She doesn't wake up… she doesn't wake up….

That made my heart skip a beat. It made my brain stop working properly. It made my whole body shook. No. That's impossible! I gulped, closing my eyes and praying for it to be another joke from her, it has to be! My nails embedded my palm and feeling my heart beating nervously I finally stepped inside her cell.

The first thing I quickly noticed was the walls and that made my heart drop to the ground, my mouth ajar, covered by my right hand in shock. There were no drawings. The drawings I saw before – the little dog as well as the girl sitting on a tree – were gone and what greeted me instead was a very raspy handwriting, written on all over her cell Cut him, break him, Kill him! I noticed her Rubik's cube completely crushed, as if it was thrown against the wall, and its pieces scattered all over the floor.

Did she have an episode?

“We don't know what happened, Doctor. We… We tried to wake her up… but she doesn't.” Sungmin's voice called me back. He was a bit anxious, that I could tell. “She… she doesn't… move.”

My eyes snapped wide open.

“What did you say?”

“She doesn't move.” She shook his head once again, gulping hard. “I swear I didn't do anything, Doctor! It's not my fault! It is not! I-”

I ignored him and look straight to her who was laying down on her stomach on bed. I felt my mouth gets dry and my legs turn into stone. God, what was going on? Please, no. No! She needs to be okay. She needs to!

“T-Tae….yeon...” I called, my voice just fainting away as I got closer to her bed. My heart was beating in my ears and God, I've never felt so worried in my entire life! I took her wrist and placed two fingers, pressing them down, to measure her pulse. My eyes enlarged. No pulse. There was no pulse! What the ?

“Is she… dead?” I heard Baekhyun ask. I couldn't answer. The tears falling from my eyes however made them think this way. “D-doctor H-hwang? I-is Kim d-dead?” I stepped back, feeling ill. She wasn't breathing. She wasn't…

Before I could tell anything else, everything around me was a blur. “Doctor Hwang?” Feeling dizzy, I closed my eyes and I was nowhere near to be aware of what was going on. Wake up. Please, wake up. Don't do this to me. Don't. Don't leave me.

And then I out.

~~*~~

When I finally opened my eyes, I was greeted by Seohyun's gentle smile. “There you are… Welcome back, unnie!”

I blinked still feeling uneasy. “Are you alright?” I heard her asking. I frowned, trying to remember what actually have happened… My eyes opened widened open… “T-Taeyeon!”

Seohyun chuckled. “This is the first time I see a doctor worried more about their own patients other than themselves.”

“How is she?” I asked, utterly concerned. My heart beating nervously, anxious for the upcoming news and I knew Seohyun's was aware of that due to the heart monitor just beside me.

“She is alright.” I closed my eyes taking a deep breath completely relieved. “She's back.”

Thank God! “What happened?” I asked.

“You passed out.”

“No, what happened to her?”

“Oh, we've done some blood as well as brain examinations to fully know what happened but we don't have the results yet, however, her general symptoms seems to be of some sort of overdose.” My hands curled, grabbing the white sheet under my fingers.

“Her medication.” I quickly replied. “It was her medication! Ho Sung increased her dosage...”

“Yeah, I saw her files, now she's taking four pills... and considering XYZ is a powerful sedative, it seems to finally take its toll on her. I think it's for the best if we halt the medication for a while.” I nodded, agreeing with her.

“Thank you, Seohyun.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“I don't know… knowing this place, I kinda thought everyone wanted her dead.” She giggled.

“I'm just a doctor, Unnie. I have no hard feelings towards your patient. Besides, if an inmate dies while I'm in my shift, that's a terrible stain for my records.” I smiled. She took a milky way chocolate bar from her white coat's pocket and offered to me. “Here, eat this. You'll feel better.”

“Can I see her?” I asked gladly accepting the candy bar.

“You should rest first. She's alright and she'll be monitored for the next couple days so don't worry, she's not in danger.”

“I'm alright.”

“Your heart rate says otherwise.” She quickly answered looking at the machine beside my bed and I looked away trying to ignore it. “Give yourself a rest, unnie, and then if you're free to see her. So far try relaxing, she won't go anywhere.”

