3

Meddlesomeness

One's thirst of gathering knowledge around a specific matter.
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I made my way to the cafeteria, it was now lunch time, And--

Yup, you guessed it..
I was being followed by Hoseok.

"Yahh, Jihyun-ah! Hold up!"
He yelled as I hastened my speed, but he managed to catch up with me.

"Aiish..C'mon why are you ignoring and avoiding me? I have no friends here, and neither do you! So, why not become friends?"

I kneaded the idea in my head, over and over, as if it was dough..
Maybe..life in here will get better, having friends, no?

"Sure." I briefly replied with a smile.

"W-wait..what? You serious??"
He asked with widened eyes and I nodded in response.

At my confirmation, his face lit up with brightness and happiness.
There was no doubt he was gleeful.

The two of us resumed walking till we reached the canteen, and one of the servants there filled our plates with kongguksu.

We sat at an empty table.
"So, Jihyun-ssi. How old are you?"

-"Uhm..I'm..19." I lied.

-"Well, damn. You're much older than me, you look much younger though. Anyways, I'm 16."

I pretended to be surprised as if I didn't know his age. I knew all basic information about him..But what I wanted to know, was how he got here..and why he disappeared months ago at school, some people at school even thought he's dead or kidnapped. Rumours about him were everywhere..

"Hoseok-ah.. How did you get here?"
I asked.

"Oh..I-I had anxiety and depression..I started taking drugs to harm myself..but then I was caught...by the police..yeah. And I went to a..doctor..um..turns out I..suffer from....munchausen s-syndrome due to child neglect.." He shuttered.

That explained a huge part of the idea, but one other thing, if he joined my room after midnight just today, how come did he disappear months ago?

"Y-You came here yesterday?"

-"No. I have been here for months..But I was in an uncontrollably violent condition, that I was in the underground asylum.." He explained..

-"Underground asylum?"
I questioned while sipping my dried noodles.

"Yes. It's an underground shelter here..where all the uncontrollable and crazy patients are locked up.. This place may seem friendly and all, but there's a side of this place that you don't know, and you don't wanna know." He shoved a spoonful of noodles in his mouth.

-"What if I do? I'm really curious about that underground shelter.."

He swallowed his food, and sighed..

"It's a really bad idea to go there.. A lot of doctors and nurses use extreme violence against the patients.. It's something you would not want to see.
Plus, us, healthier patients are not allowed there at all. If we are spotted there, they'll think we're one of the deranged patients trying to break out. and they'll use brutality against us."

He explained, and he actually has a point, yet I can't help myself but try and convince.

"I mean, their violence can't be that bad, right?"

He sighed once more before he stood up and turned back.

"Follow me."

I got up, following him to where I saw was the toilet.

We entered as Hoseok took off his shirt, revealing a terrifying view by his stomach.

Red and purple bruises everywhere, no area bruise-free, not to mention scratches and dried blood..

"Hoseok-ah.."
I had no idea what to say..or what to feel.

Sad?
Scared?
Warned?

"This happens when you're at lucky times.. Any tiny mistake, and they hit you with a taser in the guts."

I noticed at that moment that his expression completely changed from what is was before. It was..serious and concerned..

"B-But why? I mean..I mean all humans make mistakes, right? Why would you be hit with a taser for doing a tiny mistake? What was that thing you did anyways?"
My pitch increased a little, letting my voice echo in the room.

Hoseok put on his shirt, hiding the disaster underneath it.
"Nothing special, but that's how I've lived, for several months.. I guess this is how fate takes revenge of me because..back in school..I..I b--"

"All patients must return to their rooms immediately, as they will be visited by their doctors to take their medicines. I repeat, all patients midt head to their rooms to take medications."

The voice ringing through the speakers in the building cut him off, and just at the right time too.
Just at the time when he was saying something that I had the urge to know.

He grabbed me by the arm.
"Let's go to the room.."
He said while not moving his gaze off the floor.
I hummed in reply, as a yes.

__

We sat at our beds, as our doctors entered the room.
My doctor, Seokjin was holding a small container with red and white pills. I felt really glad to have such a friendly doctor, when he flashed his warm smile at me.

But...

something terrified me.

It was Hoseok's doctor..

He..he was scary.

The way his red  eyes were planted on Hoseok..It made me feel uneasy..

I shifted my stare on between Hoseok and the doctor, who was holding about 3 pill containers, and a needle filled with a pale yellow liquid was pointing out from his coat.

"Jimin-ah, take this."
I turned back in front of me, to see Seokjin handing me a glass of water and a pill, not to mention the smile that didn't paint itself off his face.

"Now I just have to make sure you swallow it."
He smiled as I gulped down the pill, followed with a wave of water down my throat.

After that, Dr. Seokjin took the glass of water from my hand and left the room, leaving me, Hoseok, and the doctor alone.

The doctor seemed like a nice person as he gave Hoseok the pills.
I layed in bed, watching the two.

The doctor, whose name tag said 'Lee Jongsuk' gave him his pills, and after he did, he kept sitting on the edge of the bed.

Dr.Jongsuk grabbed the syringe needle from his pocket, but then,
Hoseok caught me staring..

'Help me.'
He mouthed those words, slightly whispering. But his whispers turned out to be too loud, heard by Jongsuk.

Suddenly, I flinched at the moment where Jungsuk pinned Hoseok on the bed, harshly squeezing his neck.

"Now you stay like that. Try to scream and I'll inject you with drugs and paralysers."

I hid my mouth with my trembling hands, to hide my gasp at the scene..and I couldn't help but flinch when..

-"GYAHHHH PLEASE NO!!! PLEASE!!!!!!"