Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"We can't just leave. I have to kill a few of you, special forces, as a warrior."

Seungcheol and Soonyoung both have their hands lifted up in surrender, watching as the lieutenant of the North Korean special forces tucks the gun he was holding into his pants, swapping for a knife instead.

Seungcheol and Soonyoung stealthily whip out their knives as well, accepting the challenge and getting into fighting stance.

Seungcheol was the captain of Team Alpha, the special forces unit of Korea and Soonyoung was his vice captain. They and their team were sent to rescue two of their soldiers who were captured by the North Korean soldiers. The north's goal was to provoke South Korea into initiating gunfire and break the armistice, so Team Alpha never opened fire until they'd found their two lost soldiers. They've past the demilitarised zone and have ordered the rest of the team to leave with the lost soldiers.

That's how the two captains find themselves slashing at their opponents, neither side willing to have mercy on the other, ruthlessly stabbing and aiming at vital organs.

Seungcheol fights against the lieutenant in a one on one battle, the two's battle skills were on par and proved why they were both given the title of Captain. Soonyoung's busy himself, fighting against two other soldiers swiftly and professionally without giving them severe life threatening injuries. They did not want death nor war.

Seungcheol swipes his knife at his opponent's face but he dodges it, leaning backwards and kicking Seungcheol in the knee. Seungcheol doesn't back down and drives his knife towards the man again, this time causing him to stumble backwards and hit his back against the wooden walls. The old tiles fall apart due to the force, tumbling down and hitting his opponent. They both use this as a distraction and Seungcheol gets stabbed on his right abdomen and his opponent almost smirks in victory until he notices the knife Seungcheol has pressed against his throat, proving that Seungcheol won.

The man scoffs.

"I don't think, you can kill me. People in your country are worried about your image, so you can't raise your gun first." He raises an eyebrow, "But we, are different."

In the very next second he hears the sound of a gun being raised to his head by another soldier, and Soonyoung watches from the side.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding," Seungcheol starts, his smirk evident on his face. "we're ready to shoot first when it comes to protecting our country."

The two soldiers look around in confusion until a red spot falls on the soldier holding his gun towards Seungcheol. It's a laser, a sign that a rifle has its aim on him.

"I hope you don't make another mistake. I don't interrupt my enemy when they're making mistakes." Seungcheol adds.

"I have come here as a warrior," The lieutenant replies, "and I will leave as one. Put it down." He instructs his man and the soldier lowers his gun.

"I was glad to see you," He says sincerely, "Captain Choi Seungcheol."

Seungcheol lets out a genuine smile, "I know you were, but let's not see each other every year, Senior Lieutenant Ahn Jong Joon."

The lieutenant drops his knife and he orders his men to back out and leave. Soonyoung watches wearily as they go.

Seungcheol presses his on in-ear device and he speaks. "Scoups in Command. Team Alpha." He gives Soonyoung a smile, "It is done."

----

"Hey this gun isn't working properly!" Soonyoung complains when he sees the terrible score he'd just gotten at an arcade game of shooting.

"Absolutely. There's definitely something wrong with this." Seungcheol pouts, roughly handling the fake rifle until the shop owner runs over to stop him.

"Excuse me! Please do not be rough with our equipment, this model is a copy of a real gun used in war." He explains, triggered that the two are making a fuss out of something so childish.

"Right..." Seungcheol bites his lips to stop his laughter. There's no way this could be an exact copy.

Just when they're about to leave, they hear someone yelling for help saying that their motorbike has been stolen.

Soonyoung grabs the toy guns they were given earlier and dashes out the shop into the road with multiple people shopping and even several street stalls.

"Young ah! Come on, we're literally off-duty today!" Seungcheol complains but he reluctantly follows his best friend and grabbing hold of the toy rifle.

They stand side by side in the middle of the street and eye the speeding motorcycle coming from afar.

"The range of this gun will be shorter than usual, I say five metres?" Soonyoung says.

"Currently about ten metres away." Seungcheol adds on as he observes the bike, squinting his eyes a little as he looks through the crowd.

"Hey! Move away!" The boy on the bike tries to warn but to no avail.

"Seven metres."

"Excuse me! You'll get hurt!"

"Five metres."

"I-"

"Now!"

The two aim their shots and shoot. Fake bullets come flying out, accurately hitting the bike thief in the forehead, causing him to lose focus and swerve, falling off the bike onto the concrete with a loud thud.

Seungcheol sighs and heads towards the now injured young man, probably a couple years younger than him. The boy lies on the floor, supporting his weight with his elbow and groaning in pain.

"Kid, why did you do that?" He sighs dramatically as he bends down to access his injury then getting an idea and pulling out the string from the boy's sweatpants.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" The boy exclaims and he tries to move backwards, away from Seungcheol but the older flicks him in the forehead, making him complain.

"I suggest you stop squirming around, kid. I'm performing first aid, relax." Seungcheol focuses on his job of securing the boy's arm and ankle.

"Uncle! Could you give me two of those plushies?" Seungcheol shouts, referring to the uncle from the toy shop earlier.

The shop owner groans in annoyance. "That is not for sale!"

"Then I'll just win them all." He shrugs and that does the trick because the shop owner gives up and heads to get them. He needs those to support this kid's neck.

"Hello? Is this the hospital? Yes, we have an injured kid from a motorcycle accident." Seungcheol hears Soonyoung talking as if they hadn't just knocked the kid down.

----

Seungcheol and Soonyoung now sit opposite each other in a cafe, two rabbit stuffed toys sitting on chairs right next to each of them, one in white and one in brown.

Seungcheol sips on his coffee.

"Your girlfriend looks pretty." He says in the most sarcastic tone.

"Of course, she's my ideal type." Soonyoung replies just as sarcastically, placing his hand on the plushy's head.

"Your girlfriend looks pretty too." Soonyoung turns his head to Seungcheol's plushy.

"That's not my girlfriend. This is my soldier mate." Seungcheol also puts his arm on the plushy's head, arguing.

"Right." Soonyoung laughs.

"Seriously Soonyoung, how could you accept these gifts?" Seungcheol points an accusatory finger at him.

"He literally begged me to take these and never come back, what could I have done?" Soonyoung defends himself.

Seungcheol rests his head on his hand. "Goodness, how do you go to war when you're so weak-hearted?"

A moment of silence comes and Soonyoung looks as if he's in deep thought. "You think that kid will be okay?" He sighs.

"Why, feeling a connection?" Seungcheol jokes.

"We were all once young, you know." Soonyoung says, thinking back about his past.

"Wow, what dark past must you have had..." Seungcheol nods, but the hint of a tease in his words is there.

Soonyoung reaches into his pocket for his phone but panics when he realises it isn't there. He touches both his pack pockets and his jacket but his phone isn't on him.

"Lost your phone?" Seungcheol asks, tired of Soonyoung's nonsense.

"Yeah, I swear I had it with me until-" It clicks in Soonyoung's mind and he remembers when the bike thief was especially close to him earlier. "That thief!"

Soonyoung stands up from his chair abruptly. "Let's go find him."

"Where?" Seungcheol refuses to lift his ass up from his seat.

"Right, uhm..." Soonyoung sits back down in thought.

"I'll call your phone." Seungcheol gives up.

he dials his best friend's phone, which was saved as 'dumbass', a very fitting nickname for Soonyoung, and the call was unexpectedly picked up.

"Hello? This is Haesung Hospital, this is our patient's phone, how can I help you?" The voice of a female nurse came though the phone.

"Wow, this kid. Alright we'll be there soon." Seungcheol ends the call, leaving the nurse confused on the other end of the line.

As they trudge along to the hospital, Seungcheol complains about the heat and how Soonyoung manages to be this forgetful and unaware. They pass by an alley beside the main road they're walking on and they both hear sounds, more accurately, sounds of someone getting beaten.

Soonyoung pauses and checks out the situation, only to realise that the boy getting beaten was his phone thief.

"Hyung! That's him right?" Soonyoung enthusiastically points at the thief.

Seungcheol sees what Soonyoung sees, the boy lying on the ground, getting kicked and beaten by a group of men dressed like gangsters. Seungcheol sighs.

"Why out of all places he could've been, he decides he'd get beaten where we'd see him?" Seungcheol groans.

Soonyoung ignores him. "Let's go."

He pulls on his reluctant best friend's arm and they head closer to the commotion. They're really beating him up in broad daylight, huh.

When they come close enough, Soonyoung decides to make himself known.

"Ahem!"

The gangsters' attention is now on him and they'd stopped kicking the thief.

"Who are you? What's your business here?" The supposed gang leader speaks up, walking intimidatingly towards Soonyoung and Seungcheol.

"This thief has something I need." Soonyoung shortly replies, disregarding the gangster to help the thief up on his feet, the younger stumbling a little with all this injuries but he toughs it out.

"Hey! This boy is our business, he thinks he can leave our gang whenever he wants!" The gangster moves closer, fury in his eyes and Seungcheol wouldn't be shocked if he threw a punch right there and then.

Soonyoung wasn't intimidated in the least. Instead, he pulls out his wallet from his pack pocket and waves it in front of the gangster.

"I'm pretty sure there's enough money in here to pay for your losses. If you take it, it's yours right away." Soonyoung shrugs, his other hand in his pocket, relaxed.

Seungcheol groans, "Young-ah, what even is in your phone that you need it back so badly? Can't you just get a new one?"