“Thanks, Seohyun.” She smiled to me.

“You're welcome, unnie.”

“I'm so relieved she's alive. I really thought she was dead.” I said feeling a lump in my throat.

“She's scared everyone out here to be honest. Inmates, officers and doctors keep coming asking if she's really dead.”

“Really?”

“Hm.” She nodded. “Kim Taeyeon is famous around here, she's been here for so long it's hard to find someone who doesn't know who she is.”

“Kim Taeyeon rules this ing place, Doctor Hwang. She's a dangerous inmate, everyone knows who she is. And she's good friends with Leeteuk and Donghae.”

“Kim Taeyeon doesn't have friends, Miss Choi.”

“That's what she wants you to think, Doctor. She has friends, admirers, lovers.”

I remembered Choi Sooyoung saying that to me once upon a time. Sooyoung shared a jail cell before with Kim Taeyeon and she must be kinda close to her, I mean, Sooyoung could understand Taeyeon's feelings and even behavior – and that was something! Considering how Taeyeon lies to doctors, I actually wonder if she tells the truth to her fellow inmates. In prison environment is very common to inmates to stand up for each other and even defend themselves from superiors for their genuine feeling of camaraderie, and honestly, it seems to be the only way they have to actually tolerate places like this.

So if that was true, were those people who came asking if she's alive her friends? Or was just people curious to know if the infamous Kim Taeyeon have finally perished in this dirty place? That I couldn't tell.

“Is it okay if I leave?” Seohyun asked gently after a couple of seconds. “I need to check other patients.”

“Yeah, sure. See you later.”

“See you, unnie. Get well soon.”

Get well soon… How I wished this could be towards Taeyeon. She could have died! I knew that her dosage was too much... Four ing pills! Thank God she was alive.

My eyes glanced at the chocolate bar in my hands. Should I give this to her? She loves candy. Maybe I could give her when she wakes up. I looked around the room and I noticed there was a black camera in the upper right corner of the room. So the hospital rooms had camera surveillance… I looked back to the candy and taking a deep breath, I decided to unwrap and eat it myself.

~~*~~

I leaned my body forward, placing my forehead against the door of her room. Room 09. I was nervous, anxious, scared. There was so much going on my head. Was she awoke now? Was she still sleeping? Taking a deep breath, I first knocked and then I entered the medical room.

I stopped all my moves upon seeing Kwon Yuri there. What the hell? Kwon Yuri, the officer who never leaves the Archive is in Kim Taeyeon's room? What the heck? What she was doing there? I squinted not following what she could be doing in that place. “Officer?” I called her, she completely ignored me. I noticed her eyes staring at Kim Taeyeon intensely. Taeyeon was unconscious and I was grateful for that. “What are you doing here?” I asked getting closer to Taeyeon's bed.

She moved her eyes from Taeyeon to me, but still stood silent.

“What are you doing here?” I asked again.

“Special occasion.”

I frowned my brows. “Special occasion?”

“Yes…” She nodded her head, looking back to Taeyeon and I noticed her clenching her teeth. “You won't understand.”

“Oh really? Why don't you try me?”

“It's not worth it.” She answered, taking a deep breath.

“So why don't you leave?” I said a bit harsh for my own taste.

“I want to see if she dies in front of me.” That made me extremely angry.

I clenched my teeth and fists and with hard expression I got closer to her, looking as angry as ever. “Get out of here.” I said firmly.

She scoffed, making me even angrier. “She's got what she always wanted… a doctor who she could manipulate as she pleased, a doctor to get her out of here. You are the perfect option, easy to approach, friendly personality… and all she just needs to do is to make you laugh at her stupid jokes and pretend she's a poor unfortunate soul in need for support and caring. All she needs to do is to behave like a kid so you'll feel compassionate about her because of your former patients.” My nails started to mark my palms so fiercely, it wouldn't take long to start oozing blood from them.

