Chapter Text
Jang Gyeoul was hungry and stressed. She was stressed because she was hungry and hungry because she was stressed. Too bad then, that her schedule today had allowed her no room for sneaking in a snack, let alone the scent of one. She was running on fumes and nothing else at this point and felt her clawing hunger threatening to express itself again.
Her roaring appetite had already made itself apparent when her stomach growled in the middle of yet another surgery. As if once wasn't enough. She had had enough recurring nightmarish thoughts about the look Dr. Ahn Jeongwon gave her a a few days ago over it. It made her want to curl up into a ball and cringe and shudder herself out of existence. Minha absolutely lost it when she found out and Gyeoul had to shake her violently to get her to stop laughing. She didn't feel that flustered about the fact that today would be her third time this week , especially now that she had a new threshold for embarrassment . Still, it didn't help that she had back to back assists with no breaks. Her only comforting solace was the thought of warm soup her mother had left her during her visit.
Look at you! You look like you'll blow away in the wind. My goodness!!
Hey! I've cooked you some soup for lunch. I'm leaving my thermos behind, it's new so take care of it!
Gyeoul thought about that thermos now, safely kept in her backpack with the rest of her clothes and belongings. No matter what else happened, she would at least have that. Homemade, delicious and all hers. Her mouth watered at the thought.
Snap out of it. You're not done yet.
Squaring her shoulders, Gyeoul steeled herself for the rest of her shift.
_______________________________________________
To: Chu~ Chu~ Minha
From: Gyeoul
Hey, are you at the hospital??? Please tell me you have some spare personal clothes with you today. Reply asap when you can.
To: Gyeoulieee
From: Minha
Omg is everything okay??? I have some spare clothes, u might not like em tho
To: Chu~ chu~ Minha
From: Gyeoul
LISTEN I'LL TAKE ANYTHING YOU HAVE AND THANK YOU IN ADVANCE
also if you're free right now I'm in the staff bathrooms and I'll be there for my whole break
To: Gyeoulieee
From: Minha
?????
______________________________________________
Minha had made herself available as soon as she got the chance and found Gyeoul at the bathroom sink, clothes hanging and dripping at the counter's edge. She had her scrubs sleeves rolled to her shoulders and seemed to be wringing her T-shirt to rags.
Minha watched her go on for a while. At least she's alive.
"Hey! Jang Gyeoul! What the hell are you doing??"
Gyeoul looked up suddenly as if waking from a trance, and pushed some hair out of her face with the back of her hand. Minha registered the dangerously calm look on her face.
" I'm washing my clothes."
Minha sighed impatiently. " I can see that. I meant why?"
Gyeoul let her t- shirt drop into the sink in exasperation. " My thermos leaked inside my bag and my clothes ate my food. " she pouted.
Her statement was as true as it could get. Jang Gyeoul had felt all good hopes die the minute she recognized the wet pool of fluid sinking into her clothes. She had pulled out the traitorously light thermos immediately, and saw that the thermos was defective - so much for your new thermos mom - and leaking enough to let a good portion of her meal through. It was almost miraculous that everything else - including the socks and underclothes- in her bag was pretty much bone dry. The circular stain that had seeped through all the layers of her carefully folded t-shirt and jeans seemed like a weirdly malicious gift from the universe - which seemed insistent on keeping her starved and spending her free minutes rinsing laundry.
"Farmers live good lives right? They don't have tight schedules right? They must enjoy their work alot." she continued, voice devoid of all emotion ," Maybe I should become one. Farmers always have access to food and resources. I bet they never go hungr- Ow! what was that for?"
Minha had smacked her shoulder and was glaring at her intensely.
" Stop it! You're too good to waste your life melting away in the sun. All your thirteen fathers will miss their only general surgery resident daughter, they're practically helpless when you're not around. And how dare you talk about leaving me in this by myself huh? I'll go insane. You're so selfish. Unbelievable."
Minha knew she was laying it on a little thick, but she meant what she said. In her experience it was best to 'compliment-scold' Gyeoul out of her potentially threatening downward spirals. It took a lot to overwhelm her, but sometimes it didn't take much. She'd be pissed too if she had to scrub her clothes at work. How annoying. Minha felt deep sympathy for her friend and gently touched her shoulder. " I know its a pain the ass." She tried. Minha had definitely had her fair share of shitty days and related easily. At least Gyeouls problems didn't stem from annoying coworkers. Minha watched with relief as Gyeoul let her impassive pout-y expression turn from neutral to an almost positively neutral, and let her head flop onto Minha's shoulder.
" By the way, " Minha mentioned " I do have spare clothes, but you might not like them."
" It doesn't matter at this point." Gyeoul grumbled.
"It's a date dress."
Minha literally felt the sigh escape her friend.
"Okay wow. You keep a date dress in your locker?"
"Yes... Just in case. " MInha said bashfully.
"Just in case!? Why do I have to wear it then? Can't I wear your normal day clothes and can't you wear your date dress for today? No one will see us and I'll return them tomorrow. Please."
"Because ," Minha started indignantly " It's too embarrassing, if I get caught wearing it..."
She trailed off as she entertained herself to the memory of someone pleasant and just as quickly shook it off. "Ughhh I can't even imagine. I'm not that brave. There's so many people around my ward and I'm working late today. I need my comfy clothes. It's not that bad I promise! it's really thick and warm for this weather too. Besides, you'll throw your coat over it anyway."