"No."

"Wow, now I'm really curious as to what you have saved in your phone."

The gangsters seem intrigued by the offer. It seems way too easy.

"Really? Huh, that's easy." A few of them come charging at Soonyoung, attempting to snatch his wallet away from his tight grasp.

The first attempt was unsuccessful, Soonyoung swiftly pivoting to avoid the arm flying towards him. The next two people come at him from both sides, aiming for the wallet now being waved teasingly at them but they fail miserably, Soonyoung using the wallet to smack them in their faces.

Seungcheol's bored. "Is there any way we can get this done quicker?"

Soonyoung scoffs at his friend while fighting of three people at once, "I'm not sure, maybe help?" He answers sarcastically.

Seungcheol springs to his feet from where he was leaning against a wall.

"You should've said so earlier," Seungcheol teases.

He enters the fight smoothly, distracting the men and lessening the work Soonyoung has to do. He dodges punches from the gangsters effortlessly and throws his own accurately, sending them to the ground with a broken nose.

The next thing they know, a gang member shoves a knife into Seungcheol's face and the latter skilfully disarms the man, the knife falling to the ground with a clink.

Seungcheol bends down to inspect the weapon.

"Wow...you guys even carry knives..." He picks the fallen weapon up. "This gang is up to no good, let's disband them." Seungcheol says in a matter-of-fact way and Soonyoung nods.

"Come on, bring out all your weapons. Let's fight it out." Seungcheol challenges.

With the two working together, they easily fight off the group even though they were unarmed and outnumbered, and most of the members were injured on the floor. After Seungcheol fights off the very last man, they all retreat, running away from the two soldiers in fear.

Seungcheol pants, "that was unnecessary."

"Worth it."

"No seriously, what's in your phone?" Seungcheol annoyingly pries.

Soonyoung shrugs.

They both turn around to see the thief already staring back at them, clueless as to why they saved him.

"Let's go to the hospital." Seungcheol says, walking ahead while Soonyoung has an arm around the thief, aiding him in walking.

In no time, they're at the hospital and Seungcheol heads to the counter, slightly leaning over it with his elbows while he converses with the nurse there. The nurse nods and gets up to help the thief get to a bed to get treated, kindly asking them to wait for the doctor to arrive.

They remain silent until a sweet voice interrupts them.

"Oh, there you are."

Seungcheol whips his head around and he's met with a beautiful gorgeous blond doctor, clad in simple dark blue scrubs and a white doctor's cloak, both his hands in the cloak's pockets.

Seungcheol smiles at him and he gets the doctor's attention. They meet eyes.

"And you are...?"

"We found him getting beaten up by a bunch of gangsters, and well, he also stole my dear friend's phone before this so we're here to retrieve it." Seungcheol explains and Soonyoung nods along.

"He stole your phone...but you guys saved him?" The doctor asks in disbelief. "How am I supposed to believe you?" He says calmly in a gentle voice, one Seungcheol wouldn't mind getting used to.

"We're the evidences! I'm the victim here! He's the thief!" Soonyoung complains.

"Right..." The doctor dismisses, then turns to his nurse. "Min-ah, since this troublemaker here has gotten himself beaten after we've bandaged him, let's get all these off him and have them replaced, restitch the cut above his eyebrow and get an x-ray done again." The doctor sighs, "you better not run away this time," He points at his patient before walking off.

Seungcheol and Soonyoung both scoff at the doctor who had completely ignored them. Seungcheol decides he'll run after him.

"Kid, what's your name?" Soonyoung sits down on the stool beside the bed.

The boy frowns. "Am not a kid."

"But you run around getting into trouble? I say you're a kid." Soonyoung rebutted and the boy clamps his mouth shut, finding nothing witty to say back.

"The name's Chan. Lee Chan." The boy finally admits.

----

Seungcheol chases after the doctor, catching up to the lithe figure pretty quickly in just a few strides.

"Doctor," He says as he runs in front of him, blocking his way.

The doctor looks him in the eye, annoyed. "Move."

"I'll move, if I clear this misunderstanding." Seungcheol says, not willing to back down.

The doctor remains silent.

"That kid-"

"Is that patient your kid?" The doctor immediately catches on to his choice of words.

Seungcheol huffs, well this doctor is interesting.

"Your patient stole my comrade's phone, so we came to find his phone." He uses hand gestures and emphasises the word 'patient', "By chance, we saw him getting hit by a lot of people so we saved him."

"You saved the thief that stole your friend's phone?" The doctor repeats. "It's more natural to have beaten him to death." The doctor simply implies and he whips out his phone to dial 112.

"Hello, is this the police? This is Haesung Hospital-" The doctor starts but in a split second, the phone he had in his hand has been flicked right out of his grasp, sent flying backwards and landing safely in the hands of Seungcheol.

Seungcheol casually catches the phone with ease, his body slightly tilted over the doctor's left in order to do so.

"What are you doing right now?" The doctor asks after gasping, it takes him a few seconds of blinking to register whatever happened. It all happened too fast.

Meanwhile Seungcheol hastily spams the 'end call' button, heaving a sigh of relief when the call ends.

"I'll tell you straightforwardly." Seungcheol says, "Calling the police will cause a bit of a problem."

"Right?" The doctor fake smiles and nods, tone sarcastic as he doesn't believe a word he says.

The doctor stretches out his hand, "Give me back the phone."

Seungcheol sighs for the nth time in today. "Actually, we're soldiers." He admits. "We're soldiers on a break. If we're entangled in an assault case, it'll become rather bothersome. We need to write reports here and there." He explains as patiently as he can, which isn't hard because the doctor's nice to look at.

"I ask for your cooperation." Seungcheol leans forward to do a little bow at the doctor as he smiles.

"Why should I cooperate with you?" This doctor ain't easy. "How would I know if you really are a soldier or not? Give me the phone back."

Seungcheol clears his throat, ready for the lengthy explanation. He reaches for the collar of his t shirt and pulls out a long silver necklace that has metal plates as its pendant. It's an identification tag.

"Every male of the Republic of Korea will have this so you won't believe me," He starts off.

He grabs his wallet from this jacket pocket to take out his military identification card. "If you can say this is forged I have nothing to say," He puts it back.

"Where did you study? If this is Haesung Hospital, you would've graduated from MyeongIn university?"

"Why are you asking that?" The doctor asks, intrigued now.

"Do you know Lee Jihoon by any chance? You guys should be from around the same year."

"How do you know him?" The doctor shakes his head, trying to recall. "Are you by chance...ah...sergeant first class...staff sergeant, it was some sergeant..."

"Sheriff." Seungcheol answers for him.

"Ah yes,  Sheriff. Are you that person?" He asks.

Seungcheol smiles and puts his hands on his waist. "I'm not that person, but let's go together. Someone's going to confirm my identity."

Seungcheol walks off and the doctor scoffs at the seemingly carefree man.

----

"It's been awhile." Jihoon says.

"Yes, it has." Soonyoung replies monotonously, he has his hands held respectfully behind his back.

Jihoon looks away from a second, hiding his frustration. "It must be very difficult for you to avoid me," He breathes out, "but you're looking pretty good."

"Yes, I am." Soonyoung repeats, emotionless.

Jihoon loses a bit of his patience. "When can we talk to each other without our ranks between us?"

Soonyoung says nothing.

"Ah right, you'll just totally ignore me if it wasn't for my rank." Jihoon scoffs.

"Yes, I would." Soonyoung continues speaking in formal language.

"I'm going to kill you." Jihoon spits out. His patience is lost. "How much longer will you avoid me?" Tears form in his eyes.

Jihoon continues when he knows Soonyoung won't say anything back.

"Why won't you pick up your phone? Why wouldn't you let me check up on you?" He raises his voice. "How long will you run from me?"

Silence.

"Answer me."

No response.

"I'm not asking you to give me a reason." Jihoon's tone is hushed now, tired.

"I just wish, you'd let me hear your voice." Jihoon honestly says.

"My reasons are not what you think." Soonyoung finally answers. "I hope you wouldn't think I left for your sake, Lieutenant Lee. I had a change of heart." All of this, he says with no hint of emotion on his face. He's trained for this. "That's it."

"I don't believe you." Jihoon responds.

"If you're finished-"

"Don't do this."

"I'm leaving." Soonyoung says and he turns to walk away from him.

"Stop right there." Soonyoung doesn't.

"Kwon Soonyoung, stop right there."

He continues walking.

"Sergeant Major Kwon Soonyoung." This is Jihoon's last resort.

Soonyoung stops.

"Do you not salute an officer of a higher rank when you leave?" Jihoon says, exasperated.

Soonyoung pauses and pivots on his heel to face Jihoon and he salutes him, standing still until Jihoon walks over.

"Stay right there. Stand there through the night. Until the day you die. I will never take your salute."

Soonyoung stays still.

Seungcheol arrives in time and appears from behind Soonyoung and brings his hand down.

"Hey, this is an alleged abuse." Seungcheol complains.

"This is an education for a cowardly soldier." Jihoon retorts. "What is it?"

"I need you to confirm our identities," Seungcheol says.

"They claim to be soldiers and claim his phone was stolen." The doctor elaborates. "I need to know if I should call the police."

Jihoon looks at them with indifference. "Then you should," He says, "call the police. They're runaway soldiers."

Jihoon sends one last glance to Soonyoung before storming off.