“My duty is to take care of her, give her support and proper care.” I looked at her eyes. “Taeyeon is my patient; she may be an inmate but she still my patient! She is still a human being and she needs help. I don't care what you say, I won't stop being who I am to just please all of your sadistic needs around here. I won't be like Doctor Young! She won't be tortured anymore.”

“You think that was torture? Why don't you go after her victims to talk about torture, Doctor? Oh, wait, they're dead.” I gulped, feeling uncomfortable with that. “Don't trust her, Doctor Hwang. Whatever she says to you, it is a lie!”

“And how do you know that?”

“I just know. Everybody knows. She's a liar.”

“Stop pretending you know a thing about her, you don't.”

“Yes, I do.” She nodded firmly. “I've been here long enough to see how she does her game. She is charming, cute, dorky, it can't ever cross your mind that this little woman can be so cold and cruel. But she is, Doctor. There's a reason she's under Intensive Care. There's a reason she never left this place. There's a reason the Asylum will never let her go.”

“You know why she's cold and cruel?” I asked scoffing. “You give her no other choice! She's constantly bullied here by all the other officers… Her previous doctors barely had her on the right track.. just torturing her, giving her electric shocks in order to make her behave how they wanted her to behave.”

“Many patients showed progress when receiving this sort of treatment.”

“You call it a progress?” I snorted.

“Yes. If they were rioting and then stopped, we can call it a progress.”

“It's torture and you know it.” I said firmly. “And that is not the way I do it, Officer. Taeyeon will receive a proper treatment! No more hurting, no more torturing, no more humiliation.”

“Give it up, Doctor. It's useless. Being nice to her will only make you lose your way.”

“A proper treatment is never useless.”

“You're crossing a line here, Doctor, that will forever haunt your soul.”

“No, it won't. She will receive a proper treatment. I'm her Doctor and I guarantee you, Yuri, she will get the hell out of here no matter how many years I have to stay here to make it happen!” She squinted her eyes. I got even closer to her facing her firmly. “I will help Taeyeon and nobody in all of Seoul, no doctor or officer that there is or was, is gonna bring me down!”

For a brief moment silence clouded over the room - both me and Yuri staring at each other, breathing deeply, and our eyes fiery. But just for a brief moment, because suddenly, a loud sound of applause echoed in the room. “Now, that's what I call confidence!” My heart beat completely out of pace and both Yuri and I turned our heads towards Taeyeon. She was sat on the bed, smiling. “Hello...” And her eyes moved towards Yuri. “Kwon Yuri… my old friend...”

I blinked a bit taken back by what she just said. My eyes quickly moved to Yuri as well and I saw her clenching her teeth.

“Friend?” I asked intrigued.

“She's not my friend!” Yuri quickly denied.

“Ow, C'mon, don't you remember the old Golden days?” Taeyeon's voice was still hoarse but I could notice the tune change. “Because I do, Yuri! There you were, around my section, proud of yourself for being a Correctional Officer in this place, just doing everything you could to show some service. Back then you were the only female officer in this place other than Eugene and everyone was talking about you. You were young and the freshness in your face was endearing... you had a hard time dealing with those officers, didn't you?” Yuri gnawed her teeth. “Especially because you never told them you're… how do people call them these days? Aah yeah, gay.”

My eyes opened a tad wider. Gay? Yuri was… gay? She looked completely uncomfortable with that. I noticed her eyes lost all the fire they once had before and I could tell this was a big thing for her. She was close to just start crying. “You were different back then, Yuri.” Taeyeon kept saying. “You were trustworthy, kind and protective. Remember that day when Officer Yunho was beating the out of me? Did you run? No! What did you do? You made him stop! What happened to you, Yuri? Where's that kind officer who liked talking to me?”

I couldn't say a word. I was totally in shock for everything she was saying. I didn't know Yuri used to be a regular Correctional Officer other than the Archive personnel. I didn't know she used to have a shift exactly around Taeyeon's section. I had no idea that Taeyeon and Yuri could have exchanged some words in the past. But the more Taeyeon was saying, the more started to make sense to me. “And the old Kwon Yuri I knew of didn't want to be just a regular Correctional Officer, no! She wanted to be the Warden! But where are you now, Yuri? Inside that stinky basement doing nothing the whole day just reading old papers and listening to tapes! Miss my voice that much?” She mocked and all the hate I was feeling for Yuri quickly disappeared. A tear ran down over her right cheek. “You lost the chance you had to be the Warden when the old man SM gave the position to Ho Sung.. It was a bad day, wasn't it?”

