cory is thinking about... leehan having a mommy kink ݁ ˖Ი𐑼⋆
inspired by an ask i received on april 21st <𝟑 .ᐟ
the first time something other than your name slipped out during sex, you paused completely.
"mm-mph! fuck- mommy-"
the moment you stopped, leehan instantly felt a pit of guilt in his stomach. you and him talked through every decision together, especially when it came to trying new things in bed.
it was good for both of you, since the pair of you had always struggled with immediate change. plus, who could ever deny that communication was a good thing?
"s-sorry, i shouldn't- i should've-"
his breathing was still strained, limbs shaking from the sensual activities the two of you had been participating in just moments prior. The feeling of your wetness still subconsciously clenching around his length wasn't helping, either.
you slapped your hand over his blabbering mouth, making his eyes widen-- "say it again."
your hand slowly lifted from his face, and he felt his adam's apple bob in his throat before speaking, "please ride me, m-mommy."
electricity shot up core and need sparked through your entire body as his shaky voice rang out. the thick smell of sweat and amber incense filling your lungs as your sank back down on his lap.
he whined, hips bucking upwards to fill you up as much as possible. you continued to lift yourself up and down, enjoying the burn taking over your muscles everytime you did so.
"f-fuck, mom-mommy--"
"c'mon baby, c-cum for your mommy." you encouraged, humming contently as he let out a high-pitch whine. his head tilted upwards as he neared his release, the rhythmic thumping as your bodies moved in unison; you were sure the two of you would be receiving yet another noise compliant soon... but that was a problem from tomorrow.
"c-close, close close close!" leehan's lashes were wet with tears as his heart quickened, "say please." you said firmly, making eye contact with your nearly-fucked out lover.
"please, please let me-" he let out a sharp whine as he felt himself grow closer and closer to spilling inside of you, "m-mommy, please let me cum!"
you ran a hand through his red hair as you gave him permission, gasping as you began to fill his warm seed ooze out, filling your insides with a comfortable warmth that only turned you on more.
"good boy, fuck, you're such a good boy for mommy." you praised as you regained control of your breathing, not caring to wait until leehan had done the same before letting your pace grow sloppy as you chased your own orgasm.
he let out a soft, surprised cry as you rode him at your own desired speed-- practically fucking him into the mattress until you reached your release.
you collapsed next to him in bed, his legs still shaking from being used.
"you're calling me that every time we have sex." you breathed, gazing up at the ceiling of your apartment. leehan's eyes widened with excitement as he nodded, happy to do whatever his mommy asked of him.
cory speak ! : i've come to the realization that i only post when i'm really depressed/anxious.... don't know what that says about me but what i do know is i <3 being a freak !!
fluff, another shortish one, some smut in woonhak’s
a/n: yes finally another bonedo ask 🙏🙏 i GOT YOU i hope you love this one too!!!
jaehyun
literally would be big spoon or small spoon. doesn’t give a single fuck, just as long as you are touching. his arms and legs would somehow always end up wrapped around you. i think his body to be very warm too, no blanket needed when jaehyun is here.
loves to lay on your chest and stare at you as you talk to him. also PLEASE play with his hair. he will never ask you directly to but he wants you to trust. could probably lay anywhere on you and fall asleep tbh, he just feels so safe with you :(
sungho
(im literally melting thinking about this somebody sedate me) he would be so impossibly close to you. i think he prefers to spoon you or have your head on his chest the most :(
he also loves laying on your chest and falling asleep to your heartbeat. he finds the noise so calming and it makes him fall asleep very fast. most nights he needs to feel your warmth to actually have a good nights rest.
riwoo
his manhood says he needs to be the big spoon all the time but after you spooned him once, he swore he would never go back. now of course he would still spoon you but he loves when you hold him, no matter your size.
loves to kiss your neck and cheeks occasionally as he whispers how much he loves you into your ear, especially if he is laying on your chest. he loves to be wrapped in your arms as he feels the safest and most loved there. on a rare occasion he would spoon you but he truly prefers to be in your arms :)
taesan
prefers to have you laying in his chest so that he can play with your hair :( he would fiddle with it, sometimes even tangling it but he would promise to brush it out for you after you got up! he would also kiss the top of your head occasionally just to smell your shampoo :( (he loves the way you smell)
would also love if you laid between his legs and on top of him. its maximum physical contact for you two and he loves that he can hold you super close. he would pepper your shoulders and cheeks with kisses, causing you to squirm. he just loves to hear your giggles and loves holding you so very much…
leehan
wants YOU to play with his hair. he would lay on your stomach between your legs, granting you full access to his thick head of hair. he would let you do whatever to it, braid it, twist it, or tie it in knots. he has fallen asleep many times in that exact position before.
otherwise, he is another one who likes you laying on his chest. he pets your head occasionally as you listen to his heartbeat. he finds it so calming when you lay with him and talk to him for hours. he prefers sitting in comfortable silence but laying there talking about your days is so important to him too 🥹
woonhak
big spoon 10000% dont play. he wants to baby you as much as possible. he loves holding you as close as possible and kissing your shoulders and neck occasionally. woonhak is very gentle when he kisses you, especially in sensitive spots.
almost always pops a boner like this though… tried to keep it calm and cool but if you noticed his growing problem he might just have to gently make love to you. he would keep you in the same position, whining in your ear as he tells you how much he loves you 😓
non est. relationship, making out (duh), more suggestive for some, reader is NOT shy (not me), reader has lips piercing (rings) for taesan's (from someone who has lips piercing), leehan wants that cookie
💫: it's been a while sorry, im writing longer fic lately so it takes time with work, but i felt like doing this so here it is !
Park Sungho
Sungho can feel his throat tighten when he lock eyes with Jaehyun as he closed the closet’s door to his face, the way he wiggled his eyebrow one last time while mouthing him the word ‘proof’ again makes it hard to swallow the lump in his throat. He lets go of a shallow breath when he can’t no longer see in front for him and suddenly, he’s more than aware of how small the closet is. His shoulder hits the door as he turns around and all he can smell is your perfume – despite Woonhak’s clothes filling the closet.
You’re so close, almost touching him with every move he makes. On the other hand, you don’t even move your little finger. The air is electric, heavy as all he can hear is your calm breathing not matching his at all. He clears his throat a first time, then a second before he feels you move closer.
“So ?” you asked in a whisper, your breath fanning on his skin, causing the hair of his arms to raise. “Wanna do something, or are we just gonna stare in the dark for nearly ten minutes ?”
Your tone told him everything he needed to know, he can feel his cheeks getting warmer and his chest raise in anticipation. Maybe it’s the few, light, drinks he had during the night – well, without it, he wouldn’t even be there to begin with – he’s confident enough to let his hands find your waist and pull you closer. You stumble into his chest thanks to the few clothes that fell on the floor as you stepped in a second ago, making your breath hitched. It tugged in smirk on his lips, feeling your hand grabbing onto the black tank top he had on, he can feel your cold hand through the fabric.
Brushing his nose teasingly into yours, waiting half a second, just to make you want for more before his lips pressed on yours gently at first, knocking the air out of his lunges. Your chest is pressed against his, making it hard to focus on anything else – not that he wants to. He forgets about the noises coming from outside the closet, the whole situation in fact. All he can think of is the way your lips move in sync with his, how eager you become as the second pass and how hungry for more you get.
Sungho’s intoxicated with you, everything about you : your scent, your touch, how you feel under his hot palms as he grabbed onto the skin of your waist harder now, just to feel you closer if it was even possible. The way you hum into the kiss drives him crazy, leaving him wanting more of you than just a hot kiss that neither of you seem to break – even if it means barely gasping for air without truly breaking it. He has no idea how long it’s been already, but for good measure, he finally breaks the kiss.
“Sungho–?” you don’t even have time to ask him anything that his hand grabbed your face forcefully, tilting it upward, leaving all the room he needs around your throat.
Your breath gets caught when his lips find the hot skin below your ear, kissing the way down to the base of your neck. A whine fell from your lips before you could even realize it when he sucked on the tender flesh, taking you by surprise. Your knees are weak, his other arm holding your strongly against him when they almost gave up on you and you swear you want to see all he can do to you with his strength. Your nails dig moon crescents into the skin of his shoulder at the feeling.
But the time is up, and the second Sungho hears someone walking to the door, his mouth let go in a loud pop before his gaze anchors in your blinking and glossy eyes, your mouth slightly agape and he can tell you want more – just like he does. Yet he still let go off you quickly when the door finally opens and plays it cool when Jaehyun’s jaw drop open in a smile at the big purplish hickey on your neck.
Lee Sanghyuk – Riwoo
When the door closed on his side, the first thing that crossed his mind was that he didn’t want you to do anything if you didn’t want to – even if you seemed to enjoy the game more than him since they started it. Or maybe it was the alcohol speaking more than you, he wasn’t sure, he wasn’t really that close to you. The darkness made it hard for him to picture where you were, how far at least, so he nearly jumped when your hands found him.
“Wanna have fun ?” you asked gently, your thumb drawing slow circles on the back of his hands as you guided them higher to your waist, without making them touch you before he answered.
A shaking chuckle left his lips as he smiled anxiously at first. Wetting his lips quickly, he leans closer, enough for his lips to ghost over yours as he answers. “Yeah.”
That’s all it takes for your lips to crash on his without hesitation, taking him aback. His hands rest comfortably on your waist, goosebumps running up his arms following the feather-like touch of your hands until your hands cross behind his neck, pulling him closer. Kissing his lips hungrily, teeth clashing and your tongue picking at his bottom lips – he can barely catch his breath. He never dared thinking of you that way, kinda thinking you were out of his league and genuinely thinking you never really noticed him much more than for his silly joke. So your fingers running through the hair at the base of his neck told you another story.
His grip on you tightened as you pulled gently on his lips, a small whimper came out making you chuckle.
“That’s not funny,” he whispered against your lips but leaned in right after, not leaving you room to answer, too lost in the moment.
A small gasp left your throat when he pulled you flushed into his chest. Now it was his turn to turn you on even more, reciprocating your eagerness as he kissed you one last time before leaving open mouth kisses down your neck. The light pull in his hair had more effect on him than he’d like to admit, and you could probably feel it by now. Tilting your head back, a breathy moaned echo in his ears, and he couldn’t help but think he won the lottery for having such a pretty girl melting under his touch.