"Hey come on!" Seungcheol yells but shrugs anyway. "You've got the confirmation."

"Fine," the doctor takes the phone out of her pocket and hands it over to Soonyoung who mutters a thank you and looks a tad bit relieved, but tenser than he was before.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what's in your phone." Seungcheol adds just to tease Soonyoung.

Seungcheol and Soonyoung thank the doctor and were about to leave but the pretty doctor stops them.

"I just confirmed your identity. Committing an assault in another problem. Follow me." The doctor says and Seungcheol's bewildered.

Seungcheol follows the doctor to the security room and he requests for access but in the meantime, they wait in the empty corridor, Seungcheol leaning against the wall.

"So, what's your name?" The doctor speaks up and Seungcheol would be lying if he said he never expected the doctor to be interested.

"Seungcheol. Choi Seungcheol." He introduces. "How about you..." He leans closer to the doctor to check his name plate. "Doctor Yoon?"

Doctor Yoon chuckles at the smooth man, "Yoon Jeonghan."

Seungcheol smiles. "Nice to meet you," Seungcheol stretches out his hand for Jeonghan to shake.

"Don't act too friendly."

----

Soonyoung's back with Chan, the latter lying on the bed with a neck brace. Chan turns and fusses about and the two accidentally meet eyes.

"I think we just made eye contact." Soonyoung states the obvious.

Chan looks over at the older and rolls his eyes.

"Have you played any sports?" Soonyoung asks before he adds, "I used to do taekwondo until I was a senior in high school."

Then he gets to the point, "Why did you let them hit you?"

"Things end faster that way." Chan admits.

Soonyoung stops to think and doesn't say a word.

"Well...how did you know I play sports?" Chan continues the conversation.

"I saw the way you got beaten up." Soonyoung explains, "We learn to get beaten up first before we learn to hit others."

Chan nods, "I used to do taekwondo too, throughout my primary, middle and high school years."

"Were you any good?" Soonyoung looks over at Chan.

"I won a gold medal once and..."

The nurse interrupts them as she comes over to ask for his family or relatives because they have to admit him.

"I told you I don't have relatives." Chan groans.

"He does." Soonyoung simply says.

----

"Oh! Oh my gosh. Ohh!" Jeonghan exclaims while watching the security camera's playback of the fight earlier.

He gasps and points at the screen, shocked by the cruelty of the gangsters and even unknowingly cheering Seungcheol and Soonyoung on.

"That's it! Good job!" He giggles at the footage when Seungcheol whacks them in the face and Seungcheol just watches the doctor in adoration.

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding." Jeonghan apologises when they walk out of the room side by side.

"If you're sorry, could you treat me? I'm really hurt." Seungcheol jokes, acting all serious while at it though.

"Where are you hurt?" Jeonghan asks, unbelieving.

"Here." Seungcheol points to his left abdomen.

"Here?" Jeonghan sticks out a finger to press onto his stomach.

"Ah!" Seungcheol recoils immediately, wincing in pain as he grabs Jeonghan's arm for support.

"You're exaggerating." Jeonghan scoffs, still not trusting the man.

"My goodness, I wasn't exaggerating." Seungcheol groans, hand now supporting his abdomen.

He lifts up his shirt to reveal a bloody bandage that looks like it should probably be swapped out anytime soon.

"Oh my gosh!" Jeonghan yelps and leans in to inspect the wound.

Seungcheol smiles when he does, the wound doesn't hurt that much, really. He just wanted Jeonghan's attention.

Next thing he knows, he's being dragged into one of the treatment rooms and Jeonghan sits him down on the bed while he settles himself down on a stool.

He watches as Jeonghan skilfully prepares the equipment and gets to work. He first removes the poorly done bandage carefully and moves on to clean up the wound, removing the dried blood from the wound.

"It looks like your wound opened up while you were fighting. When did you get hurt?" Jeonghan asks, multitasking.

Seungcheol thinks, "It's been a few days."

"What happened?" Jeonghan pries.

"I got hurt while I was doing some labour. That's what soldiers do, labour." Seungcheol lies.

"I see. That is one odd unit." Jeonghan comments, still working on his wound. "It's not every day you get shot while doing some labour." Jeonghan deadpans. He's experienced enough to know what kind of wound he's working with.

Seungcheol looks at him.

"This is a gunshot wound." Jeonghan states, pointing at the wound.

"Have you seen a gunshot wound?" Seungcheol asks, curious.

"I've never seen it in Korea, but I have when I volunteered overseas in Africa."

Seungcheol nods in understanding.

"Now that you mentioned it, this is a wound I got during the Battle or Normandy." Seungcheol says nonchalantly, but there was a hint of a tease and unseriousness.

"Wah...the gunfire fell like rain...and I ran into the battle to save my comrades." Seungcheol shakes his head, seemingly so full of himself and Jeonghan laughs.

"I've redone the stitches already, you can take them out after a week. Until then, you must sterilise the wound every day. There is a clinic in the army, right?" Jeonghan instructs him.

"May I come here?" Seungcheol doesn't waste a second to ask.

"Isn't this place far?" Jeonghan asks, confused.

"May I come every day?" Seungcheol asks again.

"That's not necessary, you can come 3 or 4 times a week if you want to heal quickly." Jeonghan says.

"Will you be my doctor?" Seungcheol's being straightforward.

"It's just sterilisation, you don't need a doctor for that."

"I do, especially the doctor's beauty." Seungcheol flirts.

Jeonghan scoffs, nodding.

"If you pick doctors based on their looks, you've got the best option. I'll reserve you a spot at 2pm." Jeonghan gives in, smiling at the audacity of this man.

Seungcheol leans in. "Doctors don't have boyfriends. They're too busy."

"Soldiers don't have boyfriends either. Too much hard work." Jeonghan counter-argues.

"Who will answer?"

----

Back at the military grounds

Soonyoung has just came back from a night run and enters his team's room to see his best friend in an outfit dilemma.

Seungcheol has his junior hold a full length mirror before him as he switches between two very similar looking military uniforms.

"Which do I look better in? This or this?" Seungcheol asks.

"Let's see the right one again." The junior requests and Seungcheol raises the uniform in front of him.

"Who are you dressing up for?" Soonyoung asks, judging his friend.

"I'm going to Haesung Hospital to get my wound cleaned." Seungcheol says.

"We have a clinic right here but he insists on driving 90 minutes to the hospital." Mingyu says in distaste as he sits on the platform and plays his guitar.

"Shut it." Seungcheol bites back, "Healthy people make a strong nation. I want to get treated at Haesung Hospital where they have the best staff and equipment, so I can recover quickly and protect my nation."

"Ahh..." his junior blindly nods, believing whatever nonsense Seungcheol just spouted.

"The doctors there must be pretty." Soonyoung sees right through him.

----

Haesung Hospital, Tuesday 1.50pm

Jeonghan speeds through the hospital as he straddles a bleeding patient, performing CPR with all his might as his fellow doctors and nurses whisk them towards the operation room.

It was a high risk surgery and Jeonghan was cooped in the operation room for six hours, working tirelessly to save a life. By the time he leaves the room and throws away all of his dirty scrubs, he realises the sky is now dark. What a good time to head home- wait , Seungcheol!

Jeonghan dashes off.

Seungcheol's at the gym, working out shirtless and doing pull ups as sweat drips down his chest and well toned abs. He's disrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.

"Hello?" He picks up the phone call by an unknown number.

"Hello? Choi Seungcheol? This is Yoon Jeonghan." Jeonghan's sweet voice says through the phone and that's enough for a smile to appear on Seungcheol's face.

"Is the surgery over?" He asks just to confirm.

"Yes. I heard you came by." Jeonghan says, his best friend Jisoo told him about a soldier coming to wait outside and only leaving after a few hours. He's currently on his bed at his hospital dormitory, still in his scrubs.

"I've never been stood up by a doctor." Seungcheol jokes to lighten up the mood.

Jeonghan chuckles, "It was an emergency."

"Did he live? The patient." Seungcheol leans against the gym equipment.

"Yes, he did."

"That's great," Seungcheol nods. "Is this your number?"

"Yes."

"You've got mine."

"You can save mine." Jeonghan initiates the flirting this time.

"I'd like to see you tomorrow." Seungcheol asks him out again.

Jeonghan chuckles, "Are you always this direct?"

"I meant I'd like to get treated tomorrow." Seungcheol teases.

Jeonghan's expression turns into a playful scowl, "I know." He answers. "That's what I meant."

"I doubt that." Seungcheol pries further.

Jeonghan laughs airily, "You should trust your doctor. Have you had your medicine?"

"What if I hadn't? Is it bad? Will I have to get admitted into the hospital?" Seungcheol presses and Jeonghan laughs at his obvious attempt to spend more time with him.

"What time are you free tomorrow?" Jeonghan asks instead.

"Scratch that, let's meet right now." He suggests. "Do you mind?

"No, I like it. Come over." Jeonghan says and they end the call.

Seungcheol makes his way over to the hospital dressed up in a dark coloured button down shirt and slacks and Jeonghan puts on the best outfit he can find at his hospital dorm and looks into the mirror of the elevator he's currently in to apply a tint of lipstick.

Seungcheol smiles as he waits in the lobby for Jeonghan, even checking movie timings to see what movies were available. He turns around to see the screen on the other side of the lobby.

His smile drops.

