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The trauma center was finally quiet. After six grueling hours in the operating room, the tension had finally drained from Baek Kang-hyuk’s shoulders. The patient was stable, the team had done well, and for once, there were no immediate emergencies pulling him back to the battlefield of the ER.
He exhaled and let his head rest against the cool wall of the dimly lit hallway, stretching his legs out in front of him. Beside him, Yang Jae-won sat slumped, looking like he was one second away from melting into the floor. His normally sharp, eager eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion, his usually neat hair sticking out in places where he had run his fingers through it too many times.
Kang-hyuk glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “You alive?”
Jae-won let out a slow breath. “Barely.”
Kang-hyuk smirked. “Don’t die here. Too much paperwork.”
Jae-won huffed a tired laugh. “Heartless.”
Silence stretched between them, comfortable in a way that had taken time to settle into. Then, without warning, Jae-won shifted and let his head drop onto Kang-hyuk’s shoulder with a small sigh.
Kang-hyuk raised an eyebrow, but the corners of his lips curled up. “Comfortable?”
Jae-won hummed sleepily. “Mmm… you’re warm, Professor.”
Kang-hyuk scoffed. “So now I’m a pillow?”
“If you don’t like it, you can move…” Jae-won mumbled, but his voice was already slipping into that soft, drowsy haze of someone too tired to argue.
Kang-hyuk didn’t move. He wasn’t particularly sentimental, but he wasn’t cruel enough to shove Jae-won off either. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, enough to let his cheek brush against Jae-won’s hair.
“You really have no shame,” Kang-hyuk teased, but there was no real bite to his words.
Jae-won let out a small, sleepy noise of protest. “I don’t care. I’m too tired to care.”
Kang-hyuk smirked. “You’re already whining.”
Jae-won groaned but made no effort to lift his head. If anything, he pressed closer.
“…You worked hard today,” Kang-hyuk admitted after a moment, his voice quieter.
Jae-won blinked up at him, surprised. “Are you… complimenting me?”
“Don’t get used to it,” Kang-hyuk said dryly. “I’ll take it back if you get cocky.”
Jae-won grinned sleepily, his face soft in the dim lighting. “Too late. I already heard it.”
Kang-hyuk rolled his eyes but didn’t push him away.
They sat there for a while, the empty hallway wrapping around them in quiet solitude. Jae-won’s breathing slowed, and Kang-hyuk realized he was starting to drift off.
Kang-hyuk sighed, shifting just enough to get more comfortable. “Just don’t drool on me.”
“No promises…” Jae-won murmured, barely awake now.
Kang-hyuk chuckled, shaking his head. He could tease Jae-won about this later. For now, he let him rest.