With the sound of the iron bars closing behind her, Seorin wondered how her plan of paying a visit to the prison on a daily basis in order to write about a murderer, could have ever sound like a good idea to her. Had she been that desperate to find a topic for her next novel? Or perhaps Sora was right and she was going mad, although she knew that the older girl only said that to annoy her and didn’t mean any of it.

Seorin let out a sigh and hitched her backpack higher up on her shoulder as she made her way through the corridors of the Special Ward. The heavy bag contained her laptop, a notepad and some writing supplies. The fact that she was lugging around a foldout chair did not help her current situation. Her shoulders hurt from the weight of her bag and she cursed at herself for bringing the laptop, which she never used much in the first place. She would mostly use it to organize her notes after her research was finished.

This had not been as good of an idea as she had previously thought, but she had no other choice than to see this all through. And since she detested and feared this prison, the faster she would work the sooner she could leave and never return to this place ever again. She had to make it out of this place in one piece and never under any circumstances, get lost again.

Seorin reached the hallway that lead to Yifan’s prison. Her reminiscing about the prisoner she ran into when she was lost the other day, made her forget to be aware of the people down this hall.

‘’Hey, writer-sshi, could you come over here for a sec?’’ Chanyeol’s voice echoed nasally from behind the novelist.

The girl stopped in her tracks and carefully turned around to the grinning guy whose piercing eyes gazed straight at her. It was quite an unnerving sight as he was pressed up close to the bars, his hands wrapped tightly around the metal and his grin centred right in the middle.

Seorin couldn’t think of anything to say. No thoughts were formed in her suddenly startled and incoherent mind.

‘’No need to be shy now,’’ Chanyeol exclaimed, then let go of the bars for a second and beckoned happily. ‘’Come over here.’’

Seorin gulped down once and took a step towards the cell, not sure what to expect from the prisoner. Chanyeol kept beckoning the girl with his grin. Seorin moved closer with uncertain steps. She was unable to turn away, it was as if his smile put some kind of spell on her.

‘’What is it that you want?’’ Seorin asked. Despite being afraid of the tall guy, Seorin couldn’t dispel her curiosity. Chanyeol was mysterious and even after only being around him for a moment the other day, Seorin felt compelled to write her next novel about him rather than Yifan.

‘’Come a little closer and I’ll tell you.’’ Chanyeol replied. The girl was taking another step when a voice cut through the tense situation. It was as if Seorin woke up from a dream and was no longer under Chanyeol’s command.

‘’Chanyeol! Leave the poor girl alone. And stop smiling. You look like an idiot with that grin pasted on your face all the time.’’ Yifan’s voice could be heard from down the hall.

The smiling prisoner burst out in a loud and boisterous laughter. His eyes squinted in two thin lines.

‘’What? Me? Smiling?!’’ He called out to Yifan.

‘’Oh my God, Chanyeol.’’ Yifan said, clearly exasperated. ‘’Could you please leave her alone?’’

‘’Now that’s better.’’ Chanyeol’s sickeningly sweet smile disappeared and was replaced by a sneer.

Seorin took a step backwards. In an instant it seemed that the bars that were separating Seorin from the prisoner were flimsy and worthless.  Her heart was beating fearfully in her chest when she noticed that Chanyeol’s gaze, that seemed to be filled with kindness before, had turned ice cold. It sent shivers down her spine.

‘’I’ll see you around.’’ Chanyeol his lips and he peeled away from the bars, disappearing into the dark confines of his cell.

Seorin let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding in. Without Chanyeol’s hypnotizing smile she could once again walk freely down the hall.

Yifan was waiting for her, leaning against the bars. Seorin could see his face being fully illuminated by the light for the first time. He had a pale face which made the large but healing bruise on his cheek stand out more. There was another fresh and painful looking one right below his left eye.

Yifan’s gaze went past Seorin’s approaching figure, as if he was making sure that Chanyeol had not somehow managed to escape out of his cell and was following the girl. His eyes shifted to Seorin once she reached his own cell and came to a halt.

‘’Hi.’’ Seorin brought out nervously.

‘’Hello. It’s good to see you again.’’ Yifan said. There was the trace of an amused smile gracing on his lips. He didn’t offer his hand like last time, but instead kept staring into Seorin’s eyes with a steady gaze. Seorin found it hard to meet his stare, being so intense, deep and filled with emotions; so many memories, so many secrets locked away. So many of them and Seorin knew that even if she would bombarded him with the thousands of question she had prepared, she would barely be able to scratch the surface of them.

‘’Erm… Well,’’ Seorin said after much hesitation, ‘’Today I shall start with asking you some questions.’’ She felt awkward talking to the prisoner in a way a reporter would talk while interviewing a celebrity for some gossip magazine.

‘’I’m fine with it as long as it won’t get too personal.’’ Yifan said.

‘’Of course not. I just want to know the basics. You can refuse to answer my questions if you start to feel uncomfortable.’’ The writer responded.

‘’Alright then, let’s begin.’’ The inmate sat down on the hard cement floor of his cell, waiting for his interview to start.

Seorin unfolded the chair and placed it close by the bars. It was squeaking horribly, the sound echoing down the hallways. L