Written in large bold words were 'Two UN employees abducted'. In the next moment, he receives a call from the higher ups.

"Hello? My current location is Haesung Hospital." He sighs. "I'll be on standby." Seungcheol frowns and runs to catch the elevator to leave.

In this same moment, Jeonghan steps out of his elevator, all excited and looking forward to their date. He receives a call from Seungcheol.

"Hello? Are you here?" Jeonghan asks, looking around.

"Yes, I am but...something came up and I have to leave."

"Now? Where are you?" Jeonghan's smile falters.

"At the rooftop."

"The rooftop?"

Jeonghan rushes up to the roof of the hospital and he sees Seungcheol standing alone at the helipad.

"What are you doing here?" Jeonghan says when he makes his way towards Seungcheol.

"Sorry but, I have to stand you up this time." Seungcheol apologises.

The sound of a helicopter whirring catches Jeonghan's attention and he turns to the direction of the loud sound.

"It must be an emergency. The first floor..." Jeonghan thinks it's a medical emergency.

"No," Seungcheol cuts him off. "They're here for me."

"For you? Why?" If it were possible there would be question marks above Jeonghan's head.

Jeonghan's eyes widen in shock when Seungcheol doesn't answer.

"Is there a war?!" He panics but Seungcheol simply smiles.

"There always is, but not in Korea right now." Seungcheol explains.

"Then why would they come for you?"

"I'll explain another time." Seungcheol raises his voice so Jeonghan can hear him above the deafening sound of the helicopter approaching.

"But promise me something, let's meet next weekend. At somewhere else, not here."

"What about your treatment?" Jeonghan shouts back.

"I'll be back in one piece. Let's watch a movie." Seungcheol suggests and Jeonghan looks to the helicopter that's currently landing.

Seungcheol holds him by his shoulders. "I'm out of time and I need an answer." Seungcheol shouts but he's still smiling down at Jeonghan. "Is it a yes or a no?"

Jeonghan looks into his eyes. He nods. "Yes."

With a reassuring smile, Seungcheol runs off towards the helicopter and Jeonghan watches his figure retreating into the night.

Seungcheol places a foot onto the helicopter's step but he hesitates and takes an extra second to look back at Jeonghan who's standing there, watching him leave. He wishes he could tell him everything, why he has to leave, what he's leaving for, and who and what he actually does as his job. But thanks to the confidentiality that comes with his job, it's a law he must keep. So he bites down the urge and steps up into the helicopter.

Jeonghan keeps his gaze on the helicopter as it lifts off the helipad and flies into the night sky, disappearing not long after.

On the helicopter, Wednesday 7.05am

"We are now in the operation area. We will begin the tactical flight." A voice says over the radio and the entire Alpha team hears it.

"How long have we been flying?" Seungcheol asks his Sergeant Major.

"About seven hours." Soonyoung responds.

"Then it must be..." Seungcheol doesn't even have to complete his sentence for Soonyoung to know what he's implying.

"Yes." Soonyoung says.

The team starts removing their identification tags and placing it away.

"Fennec Fox." Soonyoung calls the soldier's code name.

"Sergeant Choi Yeonjun, sir." Yeonjun reports.

"Mosquitoes in this area are especially brutal. Be careful." Soonyoung jokingly warns.

"Yes sir." Yeonjun removes his identification tag as well. "Why are we taking off our identification tags?" He asks.

"When we die in the midst of our operation, we must remain unidentified." Soonyoung explains.

Shortly after, an alarm bell goes off and a red light turns on, signalling that the time is right.

The flap from behind the helicopter opens and the team is ready to jump off.

"Where are we?" Yeonjun asks, yelling so Seungcheol can hear him.

"Afghanistan."

Chapter Text

Haesung Hospital, Wednesday 9.34pm

Jeonghan stares at his computer, resting his chin on his palm as he looks lovingly. 

"So, he just flew off on a helicopter?" Jisoo asks after hearing his best friend's dramatized storytelling, himself sitting on his chair and munching on some fresh apples.

"Mhm, and he hadn't called me yet." Jeonghan replies, but his attention is still on his computer, grinning dumbly at it. 

"You literally just said he took off on a helicopter, he must have some nation-saving thing to do." Jisoo assumes, not caring too much at this point. 

"What are you looking at so endearingly, Hannie?" Jisoo questions.

Jeonghan smiles, "That man's x-ray." Jisoo's facial expression contorts into one of disgust. "This is the only photo I have of him." 

"Gosh, you're crazy." 

Afghanistan, Wednesday 9.34pm

Seungcheol and his team walk stealthily with their backs against a wall, each of them armed with weapons and guns held firm in their hands. They're currently at an abandoned building, the floors dirty and spiderwebs hanging from the ceiling. Seungcheol does an overall check of the interior before raising a hand, signaling that it's safe to enter. His team members soundlessly enter the building, hiding themselves behind pillars and walls, Seungcheol and Soonyoung taking the lead. 

Haesung Hospital, Wednesday 10.26pm

Jeonghan steps into the operation room, putting on his surgical gloves with the aid of his nurse, Seonghwa. He walks towards the patient but the surgeon in charge wasn't the one he had expected to see. It was his rival, not due to their skills but because she had connections to the hospital's vice chairman. 

"What are you doing here?" Jeonghan tries his best to not sound rude. 

"I came to replace doctor Song and you, are my assistant." Eun Ji emphasises the 'you'. 

Jeonghan scoffs in disbelief at her immaturity. "Sure, let's start then." 

Eun Ji is handed the scalpel and they get started. 

Fifteen minutes into the operation, Eunji makes a mistake and immediately, a huge amount of blood is lost and the machines start beeping erratically.

"Kim Eun Ji, what did you just touch?" Jeonghan raises his voice in urgency. 

Afghanistan, Wednesday 10.26pm

The members spread out to find signs of danger and Seungcheol himself walks alone, extremely careful of threats that may come his way. Just then, he hears an almost silent beeping coming from the corner of the room he's currently in. He heads towards it and removes the cloth covering it, revealing an explosive. He skilfully disarms the bomb and in no time, the red light emitting from the bomb switches off. 

Haesung Hospital, Wednesday 10.27pm

"It's Tension Pheumothorax, we need decompression." The doctor informs. 

"14 gauge needle." Jeonghan stretches out his hand to receive it. 

"I'm the operating surgeon, I'll do it." Eunji retaliates.

"Then you should do it immediately." Jeonghan scolds.

Eunji stretches out her own hand and Seonghwa hesitantly places the needle on her hand. She inserts the needle but blood splatters out the needle and hits Jeonghan's chin and neck, staining his surgical mask red. He gasps.

"What are you doing? 28 French CTD." Jeonghan, unlike Eunji, manages to focus. A patient's life is at stake, he can't afford to get mad and mess up.

Afghanistan, Wednesday 11.04pm

The silence in the building is disrupted when a soldier steps into a booby trap and gunshots start being fired towards them. Alpha team uses this distraction as an opportunity to move forward, and Soonyoung shoots down cylindrical metal containers to distract the enemy while they safely make it across the room. 

Seungcheol stands alone behind a wall and he takes out a grenade, pulls out the metal and aims it accurately at the group of men shooting at his team. 

"Ten joule charge,"

"Clear."

"Shoot."

Bullets fall and land at his feet as Seungcheol walks, the bullets clattering loudly onto the concrete floor, shooting relentlessly with perfect aim at his enemies as he walks forward in the battlefield, undisturbed by the constant shouts of pain and the deafening sound of shots being fired.

"30 joule, charge."

"Shoot."

Seungcheol switches to his pistol, heading closer and closer to the hostages he's supposed to save. He jumps and crashes into one of the windows, breaking it and landing in a room with three opponents but he easily gets hold of one and uses him as a shield as he shoots down the other two. When he deems none of them as a threat anymore, he drops the dead body to the floor and leaves. 

Seungcheol has three of his team members by his side as they stand before the room the hostages are supposedly being kept. He gives a quick nod and Mingyu and Minghao kick the doors open while Seungcheol and Soonyoung immediately start firing shots at the opponents in the room who were just about to kill the hostages. 

His members make quick work of untying the ropes around the hostages and after a quick survey of his surroundings and checking up on his members, Seungcheol presses his in-ear, "Mission complete, the hostages are safe."

Haesung Hospital, Wednesday 11.53pm

"Pulse and blood pressure are normal." Seonghwa gladly tells Jeonghan. 

Jeonghan sighs in relief. "Thankfully the worst is over. You should finish this up." He directs the second part to Eunji.

"I will." Eunji seethes. 

Jeonghan stomps out of the room in frustration, fuming as he tosses his dirtied mask and gloves into the dustbin nearby. 

"She should practice if she isn't good enough, or know her place if she has a dull head. Why does she bite off more than she can chew?" Jeonghan grunts in annoyance.

Seonghwa comes out awhile after, comforting Jeonghan and telling him that he'd done well and the two enjoy a moment of silence, taking a breather after the tense surgery.

"Seonghwa, are you still ringless?" Jeonghan changes the topic to a lighter one. 

Seonghwa chuckles, "Nope, Hongjoong put a ring on my finger." He takes his engagement ring out of his pocket and shows it off to Jeonghan. The diamond ring sparkles brightly even under the dim hospital lights.

"Lucky you~" Jeonghan sings. 

Jeonghan puts on a jacket over his scrubs, carrying his tote bag out with him as he shuts his office door. 

