“So how's your first day, Doctor?” Officer Yuri asked me after sipping some of her coffee.

I was back at the archive to give my patient's files back. The other officer who was with her before, Kim Hyoyeon, was no longer there.

“Better than expected.” I replied.

“Oh, that's good.” She said with a warm smile. I gave her the files and she turned around to place them in the correct drawer.

“Where's Officer Kim?” I asked, curiously.

“Afternoon shift with Siwon Choi on Regular Penitentiary section 3.” She responded in an instant. I blinked, impressed by how Kwon Yuri seemed to know everything about this place.

“You know everything about everyone here?”

She chuckled, amused. “I don't know everything, Doctor. I just happen to know some information about the place. I'm responsible for the archive and I get bored easily so I need to distract myself...”

“By reading the residents' files.” I completed her sentence.

To be honest, that was kinda illegal. The patients' records must be private and only their own doctors should read them. But seeing myself in her shoes, I couldn't get angry at that. I mean, I understand why she does it, it must be tedious to stay here in this basement all the time. If I were her I'd probably do the same.

“Some officers come here too to talk to me. I really appreciate their company. So talking to them I learn even more about the Asylum. And it's easy to know their schedule by heart after a while.”

“Why do they come here?”

“I really can't tell.” She shrugged off. “So Kim Taeyeon was helpful today?” She asked curiously changing the subject.

“Not really.” Thinking about the interview I had with my first patient, she didn't help me whatsoever. She just made me feel like my time was wasted. The only good thing about it was that I managed to realize she wasn't a pathological liar, which I have to say it was a good thing. “But she was very different from whom I expected.”

She giggled. “Yeah, I know. It's not always that you see a cute girl under Intensive Care at an Asylum for criminals.”

I wasn't really talking about her looks. Though I have to admit it made me feel a bit off when I first glanced at Kim Taeyeon. In my mind, female criminals would be big buffy lesbians full of tattoos and piercings. It was a really ist thought but it was how I pictured it in the first place. Kim Taeyeon was completely different from that picture. She looked like the kind of girl you would expect to see in the park seizing the sunset with a bottle of Soju and some friends for company.

But no. She was an inmate housed in an Asylum for criminally insane people. Yeah, looks can really be deceiving.

“Huh, Officer Yuri...” I started, remembering about something that was bothering me. I honestly didn't know if Yuri would know the answer for it, but out of everyone, she was probably the only person who could tell the information. “Why Kim Taeyeon is under Intensive Care?”

She frowned. “What?”

“Well...Ho Sung told me the Intensive Care is the unit reserved for extremely dangerous criminals, especially, the ones who are schizophrenics or the ones with no valid sanity. However...Kim Taeyeon is far from having any of those conditions. She is completely aware of her surroundings and her behavior shows signs of a sane mind.” I cared to explain.

“Sane mind?”

“Medically speaking I mean. Her mental issues are not connected with those psychoses so she wasn't supposed to be under Intensive Care.”

“Kim Taeyeon is extremely dangerous, though.” My heart beat a little faster than usual.

“Is she? Why?”

“Didn't you read her files? She killed a lot of people.”

Oh. That wasn't what I was afraid of. “I take it a lot of criminals here are also murderers, am I right? That was something I was expecting her to be. I just thought that she, being a sane person, would be under Regular Penitentiary Unit not Intensive Care's.”

She took a deep breath in. “She wasn't always under Intensive Care. When Lee Soo Man was still on charge, Resident Kim was under Regular Penitentiary.”

“Why was she moved?”

“A while ago, the residents used to share their cells with other inmates. And you know how fights and breakouts are common among inmates, right?” I nodded my head affirmatively. “So, fights and arguments happened as well as some accidents and the warden decided to make the cells private.”

“So, there were fights and accidents involving Kim Taeyeon?”

“Yes, there were. Kim Taeyeon is pretty famous around here.”

“Really? Why?” I asked curiously. Why would she be popular around here? Solely because of her looks?