He stopped for a second when he felt your fingers creeping under his shirt, feeling the toned skin of his stomach under your pads as you stroke his side gently.
“I want you,” you whispered gently, making him stop in his tracks.
Looking back at you, his eyes widened slightly when he saw the soft neediness written all over your face even though he can barely see it, he would’ve remembered if you ever looked this soft and it made his heart beat faster.
It stopped when the door opened to Taesan whistling when he saw you still all over him. He never saw you backing down so shyly before, but he also didn’t miss the lingering look you gave him before tilting your head to the stairs.
“If you want to,” you added with a small shrugged, and that was bold of you to think he didn’t want to when all he could think of was how you’d feel wrapped around him.
Myung Jaehyun
Jaehyun was all talk when he first sat down around the circle, leaning on his hand backward confidently as he drank way too quickly. His cocky smile almost irritated you, but you had to admit it looked hot on him. So you didn’t really take a moment to think when the bottle he spun stopped on you, you just accepted your fate and followed him into the damn closet.
To your surprise, Jaehyun let his back hit the wall as soon as he stepped in without making any moves, making you arch your brow. The cocky smile was now on your lips, not that he could really see it anyway. Taking the dangerous step between you two, you wrapped your arms around his neck only to feel his breath hitched as you did so.
“What now, MyungJae ? All bark no bite ?” you asked against his lips.
“I just didn’t expect you,” he admitted, tilting his head slightly so his nose wouldn't bump into yours instinctively.
“Why’s that ?” you proceeded, playing with the slightly longer stand of hair in his neck.
His hands hover over your hips for a second as he collects his thoughts, swallowing hard before daring leaving them lightly on the exposed skin between your low cut jeans and shirt.
“I don’t know, you’re hot ? That’s intimidating,” he said softly but you can hear – and feel – the smile on his lips.
It makes you roll your eyes, “as if that would change anything for you.”
With that, you cut the conversation short and kissed him properly, ignoring the goosebumps rising under his soft touch. A small chuckle left through his nose when you didn't waste a second to deepen the kiss, playing with the soft hair of his neck some more before both your hands traveled down to hold his cheeks. A warm feeling embraced him at the sweet gesture, the way you cradle his skin gently twist his stomach in something so different from neediness. He almost feels bad at the way his pads dig into your skin, but you're intoxicating. Everything, the softness of your lips on his, your perfume going up his nostrils enough so he could get drunk on it.
Your teeth nipping at his bottom lips made him weak and he had to fight any desperate sigh from coming out of his mouth. He couldn't let you have you this too. But his skin was melting under your touch, now that your fingers were traveling down his chest without leaving him any space to catch his breath. They stay comfortably on the loop of his belt, pulling him closer. His breath hitched loudly, and he could feel your cocky smile against his lips.
"You're impossible," he whispered out of breath as he broke the kiss for a second.
"You seem to enjoy it though," you argued, your hand traveling south for a second, brushing slightly the boner hiding in his jeans.
He scoffed, pulling you flushed against him and tilting your head up gently with his pointer finger. It made your stomach twisted, not expecting this kind of move from him.
"And you look like you want to feel it down your throat," he added, his finger tracing down your neck as his lips moved against yours before he left one last kiss.
The door opened to a rather flushed Woonhak to see you still in Jaehyun’s arms. He babbled some words as Jaehyun stepped out of the closet, flashing you a cocky smile one last time as you closed your agape mouth, not believing what he just told you.
Han Donghmin – Taesan
"So, you were curious ?"
Was the first thing you asked after the door closed beside you. Taesan can hear your back lay gently on the other side of the closet and he can't help the way his heart is racing. He swallows, takes a small breath before nodding even if you can't really see it.
"You heard that ?"
"You weren't really subtle about it," he can hear the shrug in your voice, and a dry chuckle left his lips.
"Maybe not," he accepts his fate, looking straight in front of him where you must be since there's literally no room. "So ? You're gonna let me test ?" he processed to ask.
"Sure."
He doesn't need anything more before taking the only step separating him from you – he already lost a whole minute talking, he can't lose more.
His lips don't crash on yours like you expected, no. They laid gently on them, tasting the bitter rest of alcohol, feeling the chill of the two rings sitting still around your lips before they moved smoothly to take your breath away. He didn't drink, there's nothing bitter in his breath, just the sweet taste of pineapple and you have to admit it makes you want more.
You can't help the way your fingers wrapped around the bottom of his shirt when his hand gently finds your cheek, and you're almost ashamed of the soft humming that leaves your throat when he deepens the kiss right after. He's intoxicating, his cologne clinging to your skin and you don't know if you want to get rid of it or for it to stay on your clothes so you can fall asleep with his scent around you.
On the other hand, he barely feels them, the rings. Or maybe he's too obsessed with the way your lips move confidently against his, how you don't even hesitate to pull him closer or dig your nails in the skin of his hips through his shirt. He wonders how it must feel on his back, how the scratches must hurt afterwards but right now, all he wants is to eat you alive. You whine when he tries to bite on the ring and pull, frowning his way despite the fact he can't see it – you push his chest slightly.
"Don't ?"
"Why not ?" he teased, his teeth now nipping at the thin skin of your lips instead.
It's too hard to get them anyway, he settles for less – he's fine with it, as long as he can hear the airy whine falling from your lips. He doesn't know how much time is left, and he's sure he cares if someone opens the door while he's feeding down your neck.
So his hands drive south and lifted the bottom of your shirt, his cold hand laying harshly on the skin of your waist before breaking the kiss. A smirk tug at his lips when you follow him before he kisses his way down your neck to your cleavage.
"Dongmin–" you whined, one of your hands finding his red hair when you're suddenly bathed in light.
Several screams and whistles resonate across the room, but the only thing you can hear is the click of his tongue as he stopped kissing you. But when you lock eyes with him one last time before he lets you go, you can tell they're full of promises – if you want to.
"So ?" Jaehyun asked with raised eyebrows.
Dongmin shrugged, "you don't really feel it."
Kim Donghyun – Leehan
He didn't say a word when the bottle stopped on him, he barely even looked you in the eyes as Dongmin walked you two to his closet. So you didn't expect him to push you against the wall the second the door closed. You hear some reactions at the loud sound outside but couldn't give it more care when his lips hover over yours immediately.
His large hands find their place on your hips, his cologne intoxicates you in half a second and you have to push on his chest slightly or you might get more miserable than you can accept.
His heart was racing under your touch, the proximity forcing you to take a deep breath despite it being mixed with his.
"What's up with you ?" you asked softly, his nose brushing into yours as he leaned closer again.
"I'm just serious about games," he said plainly before leaning in and kissing you fully.
It's overwhelming. His lips are rough on yours, kissing you deeply without hesitation it makes your heart beat faster and faster. You can't think straight, your hands grip on his collar like a lifeline, roughly pulling him closer and closer, until his chest is pressed against yours. Stands of his hair falling into your face, tingling gently the apple for your cheeks and you don't waste a second to hold it back with both your hands, running your fingers gently on his scalp. He could tie them at this point, and as a low groan left his throat, you swear you felt your stomach twisted.
His kisses are hungry, eager for more and it caught your breath when you felt his tongue running on your bottom lips. You opened up without hesitation, allowing his tongue to dance with yours as you hum into his mouth.
You never would've thought he was like this, to have such ease around your body like he owns it. At least it really does feel like it when he slowly pushes your shirt up to draw small and slow circles on your hips.
You honestly abandoned fighting for dominance the second his lips fell on yours, and just went with the flow, pulling on his hair slightly just to get another mutual groan that makes you want to beg for more.
It's so hot, you can barely breath with the strength he used to keep your back against the wall. A small whine escaped your lips when he broke the kiss, and you can't help but follow them a little before hearing a low chuckle from him. You don't even have time to ask what's up when you feel his lips leaving open kisses down your neck, straight to your chest.
A shaking, breathy giggle left your lips when you feel him suck on the tender skin as he pulls your shirt down for a better access. It's too much. Him, his warm touch, it just leaves you there wanting more when you don't even have 10 minutes together. As a high pitched whine left your lips, you can feel him smile on your skin.
"Oh ?" he hummed, coming back to your lips to kiss you more time before you heard movements outside the closet.
When the door opens, he's on the other side of the closet, gently fixing his hair while you're still out of breath, and everyone can see the purple mark on your chest.
Kim Woonhak
He cleared his throat nervously when the door closed behind him. Sungho almost had to push him in when he asked to play himself, surely making Jaehyun laugh, but Woonhak was about to pee himself. Not that he didn't want to be there, with you, he just never thought he'd ever get intimate with one of his hyung's friends.
"We don't have to do anything if you don't want to," he started, talking way too fast for it to look like he's just trying to cool things down.
"We can like, get to know each other ?" he offered half sarcastically, making you giggle lightly.
"You're cute, Woonhak, Jaehyun's right about that," you said gently, as you took the two steps between you two. "You really wanna talk ?" you asked honestly after making his heart jump in his chest, bumping your finger into his chest.
Swallowing the lump forming in his throat, he shook his head before he whispered, "No."
His big hands instinctively reach for your waist then, pulling you closer as your perfume fills his nostrils and he had to close his eyes for a second to collect himself before your chapped lips land in his.
He's taken aback at the sweetness of them, the rest of the juice you mixed with strong alcohol all night but he can't taste the bitter taste of it. Or maybe he's just lost in too deep already, loving the way your lips move gently in sync with his.
He'll never hear the end of it, he already knows it, but he wouldn't trade his place for anything. He actually loved how you feel under his palms, your chest pressed against his and he's almost ashamed how his body reacted quickly.
Getting lost in the kiss, his arms roamed on your back as he hugged you closer. He's out of breath already, but he can't bring himself to let you go, not when you hum blissfully in his mouth enough for him to want to eat you alive. So gently, he pushed his knee between your thighs, and the gasp that escaped your lips made his blood go south.
No more being shy. His lips crashed back on yours as he steady his grip on you and turned you around in one swift movement to push your back against the wall, all that without breaking the kiss.
It's hungry, rushed, like he's not sure he's doing it right but can't help but go on anyway. He pulls you closer harshly, and his heart stops when your hands find the hair at the nape of his neck. He doesn't want to stop, doesn't want to let go and something in him makes sure he doesn't hear the person come closer.
