16. Check Up
"Well, there is absolutely nothing wrong with him," said the doctor.
Jimin and Aspen had woken up relatively early in the morning to take Seokjin to the walk-in clinic to see if there might be a reason he couldn't remember anything. Seokjin hadn't been really into the idea of going, but he trusted the two of them. They had been there for about an hour now, and Seokjin sat on the bed in the walk-in clinic while the doctor sat on their swivel stool after he had conducted the necessary tests. Jimin and Aspen were crammed into a corner along the wall in two pale blue chairs, looking like an odd set of parents as they listened to what the doctor said.
"He doesn't have any signs of head trauma," continued the doctor, "He seems absolutely fine."
"So he doesn't have amnesia," said Aspen.
"No," said the doctor. "Not as far as I can tell."
The doctor turned to look at Seokjin who was currently casting his eyes about the eggshell walls, seeming to look for something that wasn't there.
"Well thank you for your time," said Aspen as she moved to stand.
"Though...this has nothing to do with him medically, but I just have to say it."
Aspen paused half out of her seat, gripping the armrests of the chair.
"What's that?" asked Jimin.
"His name and his looks...it reminds me of..."
- - -
Jungkook went to the theater to start work for the day and cover for the other two while they took Seokjin to the walk-in. He muttered to himself as he pushed the small trolley of cleaning supplies down the empty hallways. He had to check to make sure that all the theater rooms were completely set up for the day.
He paused when he got to theater room five. It had only been a day or two, but it had already felt like a lifetime since Aspen had found Seokjin inside. He moved to flick the lights on in the theater room, watching spirals of dust dance about in front of the mustard yellow spotlights in the ceiling as he pushed the trolley down the aisle. He paused about halfway down the aisle with the trolley, turning around to look up at the balcony where he had stood teasing Aspen with the megaphone before running off.
"Why are you such a knucklehead?" Jungkook asked out loud to himself. "Why didn't you just announce through the megaphone how you felt about her? Now mister silent and mysterious is about to sweep in and..."
He sighed, shaking his head as he moved to grab the broom to begin cleaning up some of the crumbs that were lying about the place. After he was done the sweep of the ground floor, he moved the trolley back out into the main hallway before taking the broom and dustpan up the side stairs to the balcony. There was less of a mess here since they never had enough movie goers that wanted to make the hike up. He cleaned up the few remanents of trash that lingered about that had hidden in the shadows before walking a few steps over to the self enclosed projector room. He leaned the broom up against the wall, setting the dustpan down beside it before unlocking the door and going inside.
The Black Swan. Jungkook went over to the movie reel, trying to reset the projector for the showing today. As he did, his fingers accidentally slipped. He sighed when he saw a screw of some sort fly off and bounce along the floor.
"Great..." he muttered, bending to try to figure out where it went.
As he bent down to look about on the ground for it, he happened to catch sight of the movie cover for The Black Swan.
"No way..." he muttered.
The picture on the cover was black and white, but it was absolutely unmistakable to him who the picture on the cover was of. Jungkook forgot about the lost screw he was looking for, moving to pick up the movie cover in his hand, laying it next to the projector where there was more light. He slipped a hand into his pocket, bringing out his cellphone to snap a picture of it.
"I have to text this to Aspen..." he said as his fingers quickly flew across the screen.
None of this made sense, but it was staring him right in the face. There couldn't be any denying it.
No signal. He watched the 'fail to send' notification pop up in front of him and scowled. He didn't usually have a problem with cell phone reception. They texted each other all the time while on duty. It was a way to pass the time, and it was better than walkie talkies. Jungkook tried pressing the 'resend' button, holding up his phone to see if that would help as he watched the circle spin and spin.
"Forget this..."
Jungkook brought the phone down from its position midair, dialing Aspen's number. He listened as it rang and rang.
"Come on...pick up..." said Jungkook as he looked back down at the movie cover.
Eventually he was directed to the answering machine of Aspen's cell phone. He sighed.
"Hey Aspen...listen, I know you might think I'm pulling some sort of joke on you, but I figured out where Seokjin came from and it's ...it's unbelievable. You need to meet me in theater room five as soon as you can. I tried sending you a picture, but..."
There was suddenly a loud bang down in the main theater room. Jungkook brought the phone away from his ear as he walked over to the projector room door.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" He called out as he held the cell phone away from him a little bit.
Unless Jimin and Aspen had arrived and he hadn't noticed, no one should be in the building yet. Jungkook forgot the cell phone was still recording a message on Aspen's phone as he moved out of the projector room and onto the balcony. He walked to the edge of the balcony, looking down at the ground floor of the theater.
"Hello?" He called out again.
His eyes scanned the room when another bang sounded out down below. This time the noise was so loud that it caused Jungkook to jump. He cursed under his breath, moving to walk back down the stairs from the balcony towards the main floor as he put the cell phone back to his ear.
"Very funny, Aspen...Is this why you aren't picking up? Is this your revenge on me for the other day with the megaphone?"
Jungkook entered the ground floor area of theater room five again, looking around again. His eyes scanned over every row of seats, seeing nothing but the shadows where the light didn't reach. He kept walking slowly down the aisle with the cell phone to his ear. If he was a believer in ghosts, he would have thought that was what he was dealing with. This surely had to be some sort of prank being pulled by Aspen and Jimin. He would not be fooled.
"Look Aspen...if I find out you're behind this," continued Jungkook into the phone, "I do hope you know I'll take my revenge...I'll..."
A third bang sounded from behind him then. Each bang seemed to be louder than the last. Jungkook turned to look behind him and saw that the theater room door had slammed shut. Before he could react to it, the projector up in the projector room turned on, on its own; the room he was standing in falling into darkness.
"...this is very funny...hahaha. Do you hear me? How about you pick up the phone or pop out of whatever shadow you are hiding in..."
Jungkook turned his face towards the screen where The Black Swan movie was playing. He was staring at a gray bedroom that was completely empty of an occupant. He walked closer to the movie screen. The projector was running but the scene didn't seem to be moving or changing at all. Jungkook moved to walk up the stairs and onto the stage until he was standing in front of the screen.
"...the movie is busted...no wonder no one pays to watch this thing..." said Jungkook into the phone as his eyes focused in on the screen, "Maybe Seokjin lost his mind..."
Jungkook stood in front of the screen for a moment or two more before walking closer to it. He studied the different shades of gray that made up the black and white scene. It was so boring. What dull movies these must have been. He kept the phone to his ear as he reached out a hand to touch the screen.
"...I'm sorry, but this person's voicemail box is now full. Please try again later..."
The automated voicemail voice was all that could be heard echoing out in the theater room as everything switched to complete and utter darkness; the projector snapping back off. Soon even the voicemail's voice was gone as well until only the sound of silence echoed out.
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