“Well, she is here for a long time and everyone knows her name. Also, many consider her to be the prettiest inmate of the whole facility. Her fame is notorious and no one dares to mess with her.” Wow. “You've read her diagnosis, right? Sometimes she has those episodes of violence… And that's when she becomes dangerous. This is the reason why Kim Taeyeon moved to Intensive Care. Because she can't be controlled.”

My head dropped as I tried to convey the information inside my head. That wasn't good. I really needed to be more careful with her.

“Last time she had one of those episodes of hers, she killed one of her cellmates.”

My eyes widened and my heart increased its beats as I heard those words. I gulped silently as my mind pictured Kim Taeyeon killing an inmate with a gun. Wait... she couldn't use guns, Tiffany, are you crazy? A knife? No, that wasn't possible either. The officers do inspections in all cells every week, sure they would be able to find any weapon. So… if Kim Taeyeon didn't use any weapon… how the hell did she manage to kill another inmate? With her bare hands?

“How?” I asked still having my eyes staring at the floor.

“Kim Taeyeon smashed the girl's face against the wall, breaking some bones, and proceeded to strangle the woman.”

My hands started to tremble.

“Why did she do that?” I asked incredulously.

“I don't know.”

“You don't?” I rose my head up, finding that weird. “How you don't know it? You know all the information around here, no?”

She chuckled, amused.“Thanks, Doc. But no. I just know the information of what happened. Not why.”

“But... wasn't anyone with her to stop it? What about the officers?”

She snorted. I looked at her confused. “What did you expect, Doctor? That an officer would save the resident?” Honestly, I kinda did but I got silent as she continued to talk. “No one here really cares about those freaks, Doctor. One less resident is one less maniac to deal with. Most of us hate those ty bastards and the only reason why the Asylum still have officers is because of the damn well paying-wages! No one dreams to work in a ed up place like this, Doc. Well, no one except doctors like you...because...you know, in the end, it still us who will deal with them once your interviews are over.”

I wanted to say something to counter it but I couldn't dare. She was right. The officers are the one who are with the residents 24/7, not me, not Ho Sung, not ever Lee Soo Man. And then I understood why Officer Lee was so angry at Taeyeon. It is easy to be angry when you have to face those residents all the time. They drain all your energy away.

“Look, Doctor, I know it may sound harsh but that's how we feel around here. We can't put up with those mentals so having one killing off another was for us actually a good thing.”

I just nodded, dismissing her words. I would be lying if I say I wasn't scared. I would be lying if I say I wasn't troubled by what I just heard. And it wasn't because I was sorry for the deceased inmate. Nor it was because Kim Taeyeon killed someone. I mean, I've read her files and it recorded her being a murderer and all. However, she was all pretentious about having fun and joking around, and even when Lee Sungmin hit her head on the desk, which could trigger a moment of anger in anyone, it didn't affect Taeyeon whatsoever. To imagine she actually killed another resident with bare hands... how angry did she get really?

“You really don't know why she did it?” I asked Yuri once again. She denied.

“No, Doc. I don't know why. I just know it happened.”

Knowing the reason why Taeyeon killed someone would be a great advance. It could tell a lot about herself. I mean, she wouldn't tell me anything even if I ask her, she would probably tell more lies about it. If there was a way to know it the truth, that would be great.

And then I remembered something. “She killed one of her cellmates.”

“You said Kim Taeyeon killed one of her cellmates which means there were more sharing the same cell, right?” My voice came out more interesting than I expected.

“Yes, she shared her cell with three other inmates. Why?” She asked frowning her brows.

“I could talk to them. Maybe they know the reason why.”

She didn't seem pleased with that. “Doctor...” She called me with a firm tone and my smile disappeared for a while. “I don't think you should mess with this. It's past now and you should leave it.”

“I'm not gonna mess it, Officer. This is important and there is no way I would leave it. Every event that happened in her life is crucial and it could help to treat Kim Taeyeon's psychosis.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Well, of course!”