But he surely hates the light coming in suddenly, but not as much as he hates breaking away from your lips. His breath is fading on your lips as he tries to catch it under the eyes of his friends.
He can't look you in the eyes as the both of you walk out the closet, he can't hold any eye contact to be honest, but he's uncomfortable in his jeans and all he can wish for is that you'll follow him upstairs to help him out.
may i request bonedo's reactions when reader gets cuteness aggression over them please
i hv a feeling youve written smth similar but my brain is fried today 😭
travelled for 8 hours in this godforsaken cold today and now im on s4 of stranger things and the new sem starts tmrw im dying here
⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚ CUTENESS AGGRESSION 🧸ྀི - word count varies 92-118 per member
*ੈ✩‧₊˚ note ! hehe thanku for the req i hope u like it <3 i hope itll make your day a lil better!!! get somewhere warm asap we dont want u to catch a cold!!!! <3
@kstrucknet ˙ . ꒷ . 𖦹˙—div by @uzmacchiato
┆彡 JAEHYUN [ 재현 ]
he senses it coming 99% of the time
you just stare at him before you attack… as in, cup his cheeks and squeal and absolutely bombard his face with kisses
you're all shaky and buzzed before and he just braces himself
but he never complains, oh no. he loves it so much:(
at first he was confused but now that he's used to it… he kinda realized he gets cuteness agression over you and his members as well so it's totally understandable why you feel it
and is there a better feeling than having your lips smother him in kisses? what else can he do other than giggle and enjoy every single moment <3
┆彡 SUNGHO [ 성호 ]
confused cat :<
the first time it happened he was bewildered, eyes wide and face reddening,,, even escaping your hold!!!
but once when he was home at simba was sleeping so cutely… and he just couldn't help himself but smother him with kisses… something clicked
and the next time you squished his cheeks while giggling, he just accepted it, leaning into your touch
(even took you by surprise and leaned in to kiss you out of the blue hehe)
he began to secretly love your cuteness aggression attacks but shhh, it's a secret!
┆彡 TAESAN [ 태산 ]
kitty pt2
at first he's flabbergasted but accepts it
like okay sure you're squeezing the life out of him and giggling into his ear but your hands and lips are on his face so <3
but then… he's an evil kitty >:(
once he senses what you're up to, he WILL try to escape
writhes and wiggles out of your grasp, whining and pouting like a baby, playfully smacks your hands away and just teases!!!
lives for the way it turns around: you get pouty and lean away… only for him to attack you back
┆彡 LEEHAN [ 이한 ]
don't save him, he's exactly where he wants to be.
always reacts pretty much the same: at first freezes completely and stops what he's doing, eyes wide and lips pursed into a straight line. watches you with bug eyes.
then slowly, with each kiss, pinch on his cheek, or giggle, his smile grows bigger and bigger with his eyes turning into crescents
loves it so much
doesn't really get it, though. he's just… sitting… not doing anything, really
but again, adores it. to the point that sometimes he tries to mentally send you mind waves that he wants to be smothered by you :( staring or blinking… but still not quite brave enough to word it. maybe one day!
┆彡 RIWOO [ 리우 ]
pretends to hate it. ever runs away sometimes, grunting and huffing like you just committed a crime… offended and outraged !!
how dare you think he's cute ?! >:(
but it just makes it worse, he's pouting and looks even cuter!!!!!!
and when you catch him, he gives up and melts into the couch or whatever
furniture that's nearby and just grumpily lets you do your thing
and he could've fooled anyone, with how annoyed he looks
buuuuuut not you!
his red ears give away him and the fact that he's emjoying it as much as you do <3
┆彡 WOONHAK [ 운학 ]
it's a risky game to play with him
because one second you're having cuteness aggression over him, blowing raspberries on his cheeks and pecking his lips repeatedly
and he's giggling and laughing and allowing you to do literally everything
and another second passes and suddenly it's like a switch flipped, he's the one smothering you in kisses while you laugh your ass off because it's ticklish!!!!
will literally play a uno reverse card,,, if you will. and the thing is you never realize when does it happen, it's just poof and he's the one 'attacking' you
he's just happy to be there, honestly :") cant stop giggling excitedly as he pampers your face with kisses<3
🐠ྀི leehan x reader ⸺ childhood sweethearts(ish), friends to lovers ⸺ he thinks you're dating but... 🍨 874 words
everyone had a "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" in their early primary years — a shortlived relationship to experience what the adults and older kids around you had.
but to kim leehan, it wasn't shortlived at all.
"be my boyfriend." the boy turned his head, legs dangling off the swing. you stood straight, smile never faltering, hand holding out a bunch of tiny, colorful flowers. he blinked. you blinked. "ok." the relationship lasted the whole year, and when the next school year started, the relationship had already ended — thought not mutually apparently. you had thought that since the two of you only interacted during school hours and didn't spend a second together during the summer—except for the first day of summer break, where he brought you to your first (and last) date at the aquarium—that you two were over.
of course you stayed friends, all the way to high school in fact. but to leehan, the two of you were never over.
yes, it is odd that you two have never once kissed or held hands since the first year of primary school—the last time he tried to held your hand, you were walking home, and you smacked it away (in your defense, you thought he was playing with you)—but he thought maybe you were saving it for once you two graduate or just weren't the type.
leehan always wondered why you'd always deny it when people questioned your relationship, but maybe you wanted to keep it secret.
you always wondered why they thought you two were dating—i mean, you guys were close friends, it's not unusual to share clothes or always be together or to be physically affectionate.
═══════
your "relationship" with leehan was your first—and last. until the cute boy from biology asked you out.
"leehan!" you hurried to the school gate, where your friend waited for you. he blinked, looking like he just woke up from a daydream (which wouldn't be surprising if he did), and smiled at you. the two of you stepped onto the sidewalk once you caught up to him. when you turned the corner and neared your neighborhood, away from other students, you turned to leehan with a grin. "guess what."
"you...got abducted by aliens and accidentally killed their leader so they made you their new queen, but you refused and ran away so now they're after you and you need a place to hide?"
you stare at him with a mix of bewilderment and concern, furrowing your brows before dramatically gasping and covering your mouth, "how'd you guess!" he shrugged, a little too casually, and you couldn't help but feel that he wasn't joking.
"jaehyun from bio asked me out today."
"and you said no, right?"
you furrowed your brows. "no, why would i?" when you didn't hear a response, you turned your head only to see that he wasn't by your side anymore. you stopped and saw leehan standing just a few feet behind you with a face of a thousand betrayals. "leehan?" you stepped closer to him, noticing the his small pout and the soft shine in his eyes.
"what..what's wrong?" you asked, laced with concern, and put your hands on his shoulders.
"you..you cheater..!" he huffed softly yet dramatically like he was in a movie. your confusion only deepened, "cheater!? wait, what? what are you talking about!?"
the pout on his lips deepened and the dramatic sadness in his eyes grew. "what are you talking about? who tells their boyfriend they accepted another man's courtship?"
your eyes widened, hands leaving leehan's shoulders. "boyfriend!?" you exclaimed, which the boy nodded, puzzled at your outburst. "did you forget about our decade long relationship?" his hand flew to his chest dramatically.
"decade long– what are you talking about?" you blinked in confusion, scouring your brain for something to make it make sense. and then it clicked.
"wait, you mean when i asked you to be my boyfriend—in first grade?" he nodded and you could help but smile. "you..you seriously thought we've been dating this whole time?" he nodded again, the sadness turning into confusion. "i thought we broke up," you said, barely able to stifle the laughter bubbling in your throat. he knitted his brows, frowning.
"we never really put in an effort to maintain our 'relationship'." you continued. "and we don't have do couple things. yet you still believed that we're dating?"
he felt hurt by the question, his version of the past 10 years crumbling, his heart shattered. his pout returned, and you reached out to cup his face.
"oh, leehan..." you muttered softly, though there was still a hint of amusement in your tone.
"so..we're not dating?" he asked quietly, even though you'd just given him the answer. you opened your mouth to respond, but your words got caught in your throat. did you really want to say no? maybe it is unusual for close friends to be that close. maybe all the lingering embraces or him fixing your hair and clothes weren't just small, friendlt gestures. i mean, it would make sense since he thought you were together all this time—but to you, it's just how things are.
"well, if you can take me to a better movie than jaehyun, then i'll consider it."
wrote this in a car even tho i get car sick easily..but the grind never stops 💪🥶🐺⛓️ i start school tmr im gonna jump out of a moving car 😂😂✌️ (i lowk i don't like this but it's the best i can do rn :/)
━━━ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ what would i pay to stay here beside you?
merman! leehan x princess f! reader
genre: little mermaid! au, fluff, a bit of pining, fairytale retelling
wc: 3.3k
a/n: requested by @ivehan as part of my 1st anniversary event! tysm my fae for requesting, this was so fun to try out hehe the long awaited arielhan!
Some days, swimming feels an awful lot like drowning. Today is one of those days—languid and weighty.
In the depths of the cerulean ocean, Leehan lays on the sand-bed with his hands splayed out—fiery red hair swaying with the water, his hands stretched out above where baby fish flitter about, some tickling his bare stomach, and some, the teal scales of his tail.
He lets out a long, bored sigh.
“This is just cruel. There's nothing to do down here,” he complains in a pout, letting a pinky-sized seahorse weave in through the gaps between his fingers. “Mother is cruel, isn't she?”
The seahorse does not respond, as seahorses tend to do. But Leehan can tell the little guy is unimpressed by his whining from the way he wiggles away, his tiny tail following after him.
“Bet your mother is nice to you. You lucky bastard,” he huffs, leaning up to sit and raise his head to the light leaking into the cavern, refracting through the inky blue.
It's such a shame—that he's here and not out there. All because he's got the title of a prince and nothing else to aid that privilege. Not even the threat of a crown, since that'll be a burden for his older sisters to carry.
So yeah, being the youngest of the seven royal siblings simply means that as much as he's coddled with affection, he's also suffocating down here without any freedom.
He's done everything he can to pass the time already: rearranged his entire trove of trinkets—lost items stolen by the sea that he'd had the pleasure of finding, like a broken shard of something smooth and reflective, but solid, unlike water; then he’d mentally catalogued all the fish within a two hundred feet radius; then he’d swum in big, whirlpool-inducing circles until that too got too stupid to continue with.
