not your typical love story // 𝓼𝓸𝓸𝓷𝓱𝓸𝓸𝓷. (EDITING...)

CH.25

"you good?" jihoon was taken aback by the unexpected appearance of a familiar face.

"ah-yeah, i'm fine," he replied.

despite his response, he realized he wasn't in the least bit fine.

having to deal with kwon soonyoung's case is difficult enough, but then he gets another case, which is none other than jinyeong. it had only been a week since he received the child's case, but he was already exhausted.

jihoon turned to face his friend who was sitting across from him and said, "hey, tell me wonwoo."

"hm?" the latter responded with a hum.

"have you dealt with any patients with folie a deux?" said the pink-haired doctor, intrigued.

the unexpected question caught wonwoo off guard and surely, he was taken aback.

he hasn't checked his old records yet but he knew that he,at the very least, is stranger to that type of patient.

Not yet, at least.

"i haven't. not yet, at least?" the black-haired one said, "how about you?"

jihoon paused for a moment before nodding in agreement."remember the new kid?"

"hm, that new kid jinyeong?" responded wonwoo.

jihoon answered, "yeah, him."

"but i thought he was only schizophrenic?" the latter inquired curiously.

"i feel the same way," jihoon answered, "until i get to learn the real reason behind it."

"i was actually fairly doubtful about that disorder before since i'm not really familiar with it yet." the pink-haired continued.

"i get what you're saying since meeting someone with that condition is exceedingly unusual," said wonwoo, only to be cut off by a familiar ringtone.

"wait a minute," the black-haired said, "i received a call."

jihoon signalled the latter that he should pick up the call right now with a nod.

"hello?" asked wonwoo from the other end of the line.

after a while, wonwoo questioned, "wait? what did you say? someone i know is looking for me?"

"do you, by any way, know who this guy who claims that i knew him?" continued wonwoo.

"you didn't know?" said wonwoo before hanging up. "oh, i get it. he's waiting in the lobby. i'll be there."

"i have to go jihoon, someone is looking for me, see you later," the older remarked before they both said their goodbyes.

»»»

after reading the minimal adjustments, jihoon closes his new schedule.

he's currently at his office, taking a break before going on another session, and it's exactly nine thirty in the morning.

basically, he has a meeting with jinyeong at 10:00 a.m., which is only thirty minutes away from now and at one to two o'clock in the afternoon, some light checkups with a few and not-so-bad patients.

he's got another one with soonyoung at exactly six o'clock in the evening, and finally, another round of visits in the late night evening.

»»»

"help me, they're all staring at me, doctor," jinyeong muttered, his voice shaking as if he were being tortured before being sent to their therapy facility.

"who's looking at you?" jihoon asked softly, as he did with the young man.

"them," jinyeong said quietly, as if they were being watched and he was trying not to be heard by the others.

"can you tell me who they are?" the pink-haired doctor inquired softly.

"everyone, doctor," he said, terrified, as if everyone had been torturing him. "everyone," he added.

after a while, the doctor questioned, "how do they look at you?"

"everyone is giving me the stinky eye as if i've done something wrong," the young jinyeong explained. "they have their eyes set on me with flames on their gaze, as if they want to hurt me doctor."

"no one will ever hurt you here, jinyeong," the doctor stated. "i'm here, no one will hurt you," he added.

jihoon gave the young man a comforting look before gently squeezing his palm through the hole in the transparent glass and drawing it back to hold his pen.

between them, there was a minute of stillness.

jinyeong is staring down as usual, unable to look at anything. more likely, he's way too scared to do so.

"right now, i'm hearing a lot of voices," jinyeong stated, covering both his ears and lightly shaking his head.

jihoon softly remarked, "slow down jinyeong, what are they saying to you?"

"they're yelling-" he murmured, holding his head in anguish.

jihoon took a step forward, intending to fetch an attendant to inject anesthesia to forcefully soothe the youngster, but paused after the boy appeared to have calmed down.

"are you all right?" the doctor asked. "what is the voice saying to you?" he added.

instead of responding, the alleged persona laughed.

here it comes, he's back. his other personality.

"doctor, they were saying you were no help at all," he said, his gaze now fixed on the doctor's.

unfazed, jihoon maintains the eye contact.

he went on, "do you know what the reason is, doctor?" "it's because you're becoming more insane," he said, laughing, his eyes darkening and his lips pallid.

jihoon took a deep breath and prepared to press the red button on the box inside the pocket of his white lab suit to summon backup and assistance.

the situation necessitates immediate intervention, and the doctor must immediately calm the man before things worsen.

without further ado, he makes contact with the box in his pocket and, without hesitation, presses the button on it.

"we were all insane to begin with, doctor!" he exclaimed, laughing uncontrollably. "if we're crazy, then you people who swore to help us are even more insane!"

he shouted as he collapsed in his chair, clutching his hair as though attempting to tear out every strand.

"argh-!" he yelled in agony, writhing around on the floor as though the pain was truly awful, and help arrived quickly.

"sorry, doctor, it took us a while to come here."

"it's alright," jihoon said, "unlock the door to his room and hold him up for me."

the young nurse handed him the syringe after being told him to put the anaesthetic in it, mind you that he did it without making a single error.

"doctor, what happened to him?" inquired the inexperienced nurse.

"he just lost control, it'll be alright," jihoon said solemnly as they made their way to the other room, where a couple of guards were holding the child who was very crazy at the time.