Jinwoo groaned, placing a hand on his forehead.

 

“ me” he moaned weakly and sat up in bed.

 

His head was throbbing painfully and he didn’t even want to wake up.

 

He looked to his window and saw that the sun was barely up meaning it was still early.

 

He checked the time and saw that it was just past five in the morning.

 

He got to his feet, stumbling as he went.

 

He went into the kitchen and found the painkillers in the cupboard; he threw it back and grimaced at the bitter taste.

 

He grabbed a glass of water and went back to his room.

 

He sat on the edge of his bed and drank the water.

 

He waited until seven before he went and took a shower.

 

When he came out his mother was making breakfast in the kitchen.

 

“I thought you said you wouldn’t drink last night.” She gave him a knowing look.

 

“Sorry, the others showed up and the mood just…” He trailed off as he sat down.

 

His mother laughed “I know, Seungyoon told me when he brought you back. You must thank him for bringing you home.” She said sternly.

 

“I will.” Jinwoo said just as a plate was put in front of him.

 

“Now eat up” She said and started putting food on the table.

 

He sighed thinking of what was coming.

 

“Don’t be so worried, Dr. Nam is a very skilled doctor!” His mother insisted while bustling about to get the last things placed on the table.

 

“Doesn’t make me any less nervous.” He mumbled under his breath.

 

As soon as they were done eating Jinwoo felt a little better.

 

“We gotta go now, Sweetheart.” His mother said at about quarter past eight and went to find her things.

 

Jinwoo sighed and wished he had an excuse to not go to the doctor’s appointment.

 

He sighed deeply and unenthusiastically got up and wandered towards the front door.

 

“Ready?” His mother asked as she put her coat on.

 

He checked if he had his phone and wallet on him – which he did.

 

“Yeah” He said in a low voice.

 

“Good. Now let’s go.” She waltzed out the door and Jinwoo followed.

 

Jinwoo felt anxious as they got closer to the clinic, he wasn’t afraid of needles, it was just the fact that he had to go to the doctor’s – since he was a bit sick of doctor’s at this point, and Dr. Nam was a little intimidating.

 

Once they got there Jinwoo swallowed hard, his throat was dry and it was a difficult thing to do.

 

He looked at the building where it lay peacefully between the trees.

 

He followed his mother inside with heavy steps and again Mrs. Park was at the reception desk.

 

“Good morning” she called as they came in.

 

“Morning, Mrs. Park.” His mother called and smiled brightly.

 

Jinwoo didn’t feel like smiling.

 

“I’ll notify the doctor that you’ve arrived” She said and picked up the phone.

 

She spoke into the phone and said that he was there, after that she just said “yes” a few times with that professional smile on her face.

 

“Mr. Kim, Dr. Nam is ready for you.” She called over the reception desk just as she hung up the phone.

 

Jinwoo felt his stomach churn and really didn’t want to go in.

 

“Mr. Kim?” Mrs. Park asked again.

 

“Yes, I’m going.” He grumbled and walked past the reception desk and into the hallway and followed the same rout as the day before.

 

Once he came to Dr. Nam’s office, the door was open, he knocked on the open door and entered.

 

Same as last time, Dr. Nam was sitting behind his desk looking smug.

 

“Ah, Mr. Kim. You got up alright I see.” He said coldly.

 

“Yeah.” He muttered and didn’t really look at the other man.

 

“Let’s get right to it then.” Dr. Nam said happily and got to his feet.

 

Jiwnoo noticed that Dr. Nam was taller than him, and he was lean but not lanky.

 

Dr. Nam lead the way into a side room where an examination table was prepped and Jinwoo could see the needles.

 

He gulped, feeling anxious being in the hands of Dr. Nam.

 

“Take of your shirt and lie down on your stomach, Mr. Kim” the doctor gestured towards the examination table.

 

Reluctantly Jinwoo went to the table and lay down, breathing heavily.

 

“Just relax, you won’t feel a thing” Dr. Nam reassured him, but his voice was still cold.

 

Jinwoo closed his eyes as he felt the other touch him.

 

“I can’t wait for this to be over with!” He thought to himself.

 

“So, Mr. Kim, would you tell me more about this eye condition of yours?” Dr. Nam asked casually.

