"It is an honor to finally meet you, Dr. Park." The psychologist, Kim Namjoon said, approaching his way. An enthusiastic smile embedded on his generously sculpted lips. A pair of dimples sank into his cheeks like a finger imprint on a hot steamed bun.
He wears a long white clinical coat that drapes all the way to his knees. A pen clipped on the chest pocket of his jacket, and a blue polo underneath, paired with black jeans and black shining shoes. His silky brown hair which almost looked gold sparked under the lights. His hefty steps echoed down the hideously colored white walls hallway.
"Hello, I'm Kim Namjoon, I'm the Behavioral Health Counselor for the clinic. Nice meeting you, Dr. Park," he said as soon as he came on stopped in front of the rather shorter man, stretching out his hand for a handshake. The amiable smile on his face remained in sight.
Dr. Park only realized how tall this man is at the time he stepped his foot across from his. A thin lanky man; head bigger than his body, wears a stupid glasses and a melting nose on his grotesque face. He could be the next slander man. A tall figure standing under the lamppost, featureless, just a black-shaded shadow in the light. The only difference is that he wears white and has a mop of thick hair on his head.
Dr. Park put on a smile, lifting his hand from his side, and brought it took the former's hand, and shook it softly. "Nice meeting you too, Dr. Kim. I'm glad that I finally met you in person. It is also a privilege to be part of this marvelous home," he replied, his voice deep and professional. Painted all low and gravelly.
They let go of each other's hands. Kim Namjoon couldn't stop smiling painfully wide; an eight years old kid gliding on a glistening ice surface freely. He could not still process if it was just a dream or for real. Meeting Park Jimin, the famously known professional psychologist in the whole City of Seoul is already enough to pull the string and squeal out his throat. But getting to work with him, and seeing him every day is more than he expects. He only stood, grinning ear to ear. Dr. Park smiled sheepishly at him, (an obviously fake smile and weird look. Something he does and shows to people he doesn't like—if they're foolish, they'll assume it's still the friendly look they get from strangers.)
Dr. Kim noticed the strange look the other male gave him. He's not stupid to not notice the discomfort that covered Dr. Park like a mosquito in a cobweb. He laughed, and Dr. Park laughed as well. He can't help it. It is something that just needs a reply. Dr. Park does not want Kim to offend, but even a psychological degree graduate could not see the judging look he shams in a smile.
"I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. I did not intend to stare at you in that way. You know, it has always been my dream to meet you and I can't believe that it's finally happening. Look, before I am just wishing to see you, but today, we're working together. We'll be working together," he stated, rambling every syllable like a kid who's excitedly telling his mother about his first day in school.
Dr. Park could not help but giggle. What else can he say after those long paragraphs that this man just chewed in his mouth?
"It's okay. I understand."
"Oh," Dr. Kim immediately stood up, fixing his posture, hands clasped in front of his genitals. "Let me show you around, shall we?" He politely asked, waving his hand in the air towards the mysterious end of the hallway. Dr. Park beamed and nodded his head, "sure." He fixed his jacket and they strolled down the hall.
___
Dr. Kim is a proficient psychologist. The way he speaks as he shows Dr. Park around the building and move his hands, making gestures as he talks. The way he speaks is different from the standard dialect Korean people used, rather slower and more drawn out (something that caught Dr. Park's attention and deduced that he grew up in a province). He also speaks politely and has a smile that never leaves his face.
Kim Namjoon or formally known as Dr. Kim is a graduate with a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) degree. He's a genius, but not when it comes to making life decisions. His eyes and nose are sawn in the book. He spends nights and days, months and years learning science and numbers. Even on his birthdays, the thick pile of books sits at his side instead of wines and neon lights that whirl in the ceiling. If he had to choose between food and books in betwixt of death and life, a dry of sand and dead trees, he would choose the books.
He knew everything. When people ask him questions, there is nothing he cannot answer; in people's notions, everyone sees him as a walking Encyclopedia.