"Don't call me, I'm on leave today!" He warns Jisoo who happened to be standing around drinking his coffee. 

"What's the occasion today?" He asks, still sipping on his drink, barely caring. 

"I've got a date," Jeonghan playfully winks.

Jisoo gasps in horror. "Please don't tell me you're going on a date looking like that." 

Jeonghan walks away and ignores Jisoo. "You really shouldn't!" Jisoo yells one last time before Jeonghan waves a dismissive hand at him and trudges off in his slippers, dragging his feet with how tired he was. 

Stepping out of the hospital, Jeonghan sighs as he takes a deep breath of fresh air in, being cooped in the hospital really is draining him. He raises both his hands over his head to stretch, bending sideways and sighing in relief when he hears his bones pop at that. 

Halfway stretching, his eyes catch someone looking at him, a super handsome and well built man leaning against his car- Seungcheol! 

Jeonghan gasps in shock and immediately brings his arms down to cover his face as Seungcheol walks towards him with his hands in his pockets.

"Why are you two hours early? I didn't get the timing wrong did I?" Jeonghan whines, avoiding eye contact. 

"Well, it feels nice to have someone to wait for." Seungcheol chuckles at the cute boy. "By the way, why are you covering your face?" Seungcheol leans closer and Jeonghan backs away. 

"I'm not wearing makeup," Jeonghan honestly says. 

"You look good though," Seungcheol compliments, smiling. 

Jeonghan takes a peek over his arms, "Really? Hmm, maybe it's because I'm pretty on the inside? Should I not take a shower then?" Jeonghan drops his arms.

"Get in, I'll take you home." Seungcheol chuckles.

Jeonghan scoffs and walks off towards Seungcheol's car, "So you do want me to take a shower." 

Seungcheol simply smiles and follows the pouty beauty. 

The drive to Jeonghan's home was peaceful, Seungcheol mostly allowing him to rest because he knew how tired he was, or rather, Jeonghan really let it show on his face how exhausted he was. He almost fell asleep and he must admit, Seungcheol's a great driver.

When they arrive at Jeonghan's home, he asks Seungcheol to make himself comfortable while he takes a shower. 

"There are a few pamphlets on my fridge, could you help us order lunch? I'm starving." Jeonghan points at his fridge. 

"Sure," Seungcheol heads towards his fridge. "What would you like?" He scans the different restaurants. 

"Black bean noodles!" Jeonghan yells from the bathroom and Seungcheol chuckles again, he really wasn't giving him a choice huh.

He reaches for the Chinese restaurant pamphlet stuck on the fridge but he gets distracted by a photo of Jeonghan with his mother when he was younger, taken during his graduation. He leans in to take a closer look, smiling at how cute Jeonghan was wearing the graduation cap that looks a tad too big for him. 

His eyes trace lower and they land on a piece of paper, a notice that water supply will be disrupted on Thursday from 1 to 3pm. Seungcheol checks the current time, 12.57pm. 

As expected, in three minutes time Jeonghan waddles out of the bathroom in an oversized tee and shorts, a towel wrapped around his head.

“Have you ordered food?” Jeonghan pretends nothings wrong.

"Did you finish washing your hair?" Seungcheol acts dumb. “It says the water supply will be cut off at 1pm.”

Jeonghan takes a good look at the notice before sending him a glare and rushing to his fridge to grab two large bottles of mineral water- a substitute for tap water and beelines for the bathroom, too embarrassed to look Seungcheol in the face. 

"The water is cold, should I heat it up for you?" Seungcheol suggests, still trying his best not to laugh. 

"No thanks!" Jeonghan yells.

Seungcheol chuckles at the cute boy as he shuts the bathroom door.

Seungcheol and Jeonghan have settled down on the carpeted floor, consuming their food after Jeonghan had finally emerged out the bathroom, complaining about how cold the water was and Seungcheol simply looked at him in disbelief.

“I’m asking just because I’m curious-” Seungcheol starts.

“Don’t be curious.”

“Do you even know what I’m about to ask?”

“I can see your urge to make fun of me on your face right now.” Jeonghan side-eyes him.

“How? This is just a handsome face.” Seungcheol replies nonchalantly.

Jeonghan scoffs, reaching over behind him to get a candle. “So what question did you have for me?”

“Did you think of me?”

Jeonghan’s eyes widen at the straightforward question. He’s more used to people beating around the bush.

“I did, how about you?” Jeonghan busies himself with lighting the candle and placing it behind him.

“I thought of you a lot, like a man does.” Jeonghan almost laughs at the second part of his sentence.

“Anyway, thank you for not teasing me about my hair.” Jeonghan genuinely thanks him.

“No problem. Oh right, I should drink some mineral water.” Seungcheol brings it up, using mineral water as reference from when Jeonghan had to use them to wash his hair.

“Hey!”

They head to the cinema, thankfully located just nearby Jeonghan’s home. They sit side by side as more people start trickling in, finding their own seats.

“This is when I get the most excited,” Jeonghan admits, “just before the lights go off.”

Seungcheol smiles, “This is the most exciting moment in my life, that I’m with someone as beautiful as you are before the lights go out.” He flirts, slightly leaning over to Jeonghan’s seat.

“Not a senior citizen?” Jeonghan jokes, always identifying himself as a senior citizen due to his constant backaches and his love for nagging.

“Oh right, the lights are too dark, I must’ve mistaken you to be beautiful.” Seungcheol plays along with the joke, causing Jeonghan to scoff again, the audacity of this man!

“Earlier, you called me without honorifics didn’t you?” Seungcheol asks after they’ve gone silent for awhile.

“Yes, I did.”

“How old are you? You would’ve already known my age from my history sheet.”

“Well, hyungie made fun of me first…” Jeonghan cheekily adds.

Seungcheol tries to hide the grin on his face by looking at and stirring his cup of iced coffee.

“Oh…so I’m your hyung?” Seungcheol likes this.

“I was lying, I’m your hyung!” Jeonghan lies through his teeth, all while giggling at the confused Seungcheol.

“I don’t think so. Show me your ID, I was worried that you might be a minor.” Seungcheol feigns seriousness. There’s no way Jeonghan’s older than him.

He does manage to put a smile on Jeonghan’s face though. Just as he was admiring Jeonghan’s beauty, he feels the dreadful vibrations of his phone. He reaches into his pocket, only for his expression to fall into a serious one. He picks it up.

“Salute. Captain Choi Seungcheol. Yes sir. Understood.” He sighs as he ends the call.

Jeonghan catches on. “Is there something wrong?”, his voice laced with concern and Seungcheol feels so bad.

“I think I have to go now.” Is all he can say.

“Right now?” Jeonghan asks.

“Yes, I’m sorry.” Seungcheol doesn’t look him in the eye, far too guilty to do so.

Jeonghan sighs, “Am I being stood up again?” He doesn’t hide his disappointment.

“I’m really sorry, Jeonghan. Let’s watch this another time,” Seungcheol shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll just watch it alone. You can leave.”

Seungcheol gives him one last look, hoping to convey his apologies through it. But he has to leave. Once the higher ups requests his attendance, he doesn’t have a say in it. So he says a quick “I’ll call you later, and stands up to leave the theatre in a hurry.

Jeonghan fidgets with his fingers, sighing deeply for the nth time as he recalls the previous time he was stood up by Seungcheol even before their date started. He thought I’d be different this time, but sometimes he forgets Seungcheol is a soldier, working for their country. He wishes their circumstances were different.

He receives a call from Seokmin. “I really didn’t want to bother you, but…”

Jeonghan was up on his feet in seconds, dashing right out of the theatre just as Seungcheol had earlier, except he wasn’t leaving anyone behind. This can’t be, is what Seokmin had told him was true…

He arrives at Haesung Hospital in fifteen minutes after hurriedly hailing a cab. He runs into the hospital and makes his way to the director’s office.

Jisoo, Wonwoo and Seokmin watch as Jeonghan runs right past them, Jisoo sighing sadly as he asks Seokmin. “Did you call him?”

Seokmin mirrors Jisoo’s gloomy expression. “Yeah. How could I not? It was really obvious this time that Jeonghan hyung was supposed to get the position.”

Jisoo scoffs, not teasing but because of the absurd situation right now. “No one doubted that Kim Eun Ji would get the position this time. But the previous two times were her seniors, this time Eunji’s the same age as him, he’s going to be so mad.”

Seokmin nods, “Jeonghan hyung has literally been living in the operation room.” He pities his hyung sometimes.

“I heard Eunji’s father is a huge shareholder in this company, and sadly in the world we live in, that affiliation matters more than skills.” Jisoo explains.

“This is ridiculous! We should judge doctors by their abilities!” Seokmin near yells in frustration. He cannot assure the professor’s safety the next time he sees him.

“You said it would be me, you promised.” Jeonghan says, exasperated. He doesn’t even have the energy to yell anymore. “This is my third time already. On my first try, you said I was too young. On my second try, you said you needed to help those who helped you with your papers.”

“How dare you! Do I owe you a professor’s position?”

Jeonghan gets teary eyed, he can’t believe this. “If you say it like that then I have nothing to say. Yes, I know family background is also a skill. Then who’s next? A minister’s son? Or the president’s niece? I thought at least once out of the three tries, I could depend on my professional skills.” Jeonghan’s losing his patience with this man, he knows his worth, he knows he’s excellent in the surgery room. This was unacceptable.

