with your bag! Not lovingly pinching my cheek." He rubs his face in the junction of Renjun's shoulder like a puppy.
"As I said, that kind of stuff only happens when you watch TV reruns of 'Temptation of a Wife' on Saturdays." Renjun tries to use all his strength to force the boy away to no avail. "Jaem you're going to dislocate my rib!"
"Don't worry I'm not squeezing that hard."
"Jaemin!"
When Jaemin doesn't respond and stops swaying Renjun around like a ragdoll, the air becomes silent again, only this time it's not awkward anymore.
"... Jaemin?"
"You're too soft Renjun."
"Well, who do you think made me like this?" He smacks Jaemin on the back assuringly. "You guys are good people and I know if you were helping Jeno hide something like this for so long then you guys would eventually tell us."
"Ugh, even though you're at the perfect height to knee me in the groin you won't do it." Jaemin whines, the comment making Renjun laugh.
"Do you want me to?"
"No sir." Jaemin quickly pulls himself off Renjun. "I'm just— I'm really glad you're not angry, Jun."
"We're grown adults Jaemin I don't know what you have to worry about."
"It's a unique situation." he shrugs. "I wouldn't know how you guys would react."
"Well, it's not like every day you find out one of your best friends is the heir to one of the biggest hospitals in the city."
Jaemin opens his mouth for a second, deliberating on his choice of words. "Yeah so, about Jeno being a heir—"
Conveniently, or rather inconveniently, the elevator doors ring open and they've reached their destination on the 1st floor which is more bumbling and busy than the previous floor they were on.
Renjun doesn't have time to ask Jaemin to finish his sentence because his feet instinctively walk themselves out of the elevator to let the other people in and the next thing he knows, he's been swept into the flow of the busy crowd with Jamrin right next to him.
It was still relatively early into the night. Just 9:23pm and they were already lucky enough to be able to get off work this early, a miracle almost. But that meant more things would be going on, family coming and going into and from the hospital, other staff heading home for the night, the list goes on.
At first, getting used to the busybody lifestyle was hard for Renjun, especially being a kid who wasn't used to living in the city but he learned how to navigate his way through to where he is now and sometimes it can still be difficult.
Jaemin slows his walking pace to match Renjun's. Although Jaemin probably isn't aware of the gesture, Renjun is, and he smiles to himself.
At least he doesn't have to face it alone.
— 🏥 —
"Heading home for the day, Dr. Lee?"
Donghyuck shook his head at the security guard. He's asked the same question every day yet never gets sick of it.
"Sadly, not yet." He sits himself down on one of the benches scattered around the lobby. "Today I'm waiting for someone."
"Oh? Is Professor Lee finally treating you to a meal?"
"I wish." Donghyuck groans. "Truthfully, I'm going out with my friends today to talk some things out and I'm just waiting for one of them to arrive."
"Sounds like a pretty good Friday night to me."
Donghyuck smiles, their Friday nights were always something that was special but now it just feels different, mainly because of the situation at hand.
"I can only hope it's going to be good." He mumbles under his breath.
"Well, I'll leave you to it." The security guard said his farewell. "I hope you have a good night."
"You too, say hi to your wife for me."
"Will do."
Donghyuck whips out his phone, looking at the trending search engine. It's weird, there's a weird feeling in his chest, seeing his best friend's name plastered all over the internet, on news websites, social media, it was like anywhere he went, there Jeno was.
He feels his finger drag itself over to a brand new article, not even discussing the Director's death anymore but an article solely talking about Jeno and his sister.
He stared at the picture of Jeno that the website provided. It was from their high school graduation and he can see where they expertly cropped out Jaemin's arm that swung around Jeno's shoulder at the time.
Donghyuck didn't know how to feel. He was basically friends with a celebrity this entire time and he had no idea!
The real question was if Donghyuck was angry or not and honestly speaking, he wasn't.
Although he knows full well he probably had the most right and reason to be angry, he can't pull himself to do it and you can't force anger onto someone that you're not angry at.
He was just confused and he wanted answers, just any answer as to why.
And knowing Jeno, Donghyuck knew he wouldn't have to wait that long for the answer.
"Hyuck?"
Ah… There he is, the man of the hour.
"Hey, Jen." Donghyuck pockets his phone. "I've been waiting for you."
"Uh, yeah. You have, I can see that." Jeno stuffs his hands into his pocket awkwardly. "Why?"
