He bit his lip and continued smiling. "I wasn't." I said in a serious tone but the silence was immediately interrupted with his voice. "You keep calling me rat way too often. Why?" He giggled as I got up, ready to leave. He got up too as we picked our bowls and walked to the food counter to leave them. "Because you act like one. And look like one." I said as we left our bowls. I walked to the hallway to get back to my room as he followed me. "How do I look like a rat?" He giggled again, making me stare into his smile. "Ugh, your skin is weird and you have big perky ears." I said in a direct tone, sounding quite offensive. I felt myself trying to insult his body because I felt an unusual attraction towards him, so making insults was my way of masking my true thoughts. But the truth was that in these 3 days of knowing him, I've stared at his gorgeous melanin skin and those silly yet charming perky ears that twitch every time he smiles or raises his eyebrows in awe or confusion. Somehow I've felt like I was that girl in the 1st grade again. But would liking someone feel like this when you forgot the feeling of love?

"You can call me a mouse, though. I wear white most of the time anyway." He said as we stood in front of our room. "Mouses are charming. Rats are a burden and a damage." I said in a serious tone to which he just giggled, making me confused. "I think I'm being a burden to your mind in a different way." He flirted, making me roll my eyes. "You're so annoying. And delusional." I said and walked away down the hallway. He just giggled and went inside the room. I walked to the main reception of the ward where Sana was. Before she could greet me I immediately spoke. "I don't like him. Can you get me another roommate. Or can I move to another room?" I nervously tapped my foot. "That means it's working." Sana said as she smiled. "Please, Sana." I desperately pled. She started walking down the hallway and I tried to catch up with her quick walk. "No, no, no. It's not working." I said. "He's so annoying and is trying to provocate me and analyses me and trying to soften me and-" I tried to continue talking but she stopped walking and turned towards me. "Listen Dah, even if I wanted to I couldn't. The ward is quite full and you know I can't switch you to another room when most of the kids here hate you and your attitude." She said as she stroked my shoulder. "How come someone can make you switch to another room? How can someone scare you away?" She asked as I sighed, being upset. "I think I'm scaring myself away because of him." I said under my breath. "Dahyun, I don't understand. Are you scared of him?" She asked and I looked back up. "I'm not. Never mind. I'll be fine. We're going to talk soon, okay?" I said and she nodded. I walked to my room as I shook my head with a sigh. I entered the room and sat on the bed. I felt Taehyung observing what I was doing. I pulled out my pencils and my sketchbook and began drawing. My concentration was broken upon hearing a weird and light buzzing noise. I turned my head to Taehyung and noticed him staring at his letter he held in his right hand. In his left hand he was playing with his purple yoyo, that produced the noise that deconcentrated me. I shook my head and scoffed a laugh out. He looked at me, raising his eyebrows in confusion over my reaction. Then he noticed I was looking at a yoyo and he spoke. "Don't tell me that this little guy is bothering you." He said tilting his head to the side. "No, you're the guy that's bothering me." I said and focused back on my sketchbook. He just giggled, making me question him. He wasn't getting offended that easy. So an idea sparked inside my brain. I needed to find out what was wrong with him.

A loud scream and a cry interrupted my thoughts that came from the outside the room. I knew immediately who it was. "What's that?" Taehyung asked in a slightly panicked tone. We saw one of our ward mates run down the hallway, passing our door while crying manically. I started to laugh out loud. "What did you do?" He asked me in a disappointed tone. "I might have written a fake letter, acting to be her mother and said that her pet snake of 11 years has died." I playfully smiled. He looked at me and shook his head, scoffing a laugh out like I usually do. "But the bitch didn't turn the paper around and read that I signed my name and wrote that it's a payback for what she has said last week." I spoke and chuckled in a scornful manner. "What did she say last week?" He asked in a curious tone. "None of your business, rat." I said and looked down to my paper. "I know you're going to tell me." He said as I heard my name being screamed from the end of the hallway. "Have to go. A star needs to get her recognition." I said in a playful manner and walked outside the room to see the nurses dragging her away, to calm her down. "You fucking bitch!" She screamed when she saw me, realizing how I've made her upset by my prank. "If you say that shit again, I'll make sure your snake actually dies." I spoke as she started to panicky scream "NO!" and the male nurses barely kept her away. I chuckled at the sight. "Bye,bye." I waved at her. Taehyung was leaning against the frame of the door, observing just like other people, from their rooms and from the hallway. "Why would you do that? You know how she gets about Bobby." One of the main nurses said, frowning her eyebrows at me. "Well, I don't think it's fucking fair what she said to me!" I raised my voice. "Don't you swear at me." She said and I stepped closer, but Sana was quick so she gently held me away.

"Come to my ordination, Dahyun." I hear my therapist voice speak as I rolled my eyes. I sighed in annoyance and walked over to him, sending a death glare to the nurse's way. I walked with my therapist and spent another few unnecessary hours that were wasted by a talk that led to nowhere. Then when the afternoon came, I was ready to go through with my plan.

"Fuck, what is his surname again?" I panicky whispered to myself as I was looking around. I was in the storage room with all the files, trying to look for Taehyung's medical history papers. "Ah, Kim." I remembered and mentally slapped myself. I looked through the files, keeping an eye on the door to make sure no one was coming. I barely sneaked inside, stalking the staff for 30 minutes to leave the door open. I finally found his file and dragged it out. First thing that I noticed was was how he looked good on his picture, where most people look awful, taking pictures for documents like that.

I skimmed through the papers until I found the actual listed diagnoses alongside his medication list. And then it all started to make sense to me.

"He's a germaphobe? It all makes sense." I whispered as I widen my eyes. I never met a germaphobe before. The paper continued to read: patient has a lighter case of germaphobia because of his OCD shown behavior. I looked and tried to sink in every word with my eyes. Then it continued.