I turned over to look at the nicely attached clock on the wall and it was 9:23 , hayi was kindly preparing some tea for both of us as I sat there exchanging some words with her , I brushed back my hair before announcing

" we can discuss the price later , don't rush yourself! "

She smiled in comfort and served the warm beverage in such a welcoming way , adding some to my words

" sure , and thank you again for accepting Jennie , I can't be more grateful "

" ah don't say that ! It's my pleasure anyways ! "

" you know , a lot of people before you didn't help much , but I hope you're the right one for him .. recently, I've been so worried about him "

She confessed in a low voice as her lips curled up slightly into a smile that held some sadness reflecting her burdened heart , the slim fingers of hers sparkled some sugar onto the tea until it dissolved completely 

" I'll do my best  , I promise! "

Trying to reassure her , I flashed her one of my pearly smiles and finally started drinking the peculiar brown herb-brew which tasted like nothing else on earth, and eating two thick bits of darkish bread smeared with a brown smear which i hoped it was jam.

Hayi attached her eyes to the glossy surface of her cup , then added is a flat tone .

" he was in therapy for a while after we came back here to Korea , but he's still troubled somehow .. even though doctors did their best to get him out of his square "

" he's a bit complicated , you mean ? "

I managed to process it , I looked into her eyes with my smile not leaving my features yet as I leaned a bit closer

" you can say so "

She admitted mirroring my smile .

 I came back from newzeland to finally look for a job here , I've studied psychology  there and had a great amount of experience through years of observing , helping and sometimes putting my hand in dealing with patients , and now , I've found where to step first .

Miss hayi is looking desperately  for a person with knowledge to help her young brother who needs someone to guide him and help him get into his habitual state again .

I couldn't refuse such an offer , i had to make kind of sessions with him and help him surpass his issues . I had to prove myself ! it's a golden offer ! The right way to ever start my psychologist path .

The older lady walked me to his room and closed the door after I stepped in . It was me , this mysterious guy and air between us .

He was laying simply on the left side of his bed , arms crossed behind his head , he didn't even bother looking into my direction .. or asking who just entered his room .

Even if it's day time , the room was pretty dark and a bit cold compared to the living room and it made me slightly shiver .

he was quiet and silent , just staring at the ceiling as if there was something interesting there .. with not much comfort .

So that was Kim hanbin , said to have a stone hard head and no much attitude , the reason why it's hard for his sister to find someone to help him out , but for me ; this is a challenge. 

More than one minute of silence .. a heavy silence settled over the room , thicker than the uneasy tension in the atmosphere ,it was getting awkward and I had to do something, to say something , to be professional.

I didn't move from my spot for a couple of seconds , I my dry lips gently before painting my expression with a friendly smile as I stepped foreword , ready to have a sit on the edge of the bed until a sudden nonchalant voice showed me that the owner was not happy with the idea

" not on my bed "

'Oh .. alright '  I told myself who went frozen for a while .

 I've expected some stuff to happen , but not that type of ones .

I nodded in understanding and sat rather on the chair beside the bed , close enough to my patient's head .

I had to collect my thoughts first and calm myself with taking a deep breath before saying anything , so I flipped some pages from my medium formatted notebook and clicked my pen as if I was already going to jot down something .

Hanbin was holding a Mickey charm in his hand , throwing it slightly in the air and catching it back in a repeated manner , and something was sure ; he was not enjoying my presence but again , what else to do ?

" you might already know who I am , right ?"

I broke the silence in a low but still friendly voice , my eyes landed on his side to get a better look at him , and it was when I mentally calculated his age , he is probably the same age as me , well I expected him to be younger but that's not the case .

The dark haired boy  didn't say much , his piercing eyes finally shifted to my way and it sent me his intimidating gaze but this last one didn't last long until he looked back to the ceilings, still playing with his charm .

" whatever "

He answered briefly , not paying the situation any special attention , it was clear that a lot of psychologists before me sat on this chair , and all of those surely failed at impressing him , or in short ; leaving an impact on him .