"Maybe because I haven't seen you once all day." Donghyuck cocks his head.
"Oh right." Jeno nods. "Yeah that makes sense— Sorry I thought you were—"
"You thought I was going to ask you about you being the grandson to the Director of a major hospital in Seoul?"
"Yes." Jeno quietly admits. "Yes, I did."
Donghyuck laughs at him knowingly. "It wouldn't be fair to the other guys if I did that and I know we all need an explanation right now."
"I know and you're right and you will get that explanation, I promise."
"Of course you will Jen." Donghyuck pulls himself up. "But for now, seeing your face is enough for me."
"Really?" The corner of Jeno's lips quirks up.
The duo start walking, Donghyuck linking his arm with Jeno's.
"Yes really, you're such a goof."
Jeno finally speaks up. "Are you angry at me?"
"Would I be linking arms with you if I were?" Donghyuk questions. "C'mon Jeno, I'm not angry. I just want answers, we all do."
Jeno and Donghyuck scan their identification cards and watch carefully as the door opens slowly.
"Thanks, Hyuck, I was getting a bit disheartened. Especially with the news, and everything, and then my family… It's been hectic."
"You need someone to pull you out of the dark once in a while." Donghyuck nudges his shoulder. "And we'll always be here for you."
"You're right."
The two-step outside into the cool spring air, the air still cold but the trees starting to grow back their blossoms.
"Also you look like shit by the way."
"Oh come on!"
— 🏥 —
The silence in the car was insufferably loud. From Shotaro's nervous tapping on the window to Yangyang's constant shuffling around due to his inability to stay still and also the fact that nobody had said a single word sense they stepped into the car, so the current ride was not a pleasant one.
Jeno and Donghyuck got off work the earliest today, leaving the other 4 to finish up their tasks before heading to the restaurant, meaning that they would have to awkwardly ride together after not having spoken to each other for about 7 hours.
When Jaemin and Renjun met Yangyang outside, who was out of breath just trying to catch up with the duo to which was then followed up with a very calm and normal Shotaro who walked out of the doors gracefully compared to a haggard Yangyang who was gasping for air.
But before they stepped into the car, it was important for Jaemin to explain himself first and it went well, of course, it went well. They're all old enough now to understand when another one is in a rough spot with their hands tied and Renjun nudged Jaemin as a way of saying 'I told you so'.
Yangyang and Shotaro gave Jaemin a big tight hug and almost reached out for Renjun before the boy smacked their hands away and walked towards his car with a delighted smile on his face, that was unbeknownst to the trio behind him. Everything was okay.
But what they didn't expect was for the car ride to be awkward as hell. You see after not talking to your friends for 7 hours and being swamped with work, whilst trying to balance your own emotions and feelings about your other friend, once you get into a car with those said friends, you aren't even sure if you want to talk about your day, sleep, or just sit in complete silence.
And they all chose the latter and sat in total silence.
They thought everything would go back to normal, but stepping into the car proved that it's hard to return to the normal things you do when the flow of your thoughts is interrupted with this new set of information that was suddenly brought to your attention.
"So…" Jaemin coughed into his fist. "How was your day?" He turned around to face Yangyang and Shotaro in the back seat.
"It was hectic in the morning, then slow, then shocking, and then hectic again," Shotaro answered straightforwardly. They all knew what the shocking part was about.
"I got a lollipop from Professor Qian for bringing his scans, then I gave it to a random kid I saw in the hallway," Yangyang said, trying to sound normal as possible but the words sounded like he had been forced against his will to say them.
"Okay, that's it." The car screeched to a halt, Renjun stopping at the red light. "What is up with these cookie-cutter conversations? You guys are talking like your acquaintances."
Shotaro smiles. "Well… It does remind me of when we first met."
"Oh god, we were so awkward with each other." Yangyang squirmed uncomfortably, cringing at the thought of their younger selves, so naive. "God I was so emo back then."
Jaemin poked Renjun's cheek. "And Injun still has to wear his lingual braces."
"Hey no hands on the driver while driving." Renjun scolds softly, keeping his eye on the road. "You had to wear them too."
"Yeah, but mine are long gone." He smiles, raking a hand through his hair. "God, starting med school was, what? 6 years ago?"
Shotaro snorts. "Yangyang was in his emo phase back then."
"Was not!"
"Oh please," Renjun starts counting off. "You wore dark graphic tees all the time, dyed your hair a different color every 2 weeks, had your bangs over your eyes, and had like a thousand piercings."
