Chapter 4 – a new temporary home

The next time Jisoo opened her eyes she was in another room. This wasn’t a hospital, but it also wasn’t her home. Where the hell was she now? She saw her phone on the nightstand. It was morning. But only one day passed. That meant they injected her with something only for a few hours to bring her to this place. But the actual question was… where was she? This entire situation was ridiculous. Ever since Seokjin’s death she kept waking up in strange places where she didn’t know how she got there. This was getting out of hand and Jisoo had to do something.

Her stomach gave her a signal. She needed to eat something first. She got out of bed and walked over to the door. It wasn’t locked! At least this wasn’t some sort of prison. She opened the door very carefully. There was a hallway with a lot of doors. It almost looked like a hotel. This was a weird place. She found another hallway which led to some sort of living room. It was super big. Then she finally found the kitchen, but a tall man blocked her way in, as he was standing right in front of the open door.

“Ms. Kim you’re up early! My name is Mr. Bang. I’m the head of this institute. Your parents gave me orders to help you but make you as comfortable as possible. This is our expertise so don’t be worried.” Mr. Bang was tall and quite old. He somehow looked like a doctor as well, but more like a cute grandpa-like doctor.

“Each patient has a doctor assigned, which you can trust and work with him on your issues.” he continued.

Institute? Issues? Oh hell no! Jisoo knew where she was. This was one of the best psychiatry in the city. It was well known for taming out of hand rich kids. Did her parents seriously send her here? They must’ve thought she went crazy. Was she really supposed to stay here? It seemed like Mr. Bang could read her thoughts.

“If you cooperate, young lady, you will only stay here during summer. When the next school year starts you should be able to control yourself again.”

Control herself… wow… so her parents thought she was out of hand and wanted a shrink to fix her. Just awesome. She couldn’t imagine her summer to be any better.

“You should have some breakfast first. Around 10AM please come by my office so we can work on your treatment schedule together. The dining room is this way, young lady.” he pointed to the right. There was another room next to the kitchen. Jisoo walked in without saying anything to the doctor. In the dining room there were three other people. A little kid who was eating like an angel, a girl her age and another young man, probably a college student. The girl wasn’t eating anything, she was just sitting there and staring out of the window. The young man was just looking at his food. When Jisoo walked in the girl and man didn’t even look up. However, the little kid waved her over.

“Unnie… you wanna sit with me?” he asked.

Jisoo nodded her head.

“I have never seen you here… you’re new! Do you see the counter over there? You can eat as much as you want!” the boy said. Jisoo looked over and went to the counter to get some food. They really had everything. From western to Korean. Fruits, Vegetables, different sorts of bread, soups, pudding and the list went on. This was some nice breakfast! Jisoo came back with a plate full of food and joined the little boy.

“You’re new here”, he repeated. “Don’t worry you will get used to the place. The people are all nice but some are a little weird. It’s super fun though!” the boy continued. He didn’t even care if Jisoo answered or not. It seemed like he just needed someone to talk to. Jisoo let him talk while eating her breakfast.

“We have a big room where we can watch movies or play games. You are also allowed to eat as much as you want. If you behave well you’re also allowed to go outside once a week with someone else! It’s really cool…”

Jisoo wondered how old he was. Maybe 7 or 8? Why was a kid like him in such an institution? He didn’t seem weird to her. Or maybe he was like her, sent here without reason. After he finished drinking his milk he stood up. ”Bye Unnie, see you next time!” and ran out of the dining room. After finishing her breakfast Jisoo decided to go back to her room as well. At least there she didn’t have to talk to people. As she entered her room she noticed her school books in the shelf. So they even expected her to study here…. Great.

She checked the closet. Some of her clothes were here and some of her bags. They basically took random things from her room in the house and brought it her. Her notebook! She checked if it was in one of the bags. She was lucky, it was just right there. She took it out and went over to the window. She opened it to let some fresh air in and then sat down do draw into the notebook. The desk was quite convenient. It was spacious enough but also not too big. She checked the time again. It was almost 10AM. She wasn’t planning on rebelling yet. If she didn’t follow the rules she couldn’t get out of here, and she knew that. She went to Mr. Bang’s room, which was easier to find than she thought. It was next to a massive door, that was probably the front door of the institution. Next to his room there was some sort of a front desk. A small lady was sitting there. “Hello there. You must be Ms. Kim. I’m Mrs. Bang and you can always come to me when you have questions. I hope you understand that you can’t just leave whenever you want. So every time you go out your doctor or me needs to approve of it first. You should go to my husband’s room now. You have an appointment.” the lady said.

Great. Now these people knew every step she took. What Jisoo noticed was that most of the doors were open. So was Mr. Bang’s door. Jisoo knocked on the door anyways and went in.

“You can close the door if that’s more comfortable for you” Mr. Bang said without looking up from his papers. “Please take a seat” he continued. As Jisoo was sitting down he finally looked up from his papers. “So this is what we will do. I know quite a bit about you from your family and that’s why I know you don’t want to be here.”

Damn right! What the hell was this? What did her family know about her? Her family was dead…

“As you’re still in school you will have classes with a private teacher every day from 8 to 12, including Saturdays. After lunch there will be a two-hour session with your doctor. From 3PM to 4PM you will have free time. At 4PM we have a group session which is mandatory. In fact everything on your schedule is mandatory. Oh right and twice a week you will also have another session with your doctor from 5PM to 6PM. After dinner you’re free to do whatever you want in here.”

Jisoo felt like she was in the military. Now they even planned every minute of her day and all of it was “mandatory”. What the hell. Jisoo hated this place already.  

“Today the schedule doesn’t apply though. We will start your treatment tomorrow.” The doctor was writing some things down on a paper. Jisoo didn’t really care actually. If lunch and dinner were half as good as breakfast this place wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. She decided to see how her “first day” went. It’s not like she was crazy or anything. If she behaved and showed them that she was still sane they should let her go right?

“I already know you’re not much of a talker lately. You don’t have to talk to me, but at least give the doctor a chance to help you.” He looked up from his paper again. “You can go now. Enjoy the rest of your day!”

Without a word Jisoo stood up and left. She went back to her room. She just stood there and looked at her room. It actually wasn’t bad, it was spacious, had a big bed, a wardrobe, a desk and a shelf. She decided to decorate it. It wasn’t white but had a lavender color. She actually liked the color, but the walls were to plain. She took out one of her notebooks for school and started drawing. If she could tell her brother where she was at that moment he would probably laugh at her. She felt like she was part of a really bad TV show. She was still hoping this was a dream but she could at least use her time drawing. She didn’t know how long she was just sitting there drawing pictures, but her stomach once again told her to eat. It was true, she did forget to eat lately. It’s not like she had no appetite, she just forgot.

She checked the time. It was already 3PM! She was totally lost in her own world drawing. Good thing she knew where the kitchen was. She went out of the room and closed her door. Most of the other doors were open now. She saw some people but had no intention to make friends here. As she passed the rooms on her way to the kitchen she saw, that all rooms were individual. It made her think of a boarding school or a dormitory. The little boy from breakfast ran around in the hallway “Hi Unnie!”. Jisoo waved her hand at him. She arrived in the kitchen and saw a very familiar face. Min Yoongi. What on earth was he doing here?