 I decided to note down that on my blank page until his voice filled up the space again , this time .. a little bit more detailed 

" another person with a notebook "

Great ! at least he knows that im the person with a notebook , as known as his psychologist. 

I want to begin to get to know him and I want the session to be useful. Getting to know each other includes providing time for him to ask me any logistical questions about working together, but again , it seems like he doesn't care , not even a bit 

I inhaled some air to fill up my lungs and added calmly , trying to make our conversation a bit more free-flowing while I tossed a hair stand behind my ear .

" tell me some about yourself , kim hanbin " 

Oups, maybe it's too soon to ask that , the sadder part is that's it's too late to take it back .

 this is my first interview on my own , usually I assist those with my friend Jisoo , who's a specialist at seoul's hospital. . And I can say I've learned some of her skills but it seems hard to use them on my own .

My orbs did a quick tour of the room to occupy my brain during those minutes of silence  .

There was something in the darkness that was like a promise, like the world before dawn. It was a room as a canvas rather than a finished work of art, it was pretty tidy and minimalistic , some papers hanging on the floor here and there , writing ?

If it was not disturbing for him , I would've picked up one and had a read of it .

with careful eyes i switched my attention back on my patient who seems like he didn't hear my question at all .

I started to feel my heart squeezing inside my chest , well Jisoo was right , this ain't an easy job , it needs more patience than I ever imagined .. my fingers were discreetly drumming on my thighs , please say something , say something. 

The sudden sound of rolling on the floor made me stop my breath for a second, hanbin dropped the charm he has been holding for a while .

He moved from his current position and layed his body on the side ..my side 

Our eyes connected for a fragment of time , the gaze was heavy and I could focus more on his physical traits , black  haired boy looking right through my soul , His skin is so pale it has a waxy appearance and at first i thought he's dead. But as i focused some more i could hear the rattle of the boy's breathing . 

Hanbin was able to cut my train of thoughts and it was when he surprisingly replied in a monotonous tone 

" that's rather the kind of questions I want to ask " 

Blinking , I tried to process his words , doesn't he know that im the psychologist his sister brought for him ? 

" you know already enough from hayi don't you? why do you all repeat the same things over and over again ? "

At this point , My mouth was almost too dry to speak. I nod like an idiot and then croaked out

" I see " 

Probably, he's the type who hates his sessions, that's obviously it , and I didn't imagine myself in this situation. 

Trying to remain professional, my eyes dissolved into a crescent as I flashed him a cheeky smile 

" your experience with people holding notebooks was surely not good enough , isn't it ? "

He checked me from head to toe , though he didn't make it obvious and it didn't help the situation at all .

A heavy sigh escaped his lungs and it was when he closed his eyes to let go the little " attention " he gave me 

" whatever , keep Notting "

And as he said , I delivered down some more observations before closing my notebook and letting it stay on my lap with both of my hands on it 

" there's nothing much to write down you know "

Those words were the last ones I had for such an awkward situation , now I admit , I'm not the best one out there , but it doesn't mean that I'll give up in any way .

" we can-"

Before I could even continue my state , I heard a gentle tapping on the door , and this last one swung open halfway 

A feminine silhouette appeared and it was hayi's , she didn't have the time to explain why she came , because her brother ; hanbin already took the role of speaking this time 

" which part of I don't need you to bring anybody for me don't you understand ? "

His voice was dry and quiet harsh , I swallowed what was in my throat and I eyed hayi with an apologetic sight .

she seemed not much surprised with this sudden behaviour , but me , I was nearly shaking from how nervous I was .

" hanbin , we're doing this for your own good-"

" anything for my own good right now would be leaving me for this morning peacefully alone "

He added with his eyes fixated on mine .. gosh , I really didn't expect this to happen .

 my first patient is kicking me out somehow , what a great experience. 

It's the moment where I understood that it wasn't the right time prolong this session anymore , I stood up and flattened my skirt ready to walk forward 

" it was nice to meet you Kim hanbin , I hope we will be able to connect better the next time "
 

________________ end of chap 1