JUNGKOOK
Days on trial: 70
Slipping into the function room just off the side of the clinic, trepidation made itself at home in my brain. My eyes scattered from left to right, taking in the room: white walls, grey chairs, muted beige carpet that hadn't been washed since the 1988 olympics.
Half a dozen people were milling around, fiddling with polystyrene cups, the scent of stale coffee suffocating me. I wondered what they could see; if they knew the colour of the string tied around my wrist or if they were aware of the blush on my nose from the cold winters breeze.
My focus was broken by the presence of someone next to me, another person quietly observing the gathering.
"You're new."
"Yeah, uh, didn't really realise this was a thing," I admitted sheepishly, my hand fiddling with the screwed up flyer that was still in my jacket pocket.
"You haven't be missed out on much, just humble brags about who could see what colour first. All a bit of a bore, really."
"Yet you've been coming every week?" I smirked, glancing to the side to observe the friendly stanger next to me. She was short, even shorter than Annie, with pitch black hair bundled on top of her head, secured with a yellow scrunchie. That single pop of colour aside, she was in all black, a thick coat over a loose knit sweater, dark denim skirt, tights and boots. She looked like a mono.
"Been waiting for something exciting to happen," she shrugged, glancing over to me. I wondered if she thought I looked like a mono too, black jeans with a long black overcoat, chunky boots and a grey sweater that was tucked into my waistband. I was conscious of Annie, and the rust-coloured cami that she'd slipped on after her bath, teamed with pale wash denim jeans that hugged her curves. She looked like a multi. Would it bother her that I didn't? "Looks like it might be my lucky week."
"Ah, I'm not so sure about that," I deflected, unsure of her tone. She was being friendly, but I couldn't help but feel as if her conversation was laced with shameless flirting. I wasn't naive to good banter, but there was only one person I wanted to banter with anymore.
"No? So tell me about yourself then."
"Jungkook. Multi," I nodded, quietly happy to be able to declare myself as that. "First wave of the trials. They reckoned I was a special case because I'd never seen colour before."
"Never?"
"Nope. Saw red first and they've faded in gradually ever since. I think I'm at full colour now. What about yourself?"
"Kenna. Mono," she gritted her teeth awkwardly. "I reckon they've put me on the placebo. Haven't seen colour since my last break up about a year ago."
"The placebo?" I queried, curiously. I knew that it had been a possibility, but had never considered the reality of it.
"Two in ten chance," she nodded, extending her index finger to take a headcount of the room."That means statistically there should be two of us in here."
"Any guesses?"
"Not a clue," she shrugged. "All reckon they're seeing colour, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of them turned out to be succumbing to the placebo effect. It's like a pissing contest in here every week, seeing who can see the 'brightest', as if anyone other than the Doctors can judge that."
"Why so much focus on the intensity?" I scoffed, knowing that it never really mattered to me how brightly I could see colours, just the fact that I could see them was enough. Then again, if colours were nothing new to them, why would they be so bewitched by them?