"I had and still have only 4 piercings altogether." Yangyang corrects.
"Well, they looked like a thousand to me."
"Okay, okay, but can we talk about how Shotaro has an entire lookbook for each season?" Jaemin turns around in his seat to face Yangyang and Shotaro. "I mean, every day was like a new outfit."
Shotaro chuckles at the old memory. "Well if I was ever going to have a breakdown in the middle of a lecture I decided I might as well look fashionable while the tears run down my face."
"Yeah well, we all quickly threw that mindset out the window once the second semester started.” Yangyang scoffed. “I mean, sweatpants season is in session every semester going forward..”
“For some reason, Shotaro and Renjun were the only ones that chose to look presentable in class.”
“Presentable as in, Shotaro dressed like he was going to fashion week and Renjun dressed like all of our professors combined.”
Renjun frowned, turning his head around slightly. “How was I supposed to know Professor Yoon had the same sweater vest I did!"
Jaemin pinched his cheek, directing his eyes forward. "Hey, eyes on the road, please. I value my life." Renjun shoos his hand away.
“Look, all I'm saying was that my style is sophisticated.” He shrugs. "I was more mature."
Yangyang tilts his head. "I didn't know being 'sophisticated' included dressing up like you volunteer at the library."
"I'm gonna kick you out of my car."
"And you still act the same too," Yangyang mumbles, earning him a soft shove from Shotaro.
"You act like we've aged 15 years."
"It definitely feels like 15 years," Jaemin admits. "Going to med school has changed me."
Yangyang makes a face and snorts. "Ugh, you sound like a 500-year-old vampire reminiscing about the 1970s."
"Well…" Jaemin trails off, a long dramatic pause for tension. "You never know."
Shotaro fakes a gasp. "Is this you going on record saying you're a 500-year-old vampire?"
"I fucking knew it!" Renjun punches his shoulder. "I've been saying the same thing since sophomore year of university."
Jaemin lets out a heartily laugh "I see something else that hasn't changed is our dumb conversations."
"This isn't a dumb conversation, this is serious talk here excuse you," Yangyang says in feign offense.
"Yeah and I totally didn't overhear you guys talking about how we should replace bowls with bread bowls after midterms."
Renjun takes a sharp turn and makes a noise of disappointment at Jaemin's statement.
"It's edible, sustainable, AND helps the environment."
"Yep, still same old dumb conversations."
"They're not dumb, they're informational." He jazzed his hands to accentuate his point.
"Bread bowls?" Jaemin cocked a brow. "Really?"
"ITS SOUP ALREADY IN BREAD!"
The sudden hate on bread bowls ensued a small argument in the car, who knew talking about bread bowls could insinuate so much passion for one of the most interesting things that's ever been done to bread.
How they went from talking about the past to talking about bread bowls is explainable but possible.
Dumb or not, Renjun is just glad he isn't suffering in silence anymore.
Even if his friends are just screaming about bread bowls.
But the argument doesn't last for long and maybe Renjun should be thankful he doesn't have to hear Yangyang screaming about the beautiful invention that is a bowl made out of bread but it does bring up another challenge as they arrive at their destination, the restaurant that Jeno chose.
Grouping up as 6 again.
— 🏥 —
The reunion was short-lived, nobody knew how to start it off.
Not seeing your entire friend group for god knows how many hours and meeting up again was awkward and that was to be expected.
There were small greetings, tight smiles, long stares at each other before the waiter came by and completely ignored the awkward atmosphere and took their orders.
And after another long insufferably long pause after their waiter had left, Jeno finally spoke.
"So…" He smiled sheepishly. "What do you guys want to know?"
They started talking over each other, multiple questions hitting Jeno at once and too many voices to hear a single one and Jeno can't say he didn't expect to be bombarded with questions. So, he might as well explain everything from the start and present.
What wasn't a secret was that Jeno's family was well-off and everyone knew that, they just didn't know where the money came from. But it was never Jeno's intention to hide his grandfather's identity, it sort of just worked out that way. He was never close with his grandpa so he never felt the need to talk about him. Besides what's the point of talking about someone that you never really had a connection with in the first place?
But once he got older he realized that it might be a more important detail to mention. After medical school, it was about time they had started applying internships to different hospitals and Jeno had the preconceived notion that they would all be interning at different hospitals.
After all, some hospitals operate differently than others and not everyone has the same preferences and being 6 guys with massive personalities Jeno believed that they wouldn't all be working at the same place, right?
