Dulce Periculum

2. New Identity

Yunho waned between waking and darkness. He picked up on worried voices asking about him, something about his glasses. Silhouettes moved before his blurry sight, but their voices seemed distant as if through a thick fog. His limbs were made of lead. He couldn't move a finger, trapped in his state of limbo.

New voices questioned the ones he heard before he passed out. A child was crying.

"What did he do?" A gruff male voice. Authoritative. A red uniform flashing past. Governmental officials.

"I think he slowed it down?" The female voice didn't sound sure either. More feet trampling past. Yunho's head was so heavy. Their steps seemed to vibrate through the earth into his brain.

"Bring him along in an ambulance and despatch a team to investigate that demon for traces."

Yunho was jostled around. Put onto a stretcher. Lifted and rushed out of the building. He hoped the mother and her child were fine.

His mind waned yet once more and darkness enveloped him, to leave him with all his questions.

-

Yunho finally awoke in a place he had never seen before. It was some sort of sick ward, which made sense, but he doubted it was a regular hospital.

The nurse bustling around nearby didn't wear a white or blue uniform. Its burgundy red was reserved for official governmental institutions. Yunho remembered catching a peek at it before he passed out.

Disoriented, he peered at his IV and the needle in his arm. A clear liquid dripped into him at a languid pace. He couldn't remember losing blood, so it made sense to give him other medication.

When he fumbled for his glasses on the nightstand by his side, the nurse picked up on his movement. She came over with a smile and checked on his infusion. His hair was matted on his forehead, but his glasses didn't take damage when he blinked against the new details in the room.

He was in a ward with six beds, but he was the only one here. The quiet hum of machines was the same as in a regular hospital, but the sleek interior humbled Yunho. This place was luxurious. What happened?

"How do you feel? Any pain?" The nurse asked him when she propped up his bed. Yunho sent her a confused smile while she rang someone.

"I feel okay," he replied, and that much wasn't a lie. He rested and his body replenished its strength. He remembered the rift and the demon in the bunker, but nothing after. Had he gone into shock?

"No headache?" She made sure, marking something on her tablet.

Yunho carefully shook his head and nothing hurt.

"No."

When she made to leave, Yunho gathered his courage. He felt odd to question her since she seemed confident in his presence, but the dread of paying off the bill for a high-end hospital with his meagre convenience store salary made Yunho's stomach twist into knots. He couldn't afford unnecessary expenses.

"I'm sorry, but could you tell me where I am? I don't remember getting here."

She gifted him a bright grin.

"Of course! Don't worry about your momentary memory loss. It's very normal upon awakening. You are at the esper hospital in Gangnam. Please rest assured that you are taken care of by the most capable professionals."

Yunho's expression slipped. Gangnam? That entire district was too expensive for him to even dare look at. And what was he doing at an esper hospital? Did the rift worsen so badly they had no other spots?

When he started sweating profusely about the hospital bill coming his way, the nurse motioned him to rest himself.

"The commander will explain the rest to you. Please stay in bed until we tell you it's safe to move. And congratulations." With a chipper grin, she left, and Yunho stared at the sleek interior and expensive lamps. It wasn't his world, neither the luxury nor the nation's best-trained staff who tended to the espers.