"It has been seventy-five years since this building was built—"
They arrived at the Asylum's room, where loud pants, murmuring, and the sound of nails peeling off the paint from the wall could be heard outside.
There, wearing the blue gown are the lunatics.
Mumbling incoherent words under their breaths, facing back and forth between the distasteful thin walls that separate each of them. They tell themselves they are not deranged, growling at preposterous voices in their heads reflecting their damaged minds.
A guard standing outside the cell bowed at them and opened the entrance. The cell made a rattled noise, gaining the patients' attention, struggling to split off the end before it entirely slid to the side, and they are met with another immense hall running to a dead end. Each side consists of rooms, twelve to the right, and twelve on the left, equal to twenty-four rooms in total.
"...I still remember Dr. Lee Seok Kwa, he's the owner of this Mental Hospital. He's a very kind person and thoughtful. Sadly, he died before you get to meet him. He would be really happy to know you're working here now. He's a fan of you." Dr. Park smiled at his story. He really is famous. (He knows, but knowing that the owner of Westwood is also an admirer of his is more than he bargained.)
They moved sheer inside after that the cell is opened, and the heavy metal squeaked and clanked with a loud bang behind them, causing Dr. Park to jolt slightly. Patients came running at their cells, hissing, grumbling and banging like a wild hungry lion ready to attack its prey.
"As the time this building grows old, some of the windows are broken and other parts of the building are damaged. But don't worry, the cells are secured. They can't escape from it."
Dr. Park looked at his sides, seeing the faces of patients twisted in pure hatred. Dr. Kim is walking ahead of him, he keeps talking but Dr. Park seemingly does not hear his voice as he was engrossed in the things happening around him.
He stopped in front of the fourth cell, staring cautiously at the man sitting on the floor, making a disturbing gurgling sound. Dr. Kim noticed that the younger male is no longer following behind. He stops and turns around, seeing the former staring intently inside a cell. He walked beside him.
"That's Patient 69, he's diagnosed with Catatonia," Dr. Kim told him. "Does he speak?" Dr. Park inquired without looking at him. "No, he only made grumbling sounds and grunts."
Dr. Park watched the patient play with his fingers. And suddenly—he turned his head in his direction. His strange, haunted eyes met his. His face was deformed: he has a pig-like nose, large sharp teeth over his mouth, and long greasy hair sticking on his wide forehead. Dr. Park could not tell exactly if he was a person or some kind of hell living creature. He has the most grisly face and fugly appearance he had ever seen in the twenty-nine years he had been walking on this dreary surface of the earth.
"What happened to him? Why does he look like that? Does he have any rare symptoms?" He asked again. Dr. Kim shrugged and responded, "no one really knows the reason for his disfigured appearance. When we found him in the woods, he already looked like that." He nodded his head slowly and moved his eyes away, as they continued to walk down the other cells.
They reached the last wall. Dr. Park suddenly caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure out of the corner of his eye. He turned completely to his left and saw a mysterious man sitting, legs-crossed like a Turk on the bed, within the darkness. Only half of his face is visible, the rest is covered in black.
A ripple of chills suddenly came and assailed him as he gazed at the man in the darkness. His side-view facing him. His pale skin glows in contact with the light, his delicate scraggy hand resting on his knee. The voices slowly fade off in the background, and there's this inexplicable fear that abruptly struck him the longer he stares at the man. His heart pounded fiercely. He doesn't feel well. He can't explain it, only he's sure about one thing, there is something wrong with him. Not a mentally ill person can make a psychologist quiver. DEFINITELY NOT A MENTALLY ILL PERSON.
"What's his name?" Dr. Park asked. "Min Yoongi, or better known as Patient 666. He'll be your new patient," Dr. Kim answered his question.
"Does he know how to speak?" Dr. Park questioned once again. As he observed Patient 666, he can tell that he was a type of quiet person. He's not like any other patients in this mental hospital. He's silent and he just sat vaguely in the bed. Not also to admit the fact that he gives him a series of shivers to run up his back.