But fate has its way and they all decided to apply to SM Medical Center— Well, everyone but Jeno.
SM Medical Center was his grandpa's work from the ground up and Jeno didn't realize how long it had been since he last saw his grandfather until he heard the name of the hospital again.
Suddenly, his preconceived notion had been shattered when his friends revealed that they would all be applying to that exact hospital because they liked the professors there, and enjoyed how the hospital operated. They agreed it would just make their lives a whole lot easier and they would be working together for longer, but that's too sappy for all of them to admit to.
So Jeno decided to follow along, he applied for an internship at his grandfather's hospital and still didn't tell his friends because he didn't think too much about it.
What were the chances that all 6 of them would be accepted at the same time anyway?
Oh, how fate has its ways to magically do the opposite of what Jeno is thinking.
So by luck (or chance), They all get accepted to the same hospital and Jeno has come to the realization that now he definitely has to tell his friends.
But Jeno doesn't. Not because he doesn't want to or because he is ashamed or because he but because he forgets.
Plain and simple.
His grandfather indirectly ghosted him for almost his entire life and the last time he saw him was when he was 12 years old, so the last thing he thought about definitely was not to inform his friends that his grandpa was their future boss.
And life moved on, they started their internships, moved on to residency, and the thought that Jeno needed to tell his friends something just sort of disappeared.
Up until today, and the news, and everything else that suddenly decided to resurface and remind Jeno of the one thing he's been forgetting to tell his friends for almost about their entire friendship.
This now brings them to the current time where all of Jeno's friends are staring at him like a mad man, a variety of emotions in each of their faces that Jeno can't decipher.
"... It's not like I didn't want to tell you guys, it just never slipped my mind."
"Wait, wait, wait." Donghyuck lifts a finger to cut off Jeno's words. "So you're telling me… We're having this conversation because of your shit memory?"
Jeno awkwardly smiles at him. "Uh…"
Renjun pinches his nose. "Jaemin was right, I should be cussing you out like a sailor and smacking you over the head with my bag."
"Well, that was anticlimactic." Yangyang reflects, still taking a second to process the information.
Shotaro pats his back. "Even though you could've told us over text, I'm glad you wanted to say it in person."
"Okay, it is a bit ridiculous," Jeno admits, a bit bashful. "Everything just hit at once, I didn't know what to do."
"Hold on, so if you never thought of telling anyone…" Donghyuck slowly turns his head and their eyes zoom in on the same person. "How does Jaemin know?"
Jaemin perks up at all the eyes on him, almost forgetting he had a small part in this situation.
"Well, I sort of found out on accident?" He thinks about it for a second. "I went to the hospital when I sprained my ankle. I saw him in the children's ward making animal balloons and I asked him about it and he just told me."
"And you didn't tell me?" Donghyuck puts a hand on his chest, slightly offended.
"You were on a vacation! And we were 8! The last thing we thought about was telling you when you came back was that Jeno's grandpa owned a hospital."
"Alright, fair." Donghyuck backs down.
"So you also just forgot to tell us the entire time?" Shotaro asks Jaemin.
Jaemin shakes his head. "No I knew, it was still in the back of my head when we all applied for our internships but it's not my place to tell you guys about it."
"Wow I thought you found a paper of Jeno's family tree or something and you got into this huge argument. But this is a pretty tame story."
Renjun flicks Yangyang's forehead. "This is real life, not a 1980's soap opera."
"Look," Shotaro puts his hands down on the table. "The good thing is, you came clean and that's all that matters."
Donghyuck shrugs. "Granted you probably just could've told us but that's okay. I'm into the dramatics of waiting."
"Thanks, guys." Jeno laughs. "I thought you guys would be angrier at me but I'm just really glad you're not."
"But in all seriousness," Yangyang sits back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. "How are you holding though?"
Jeno hums. "Mostly emotionally exhausted, but I'm feeling better."
"Aww," Donghyuck coos, pinching his cheek. "Is it because of us?"
"No, it's because I can eat dinner now." Jeno corrects.
That was a lie. But of course, they all knew that.
Jaemin claps his hands together.
"Well then, shall we order something to eat?"
— 🏥 —
"Jaemin did what?" Jeno nearly choked on his steak.
"He immediately backed up out of the room and sped through a sentence about having to help out Professor Suh," Renjun explains.
"But Professor Suh isn't even in GS though, he works in OT."
