The hallway was very dimly lit. The only light came from slightly swinging rectangular lights above me. The walls and floor seemed to be a tinged purple and blue. My face felt cold and clammy as I ran down the hall with a million questions running through my head. Then one statement ran very clear. I had to get out of here. But just as I thought that, I slowed down and turned around to run the other way, but both of my arms were grabbed by men in dark blue shirts. I yelled and struggled against their strong grips with no luck. They smashed the front of my body into the wall. Pain erupted in my face and shoulder.

“L-let me go! Please!” I yelled against the wall.

“Oh dear…” A female voice mused quietly.

My eyes shot open and I glanced to the side a little.

“Takuya, you know better than to leave a room in here without my permission.” Ms. Kim shook her head, looking at me sadly.

“M-Ms. Kim…” My eyes seemed to attach to her face. I didn’t want to look away.

“Thank you, gentlemen. I’ll take it from here.” Ms. Kim excused the two men holding me against the wall and I fell back a little, rubbing the side of my head.

I felt her two hands gently take my arm. “Please come with me.”

I slowly nodded and let her lead me into a room without windows. There was only a chair in the middle of the empty, florescent room.

“Please have a seat.” She motioned to the chair.

I did as she said and sat down.

“Takuya, you need to understand the way this facility is run. Because you are living here, you must let yourself be taken care of by the staff in order for your experience to be enjoyable. Do you understand?”

I nodded. “I understand, but…I think my head is bleeding. Those men—“ I motioned to the door.

“They are just doing their job. They acted like they did because you chose to break one of the rules here.”

“But isn’t it against the law to use violence on mentally unstable people?” I arched an eyebrow.

“For some of our patients, some force must be used, but we try not to use it all the time.”

“So I am a patient that requires force?”

Her face crinkled in annoyance, but she remained smiling. “It would seem so. But we can fix that.” She reached into the pocket of her white nurse dress and pulled out a small, white chain with a white ring tied to the end.

My expression widened in surprise. “Hypnotherapy?”

She smiled. “Very good, Takuya.”

“You won’t hypnotize me.” I quickly looked down and tried to move out of the chair, but my hands were tied to the armrests. What? When did she…?

“You’re so cute when you’re naïve.” She chuckled.

I stared at my tied wrists and tried to pull away.

“Don’t you feel something special whenever you look into my eyes or hear my voice?” I felt her fingers graze my chin and I froze. “Why do you think you feel this way?” She asked.

I couldn’t respond. My body was twitching a little from the sudden pleasure I was feeling all over.

“Do you think it’s just coincidence?” She pulled my chin up, making me meet her eyes. They were so beautiful. She was so beautiful. The only thing I thought about now was making her happy. 

I slowly shook my head.

“No.” She responded. “We’re obviously meant for each other.” She held up the small chain with the ring dangling in front of my eyes and started to swing it back and forth. My gaze slowly moved to the ring.

“But if we’re going to be together, you must learn to follow my rules.” Everything faded into a blur around me except the swinging ring and Ms. Kim’s heavenly voice. Then in the next instant, darkness covered my vision and all sounds left my ears. My mind felt heavy as if I was in a deep, dreamless sleep.

The sound of a light electric fan slowly came around in my ears. My eyes still felt very heavy. I shifted a little and flinched. I think I was sitting in chair. My mind was very foggy. I continuously saw images of Ms. Kim. Her smiling face made my heart speed up. I slowly opened my eyes and lifted my head. My vision slowly came into focus and I looked to my left.

“Ah!” I jumped a little.

“Hey.” Wonho waved at me. He was staring right at me with the tips of his fingers close to his bottom lip.

I groaned lightly and rubbed my head. “You scared me!”

“Oh, sorry. How are you feeling?”

“Awful…but….”

“Wonderful?”

I slowly looked at him. “Yeah…”

“Do you know why?”

I didn’t respond. He nodded.

“It’s okay. I know why.”

“…c-can you tell me?” I asked quietly.

“Yes.”

There was a long pause of silence from him. “…want some tea?” He stood up and walked over to a small table with a small white pitcher and two small blue tea cups.

I blinked at him. “No thank you.”

“Aw. But it’s good. Especially with honey.” He sat down in one of the chairs and picked up the pitcher. “Or milk. Or an ice cube. People are different.”

I sighed loudly. “You said you can tell me why I feel good? Because I don’t feel good…” Even I could hear the uncertainty in my voice.

Wonho’s mouth slowly twitched into a smile and he brought the full blue tea cup to his lips. “You sound satisfyingly tired if you know what I mean.” He took a small sip.

No matter how much I tried to remember what happened before this moment, all I could remember was Ms. Kim’s face and smile.

“You should drink tea. Tea is good for your mind and body.” Wonho brought his fingers back to his bottom lip and grazed them lightly.

“I said no thank you.” I shot him a tired, annoyed glance, then I sighed and turned to look out of the window. He obviously wasn’t going to tell me why I was having such mixed feelings…

“Where are the others?” I asked.

There was a pause and I glanced at Wonho. He was staring down into his cup. “What others?” He asked.

“The guys in the other room?”

Wonho slowly turned his widened gaze to me. “There are other guys here?”

“Um, yeah?” I couldn’t remember their names well, but I could remember bits and pieces of their faces.

Wonho continued to stare at me with a half open mouth.

“…you didn’t know?” I felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze.

“… … … no…” He responded very quietly. Then his head slowly turned back to his cup and he brought it back to his lips.

His behavior seemed really strange all of a sudden.

“Are you lying?” I asked.

“No.” Wonho answered immediately.

My eyes narrowed. “I think you are.”

“I’m not!” He turned to me quickly.

I stood up and walked over to him. “You knew there were other guys here.”

“I don’t know!”

“And you said you know why my feelings are mixed.”

“I don’t know!”

“You know things I don’t! Please tell me!” I grasped his arm.

“I DON’T KNOW!!” He yelled and pulled his arm away, causing his chair to lean back and him to fall backward onto the floor.

I gasped a little and quickly bent down. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—“

“DON’T TOUCH ME!!”

He scooted away in fear. The broken tea cup laid in several broken pieces next to him.

“Okay! I won’t touch you.” I held my hands up in defense. “Just calm down, okay?”

Wonho was shaking and pulling at the skin on his bottom lip. I almost thought he was going to start crying. It occurred to me then that he was a patient in a mental hospital.

I stayed where I was but slowly reached out my hand. “I’m sorry I made you fall. I’m just really confused and upset right now. I’m not really sure what’s happening, but I want to figure it out and get out of here. Don’t you want to get out of here too?”

He didn’t respond.

“Maybe we can work together? If we do, and we escape successfully, you can see the outside world again. Would you like that?” I tried to sound as comforting as possible.

His wide eyes never broke away from mine. I kept my hand reached out toward him. After several seconds, he looked at my hand and gradually stopped shaking. “…if I work with you…and we escape…can we drink tea together?” He asked very quietly.

I sighed and chuckled. “Yeah. Absolutely.”

Another couple of silence seconds ticked by. Then he slowly reached his hand over and grabbed the tips of my fingers with his own.

“Okay.” He nodded slowly.