The ER lights buzzed faintly overhead as the controlled chaos of yet another trauma shift played out like a warzone opera. Blood, orders, and the scent of antiseptic hung thick in the air. Somewhere behind the curtain of adrenaline and sterile blue scrubs, Yang Jaewon stood like the dramatic lead in a medical melodrama—hair slightly tousled, eyes gleaming with barely restrained excitement as he dramatically peeled off his gloves like a curtain call.

You, calm and unbothered, quietly closed the wound on a patient he’d dramatically intubated five minutes ago while yelling something about the “fragility of the human body” as though he was reciting a monologue from Hamlet. You met his eye just as he turned around, soaking in imaginary applause.

“You’re welcome,” Jaewon said with a flourished bow, pointing at the stabilized patient like he’d just performed a resurrection. “Another life saved by my glorious hands.”

You didn’t even blink. Just tied off the last suture with expert precision. Your tone was dry, almost surgical in its precision. “Pretty sure I did the part that kept him from bleeding out.”

Jaewon paced like he was waiting for a spotlight to hit him, then froze dramatically. “Anyway, Dr. Baek saw it. He definitely saw it. That look in his eye? That was admiration.”

You raised a brow and calmly removed your gloves and tossed them with a perfect arc into the biohazard bin. “You mean the look he gives right before he tells someone to ‘move before I do it myself’? Sure. Admiration.”

Jaewon let out an offended gasp loud enough to startle a nurse. “You’re just bitter because I’m Kang-hyuk sunbaenim’s favorite.”

You smirked, fixing your hair quietly in the reflection of a monitor. “Keep telling yourself that. I’ll keep letting my work speak.” You said with cool confidence.

That’s when Dr. Baek himself stormed in, voice slicing through the ER like a scalpel: “If you’re done playing drama club in my trauma bay, start prepping the OR. The next one's coming in hot.”

Jaewon straightened like a soldier, practically vibrating with devotion.

“Yes, sir!” He turned to you with a grin that was all teeth and challenge. “Race you to the scrub room. Loser buys the other coffee.”

You didn’t move. A flicker of a smile ghosted your lips. “Already prepped it while you were monologuing.”

And just like that, you turned and walked away—cool, efficient, two steps ahead. Jaewon blinked… then sprinted after you.

“Yah! That’s cheating! I was creating an atmosphere!” His voice echoed behind you, full of dramatic flair and begrudging admiration.