"Exactly!" Shotaro passionately declares. "And he said he had an assist for an MRV." He shakes his head at Jaemin. "I'm not even mad, just disappointed."
"Okay okay." Jaemin sets his fork and knife down to defend himself. "Look, there were pairs of eyes on me, if you were me then you probably would've said something stupid too!"
"Yeah, not that stupid." Yangyang snorts.
Jaemin narrows his eyes at him. "Weren't you and Taro arguing with me about bread bowls back in the car?"
Donghyuck raises an eyebrow. "Bread bowls?"
"What? They're efficient!" Shotaro defends
"Anyways." Renjun coughs, catching their attention. "Let's calm ourselves down, I don't want to get kicked out because you guys are screaming about whether or not soup should be stored in bread or not."
"Good point." Jeno agrees. "Should we order something else to go? I should probably get something for my sister."
Donghyuck tilts his head, a bit surprised. "Yeeun came?"
"Dropped in the middle of her fellowship and everything. She was closer to grandpa anyways."
"Speaking of which, that reminds me." Yangyang wipes his mouth with a napkin before opening his mouth again. "So like what's going to happen to you now?"
Jeno makes a noise of confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You're grandpa wrote a will right?"
"That's right!" Renjun claps his hands together, remembering the detail. "But to be honest though, kind of a dick move to put you in the will even though he barely spoke to you."
Shotaro holds back a laugh that ultimately fails at the comment of Jeno's grandpa being a dick.
"Yeah, so like, are you going to run the hospital now or something?" Donghyuck rests his head on the palm of his hand, staring curiously at Jeno who looks quizzically at all of them.
He shares a look of bizarre confusion with Jaemin who shrugs and offers him a forced smile.
"You didn't tell them?"
Jaemin looks back at their friends who are still waiting for answers and turns back to Jeno. "Was I supposed to?"
"Tell us what?"
"Uh well… Jeno isn’t exactly in the will?"
The clatter of silverware falling on the floor, courtesy of Renjun suddenly losing the ability to grip, can be heard despite the loud and busy noise of the restaurant.
Shotaro squints his eyes in confusion. "Wait what?"
Renjun turns around politely. "Excuse me, may I have another set of utensils please?" He turns around towards his friends. "YOU'RE NOT IN THE WHAT?"
"But the news article— It said— You!" Yangyang loses words to form. “How!”
“How would they know what’s in the will, my grandpa passed away today.” Jeno points out the obvious. “And plus, when have news articles ever been 100% correct?”
“Wait, wait, wait, WAIT. So you’re not in the will?”
“Are you only part of the testament?”
“Also how does Jaemin know about this?”
Jeno looked around frantically at the wave of new questions. “Woah.” He puts his hands up in surrender to make everyone back down. “I am technically still in the will. He wrote that I only receive a small yearly allowance until I finish residency. Whatever I use that money for is up to me.” He explains very carefully as if he’s talking to a bunch of kindergarteners. “And c’mon, do you really think they’ll let a 28-year-old run a hospital? I’m not even halfway through my residency yet, what makes you think they'll hand me a hospital?
It takes a couple of seconds for the information to process.
“Okay, that makes… sense,” Donghyuck says slowly as if he still doesn't believe it. “So if you’re not taking over the company then who?”
Jaemin and Jeno share another look. “Well, Jeno only has one other sibling right?”
“Oh… OH.” Yangyang finally pieces it together. “Your sister!?”
Jeno nods happily.
“Yeeun is the heir to the hospital, not me.”
“Well, you sound thrilled about it.” Renjun smiles. “Excited you don’t have to run the hospital?”
“Extremely thrilled. Yeeun was a lot closer to my grandpa than me and she has more experience than I do and is way more ambitious than I am, it made sense.” He shrugs, “And I would’ve gone against the will if my grandpa wanted me to run the hospital. I wouldn’t want to do it, not because I’m too young and inexperienced right now but because I don’t want to do it, and especially considering our terse relationship with each other, it just makes me uncomfortable.”
"To quote Renjun 'kind of a dick move' if he did make you run the hospital." Shotaro reiterates.
"But good for you!" Yangyang reaches over the table to pat Jeno on the shoulder. "At least you won't become our future boss."
Jeno shudders, "I don't want to become anyone's future boss."
Donghyuck coyly smiles. "Well I've spent 4 years in high school being your project partner and I beg to differ."
