Yoo Youngjae.

Sick. That’s all he ever was. Yoo Youngjae had never been a strong boy; he had a low immune system, weak lungs, lacked white blood cells, and to top it off was malnourished because he ended up vomiting almost everything he ate. It was almost as if he was terminally ill; his doctor said he would die before turning thirty anyways. Youngjae sighed softly as he stared up at the ceiling of his white walled room that had been converted into an at-home ward but resembled a prison in his mind. At this point, he would rather die than live like this. Youngjae had nobody to talk to and couldn’t even remember the last time he went outside; if he wanted to leave his room, he had to use a wheelchair because he was almost too frail to walk and needed his IV bag to keep him nourished.

A knock reverberated throughout the room, causing the sickly teenager to focus on the door in interest. Nobody visited him anymore. The only two people that came into the room to check on Youngjae once in a while were his mom and his doctor, but the latter was of old age and retired a few days ago. Youngjae had yet to be informed of who would be taking his doctor’s place, so he assumed it was his mother trying to bring him a plate of food that he would later puke out for the nth time.

“Go away,” Youngjae said softly, leaning over his side table to pick up the novel that he was currently reading. Shuffling could be heard outside the door followed by soft mumbling, but Youngjae tried his best to ignore the noises and focused on the world of fantasy painted in his mind by the book, filled with kings, fairies, knights, and much more. It wasn’t long before a loud “ahem” caught his attention though, and he shifted his focus to the door to his room that began to slowly open.

“Hello. I’m Dr. Jung, but you can call me Daehyun, and I’ll be your new doctor as of today,” the figure that had just stepped into the room said with a deep bow and a warm smile. Youngjae’s jaw went slack as he stared at the male standing beside his bed. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw; Dr. Jung, or Daehyun, or whatever his name was, was absolutely gorgeous, as if he came straight from a book himself.

Youngjae couldn’t help but admire the elder’s sunkissed skin, loving the way his dark, tousled hair fell in front of his eyes just enough to create a rebellious look, at least for a doctor. Instead of the usual medical garb, the tanned man wore black slacks and a black button down to match underneath his white doctor’s coat. Youngjae mentally slapped himself once the doctor began to shift on his feet awkwardly as he realized the sickly boy was staring at him.

“Y-youngjae,” he managed to mumble as he held out his hand for the doctor to shake. Daehyun smiled softly and took the boy’s hand, shaking it lightly before setting his bag down beside the bed. Youngjae hurriedly sat up in his bed, waiting for the doctor to begin the examination.

“Nice to meet you, Youngjae. I assume that you’ve been taking your medicine?” the doctor said, rummaging through his bag and picking up a cutely decorated stethoscope adorned with pink bunnies. Youngjae nodded in response to Daehyun’s question, staring at the stethoscope in shock. His previous doctor was all business. His stethoscope was made of plain, scary looking metal that was too cold when it touched Youngjae’s skin.

On the other hand, Daehyun looked like a real pediatrician in Youngjae’s eyes: a handsome young doctor who was good at handling kids. Daehyun let out a soft chuckle as he saw Youngjae’s gaze focused on the stethoscope. He weighed the stethoscope in his hands a bit before taking a few steps closer to his patient. “I bought this so little kids wouldn’t be scared of of me. I heard that I’m quite intimidating,” Daehyun explained as he put the stethoscope on, gently placing it on Youngjae’s chest, under his shirt.

Instead of the usual, cool feeling of metal touching his chest, Youngjae’s skin began to heat up and his heart began to pound loudly as the elder’s fingers brushed against his skin. The doctor motioned for Youngjae to take a few deep breaths, that the boy also used to calm himself, as he moved the stethoscope around and even to his back to check for abnormalities in breathing or heartbeats.

“Your heart rate is a bit fast, but your lungs seem fine…” the doctor mumbled more of to himself than to anyone. Youngjae’s breath hitched. He knew the exact reason why his heart was beating abnormally fast.

“I-I’m alright. I was just a bit startled. It felt cold,” the patient lied, nodding slightly as if to seem more convincing. Daehyun shrugged, not completely believing him as he continued to move the stethoscope around.

Once he was satisfied, Daehyun pulled the stethoscope out of the latter’s shirt and hung it around his neck loosely, washing his hands in the small sink that was installed in Youngjae’s room as the boy was constantly sick and could never leave. Daehyun continued with the usual checkup, constantly chatting with Youngjae about his life as he checked his various vitals.

“So, my mom keeps pressuring me to get married and give her grandkids, and it’s so annoying!” the doctor exclaimed with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Youngjae laughed softly as he attempted to stay still while the doctor replaced his IV line.

