Remorse
Project Zelo
Jongup had seen Jieun off the premises, occasionally shooting her glances of uncertainty and caution. In his own perspective, he and the mysterious woman had not known each other for a significant length of time, and alarmingly, the only things he knew of her were lies. Lies told by her boyfriend.
Jieun was loitering once Jongup had retreated back to Youngjae, finding shelter from the torrential rain by hiding next to the entrance. Like Yongguk, she knew the hospital like the back of her hand, the last remnant of her relationship with Bang Yong Guk - memory.
After sneaking through an emergency fire door, she found herself back along the endless corridors, illuminated slightly by the yellowing floodlights. The lighting created a sickly illusion, the walls looking stained and the floors ragged. The journey was one of many like it, almost as if she could find her way successfully with her eyes tightly closed.
Jieun opened a heavy secure door that had no regulation glass panes to show what anyone in there could be doing. She knew this was the record room. Cautiously, she opened a metal cabinet without being able to avoid its shrill rattling and neglecting moans, making sure the drawer was labelled A-C.
She ran her hands down the folders inside, ignoring the paper cuts they gave in defence. She came across the familiar surname, Choi. And finally, Choi Junhong.
Reluctantly, she removed the folder from its home and stuffed it into her handbag after taking note of the room number it claimed he resided in.
Soon, she stood outside the very room, before noticing that something was indeed very off. Jieun was very much in sync with the connections of people and knew for a fact that no one was inside, if anything, this could be a trap laid for Youngjae or Jongup. She confirmed this after smelling a very prickly odour emitting from under the door frame.
And then, she realised.
Yongguk had the universal keys that worked on any room in the institute.
"Where would he be if he's not here?" She spoke aloud, her brain hurting from the exertion.
Staring hard at the door, she noticed a small indentation in the door which was painted over sloppily, leaving dried droplets of white paint. She raised a small hand to the marking, feeling the three scratches and closed her eyes. She stood for a while, feeling the splintering wood for clues until she finally identified the digits. 101.
The room before her was directly linked to room 101, the room that no patient had ever stayed in. The last remaining room fit for life in the old hospital building, now attached to the new structure. And soon, she herself was at room 101, getting there as fast as her slightly swollen ankles could carry her.
Opening the door in one swift movement, she heard a sound. "Noona?"
"Don't 'noona' me." She spat in automatic response, closing the door behind her. Her clear brown eyes bore into those black orbs belonging to the restless kid before her. "What did you do to him?"
"Who?"
"Yongguk."
Junhong's eyes slowly began to fill with water, the tears overflowing strongly without remorse. "I didn't do anything, believe me. He's old enough to have a conscience. He just pities me, that's all."
"Why would anyone in their right mind pity you? You killed your own father...your own flesh and blood! I don't understand, Junhong-ah. I looked after you when you lived with Daehyun because I thought your parents died in an accident, like his brother did. If anyone pitied you, it was me."
Junhong cut her off. "He me."
"What?"
"He me, my dad. Sometimes two or three times a day. Only once if I did well in something like cleaning or school. Well, before I was removed from school. One time, I got A's in all of my subjects apart from P.E - I couldn't ing walk that's why. I was punished because of that."
"Junhong-ah.."
"I didn't mean to kill him, even after all that. It was for protection. For me. Call me selfish, but I didn't want that anymore. The bleeding, the smell. The smell of my own ing dad on my skin. Can you imagine it?"
Jieun quickly escaped from the room - the door clicking the lock into place - and vomited outside on the corridor.
"How can someone be treat so wrongly by their parents?" She spoke aloud between sobs, her maternal feelings taking control of her body. Looking up from the mess of bile on the concrete floor, seemingly dirtier from the sickly lighting, she noticed a huddle of what seemed like clothes on the floor. Mixed with a little blood.
Then she noticed a small shock of brown hair.
Zelo groaned, wiping the tears from his eyes and giggled a little. "Junhong-ah, we converted another." He said to himself loudly without an attempt to hide speaking to himself.
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