Chapter Eight:

"Are you Lee Sunghwa's guardian?" A nurse came out and inquired at the timid girl sitting with her hand clasped together.

"Uh, yes? I brought him here," Chanmi answered politely. "Is he alright?"

"Sorry, you're probably in for quite a shock right now," The doctor, who was two step behind the nurse, sighed. "Come into my office and we'll have a talk," the doctor directed and Chanmi followed him.

"Is it serious?" Chanmi sat down on a chair opposing the doctor.

"Do you know that Mr.Lee has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder two years ago?" He started out with a shocking question.

"What?" Chanmi was dumbfounded. She felt like the doctor was revealing some kind of dark secret she was not supposed to know, which was mostly true. The doctor knew that Gray could possibly be very angry at him for doing this, but he could no longer turn a blind eye to Gray's negligence towards his illness. If revealing a patient's private medical information was a crime, it was still a lighter one than continuing to help him hide it and watch him constantly put himself in harm's way. Additionally, the doctor felt like something was different with the young girl who had brought Gray in, considering she was also the one who checked him out last time he was in the hospital. She was, in a way, the doctor's last hope. 

"What you witness last night was one of the most serious episodes of mania Gray had gone through. Mania is when the patient experiences an abnormal feeling of ecstasy and is full of confident and energy. He or she usually ends up acting recklessly, believing there is nothing to regret and nothing can stop them. However, the follow-up stage is usually filled with regret and depression where they are faced with the consequences of their impulsive actions," The doctor elaborated thoroughly for Chanmi to understand in a calm and professional manner. 

"He had it since two years ago. It was not serious at first, but he kept refusing to get it treated professionally. Therefore, the result is this." The doctor cupped this hand together on the table. "Gray needs someone to help him. He needs someone to convince him to get medical help. This is an illness and it is not going to go away on its own. In the past, Gray's episodes were simply hyperactivity, making him have a lot of energy for working and studying and then crashing afterwards, but now, it is onto another stage. Currently, he has Hypo-mania, which is a milder form of mania and part of the bipolar disorder. If it gets any worse, he may even start to hallucinate and show psychotic symptoms."

"W-what?" Chanmi could feel herself shaking at this point and her words were just as unstable. "Why wouldn't he treat it?" She almost cried. He has the money, he has the time; why would he put himself through this for two years?

"I am not exactly sure what Mr.Lee's motives and thoughts are, but I assume it is because he is either embarrassed or ashamed of this illness." The doctor theorized.

"You mean, he doesn't want anybody else to know so he's just hiding it?" Chanmi tried her best to regulate her breathing while speaking to the doctor. How could you be so stupid? Chanmi wanted to just yelled at Gray and hug him at the same time. How does she comfort someone she loved, but was so mad at? 

So you were living that kind of life. A life that surrounds this secret you must hide.

All of sudden, she began to feel guilt fill her heart. She was so mad at him for being the way he has been the entire night, but it was something he could not help being. How could she be so inconsiderate?

"Please, I need you to persuade him to get treatments," the doctor finally got to his point.

"Me?" Chanmi's eyes grew bigger. "Why me?"

"Because you can,"

"No, why would he listen to me?" Chanmi was already worried Gray would be mad that she knew this. "I'll try my best though," she nodded in the end. Either Gray would be mad or not, Chanmi had to face it. Now that she knew, she cannot just act like nothing happened. She had to try to convince him; she had to try to do something at least. 

"Thank you," the doctor faintly smiled at her, feeling relief that finally, someone was on his side in the losing battle against Gray's stubbornness. "For now, since we have treated his hand, it is best for you to just go home with him to take a break. However, you must keep a close eye on him since we are expecting an episode of depression to follow this mania. Try to convince him in the time being and here is my personal contact number. Call me and the hospital immediately if he tries to do something dangerous." The doctor handed her a piece of paper. "By the way, he doesn't know that you know, but I can break it to him later."


After the talk, Chanmi went over to the room where Gray was waiting and drove him home. The entire time, she had no idea where to start or how to persuade him. It's better to take it step by step, huh? 

"So, uh. How are you going to get home?" Gray asked while Chanmi slowly parked his car into the garage of the apartment's building. "Do you need some bus money?"

"Uh, how about I stay over?" Chanmi suggested. Although it was the last thing Chanmi would ever want to ask a young man who lives alone, she knew it was something she had to do since Gray seemed to be an unstable state at the moment.

"Ah, are you worried about me?" Gray got out of his car. "The doctor told me that he told you about it." 

"Yeah," Chanmi admitted. "Are you mad?"

"I was pretty pissed that the damn just tells anyone anything he wanted, but there's no point in being mad anymore because he already let the cat out of the bag," Gray took the keys from Chanmi's hand and walked over the elevator. The fact was if Gray had to pick anyone out of his life to reveal this dreadful secret to, he would pick her to anyway so he was relieved the doctor decided to tell Chanmi and not someone else. "Why are you so quiet? It makes me more anxious if you're like that. You don't think I'm some freak now, do you?"

"No, of course not!" Chanmi instantly denied. "It makes me feel bad instead. I'm sorry that I was mad at you for something you can't even control."

"Don't look at me like that. It's like you pity me," Gray frowned as they got into the elevator together. 

"I don't pity you," Chanmi firmly stated, looking at him straight in the eyes. "I'm impressed. I can't believe you were able to get through all this alone. Does anyone else besides me know about it at all?"

"Nope, and nobody else besides you wil