shen always knew he enjoyed getting a rise out of people. he was a cheeky child and his parents always remarked that he was why they decided to stop having children after him.
it was honestly a pleasure to get under people’s skin. to see their eyes twitch, their lips pulled tight into a line, the tension in their shoulders - it was like chicken soul for his weird soul.
but it was nothing too malicious, of course. just a few seemingly innocuous comments here and there, actions that couldn’t possibly be misconstrued unless you thought about it etc. he knew exactly how to toe the line and that’s how he’s still alive to practice medicine.
he didn’t do much aggravating while in med school or in residency (no amount of dunkin’ coffee could have possibly provided him with that much energy), but ever since he settled in as an attending, he’s come to realise a few interesting situations at PTMC.
he’s overheard (while signing orders and charting) conversations between Princess and Perlah about the state of his marriage, alongside critical analysis about his behaviour and what that meant for his marriage.
and he has realised the increasing number of times he’s saw Langdon and Mel hanging out by the ambulance bay, personal distance seemingly an afterthought in whatever conversation they were having.
but the time he really took note was during a case where he stood (maybe) a little too close behind Mel while monitoring the patient. Mel’s side had a better vantage point where he could see the patient and what the nurses and doctors were doing, and he had instinctively, moved closer behind Mel to get a better look of the monitor when their vitals dropped.
Langdon wasn’t in the room, but once the patient was stabilised, he was suddenly standing pretty close to him, almost as if he was trying to nudge him out. he stepped away to talk to the nurses and the patient’s friend, but when he turned, he swore he saw a hint of something he’d never seen from Langdon before.
hostility. like that of a cat poofing their fur to appear larger and intimidating, and that really amused him.
not one for jumping to conclusions however, he laid his hypothesis and went to work testing.
the next shift he had with Mel and Langdon, he bought donuts for the entire crew and then handed one personally to Mel with the excuse of thanking her for helping him with his journal submission and making sure she eats (he did observe that Mel was often late to freebies brought in by staff).
he made sure to do so while Langdon was watching, and the uncomfortable daggers he felt on his back only emboldened him to venture deeper into his hypothesis testing.
over the course of their few shared shifts, he’s made sure to initiate as much contact as he could with Mel.
he started prioritising her for cases, checked in more on her, reassured her whenever she had doubt in her diagnosis and treatment plans, and even gave her high-fives when a patient showed promising signs of recovery.
and the reactions from Langdon? simply delightful. the prolonged stares through the windows whenever he was talking to Mel, the tight smiles he wore to not alert Mel, the almost brusque responses whenever he made a comment about how wonderful of a senior resident Mel was…
it was like giving candy to an unsupervised kid and Shen, being the sweet-tooth that he is, really couldn’t help himself.
the smiles from Mel didn’t hurt either. while second to Langdon’s reactions, he enjoyed seeing the excitement on Mel’s face when her patient’s treatment worked or when she performed a difficult procedure without complications. coupled with her eager high-fives (that she’s started initiating whenever she sees him), it was really nice seeing just how much she enjoyed being a doctor.
but like all good things, his trolling must come to an end.
he overheard from Princess and Perlah that Langdon’s divorce was finalised and had an inkling that he would have began making plans for him and Mel.
he did enjoy soap operas and their messy relationships, but he did so as a viewer, not a participant.
but when a birthday present arrived for him in the form of a confetti cake and an extra large brown sugar shaken espresso in the staff’s fridge (labelled a little excessively with his name), he felt himself hesitating as he opened the handwritten card addressed to him.
(If you’re not Dr Shen please do not indulge in the cake and coffee! It’s for Dr Shen only!)
Happy Birthday! I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to personally hand this to you, but I had made a promise to Becca that I’d meet her immediately after my shift. :(
I digress but I wanted to say how much I appreciate your guidance and the patience you’ve shown me. I genuinely enjoyed learning from you, and the calm you’ve shown to patients and their loved ones really inspires me to be more of a stabilising presence for my patients too.
I hear from Princess that it’s your birthday and I understand how “sucky” it can be to work on birthdays. Hope the cake and coffee makes up for it.
Happy birthday again and thank you!
Shen re-read the note carefully, and an idea formulated in his head.
why should Langdon get to enjoy having Mel to himself?
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