There's only so much to do down in the sea—nothing adventurous or risky. Other than the occasional exploring, of course.
The first time Leehan had felt the rush of chemicals was when he'd found the ruins.
He visits it often, to loot pretty items from. Not that it's really looting at all—it looked too weathered and destroyed for it to still belong to anyone. An orphan of a wreck, of…something. A vessel of sorts—with planks that cased the body, and a circle that turned around and around if Leehan pushed it with strength, and a faded painting—of a girl.
She had looked his age. And like she held the wonders of the world in her water-worn eyes, like something Leehan yearns to see himself one day.
But he's not allowed up there, is he?
Hmff.
What a stupid rule! The queen—his mother—had said he'd get skewered by a human pole if he even tried such a feat to sneak away. His sisters are all of the same mind; Wonyoung thinks he's going to get fried on a rock and fed to land creatures; Gaeul finds it amusing when he yelps every time she scares him with the idea of an instrument that would chop of all his beautiful auburn hair in a single snip; Liz is positively terrified he's going to somehow get his tail caught in a fishing net and bleed out.
His best friend and attendant Riwoo, on the other hand—just thinks he's going to go and fall in love with the first person he sees up there.
“All the romance is in the ocean, Leehan-ah. Find a good merperson and marry them into royalty,” he says, often as he's checking for seaweed between his teeth, basking on Leehan’s bed instead of doing his assigned duties—(Like picking seaweed out of Leehan's teeth, for example.) “Every soul here would be lining up the second you show an interest in them—heck, even I would.”
“That's because you just want to stop working.”
“Unemployment is a luxury to the common merpeople, okay? A prince wouldn't understand this,” Riwoo rolls his eyes. “What's so good up there on land anyways? It's just danger, danger, danger, when you can just stay here and swim with fish all day. I thought you liked that.”
“I do,” Leehan admits with a forlorn sigh. “But…there's more out there. So much I want to see and explore and—the people! The two-limbed creatures! I want to know how they walk…and how they breathe without gills, and how they—”
“I wasn't asking for a monologue,” Riwoo grumbles. “Your mother would skin me alive if she heard me entertain this conversation. Talking about land-people like you’re intending to leave all of this behind. That's not very smart.”
The talk is a bitter memory. It had ended with Riwoo redirecting the topic to his coming-of-age ceremony soon and how he needed to be on his best behaviour for it if he didn't want to get both of them in trouble with the queen.
It's in a few days from today—and Leehan hasn't even practiced the song he's supposed to be performing in front of the royal audience. He'd been too busy collecting knick-knacks and daydreaming about the surface to give it any thought.
How lovely it would be to visit.
The sea is uncharacteristically turbulent tonight; he can't see it, but his senses tell him a storm is coming.
Leehan has nothing to worry because he's a strong swimmer, of course. In fact, he loves the ocean when it storms. How the waves ripple and how it gets warmer the deeper you go, all the cold water rolling over to the top. How dolphins and sharks swim to safer spots to take cover until the hurricane has passed. How he knows the merpeople will be distracted with taking care of the smaller, more vulnerable creatures tonight—so that no one will think twice about pestering his solitude.
Maybe that's why he feels brave enough to swim up, the urge pushing like a tide against his body. Maybe it's the looming shadow of the ceremony that will happen, staring at him like it'll be the last day he gets to do anything out of his own will and want.
Something about the storm calls to him like a Siren song—and this time, he listens.
°‧ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 ·｡
Grey clouds hang low in the sky, rolling and coiling and not dissimilar to the waves underneath, as Leehan breaks through the surface, gasping sharply as his lungs fill with cold air.
His eyes blink open out of the water, adjusting to the sight in front.
And it's beautiful.
It's every bit as breathtaking as he'd imagined, the puffy clouds he'd only heard stories of from the traveller merpeople, or from the visitors from neighbouring kingdoms that Leehan would beg for information from, eager to know more about ships and sailors and something called birds.
And now he gets to see them in the flesh! A caw echoes from above as something white and quick swoops by, flapping off into the distance. Leehan watches in awe.
The moon is pale and bulbous—like a glowing ball of mist, peeking out from behind wisps of clouds. He knows the moon well, it shapes the tides after all, but to see it this close, not just in the light that leaks through into the water and onto his skin when he longs to see the real thing. Unreal, that's what he'd call this.
Between the rise and fall of waves, and the inky horizon where the sky and the ocean melt into one, he sees it.
Or hears it, more accurately.
The sound of song and celebration.
And then comes into view, a giant, curving beast, reminding him of the wreck he'd found under the water long ago. A ship.
Leehan inches closer without even thinking.
“—fifteen strokes to midnight, everyone grab booze and get ready for the fireworks!”
“The princess shouldn't be drinking,” a grumpy voice joins the lilted exclamation, and a face comes into view. “She’s a mess when she drinks. I’m not cleaning up throw-up off the deck,” the young man says, his narrowed cat-like eyes levelled on someone who grins back at him.
A…girl?
“Oh let loose, Taesan,” you toss back carelessly, stretching your arm into the air and letting your billowy shirt ripple in the sharp wind, like you enjoy getting caught in a storm. Leehan peers throw a gap in the ship’s wood, where he’d pulled himself up for a better look.
“I am let loose. You’re just reckless when you’re out on the sea, and I am not reporting back to your father to say I’ve lost the princess to a glorified bowl of soup.”
“Did you just call the ocean a bowl of soup—”
“A cold bowl of soup. Same principles,” the boy—Taesan—cuts you off. “I am not letting you die on your birthday of all days. The king will have my head.”
Leehan is eavesdropping with acute attention, his ears perking up every time you speak back to Taesan, all giddy as a thunder-clap erupts above and your face grows brighter at the prospect of rain, grinning as the first drop hits your cheek.
“Three… Two…” The rest of the ship starts to count, a band of people readying with their strange looking musical instruments before a merry tune floats out. “ONE!”
A sonorous blast goes off and when Leehan looks up, he sees lights sparking into the sky, blooming before it spreads into petals, like a giant artwork in the sky. Over and over as the music amplifies and people begin to cheer and laugh and dance around on the deck. He can't look away once he's seen you smile at it, rushing to climb the mast to get a better look, balancing yourself effortlessly with one hand and one foot, the rest weightless against the whip of cold wind.
You…you're beautiful. And he knows you, somehow.
“Get down from there!” Taesan shouts over the sound, ignoring how there's a trumpet blowing right into his ear. He tosses over an annoyed look before glaring up at you again. “Y/N, DON'T MAKE ME COME UP THERE YOUNG LADY—”
“It's so pretty, Taesan—look!!” You’re not even looking at him while you say it, eyes glazed over in wonder as the sparks reflect in them. You see the horizon, the moon, breathe in deep like you could swallow the night and keep it inside you forever if you try.
Leehan feels the same—but he's not looking at the moon or the sea or the clouds or the light anymore. His mouth is parted in awe as he looks up at your carefree form, the way wind whips at your loose hair.
And then, a shift in the air. He feels it before anyone else does, a prickle on his skin.
The storm—it’s not going to stay down.
The ship is too busy indulging in booze and festivities to notice, and Leehan feels a rush of panic when he sees you climb higher up the pole, despite Taesan’s worried calls. He has to do something. He could…
What can he do? It's not like you’d trust him. He's not supposed to contact humans, he knows that, he knows he’ll get in trouble for coming up to the surface, let alone if he were to meddle in human business.
Before he can make a plan or a move, a bolt of lightning strikes the centre of the water and he feels himself lose his balance, the waves growing angrier. They beat against the body of the ship, against Leehan’s own limbs and tail—but he regains control quick enough, swimming up ahead where the current isn’t harsh yet.
The winds howl louder, and someone in the ship hollers, “Shouldn’t we go take cover now? It’s not safe to stay out…the waves don’t look so good.”
“Y/N, come down now!” Taesan tries again, between ushering most of the workers and shiphands to get back into the cabins, away from the surface. “Y/N! Princess, please—”
He doesn’t get to say more before a giant wave of water crashes into the wood, over the ledges, flooding into where the people are slowly packing up their instruments and food. It drenches the bottom of their feet.
Taesan looks down, then up. “Y/N, THE STORM ISN’T GOING DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT. STOP FOOLING AROUND NOW!”
But you’re too high up to hear, too lost in the whistle of sea-winds and the scent of the ocean to care. Too in love with the storm.
And then.
“Y/N, look out!” Leehan doesn't even realise it's his own voice that screams, the surge of tide caving in on the ship like a gargantuan creature, opening its jaws and clapping shut over the miniscule creatures overboard. It sweeps; Leehan feels the ship rock and his fingers slide over the surface, submerging him into the water before he knows it.
When he comes up again, breaths shallow and ragged and terrified, he sees people flailing to hold onto anything they can. “Help!” someone screams, and Taesan has found footing to immediately grab them, even though he himself looks thoroughly soaked. He ushers whoever is left on the deck back under the floorboards, prying it open and holding it up with sheer strength.
The crew help each other, until Taesan pushes the last person in and shuts the door before looking for you again. “Princess?” his voice wavers, eyes squinting through the foggy spray of water.
He tries again, with no avail. Another tide washes over, and he's forced backwards, falling against the wood. Leehan doesn't know what's happening, just that he can't see you up there either… There's no one atop the mast. Just the wild flap of a flag and rainclouds descending upon it, bringing down a heavy sheet of rain before Leehan can even catch his breath.
Lightning strikes again, and he can hear the frantic shouts of your name out of Taesan’s mouth, roaring over the ledge before someone creeps up to force him inside as well, knowing full well he's a gone man if he keeps risking the storm like this.
Leehan feels the panic in himself—he’s not sure why he cares, just that he does.
His head swivels around like a pendulum, knowing if you aren’t anywhere on the ship then you have to have gotten swept away by the water somehow, somewhere under. When he can’t see anything through the crash and calamity, he dives underneath, deeper until things make sense to him again—until he can feel every drop of the ocean on his own skin.
And there it is—a silver glint, a white burn in all the greys and blues that catch his attention.
He propels towards it without wasting a second, your slowly sinking body coming into view the closer he gets, the sparkle evidently from the brooch on your shirt. Leehan’s hands find your spine, he sees how you’ve lost consciousness, your eyes closed and skin turning pale in his hold. You look so…
Fragile.
