DAY 1:

10:30 am

“So…. John. This is going to be your new room. In case you need anything, just c…… Oh, I forgot! You can’t talk, right?” The burly man waited for me to respond.

I silently nodded my head in affirmation, earning a wide grin from him. He ruffled my hair affectionately, “Aw, you are such a cutie!” and then, he plucked out a small remote from his jean pocket. “Here”, he pushed it into my hand, “Press this red button when you need anything, yeah? I have a sensor in the security room which would get activated and one of us would come right away. Okay?”

I looked at the device warily, but sensing the keen stare from the other, I nodded my head anyway. “Well then. Enjoy your stay for the time you’re here. I am Jackson, by the way” he told his name for the third time since I arrived. I nodded my head, acknowledging the other person and then, I was left alone.

ing finally! I heaved a sigh of relief as I collapsed on my bed. It had been difficult enough to enter into the premises. The conversation from the in-charge’s room kept playing in my mind….

“Are you sure he is ill, Mr. Kim?” Park Jinyoung had asked Taehyung, when we had gone to meet him. “I mean…. No offence… but this young man here looks perfectly fine to me. And that is saying something considering we deal with such cases day in and day out. I feel like your inspector friend is grossly mistaken…”

“Even if he was” Taehyung calmly explained to him, “there’s no way to know unless the kid opens his mouth. Like I said, he can’t speak. The police has been trying its best to locate his whereabouts. You do understand that in the meantime, he would need someplace to go. I mean, he can’t live on the streets. And he is too old for an orphanage. And as much as we would love to help him, we really, really can’t keep him at our house. We also have jobs to do. We can be called out at any time of the day as the situation would demand us. How do you expect us to look after him in such conditions?”

“I agree with you totally” Park tried to weakly counter him, “It’s so nice of you to even think of helping a total stranger. But please understand that even we, as an NGO, have certain limitations to the type of people we can take in our facility. I mean, we can’t pick up people randomly from the streets. What if they are criminals? What if they end up hurting the other inmates? I am sorry, I can’t…”

“Are you trying to tell me” Taehyung was getting angry now, “that all this while, your NGO, which is apparently known to rehabilitate the homeless young people in distress, has all been a show? I mean, what have you all been doing all this time?  Are all these people inside, charity cases for show or are they really people who needed help?”

“Now Mr. Kim” the older man was seemingly giving in now, “Please calm down. I didn’t mean to offend you…”

“I am afraid you’ve already done it” Taehyung bit back, “I don’t even know what to believe. Do you think we would have harbored a criminal in our house for this long? All I am asking you is to keep this man in your facility for a short while, until we find his family. Is it so hard to do?”

Jinyoung bit his lip, clasping his hands together, his eyes boring into me. Clearly, he wasn’t convinced by the elaborate scheme we had spun. Taehyung, who had been getting desperate now, exchanged a quick look with me. If we were to ever find out the truth behind all these events, the only way was to getting me inside. It was all on him now. And desperate times called for equally desperate measures.

 His expression immediately darkened and taking my hand in his, he dramatically stood up, almost tipping off the large chair he had been sitting on. Jinyoung stood too, his eyes widening in alarm.

“Mr. Kim…”

“I am leaving, Mr. Park. You’re organization seems like a farce to me now that I heard you talk like that. I maybe desperate but not so much that I grovel in front of you…... I should have known that this organization is just another scheme like so many others. Still, thank you for entertaining us for this hour. I hope people get to know soon what goes on here……” Taehyung tugged a little on my hand. Just as I made a move to get up, Jinyoung held me in a tight grip, right where my hand was latched with Taehyung’s larger ones.

“I am really sorry Mr. Kim. I think you misunderstood me” he had a polite (and fake) smile, “I can’t blame you really. I might have worded myself wrong. My organization, as you rightfully pointed out, is committed to help the society, irrespective of who and what they are. It would be a shame, if I really didn’t step up to fulfill this motto of our precious NGO in such times. After all, we can always make some exceptions from time to time….”

Taehyung stared at him blankly, still holding my hand tightly. He briefly looked at me again. ‘I guess we are in’ we silently communicated, both of us trying to control our expressions. He sat back down on his seat.

“I see John made you calm after all” Jinyoung heaved a sigh of relief, sinking back into his seat. “Let’s discuss again, shall we?” he smiled at Taehyung, bringing out a file from the drawer on his left…..

