The doctor was dumbfounded.

"How did you know my name?" Seokjin stared at the man.

"Because no one ever stops mentioning that name of yours, "Dr. Kim Namjoon" here, "Dr. Kim Namjoon" there. I'm impressed. You've made a great impact on everyone in this building, especially me since I feel less alone in here." Namjoon felt blood rush through his head.

"Oh, is that so? I had no idea. That's impressive and I'm honored to be known by a few people around here, even if I don't actually trust half of them. But in reality, it's patients like you who made the difference in my life. Curing people and seeing a change in their life is my passion. It's practically what I live for and what I live off as well." He laughed, quietly.

Seokjin just agreed.

He kept checking him.

His temperature was normal, his reflexes were good and he seemed pretty healthy. All of these signs were good in any patient. Although his blood pressure was a little lower than a regular man his age, and his circulation seemed odd. Maybe his hemoglobin was low.

"Lastly, I need to check your tongue and the inside of your mouth. Can you remove this-"

"No. I cannot. This is a muzzle that I must wear." Namjoon was taken back by the man's reaction.

The doctor didn't want to sound rude and invasive, so he didn't ask any further questions and proceeded to pack everything up again.

He noticed how alert and frightened the patient seemed. Maybe he shouldn't have told him anything about his mouth, he's probably insecure about his appearance: It's very
common in most adults to be insecure about their mouth, nose, or facial features in general.

"It's okay, I could skip the last step if you don't feel comfortable with it." He gave Seokjin a pat on his shoulder like he usually does to any patient after a successful check up or appointment.

Seokjin instinctively grabbed his arm and pulled him towards his body.

"Mr. Kim, what are you doing to me?" Namjoon asked, frightened.

The strange man's breathing slowed down.

Namjoon didn't move his arm back, he wanted to test the man and see who and what he really is.

"I'm sorry. You should go." Seokjin let go of his hand to lock himself inside of a metal cage, which was supposed to be his bed.

"Don't go. Why did you do that?" He opened the cage and let the man out.

His pupils were dilated, it gave Namjoon goosebumps.

"You don't belong here. You made a mistake in visiting a phenomenon like myself. Leave, leave now." But the stubborn doctor refused to go.

Something kept telling him to stay.

"I may not know you, but now that I'm starting to figure you out, I don't think I can give you the honor of leaving this place." He stated.

Seokjin sighed, resting his head on the metal bars of his cage.

After a moment of brief silence, his voice echoed throughout the place.

"I'm a monster, that's why I grabbed your arm. Look at me-" He paused to breathe. A gas mask he had on prevented him from speaking properly.

It looked more like a muzzle more than an oxygen mask to Namjoon.

"If you value your life, then I suggest you leave this room and quit your job. Your life is at risk in this supposed hospital."

Supposed? What did the man mean by that.

"I value my life, yes. But as a doctor, I value my patient's life more than my own. Otherwise, why would a man wake up every morning at five to six AM if it isn't to save someone's life and cure them from their sickness? Patient Kim, this is my life. This was the career I chose and there is nothing that could ever make me quit my job."

The two men sighed at the same time.

If silence could kill, they would have both died a while ago because neither one of them spoke a single sentence.

Namjoon couldn't help but to constantly stare at the man, there was something about him that had him mesmerized.

Seokjin on the other hand, he broke the silence, but refused to look him in the eye.

"You're not one of them."

"One of them? Who's "them" huh?" Namjoon replied, intrigued by the man.

"Every person that works here, posing as a doctor and nurse. You're not like them, you're different. Which explains why I grabbed your arm." The doctor raised an eyebrow at the patient.

"I understand. Does this mean you trust me now?" He asked.

Seokjin blinked frequently while the doctor's breathing slowed down as his heart rate increased.

"Yes." He coldly replied with no expression in his face whatsoever. For some reason, this made Namjoon feel relieved.

"Thank you for trusting me." The doctor smiled.

"For now, at least. Until you turn into one of them." His smile disappeared when he noticed the man's eyes.

"I won't." Namjoon replied.

As much as the doctor would have loved to stay longer and learn more about the cold looking patient, he couldn't. He remembered he had to visit five patients in rooms far away from the lab, so with a simple goodbye, he left patient Kim and went to visit one of his most nervous patients he previously encountered: Seo Bogeom.

~~~

"What brings you back again, Bogeom?" He asked in a professional way.

The man looked as pale as Seokjin, if not more. His hands were shaking while he handed the young doctor his phone.

"Don't open the video here, please open it when you're home safe." Was all he said before getting up and leaving Namjoon's office.

Namjoon was dumbfounded.

"What now?" He rolled his eyes and locked his office. Although he was there with three or four doctors and nurses, he didn't trust anyone with his office so before he left, he made sure it was locked and attended the few patients he had.

A cool air brushed throughout his entire body and formed into chill that ran down his spine.

Namjoon shivered before shaking it off and knocking on his patient's room.

"Hello, Hoseok. How has everything been going?" He sat down on his bed next to him. He trusted Hoseok more than Bogeom, but less than he trusted himself: Hoseok was still a patient in this crazy hospital, so for all he knew, Hoseok could fall into the temptations of his suspicious nurses and betray Doctor Kim.

Hoseok got up and looked around, made a suspicious facial expression to Namjoon then looked out of the tiny window in his room door.

"Doctor Kim, thank God you made it. I was beginning to worry something had happened to you." The patient frowned with worry plastered on his face.

"Why would you think that?"

"It's," Hoseok turned over to check the clock that was on his wall. "It's almost 9:00 PM, and strange things happen to most nurse practitioner and doctors like you whenever they stay working this late at night."

Namjoon smiled at the worried guy.

"Everything is under control with me, no need to worry. My main priority is my patient after all, right?" Hoseok smiled back, nodding at him. The doctor was right, Hoseok had nothing to worry about.

"Alright, you have a point. Ever since you became my doctor, my panic attacks have lessened and I only get them occasionally at night." This made Namjoon feel pity and happy at the same time for his patient, living in a place like this must be tough.

"I understand why, this place is- This hospital is kind of tiring after a while, especially at night." Namjoon wanted to tell him about the living nightmare the hospital feels like when darkness falls, but he was in no position of telling his patient something to worry him, mainly because Hoseok just explained to him about how his panic attacks were ceasing, he didn't need to know about anything else to worry him more than he already was.

"You don't know half of the hell most patients endure here. Not to mention the patients from the lab. One scientist told me the people kept there were normal and perfectly fine. After a month or so, I relapsed again in my house and was left here, so the same scientist spoke to me and told me that the patients needed to be kept there under quarantine for everyone in the hospital, myself included, to be safe. Each night I would hear a different scream of pure horror from a different person." Namjoon was stunned by the information his patient just introduced him to.

"That's just inhumane. I can't believe doctors would do this to innocent human beings." A voice began speaking from his phone and he realized he had accidentally opened his chat and a video was playing.

Hoseok knew who's voice that was.

"Bogeom? That poor man is still alive?" Hoseok questioned.

"Yes, and from what he's told me about this place, I have no idea how any of you managed to survive here. The video he sent me must have played automatically. He told me to see it when I would get home safely, but now I'm curious. Should I keep watching it?"

~~~