“Kids are cute. She should just adopt one herself,” Youngjae stated, wincing a bit as he felt the soreness in his arm from a needle constantly transferring fluids into his bloodstream. Before Daehyun could continue rambling on, a knock was heard on the door and a middle aged, but still beautiful woman entered the room.

The doctor bowed to the well-dressed woman while Youngjae only gave a slight wave. “Mrs. Yoo, how can I help you? We were just finishing up,” Daehyun said, smiling at the woman slightly. Youngjae’s mother chuckled softly at how childish the doctor appeared to be, showing him a tray of food.

“I was actually wondering if you could help Youngjae eat. He hasn’t eaten anything in days, so if you’re not too busy…” she trailed off, looking at Daehyun hopefully. The room was silent for a moment as the doctor ran through his agenda in his mind.

Daehyun grinned, showing his pearly white teeth before nodding. “Of course. I don’t do house calls often, but on Friday’s I only have to take care of Youngjae. I don’t mind staying an hour or so extra just so my patient will be able to eat,” he said, walking to the sink to wash his hands once again before taking the tray of steaming soup from Youngjae’s mother. She bowed in thanks before closing the door on her way out, leaving the doctor to try and persuade her stubborn son to eat.

“Your mom seems to care about you a lot,” Daehyun noted as he sat on the side of the bed, making sure that Youngjae was propped up against his pillows before setting the tray onto his lap. Youngjae shrugged, staring at the bowl of soup but not making a move to pick up the spoon. “Oh, you’re one of those kids…” Daehyun said dryly, rolling his eyes before chuckling and poking his patient’s cheek. “Open up,” the doctor stated as he reached for the spoon, scooping some hot soup up before blowing on it lightly.

Youngjae started at the doctor; he was flabbergasted. Since when was it a doctor’s job to be a nanny? Daehyun used Youngjae’s surprise to stick the spoon of soup into the boy’s mouth, not pulling it out until it was obvious that the latter had swallowed. Youngjae gulped down the soup, frowning as he knew it wouldn’t sit well with his body later.

“Dr. Jung, you really don’t have to-” Youngjae was interrupted by another spoonful of soup being shoved into his mouth, albeit carefully. He snorted almost inaudibly, swallowing the soup as he had no other choice. Daehyun caught the younger boy’s soft laughter and beamed at his success.

“Youngjae, say ahhh! The airplane is landing!” the doctor exclaimed childishly as he blew on the spoonful of soup, making it “fly” around before reaching the patient’s mouth. This time, Youngjae willingly parted his lips to accept the soup. Although he didn’t really want to eat, Youngjae found his new doctor very amusing and didn’t want his antics to end just yet because once he was done eating, he realized that his doctor had to go home.

This continued on for about thirty minutes; Daehyun kept trying different strategies to get Youngjae to open his mouth and accept the food. The doctor was a bit disappointed that Mrs. Yoo didn’t provide any dessert because in his opinion, dessert was the easiest way to convince someone to eat.

“Well, Youngjae. It’s time for me to leave,” Daehyun said, setting the tray on Youngjae’s bedside table. He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder before ruffling the boy’s hair with a smile. “Don’t forget to take your medicine, and I’ll see you next week.”

Youngjae’s cheeks flushed at the feeling of the doctor’s slim fingers running through his hair, but the touch was gone all too soon and he was met with the back of the doctor who was about to head towards the door.

“Wait!” Youngjae called after the doctor, causing the latter to turn around and look at the boy expectantly. Youngjae paled, realizing that he didn’t think through what he was going to say before telling the doctor to stay. “U-um…” the boy mumbled, making the doctor raise an eyebrow at him and take a step towards the bed.

“Yes, Youngjae? Is something wrong?” Daehyun asked, his voice filled with concern as he reached for the younger boy’s hand. Youngjae shook his head, smiling before squeezing the warm and calloused hand that was wrapped around his soft, frail one.

“Thank you, Dr. Jung.” Thank you for showing me what friendship is. Thank you for teaching me what love is. If I died tomorrow, I would be the happiest man in the world.

The two smiled at each other, surrounded by a comfortable silence. Daehyun reluctantly released his patient’s hand, walking towards the door to officially finish his last patient for the day. No, thank you, Youngjae. For letting me be a part of your life. Daehyun smiled as he passed through the doorway, feeling the tender gaze on his back that he knew could only be coming from one person. A person that intrigued him from the start, causing his heart to pound wildly in his chest and his brain to lose all sense of professionalism. Yoo Youngjae.

A/N: Almost 2,000 words! Sorry if I disappointed you guys... I'll post part 2 and and epilogue if enough people like my writing c: Anyways, hope you liked it! Please subscribe, upvote, or comment~ I would love to hear feedback (and not only see that people have read it because maybe it's really sucky idk). Oh yeah this is actually for Youngjae's birthday <3 #ForeverWithYoo (although late-)