Clinically Insane ✰ Bang Chan Centric

11

Chan decides to take the stairs down to the bottom floor this time instead of the elevator. As his body walks down the stairs, taking him deeper and deeper, his mind is somewhere else entirely. He enters the code and scans his badge when he reaches the bottom and enters the common area still very much distracted. He pulls out his phone and mumbles to himself as he starts typing out the list of items he needs. He looks through all the cabinets and the refrigerator and sees that there is almost nothing in stock. 

He sighs and sends Dr. Wilde a hefty list, and at the very end says, "A cook would also be nice since feeding my patients isn't usually a part of my job description."

He exits the kitchen as his phone vibrates in his hand. "All of the cooks are too scared to come down there. Just buy them something easy to make every day or take out, and I'll reimburse you." 

Chan's jaw clenches before he puts his phone away and replaces his annoyed face with a forced smile when he notices 6 pairs of eyes on him. Wait—six? A giggle is heard to his right. Fuck, it's Jeongin.

He turns to his right and sees Jeongin going through his phone, which he forgot to lock before slipping it into his pocket. "May I have my phone back?"

"And what if I say no?" Jeongin looks at him only briefly before giggling and scrolling through something on the screen. "oooh, you have a brother? I didn't see him in your other fam-" 

Jeongin gets cut off by Chan swiftly whisking the phone out of Jeongin's hands and back into his own. "My family isn't part of this game, Jeongin. Don't mention them again." 

The maknae chuckles and raises his hands up and tilts his head with a smile, almost mockingly at the older. Chan walks over to the table the others are sitting at, and he doesn't miss how half of them seem to tense up at his proximity. He looks down at the table and sees Hyunjin drawing on a piece of paper. After getting closer, Chan could make out that the drawing was of himself. 

"Are the circles under my eyes really that dark?" He grins at the artist, who nods in response. "They're even darker. I'm being nice by drawing them this light." 

Chan cautiously sits down beside Felix, deciding that he may be the safest option. Changbin is across from him and is still analyzing the older Aussie as if he were a puzzle that needs to be solved. "Why'd you travel across the world? It can't seriously be just for us."

Chan shrugged. "Well, it was. It was the biggest reason, at least." Changbin's eyes narrow. "Why now? I'm sure you could've been hired at one of the asylums we were at in Korea and Japan. Why did you only come now that we're in America?" 

"America is more exciting to me than Korea or Japan. It's a place I've never been. Plus, the pay they offered sweetened the deal a ton." Changbin scoffs and looks away, seemingly done with his questioning. Jisung, who is sitting by Changbin, takes the older's place and asks more questions. "Why'd you become a psychiatrist?" 

"I've always been interested in psychology and how the human mind works-" 

"Why?" Chan frowns. "Why what?" 

"Why have you been interested in psychology? You wanted to know what part of you was defective, right? What part didn't feel the way it should? You wanted to know how normal people's brains were wired so you could see what was wrong with yours?" 

Chan's eyes widen as he digests his words and is stunned to silence. Han takes his silence as confirmation and smiles. "That's okay. We like broken things here. That is what makes you perfect in my eyes," he giggles, and for a moment, Chan could've sworn the man that made that noise was Jeongin, but no, it was Jisung. 

The next thing Chan knew, Felix was sliding his lighter across the table and into Minho's waiting hands. "How did y-"

"Jeongin taught me some of his tricks. It also helps that you space out a lot." Felix smiles and takes his left hand and interlaces it with Chan's right hand. He tries to pull away, but Felix's grip tightens, and that ever-present smile twists into something colder. "Don't." 

Chan stops struggling, but he keeps an eye on Minho to make sure he doesn't take playing with fire too far. After a few minutes, the leader, Minho, slides the lighter back to Felix. The said Aussie catches it and offers it to Chan. When he takes it, he can feel Felix's fingers meet his with a lingering touch, and the freckled man smiles in delight. Chan takes the lighter back and puts it safely — no, just in his pocket. Nothing about his pockets can be considered safe anymore. 

Chan finally tells his patients that it is time to return to their rooms, and surprisingly, all of them do so without much hassle. The only encounter he had was with Seungmin. 

"You know, it's hilarious that you still think you're in control." The man gives Chan a smirk, and the Aussie gives him a blank stare in return before his face morphs into a fake smile someone would use when giving a compliment they don't genuinely mean. "You know, that's funny because I was thinking the exact same thing about you." 

Before Seungmin can give the older a most likely smart ass remark, Chan closes the door to his room. The psychiatrist sighs as he enters the elevator before smiling when he realizes he has completed his first day. 

Chan walks to his car under the flickering parking lot light, exhaustion finally setting in. He replays the last few minutes with them: the questions, the silence, the way they watched him—like prey, or maybe something else.

At this point, I honestly don't know who is observing who.

Please vote! 

Sorry for the late chapter. I had family visit from out of town. 

Elena is slytherin away now!