Silent Cry

Chapter 8

The scenario of what happened a few hours ago kept replaying in my head. He never seriously answered any of my questions. He only responded with "Its fine." Obviously I knew it wasn't fine, but I didn't want to push my limits.

I began to walk to the bus stop located outside of the school campus so that I could get to my internship. While I was walking I got a message from an unknown number.

"Hi Jeongin! This is Jisung. Hyunjin doesn't have a phone at the moment so he gave me your number in case you need to call me for anything."

I was confused. Why didn't Hyunjin have his phone? Is that why he didn't respond?

"Don't think that I am your errand boy though. Only text me for emergencies. I got a life too ya know?"

I chuckled slightly at his comedic but also serious tone. 

"Hi Jisung. Don't worry, I am very aware of what a busy guy you are."

The text bubbles appeared but the bus that I needed to take just arrived so I quickly put my phone in my pocket so that I could pay for my bus ticket. Once I sat down, I pulled my phone back out and saw Jisung's message.

"Funny. Ttyl."

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I get off of the bus and follow my phone gps to see where the clinic was. I stopped when my phone said that I had arrived at my destination. The building looked relatively old. Some of the paint was chipping off and the bushes outside didn't look like they got much water, if ever.

I walked in and noticed that the outside did not match the inside at all. "Woah" I said out loud. The interior looked like a millionaire lived here. The tiles were so squeaky clean that I could see my reflection almost perfectly. The receptionist caught my reaction and called me out, "Your first time here? Don't worry, that's a common reaction." I walk up to the front desk. "How may I help you?" I informed the receptionist that I was the new intern and he immediately knew who I was. "Ah yes. Yang Jeongin?" I nod my head to confirm. "Let me just let the head doctor know that you are here."

I wait in the beautiful lobby and take in all of my surroundings. Seriously, if a person can keep the interior in such a good shape, why not the outside too?

The receptionist and another man came back. "Hello. My name is Dr. Park, I will be the doctor in need of your assistance." He reached his hand out to indicate a handshake, and I immediately shook his hand. His hands were extremely calloused for a veterinarian, not that I am totally familiar with the tasks that they do, but I really don't think that you get callouses like that from this line of work. Maybe he likes to golf. A lot.

"For today I will just have you shadow me, and when you feel more comfortable with the clinic I'll let you start getting some hands on experience." I looked at him in disbelief. Was I allowed to do that at my level of experience? That level being zero. He just laughed and pat my back. "Don't worry, I won't let you handle the intricate work. I will most likely just have you help with some stitching, holding down animals that can't take their pills, and maybe some births." I give a weak smile because I was totally not qualified for that.

The receptionist guy walked into the debriefing office and told Dr. Park, "Sorry to interrupt, but the big man called and said he needed your assistance later at 00:00." Dr. Park just nodded and then began the tour of the whole clinic. There wasn't much since it was a small building, but it all still felt a little overwhelming. I was finally taking some real steps into my hopefully future career.

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I only spent about 3 hours at the clinic, but it went by extremely fast. On the surface, I was doing really boring work, but I had a lot of fun doing it. Organization was one of my special skills that I loved doing, so of course I was elated when I got to file a stack of paperwork. I sound lame but it really does bring me genuine joy. 

While walking to the bus stop, I felt like someone was watching me. I turn around and find no one. So I continue walking and eventually heard footsteps that matched my pace. When I stopped, I heard them stop too. Again, I turn around and find no one. I guess I was just being paranoid.

When I got to the bus stop, I saw that I would have to wait about 5 minutes. I was alone and it was eerily quiet. The feeling of being watched still remained and it put me on edge. The sound of my phone going off startled me. It was an unknown number. How do all these people keep getting my number?

I stare at the number as if I would figure out who's number it was, but it was futile since I don't go around memorizing phone numbers. So I answered the call. "Hello?"

"Jeongin? Its Bang Chan, where are you?" He sound panicked. "Um-" I look around to figure out what street I was at but Chan interrupted my quick investigation. "Never mind, I see you." A familiar black car pulled up in front of me. "Get in." Chan demanded. I opened the door and got in. "Hand me your phone." What? I didn't verbally express my confusion but as soon as I got my phone out, he grabbed it and threw it out of the window. "What the-" "I'll get you a new one. Buckle up." As we drove off, I looked back at my now broken phone on the ground but also saw a dark figure looking at our car. "Who was that?" But Chan just kept silent. "Where are we going?" Still silence. I shouldn't have made this joke, but if it led to answers, "OMG! Are you going to kill me?!" He groaned, "Can you wait for a moment please I am a little busy?" I stare at him and just see that he is driving, but I figured that I would get my answers eventually so I just adjusted my sitting position and remained quiet for the remainder of the ride.