You can’t breathe in here. You aren’t like him.
Leehan holds you close to him before he brings you up to the surface, letting the air enter your lungs as he swims through the storm, in the hopes that he can bring you to shore just as long as he follows the dot of a ship vanishing into the distance.
The sun finds your eyelids and creeps its light underneath, stirring you awake from what feels like the longest, deepest slumber you have ever had.
There's sand underneath your fingertips and soles when you come to; the sky is blazing blue, a seagull cawing as it flies across your vision.
Huh…
“Where am I…” Your voice is hoarse when it comes out, head swimming in delirium. But your question is answered the second you look around, leaning up on your elbow only to see a castle in the distance, up the mountain of rocks near where you seem to have crashed.
Your castle.
Your memory is but a blur. There was water. You were standing above the world, up on the ship a second ago, feeling alive—and now, you're sunbathing with sand all over you. How weird…
How weird, that you also remember a voice, a boyish one, saying your name. You remember…him singing. A soft lullaby that sounds a little sad in your memory. A little desperate. You remember wanting to wake up to see who such a beautiful voice belonged to. Red hair? But you can't be sure.
Maybe he was a dream, but he'd surely saved you, in one way or another, you think as you look out to the sea.
Before you can reach out to the water to test if he's watching from somewhere, someone else interrupts your curiosity.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING OVER THERE!?” Taesan scolds, rushing down the rocks and almost slipping on one of them before he catches himself. “I've been—” he heaves, running to kneel next to you, checking for injuries the second he's got you. “I've been looking all night. The entire castle has. And you're here! How!?”
“A boy.”
Your whisper has him stare at you in confusion. “A boy?”
“I…” You don't know how to explain it to him, that you'd seen something no dream can match. The loveliest siren song in the universe. So you shake your head and replace it with a, “Did you miss me too much?”
That seems to do the trick. In a split second, his brows furrow at your audacity to be teasing even after surviving a near-death experience. He hauls you up without fussing about concussions like he was going to, scolding you for trying to be a daredevil and threatening to never let you on a ship ever again.
You pout, but you let him lead you to the castle, where you have no doubt your mother has a long list of angry scoldings set out for you, and the medic will no doubt force treatments down your throat whether you consent or not.
But the whole way there, even as people rush to engulf you in relieved hugs for making it back home, all you can think of is the red haired boy who's saved your life.
°‧ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 ·｡
Leehan watches until you've been escorted off the shore, his arms braced on the rock he's hiding behind, letting the water keep him floating.
“She's gone…” he whispers to himself once he no longer sees you, a soft dejection catching in his throat.
Leehan had to sing to keep you from falling back asleep, slowly thumbing away the droplets of water on your cheeks until he knew you were okay, quickly scurrying off to take cover before you could see his tail and pass out from fright.
But watching you, keeping you company, seeing your lashes flutter awake, he'd figured out where he'd seen that face before.
At the wreck underneath the ocean, in the picture he'd been visiting to see for a while now. It's you, but now in the flesh—real, with a pulse and a heart that came back to life when he'd squeezed water out your lungs and quietly begged for the ocean to take mercy on you.
When he returns back down to where he's supposed to have been, knowing several complaints await him this morning both from Riwoo as well as the queen, he doesn't feel antsy like he should be.
He feels hopeful. Like new life has been breathed into him, too. His tail wiggles excitedly as he swims down to his abode, skin tingling everywhere from where you'd accidentally held on too tight as you came awake, a smile tugging at the corners of his lip.
And Leehan, he's already dreaming about coming to the surface once more, to the sun and the sky and the birds, everything the ocean refuses to offer.
Some days, swimming feels an awful lot like drowning. Tonight, he’ll be floating on a puff of clouds at the thought of seeing you again.
SYN. | first year pediatrics resident kim leehan is running on three things: an americano for breakfast, two hours of sleep, and a six-year-old crush on you that refuses to die
PAIR. ノ kim leehan x fem!reader | TAGS. ノpediatrics resident!leehan, ob-gyne resident!reader, workplace romance, mutual pining, medical jargon, some cursing | FEAT. ノ bnd, le serrafim eunchae, illit minju, riize anton | WC. 6.1k
( 연서 ) ノ its me being self-indulgent again. i may or may have stolen @lovehakie's doctor!leehan idea muwahaha. enjoy everyone! (esp kati and rosy who love it when i talk like a nerdy ahh medical student n i might have went overboard). reblogs are appreciated!
I'M GOING TO QUIT.
Leehan sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose as he slumped into the chair at the nurses' station.
It had been another brutal day in the life of a first-year pediatrics resident, another day that made him question every single decision that had led him here.
He thought he’d finally caught a breather after updating his consultant on an admitted patient’s labs. The conversation had gone better than expected. No scolding. No passive-aggressive sighs. He even had time to sip the cold coffee he’d abandoned three hours ago.
But that illusion of peace vanished within minutes. A patient’s IV line infiltrated, another developed a fever spike, and before he knew it, he was calling a different scarier consultant.
She had almost yelled at him.
Almost.
If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking and bravely suggested a change in antibiotics on top of the existing workups she previously ordered, he was sure he would’ve been flayed alive over the phone.
I’m going to quit. For real this time.
Maybe he’d take a break for a year. Maybe he’d switch residencies. His second choice had been surgery, and Sungho mentioned they had an opening after one of their residents left.
Why did he ever think pediatrics was a good idea?
Still, deep down, he knew it wasn’t that simple.
He loved pediatrics. He loved the tiny hands clutching his finger when visiting newborns in the neonatal ICU. He relished in the soft laughter that made his gruesome thirty-six-hour shifts worth it. He loved the joy of seeing a child finally discharged with a smile. But lately, the exhaustion outweighed the reward.
If something you loved drained you this much, wasn’t that a sign to let go?
He was still lost in thought when you walked into his line of sight.
Then, his vision tunneled so fast, it almost gave him whiplash.
You were a vision of calm amid chaos.
In crisp scrubs underneath your white resident coat and a patient’s chart in hand, you walked beside your consultant as you discussed a case. He couldn’t make out anything from your conversation, which was surprising since your consultant’s voice carried across the halls. You, on the other hand, held yourself in a cool and collected manner, completely unbothered by the exaggerated way your consultant talked.
You and Leehan had been batchmates in medical school. He’d been the average type, floating through rotations and surviving exams by spite, sheer will, and more americanos that he could count, while you, quiet and seemingly reserved, excelled in most of your subjects without batting an eye.
The first time he noticed you was during a clinical rotation, when you were paired together for patient interviews. You had this way of making patients feel heard, of explaining complex things in simple, human words which even the best of them struggled with. And when your patient thanked you for simply listening, you were kind to them in return, and Leehan felt this overwhelming sense of pride for witnessing it.
That was when it started.
The attraction.
He found himself looking for you during lectures, craning his neck to scan over a hundred of his other batchmates in the crowded audiovisual room. He went to the places you usually frequented, sitting on the same library table under the guise of staying close to the charging outlets. He joined your cramming sessions early in the morning, when everyone sits in a circle in the exam hall with you in the middle, rapid-firing questions he could barely answer.
It slowly built from admiration to fascination, then finally he realized, ah, I like this person.
I really, really like this person.
Unfortunately, he never got to confess, not even after graduation. You both went your separate ways, and he assumed that was it. Residency matching was never guaranteed, after all. His pediatrics application to KOZ General had been a long shot.
That was until his first day of pre-residency, when he saw you again standing by the bulletin board, wearing a neat ponytail and holding your pre-res form for obstetrics and gynecology. His heart had nearly stopped.
You were also applying in the same hospital as an ob-gyne resident. You were both doing pre-residency at the same time. And what a stroke of luck had it been that you matched each other medically. Obstetrics and pediatrics. What were the odds?
You would be an absolute power couple (oh how he wished!)
And when you both got accepted, turning into fully-fledged first year residents, he had been overjoyed.
That was a little over six months ago.
Now, Leehan was deep in the trenches. He was sleep-deprived and overworked. His only solace was the sight of you during rounds. And soon, if he were to stop in his ministrations of quitting, he’d be rotating in the neonatal ICU, which meant he’d see you in the operating room too.
Leehan’s shoulders relaxed slightly at the thought, his gaze lingering on you.
Okay, maybe he did have some attachment to this place. All thoughts of quitting were chucked into the backseat compartment of his mind for future use.
He was content just watching you for a moment, his notes forgotten on the table. Then, as if sensing his gaze, you looked up.
Your eyes met his, and Leehan swore your entire face brightened, or maybe that was just wishful thinking. Why would you look happy to see him, anyway?
“...Doctor Kim!”
He flinched and tore his eyes away, nearly knocking over his pen.
Nurse Jaehyun stood beside him, holding a chart. “Uh, sorry to interrupt, but could you clarify this order? I can’t read what you wrote here.”
Leehan groaned inwardly, cursing his own hieroglyphics handwriting. He could almost hear Taesan, his fellow first-year pediatrics resident, scolding him in his head to write more legibly.
“Right, sorry. That’s Paracetamol oral solution, 250mg/5mL, give 5 mL orally every 6 hours as needed for—”
“—temperature over 38 degrees Celsius. Got it.” Jaehyun scribbled it down, but hesitated before walking away. “Uh, Doctor Kim? You okay? You look more tired than usual.”
“I’m fine,” Leehan muttered, though his tone was anything but convincing.
He spared another glance in your direction, catching physical cues of the ending of an endorsement. When your consultant made her way to the elevator, Leehan knew you'd be on the way to the nurse's station.
He suddenly sat up.
This did not go unnoticed by Jaehyun, who quickly caught on when your voice filled the nurses' station.
“Good morning, Jaehyun!”
Jaehyun brightened. “Good morning, Doctor L/N. Always lovely to see you in the morning.”
His eyes briefly skipped to Leehan’s, mischievously twinkling in a sort of Aha! moment.
“Right, Doctor Kim?”
Leehan froze mid-note, pretending to write something while studiously avoiding the nurse’s teasing grin. “Uh. Morning.”
You smiled. “Morning, Doctor Kim.”
His pen was barely moving now, tracing meaningless lines while you leaned over the counter to jot down your orders. You made small talk about the ward census and he tried to respond in kind, anything to appear like a normal, functioning colleague and not someone who forgot how to breathe every time you were within five feet.