 

“Um… do I really have to?” Jinwoo asked uncertainly.

 

“It would help me in treating you if I knew more specific details.” Dr. Nam said as he kept putting needles in him.

 

“Um… it’s nothing bad. It just sometimes it just doesn’t… work? Like I can’t see at all for a few seconds and then it returns to normal as if nothing has happened. However, the longest has been a little over a minute, but it’s very annoying and is obviously not a good thing.” Jinwoo suddenly stopped himself, feeling rather embarrassed for talking so much.

 

“Why the hell am I blabbering?!” He cursed at himself, he turned his head to the side and looked cautiously over at Dr. Nam who didn’t seem bothered at all.

 

“Sorry for rambling.” Jinwoo muttered in a low voice.

 

“I wouldn’t be a very good doctor now if I didn’t take some time to listen to my patients” Dr. Nam gave a small, but soft smile.

 

Jinwoo was taken by surprise at how nice he suddenly looked, usually his face was blank and unreadable or he’d have an evil looking smirk.

 

“Uh… thanks” Jinwoo said uncertainly and cleared his throat.

 

“Well that’s all the needles, now you just have to lie here for a little while.” Dr. Nam said cheerfully.

 

“I’ll be in the next room if you need me.” He said pleasantly and walked out of the room.

 

“Jeez. Why do I ramble when I’m nervous… though it’s especially bad in front of people like him…” Jinwoo thought to himself.

 

Jinwoo could hear the clock ticking, but he couldn’t see it no matter how much he tried to turn his head.

 

After a little while Jinwoo dozed off.

 

Dr. Nam was standing over him, he had a furious look on his face.

 

Jinwoo tried to take a step back, but he was unable to move and he couldn’t scream either.

 

He felt the panic rise as he watched the furious man come closer and closer, his arms reached out and became large twitching claws that could tear Jinwoo to pieces.

 

Jinwoo shut his eyes and suddenly he woke as Dr. Nam shook his shoulder gently.

 

Jinwoo pulled away abruptly from the other man, who stared at him taken aback by the sudden motion.

 

“Mr. Kim? Are you alright? You dozed off for a few minutes.” Dr. Nam said calmly, and reached his hand out towards Jinwoo who stared at it; it was a perfectly normal hand.

 

“Mr. Kim?” Dr. Nam asked again, looking concerned as the man seemed completely catatonic.

 

Jinwoo took a deep breath “I- I’m fine. I just had a weird dream’s all.” He grumbled in a low voice and looked at the floor, too ashamed to look at Dr. Nam.

 

“Well, I took the freedom to end the treatment while you were sleeping so all the needles are out. If you should start to feel ill don’t hesitate to call.” Dr. Nam said and placed a hand on Jinwoo’s shoulder.

 

Jinwoo nodded without saying anything.

 

“Thank you” Jinwoo said flustered and got off the table, he got dressed and looked at Dr. Nam who gave him a small smile for a millisecond.

 

“Have a safe trip home.” Dr. Nam said as he showed Jinwoo out of his office.

 

“Thank you” Jinwoo said again, still feeling cautious as he left the room and wandered down the hallway.

 

When he came out his mother was staring at her phone and didn’t even notice that he’d returned.

 

“Mum” He said in a low voice, she looked up surprised.

 

“You’re done?” She asked then checked the time.

 

“Oh, I didn’t notice how much time had passed.” She laughed at herself, seemingly relieved.

 

Jinwoo arched an eyebrow at her and turned towards the reception desk.

 

“Mr. Kim.” Mrs. Park said with her usual, cheerful smile.

 

“How much do I have to pay?” He asked and pulled out his wallet.

 

“Just a moment” Mrs. Park said and started clicking away at her computer.

 

“Jinwoo, I’ll see you out in the car his mother called and went outside.”

 

“Yeah, I’ll be out in just a sec.” He called after her just as he handed Mrs. Park a note and she opened the cash register and handed him back his change.

 

“I hope your health continues to be good, Mr. Kim.” She said to him as he turned to walk away.

 

“Thank you” He said, his eyes still on her while his body turned.

 

Once outside he stretched, he sighed deeply and was glad that the whole thing was over with.

 

Hopefully he wouldn’t have to go back.