“So, let me get this straight, you're not the heir."
"Nope."
"But you're still in the will."
"Yes."
"Well then, this was a lot more simple than a thought." Renjun hummed, "Not that I'm complaining, I just thought there would be more to it but it's pretty much cut and dry."
"And you were the one that said the dramatics of this situation was getting to my head," Jaemin complains, his tone conveying faux sadness.
"Also on another note," Shotaro turns to Jaemin. "How do you know about the will too?"
"Well, who do you think Jeno was texting the entire day?"
"Ohh…"
Well, it made sense, Jeno would’ve at least had to talk to one person that wasn't in his family.
"Anyways, enough family talk, please." Jeno settles them down. "Should we order dessert?"
"Only if you're paying," Yangyang says excitedly, opening the menu again to flip through the selection.
Donghyuck shakes his head at the boy, "He's been waiting for this moment since 10am."
"Isn't that already a given that Jeno will be paying for everything?" Renjun scooches over to examine the menu with Yangyang.
The boy pouts. "My poor wallet."
"Technically it's your sister's wallet now, considering she's the one that pays us now." Shotaro corrects.
"I'm gonna ask her to deduct from your salaries."
Jaemin throws his hands up. "I didn't even say anything!"
"You're guilty by association." Jeno smiles sweetly.
"Oh come on!"
— 🏥 —
"Hi, I'm paying for the table of 6." Jeno points at his table where his posse of friends sit and are all either drunk or high on food, no in-between.
The hostess nods, taking his card and watching as all 5 of them shuffle up to the front desk like zombies.
"Wow, you guys must be stuffed."
"What can I say, I'm a single father of 5." Jeno shrugs.
Donghyuck slumps his head on Jeno's shoulder sleepily. "You know we should have you start paying for everything now."
"I already kind of do that though."
"Yeah but like you should do it all the time."
Jeno raises an eyebrow. "But you guys were the ones that didn't want me to be paying for everything in the first place?"
"I changed my mind."
"Of course you do," Renjun says absent-mindedly, prying Donghyuck off of Jeno. Surprisingly, he isn't as drunk as the others. "I'm gonna go haul the kids into the car," He holds a hand out in front of Jeno, the boy looking at him with blank eyes.
"What?"
"Car keys." Renjun opens and closes his hands to emphasize the gesture but Jeno still doesn't get it. "I'm driving everyone home."
"Are you just gonna leave your car here?"
"Do you want any of them to be driving home?" Renjun points his thumb at Yangyang and Shotaro playing the slowest game of rock paper scissors known to man and Jaemin staring at the potted plant for a little too long.
Now, Jeno gets it. "Fair enough." As he forks over the keys, he realizes how oddly domestic this scene is. "Get our children to the car safely." He states jokingly, but his pretend-spouse is not very amused.
Renjun makes a disgusted face. "Why would you say that? Now they're all gonna—"
"Mom," Donghyuck whines. "Buy me ice cream."
Shotaro tugs on Renjun's coat sleeve, clinging on to his arm. "Mom, when can we go home?"
"Mother why does this plant have holes in it like it's swiss cheese?" Jaemin asks a little too formally.
Renjun turns to glare at Jeno to sport a mischievous grin in response.
"Do you see what you've done?"
"Love you, Honey,"
The boy makes a gagged noise as he gathers all of his 'children'. Yangyang practically tackles him into a giant bear hug and starts making kissy noises at him.
"Mom give me a good night kiss!"
Renjun quickly pushes his head away in disgust.
"I do not remember giving birth to such ugly children."
Which is the last thing he says before he pushes all of his kids out the restaurant doors.
"You're all very close with each other." The cashier comments, handing Jeno's credit card back.
Jeno stares outside through the clear storefront of the restaurant as a wild Jaemin runs in the opposite direction from where the car is parked, making Renjun run after him and leaving the other 3 behind to scatter and run around like they're playing a ridiculous game of adult tag. His lips curl upward.
"We are." He takes the bag of their leftovers on the counter and wishes her a good night. "I apologize for the ruckus."
Jeno pushes through the glass door with the weather still as chilly as ever and with the snow piling up on the roads. He feels the cold winter breeze hit his face.
And also the feeling of Yangyang grabbing him by the shoulders and hiding behind him, using him as a shield from Renjun.
Renjun is already out of breath before he starts talking, hands on his knees as he tries to catch some air. "Yangyang I swear to god—" He shuffles his feet from side to side, trying to decide which angle he should tackle Yangyang from. "STOP MOVING."
