𝐃𝐞́𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐫 || 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐤𝐒𝐨𝐨

Chapter 5

Seokmin retraced his steps toward his father’s office. This time, when he reached the threshold, there was no hesitation. He strode inside, grabbed his father’s medical bag, and set it on top of his desk to check through the contents. As he opened it, the scent of leather and antiseptic hit his nose, and he had to fight back a wave of sadness and nostalgia. This wasn’t the time to dwell on the past or get lost in sentiment—he had a patient to see.

Minutes later, he was striding out the door past a concerned Zane.

“Did Officer Greggs get away okay?” he asked him.

“He’s gone, but he wasn’t happy about it,” Zane confirmed. “He seemed suspicious. Do you think he knows?”

“No one knows but us. He can question us all he likes, it’ll come to nothing.” He wished he felt as confident as he sounded and not like the walls were closing in on him.

He made it to town in record time and pulled up outside Phoenix House.

Growing up, he’d passed by the place many times, but it had never held an interest for him. Everyone said the omegas there were strange, sick, or crazy. Pick any word you like, and someone had used it. It was only when he was older that he understood the place was just another foster home, albeit one for omega kids who’d had a particularly bad time of it.

A beta hurried over to greet him as he stepped inside.

“Dr. Lee,” he told her. “Here to see Eric.”

“I’ll bring you straight through,” she said, showing him through a locked door.

They walked down a corridor and past another set of doors.

“They have him in the quiet room,” she told him as they walked. “He gets very distressed around strangers, but that room is his favorite. It always makes this easier.”

She pressed a bell on an unassuming door with an orange light outside.

Seokmin didn’t hear anything ring inside or outside the room, but a few seconds later, the orange light turned green.

“You can go ahead in,” she told him.

“Thanks,” he said, pushing the door open and stepping inside.

The room lived up to its name—the atmosphere calm, the lights low.

There were two adults on the other side of the room, one of them holding a toddler in her lap. He was disappointed to realize neither of them were the omega he’d spoken to on the phone.

“Dr. Lee?” one of the women called quietly, catching his eye as she made her way toward him. He walked to meet her, keeping his steps slow, mindful of the little boy’s gaze following his every move.

“I’m Dr. Yuna, the head psychologist,” she whispered as she reached his side. “Eric is just over there, with Eunbi.”

Eunbi was sitting on a beanbag, holding Eric securely in her arms. She had him sitting forward, and even from a distance, he could see the little boy’s breathing was labored.

“Medical history?” he asked softly.

“Developmental delay. Recurrent bronchiolitis. He suffered severe childhood pneumonia that led to chronic breathing problems. He gets sick like this every few months. We’ve already used his inhaler with the spacer, and that’s helped a little. We’ve got a nebulizer ready…”

They sounded like they knew how to handle him, which was a relief.

“Do you think he’d tolerate me examining him?”