2 Chapter Two

The water in the shower was lukewarm, but I barely noticed. I had memorized which disorders each of the patients had, along with all of their names and the tips. I ended up waking up at four in the morning, my stress getting to me. I decided to channel it into memorizing each of their basic information.

I blow dried and straightened my hair as I repeated each to myself.

"Koh Shinwon... anxiety disorder... scratches frequently..."

"Yeo Changgu... PTSD... scared of fire..."

"Yang Hongseok... Bipolar... dark emot--ah!"

I dropped the straightener into the bathroom sink and frowned. A red spot was already starting to appear on the left side of my forehead. Wonderful. Just what I needed this morning. To get burnt. I didn't touch the burn, but sighed in irritation and a bit of pain as I picked the straightener back up.

I finished straightening my hair, then checked my watch. I had to be there in fifteen minutes.

"Okay, it's go time," I say, looking at myself in the mirror. I was wearing minimal makeup and my hair thankfully covered up my burn. I put on the outfit quickly, grabbed the folders, a notebook and pen, and rushed out the door. I almost forgot my shoes, but as I was running outside, I realized my feet were hitting the hardwood a little too hard. I cursed and put on my boots, then ran over to the Institution.

I was ten minutes early that morning, just how I liked to be. I was never late to a job. Even thinking about being late made me nervous. I sat in the main office, where a secretary sat and seemed to be studying her computer very intently. I didn't try to make conversation.

"Hello Jane," HM said as he walked out of his back office. I stood and smiled at him softly.

"Hello sir."

"Are you ready to meet everyone?"

I blew through my lips and nodded. "Yes, I'm ready."

"Alright, follow me."

We took the stairs, despite there being an elevator. They said it was useless and broken, and that it only had two floors. It used to be for wheelchairs or people who needed them, but the only person who was restrained to a wheelchair was Yuto, and that wasn't all the time. Plus, they rarely left their rooms.

I bought that, of course. It seemed logical.

"Alright, first up, we have Jinho. You read up on everyone, right?"

"Yes," I agreed. "But there wasn't much about their actual stories."

"Ah, well," he started. "Their actual stories are locked in the office. We want to keep it a secret, and with new people, it might freak them out if you knew everything about them. We want them to open up to you and tell you themselves."

"I see," I replied. "And you're testing me, I'm guessing?"

He smiled. "You're good."

I didn't know how to feel about that.

He took out a ring of keys, two, actually. He handed one to me. I studied them. "Alright, these are your keys. They each have room numbers on them, so you don't need to search each time."

I nodded.

"Alright, we're now going to see Jinho. He might be in the bathtub, and I can't stress enough, don't raise your voice, don't act like you're going to hurt him."

I blinked. "Of course not."

He turned to the door and unlocked it, then slowly pushed it open.

"Hello? Jinho?"

He was nowhere to be seen. The Headmaster walked in first.

It was silent in the room. I saw a metronome on the shelf, but it was still.

"Here, let's head into the bathroom," the Headmaster said. I nodded, looking around at the room curiously. It was quite tidy. The metronome was on a bookshelf, which held many books. There were some paintings, a nice bed, a couch, a chair, a coffee table. His bed was ruffled and a tad messy from sleep. The bathroom was on the right side of the room.

We walked in slowly. I gasped softly when I saw Jinho in the bathtub. He was fully clothed, just sitting there, reading a book. He looked up, a little fear in his eyes.

"Hey Jinho, I'd like to introduce you to your new therapist."

He looked at me, smiling. "Hello ma'am."

"Hi," I said, smiling back. "My name is Jane Whittaker, but you can just call me Jane."

"It's nice to meet you," he replied.

"You too."

"She will be starting your therapy sessions tomorrow," the Headmaster informed him. Jinho barely looked at him, but nodded.

"I want you to know I'm really looking forward to our time together. I want to help you as much as I can."

He looked at me, unsure what to say. I felt a little awkward. "So what are you reading?" He held up the book.

"Some book about nature or trees or something. I wasn't paying much attention."

I chuckled softly. "Well duh, that sounds boring."

Jinho grinned and shook his hair out.

"I just wanted to introduce you guys. You'll be getting breakfast shortly," the HM told him.

Jinho once again said nothing.

"We're moving on," he told me. I waved at Jinho before leaving.

Well, he seemed nice.

Next was Hoetaek. "Alright, he's a tad... friendly. Don't let that fool you."

Oh boy. I wasn't sure what that meant, and it admittedly made me a tad nervous. He had locked Jinho's door and had moved onto Hoetaek's. When HM opened the door, he was standing by the window. He jumped, then turned to us.

"Hello," he said to me. "Who is this lovely lady?"