“Right. Gotta go,” you said eventually, straightening up. “We have two moms in labor right now. It’s Doctor Han helping with the deliveries today, right?”
Leehan had never been so jealous of Taesan, even in the professional context.
“Yeah,” Leehan replied, forcing a grin. “Good luck.”
You gave a small nod before hurrying off toward the delivery room.
He watched you leave, a quiet sigh escaping him before he could stop it.
“So that’s what everyone’s talking about,” Jaehyun commented under his breath, smirking. “You should make your move someday, Doctor Kim. Or, you know, stop staring like a lovesick intern.”
Leehan groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You want extra tasks today, Jaehyun? Because I can make that happen.”
Jaehyun laughed nervously. “Nope, all good, Doc.”
“Good,” Leehan said, handing him three more charts. “Then go endorse these. And check the vitals for the last three admissions. Oh, and make sure the discharge summary’s printed for Bed 7.”
Jaehyun’s grin faltered. “You’re evil.”
Leehan leaned back with a smirk, eyes flicking once more toward the corridor you disappeared into. “Call it divine punishment.”
THE EMERGENCY ROOM was oddly quiet for a Monday afternoon, not that Leehan minded. He had just finished working up a 6 year old kid with productive cough and another 7 year old with non-projectile vomiting, both of which were likely to be admitted much to his dismay.
Leehan was trying to remember the last time he’d blinked for more than half a second when his clerk Woonhak appeared beside him, looking a little too cheerful for someone who’s on back to back 12-hour shifts.
“Doctor Kim,” Woonhak said, setting down the IV tray and throwing away his used materials. “I just inserted the IV line for Bed 4.”
Leehan nodded, skimming his orders for the two patients like it’ll magically write itself. “Good. Let’s just wait for the prelim labs for Bed 2, then we’re good.”
He rubbed his temple. His head felt heavy in that dull, persistent way that only consecutive calls could produce. His body was here, but his soul had clocked out somewhere around 3 A.M. yesterday.
Still, he couldn’t help but be faintly impressed by Woonhak. The kid was quick. Confident with lines. Smarter than he had been as a clerk. Probably slept more, too.
Leehan leaned back in his chair, letting his pen roll across the table. For a brief, blissful second, he let his brain idle. Everything else became background noise. The rhythmic beep of monitors that once traumatized him as a clerk and the chatter of nurses calling out meds drowned out every bit of anxiety he held for the entire shift.
Even Woonhak settled on one of the chairs, arms folded, eyes fluttering in an attempt to nap.
That was until Riwoo, one of the ER nurses, called from triage.
“Woonhak, new patient!”
Leehan watched his clerk jerk upright, the light in his eyes dimming as they exchanged glances and sighed in unison.
Woonhak stood up and scurried away to the triage. Minutes later, he came back grinning. Leehan felt his shoulders relax. Not pedia.
“It’s ob-gyne, Doc. Abdominal pain.”
Across the counter, nurse Minju was dialing the ob-gyne resident line. “Good afternoon! This is Minju, ER. May I ask who's the resident on duty today?" She nodded a few times, humming. "Oh, hi Doctor L/N! You have a patient here at the ER. We'll just bring her in. Thank you!"
And that was when Leehan sat up straight yet again.
You were on ER duty. Oh boy.
He wasn’t proud of it. He wasn’t even subtle about it. One second he’d been slouched, borderline horizontal. The next, he was upright, flipping through patient charts as if he suddenly rediscovered his sense of purpose.
When he ushered Woonhak over, his clerk blinked. “Yes Doc?”
Leehan cleared his throat, pretending to check the progress notes. “Let’s... run through the different possible cases for Bed 4 again. Just for review.”
“Uh, sure,” Woonhak said slowly, caught off-guard. “The... the one with vomiting?”
“Mm. Yes. Go ahead.” He nodded, tapping his pen as if in deep thought.
Woonhak blinked, then launched into an explanation of acute gastroenteritis. It was fine, textbook even, except Leehan wasn’t really listening. His brain had split in two: one part nodding along, the other sharply tuned to the sound of the ER doors opening.
Because you were coming.
Ohhh, boy.
“Doctor Kim?”
“Hm?”
“The management, Doc. I said we’re just monitoring for dehydration and waiting for labs?”
“Yes,” Leehan said, a little too quickly. “Correct. Good. Very... good.”
Woonhak gave him a suspicious side-eye that Leehan was awfully familiar with. It was something the clerks only used when they sensed their resident was being weird but weren’t brave enough to ask.
Before Leehan could come up with another fake quiz question to hide behind, the sliding ER doors finally hissed open.
As nonchalantly as he could, he took a glance.
You walked in with your own clerk—Eunchae, according to Woonhak, who quickly said "hi" in excitement—beside you, discussing something about triage flow and abdominal pain. You barely spared a glance at the chaos of the nurses' station, too busy explaining to Eunchae the difference between surgical and gynecologic causes of pain.
Leehan tried not to stare. Really, he did. But it was like his body had developed its own gravitational pull toward you.
Riwoo, who had already ushered the new patient to one of the beds, noticed immediately (because of course he did) and nudged Minju with a smirk. Both of them exchanged a knowing look.
Leehan caught it in his peripheral vision and shot them a warning glare, which only made them grin wider.
You finally glanced their way, offering a polite smile. “Afternoon, everyone.”
Leehan somehow forgot how to speak Korean for a split second. “Uh, afternoon,” he managed, nodding a little too fast.
Then you were already moving on, scanning the board and heading toward your patient.
Leehan turned back to the desk, trying to focus on his charting, but the pen was trembling slightly in his hand.
“Doctor Kim,” Woonhak said under his breath, trying not to laugh. Of course his clerk had also caught on. He wasn’t exactly subtle about anything. “You’re red.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re very red.”
“This is insubordination,” Leehan muttered, flipping a chart just to have something to look at. “You should start writing your notes for the two patients before I make you answer another case.”
Woonhak grinned but wisely shut up.
Across the ER, your voice carried softly as you spoke to the new patient, reminiscent of when he was first paired with you during your medical school clinicals. When his patients’ lab results finally flashed on the monitor, Leehan muttered a tiny thanks into the universe for the distraction.
Unfortunately, it only served him for a short while. After he made another call to his consultant outside, he walked back into the ER to find you and Eunchae discussing at the same table as Woonhak, who looked too engrossed in a discussion unrelated to his current rotation.
Leehan cleared his throat. "Woonhak, come here please."
He tried to keep his attention on his clerk, ignoring your and your clerk's gazes on him. Woonhak quickly excused himself from his conversation, then sauntered over with a grin.
"Yes, Doc?"
"We're admitting both patients. Come on, I'll teach you how to write an order."
Without waiting for a response, he moved around the nurses’ station, taking the open chair beside Minju, who was in the middle of a phone call with admitting.
She looked back and forth between you and Leehan, the corners of her mouth twitching upward in amusement. When she ended the call, confirming the status of Leehan's patients' admission, she dropped her voice into a teasing tone.
“Doctor Kim,” Minju said, grin widening. “I think you should check your vitals. You kinda look feverish.”
Leehan's eye twitched. “Chart, Minju,” he deadpanned. “Go chart something.”
But she just laughed.
He took one last look at his previous seat, now occupied by you as you bent slightly over your patient's chart with a pen tucked behind your ear. Your clerk left to get the latest vitals from your new patient, so Leehan was safe to look at you without prying eyes.
Or so he thought.
Across him, Woonhak was still grinning, the little traitor.
“Doctor Kim,” he whispered. He leaned his elbows on the desk, covering his mouth with his hands as if he's sharing confidential intel. “You’re staring again.”
Leehan wanted the ground to swallow him whole. “I’m not.”
“You are. You were doing that squinty thing.”
“I wasn’t squinting—”
“Doc, you were squinting.”
Before Leehan could deliver a well-deserved scolding, Riwoo called out from the triage again. “Doctor Kim, another patient for pediatrics.”
Another one?!
All signs of teasing vanished from Woonhak, who stood up and sighed at the thought of more possible paperwork. “Doc, I think you should seriously leave the ER. You’re a magnet for trouble.”
“Just interview the patient.”
Leehan watched his clerk jog toward triage. With a resigned exhale, he reached for his phone and dialed the number of another one of his first-year pediatrics colleagues, Anton, who was stationed in the wards.
The line connected quickly.
“Hey, Anton,” Leehan began, as he rubbed his temples, already feeling the beginnings of another migraine. “I’m endorsing two new pedia admits. Both were febrile, one with poor intake, the other initially presenting with respiratory distress, but they're both stable now. I sent the clinical histories in the group chat. Lab results are out, both have neutrophilic predominance on blood count so I asked the consultant which antibiotics to start with and—”
Before he could finish, movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. You had stood up, chart in hand, approaching the nurses’ desk to where Minju was.
“Minju,” you said politely, offering the patient’s chart. “The new gyne patient’s for admission. Orders are complete, and I’ve already informed her watcher. My clerk Eunchae will update me when the patient's already transported."
Minju accepted the folder with a nod, and you turned briefly toward Leehan, your expression softening into a smile.
“I’ll go ahead,” you murmured.
It was barely audible, but it short-circuited him all the same. Leehan froze, phone still pressed to his ear, and managed only a shy nod in response.
“...Leehan? Hello? Did I lose you?” Anton’s voice broke through the line, faintly exasperated. “You just stopped mid-sentence, man.”
Leehan blinked, realizing only then that he hadn’t said a word in several seconds.
“Right, sorry. Uh, where was I?” he mumbled, dragging a hand over his face as heat crept up his neck.
From the table nearby, Eunchae giggled behind her hand, clearly having witnessed the entire exchange. Leehan wanted nothing more than to fold into himself.
He finished his phone endorsement, turning off his phone and releasing a long and defeated sigh.
That was when Woonhak reappeared beside him, who had bowed to you as you left the ER to presumably continue your rounds or go back to the labor room.
Woonhak looked at Eunchae, and they appeared to have some telepathy thing going that clearly involved him and you, because Woonhak had another shit-eating grin on his face.
“Doctor Kim,” he said, tone dripping with amusement. “I’m starting to think you like her more than you like your patients.”
“That’s an HR violation waiting to happen,” Leehan muttered, rubbing his forehead.
“So is staring.”
