JOKER

Chapter 2

Everything was quiet. The sound of the clock ticking from the reception room was heard. Jimin felt a bead of sweat slowly sliding down the back of his neck. He let out a shaky breath and continued to concentrate on the patient's file. Someone was watching him. He could feel a presence two shelves behind him.

He felt both his ankles being tightly gripped an-

TING!

Jimin lifted his head from the file he was reading when the bell was heard notifying that someone had entered the clinic. He was panting and he realized that he was gripping the file really tightly. Just another delusion.

Jimin closed the file and walked towards the reception room.

A tall, handsome man was standing in the room, looking around. He was dressed in a police uniform. The clothing suited him and outlined his fit body.

"Good morning! I'm the town sheriff." The man said.

Well, no shit.

"Good morning officer. What can I do for you?" Jimin replied, trying to sound interested.

What can the sheriff want from here? He was just inspecting the room. He looked around like how a normal sheriff would which Jimin found to be very stereotypical.

Jimin walked behind his desk and placed the file on the table. The sheriff walked towards the desk and rested his hands on the table. The table would cover Jimin's face if he sat. The table was tall.

"A patient of yours was murdered yesterday. I found prescriptions and bills issued by your clinic when we were examining his apartment. I'd like to see his file and talk to the doctor." He said.

Jimin knew that someone was murdered but he didn't know that it was one of their patients.

"May I know his name, sir?" Jimin asked.

"Lee Chanwoo."

"I need to talk to the doctor before showing the file. I'll inform the doctor."

The sheriff raised a brow.

Jimin was reading the said patient's file before the sheriff came. He had been asked to come tomorrow for an appointment. The file was kept on Jimin's desk but the sheriff didn't need to know that.

Jimin knocked on the door and heard a husky hum before opening the door.

"Doctor, the sheriff has come. He would like to talk to you." Jimin said.

The doctor was reading a file and he looked up when he heard Jimin's voice. Jimin found him to be really cute when he looked up. The doctor still had his concentrated face on but his eyes had widened and Jimin found that to be really cute. He almost cooed. 

"The sheriff?" The doctor asked, surprised. He got up from his chair and put his hands in the pocket of his pants and walked out the door that Jimin was holding open.

Jimin looked down nervously as the doctor passed by. He was always intimidated by the doctor. The doctor was never rude or harsh but Jimin overthinks a lot. He was always anxious about everything around him.

Jimin closed the door and followed the doctor to the waiting room. The sheriff was sitting on the couch with his legs crossed. As soon as he saw the doctor, he stood up and extended his hand to shake it with the doctors.

"Good morning doctor." They exchanged a polite smile and a firm handshake.

"Good morning."

Jimin didn't know what to do. He was just awkwardly standing behind the doctor, fondling with his fingers. He decided to stand there instead of seeking unwanted attention by moving behind his desk.

"A patient of yours has been murdered. I'd like to go through his files."

"A patient of ours?" The doctor looked surprised and turned around to look at Jimin for a brief moment.

"What is the name of the victim?" The doctor enquired.

"Lee Chanwoo."

"Mr. Park, bring the file of the patient."

Jimin went behind his desk as the file was laying on his desk. He handed the file to the doctor. The doctor opened the file and read through it, flipping pages momentarily.

"He had an appointment with you tomorrow. I was about to call and confirm the time before the sheriff came." Jimin said after handing the file over to Taehyung.

"Ah yes! He had dysthymia. He told me that his symptoms started almost a year ago." The doctor closed the file and handed it over to the sheriff.

The sheriff opened the file and went through it as well.

"I'll be taking this with me doc. We'll call you if we need any additional information about the victim." The sheriff shook hands with Taehyung and gave a firm nod to Jimin before leaving the clinic with the file.

Jimin and Taehyung were facing the door as they watched the sheriff leave. Taehyung was standing behind Jimin and Jimin could feel his presence behind him.

Jimin stood at his spot awkwardly for a while. The doctor didn't seem to move from his spot. Jimin just walked behind his desk and tried to clean his already clean and tidy desk.

"Did you have lunch Jimin?" The doctor abruptly asked.

"Not yet." Came Jimin's meek response.

"It's time. You can have your lunch. Put up the closed sign on the front door till you're done." The doctor said before walking off to his room.  

There were times when the doctor was like this. The doctor was very kind at heart but he seemed to be very soft-spoken and restrained. 

Jimin decided to have his lunch like the doctor said. 

After having his lunch he opened the clinic again and sat on his chair. The red light on the telephone beeped. Jimin picked the phone.

"In my room." The doctor's gruff voice came through the phone. Jimin had the small hairs on his hands and legs rising.

He knocked on the door before entering. 

"Jimin you remember the patient that came yesterday at night?" The doctor asked.

Jimin looked confused. They usually have a lot of patients during the evening and night time.

"The new one. I guess he was the last one too." The doctor briefed. 

"Yes, doctor. Yes, what about him?" Jimin asked.

"He seems to have more problems than insomnia. I gave him some sleeping pills and have asked him to come after two weeks for a checkup. We'll see what to do after that." 

Why did he tell this to Jimin again?

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