The Breakout Project - Hwang Hyunjin

Chapter 46

The floor was empty at most, which served me just right.

The front desk was vacant, its owner off to somewhere while only a couple of medics stood in front of a metallic door.

Quickly, I arranged my face mask so it wouldn't leave my features exposed and walked down the corridor with my chin tilted high a bit just like Seungmin had done. I tried not to make it obvious that I didn't want to establish eye contact with anyone, so I swiftly averted my eyes faking interest in the other direction.

With the technique, I went past two doctors talking to each other; they were pointing at something written down on a piece of paper, and they compared it to whatever they were seeing in the room.

Without wasting time, I briefly inspected the rooms, peeking from the square crystals in hope of seeing Yura inside.

Some of the rooms were empty while others had different patients that looked like they were asleep or, with the exception, the one that seemed to be hitting his forehead against the wall.

The further I walked, the more I got worried. I had lost sight of the doctors by now but didn't change the fact that I couldn't see a single familiar face altogether. I had to remind myself that there were other floors for rooms but I couldn't help but feel like I was wasting precious time.

My hand hovered inches away from the communicator, but I told myself it would be stupid to tell Seungmin I didn't find anyone.

He had to be on the 12th by now, taking care of the security cameras.

I made my way to the end of the hall and back at the front desk. And nothing. There was no one. Not even the doctors from before.

I would need to go upstairs.

My foot halted when I hears the faint sound of steps coming from the emergency stairway. A shiver ran down my spine.

I hope they didn't catch him.

The sound of a door closing startled me and I turned to the hallway.

"Excuse me." One of the doctors from before motioned me over with his wrinkled hand.

He stressedly pushed up his black-rimmed glasses and I could see faint dark bags under his droppy eyes. He looked older than my dad.

I swore internally. Had I been too obvious despite my attempts?

He was one of the pair that had been talking in the hall. His partner was long gone, though. I cleared my throat and pretended to be looking over the plexiglass on the desk, wiping imaginary dust from the surface.

The man followed my gaze before giving me a questioning look. "Is there anything you need, boy?" He frowned. "The face masks are supposed to be deposited in the surgery room garbage; didn't they teach you the basics?"

I gave him a confused look, immediately cursing Seungmin for leaving that precisely beautiful detail behind.

I faked a cough and shook my head. "Please forgive me, the winter has gotten to me and I have caught an unfortunate cold. I wouldn't wish for any of you to get sick because of me."

The nurse nodded understandingly and lightly took a step back. "That makes sense. For a second there I thought you were about to initiate a process because we only use those in the testing rooms."

An awkward laugh left my lips.

I needed to take this chance or else I wouldn't find them in time.

"In fact, I was here to do some checking on the interns that escaped," I mentioned as casually as possible.