Upon reaching my destination, I saw the black gate of the entrance, making my heart beat in anticipation for getting inside that facility.

Even in the morning the place was intimidating. I have a feeling that at night, that place would be one the creepiest places of the city. The gate was tall and old, and at close, you could spot some of the bits of oxidized iron around the bars. Fences and wires were around its perimeter to stop any escape from the residents. A sign in strong golden letters could be found on the right side of the entrance.

The sign read in English and Korean: Welcome to Lee Soo Man's Asylum for the Criminally Insane.

Criminally Insane.

I, Tiffany Hwang, am going to work at one of the most renown mental health institutes of Seoul: Lee Soo Man's Asylum for the Criminally Insane.

Two guards opened the gate and I parked the car inside. It didn't take long to being greeted by a middle-aged man wearing a white coat. He wore round frame glasses and looking at this, I also noticed his nose bridge was a bit crooked as if it had been broken somehow.

“Doctor Hwang, it is a pleasure to meet you.” The tall man bowed in respect.

“Thank you, sir, it is a pleasure to meet you too.” I replied the gesture to him as well. On the left side of his white coat there was a tag where I could read: Ho Sung. General Supervisor and Warden.

“I have to ask, Doctor Hwang, after reading your resume, why would you leave your job to work in a place surrounded by criminals?”

My first proper job was at Seoul's Mental Health Institute for the Youth. My patients at the time were most children and occasional teenagers with traumatic experiences. Although all of my previous patients had different mental disorders none of them were actually criminals.

However, I always had pleasure studying the human mind and how many unexpected worlds could coexist inside one's head. I don't know why nor how this strange fascination begun, but since I was a child, reading stories about serial killers and psychopaths were my favorite hobby. They always had something pulling my curiosity forward, wondering how their mind work. I attended criminology classes in college and I even committed myself to Criminal Science extension courses.

However, I didn't have any experience dealing with inmates of any sort. So I can't deny that is weird that I'm pursuing such a difficult position when I already had a stable and safe job. But being able to understand the mind of a criminally insane was something I was really looking forward to. And I wanted to be challenged in that way.

“Understanding the mind of a criminal is a tough challenge yet I believe it could lead me to grow personally and professionally. I'm well aware of the consequences and the difficulties of this job but that doesn't mean I'm not ready. I'm ready, sir!” I finished trying my most confident posture.

I knew it would be a tough challenge, but I couldn't miss this opportunity. It could be my only chance I would ever have to come close to a real criminal. So, when I heard about the vacancy for psychotherapists and psychiatrists for the Asylum I wasted no time in sending my resume. Truth to be told I wasn't expecting to get the job. I don't have a great background, in fact, it's been just a couple of years since I graduated and finally started working in the field. There's no much I could bring on the table other than what the Asylum already had. Or so that was I believed. However, I was wrong. I got the job. Thank goodness I was wrong!

He gave me a gentle smile and I smiled back. “Come, please, I'll show you the place around.”

I nodded. “Thank you, sir.” I said before following the man.

My eyes moved around the place trying to know it better. We were at the yard and it was clean, large and beautiful. It had fountains, benches, and well-trimmed trees. The fountain at the center was spitting water, and judging by only the yard itself, that place didn't really look like a penitentiary at all, let alone an Asylum.

“This is the yard. We also call the Garden Area.” Ho Sung started to speak as he lead me along the way. “Every day, for a couple of hours, the residents come to the yard for recreation.”

“All of them altogether?” I asked curiously. It was bit risky having criminals with different mental disorders all together in one place at same time. Not because they were criminals but because some disorders could lead to violent outbursts under a second.

“The residents are split into units and sections. There are two main units: Regular Penitentiary and Intensive Care. Regular Penitentiary is known as RP and the criminals under it are the ones who have some sort of lucidity; psychopaths and sociopaths are often under Regular Penitentiary. Intensive Care holds the patients with either extreme mental conditions or ones who may lose their sense of reality: most of them schizophrenics. We never allow patients from those units to come together. Their recreation happens in different times.” He calmly explained. “In fact, some residents from Intensive Care aren't even allowed to leave their cells for recreation. Some of them can be dangerous and uncontrollable so we're trying to be more cautious.” I nodded, understanding.

Walking through the gardens, I saw two buildings. Both buildings were equal in structure, facade and even color. But one was smaller, with far less windows, and more deteriorated. I didn't need him to tell me which was the one building housing all inmates.

“The building on the right is the Penitentiary and is where all residents stay for most of the time. Each of the residents has their own cell as they could be very...individualistic.” I may not have experience dealing with criminals but most of the children I had to care at the hospital were very delicate and for the lack of a better word...very obsessive. If children could be that way let alone insane criminals. Ho Sung continued his speech. “The building on the left is the general hospital or as we call the Medical Center. All our medic team operates inside the hospital. Each doctor has their own office and all equipment needed is provided.”

I had seen the pictures of the asylum on the internet and hones