Leehan stared at him blankly. “Do you want to spend your next duty counting diapers in Pedia Ward B?”
“...No, sir.”
“Good.”
But despite the threat, Woonhak grinned. “You should still make your move, though. What if she gets stolen by another resident?”
Leehan clicked his pen. “Insubordination," he repeated in a sing-song manner.
“Reality check,” Woonhak countered.
He groaned. “Why did I get assigned the talkative one?”
“Because the quiet clerks are scared of you,” Woonhak said innocently.
Leehan barked a laugh despite himself, shaking his head. “You’re lucky you’re competent.”
“I learned from the best.”
That earned him a faint smile. “Alright, enough of that. Tell me about the new patient.”
As Woonhak launched into his patient endorsement, he tried his best to focus but his thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.
Maybe his clerk was right. He'd wasted the entirety of his medical school life without confessing his true feelings for you, and now, he's just going to let another three years pass without doing anything? What if someone else would step into that space he'd been too cautious to claim? Then, what?
The idea lingered longer than he wanted it to. Yet, he found himself oddly fired up.
He was done just watching from afar.
He was going to make a move. One way or another.
He’d survived worse, after all. Like back-to-back admissions. Or Taesan’s morning scoldings.
Though his step one should really be to stop turning red whenever you say hello.
YOU LOVED YOUR JOB.
Most days, it didn’t even feel like work. Sure, the hours were long, and the sleep deprivation was starting to make you hallucinate coffee cups where they didn’t exist, but you genuinely loved being an ob-gyne resident.
Where others in your batch had gravitated toward the—for lack of better word—“cleaner” fields like internal medicine, radiology, and anesthesiology, you’d found your heart in the constant frenzy of deliveries and the thrill of managing two lives at once. There was something deeply sentimental about it, about being there for people at their most vulnerable and their most joyful.
You’d fallen in love with it during clerkship, the first time you’d assisted in a delivery and held your breath as a baby’s cry filled the air. That sound never left you. It stitched itself into your memory and refused to leave, even after you rotated in other departments.
So when you matched into the residency program of your dreams, you cried in relief. KOZ General Hospital, your top choice. Everything you wanted.
And then, there's the icing on the cake.
Because as fate would have it, there was another reason you found yourself smiling a little too much after the high of being officially accepted into the program and that was a certain first-year pediatric resident named Kim Leehan.
You’d gone to med school together in same batch and same group rotations. He was the quiet one—or at least, that's what you thought at first. He didn't push himself into the spotlight the way their other batchmates did, all eager to impress residents and consultants during clerkship.
Leehan was the type to stand a few steps behind, listening more than speaking, his brows knit in focus as if the world beyond his patient didn’t exist.
But there were rare moments when that calm exterior cracked. When something, or someone, managed to pull him out of his silence. You learned that early on, during your rotation in the public hospital’s pediatric ward, when in the middle of the thick hospital noise, Leehan had found a pocket of light in it.
He’d crouch beside the beds of the children, stethoscope forgotten around his neck, voice soft yet animated as he asked about their favorite toys or showed them how to make balloon animals out of gloves.
His face came alive in those moments. His eyes bright, curved into crescents. His gestures uncharacteristically wide. You remembered thinking that it didn’t seem fair, how someone usually so reserved could suddenly glow like that, as if the world made a little more sense when he smiled.
And when you saw him genuinely laugh for the first time, it completely caught you off guard. From then on, you couldn’t quite look at him the same way.
Now, months later, you saw him in the hallways sometimes. His coat was always slightly wrinkled, hair a little messy, yet he still smiled at you when you cross paths despite the obvious exhaustion. And every single time, your heart did that thing where it folded in on itself.
You were reviewing charts at the OB station when your phone buzzed.
Pedia Clerk Eunchae: Good morning, Doctor L/N! Referral from Pedia at 3A! Teenage patient with abdominal pain, possible gyne problem.
You smiled, already typing back.
You: Good job! I’ll head down in a bit. May I ask who's the pedia resident-in-charge?
Another ping came almost immediately.
Pedia Clerk Eunchae: Dr. Kim Leehan hehe
You blinked. Then exhaled slowly.
Of course it was him.
Of course the universe had decided to make you deal with your crush before lunch.
You were a professional. You could do this. You’d seen uterine ruptures and assisted breech extractions. Surely you could handle one very nice pediatric resident without combusting.
You had made your way up the ramp towards the wards when Eunchae greeted you midway, a knowing grin already on her face. “Doctor L/N, you’re smiling.”
You scoffed. “I’m always smiling.”
“That’s your Dr. Kim smile,” she teased, voice dropping into a whisper.
You raised a brow, trying to look stern, but the corner of your mouth betrayed you. “You’re lucky you’re my favorite clerk.”
Eunchae grinned, triumphant. “I know.”
By the time you reached the wards, you’d forced your expression into your usual calmness. Professional. Resident mode.
You only made it halfway towards the station when you caught sight of him.
Leehan sat on one of the swiveling chairs, chatting with some of the nurses. His laughter carried lightly over usual ward noise. He looked exhausted, of course—he always did—but he still managed to smile like that.
You were never at the receiving end of that smile. It had always been polite. Everything had always been polite, and you wondered if you should let go of the crush you've been harboring for four years because really, why would he ever smile at you like that?
A soft ache began to bloom in your chest, yet you shoved it away. You had a job to do.
You approached the counter, your clerk trailing behind you. As soon as you came into his line of sight, his posture changed completely. He always did this when you were around, and you wondered if it meant something. But deep down, whether good or bad, you were too scared to find out.
“Doctor L/N,” he greeted, voice a touch too formal.
You nodded, forcing yourself to focus. “Hello, Doctor Kim. You’re the resident-in-charge for this patient?”
“Yes,” he said quickly. “Sixteen-year-old, right lower quadrant pain, low-grade fever, some discharge. We were thinking pelvic inflammatory disease versus appendicitis, but her labs lean more gynecologic. Ultrasound pending.”
You tried to keep your eyes on the chart, not on him. Not on the faint shadow under his eyes or the way his lashes curled when he blinked. He smelled faintly of something woody and clean, like cedar and soap and it made your pulse skip a beat.
Professional. Stay professional.
You cleared your throat. “Good work catching this early. I’ll take it from here, thank you.”
He nodded. “Of course.”
You glanced once more at the notes. You hesitated for a moment, lingering by the desk as you fiddled with the edge of the chart. There wasn’t anything left to say but part of you didn’t want the conversation to end just yet.
Should you ask about the complete history of the patient? But then, you'll do your own interview anyway. Would it be weird if you asked why they considered those differentials? Well, yes, because you already knew why and it would only make you look like someone who didn't understand cardinal manifestations.
Resigned, you settled with a tiny smile, and turned to leave.
“I can go with you?” he blurted out before you could take a step.
You blinked, half-turning toward him. His expression was earnest, maybe even hopeful.
For a split second, your mind scrambled for meaning. Did he just say that because he was being polite or did he actually want to? The thought made your heart skip traitorously. You suddenly felt the urge to giggle but you swallowed it back before it could escape.
“I’m good, no worries!” you said lightly, managing your smile. “Thank you, Doctor Kim.”
And before you could betray how much that look in his eyes was doing to you, you turned and left.
You didn’t see the way his shoulders dropped the second your back was turned.
At your side, Eunchae caught up with you as you sped-walked towards your referral's room, smirking. “I think you just broke Doctor Kim’s heart.”
You nearly tripped over your own feet at that. Maybe she was exaggerating, but the image of Leehan's face when he offered to go with you flashed in your mind again. You told yourself not to overthink it, that it didn’t mean anything, but that tiny, dangerous hope refused to fade.
You shot her a look. “One more from you and I’m letting you assist me every delivery.”
Eunchae’s grin only widened. “You’re threatening me with a good time, Doc.”
You rolled your eyes, but couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of you anyway.
Maybe you shouldn't give up on that crush just yet.
"CUTTING," your senior said, and you reached for the retractor, your gloved hands stable.
You were assisting a cesarean section that afternoon with your senior and Eunchae, and despite the lack of lunch and the ache in your feet, you were in your element.
Everything was routine until you glanced toward the warmer and did a double take.
Leehan was standing there in his scrubs, checking equipment, his mask pulled up to cover the lower half of his face. His clerk stood beside him—Woonhak, who joyfully introduced himself to you that one afternoon in the ER—already carrying the sterile linen to catch the baby.
What was he doing here?
You knew his schedule by heart, not that you’d ever admit it aloud. His pedia ward rotation was supposed to run until the end of the week, and you’d been quietly counting down the days until he moved to the NICU, where your paths would finally cross again.
You expected Taesan, the usual resident on rotation for deliveries, but instead, Leehan stood in his fellow pediatrics resident's place. And seeing him now, days earlier than you expected, it felt like fate had decided to play a little joke on you once more.
His hair was slightly mussed under his cap, eyes crinkling as he caught you looking.
Then, without warning and completely out of character, he winked at you.
He winked at you.
Your brain stuttered, the world narrowing down to that split-second flicker of movement. For a moment, you forgot where you were.
It didn’t make sense. Leehan wasn’t the type to flirt, let alone wink across an operating table. Yet, it happened. And you didn't miss the unmistakable curve of amusement in his eyes.
“Doctor L/N,” your senior’s voice snapped you back. “You spacing out? Did you eat lunch?”
“Not yet,” you said quickly, hoping your flushed ears weren’t visible behind your mask. Eunchae was biting back a grin beside you, and you’d bet anything she’d seen it too.
The baby’s first cry sliced through the air. Relief, always relief. You helped lift the newborn, checked the cord while Eunchae helped dry the baby and turned toward the warmer.
Leehan was already waiting with his towel and stethoscope. The amusement in his crinkled eyes never left. You passed the baby to him, careful not to let your gloved fingers brush his.
But of course, they did.
His eyebrow lifted in amusement and you shot him a warning glare that only made his eyes curve further.
You were too distracted to notice how both clerks saw the entire thing.
By the time you were back in the labor room, peeling off your gloves and updating the chart, Eunchae had disappeared somewhere. A few minutes later, a hesitant knock came from the doorway.
“Doctor L/N?”
You looked up to see Woonhak holding a chart. You watched in mild amusement as he looked around before walking into the labor room with all the confidence of a pediatrics clerk.