Right on time, Eunji knocks on the door and welcomes herself in before the director manages to say anything. The director gets on his feet the moment he sees her, standing up to quickly usher her to sit down comfortably, quickly dismissing Jeonghan.

When the director leaves the room to retrieve some items and Jeonghan was ready to walk right out the door, Eunji stops her with her book, blocking Jeonghan’s vision.

“Hey! I need you to fill in for an broadcast interview tomorrow because I’ll be busy.” She talks in her signature ‘sweet’ voice that Jeonghan wants to puke at.

“You’re asking me to fill in for you?” Jeonghan asks incredulously.

“Yeah! Why not? You need to listen to your professor.” She emphasises the word ‘professor’.

She hands him the file she had on her hands and asks Jeonghan to memorise it for some broadcast show their company is paying a lot for, but Jeonghan really couldn’t care less about where the company’s money was going to, especially if it wasn’t for helping patients.

He throws the file to the ground. “What if I say no? What will you do?” Jeonghan rages.

“Well…we can see to that…” and Jeonghan knows exactly what she’s implying.

“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

“Well, I am. But look where it got me, you worked your ass off just to get…where?”

Jeonghan takes a sharp intake of air, eyes watery as he looks at Eunji is disbelief. He’s had enough, storming out of the room with the file in his hand. How it got there, he doesn’t know. All he knows is that he needs to get as far away as possible from there before he breaks down.

He finds an empty hallway with its lights dimmed and Jeonghan crouches to sit down on the cold floor against the windows. He stares at the file, and he finally lets it out. The tears came streaming down his cheeks, crying out loud no that he’s sure no one would hear him. He grips onto the file tight while hugging himself. What did he do to deserve this? Was he not enough? Will he ever be enough?

Ten minutes later and he finds himself looking through the file, trying his best to take in as much information as possible and crying even more when he fails to remember his lines. Jeonghan doesn’t give up though, he never was the type. So he goes on and on, reading the file over and over again even with tears constantly wetting the plastic file.

Military Grounds, Friday 8.34am

“Good job, everyone.” Seungcheol addresses his team when they arrive back at their dorm.

“Thank you sir!”

“Until roll call, check your weapons thoroughly.” Seungcheol instructs.

Just as they were about to unpack their weapons, the commander enters their room and Seungcheol requests for attention.

“Are there any injuries?” The commander asks.

“No sir. No one was injured.” Seungcheol answers on behalf of his team.

“Thank you. Alpha Team has worked hard at home and abroad. So as your commanding officer, I have decided to send Alpha Team on an 8 month vacation.” The commander announces.

“To where, sir?” Seungcheol turns from his position to face the commander properly.

“To Urk where Taebaek Unit is stationed.”

Seungcheol blinks.

“For the next two weeks, you can visit your loved ones.”

Seungcheol and Soonyoung are stunned by the sudden announcement.

“Alright, get out of here as soon as possible. Dismissed.” And the commander leaves.

“Salute!” Seungcheol salutes the commander.

Behind him, he can hear Yeonjun, their newest member ask why their being sent on a vacation and sounding excited for it.

“We’re being dispatched. That’s our vacation.” Mingyu explains to them, “But, we will be able to get some rest there!” He exclaims to bring up his morale and as expected, Yeonjun jumps in excitement.

The two oldest however, have faces filled with worry and contemplation.

Haesung Hospital, Friday 11am

Seungcheol walks into the hospital he’s seems to be visiting a little too often these days, in search of a certain beauty.

“By any chance, do you know where Dr Yoon is? He isn’t picking up his phone.” He asks one of the doctors he saw Jeonghan with the previous time.

“Dr Yoon is currently right there.” Seokmin points to a tv screen.

Intrigued, Seungcheol walks towards the screen and sees Jeonghan on live tv, speaking fluently and dressed so beautifully. And unlike the previous time he’d seen him at the hospital, Jeonghan had his makeup done and his hair styled, and Seungcheol wonders how one could possibly look this wonderful. He unknowingly smiles at the screen, in awe as he tunes in to Jeonghan’s sweet voice.

“I heard this was your first time on a show and you don’t seem nervous at all! Your explanations are really easy to follow as well.” The announcer compliments Jeonghan, the cute boy blushing.

“I’m actually shaking like crazy, I guess it doesn’t show.” Jeonghan giggles.

Jeonghan’s home, Friday 8.37pm

Jeonghan drives back home and he’s really exhausted enough. The interview and live broadcast went better than he thought it would, he actually enjoyed his time there. Maybe he had a knack for it. That being said though, he was also mentally drained from everything he’d gone through in the past day, and all he wants now was sleep.

That is, until he saw Seungcheol waiting outside the door for him and his plans to sleep early came crashing down. They went to a café nearby, both their faces solemn and wondering who would speak up first.

“I’m sorry that I left you alone that day.” Seungcheol apologizes.

“I don’t want an apology, but an explanation.” Jeonghan continues when he realises Seungcheol doesn’t have an answer for him. “Where did you go this time? Went to take a chopper again?”

“No, I didn’t go far this time.” Seungcheol tries his best to smile. “Due to the regulations, I can’t tell you the details.”

“Right,” Jeonghan nods, disappointed. “You’re not a spy are you?”

Seungcheol doesn’t answer.

“I had a very long day, and I thought of you now and then. The guy that I met, where is he. what does he do…and even now when I’m with you, you can’t tell me because of regulations.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jeonghan ignores him. “Are you with the Special Forces or something?”

“Similar.”

“You’ve had a gun shot wound, meaning you got shot. Which also means you can use a gun, so…you may kill or be killed. Is that what you do?”

No answer.

“I spend over 12 hours in the OR every day to save people who are about to die. That’s what I do. I fight to save lives. But your fight, is to save people by killing others.”

Seungcheol remains silent for awhile, contemplating his words before he confesses.

“I’m a soldier. Soldiers follow orders. Sometimes what I believe is right or wrong means something else to another and even then, I do my best to complete my missions. So far, I have lost three of my comrades during these missions.” Seungcheol recalls the heart wrenching moments when he’d seen his comrade, a friend of his, get shot in the chest right before his eyes.

“The reason why we do what we do…is because someone has to do it. Your family and you, and everyone we hold dear. I believe I fight for the peace and freedom of the land we live on.”

Jeonghan understands, but he doesn’t at the same time.

“I’m a doctor. I believe that life is sanctified, and that no value or ideology is above it.”

“Right.” Seungcheol nods.

“I’m sorry but, this didn’t go the way I expected.” Jeonghan says.

“I understand.”

“I should go.” Jeonghan steels himself.

“It was nice knowing you. Goodbye.” Seungcheol says and Jeonghan leaves.

Seungcheol feels a bitter pang in the chest when Jeonghan passes by him outside the transparent glass walls of the café. 

Military Grounds, 10.02pm

Seungcheol stands in the shower, allowing the scalding hot water to wash off his thoughts. He wipes the condensation off the mirror and he stares at himself through it and in deep thought until Soonyoung walked in.

Seungcheol scoffs. “Why are you back so early?”

“What about you?” Soonyoung asks back and Seungcheol gets the point he’s trying to make.

“Aren’t you going to see Jihoon? You won’t see him for over six months.” Seungcheol notes.

“Did you see the doctor?” Soonyoung avoids the question again, neither him nor Seungcheol willing to answer each other’s questions.

“Pass me the razor.” Seungcheol points to Soonyoung’s amenities bag.

“Seargant Gong says the Urk ladies are beauties. Actresses work in the fields, singers pluck grapes."

Seungcheol scoffs.

Urk training grounds, Thursday 7.14am (two weeks later)

“Handsome men are everywhere, but I am a real man, a really great man.”

The soldiers run laps around their training ground shirtless, chanting a chant they’ve now grown accustomed to saying. Seungcheol and Soonyoung run alongside them, leading the group. The scenery here was beautiful, and the team find themselves slowly adjusting to living here.

Urk Minefield, Thursday 9.56am

Seungcheol comfortably closes his eyes as he rests in the team’s vehicle, enjoying a little nap.

Soonyoung walks by.

“Are you napping, by any chance?” Soonyoung feels betrayed, he’d been sweating the past hour locating landmines.

“I was deep in thought about our role…as peacekeepers.” Seungcheol’s talking nonsense and Soonyoung’s used to it.

“Would you like my coffee?” Soonyoung has this ridiculous habit of speaking in formal language to Seungcheol even when they’re alone. But Seungcheol had gotten used to it and plays along all the time.

“I prefer plain water.”

Before Soonyoung could whack him with his free hand, Seungcheol’s walkie talkie buzzes to life.

“Golden retriever to command. We located an explosive. I repeat, an explosive.”

Seungcheol and Soonyoung immediately get to work, heading to where the rest of the team are.

“It’s a 82mm missile.” Mingyu reports.

Seungcheol looks to Soonyoung for more reports.

“It’s Russian, shot by North Urk during the border skirmish.” Soonyoung answers.

“Are the fuses live?” Seungcheol asks the most important question.

Soonyoung nods, “We should be careful, it has a huge casualty radius.”

Seungcheol nods and from the site of the missile, they hear Minghao.

“We completed the preliminaries, what should we do? We’ll be told to stay away until the troops arrive here.” Minghao shouts so the rest can hear him.

