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37

"H-hello?" Hoseok stuttered nervously, quickly looking to Namjoon for support. He quickly tapped the button to turn on the speakerphone so Namjoon could hear too.

Namjoon gave him a warm smile, ignoring his own fear as he encouraged Hoseok to keep going.

"Hello." The receptionist on the other end sounded bored. "What can I do for you."

"Um, I'm not sure if this is the right place or who I should talk to, but I got a call from this number a month ago asking me about hospitalizing my friend Min Yoongi, and now I think my other friend is sick too." Hoseok half lied.

The receptionist perked up. "You said...Min Yoongi?"

"Yeah, he was my former teacher, he put me as one of his emergency contacts since his parent's are kinda the worst people alive." Hoseok babbled, trying to sound dumb. "Mine aren't that bad, but they did force me into a business relationship, can you believe that? What am I- stock?"

"Yes, yes, that sounds familiar." Hoseok could tell she was trying and failing to feign disinterest at the mention of Yoongi. "And now you said someone else was feeling sick? Were they acting the same way as Mr. Min?"

"Well, I never knew how Yoongi was acting." Hoseok said, looking again to Namjoon. "But your work place called me and asked if I consented to having Yoongi treated if he were to have symptoms of sickness, and I didn't know who else to call. You guys are, like, the best hospital in the whole country, right? I'm just worried for my friend and want him to get better."

"Yes, definitely." She said a little too quickly. "Your friend will be in the best care with us. And ah, what did you say his name was?"

Before Hoseok could reply, he could hear a hushed voice talking to the woman on the other end and strained to listen.

"...with the Yoongi case..."

"...another one...who?"

"...need to verify. Then we'll..."

"Ahm," the woman cleared her throat. "Sir, you should know we can only admit people into our facility if you are nominated as one of their emergency contacts. Otherwise we have no authority to institutionalize them. Would this friend happen to be any of these names? Kim Seokjin? Park Jimin? Jeon Jungkook?"

Hoseok stayed silent, looking to Namjoon again.

The student was sitting on the bed, his legs over the side and his elbows digging into his thighs, his chin resting on his interlaced fingers. His expression was stony and didn't betray his thoughts.

"Kim Taehyung?" The woman held her breath. "Or...a mister Kim Namjoon...?"

"Ah, yes! Him!" Hoseok forced a smile, hoping it would carry into his tone.

"Kim Namjoon?" Hoseok heard the woman stand up abruptly, knocking her chair back.

"Yes, it's him." Hoseok wondered why she sounded like she had just won front row concert tickets to see her favorite band with meet and greet passes included.

"Hold on just a minute." She said sweetly, and then the whispering voices were back.

"...him! It's the smart one..."

"...verify his identity. We can't risk..."

"...so excited! He's exactly who we..."

"Alright, Mr. Jung. It looks like you have authority to let us take Mr. Kim Namjoon into our care." She said, sounding professional once again. "I just need to verify your identity and then we can set up phase two."