"NEVER!" Yangyang dashes off again but not getting much distance before tripping over a rock and ultimately leading to his downfall, falling face-first into the pile of snow
"Ha! I gotcha you little brat." He pulls Yangyang up and drags him by the collar of his coat, walking him over where he has Shotaro and Donghyuck, both holding hands like they're in preschool. "Hold Shotaro's hand."
"But I don't wanna!"
"Do it or you'll make Shotaro sad." Renjun grabs Shotaro's face turning it towards Yangyang's. "Do you wanna make Taro sad?"
Shotaro mimics puppy eyes and Yangyang gives up.
He frowns holding Shotaro's hand, murmuring to himself. "I can't believe you would utilize my weakness like that."
"It's a dog eat dog world out there kid, get used to it." Renjun double checks, triple checks that all 3 boys will stay in place when he moves away then turns back around. "I'm gonna kill Jaemin. Jeno watches over our kids. I have another one I need to chase down."
"Uh sure?" Jeno says, still confused at everything that just happened.
Fortunately enough for Renjun, Jaemin isn't exactly the slickest person when it comes to hiding because he's literally behind a telephone pole, giggling like a little girl.
"Na Jaemin, I'm not playing this game with you."
"Well, I am!"
The small cat and mouse chase goes on for a total of 40 seconds, along with some unexpected but not unpleasant narration from Donghyuck.
"—And Renjun runs around the pole and Jaemin runs the other direction and now they're going in circles and— Oh! There's a new development because now Jaemin has decided to just sprint freely in the parking lot. Who will win? High school track star Na Jaemin? Or 1st place Elementary school sports festival runner Huang Renjun? We could be out here all day folks."
"This is ridiculous, how are you so fast!"
"Who do you think Jeno takes on his bike rides?" Jaemin cackles evilly like he's some cheesy Disney villain. "I've trained for this moment my whole life!"
"Wow he really is drunk isn't he." Shotaro comments, continuing to watch as Jaemin darts around like it's nothing While Renjun is about to pass out from pure exhaustion after chasing around 3 people.
Renjun finally grabs onto the hood of Jaemin's hoodie and pulls his back, ultimately leaving him with nowhere to go.
"Geez, why did you drink so much Jaemin?" Renjun scolds. "You don't even like alcohol."
"To drown away my sorrows," Jaemin speaks nonsense as he throws his arms over Renjun's shoulder, making the boy carry him. "I'm kidding, I accidentally drank Jeno's glass of soju."
"And you didn't tell anyone?"
"I thought it was funny at the time!"
His breath is ragged by the time he gets back to the car with Jaemin where the rest of their friends await.
"Do you want me to drive home for the night?" Jeno offers, laughing at Renjun's haggard state.
He shakes his head, pushing Jaemin off of him. "No, you should get some rest. I'm fine."
"Are you sure—"
"Jeno I just chased down 4 guys in the parking lot of a restaurant. Do not argue with me."
"Yes sir."
Renjun unlocks the car and slides the door open, gesturing for all of his friends to come in like he's a daycare teacher making sure all the children get on the bus safely, only this time the children are fully grown, adult men.
"Give me a hug and I'll think about getting in the car." Donghyuck stops just as he's about to get in.
"No," Renjun answers plainly.
He pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. "But you gave Jeno head pats this afternoon. That's not fair!"
"Yeah! You did!" Yangyang joins in.
Renjun furrows his eyebrows and turns to Jeno. "Did you tell them?"
Jeno avoids eye contact. "Technically, TECHNICALLY… I told Mark."
His answer only makes Renjun question why he even bothers at this point. He sighs.
"Alright whatever, today is already so goddamn weird." He opens his arms up and Donghyuck happily wraps his arms around his waist, resting a chin on his shoulder and gleefully dancing at his victory then moving into the car.
Yangyang's hand shoots up. "Me too!"
"Yeah, yeah."
He fully envelopes Renjun's figure in the tightest hug known to man, almost squeezing the life out of him until Renjun smacks him on the back to tap out.
Shotaro doesn't say much as he skips up to Renjun, not even asking when he picks up the boy in his arms and moving him around like a teddy bear.
"Okay, OKAY. Put me down or I'm gonna get sick!" Renjun demands but Shotaro continues his hugs for another 5 seconds then sets him back down.