I blinked and bowed slightly to him. "Hello, I'm Jane Whittaker, but just call me Jane."

He walked toward me confidently, then took my hand and kissed it. "I'm Hui."

The Headmaster rolled his eyes. I looked at him in shock. Had this guy just kissed my hand? "I thought your name was Hoetaek."

"Do you really want to be calling me that?" He asked me.

I smiled softly. "Okay, I'll call you Hui."

"Miss Whittaker is going to be your therapist, and nothing more," HM told him with heavy warning in his voice. Hui cringed a little, as if he forgot the HM was there.

"Well, I just wanted to introduce myself properly." Hui smiled at me. "We haven't had such a pretty therapist in a while."

I turned a little red. I was struggling to remember his disorder, most likely because he was being so flirtatious. It came to me after I went back to his real name. PTSD.

"Well, I'll be your therapist. I want to help you as much as I can. I think we'll get along well," I said. "You seem very nice."

"I am nice," he agreed, then bit his lip. "We'll definitely get to know each other."

My eyes widened and HM started getting irritated. "Alright, that's enough. We're moving on."

I said goodbye to Hui, then we left his room. HM locked the door behind us and he looked at me before heading to the next door.

"If you get into anything romantic with any of the patients, there will be serious consequences," he told me a tad harshly.

"I won't," I assured him.

We moved on to Shinwon. He was in a chair, curled up, his knees to his chest. He stared out his window. It was barred, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Hello Shinwon," HM said. He was taller and bonier than the other two. I didn't have to memorize Anxiety Disorder to see or know what he had. He was rocking back and forth, trying to scratch through what seemed to be socks on his hands. They were buckled down. Wow... poor guy.

Shinwon turned to us. He noticed me there, then stood up, bowing quickly. "H-Hello."

"Hi, I'm Jane," I said, smiling at him. "You're Shinwon, right?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied. He was scratching his arms, or trying to.

"I'm going to be your therapist," I told him. "I want to help you as much as I can."

Shinwon nodded quickly. "A-Are you... nice?"

"Shinwon was very affected by the last therapist," HM told me. "He just wants to make sure you won't do anything negative toward him."

"I promise, I will do my very best not to hurt you," I told Shinwon. "I just want to help you get back to who you are, and I hope you accept my help."

"T-Thank you," Shinwon stuttered.

"Of course." I replied, trying to sound happy and chipper.

After Shinwon, we went to Changgu. He was sitting on the end of his bed, rubbing his eyes. He had just woken up.

"Hello sir," he said to the HM. "Who is this young lady?"

I smiled and stepped forward. "My name is Jane Whittaker. You can call me Jane. I'm going to be your therapist."

He smiled and shook my hand. "Hello Jane Whittaker, I'm Yeo One. I know that's not my given name, but it's a nickname of mine."

"I'll remember that," I said, smiling.

I kept thinking that they all seemed quite nice so far. And they were all so young and good looking. Were they really as bad as the HM kept telling me they were? They seemed like everyday people, almost as if they didn't have these disorders.

"He is one of the most gentlemanly patients here," the HM let me know. "He follows the rules quite well."

"That's wonderful," I agreed.

After Yeo One, we took a small break in the hallway.

"Those were the 'A' patients," HM informed me. I nodded. "As you can see, they are all quite different. Some of them act quite normal, but only until you start asking questions."

This job really does surprise you. People like Hui and Yeo One looked like anyone you'd see walking on the streets, or sitting on the bus next to you. But many people have more demons to them than you might initially think.

Plus, I didn't like his use of the word 'normal'.

"I see..." I trailed off. "Well, I'm looking forward to it."

He nodded. "Alright, we'll be moving on to the 'B' Patients."

"Sounds good."

He unlocked Hongseok's door. When we walked in, Hongseok was walking out of the bathroom. He saw HM and turned away.

"Hello Hongseok. This is your new therapist."

He looked at me over his shoulder. "Hello ma'am."

"Hi, I'm Jane Whittaker. Just call me Jane," I replied.

"I'm Hongseok," he replied. He didn't seem to be too chipper. I couldn't really blame him. He was locked up here most of the time.

"I'm going to be helping you for a while," I told him. "We'll get to know each other pretty well."

"You mean you'll get to know me?" Hongseok asked a tad snappily.

"No, I mean each other," I disagreed.

He said nothing else.

"Well, you're going to have to get used to talking to her. It'll be every other day from now on," the HM told him. "If you give her any problems, you'll be punished."

Hongseok didn't reply, instead walking away from us and sitting down at his table. He didn't speak again, so we left.

"The next patient is the quietest,"HM warned me. "He doesn't talk much."