 

He walked over to the car and saw that his mum was chatting on the phone.

 

He didn’t want to disturb her so he leaned against the side of the car and pulled out his own phone; That’s when he saw that he’d received a text from Seungyoon.

 

[“Hey, how did you feel when you woke up? You drank a fair amount last night.”]

 

[“Weren’t you supposed to look after me?”] He snorted to himself as he sent the text back.

 

The reply came in not long after.

 

[“Well you kept insisting it was fine and ordering in batch, it was hard to keep a toll on you.”]

 

[“Sorry, I was just so happy to be with everyone last night.”]

 

[“I get that. How’d the acupuncture go?”]

 

[“It wasn’t so bad. I fell asleep.”]

 

[“So he didn’t torture you?”]

 

Jinwoo snorted at the screen.

 

[“What?”]

 

[“Yesterday you said you were afraid that he’d torture you.”]

 

[“I was probably just nervous. But he does look like the S-type”]

 

[“Hahaha! I wouldn’t know. You coming by later?”]

 

[“Probably.”]

 

[“Cool!”]

 

Just as Jinwoo put his phone away movement in the corner of his eye made him look up.

 

To his astonishment he saw Mino wandering in big strides out of the forest and towards the entrance and disappear inside.

 

“What the…?” Jinwoo whispered and moved forward unconsciously.

 

When he reached the door, the sign on it had been turned and it now said “closed”.

 

Jinwoo frowned and pushed the door, it was still open and went inside.

 

The reception room now seemed eerie; it was completely empty and Mrs. Park was nowhere to be seen.

 

He decided against calling out and walked back towards the door leading off to hall with the doctors’ offices.

 

Once he entered the hall he could hear voices, and he snuck in and walked as quietly as possible towards where the voices were coming from.

 

“… I don’t care Taehyun, you have to follow the law and the regulations of your sentence.” Mino said angrily.

 

“I haven’t stepped out of line, Mino.” Dr. Nam said coldly “I didn’t lay a hand on the boy to hurt him. I have pride in what I do!” he spat.

 

“Either way, if I hear anything about you hurting him I will not be so generous a second time around, I will see to that you are properly punished, if I have to drag you to the underworld myself!” Mino bellowed, his voice echoed down the hall.

 

“I don’t see why you are so obsessed with him. Kim Jinwoo is no-“ Dr. Nam said in a raised voice, his tone icy cold, but he was interrupted by Mino.

 

“Do not speak another word, Taehyun or you will be the victim of my wrath.” Mino snarled.

 

Jinwoo had gone as icy cold as Dr. Nam’s voice, it had pierced him like an icy wind in the middle of winter and he simply stood in the hall way frozen in place.

 

“Why are they talking about me?!” he screamed internally.

 

Suddenly his phone started playing his ringtone, Jinwoo was brought out of his trance and he his heel and ran like a bat out of hell.

 

He emerged on the outside and saw his mum standing outside the car with phone in hand.

 

“Where on earth did you go?” She asked loudly.

 

“Let’s just go, now.” He ran across the parking lot and threw himself into the car.

 

“Hurry!” He yelled at his mother how got in the car at a regular pace.

 

“What on earth, Jinwoo?” She asked, frowning at her son.

 

“Just go. Go!” He urged her, pleading that none of the two men had followed him outside.

 

As they pulled away Jinwoo kept an eye on the clinic doors, but saw no one.

 

Once they were out on the road again Jinwoo leaned back and sighed with relief.

 

“What on earth happened?!” His mother demanded.

 

“Sorry, I just got a little spooked that’s all.” Jinwoo said and clasped a hand to his heart.

 

What little of the conversation he’d heard was replaying inside his head, and he couldn’t stop himself from wondering what exactly was going on either because some parts didn’t even make any sense.

 

He stared out the window at the greenery passing by.

 

“Just what on earth is going on here?” he asked himself.

 

He suddenly started to think about the various odd things that had happened since his return and he looked at his mother, she was also keeping something from him, but he didn’t know what.

 

Everything was shrouded in mystery and Jinwoo was to scatter brained at the moment to think anymore.

 

He took a deep breath to clear his head.

 

Maybe Seungyoon could help him make some sense out of all this?

 

---

Don't spoile it for anyoen now! ;)