Eccedentesiast |NCT MARK LEE| ✔

Ending A Part 1: Alive

Blah - A/N

'Blah' - Thoughts

"Blah" - Dialogue

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"She's waking up! Someone get a doctor!" Ten spoke frantically, leaping out of his chair to push his husband towards the door.

"D-Dad?" Saeyoung's soft scratchy voice rang out and everyone stilled.

"SAE!" Minji exclaimed in delight and motioned to smother her with a hug. However, a doctor entered the room just as Minji was about to lunge at Saeyoung. The doctor, whose exasperation with the entire family was mounting, reached out and grabbed Minji by the back of her shirt's collar.

"Do not tackle the patient who is still in a delicate state of health," she intoned, levelling a reproachful glare on a sheepish-looking Minji. She then scoured the room with critical eyes framed by rounded metal lenses. "Seven people in a room is too many. I suggest everyone leave except Miss Seo's parents."

Both Taehyung and Minji looked ready to protest but one stern glare from the middle-aged bespectacled doctor made them bite back their words. Dutifully, they trudged out of the room in a single file but not before they all glanced at the brunette stirring awake.

"We'll start with some basic questions; don't want to overwhelm the patient too much. How are you, Miss Saeyoung?" The doctor inquired with an apathetic smile perfected after years of being a professional.

Saeyoung groggily took in her surroundings, feeling disoriented because of the unfamiliar room before speaking.

"I am at the hospital?"

"Yes, you are. A farmer in a village outskirts of Seoul found you after you collapsed and brought you here," the doctor replied, poised beside Saeyoung's bed with a clipboard and pen in hand.

Saeyoung's eyes dilated, resembling an owl's as the doctor's answer jogged her foggy memory.

"JISOO! I WAS KIDNAPPED AND SHE KEPT ME IN HER BASEMENT AND-" Saeyoung abruptly began shrieking frenziedly before choking on her own tears that started streaming down her face. She hung her head and buried her face in her hands, weeping and gasping.

The doctor pursed her lips at the sight of the hysterical girl while Ten and Johnny tried to placate the girl with soothing words and back rubs.

"I didn't expect the information to evoke this kind of reaction, my apologies," she said to the worried-stricken parents consoling Saeyoung. "It seems her experience had been deleterious to her mental and emotional stability. How long was she missing for again?"

"Over a month," Johnny said softly, his hand running up and down Saeyoung's back in a reassuring manner.

The doctor nodded and jotted down something on the paper clipped to the clipboard.

"As I had said earlier on, we are going to let the police question her once she is calm enough to tell them what had happened to her over the course of this month. Before that, we need to check her vitals and call in a counsellor to speak to her. Is that okay with the two of you? We need a guardian's or a parent's permit after all."

"We're fine with it," Ten affirmed.

The doctor nodded in response and went out to talk with a few nurses, leaving the family alone for a while.

"I - missed - you," Saeyoung said in between hiccups as she took in large gulps of air. She clung onto her parents, afraid that if she let go, they would somehow vanish into thin air.