Renjun feels dizzy when he comes face to face with Jaemin who snakes an arm around his waist, swaying him side to side before holding him there tightly for so long Renjun's pretty sure he heard Jaemin start dozing off.
He pushes Jaemin into the car and quickly shuts the door only to run into Jeno who has his arms wide open and a cheerful smile on his face.
"No hug for daddy?"
Renjun nearly throws up on the spot. "Don't call yourself that ever again." He points at him threateningly then flicks the boy on the forehead. "I patted your head this morning, that should be enough."
"Aw, darn."
"You really need to stop going along with Donghyuck's weird improv spouts, now all the other guys are gonna start calling me, 'mom' and you, 'dad'."
"I dunno, I kinda like this one." Jeno shrugs. "It's funny."
Renjun stares at him incredulously. "You think us acting like we're married and taking care of our 4 non-biological children is funny?"
"I do."
Renjun puts a hand on Jeno's shoulder. "Yeah, I think it's time to go home."
He pushes the boy forward to the other side of the car.
Jeno sits in the passenger seat. "Oh come on Jun, don't you think it's a little bit fun and entertaining?"
"I just had to hear you call yourself 'daddy' so no, it's not fun." Renjun deadpans, shutting Jeno's door. "But I do find it entertaining."
"So you do find it fun." Jeno reiterates when Renjun gets into the driver's seat.
"If that makes you sleep at night, sure sweetheart."
"Are you and dad fighting?" Shotaro mumbles, sleepily waking up and finding himself being used as a teddy bear for Jaemin.
Renjun turns around and speaks softly. "No we are not and don't call Jeno dad, it's giving me bad memories." He shudders.
"Oh, you mean like when he called himself daddy like 3 minutes ago?"
"What— How do you guys know that?"
"You guys were literally standing next to the car." Donghyuck points out. "If anything it would be weird if you just ignored it."
Renjun takes in a deep breath. "Y'know what? Maybe it's better if we do ignore it."
"Ignore what?" Yangyang wakes up at that moment, finding Jaemin fast asleep on his shoulder. "That Jeno called himself daddy?"
Renjun clears his throat loudly. "YES. Now, enough daddy talk, please. We are not frat boys with trust funds, we are grown men."
Donghyuck makes an unsure noise. "Technically Jeno was a trust fund kid so calling him—"
"If you say the word I am making you walk home."
"Yes, mother I apologize." Donghyuck sinks back into his seat.
Renjun turns to Jeno. "Do you see the monstrosity you've created?"
"I'm basking in it sweetheart," Jeno grins cheekily at him.
"Oh, you are so annoying." Renjun turns back around to his children. "Anyways, is everyone buckled up? Seatbelts people, put on your seatbelts, I know you're drunk but it's not a time to act like barbarians." He claps his hands together repeatedly, waking everyone up out of their drunken state.
Jaemin whines, climbing detaching himself from Shotaro. "But Taro is so cute." He whines.
"I don't know what Shotaro being cute has to do with seatbelts but I don't hear seatbelts being buckled! I'll wait."
Donghyuck groans. "God, you really do sound like a mom."
"And a camp counselor… For some reason." Yangyang says despite his own confused face afterward, unsure of the connection he just made.
"Can we go get ice cream?" Shotaro asks softly.
"Ice cream does sound great if it weren't 1am in the morning." Renjun starts the car when he sees everyone is safely in their seats. "Okay and we're off." He pulls out of the driveway and goes home.
Jeno leaned back in his seat, resting his head against the glass window. The snow had started to fall again.
The sound of Renjun's soft humming and fingers drumming against the wheel coupled with the sound of the snow falling made Jeno feel calm, strangely at home. This car ride was a lot different than their usual rides home, it was a whole lot quieter that was for sure.
But the silence was peaceful, nobody felt the need to fill the air with conversations. Jeno wasn't sure if it was because all of them had been pretty burnt out for the past couple of days but everyone was sound asleep in the car.
The stress of their daily lives pushes them to give up a lot of things in their normal lives but they wouldn't trade it for anything else. After all, if they all didn't choose this path then they would all be different people.
Even if they still seem to act like children now, when Jeno thinks about it, they've all done a great deal of growing up with each other and all spent their time learning how to become adults with each other. Who says they can't still have a little bit of fun at their age?
They take care of each other, listen, play around and just talk.
Jeno thinks if he had the power to go back in time, he wouldn't use it.
"I'm glad."
He shuts his eyes and drifts off to sleep.