"1, 2, 3, 4, 5," counts the distraught tan patient standing by the edge of the foosball table. "I need to get inside," she states in an authoritative manner as she pats the table five times. "I need to get inside and play with my teammates. We need to win."

"If you go inside, you'll be in-sane Yuri. Stay out here and you'll be sane," says a male nurse, Woohyun lightly.

Wendy doesn't know whether to laugh or cry at the lame humour Woohyun just executed. But Yeri beats her to it - the Squirtle lookalike is laughing her head off at the seemingly humorous comment, and Wendy wonders if it is even appropriate of Woohyun, or any nurses, to joke about such things to a mental patient. She doubts it is, especially if it's to the extent of drawing laughter from other patients.

Definitely not nice, she registers that in her head.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5." And Yuri calculates again, her fingers curling and uncurling at her sides. A new patient to the ward, Kwon Yuri needs to count to five before doing or responding to anything. Wendy has been watching the girl since the day before. Said girl had lost control out of the blue and slammed her head against the flat screen television, claiming she had to get inside the tv. The impact had led to a broken tv, and the new set will only arrive in two days' time... which had caused quite an uproar among the tv fanatics, but they were eventually appeased by the nurses.

"It's not funny, ," Yuri spits as she shoots Yeri with a glare so lethal Wendy imagines the former is a grim reaper waving a scythe in her direction. The brunette shudders and quickly shakes her head, banishing the graphic images in her mind. She returns her attention to Yuri, who already has her head whipped to Woohyun, "And you, you mothering bastard. I do what I want to do."

Too much vulgarities. In spite of also being guilty of spouting them whenever she fails to self-regulate, Wendy believes that profanities, in essence, are blasphemous.

"You don't want to be placed in the isolation ward do you?" The edge in Woohyun’s voice is a clear indication that he doesn’t appreciate Yuri’s toxic words.

A flare of defiance lights Yuri's eyes. Unhappy with Woohyun's threatening tone, she counts to five again before replying disdainfully, " I'm not a kid, bastard."

His face softens, upon realization that he has, after all, aggravated the patient in the first place. "Use polite words, Kwon Yuri."

Five seconds rule again. "," she huffs, folding her arms.

Woohyun's forehead creases, and he takes in a sharp breath, as if trying to quell his irritation. "Excuse me?"

Yuri's lips curve upwards into a cocky smile. "You're excused."

He inhales again, deeply this time round, as if the action would push down the rising bubbles of anger in his chest. Dismissing the patient's sarcastic remark, he turns to the other patients and clears his throat. "Community time’s in ten, you should get to the discussion room soon."

The discussion room is adjacent to the sensory room. The walls of the square shaped room are painted baby blue. Most of the common areas are painted with pastel colours as it is said that pastels evoke a sense of relaxation and calmness. Wendy thinks it’s true. She simply can’t imagine how disturbing and stressful it will be to have the rooms painted red or orange. Too bright, and too loud. The patients have to sit on chairs that are neatly arranged in a circle and talk about whatever topic the social worker, which is actually the counselor, presents. Everyone has to say something, but of course, as usual, there will always be a few who wouldn’t utter a word. Yeri calls them the uncooperative brats, but Seohyun, the counselor, had corrected her, terming the group of people the soft spoken ones.

“Soft spoken my , they’re clearly the ballistic ones when you piss them off.” Wendy remembers those exact words from Yeri during their previous session. Yeri had of course said it softly, but still audible enough for Wendy to hear since they sat next to each other.

Before every session ends, everyone will have to write their own reflections and hand them in to Seohyun. The soft spoken ones included.

“What do you think of the quote, ‘Think positive, be positive, and positive things will happen’?” Seohyun begins after everyone has settled down.

Wendy is sitting between Taehyun and Momo. Hirai Momo. The blonde has been quiet and distant since the previous day. Wendy has safely concluded that Ayumi Miu is not going to make a comeback anytime soon. And to be honest, Wendy misses the chatty blonde. The blonde might be touchy and overly generous with compliments, but Wendy genuinely cherishes the way Ayumi takes care of her. She sighs inwardly. How did she get attached to someone new this fast?

Sometimes, Seungwan just doesn’t understand how she truly functions.

Or perhaps, humans, in general, just don't really know themselves either.

“I call that bull.”

A chorus of ‘yeah’s follows after Yeri’s remark. Wendy could see the glimmer of triumph in the girl’s eyes. When it comes to community time, Yeri is always the first one to come up with a response. And she definitely takes pride in that.

Seohyun’s lips curl up slightly as she looks at Yeri knowingly, as if she has already expected that answer from the latter. “Why?”

Yeri shrugs noncommittally. “Because it just is.”

And that’s Yeri. Quick to give a response, but lack metacognitive skills.

Seohyun smiles. Wendy recognises the smile. It’s the ‘yup-I-totally-expected-that-one’ smile the counselor gives everytime Yeri doesn’t provide an explanation for her answer. “Anyone else would like to give some input?” Seohyun asks, as her eyes travel from one patient to another.

Another patient, Bomi, raises her hand timidly and says, “I agree with that quote.” She shrinks in her seat when a few patients train their eyes on her. The spotlight she’s receiving is overwhelming, even Wendy could feel the discomfort despite being several seats away from her.

“Do elaborate, Yoon Bomi-ssi,” Seohyun states kindly, offering the distressed patient an encouraging smile.

Bomi gulps and looks at Seohyun hesitantly. “W-well,” she straightens her posture and attempts to ignore the stares she is getting, “wh-when you’re happy, you’ll increase the level of dopamine and serotonin-”

“You’re ing kidding me,” Jongin interjects rudely, “I dropped out of KAIST to escape all those science garbage and now you’re talking science in a goddamn asylum.”

“Kim Jongin,” Seohyun says firmly, “Remember, you need to show respect by not interrupting the person who’s currently speaking.” Her expression is stern, but at the same time gentle. It's the same look other professionals wear when communicating with the patients.

Gentle with a slight edge.

He scoffs and turns away. Bomi, on the other hand, has kept her head down, and Seohyun notes that the patient is probably discouraged and doesn’t want to continue talking. She makes a mental note to approach the patient after the session ends later.

“Your life doesn't get any brighter just because you decide to have a positive outlook,” Taehyun utters. This time, everyone has their attention on him. “You still have that psychiatric record and it's not going to disappear. You're still that person who got him or herself checked into the mental asylum. Face it, every one of you," he points to some of the patients as if to substantiate his statement, "came here because you have issues. "We're sick. That's why we are all here. It’s useless to be positive because when you get out of here, no one is going to look at you positively. Your family, friends, colleagues, employees… The social stigma is not going to vanish.”

As much as Wendy wants to refute the point Taehyun made, she couldn’t.

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