(Day One of what Cho-yeon has not so cleverly named: The Roommate Debacle)
The lights above flickered relentlessly as she dashed below them, wheeling the patient through endless linoleum hallways. Beeping monitors rang in her ears as her heart pounded in her ears, three other nurses running alongside her.
" Airway closed!"
" Check the pulse!"
" Push one CC of epi!"
Cho-yeon spun the metal bed in a sharp left, wheeling the patient for one of the empty blue rooms on another floor.
" Call ahead to floor eight, tell them we have an anaphylaxis patient- Soomin, stat! Check that pulse again, Nari! Jang-mi, hold that elevator!" She called out. The other nurses nodded, dashing off or bending over the cold tray they were pushing.
The silver doors whooshed open and clicked close methodically as Cho-yeon panted, counting the seconds it would take to change floors. As soon as the bell rang, they were out of the mirrored elevator room, back at the mad dash down the hallway.
" Airways are reopening steadily, but heart rate's dropping!"
" Too little oxygen, administer mask now! Make sure a blue room is open!"
They finally wheeled him into a separate room, a doctor quickly taking over with the help of nurse Jang-mi, and the dismissal of the others for the night.
" Well done, Miss Nam." The doctor accredited as she turned to leave. " You take charge well. Now, if I'm not mistaken, your shift has ended, you may go home."
" Thank you, thank you." Cho-yeon chanted wearily. Still, the compliment brought a smile to her face. The chaos of the ER had infected every overactive cell in her body, and while it would exhaust most, it brought a glad distraction from the strange waking nightmare she would return home too.
Cho-yeon had done her best to not think about him all day, even now. Or the day before for good measure. She'd practically all but ghosted him yesterday, doing everything in her power to avoid passing him or having to speak for sheer awkwardness sakes.
So she'd tried to not think all day today as well. To not think as she changed out of her scrubs, to not think as she boarded the bus, or even as she waited the thirty minute ride home, absolutely starving. But even hunger couldn't distract her now.
She'd left a stranger in her house. But not any stranger. A K-pop idol. It even hurt to think out loud. He was a millionaire, and one fo the famous people in all of Korea, if not the planet! And strangely enough, the only thing he'd even requested from her was the Netflix password.
Which would have been easily doable, had her password not been ItsUrMom4Me, after Yuka reset it in her last overnight stay.
Cho-yeon shook her head, trying to banish the embarrassment of even having to explain what her password was to an idol from her head. It should be fine.
What if he hated her house? What if he had ruined something?
It should be fine. That's unreasonable.
What if there were saesangs at her house? What if he had called police?!
It should all be fine. That would be absurd....
What if something went wrong with her bandages or worse, he hurt himself again?!
Too many things that could go wrong with this...
By the time she got home, Cho-yeon was desperately plunging her key into the lock, quickly jangling the old doorknob open and bursting into her own house as if the hallway was on fire. Her "no thinking" plan had failed.
She immediately dropped her bag and tossed the keys on the counter, ignoring the usual cringe from putting something in the wrong place.
" Hello? Anyone here? Hello?!" Cho-yeon quickly slid into her living room. It was silent. " Hello?!"
"Hello?" A light male voice called back.
She spun and stopped, blinking in confusion a few times. There Jimin lay on her couch, spread out and propped up on one arm, food spread out on her coffee table, and a strange show playing on the TV. Utterly, perfectly normal.
He looked entirely normal like that, almost as if he wasn't famous, as if he wasn't in a terrible accident two days prior and now forced to room with a random girl.
" Ya, you good? You're just standing there."
Cho-yeon shook it off, swallowing her dramatic breath of relief. "Why didn't you answer the first time?!"
" I didn't hear you over the show." He put simply, pausing the show and cocking his head slightly. " Seriously, you sure you're ok?"
" Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She sighed, slightly irritably. No, I was concerned something had happened even though I just met you. And gosh, I'm starving.