Gyeoul considered all the things Minha had revealed to her in that moment.
"There's only one thing that'll get me to wear that dress."
"What's that?"
"If you tell me who you imagined wearing it for. Should I guess who it is? Is it that-"
Gyeoul felt her head drop when Minha yanked her shoulder away.
"Hey! Don't pretend like you're in a place to bargain. I am. Doing. You." she jabbed the air in front of her face " A. Favor." Minha's phone went off and she glanced at her watch and swore.
"I need to get going. Shoot me a message when you're done for the day and I'll drop the clothes off by the changing room okay?"
Gyeoul nodded and shouted out a quick thank you to Minha's retreating back.
*
Turns out food was meant to be a part of her day after all. She had joined the other residents for a meal at the end of her shift and wolfed down at least two - or was it four?- cups of ramen down flat. With her stomach finally closer to being more full than it ever been the whole day, Gyeoul was prepared to clock out for the night.
After washing up, she had let her hair down, finally, as she usually did when she was done with work. It felt freeing, like shedding a part of her professional persona and just easing herself to the into the day she'd have left. Besides, her temples had been aching the whole time during her shift. Her hair had stayed up pretty consistently for days now. Gyeoul was pretty sure it was a contributing cause. She watched herself in the changing room mirror, combing her hair out with her fingers and patting down the stray wisps on top. She glanced at the peice of clothing that hung at the back of the door and sighed. Quickly giving herself a once over, she tried not to feel too embarrassed about wearing a dress at work, even if it was for a bit.
Whatever, stupider things have happened. Why not add a dress to this so I can feel more like a clown.
But it wasn't as bad as she'd imagined. To be honest she was just glad that her beautiful, go-getter-always-presentable friend had a spare dress in her closet. It was a navy blue dress with long sleeves and a v- neck. Classic and quite pretty, she thought. It felt a bit loose in places, and she didn't fill it out as well as Minha would have, but then again she was literally using it as fabric to cover her body until she got home as opposed to an actual outfit she'd wanted to wear. So she couldn't complain. The skirt felt kind of nice, soft and soothing against her legs, brushing her ankles. She let herself sway a little, feeling the weight of it move back and forth, zoning out for a couple of seconds.
God I'm so tired.
She reminded herself that she would actually have to leave the changing room to catch her bus tonight. The one time she actually needed her brother to be able to pick her up for work was exactly when he made himself unavailable by being out of town with their mother.
She shook her ankles one by one, trying to shake off her fatigue and stared at her suddenly badly matched trainers and wanted to laugh mirthlessly at the inconvenience of it all.
Whatever. Whatever.
*
Gyeoul heard Minha take a deep breath as she stepped out into the hallway.
"Wah! Excuse me Ma'am have you seen my friend Jang Gyeoul? I don't know where she's disappeared" she pretended to look around, before breaking into a laugh.
Gyeol scoffed.
"If I weren't so grateful for the clothes I might have said something." She said, and Minha promptly ignored her.
"I can't believe it, you eat and gain no weight, you put on a dress and look like that. " She gave her a once over, and Gyeoul fidgeted with the neck awkwardly.
"Whatever."
"Turn for me pleaseee."
Minha led her by the hand and unthinkingly, Gyeoul let her. She was too tired to resist. "Woahhh..You're so unrecognizable. What a chameleon. Are you sure you're Jang Gyeoul?Your coat looks really good with this by the way, here - Wait a second let me just..."
Minha reached over to adjust the collar of her coat and the shoulders before grabbing them and shaking Gyeoul slightly.
"You're too powerful for us mortals Dr.Jang," Minha insisted. "Now remember: No stains. No food. And absolutely no dozing off in this." She gave her a firm look and continued in her most passionate voice "In the name of being a sister in the Army and at work, Please don't let me down. I'm trusting you with my beautiful baby here." She gestured to Gyeouls body. "Take care Jang Gyeoul. This is where I leave you." She stepped back with a solemn little bow.
"What the heck?" Gyeoul tried to stifle a smile and failed. "Thank you, Minha. I owe you one."
"You can make it up by trading your signed Jimin photocard with me."
"Forget it."
Minha smirked and shoved a shopping bag into her hands.
"I have to go. I'll see you around."
Gyeoul nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but Minha had already walked off.
Minha - bless her soul- had put Gyeouls clothes and her tragically empty thermos in a boutique store shopping bag. The clothes were still damp and she'd have to hang them out to dry when she got home later.
Apart from the clothes, all her belongings were in the trusty bag pack with the BTS army mascot pin on the strap. She gave it a look and reminded herself that yes, BTS existed. A tactic she would always use to seek some solace on days the world seemed out to get her. She sighed.
Gyeoul checked her phone as she waited for the elevator. It had been a while since she'd used the commute but she knew there was always a bus running every thirty minutes. Taking the midnight bus was her best chance at getting home as soon as possible. She quickly glanced at the time.
11: 53 pm.
Shit.
Stepping into the elevator, Gyeoul calculated her chances. It was a ten minute walk around the back of the Yulje building. She'd be out of the hospital in under two minutes and if she ran really really fast she could make it. Right?
Please. Please let me make it.
Gyeoul decided that she would try.