We walked in to the guy sitting in a wheelchair, staring out the window. His bed looked untouched. I blinked and slowly walked up to him.

"This is Yuto," HM introduced. "Yuto, say hello to your new therapist, Jane."

I walked over and smiled softly. "Hi Yuto. I'm Jane."

Yuto glanced up at me. "Hello Jane."

"I'm going to be helping you for a while," I told him. "I understand you're quiet, and that's okay."

He frowned a little. "I'm not a child, you don't need to talk down to me."

I wasn't sure what to say.

"I wasn't talking down to you," I told him. "I was just saying I understand that you're quiet, and I'll try my best to help you despite that."

He smiled softly after a moment. "Alright, thanks."

"Yuto, please get up," HM commanded.

I was a bit shocked by this. Yuto also cringed, as if the HM had raised a hand to him. I remember thinking: They seem scared of him.

"Yuto," he said again.

Yuto slowly stood. He braced himself against the window sill, his legs shaking. I looked up at him. He was completely turned away from the HM. He looked at me, blinking.

Had he just not stood in a while?

"I look forward to meeting with you," he told me quietly. I felt a bit awkward, but I felt even worse for Yuto. He didn't want to put himself out there.

"Well, I look forward to it too," I said, trying to relieve the awkward tension. "We're going to go meet two of the others. I'll be seeing you on Wednesday."

He nodded.

I gave Yuto a soft smile, trying to reassure him that I was friendly. He saw me, but sat right back down.

I backed off. The 'B' patients seemed to be less... open.

We saw Hyunggu next. When we entered his room and I walked toward him, he backed up immediately. He almost hit the wall hard enough to dent it. His eyes were wide.

"Please, don't come any closer."

I stopped right away. "I'm so sorry," I said. I should have remembered! He was scared of being touched!

The HM looked at me with what seemed to be curiosity.

"Jane, this is Kino. He prefers that name."

"I am so sorry, Kino," I said, stepping back once more to show him I was trustworthy. "I know you like your personal space. I'm Jane, your new therapist."

He nodded. "I-I'm sorry. I seem crazy." He pulled himself off of the wall. "I'm Kino."

"It's nice to meet you," I said happily. "And you don't seem crazy."

He bowed to me respectfully. "You too. I'm sorry for overreacting."

I waved it off.

"You're okay, really."

Last but not least was Wooseok. I remember him being very kind and friendly, much like Jinho. Wooseok had chronic depression, but when I met him, he didn't show this. He was very tall and quite the gentleman.

"I can't wait to talk with you," Wooseok told me. He sounded so genuine.

I agreed just as genuinely.

It didn't take too long to meet all of them, about an hour, and the Headmaster decided I could spend some time with myself, preparing for the therapy sessions. I found a picnic table outside the institution and took the time to make notes about all of them.

Jinho- Seems nice. He likes to read. Stays in the bathtub often. A decent conversationalist as well.

Hui- Pretty flirty. Seems very nice and kind, although confident. I am very interested in what happened to him.

Shinwon- He seems very nervous. Has anxiety disorder. Was very affected by the other therapist. I hope I can get a breakthrough.

Yeo One- Very kind and seemed very level headed. It shocks me that he has PTSD. He doesn't seem like the type. (Of course, I had just met them, and I was only basing the notes off of first impressions).

Hongseok- He has walls up. I might have a bit of trouble with him. I will have to be careful about his emotions.

Yuto- He also seems to have walls up. Seems a tad soft, despite his hard features. A tad defensive as well.

Kino- Don't rush him. Don't get in his space. He does seem nice though. I believe he feels bad for his disorder.

Wooseok- Very kind and genuine. I feel he will be quite open with me, which will be a nice change from the other patients.

I took the liberty of heading to the store to get some candy. I didn't want them to feel alienated or awkward. I realized that might seem childish or weird, but if it made them feel more comfortable with me, so be it.

I also bought eight different notepads, one for each patient.

I liked to be organized, and any excuse I got to get more notepads, I'd take advantage of. The feeling of a brand new notebook was one of my favorites.

I ended up having the whole afternoon left after going shopping, so, deciding to take initiative, I went to the HM and asked if he'd rather me start the therapy sessions now. However, the HM told me no.

"You're alright," he told me. "Take the rest of the day to relax."

So I did.

I didn't do much that day. I went back to the small cottage and made myself some ramen before sitting down to look over their disorders once more.

I was informed that I would be starting therapy sessions the next day, starting at nine in the morning.

It was a big step for me, and I think when I was young and had just gotten this job, I was hopeful. I didn't want to admit there was a possibility they were being mistreated, and, despite seeing their reactions to the HM, I turned a blind eye.

For a little while, anyways.

I went to bed early, ready to start the therapy sessions the following day.