AGAINST THE WORLD || MARKYONG [#2]

Sharp Edges

Almost losing his grip on the knife's handle, Taeyong used what strength was left in his body to thrust the blade into Doctor Park's abdomen, making the older man gasp and tear his hands away from his throat. Blood dripped onto white fabric, staining Taeyong's straitjacket as he coughed, his chest heaving as he tried to compensate for his deprivation of oxygen. Doctor Park fell forward, only managing to avoid falling straight onto the patient by throwing out his arms last minute. He looked down at Taeyong in pure horror.

With his fingers still lingering on the knife's handle, Taeyong looked at what he'd done. His eyes widened as he tore his hand away, watching the blood as it dripped onto him.

"Y-You monster!" Doctor Park yelled, groaning in pain. "I should have killed you when I had the chance. You need to die!"

Taeyong watched as Doctor Park rambled, speaking words he didn't understand. The latter attempted to push himself up from the floor, but the patient grabbed the knife again in a spur of the moment decision. With his trembling hand, he twisted the blade inside of Doctor Park's abdomen, almost hyperventilating with his eyes pinned open wide as the older man screamed.

He'd seen his father do the exact same thing. His father had killed a living creature before; he'd seen him do the same thing to a large bird that he'd brought back from the forest close to their farm.

As he pulled the knife out of the psychiatrist's flesh, blood gushed onto him and on the padded white fabric around him. Taeyong could feel the warmth on his skin. Doctor Park pushed himself back, falling backwards as he held his hand over the wound, trying to stop the crimson liquid from escaping. It was pitiful. Taeyong watched as the man who had thrown him around like a rag doll and ruined his second chance at a fulfilling life quivered before him, pushing himself away as his patient moved to sit up, still holding the slick knife in his grasp.

"Stay away from me!" Doctor Park stuttered as Taeyong got to his feet, his fist clenched around the handle. "I-I'll let you go. You can go free! I won't hurt you again, I promise. Please, drop the knife, Taeyong!"

They shared a glance, and the color drained from Doctor Park's face as he sat with his mouth agape. Taeyong was looking at him with an expression that he'd never seen the patient have before. It was cold. Panic simmered in Doctor Park's stomach as Taeyong stepped toward him, his lip twitching as he stared him straight in the eyes. Doctor Park scrambled to his feet, stumbling in the direction of the large metal door. He pushed the door open, still doubled over in pain, and stepped out of the room. He didn't spare the patient a single glance as he ran down the hallway.

Taeyong followed. He stalked Doctor Park through the linear hallway as the older man staggered, trying to keep his footing as he left a trail of blood in his wake. He tumbled down a set of stairs and writhed in agony at the bottom, turning to find his pursuer mere steps away. Taeyong pounced onto Doctor Park's back as the latter tried to get to his feet one more, sending them both onto the floor in a heap. He quickly shuffled beside the older man and pushed him onto his back, not acknowledging the pool of blood under his knees as he sank the blade deep into Doctor Park's abdomen for a second time.

Hearing a noise behind him, Taeyong turned around. He didn't find anybody or anything where the noise came from, and immediately turned back to the psychiatrist as the older man squirmed, laying flat on the ground. He struggled to get the blade loose, but when he did, he struck again, and only stopped when there was another noise. Somebody was calling for him.

But nobody was there.

"Taeyong!"

He furrowed his brow, looking down at the psychiatrist beneath him. It wasn't him. He didn't sound like that, and he was too busy weeping to speak.

"Taeyong, wake up!"

Somebody was shaking him.

Taeyong opened his eyes. He lifted his head and looked over his shoulder, taken aback by the brightness in his bedroom. He'd closed the curtains. Haneul was kneeling beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder. She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing him awake, and took her hand away. Taeyong turned himself around completely and pushed himself up from the ground, blinking slowly as he watched Haneul bury her face in her hands.

"Is something wrong?" asked Taeyong.

Haneul moved her hands from in front of her face and looked at the patient, watching as he sat up and looked at her with curious eyes. "You weren't waking up. Sorry, I panicked. Are you feeling alright?"

"I am..." he replied, looking down at the vinyl flooring. "You don't need to worry about me."

"I know, but I feel like I have to. You're just... so alike him. I can't help but worry," Haneul replied in a quiet voice, reaching for Taeyong's crutch that was leaning against the wall. "Come on, Bangchan and Daewon are waiting for us in the cafeteria. They've wanted to see you since you left them this morning."

Taeyong took his crutch from her, but looked up at her with his brow furrowed. "I'm like who?"

"You don't need to worry about that, Taeyong," she replied, forcing a smile. "Let's go?"

He crawled out from beneath the desk and got to his feet with the nurse's help. He knew that Haneul wasn't going to answer his question, so he left it, sighing as he walked over to the door. It was already dark outside.

—

A/N: I'm back again with another update, which wasn't as quick as the last, but I hope you'll all find that it wasn't that long of a wait (in comparison to... past chapters). Thank you to everybody who's decided to leave likes and comments, you're really helping to motivate me to write more like I used to. But of course I appreciate all of you, even the silent readers :)