Cho-yeon moved into the kitchen, peering into the fridge for leftover kimchi. She squealed in delight when her eyes caught on a plastic container of her favorite from Sunday and she was able to sate the monster prowling in her abdomen.
" Did you just shriek over cold kimchi?" Suddenly came a judgmental call.
She cut her eyes, even with her back turned. " I don't even know how you could hear that over your TV show."
" I have excellent hearing. Besides, you squeal quite loudly."
" Well I have excellent taste in kimchi so until you've tasted it, you can't complain. Besides I haven't eaten since eleven." She returned snappily,
" Why?"
" I don't know maybe I just wanted to starve." Cho-yeon replied, exasperated.
" I always knew there was something off about you!" Jimin returned just as sarcastically. " Let me ask you, do you also often feel tired or hopeless? How about sick in social situations? Nervous around others?"
" What is this, a personality inventory? I'm trying to eat!"
" My sources say you may be lonely." He puffed his chest and winked. " And perhaps this golden roommate could help that."
" I'm lonely because I'm hungry after a ten hour shift? How brilliant you are. And what sources!"
Jimin's face shifted as he thought hard, then shrugged. " Just some Studies."
" Wow, I'm so impressed by your use of Studies." Cho-yeon placed heavy emphasis on the word, rolling her eyes and digging into the kimchi.
"Ya! They are very valid. I read them somewhere on the internet, so they're true!"
" Oh yeah, what did these studies say exactly? What did they show empirically?"
He grinned, clearing his throat and pushing back his hair. " I actually have a great answer for that."
" Sure, what is it?"
" Studies show that I didn't ask for your opinion."
Cho-yeon dropped her fork in astonishment and Jimin burst out laughing. Suddenly he grabbed at his side, holding them and groaning.
" Uughhhh, why did that hurt so baddd."
Now it was Cho-yeon's turn to smirk, though a small twinge of regret hit her for not warning him. " You have four broken ribs, laughing will be painful for a little while."
" Oh great. Such a wonderful doctor you are."
"Ya! I'm not the one who recklessly drove a motorcycle! Besides why are you even still awake right now?" She cut in, raising her eyebrows.
" You said you'd be home at twelve. Besides, I'm quite used to staying up late. You think a show ends at an exact time?"
There was that reminder. Just in case she forgot, in case she felt a little too comfortable, too normal with Jimin. Just in case she felt as though they could actually talk like people instead of a forced situation between two of the most opposite people.
" Well, you should be asleep. " Cho-yeon cut back in. She grabbed the fork off the ground and tossed the stuff in the trash. " I'll set out more food for you tomorrow, and you stay laying down. Don't touch anything else. Attempt to be asleep before I get home. Understood?"
" Where are you going to work?"
" That's your only question?" She asked incredulously as she grabbed her bag and headed for her room.
" Did you expect me to not understand those rules? No questions there. Besides-" He twisted to face her slightly. " -I still barely know anything about you and you know lots about me."
" The whole world knows about you."
" And I'm asking about you. I will just keep asking. "
She sighed, switching her weight while balancing the bag. " I'm not getting out of this, am I?"
Jimin smirked. "Nope."
" Fine. But then I'm going to sleep and you are too because if I hear that television while trying to steal these few hours of sleep I will murder you."
" Classy. You do know I'm famous right? That won't fly."
Oh how could I forget.
" You do know I'm a nurse right? You wouldn't believe the power I hold."
He only raised his eyebrows. She sighed again.
" I work at Yeongro Hospital, ok?"
" Where's that?"
Cho-yeon shook her head. " Ohh no you don't. One interrogation per night. I answered your question."
Jimin nodded but fell back against his pillow softly, pursing his lips. Cho-yeon took a breath and turned back to her hallway, quickly heading to her room. No sooner had she entered that she had the lights off and had plunged into her usual dreamless sleep, not listening to see if he spoke again.