"I'm here to report the anthropometric measurements for Baby Girl Jung."
"Alright."
You jotted down the numbers for the baby's height, weight, and the like as Woonhak recited them. When he finished, you thanked him for his help and was about to ask if he saw Eunchae when he suddenly tucked the clipboard behind his back.
“By the way, Doctor L/N, Doctor Kim is asking if you’d be available for lunch,” he said innocently. “To discuss the referred pedia case.”
You narrowed your eyes, suspicion flickering immediately. The tone and the barely contained grin tugging at the corner of his mouth was all too familiar.
It wouldn’t be the first time your clerks tried to play matchmaker. Eunchae had been far too gleeful lately whenever Leehan’s name came up, and now Woonhak was acting like he’d been coached. You had a feeling they were conspiring, and for a brief second, you couldn’t decide whether to be exasperated or amused.
You arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really? Why couldn’t he tell me that himself?”
Woonhak shrugged, eyes too wide, too fake. “He’s… shy?”
You snorted. “Right. Tell him I’ll think about it.”
Meanwhile, a few doors down from the labor room, Leehan was leaning against the NICU counter in the middle of writing a doctor's order. Confusion was plastered on his face as Eunchae marched up to him with a clipboard and too much enthusiasm.
“Hi, Doctor Kim!” she chirped. “Doctor L/N would like to discuss the gyne case over lunch.”
He blinked, unsure if he’d heard that right. For a moment, he just stood there, pen hovering midair as his brain tried to process the words.
Lunch? With you? Initiated by you?
That didn’t sound right, even if you wanted to 'discuss the gyne case.' You're the type to discuss in the wards, not over lunch.
It had to be a mistake.
Or maybe a prank.
God, was this a prank?
“Really?”
“Yup! She said she’ll see you by the labor room entrance.” Eunchae waved and disappeared before he could even question it.
Leehan stared at his doctor's orders, still in disbelief.
He’d spent the entire morning convincing himself that his impulsive decision to switch shifts with Taesan had been purely logistical, not because he wanted to see you again sooner.
But then he’d gone and winked at you in an operating room, of all places. In front of your senior, your clerk, and an entire team. He definitely did not think it through.
Still, if somehow this lunch thing was real, maybe the universe was cutting him some slack. Or maybe it was setting him up for a new kind of embarrassment. He honestly couldn’t tell anymore.
Which was how, twenty minutes later, Leehan found himself standing outside the labor room, still not entirely sure if he’d walked into a setup or a miracle.
He’d spent the entire time, from changing out of his scrubs and into his work clothes, rehearsing possible conversation starters.
But when the doors swung open and you stepped out, hair flowing freely as if it hadn't been confined behind an itchy scrub cap and eyes bright even after hours on duty, every practiced line in his head vanished.
“Let’s go?” he managed, scratching the back of his neck.
A faint smile tugged at your lips. “I’m surprised you had to ask your clerk to tell me to meet up.”
His brows drew together. “Wait, didn’t you ask me to meet up for the case?”
Your smile didn't cease and you looked at him expectantly, as if waiting for something to click. Slowly, realization dawned into him, and he let out a soft laugh.
“Guess we were both fooled by our clerks,” he said. “I’m giving that little runt Woonhak an extension.”
You stared at him, a little bit in awe about something. Leehan felt self-conscious for a second, until you mirrored his laugh.
“Careful, Doctor Kim. They might actually enjoy that.”
"Leehan," he murmured. "Just Leehan is fine. Like when we were still classmates."
Your smile had never been so gorgeous in that moment. "Alright, Leehan. Lunch it is, then. Since our clerks apparently conspired for academic collaboration.”
“Right,” he replied, falling into step beside you as you started down the hall. “Strictly for the case.”
“Of course,” you said, eyes fixed ahead but Leehan could see the faint color blooming on your cheeks, and he couldn’t stop smiling.
Because for once, the quiet between you wasn’t awkward. And maybe, it was the start of something neither of you would need your clerks’ help to arrange again.
BY THE TIME Woonhak started his last week in OB-Gyne, he’d learned two things about KOZ General Hospital: one, the elevators would never work when you needed them most; and two, Doctor Kim Leehan and Doctor L/N Y/N had no idea how to hide their affection from each other even in the most professional setting.
Not that he minded. After all, Woonhak had been the mastermind behind the lunch date plan, no matter how much his partner-in-crime claimed otherwise.
He stood outside the OB-Gyne nurses' station with Eunchae, who was now a proud pedia clerk. Both of them were ready to endorse the incoming batch of fresh-faced clerks, all of whom looked nervous as hell.
“Okay,” Woonhak said, straightening. “Rule number one: Never skip breakfast. Rule number two: If you ever get a referral from Pedia, double-check the resident’s name before you deliver it. Trust me.”
Eunchae snorted beside him. “Yeah, especially if it’s Doctor Kim. You’ll end up third-wheeling without even knowing it.”
The new clerks blinked, confused, but Woonhak just smiled and pushed open the door to the nurses' station.
He could never get tired of seeing his former pediatrics resident and his current ob-gyne resident.
Doctor Kim was leaning casually against the counter, one hand braced near Doctor L/N’s chair as they discussed, presumably about another case.
You were both in scrubs and resident coats—yours less wrinkled than Doctor Kim's—both clearly exhausted, yet grinning in that way people do when the world around them has quietly disappeared.
“So you’re saying your patient’s ultrasound results came in normal?” you were asking, flipping through the pages.
“Normal,” Leehan confirmed. “Which means you owe me coffee.”
“On what grounds?”
“On the grounds that I called it.”
“Kim Leehan, you call everything.”
He opened his mouth to retort, but the sound of the door opening made both of you turn.
“Doctor Kim, Doctor L/N,” Woonhak greeted, trying not to smile too wide. “Sorry to interrupt. We’re here to endorse the new clerks.”
“Ah, perfect timing,” you said warmly, straightening up as Leehan stepped aside.
Eunchae gestured to the two newbies beside her. “This is the new batch. They’ll be rotating under us for OB-Gyne and Pedia respectively starting tomorrow.”
Leehan turned, his easy smile in place again. “Welcome to clerkship. Try not to cry too much in your first week.”
“Doctor Kim,” you said dryly, “please don’t scare them on day one.”
“I’m setting expectations.”
You rolled your eyes. “You’ll be fine,” you reassured the clerks. “Just listen to your residents and nurses. Especially Nurse Jaehyun, he knows everything.”
Jaehyun, from behind the counter, gave a peace sign.
Leehan glanced at Woonhak. “So, be honest. Were you a better clerk under Doctor L/N than with me?”
You shot Woonhak a mock glare, but he only grinned, playing along. “Doctor L/N was an excellent preceptor. She taught me how to think, not just memorize. This is why she’s my favorite resident of all time.”
Eunchae clapped her hands in agreement. “Seconded. No offense, Doctor Kim.”
“None taken,” Leehan said, though his chuckle was tinged with mock offense. “At least she’s your favorite for the academic reasons.”
You smirked. “That sounded like jealousy, Doctor Kim.”
“Maybe it is,” he replied lightly, and Woonhak was pretty sure the new clerks weren’t breathing.
“Alright, that’s our cue to leave,” Eunchae said quickly, ushering the newbies toward the hallway before the flirting became part of the formal endorsement.
When they were finally outside, one of the new clerks whispered, “Are they… like… together?”
Woonhak smirked as the doors swung shut behind them.
“Together? Oh, they’re definitely together,” he said, lowering his voice. “They’ve been doing this whole slow-burn, coworkers-to-lovers thing since the start of our clerkship days. It was only a matter of time.”
“You should’ve seen them back then." Eunchae laughed. "Always pretending it was just about case discussions. Now look at them, still flirting in front of patients and clerks like it’s part of the hospital protocol.”
“They’re basically the departments' power couple at this point. Brains, composure, and chemistry? Unfair combination.”
“Yeah,” Eunchae agreed, smiling as she peeked through the narrow window in the door. Inside, you were still standing close to Leehan, laughing at something he’d just said. “Kinda makes you believe in timing, doesn’t it?”
“Timing... and maybe a little clerical intervention.”
Eunchae laughed again, shaking her head as they started down the hall. “Guess we did good, huh?”
“Yeah,” Woonhak said, glancing back one last time. “We really did."
TAGLIST. ノ@taestulipss @lovehakie @ilysungho @ivxae @amnellsia @wensurr @wnouzi @luckiihan @silvervalley101 @mochamvgz @parkpenghoonnn @nemoihan @kazukazukiiii @gentiliana @en-dream @omlhyck (pls send an ask to be added or removed!)
bestfriend!leehan x reader headcannons! • based on this ask!
contains ⋆.˚ fluff, one swear word, kinda obvious leehan, use of leehans real name (donghyun). wc: 886
ara wants to say.. ⋆˚࿔ hello cuties!! this is my first time posting my writing on here and MAYBE ill do more headcannons (bc i cannooottt write GOOD full length stories for the love of me) but hope yall enjoy!! love uu ♡
bsf!leehan who steals your phone just to change his contact name to something cute like “my favorite person” to tick you off.
bsf!leehan who never asks for his hoodies back after you steal them whenever you go over to his house.
bsf!leehan who combs his fingers through your hair when you fall asleep on his chest while he continues watching the movie that you begged him to watch.
bsf!leehan who stays on the phone with you after you had a bad day. you don’t even have to talk, he’ll stay with you on the phone till you fall asleep.
bsf!leehan who suddenly becomes more interested in the walls and ceiling as soon as you mention any other guy in your conversation.
bsf!leehan who gets slightly upset when you correct the lady at the grocery store after you tell her that you both aren’t dating.
bsf!leehan who has more candid photos of you than you do of yourself.
:: “ya, kim donghyun. delete that! i look so weird.”
“nah, you look cute”
bsf!leehan who almost drops his phone when jaehyun walks in on him searching, "does hugging your boy best friend everyday mean anything?"
:: “ay, donghyun-ah. i saw that. and anyway, everyone here knows that you like her” jaehyun says with a teasing smile on his face.
bsf!leehan who starts wearing the bracelet you made him every single day, claiming the reason to be, "goes with everything!"
bsf!leehan who says "you're paying" every single time you go out together, knowing damn well that his card is already out.
bsf!leehan who smiles at every notification from you before he's even read the message.
