Work Text:
Gyeo-ul stepped out of the showers, towelling her hair dry as she walked towards her locker to pick up her belongings. Despite the cold shower she had taken in a bid to freshen herself up, she let out a large yawn. It was almost midnight.
It had been a long day—assisting with two surgeries, numerous rounds to check on her post-op patients in the ICU and an emergency TA case that had been rushed in earlier this evening. And yet the hours continued to stretch ahead of her as she started her night on-call duties, her second night in a row.
A new GS resident really couldn’t come soon enough, she thought to herself while trying to stifle a second yawn.
As she walked back towards her office, she mentally went through what she needed to do. There was a whole stack of patient charts to review and complete before the end of the shift. And then there was that complicated kidney transplant scheduled for the day after that needed some extra study.
Thankfully, with both post-op patients in a stable condition, it would be another two, perhaps three hours, before she needed to check on them again. She could take the time to recharge with some food and a power nap first before she tackled what needed to be done.
She took her phone out from her pocket to set her wake-up call. Unlocking it, she found several messages from Jeong-won that he had sent in the course of the evening while she was busy.
[7.54pm] Do you want to have dinner together? Patient Kim Min-woo still isn’t doing as well as I had hoped so I am going to stay back tonight to monitor him.
[8.29pm] Alright, ignore me. I bumped into Ik-jun as he was leaving and he told me that you are dealing with an emergency TA case. Good luck!
[10.15pm] Help! I am drowning in bread! I went by the cafe to buy you your favourite one so that you would have something to eat when you were done. Since they were closing, the cafe assistants decided to give me all the other pieces of bread they had left!
Gyeo-ul laughed out loud as she read that message. It was followed by a selfie of him with a tiny mountain of bread on his office table and it was indeed quite a lot!
She turned on her heels to head towards his office instead. It looked like she’d better quickly go and save her boyfriend from the army of attacking carbohydrates.
There was one last message.
[11.47pm] I just came back from checking on Min-woo. He’s doing a little better. Anyway, I am getting sleepy so I opened up the camp bed. I hope you will come over soon. You know I sleep better now with you next to me.
She couldn’t help the blush that spread over her cheeks as she read his words. Sleeping next to each other was a rather recent development in their relationship and, while it was welcomed, it was also a new level of intimacy that she was still adjusting to.
It had started when they realised they were loathe to leave each other’s company when he dropped her off at her apartment or when they wanted to steal a few moments together when they were both spending the night at the hospital.
They had even bought a new, bigger camp bed for his office because the previous one was beginning to creak alarmingly under their combined weight.
Surprisingly, Professor Kim Jun-wan had yet to remark on it. Which had made her wonder if he had even noticed the new bed or if he was simply being discreet. Jeong-won had voted for the former, when she mentioned it to him while they were resting on it one night, about a week after they had set it up. Jun-wan, he had declared, was oblivious to details and was usually the last in the group to find out about any news.
That had brought her some measure of relief as she had secretly hoped it was the former as well. She didn’t think she could face his friends, her professors really, if they knew about it. Not yet, at least.
She turned the last corner to his office and was soon in front of his door. The lights within were already turned off, save for a soft glow from the desk lamp.
She opened the door quietly and stepped in. As her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, her gaze landed on the pile of bread that was heaped on his desk. She stifled a little laugh at the sight. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he had said he was drowning in it.
She cast her eyes over to the other side of the room where the camp bed was. Jeong-won was already sound asleep on it, lying on his right with his arm outstretched over the empty space next to him.
Her side.
He didn’t even know if she would be able to come by but yet he had left her side of the camp bed empty, waiting and hoping for her to join him. Her heart glowed at the thought that he was thinking of her as he fell asleep.
As she padded over, she wondered if she would ever get used to this feeling that he so often incited in her. She fervently hoped she never would.
She climbed carefully into the camp bed, trying her best not to disturb him. But he must have sensed her presence anyway because his arm came around her as soon as she laid down next to him. Their legs tangled together as he drew her into him. Her own arms wrapped around his waist as she snuggled closer, seeking for that spot in his shoulder that seemed to have been created out of his muscle and bone just for her to lie her head.
She felt his sigh of contentment above her as she settled more fully into him, the sound of his steady heartbeat already lulling her to sleep as the exhaustion of the day finally caught up with her.
For he wasn’t the only one who slept better when they were together.