AGAINST THE WORLD || MARKYONG [#2]

Sharp Edges

Taeil hardly managed to catch a break during the morning. He arrived at the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit building looking rather disheveled and feeling as worn out as he looked. There was an emergency on Ward Two—nothing groundbreaking, but one of his patients, Donghyuck, had suffered a relapse and it was a stress that he'd never managed to overcome even after three years in the field—and Taeil was preoccupied with paperwork and making arrangements.

He'd missed several attempts of contact throughout the day from Doctor Kim, and was left with a series of messages which left him more concerned rather than relieved. Mark had thrown up inside of his office, which had been cleaned, but Doctor Kim seemed to think the circumstances of his response were strange. Usually, Taeil would brush it off as a simple case of nausea caused by nervousness, but as it was Mark, he doubted that was the case. Doctor Kim hadn't given him much to ponder, stating that it was going to be better if they talked in person. Taeil was directed to the older man's office.

As he approached Doctor Kim's office, Taeil caught a glimpse of Bangchan and Daewon inside of the cafeteria, alongside a young woman who he assumed was a nurse or another member of staff. They all seemed to be calm and enjoying each other's presence; something that he wished was more prevalent in the main building. Everybody else was much less embracing of each other there. Most didn't want anything to do with each other.

Taeil knocked on the door to Doctor Kim's office and pushed the door open when the latter called to him. He was sitting down at his desk, yet he got to his feet when the younger man came into sight. Before he could speak, Taeil bowed. "I'm sorry that I took so long—I had a patient emergency."

"It's alright, Doctor Moon. Mark was surprisingly compliant. I was expecting him to be angsty and argumentative after your call last night," said Doctor Kim, walking over to the couch. "Should we sit down?"

"Still, I have yet to thank you for being willing to help me with this," Taeil sat down. "I know you're quite busy with your own patients, but I didn't know who else to ask. Doctor Jang is in Gangnam-gu to give a special lecture at a university and nobody else is as involved in all of this than you."

"It's no problem, it also gave me the opportunity to learn about Taeyong's relationship with Mark. It will prove helpful for our next session. But, less of that—we need to talk about Mark. I managed to get some fairly useful information from our discussion, but nothing definitive. He has a peculiar way of presenting himself, but given his suspicions around your intentions of bringing him here, I don't think it's anything to be too worried about. His posturing and mannerisms show a great deal of defensiveness, but I don't blame him for that."

Taeil nodded, he'd been like that since the day that he and Detective Kim had discovered them. "But you're concerned about something else?"

"Yes, to be honest. Mark told me about his state when he came across Lee Kyungmin, and he recalled being in 'a daze' as he put it," said Doctor Kim, sitting forward. "How would you explain his behavior before he left your apartment?"

"His behavior? Well, he was acting kind of... frantic? It felt as though he just abruptly became aggressive before he stormed out of the apartment. My partner believes that there's something going on with him, and I can see where he's coming from. I feel like I've seen this happen before," Taeil explained.

"With a past patient?"

"Well, not exactly. My partner—Johnny—he's acted like that before. It was before he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia," said the younger, his gaze trailing toward the window where the sunlight streamed into the room. "He overdosed on stimulants less than a week later, and I can't help but wonder if Mark will do something that he'll regret too."