And here I was now, Officer Jungkook AKA John, supposed age twenty, a homeless man who can’t speak, currently wound up in room #404 in a suspicious NGO’s building. Replaying the situation in Jinyoung’s room, I could make out that the man was at unease and already suspicious of our farce. We would have to be very, very careful on our approach here. It was all dependent on me now. 

“You will do good, Kookie” I remembered Taehyung’s last words, which he whispered in my ears as he was leaving, “Remember that Chim and the others are watching your back. I will be watching your back too. Just be careful, okay?”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them, my eyes, suddenly determined, looked around the room. As expected, I was all alone….. with no signs of a roommate, probably till the time they could make any use of me.

I would have to think of a course of action very soon……

12:00pm

“What do you think?” Jinyoung asked.

“In my honest opinion, I would be wary. But I wouldn’t be so worried” Jackson replied as they watched the footage together. The CCTV installed in the newest inmate’s room, though new, fed a blurry video to their screen. Jinyoung made a mental note to get it replaced as soon as possible.

“I mean the boy can’t talk” Jackson pointed out, “And soon, we will shift him with one of the inmates. And if he ever tried to outsmart us, you know he’ll be done for before he could say his name. I don’t think you should worry so much, Chief.”

Honestly, he was really not convinced that the man needed any help. In fact, he looked too fit for a homeless person. And considering his back story, things were really not adding up. He really couldn’t afford another slip up like Bobby.

“Don’t forget he was brought by the police” Jinyoung smacked lightly on the younger’s head. “And if you keep up that laid back attitude, Lord forbid, but we would be done for. It was difficult enough to suppress the whole fiasco last time. We’re already getting surrounded day by day by media and the government. It’s better to be on the toes all times now. Otherwise, you know what’s going to happen if we up again…” Both of them went silent as a brief look of fear crossed their eyes.

“Do you think HE knows?” Jackson timidly asks.

“HE would know” Jinyoung replied back, his eyes boring at the screen, “There’s no way for HIM not knowing….”

If this person was harmful at any point of time, they could always eliminate him. It was easier to do inside the premises than outside anyways. Besides, this kid might be helpful for them in future. But firstly…

After a brief moment of silence, Jinyoung spoke again. “Mark?” he called out to the third man, who had been quietly sitting beside Jackson all this while, observing their new inmate on the screen. On hearing his name, he looked up at his boss.

“I would like you to run those tests on him. Do your thing” Jinyoung commanded, “if anything, we’ve acquired a good test subject. Let’s not let this opportunity slip.”

“I was hoping you would say it…” A small smirk appeared on the other man’s face as he nodded his head.

“Also, Jackson?”

The said man looked up at him. “I would like you to keep a close watch on this man. See what he does. If you find anything off, just…”

“Finish him” Jackson completed for him, giving him a wink, “You got it, Chief. I would love to do my job this time around though. The boy has a really nice physique anyway….”

Jinyoung regarded him weirdly, seemingly grossed out by his potentially homoual but efficient subordinate. But he kept his judgment to himself, as all their eyes went back to the blurry screen.

They will have to be really careful to avoid HIS wrath from now on…..

1:00pm

“Oh! Are you the new inmate?”

I choked on the watery stew that I was barely managing to put down my throat, throwing half of it out in the process.

“Ew! That’s gross” I heard another voice.

“Shut up, Jae!” the first person said, as he immediately came to stand by my side, calmly patting my back, as I coughed my guts out. “I must have startled you…. I am so sorry…” he kept on saying as he soothingly rubbed his hand down my back. When I finally managed to catch my breath, a glass full of water appeared in my field of vision. “Here” the voice said, “Drink up”.” After having a huge gulp, I heaved a sigh and looked up at the stranger.

He was a handsome man, probably of same age as mine. But I could be mistaken. And he was smiling way too brightly for my comfort. Suddenly, I was reminded of Jimin hyung’s words….

“Don’t take anything from anybody there, Jungkook. Not even water.”

Great! I’d already broke the protocol! Suddenly, I was paranoid as I looked down at the stranger suspiciously.

“Dude” the stranger laughed, “Don’t check me out so blatantly. I know I’m attractive but still….” ! I blushed furiously at his words as I avoided his gaze.

The stranger was interrupted by a huff from another man, who was now sitting beside that man's seat. (When did they all come?) The other clearly looked irritated by his friend’s antics as he mumbled to himself. Besides him sat another boy, pretty as the other two, but way too thin. He was spacing out, not even paying attention to the ongoing bickering that the other two were getting into. He seemed a little strange. I observed as he just fiddled with his rice, not even taking a single bite of it.