Dr. Kim sighed grimly, shaking his head. "Sadly, we merely heard him talk. I heard that he has dysphonia, so it has always been difficult to communicate with him." Dr. Park nodded his head, mentally taking notes of every possible pre-information about his new patient. Dr. Kim had been in this Asylum for a long time and spent more time with Patient 666. Dr. Park, on the other hand, wants that at least, he's aware of what makes Min Yoongi comfortable and what makes him uncomfortable. He doesn't want to screw up.
His left foot subconsciously stepped back behind the other, eyes vigilantly scrutinizing and not backing down the man. "That's it for today." He turned around to Dr. Kim, eventually removing his orbs from the uncanny teenager. "May I know where my office is?" He asked him, to which the other smiled and replied, "sure, follow me."
They left the Asylum's rooms and headed downwards to the third floor. Dr. Park could not still elucidate the cryptic tremendous fear that abode upon him when he stepped his foot inside that room. He pondered into it, yet he still cannot find an answer to his question. Many possible reasons orbit him like how the planet orbits around the sun. However, Dr. Park is in denial about it. Even if the littlest sharp needle had pricked in his eye, he stays to be skeptical. He's a psychologist after all—but why does even the smallest thing—he makes a big deal out of it? As in, a scientist peering at the negligible crust of dust. If his friend, Lee Junghyun, is with him, he would be extremely amused at him and guffaw and joke about it. And tells him the line he always says, 'even tiny dust on the floor, an eagle eye can detect.'
He shook his head, sighing deeply which gained Dr. Kim's attention. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Dr. Kim asked worriedly. He moved forward to the white front door of the office, unlocking it. Dr. Park stood on the side and waited. He doesn't have a key, Dr. Kim has so he hangs back.
"It's nothing." He breathes. His left arm on his chest, his right elbow resting on his forearm, scratching the side of his brow.
Dr. Kim laughed. "You didn't tell me you're a great comedian, Dr. Park," he deadpanned. Dr. Park raised his head, looking at him bovinely. "Huh?"
Dr. Kim clicked his tongue, pushing the door open. He craned his neck slightly to the side to look at the dumb psychologist. "Seriously? Why would you lie face to face with a psychologist? If you've forgotten, I am also a psychologist like you, I graduated with the same degree as you are, you may be more successful and famous than me but we are still the same studying how the brain affects human behavior—so there is no way for you to play dumb." He pressed down the switch and it made a soft click, casting a blinding light across the whole room.
Dr. Park walked past him inside the office. The red dirty tiles and cold floor, he could feel it touch his toes. His feet are numb but he can feel the electric wreath enter the pores in his sole.
There is a small white table standing on the left, a cabinet to the right, and another door on the left, ahead of the table, parallel to the switch-in which he guessed is a restroom. The office is pretty simple that he could get sick looking at them longer. He's used in white, but the setup is too boring from his perspective. Dr. Park already has a plan in his head on how he is going to arrange his stuff and design the room to get rid of the awful view that irks his insights.
He does not reply to Dr. Kim's remark, or he must say a musty remark. Of course, Dr. Park is not foolish to not know Dr. Kim is a psychologist. He's aware of it. He knows it, but the tip of his tongue just won't move. He wanted to say something but he didn't want to sound like an idiot. There had to be a logical explanation for all of this.
The whispers. The Chills. The Voices. The Shadows. They get old and rusty, yet they stay in recollection. In that room, people say nothing but those four names. The disembodied resonant voices, they're not one, not two, but more than five. It is an innocent boy, little by little it grows stronger, broken into a rough awful voice.
Dr. Park does not want to admit he's going crazy. He's not fantasizing, he's awake. His brain is active, and his hearing is sharp. He's not hallucinating—but he also doesn't want to acknowledge those are real. Absolutely not on the first day of his job.
