Carpe Diem ; YGᨀJM

──── 17. Experiment 42

Driving through every possible street, Seo-Joon is the one driving a dark and discreet car with his gang while the music from the radio fills the gloomy silence. Agust and Chang-bin were traveling in the passenger seat and the back seat respectively, looking everywhere for Jimin.

They had clues about his gang in the dangerous streets of the Red District, but there were no signs of them.

— We've been out here all night... I don't understand anymore if we're looking for Kitty Gang or Jimin.

Agust listens to Seo-joon's claim and sometimes feels like hitting him hard, but he doesn't give up.

— He has to be here. He can't just disappear like that. — Agust responds with his gaze determined to find it.

Not even making deals with other groups, hiring security guards, or undercover gangsters... It's like the earth has swallowed an innocent little boy who was leading a life of crime. And when things seem to have no solution, the answer to all the prayers and searches arrives.

Smoking near a hospital led them to a doctor who, upon hearing them talk about a former patient, his professionalism and ethics screamed for them to ask a couple of criminals for help as the only alternative. In the middle of a vast white and aseptic land, a hospital was built whose pristine white walls seemed to extend to infinity. The fluorescent light, cold and depersonalized, flooded every corner, creating a clinical glow that accentuated the feeling of sterility and detachment.

The air was filled with a pungent odor of disinfectant and medicine, a nauseating mix that made you wrinkle your nose and wish you were anywhere else. That antiseptic fragrance clung to the skin and clothing, a constant and annoying reminder of the fight against diseases that was waged in that space.

— I haven't heard the name "Park Jimin" in a long time. He stopped coming a long time ago, and if I'm honest... I fear for that boy's life.

The doctor was brief, but in his hands was a very large book that was the boy's medical history. This one seemed to be filled with immense misfortune from the moment he was born. From the beginning, the notes reflected a hostile environment. "Complicated birth, mother with history of substance abuse, a father absent," the first record noted. Already from his earliest days, Jimin was trapped in a cycle of neglect and abuse.

The early years of his life were filled with entries detailing frequent visits to the emergency room. "Multiple bruises, untreated arm fracture," read one entry when the little boy was only two years old. "Suspected child neglect, social services notified," read another entry at age three. However, the interventions seemed not enough to get him out of his desperate situation.

As he grew older, the situation did not improve. "Chronic malnutrition, withdrawn behavior," the doctors recorded during their medical check-ups. The school also reported problems. "Frequent absences, signs of physical and emotional abuse. Nervous breakdowns and suicide attempts," the school counselor documented. The boy lived in a constant state of fear and isolation.

At the age of twelve, records of psychological problems began to appear. "Diagnosis of childhood depression," one entry read. "Self-harming tendencies, referenced to psychological therapy." The sessions with the psychologist revealed a heartbreaking picture: "Jimin describes feeling constantly scared and alone. He reports physical and emotional abuse from his mother and father and they always ask him why he can't be the perfect son."

The nervous breakdowns became more frequent over time. But Jimin's real hell was not only at home but also outside. The last entry dated a couple of years ago said: "Possession transferred. Signature. Mr. Kim."