My little finger twitched. “A very bad day for sure.” She continued. “It ain't easy lose the position you always wanted for that coward prick. I was rooting for you, Yuri, I really was. You know the saying, bros before hoes. But I guess Ho Sung must be a really good hoe.” She tried making a pun, and if the environment was slightly different I would probably chuckle along but at that time, all I was feeling was sadness and compassion.

She wiped her tears and left out a sad chuckle. “I thought you were dead.”

“What's the fun in that?”

“Kim Taeyeon, death by overdose, eh? Quite a commotion you're making, Inmate.” My brows frowned themselves.

“Overdose? Well, that's lame.” They kinda sound...hm… close? Were they really friends in the past? What happened between them? Yuri's words before about Taeyeon were harsh but now they seem like… I don't know… like a married couple who could only quarrel but once in a while show mutual feelings of respect and affection to each other. It really bugged me.

“You're alive...”

“And you're glad, aren't you?” She mocked. Yuri didn't answer but I had the feeling that was a confirmation. Was that a love-hate relationship? I mean Yuri was here for all this time and if it is true that she used to talk to Taeyeon, that means they were kinda close. But now they aren't anymore. Now, Yuri hates Taeyeon, always trying to show me how cruel and evil she is… And Taeyeon is always making sure Yuri doesn't know a thing from her interviews. If they were closed, what changed them? What made them hate each other? What made Yuri stop being a kind officer to be so ruthless? What made her hate Taeyeon so much?

“Oh please, shut up!”

“You miss my voice and still ask me to shut up? Are you bipolar?”

“Shut the up!”

“Go back to your basement, Officer.” That made Yuri gnaw her teeth again.

“I'm your superior here, Inmate! Don't give me orders.”

“Try better than that, Warden Yuri.” And then I saw Yuri's eyes grew wider. I saw them twinkle and stand proud. Her expression was totally different from when she was called an officer to be called Warden. Even though Taeyeon was just teasing her, it still made Yuri enjoy the word as if it really belonged to her. And I wasn't the only one to notice it. “Hohoho, so easy to tease you, Yuri. Tell me, you get wet down there when I called you Warden?” I felt shivers down my spine. I had no idea how Yuri felt but that was the first time I ever heard her saying things like that. I mean she had said ual innuendos before but not that straightforwardly. “Do I need to put my husky voice for the sake of it… Warden?”

Oh, God. That voice.

Just to think she could speak to me like that, whispering to my ear…

The hair all over my body lifted up. But I did my best to not let them see how her husky voice had affected me so much doing so little.

Yuri was visually uncomfortable. Her chest going up and down in a fast pace. “Different times today, eh? You have a bunch of female officers to flirt with now. To release whenever you need to...Who's your favorite? Officer Kim? Officer Joy? Officer Seulgi?”

“Shut the up!”

“Or are you into raw and dangerous affairs? Fancy hot stuff, Warden Yuri? Have hot fantasies with inmates? The one you despise the most?”

“SHUT THE UP!”

“Why? I bet you're soaked just imagining my voice into your ear...” My mind started to wander off, picturing her talk with me. No, Tiffany! What you're thinking? Stop! “Whispering…calling you… Warden.” She giggled. “Wet already, Warden Yuri?”

Yuri quickly left the room, slamming the door behind. I clenched my fists and wasting no time, I followed her.

“Yuri, wait!” I called her before she could reach the lift at the end of the corridor.

“What?” She turned to me angrily. I cold notice trails of tears.

“Huh...I...”

“If you don't have nothing to say, excuse me, Doctor! I need to go back to my basement.” I heard the bitterness in her voice.

“I...”

I had many things to say to be honest but they didn't seem to come out of my mouth. I was really