“Well, if you say so... “She sighed. “As one of those inmates is actually gone, there are only two inmates you could talk to. Residents Choi Sooyoung and Amber Liu.”

“Units?”

“Both under Regular Penitentiary. However, you would need to talk to their doctors in firsthand.”

“Yes, I know. Could you tell me their doctors?”

“Choi Sooyoung is under Doctor Yoona's care and Amber Liu is under Victoria's.”

“Thanks, Yuri.” I bowed my head in gratitude.

“No problem, Doctor.” I nodded.

I was about to leave the archive when I stopped midway. “Huh, can you tell me their diagnosis?” I asked a bit ashamed of myself. As I'm a different doctor I should not know details from other doctor's patients. It's slightly unethical. But as Yuri was the info queen of that place maybe I could use her to know what I needed to help my patient.

“Ah, don't you worry, they are both easy to handle. Especially Sooyoung.”

“Really?”

She rose her shoulders up and slurped more of her coffee. “Yeah, you will be fine. As long as you don't touch her food.” She warned.

I was willing to go after Doctor Yoona and talk to her right away but I knew it wasn't the best time. It was 5:45 pm and most doctors would be leaving the Asylum soon. I have a session tomorrow at 2:00 pm with another patient but I could use the morning to talk to Resident Choi about Kim Taeyeon. So I decided it was better to go home and have some rest.

Just thinking about my first day in general, I didn't think it was a bad start. I may lack some patience with my first patient's smirks and smart- attitude but I was convinced that day by day I'd be able to keep it cool. I just needed to know her better.

~~*~~

The morning was sunny and warm, and I got myself enjoying the sunlight more than I should have. I recognized Officer Byun Baekhyun from the day before talking to another officer and casually approached him, asking him to take me to Doctor Yoona.

“Sure.” He replied and I started following his steps.

As we got to the lift of the Medical Center, he pressed the button number 3, and after a couple of minutes, I found myself at the seventh office of that floor. Taking a deep breath, I knocked at the door.

It didn't take long to be opened by the doctor herself and I found myself blinking for a while, without saying anything. Somehow, the words didn't want to leave. Am I really doing the right thing here?

“I'll leave you alone, Excuse me.” Officer Byun walked away, not before bowing to both myself and Doctor Yoona.

“Yes, may I help you?” She asked, after a couple of seconds in silence.

I cleared my throat. “Hi... I'm Stephanie Hwang...”

“Yes, the new psychotherapist, right?”

“That's correct.”

“Lim Yoona, psychologist. Nice to meet you, Doctor.” And she bowed her head. I did the same.

“How can I help you, Doctor Hwang?”

“I heard you are responsible for Choi Sooyoung's care.”

“Yes, that's right. Did she do something wrong?” She asked slightly concerned.

I shook my head sideways. “No. You see, one of my patients is Kim Taeyeon and she used to share a cell with Choi Sooyoung before moving to the unit she is now.”

Her brown eyes widened in surprise. “Yes… I've heard of what happened. It was an unfortunate incident.”

“And I would like to know if I could talk to Resident Choi about it.”

“Couldn't you talk to your patient?” She asked curiously.

Even if I try, Taeyeon will lie about it. I needed to know from somebody else.

“Kim Taeyeon is...delicate.” I said repeating the words Yuri told me the day before. “She's not very cooperative. I thought Choi Sooyoung could help me understand my patient a little bit better.”

“Oh, I see.” She said kindly smiling. “I don't have a session with her today but I could arrange one for you. Please, come in.” She invited me to enter her office.

Her office was not very different from mine, except that the lamp on the ceiling was in much better state than the one in my room and that it had windows. “I just want to talk to her, casually, no need to make it a session of any sort.” I quickly dismissed it.

“Yeah, sure.” She pressed a button on a machine that was on her desk. “Could anyone bring Resident Choi Sooyoung to my office, please? Doctor Yoona's calling,