Title : 6 Degrees of Insanity

Character: Jihoon and mentions of other members.

Pairing : Implied!Jicheol

Genre: Suicidal thoughts, Thriller, Angst, Character’s death

Length: One-Shot

Warning: Don’t read if triggering ; o ;

Synopsis: [Med! AU] From the fic exchange prompt given :: The boys put Jihoon in a mental ward because he’s so stressed (and also in which he thinks too much.)

First Stage : Restlessness.

Lee Jihoon is a pianist. He was a child prodigy, gifted at the very young age of 5 years old. He had managed to finish his Grade 8 by the age of 7 years old, skipping a lot of other grade when he was far too talented for it. Not to mention, he had won rather a number of awards, school-based and soon, internationally. As he grows up, everyone had expected for him to be a genius pianist.

He was a pianist and now he is 20. The black and white keys were now coated with dried blood, no matter how many times it had been cleaned. Fresh blood which eventually turn dry would always be there and so there was no point cleaning anymore. Manuscripts were torn and his trophies and certificates were no longer proudly displayed; most of it were trashed and destroyed, sitting in the dumpster now.

It started out when his mind is constantly being filled with thoughts that weren’t his; most belonging to someone else’s, telling him the impossible and what more, the things he can’t do and will never be able to achieve. Those thoughts are then later piled up to stress, a reason to questioning his sanity. It didn’t help that soon he has always felt like he is being watched. The blond-haired male, Jihoon, could feel all eyes on him, waiting for him to make a mistake so they could call him out for it when in reality, his family and friends, especially, were only looking with worries. This, however, does not stop the nervous tapping habit that the blond-haired male has developed as well as the habit of looking around before he does something.

His fingers tapped nervously against the cold,  hard table, a reminder that they were use for piano playing and how long it has been since he last touch those delicate keys – he feels restless by the constant wondering eyes and whispers exchanged by the people he is surrounded with. And not too long after, he found similarities to being a clock, only that he is ticking a little bit too fast. That’s when he started to feel that his fingers would no longer tap nervously anymore, but instead, his fingers are curled tightly; his nails dug against his palm a little too deep that it would bleed.

Second Stage : Distress.

As weeks passed, clenched fist turns to pent up frustration, outburst of angers being executed to people or objects, anything related to music and piano in particular. And when the worst came, Jihoon finds himself screaming at any slightest mistake he makes even if it’s not related to piano playing and eventually, his screams came in the middle of the most nights despite being asleep, waking everyone up constantly. His nightmares were frequent as well, most of it in which he found himself being in the void darkness.

“It’s scary.” he kept telling himself, his words went softer the more he repeated his sentence. The darkness in his nightmare represents people’s expectation and that he was running to the end of the tunnel, wanting to exit but the darkness would just him in, leaving no captive.

Third Stage :  Alarm.

They decided that it was best for Jihoon to be taken away his comforts against his will, putting him in a room far too bright and white and the male has no say in any objections. And this has caused him to be alarm. Too alarmed. And because of this, Jihoon loses more sleep as well, fearing that the moment he close his eyes, not only will his nightmare haunt him all over again but that the people around him would harm him. And like a ticking clock, each day passed as Jihoon’s fears grows.

It also didn’t help that his heartbeat would race every time someone enters, even if the other person was the same person who came to check on him daily.  His name is Seungcheol, a raven-haired who is rather enthusiatic, as he heard the other male, whom had  introduced himself week before with a genuine smile,  mentioning how he was put in charge in taking care of him.
It took a while for Jihoon to settle himself with his ‘aid’ whom had by all means had tried his very best in initiating conversations despite the lack of response from the blond male himself. The other male even tried approaching him in many calming ways possible. Sometimes the raven-haired staff would go through any possibilities, to the point where he sometimes hurt himself but would laughed it off, mentioning it was ‘intended’. Jihoon really appreciates the other male’s efforts and wonder if the hospital is paying him well for his hard work.

But Jihoon still couldn’t helped but still feel alarmed by the presence of the other male.

Fourth Stage : Hostility

He does not remember clearly what happened but he does remember charging at Seungcheol’s direction when he tried to make the blond male keep his calmness by playing  a classical piece. It had somehow triggered the other male to have his fingers wrapped around the other taller male’s neck, choking him. He also remember how the other male had let him do so but not without gasping for air despite not fighting back. It took about 5 minutes or so before the other staff had rushed in, pinning the blond male down and sedating him before he out.

After the incident, he was strapped and was left to ponder in suicidal thoughts while losing sleep. Seungcheol had also stop coming and he, has no reason to speak to anyone anymore even when they sent someone else to take charge of him. (His name was Socksmin or Seokmin. He doesn’t remember. There’s no use anyway because him or anyone else, he was a monster.)

Fifth Stage : Panic.

Jihoon’s thoughts are his fragment of imaginations. That’s when he started talking to himself, mumbling incoherent words that only he would understand. His new aid, Seokmin, would try to talk to him, trying methods that his old aid, Seungcheol, had tried before but it no longer worked on him as Jihoon would still talk to himself, ignoring the other male’s presence.

Week after, the blond male changed physically. His eyes sunken into darker shades from the lack of sleep, his cheekbones had sunken evidently and his now bony body could be seen, most coming off from the rejection of food. But one thing remains true - his thoughts had transformed him to someone he is not.

Sixth Stage : Hysteria

“Doctor! He’s on the loose!”, A deep-toned voice yelled out while running to the counter’s direction, alarming everyone else who were in the very same floor before hitting the emergency alarm system which then blares a loud beeping sound that resonated the walls of the asylum.  

The building turned disarray from the chaos made, panic screams were heard from various corner of the room, some finding protection from the madmen on loose while some were searching for the madmen himself. It’s not as if an incident like this had never happened before; but for the mere fact that a madmen like Lee Jihoon, himself was on the loose did indeed scared the staffs, if not the doctors themselves. The fact that the past few weeks of monitoring the renowned pianist, they noticed that the male had not only had physical changes but as well as mentally. It was as if he was different person.

“You may all run! But you will never hide! I will find you all and you will all be dead!”, a rather hoarse voice yelled out as banging on doors can be heard. More screams were heard after each banging. More bloods were shed. It took a while and a number of people to manage to bring the pianist down but not without being injured themselves. But that’s not the end.

“Check on test subject 017. Subject seems to be rather unstable. Do a emotional test run.”, a voice commanded loudly and firmly as the male scans the board in hand briefly before looking at the machineries that was attached to the ‘sleeping’ male.

“Yes, Doctor Seungcheol. Give me a hand, Attendant Seokmin?”, another voice called out before the two male shuffled off to get the test tubes to go through for the test run.

“It looks like it would be a while before Lee Jihoon wakes up.”, the doctor mumbles to himself after the other two attendant had walked away. The raven-haired approaches the other male, caressing the male’s cheeks.

“I promise you. You’ll be sane someday. You will wake up.”