Author's Note: A little moment from my imagination that happened between the time they argued about their kiss after the nurse who checked Jeong Hyeok's blood pressure left and the time when Jeong Hyeok invited Seri to sleep on his bed.
Sariwon Hospital
Ri Jeong Hyeok is in the middle of washing his hands over the small sink inside the bathroom of his hospital room when he takes notice of his appearance on the mirror in front of him. His reflection shows the start of a five o'clock shadow and makes him decide that it might be time for a shave. Having only one free hand as the other is stuck on a sling is going to be a challenge, but he'd rather look neat despite being stuck inside the hospital. His thoughts drift to Yoon Seri and what she might think. Then he lets out a sigh at the fact that he has the time to entertain such thoughts and thinks he needs to get out of the hospital soon before he goes mad.
There is no shaving cream available, so he has to lather up some soap before applying it on the lower part of his face. It takes a couple of minutes for the lather to come around, but the real challenge is shaving with a blade without his other hand. He carefully holds it against his cheek and is able to do three successful swipes before the fourth one nicks his jaw.
He lets out a hiss when the soap bubbles made contact with the fresh cut and quickly rinses off the blood on the blade. Just as he is about to wipe off the blood on his jaw, the door of his room opens with Seri calling out his name as she entered and announcing that she brought food for them. He decides to continue shaving after eating and is about to rinse the lather off his face when her head pops in through the slightly open door of the bathroom.
He really does not have any privacy when it comes to her.
"Are you okay in there?" she asks, concern clearly written on her face.
He pauses, startled by her sudden appearance, and wonders how silly he looks with the white foam on his face. "Yes," he answers after a brief moment of hesitation. He gives her a firm smile. "I'll be out in a minute."
As per usual, she doesn't really listen to what he tells her to do. She opens the door wider to let herself in and notices the cut almost immediately. "You're bleeding."
"Oh, this. No, it's fine," he argues when she steps closer to take a look. He tries to ignore how close they were inside the small bathroom. "It's just a little cut."
She lets out a scoff, of annoyance most likely, similar to the ones he gives her whenever she does or says something stupid. "I don't think you can afford to lose any more blood, Ri Jeong Hyeok-ssi," she deadpans. Before he can comprehend what was happening, she had already pushed him to sit on the closed lid of the toilet, taking the blade off his hand in the process.
"What are you doing?" he asks in surprise, looking up at her with wide eyes.
"Helping you," she answers him like it is the most obvious thing in the world. "I've never done this before, so keep still."
He immediately tries to stand up after hearing her words. "You haven't," he shakes his head adamantly. "I'm not going to let you hold a blade anywhere near my throat."
"Oh, relax," she admonishes him, pushing him back. He immediately thinks that the woman is going to be the death of him. "I'm not going to kill you."
"You might," he fights back.
She huffs in annoyance, but the sides of her lips are twitching upwards in amusement. "You're being ridiculous. Just let me do this. This is better than you trying to shave with one hand."
Prolonging the argument can only mean prolonging his wait before he can eat his dinner. He also knew that winning an argument with Seri has never been and probably never will be a strong suit of his. With a defeated sigh, he relents to her commands and sits still. "Fine."
If they were close before, the space between them grows infinitely smaller the moment she steps forward to take a closer look at his face. He feels his air get trapped inside his lungs at the sight of her up close, having had the chance only twice since he met her. Once on a boat, and the other just last night. Both times were quick and fleeting moments while this one seems to be taking its time.
The fingers of her left hand rest lightly against his skin as her right hand carefully swipes the blade from the lower part of his cheek down to his jaw. She works slowly, rinsing the blade in the water every now and then, giving him enough time to study her up close. He notices that she had a habit of biting her lower lip and squinting her eyes when she concentrates on her task. He tries his best not to smile at how adorable she looks.
"You're doing it again," she murmurs, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Doing what?" he asks just as softly.
She rinses off the lather as she answers, "Looking at me with those wistful eyes."
He stays silent, never really knowing the right words to say whenever she catches him. She lets out an amused scoff as if she did expect him not to say anything and gently turns his head to start on the other side. He lets himself watch her again. Her fingers drift towards the start of his neck and he wonders if she can feel how fast his pulse is going.
It is a simple act of kindness really. Anyone with a heart would help a patient struggling, but she isn't just anyone. No one can make his heart thump so hard that it actually hurts like she can. No one can make him smile with silly antics and witty comebacks like she can. And no one, not even his own fiancée, has the power to make Ri Jeong Hyeok put his life on the line to guarantee her safety. Her heated words from their argument earlier suddenly comes rushing back to the forefront of his mind, and he wonders how someone with a mind as sharp as hers can still be so muddled when it comes to romance.
But then again, so is his.
"I was never pressured, you know," he says softly, trying his best not to break the spell between them.
Her movements halt at his words. She glances up to meet his eyes, and he notices them widening when she realizes how close their faces were. He silently wonders if she will let him kiss her again.
"What?" she whispers, blinking slowly as if she were in a daze.
He takes a moment to admire the brightness of her eyes, the slope of her nose, and the fullness of her lips up close. She looks so beautiful that he wants to close the gap between them so badly, but what he has to say is more important.
"I didn't kiss you because I was pressured to," he tells her, his tone the gentlest it has ever been. In the silence of the room, he is able to hear her sharp intake of breath at his words. He keeps his voice steady despite the drumming of his heart. "I didn't do it because you saved my life or because we were out in the rain. I did it because I wanted to."
The silence between them is palpable after he had said his piece. He hears a slight tremor when she releases the breath she was holding, and it is enough for him to know how his words affected her. He pushes the dark thought of her leaving in the near future and for once is selfish enough to think what it might be like to freely love her.
"Oh," is her only reply as she breaks their eye contact to rinse the blade again.
He can't help but smile. "Oh? That's all you have to say?"
The blush that blooms on her cheeks made her even more beautiful in his eyes. She lets out a shy chuckle that is so unlike her before asking a bit rhetorically, humor lacing her tone, "How am I supposed to follow that?" Her hand holding the blade against his cheek is shaking. "Damn it."
"What?" he asks, amused with her cursing.
She avoids his eyes and rinses the blade again even though it barely touched him. "You've gone and gotten me all flustered."
Jeong Hyeok looks down to hide the smile that grew on his face. "Don't worry," he assures her. "We have all the time in the world."
It takes her a good thirty minutes before she breaks into a huge smile and announces she's done. He checks his appearance and has to admit she did a decent job despite it being her first time. She beams when he tells her, and he wonders what else he can do to keep her looking at him that way.
The dinner she had brought for them has gone cold by the time they finished in the bathroom, but he can care less. Just as they were about to start eating, she leans over as if to reach something and surprises him by planting a quick kiss on his cheek. His eyes widen as he watches her sit back down and pretend like nothing happened.
"What was that for?" he asks.
"Because I wanted to," she replies with the prettiest smile.
His heart never felt fuller.