For The Messed Up Minds

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A S S E S S M E N T S

. Wednesday

. 2:34 pm KST

. Location: Seoul's asylum for the messed-up minds

Taehyung wandered around the office with his head up high, observing his new corner of the world. He was impressed with the setup, considering his new position. The rug was relatively clean, save for a couple of blood splatters painted near the mahogany desk. The exterior was smooth to the touch, and he could not help but run his fingers over it a couple of times. A few plants hung around the windows, offering a comfortable space both for him and his patients. He admired it all, absorbed it like a sponge, and then expressed his gratitude to the earth for providing. Minutes he wasted like so, merely wishing, until he ultimately opted to relax his limbs.

He sat on the leather chair, spinning round and round till his head started to pulsate and his vision turn dusky, till his toes became numb from all the blood rushing into them. He patted the cushion, utterly gratified with its luxury. Then he commenced to simply scanning the assets he had. It provided an emergency button rimmed in red in a nook on the right side, hidden from an outsider's view. Drawers lined where he would sit, one capable of locking, most likely for his personal items like his wallet and such. Rifling through the drawers, he came across a taser, probably for life-threatening situations only, and he wondered if he would ever come across such occasion. Hopefully not, he was not a huge supporter of brutality.

He swiveled back and forth in the chair, pondering. His mind floated all over, as did his eyes until they finally rested upon a grey hassock. He stood up, and the cold air claimed his back, its hands of ice groping his warm skin, making him shudder. He paused until his legs did not feel unreliable underneath him to delve into the details of the ornate chamber.

Crossing the room, he tried the drawers, only to find they needed a key. He pulled out a bobby pin out of hair, in courtesy of Nancy Drew, and meticulously fit it into the latch, tinkering a bit before it made a final click, and the niche sprung open. The grey file cabinet was jammed full of cases, most likely of patients, courtesy of the preceding resident who perished under enigmatic circumstances.

Hundreds of files came into view and he sighed, thinking about how much organizing and work he would have to do to keep this office straight. Glancing around, he pulled out a couple of files from the 'crimes' section. Heaving them out and pressing them to his chest, he strode back to his plush chair and settled in, getting ready to review them conscientiously. He opened a yellowed file, eager to jump into this new world and he sensed in brief, this certainly will be interesting.

For hours he poured over them, eyes never leaving the page unless to take a sip of his bitter coffee he reviled. Each time he grimaced, face contorting into one of abhorrence for the substance. He never understood the addiction of it, it stung his palate and brought a sour taste to his mouth whenever he finished a cup.

Taehyung was finally informed about the kind of crowd he was working with, ones who deserved to be in jail for taking the life of another. He skimmed through their portfolio, criticizing every detail of their crimes. One was too chaotic, the other too tidy, and another essentially signed up to get arrested. Some killings were in pairs, while other massacres. Some people in here were assassins who lost touch with emotions. The only sensation was a blade being tested against skin or calloused hands making their victim shiver. Either way, their minds were too ripped to be put back together.

In the alternate sections, the files were full of people with mental disorders, trying to figure themselves out. Most of those were dated back to the '90s, showing that numerous were archaic and his repertoire needed to be revised. Either that or they were assigned to a different psychiatrist and required to relocate. The cases overlapped some of the time, and a couple of them caught his eye, but he told himself he would go over them in finer detail later.

By the time he had gone over all of the relative archives, it was 7:50 and he far overworked himself into bone-popping exhaustion. Putting back everything and locking up was reasonably challenging for his eyelids felt so very heavy, but he managed.

Lazily picking up his keys, he walked down the unnerving corridors in silence, with the occasional scuffle of his sole. Thankfully, the offices were closer to the entrance that doubling as an exit than the cells. Making his way to his car was easy until he tripped that is. "Oomph," he breathed out. "Damn it, Taehyung, you always have to be so clumsy. One day you'll walk off the side of the Earth because of it," he lightly reprimanded himself, picking his body from the concrete. He lightly chuckled to himself as he stumbled into the front seat.

Lengthy fingers grasped the stick, pulling it into reverse as his head whipped around to check his surroundings. The drive was silent, aside from the few mumblings he spoke to keep himself from collapsing. His mind roamed through different topics like the food he was going to eat, or what tomorrow would be like. His eyes flitted from sign to sign, streetlight to streetlight, not really registering anything but not disregarding it either. He was simply floating inside his water-filled mind.

He reached home after a thirty-minute commute, and almost instantly crumpled onto the couch. His chest rose and fell to an almost indiscernible rhythm, lips puffing out the air they formally inhaled. His eyes which were usually blithely lined with smile lines were now smoothed and relaxed. He looked in peace, which most would desire over almost anything, and he was no exception.

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