“Staff Seargant Xu, what’s our motto?” Seungcheol asks.

Minghao chuckles, “Go easy and all will be well. Avoid hard work.”

“Staff Seargant Kim, what is hard work?” Seungcheol asks like a teacher asking a student about a concept they’re supposed to remember.

“One, sending memorandums. Two, sending memorandums. Three, sending memorandums.” Mingyu diligently answers, proud of this motto they have even though he finds it hilarious every single time.

Seungcheol sees another new recruit, Taehyun, nodding his head as if he understood the motto.

“Let the troops defend world peace. This is our job. The commander on site will take full responsibility. That’s me.” Seungcheol proudly announces.

Corps Command, Thursday 12.00pm

“Who was it? Which one of you was it?! Just because you’re out there on your own doesn’t mean our instructions can be ignored like a barking dog! You can dispose of duds, but call he US troops if you find a live one, how many times did I remind you? Who was it that got us into this mess?” Their lieutenant reprimands them.

“As far as I remember, my deputy…” Seungcheol starts and at the mention of his second-in-command, the lieutenant looks at Soonyoung. “didn’t stop me.”

At that, Soonyoung looks over judgementally, cursing at his best friend with his eyes but turning back forward to respect their senior.

“Why didn’t you stop me? What are you doing?” Seungcheol scolds, relaxing more now and putting both his hands on his waist. Even their lieutenant looks confused at Seungcheol’s outburst. “You know how much I love writing memorandums!” Seungcheol emphasises his ‘frustration’ by using his hands and slapping them together.

When the lieutenant looks at Seungcheol after his outburst, Seungcheol explains. “I thought he has finished the letter asking for cooperation. Why? Because my second-in-command is an eloquent writer.”

Soonyoung looks over for the second time, this time looking absolutely done with Seungcheol’s bullshit.

“He’s like Tolstoy when it comes to writing letters!” The officer looks bewildered for a second.

“You idiots! Both of you pack up your kits!”

“We were born as sons of our motherland…” Seungcheol and Soonyoung sing their cant as they run around the training ground once again, but this time with their bags and weapons on.

When their teammates see them coming, Mingyu hurries to tell everyone, “They’re here!” And everyone runs out of their resting area to stand in neat rows and in attention.

“Attention. Go…back inside!” Mingyu yells and everyone runs back in to rest.

Seungcheol and Soonyoung chuckle at their kids playing around, even though it was making fun of them, but still.

“Keep up the good work!” Mingyu shouts.

A couple of laps later, Seungcheol tries to soothe Soonyoung.

“Don’t you think physical punishment is better than writing a letter?”

Soonyoung stops running altogether. “Do you really want to get physical?”

Seungcheol laughs breathlessly and continues running, leaving a potentially raging Soonyoung behind.

“We are united with the will to fight. We shall do our duty and protect our nation…”

6 months later, Haesung Hospital, Monday 10.45am

Jeonghan’s live broadcast plays on every tv screen in the hospital as he walks in confidently, dressed in an expensive dress shirt. People recognize him as he walks past and he greets them politely, showing off his pretty smile.

He heads straight to his own office and puts on his white coat while his nurse, Seonghwa, informs him of their schedule today.

“The wife of the Yoo Seong Electronics CEO is hospitalized again.” Seonghwa looks at his clipboard.

“She’s back? Why? Wasn’t she just released yesterday?” Jeonghan asks, concerned.

“The CEO’s legal wife came back and kicked her out.” Seonghwa shakes his head in disapproval.

“What? Those people mistake our hospital as hotels, really.” Jeonghan tsks, “Let’s go to see our VIP patients.” Jeonghan optimistically says with a bright smile on his face.

After half a day of meeting VIP patients and listening to their unimportant rants or problems like not being able to keep up with his young girlfriend, or requesting for endless DNA results, Jeonghan takes a break to get some lunch for his best friends.

“Hey! Look who’s here! Isn’t it Professor Yoon Jeonghan?” Seokmin exclaims excitedly when Jeonghan comes around. Yeah, he definitely loves his friends.

“Have some! I added extra olives for you, Junie!” Jeonghan places the huge bag of subway takeaways onto the counter.

“You really never know what life will bring. The moment you picked up that microphone, you became the face of Haesung Hospital.” Jisoo smiles at his best friend, it’s great seeing how genuinely happy Jeonghan has become now that he’d found career success.

“Yeah, we really have no idea.” Jeonghan agrees.

“Shame on you. You still introduce yourself as a surgeon.” Eunji comments from behind Seokmin.

Jeonghan sighs and stares directly at her.

“What are you looking at?” Eunji asks as if she doesn’t know.

“You, I’m looking at you. You aren’t a surgeon either, you’re just your father’s daughter.” Jeonghan isn’t afraid.

“A surgeon should be in the operation room, not in dressing rooms.” Eunji flutters her eyelashes.

“Neither of us are in the OR. I’m busy and you’re not good enough.” Jeonghan quips right back.

Eunji storms forward, stopping right beside Seokmin. “Stop acting up, you’re only there because I let you be my substitute!”

“Stop being jealous. You got fired the moment I showed up.”

“You think you’re so amazing.”

“Come on, I just took back what was mine after you stole it from me. So why don’t you leave me alone and focus or your life?” Jeonghan argues, but his attitude was relaxed, much different from six months ago.

“I have to go!” Jeonghan returns to his normal bubbly self as he informed his friends.

Eunji almost chases after him but Jisoo holds her back, “Hey hey.”

Eunji looks at him and pouts. “So annoying.”

Jisoo simply laughs, trust Jeonghan to be good with his words. What can he say? He was proud.

Jeonghan heads to the rooftop after completing his work, where Seungcheol had left him the first time. Looking out at the night sky and the bright lights coming from skyscrapers and the tiny cars on the road, he takes a breather and recalls moments he’d had with Seungcheol.

“I thought of you a lot, like a man would.”

“This is our first date, I tried making it romantic with this candle.” Jeonghan chuckles.

“Why not put it in the middle?” Seungcheol shifts to grab the candle but Jeonghan moves to block him with his body.

“I look prettier with back light. I want the light behind me,” Jeonghan uses his left hand to lazily point at the candle behind him. “to make me look prettier. Don’t move! I calculated your angle and line of sight as well.” Jeonghan jokes.

Seungcheol chuckles

“But…you’re injured again.” Jeonghan brings up the cut slightly above Seungcheol’s eyebrow.

“Was it shovelling again?”

“What do you think the odds are that you’d hurt your face while shovelling?" Seungcheol puts down his spoon to ask.

“I don’t think so. Right?”

“I was able to pull that difficult thing off.”

Jeonghan laughs, Seungcheol likes seeing Jeonghan laugh.

“Are you so busy that you don’t get to wash your hair often?” Seungcheol asks once they’ve settled down from laughing.

“Well, yeah. I practically live in the OR.” Then Jeonghan sits up straight all of a sudden. “Do you know how sexy I am in the OR?”

Jeonghan covers the top and bottom half of his face except his eyes. “Even though you can only see my eyes, I’m really pretty you know?”

Seungcheol watches in amusement.

“Aish, I want to date that person. Where is she now?” Seungcheol teases and Jeonghan lets his hands plop down in annoyance.

“Hey!”

Jeonghan does find himself wandering off with his thoughts from time to time. He wonders what Seungcheol’s doing now. Lying in bed? In battle? He’d never know.

Urk, Training Grounds, Tuesday 9.32am

“What are you doing?” Seungcheol looks at Chan, who’s struggling to dig something.

“Oh! Salute! Lance Corporal Lee Chan! I’m digging a drain.” Chan replies way to eagerly.

“Do you think I asked because I don’t know?” Seungcheol sighs at the shirtless boy.

Chan looks around, confused.

“You’ll never get it done if you grip it like this. Watch carefully.” Seungcheol tells him the exact places to grip the shovel and the right muscles to use.

He then demonstrates it once and right when he lifts the shovel, it breaks apart.

“Ah!”

Chan snickers, “That’s why I was going slowly, sir.”

Seungcheol raises his arm and sees that he’d cut himself.

“You’re bleeding!” Chan yelps.

“Wah, I really hurt myself while shovelling.” He says in disbelief, he thinks of Jeonghan.

“Hold on! You need medical aid!” Chan grabs a marker out of nowhere and starts writing ‘hurt shovelling’ in big letters on Seungcheol’s arm. Just like Seungcheol has done for him when they first met.

Seungcheol looks incredulously at his arm.

“Attention. At ease. Attention.” Chan doesn’t have a choice but to obey.

Soonyoung happens to walk by just in time to see this.

“Is there something wrong?” He asks, clueless.

“Why did you bring this kid here?” Seungcheol asks, exasperated.

“I like him. What do you need?” Soonyoung directs the question to Chan.

“Wine and whipped cream, sir.” Chan obediently replies.

“It’s Seargent Gong’s birthday. They’re grilling steak and he’s a great cook.”

“Oh it’s today? Put me in charge of procuring the wine.”

Velvet Bar, Tuesday 11.13am

Seungcheol and Soonyoung sit on the bar’s stools as they wait for their supplies to arrive. It’s a bar, located in a wooden house a quick drive away from their training grounds. There were plenty of people today, playing a game of darts, pool, or simply drinking alcohol and chatting.

“Here is your wine. I’m getting whipped cream ready, just wait a little baby.” Tasha, one of the bartenders working here, flirts confidently, placing her arms around the both of them for a moment.

