SUBJECT V || VKOOK

CHAPTER TEN

After Jeongguk left Subject V's cell, he couldn't help but grow concerned about the burning sensations he felt in his chest. Due to this he went from guard to guard asking where Ms. Liu could possibly be. He eventually spoke to a guard who knew and offered to lead him to her office.

Once he was led to Ms. Liu's office, he did not expect her to answer the door in such a questionable state. Her blouse was crinkled while the buttons were connected in the wrong places, her hair was a bit disheveled and lazily put together, and her face was puffy with her cheeks tinted red. He also noticed how she held an angered expression as soon as she answered the door. The anger was soon replaced with a clearly fake and innocent smile.

"Well hello Mr. Jeon, need something?" She asked while she subtly straightened out her skirt.

Jeongguk was still in shock by her questionable state, but even so something inside him was screaming for him to leave. Taking that something's advice- he decided to quickly asked a question that would most certainly cause problems.

"I was wondering if I could schedule a meeting with Mr. Kim?" Jeongguk immediately regret his decision of asking.

Ms. Liu stared at him with her left eye twitching before she answered, "I could do that for you. I'll see when Mr. Kim can fit you into his schedule."

Ms. Liu slammed the door shut on Jeongguk's face, probably on accident. Jeongguk walked away with a pout on his face as he hit his head. Why would he ask such a stupid thing?

—S U B J E C T  V—

Jeongguk's vision became blurry as soon as stepped into his temporary home. The constant thought of his notepad was appearing in his mind like it held extreme importance. Like the notepad had some confidential messages.

Trying his best to rid his thoughts, he decided to try to go to sleep. He went on with his nightly routine and snuggled up into the blue duvet, curling up into a fetus position and hugging a pillow. He tried for atleast thirty minutes to fall asleep, constantly changing his sleeping positions.

He groaned in annoyance before getting out of the bed and grabbing his notepad. He flipped through the pages of his notes before he stopped and looked at JH's drawing. The drawing was of six people and within said drawing held multiple letters, numbers, and words.

He quickly flipped the page over and ripped a piece of paper out of the notepad. He flipped back to the drawing and began to write down everything. His vision felt as if it improved on an entirely new level, allowing him to see even the tiniest of words.

His brain had been calculating faster than he could write and it felt like he couldn't stop. He somehow subconsciously organized and translated all the letters, numbers, and words. Put together they made a lengthy paragraph.

He didn't even get a chance to read the paragraph before the burning sensation came back once more, but this time it worsened as it spread all over his skin. He tried to scream for help, but it came out as a loud exhale.

He got up and immediately stumbled into the bathroom- he turned on the shower to the coldest setting and began to dig his nails into his own flesh. He collpased onto the shower floor with the cold water rushing down his body. His nails began to drag down his flesh, leaving deep scratch wounds.

Accept me Jeongguk.

Jeongguk's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he passed out.

—S U B J E C T  V—

Jeongguk was escorted to the doctor's once again by the same guard. He dragged himself into the doctor's office and was met with the doctor who was there for his fainting incident. She was typing away at her computer, not noticing Jeongguk's presence. He loudly cleared his throat to catch her attention.

The doctor soon stopped typing and looked at him. Her eyes immediately widened at the sight of Jeongguk. Her expression was clouded in what seemed to be fear as she was frozen in place.

Jeongguk's current state was hideous. His hair was disheveled and greasy, he had bold dark circles that surrounded his eyes, and his dress shirt wasn't buttoned all the way which showed off intimidating scratch marks. The rest of his clothes seemed to have been thrown on without care.

"E-excuse me doctor, I've been having a bit of t-trouble... W-with my body..." Jeongguk began to subconsciously kneed the side of his suit jacket while he forced himself to talk with his dried throat.

"Okay can you explain what you're experiencing?" She asked.

She slowly got up- like she was cautious or scared of the disheveled man. She took small steps towards Jeongguk and observed his clothed body. She was moving her head and neck in all sorts of directions like it would help her get a better view.

"I-I've been getting some serious burning sensations in my chest and yesterday it was all over my body," Jeongguk gulped, "I've also been experiencing some sudden loss of control."

The doctor bit the inside of her cheek, "You might have dysethesia- many people have the symptom of burning in their chest."

Jeongguk felt uncomfortable with how quickly the doctor assumed his condition. Wouldn't she be asking more questions about his health? Why just jump to the conclusion after hearing one symptom?

Jeongguk shook his head, "I don't think so. The burning isn't just in my chest- it was all over my skin last night."

"That sounds like peripheral neuropathy, have you ever gone to the hospital for nerve pain?" She questioned while walking to a medicine cabinet.

"When I was younger I damaged a couple of nerves in my wrist due to an accident, but I never experienced pain like this." Jeongguk felt the sudden urge to vomit so he grabbed a chair and sat down.

"Mr. Jeon you're really young for your job- especially at the age of twenty-three. Maybe you are just now having the consequences of your experiences when you were younger?" The doctor explained yet questioned.

It sounded as if she was trying to convince herself of his symptoms rather than actually give a proper diagnosis. It was like she knew something, but refused to admit it. There was more to what she was letting on- she just doesn't want to admit it.

The woman soon took a bottle from the cabinet and walked over to where Jeongguk sat. She hesitated before handing him a bottle that read Gavisamine.

"Take one tablet every night." She simply spoke.

"Thank you... I guess..."