When Red Means Danger

003

Dahyun yawned as she stretched her arms and bent her back. She had been browsing through her psychology books and some other journals, articles and references for hours as she tried to find some guidance on her patient's case. It was the third time they saw each other this morning but there was no progress on their communication. V would refuse to even look at her. At rare times, he would spare her a glance but Dahyun would see nothing in his eyes but emptiness. She knew that if she did nothing more than let him take his medicines, his case and her grades would both fail.

I need him to open up to me first, she thought as she bit the end of her pencil.

But how would that be possible if he can't talk?

She huffed out some air in frustration but then her gaze landed on the pencil she was holding. She flinched upon hearing the door suddenly creak, but her heart quickly calmed down as she heard Jungkook's voice.

"I'm home!" he called.

But Dahyun replied with silence.

Jungkook sighed in frustration as for the third time, he had heard no 'welcome back' in return. It had been three days since she started avoiding him. Jungkook found it absurd as both of them lives in the same flat, but then when Dahyun's mad, she'd always be giving the coldest shoulder she could.

These past few days, Jungkook wondered if her patient had already passed her his mutism.

"Did you eat?" Jungkook asked, trying to initiate a conversation.

"Hmmm," Dahyun only hummed before packing all her things, going to her room and shutting the door behind her.

Scoffing in disbelief, Jungkook dropped all the files he was carrying to the desk that Dahyun had just emptied. Annoyed, he grabbed a glass of water to calm him down as one of his hands unbuttoned his uniform. He was thankful that Jimin had offered him to eat dinner together or else he would be eating alone again in the dining table tonight.

He rolled his eyes as he groaned, "So childish."

But he clearly knew that there was only one word Dahyun longed to hear from him. If he would just spat out that one word she yearned for, then the cold war would be over.

He sighed as he whispered to himself, "I'll find a proper time to say 'sorry'."

Taking another gulp, his gaze then landed on the folder. Walking towards it, he flipped the pages and he figured out that like Dahyun, he also needed to study a case he had been recently appointed to. He sighed as his gaze remained focus on the picture of the red-haired man on the file. 

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"I know that you might still feel uncomfortable to talk to me but would you at least nod or shake your head when I ask something?" Dahyun asked as she tilted her head.

And the response she got was a lazy stare.

"Do you understand me?" Dahyun asked again but instead of answering, he avoided her gaze. She sighed as she got a set of coloring materials in her bag and mumbled, "I stayed all night drafting a letter to the officials and I woke up early in the morning to buy this set, so would you please cooperate?"

She coughed as she noticed herself that the tone of her voice was already off. She was getting frustrated with the limited reactions she was getting, but it was not the time for her to give up. She was not on a position to give up.

Dahyun tried her best to smile as she offered a crayon to him and said, "Let's draw."

He looked at her again, and Dahyun took it as a positive sign as she continued, "I know you miss the world outside and I still don't know how long would it take for you to have a glimpse of it, so I thought of having it drawn on your walls for the mean time. I wanted to give you a motivation too. Something to look forward to once you're really okay."