"Did you hear it too?" Dr. Kim suddenly asked that had him look up immediately. His eyes are wide open in bewilderment. The confusion stamps are elusive in his vision. Dr. Kim only smiled at him, walking over to the table and leaning his flat ass against it. "I know you heard the whispers too. I know it's weird, but even me doesn't know where they come from. The nurses here acclaimed they come from Patient 666's cell, but they don't see him open his mouth. As if they are chirps of birds in the misty forest. The gawk of crow and whoosh of gust. Oddly enough, I think they come from walls," Dr. Kim stated. Dr. Park face contorted into a pucker of confusion. Moving forward shortly.
"Not also that, but I thought I saw a figure in Patient 666's cell. Behind him, there's a spare figure standing. I don't know, maybe it's just his shadow?"
"Do you believe in ghosts, Dr. Park?" Dr. Kim asked, his voice serious and flat. Dr. Park's expression comes to rest. The emotions are gone and replaced with dimmed solemnity. "Do you?"
"I don't," Dr. Kim replied, "not until those whispers exist."
They stared at each other, straight in the eyes. Gaze piercing, questioning, probing, pensive, and steamed in full consciousness. Thoughts aligned. An electrician's hand that drew and pull and connect the wires and rebounded the opinions. The conclusion stayed as it is. They remained the same rumors and gossip and printed in newspapers but no one believes in profligacy. When the truth is unfolded, can people accept it without criticism and wrath?
No, but the truth bides in rubbish lies and lays on their foot. The public bites in a branch, striving for scientific explanations, and ludicrous reasons that fill to a total pointless debate.
Hypocrisy, Foolishness; they swear there is no God, yet they fear those creatures just below the Lord. When they get asked, Who do you worship for? They sat in silence, looked up, and replied, 'no one. If he is real, then why doesn't he show himself?' A philosopher response, indeed, hypocrite. When they need something, they drop on their knees and pray fervently, ask for unnecessary things, and they call his name. Get mad when they can't have what they want, yet they refuse him. And they get insulted when they get called dumb-witted people.
"Dr. Kim," The two psychologists snapped out of their wagons. The pitter-patter of big feet came to a halt, as a bemused man emerged at the door. They simultaneously turned their heads to the new shadow that entered the room. The smiling man nervously bit his lip at the unusual stares he gets from the doctors. Their gaze is freezing wild and tarred and could melt a block of ice.
"I ... am I interrupting something?" He asked, averting his stare at any of the two. "No." That came out toneless and simply. His mouth was barely open and his gaze steadily propped to the nurse.
Dr. Kim furrowed at his tone and decided to take the action. He let out a snicker. Face pretzel into a scornful laugh. "No, no, we're just talking about ... something ..." His face warps in hesitation, eyes darting back and forth like moths in search of a flame.
The man gaped and laughed. Dr. Kim laughed. Laughter sauntered down the writhing halls—and then, he stopped. His face changed into a surly expression, staring an earnest look at him. He cleared his throat and asked, "Felix, why are you here? Didn't I tell you to check the rooms on the second floor? Where's Kihyun?"
"U-um... Dr. Kim yes, I already did. But Dr. Kim is calling you to his office. He said he has something important to discuss with you." Dr. Kim Namjoon nodded at him, "Okay, tell him I'll be there in a few —"
"By the way, Felix—" He put his hand on Dr. Park's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "This is Dr. Park, he'll be working with us. He's Patient 666's new doctor, now, I want you to pay him respect." Felix smiled at the doctor mentioned, but Dr. Park's expression is still blank and smeared with actual thoughts that long and linger.
He offered his hand for a handshake, Dr. Park looked down at his hand and shifted back at him. He thought for a moment before he took his hand and shook it softly. "Nice meeting you, Dr. Park, I'm Lee Felix. I hope you enjoy working with us, it is a privilege to have you as a member of Westwood." Dr. Park only nodded his head, not speaking a word. His jaw was just too lazy to open. Dr. Kim noticed the strange behavior of the doctor and immediately chatted in. He dismissed Felix and made up his mind to leave Dr. Park on his own for a while.
"Dr. Park, I'll be off now. I suppose you're okay on your own now, right?" He uttered and started to get ready to leave. He waits for an answer to which Dr. Park replied with a nod, and he left Dr. Park inside his office and headed to Dr. Kim's office.