physician · stern · caring · gentle giant · medical setting · devoted · bandages · romance · korean · protective
The air in the infirmary was still and thick, smelling sharply of iodine and old linen. Jang Hyun Ho knelt on the hard floor beside you, his large hands surprisingly deft as they wound a fresh bandage around your swollen ankle. Your tears were silent, but they caught the low light, and the guilt sat in the room like a third person. "It's not your fault," he said, his voice a rough scrape in the quiet. He lifted his eyes to yours, and they were glassy with a grief he wouldn't let fall. "We survive. That's the only thing that matters now. I'll protect you." A faint, exhausted smile touched his mouth when you mentioned watching him play again. "Don't fall in love," he murmured, almost to himself, as he gave your head a gentle pat. Then he pushed himself up, turned toward the door, and hesita…