“Oh! We forgot introductions....” the first man said brightly, following my gaze “That is Kunpimook. He’s Thai. We call him Bambam. Don’t mind him though. He doesn’t talk much these days. On the other hand, this sweet ahjumma here” he pointed to his other friend who grunted in acknowledgement, “is Youngjae. And I” he proudly pointed to himself, “am Yugeom. What is your name?’

I briefly stared at the three of them and almost opened my mouth and…

Oh yeah! I was supposed to be dumb.

I made some weird gestures, hoping they would understand me. “Oh you can’t speak?” the one named Youngjae said. “That’s sad. How will we talk then?”

“Oh we can always talk” Yugeom smiled again, producing a small notepad and pen from his pants’ pocket, “You forget that I always have to carry them around. Doctor’s instructions and all….” He pushed both items towards me, “Here…. Write to us. You are literate, right?”

I held them in my hands, briefly wondering the implications. They seemed harmless enough till now and I hadn’t died yet because of the water. Maybe they were just innocent inmates. Besides, making friends will only help my cover and get me intel.

I opened the blank notepad and scrawled my supposed name. Yugeom, who had gone back to his seat, bent over to see. “John?” he pronounced and then looked up questioningly. I nodded in return, giving him a brief smile.

“That’s a weird name” Youngjae wondered, “Are you from outside?”

“Shut up Jae!” Yugeom lightly hit him on his arm, “It’s his name. Whether it’s John or Coconut, how does it matter? He’s our friend, right John?” I nodded at him, earning a bright smile from him. He was a cute guy. I wondered how he got here. I wonder how they all got here…

My eyes suddenly went back to the quiet kid in the corner who didn’t even look up throughout the conversation. I gestured to the other boys about him. ‘Is he okay?’ I meant to ask.

Both of them exchanged brief looks before Youngjae bent over to whisper to me, “He’s not feeling very well these days. They are giving him some medicines…. He doesn’t like to talk about it. So as a rule, we don’t talk about it. Especially, over meals. Remember that, okay?”

I briefly looked at the kid before I nodded to the two, who slipped back into an easy conversation of their own.

I made a mental note to talk to Bambam again. He might be one of the keys to my destination.

For now, I should just relax and eat the ty stew with my new friends….

4:00pm

I was startled awake by the loud knock on my door. I quickly ran up to the door, hyperaware of my surroundings.

“Hi” I was greeted by Jackson and another man, who regarded me with a nod. I nodded back at him. “We were just wondering if you were good…. You mind if we come in?” and before I could say anything, the two men had already barged into my space.

Why bother asking then?

“So, John” Jackson pointed towards the stranger, “This is Dr. Mark. He is our in-house doctor. As you might be aware, your caretakers till now, Officer Park and his friend, signed an agreement with us, wherein we were allowed to take whatever measures necessary to ensure your health and safety. One of the first things we do in our protocol is to get our inmates a full health check-up to, you know…. See if everything is good or not. Since your consent has already been signed by your caretakers, we will go directly to it….”

I looked between the two of them, seemingly surprised by the sudden order. Mark stepped up, smiling at me, “Don’t worry John. We wouldn’t do anything dangerous. We would just run some tests, do a couple of scans and then, you’re good to go. We’ll be there throughout, explaining everything to you. You’ve got nothing to fear, all right?”

I seemingly didn’t have a choice anyway so after a brief pause, I nodded my head in agreement. “Very well then” Jackson remarked, “Come along. There are some things you should know before Mark does anything to you” he winked playfully at Mark who just rolled his eyes at him and went out of the room. Jackson put his arm around my shoulders and slowly whisked me out of the room. He might have not noticed but I didn’t miss the gun the familiar gun that sneakily hung around his belt, hidden under the large t-shirt and jacket.

I wondered what was really going on here…

A/N: YO! What's up homies? I am back from my imposed hiatus thanks to my long overdue finals.... I've still two more to go before I finally (ing finally!) bid adieu to my graduation. I know an update on this story was a long time coming and here, I finally did it. Please look forward to more of them soon...

I have some huge plans for writing this year. Lots of great story ideas for new and old stories alike. Don't forget to check out my other stories and hope to see you with a new update/story soon.... Bye! :-D ;-)