“Yeah no problem.”

“Sure thing.”

She winks before leaving.

Seungcheol and Soonyoung both watch her leave in awe, “She did that to me.” Soonyoung says before Seungcheol even gets the chance to claim that the wink was directed to him.

Just as the two bicker about this same situation every single time they come here for supplies, a boy who can’t be much older than Chan walks in to stand beside them at the bar.

“Did you get the thing I asked for?” The boy asks Tasha in english.

Tasha smirks at him as she reaches below the counter to pull out a pistol and hands it to him. This gets Seungcheol’s and Soonyoung’s attention as they eye the gun suspiciously.

“Treat it with care, sweetheart.” Tasha smiles at the boy.

The boy checks the gun out, “This is a little heavy, how do I use it?”

The moment he finishes his question, he aims the gun at Seungcheol with a blank expression.

“Oh my goodness, come on!” Seungcheol complains.

Seungcheol and Soonyoung both raise their hands up in surrender, even spilling their drinks in a haste, that boy may end up accidentally shooting them for all they know. Tasha watches in amusement.

“So I can shoot now? This is effective.” The boy mumbles to himself in korean, nodding at the pistol.

Seungcheol almost scoffs as he lowers his hands to snatch the gun away from the boy’s hands swiftly and easily, putting the boy in the vulnerable spot he was earlier. The boy hurriedly raises his hands in surrender.

“Are you Korean?” Seungcheol asks, pistol still pointing at him.

“People who speak korean aren’t all Korean.” The boy snaps back.

The boy makes an attempt to snatch his pistol back but he was too slow and untrained for that like Seungcheol was.

“A gun isn’t a dog who knows its owner. This gun can hurt anyone, you included. If I shoot, you get shot.” Seungcheol says and he proceeds to dismantle the gun into three main parts and places them on the counter.

“Why did you buy a gun if you don’t even know how to use it?” Seungcheol wonders.

The boy scowls at him. “I didn’t buy it to kill anyone, I bought it to protect myself.” He grabs the pistol parts and glares at Seungcheol, “Get over yourself.” And he storms out the bar.

Soonyoung’s eyes follow him, concerned. “Do you think it’s okay for us to let him take the gun?”

“I mean,” Seungcheol nods, “he’s free to have it.” He turns to Tasha, “Who is he?”

Tasha shrugs, dissatisfied with the question. “There’s two things we don’t sell here. Women, and information. Here’s your whipped cream.” She answers before leaving the counter.

Haesung Hospital, Tuesday 12.19pm

“Urk? Where’s Urk?” Seokmin asks.

“It’s at the end of the Balkan Peninsula at the West. Didn’t Haesung group build an environmentally friendly power plant there?” Jisoo shares his information.

“They said it’s volunteer work. No idea who would be assigned there though, must be someone who has no money or strings to pull.” Wonwoo says, a pair of chopsticks in his hands as he takes minute mouths of rice.

 “It must be someone like me then, I have no money, luck or any strings to pull!” Seokmin exclaims in defeat.

“You’re warmhearted, and you look absolutely stunning.” Jisoo coos at his boyfriend, Seokmin giggling at the praise.

The others at the table gag at their public display of affection, but both Jisoo and Seokmin know they’re just teasing. Singles.

Their playful banter was disrupted by the hospital’s chairman, and they all quickly stand on their feet to acknowledge him. With a expressionless face, the chairman addresses Jeonghan.

“Make time tonight, to have dinner with me.” Is all he says before leaving a stunned Jeonghan and is even more stunned friends.

“Did the chairman just ask me out?” Jeonghan asks, a tad bit confused. He’ll leave out the part where he feels it was a little rude of the chairman to just tell him to make time for him instead of being a gentleman and ask, but he brushes it off.

Hotel Suite, Tuesday 8pm

Jeonghan had dressed up a little, put on his favourite dress shoes and perfume and here he is, walking through the doors of a hotel suite. He stands there awkwardly, not knowing what to do especially because this wasn’t what he expected.

“What are you doing there? Come and sit.” The chairman shrugs his shoulders.

“Are we having dinner here?” Jeonghan asks, unbelieving.

“We’re not here to just eat dinner.”

“You said we were going to a sky lounge.” Jeonghan wouldn’t have dressed up this well if he’d known they were just going to be in a hotel room.

The chairman looks to the window. “Sky,” He looks to the couches, “lounge. I have everything here, do you need more?”

“How about manners?” Jeonghan puts his hands in his pockets. He really couldn’t care less that this was his boss, chairman or whatever. The audacity of this sorry excuse of a man, to invite for dinner and treat him like he’s worth nothing? “Am I foolish for expecting this, but maybe some romance?” he did ask him out.

“Is this what you like?”

“Is this what you like then?” Jeonghan retorts.

“I thought everyone knew I was easy going. We can order food, do you want to take a shower while we wait? If not, I can go first.” The chairman unbuttons his dress shirt before Jeonghan even registers how stupid the question was.

Jeonghan scoffs to himself and he smiles. Not the kind of genuine smile he gives Seungcheol when he makes a teasing joke, but a well-practiced fake smile. He walks towards the chairman.

“That’s it, you’ve made a great choice. Come here.” The chairman was obviously getting the wrong idea.

When Jeonghan reaches a foot away from the Chairman, he raises the bag he’d meticulously chosen for this ‘date’, and aims to hit the Chairman’s head, pausing mid-air for the suspense and also the fun of it.

“Oh! What are you doing? Are you going to hit me?” The chairman raises his hands to shield himself from the bag.

“Yes.”

Haesung Hospital, Wednesday 9.52am

“YOU HIT THE CHAIRMAN?”

“I almost killed him! Do you think he’ll fire me? I am the face of this hospital after all...” Jeonghan bites his lip.

“He’s the chairman of this hospital after all…” Jisoo challenges his logic.

Jeonghan groans, “I have to go to a meeting, how will I face him?”

“Maybe you should glare at him. Glare at him like you’d kill him. It hurts to be glared at you know?” Jisoo suggests.

“What if he really falls for me after that? That’s what I’m worried about.”

Jisoo wants to punch his best friend square in the face.

Meeting room, Wednesday 10am

“Our next issue is about the Urk volunteering team. I thought about taking applications from volunteers, but I wanted to send the best medical experts there. I have decided to send the star of our hospital, Yoon Jeonghan, as the team leader of the volunteering team. It may not be a hotel, but we’re currently building a clean lodging for the team. I’m sure you’ll take this, Doctor Yoon.” The Chairman smirks.

Jeonghan’s eyes widen in disbelief.

Seokmin sees his expression, “Life is full of surprises huh.”

Urk Training Grounds, Thursday 11.33am

“Have you seen the list of medical volunteers?” Soonyoung looks at the file in his hands.

“I have.”

“Isn’t the team leader that doctor?” Soonyoung somewhat remembers his name.

“Yes.”

“I guess you two were meant to cross paths.” Soonyoung thinks aloud.

“I think we’re just bumping into each other while we pass by.” Seungcheol replies honestly.

Urk International Airport, 1.27pm

The airport was pretty barren, probably because this airport was rarely used for commercial flights. The weather was excruciatingly hot, Jeonghan’s team members complaining about the heat while fanning themselves.

“The UN supposedly sent us a plane and some people. Let’s just wait a little longer.” Jeonghan says, trying to sound as optimistic as he can. The heat’s really getting to him as well.

“We are…waiting. We are waiting here, but it’s too hot.” Seokmin speaks for the rest of the team.

“Life is full of surprises.” Jisoo teases him.

Seokmin reaches for his phone as he feels it vibrating. He’s way too out of it to be fully aware of what the person on the phone was saying.

“Hello? Who is this? Chairman? Chairman of what? Han what? Han Seok Won, yes, Han Seok Won is the chairman why-” Seokmin freaks out and gasps silently. Finally realising who he was talking to.

He apologises profusely to the Chairman but he doesn’t seem to care. He hands Jeonghan his phone after the Chairman requests.

Jeonghan grumbles in annoyance but still takes the phone.

“Hello?”

“Isn’t it scorching hot? You can still change your mind. I have many good reasons to bring you back to Korea.”

Jeonghan scoffs again. “No thanks, I realised you were not much when you called me to the hotel, but I didn’t know you could get this low, Mr Han. I have my connections from my VIP patients, been on tv, and I think it’s time I open my own clinic no? Once I am finished with this trip, I’ll throw my resignation letter into your face, so wait for me, understand?” With that, Jeonghan slams his finger on the end call button.

His friends and fellow colleagues look at him with wide eyes, not believing what they’d just heard. Except Jisoo of course. He explains that that’s the real reason why he’s here in the first place.

Saving him from his long explanation, a plane arrives.

“Look! Here’s the plane!” Jeonghan shouts enthusiastically and everyone looks up at the descending plane in awe.

Due to the plane’s turbines, wind blew strong and the scarf Jeonghan had around his head flies off. He runs to pick it up but the scarf escapes and flies away again before he even gets to pick it up. He runs forward even more to get his scarf but he sees a group of men stepping out the plane.

It’s Seungcheol.

Seungcheol and his team walk confidently towards the group of volunteers, not sparing Jeonghan a glance as he walks right past Jeonghan who was half bending to pick up his scarf.

“I think we are just bumping into each other as we pass by.”