Footsteps sounded from the door at Wonho pulled his hand away from mine immediately.

"I heard some noise in here." Ms. Kim gasped. "What happened? Wonho, did you fall?" She rushed to his side and put her arm around his shoulder. Seeing her like this so suddenly made my breath catch in my throat.

"Takuya, did you push him?" Ms. Kim turned to me. There was a gleam of motherly shame in her eyes.

My heart surged. Her voice rang like a beautiful melody in my ears. I could never lie to her even if I tried. "I--"

"I fell." Wonho quickly said.

Ms. Kim looked back at him and I relaxed a little, taking deep but quiet breaths.

"Clumsy me." Wonho sang a little and reached for the broken glass pieces. He stood up with them and walked over to the trashcan next to the door. Ms. Kim watched him carefully as he propped his chair back on all fours and sat back down in it, retaking his original pose of sitting with his knees hugging his chest and his fingers close to his bottom lip.

"Alright...just be more careful, okay?" She wiped some dirt off the back of his shirt and straightened up. "Are we feeling better today, Takuya?" She turned to me but I immediately looked down.

"Was I sick?" I asked.

"No, of course not. But you did sleep for a long time yesterday."

My brow furrowed in confusion. I didn't remember falling asleep. I didn't remember anything...

"I checked your health and you seem to be fine. How do you feel now?"

"Just fine." I nodded.

"Good! I'm glad to hear that." I could hear the smile in her voice. "Alright, I'll leave you two alone. If you need me, you can press the button here and I'll come right away."

I glanced up a little. The small red button was set on the table next to the pitcher of tea.

"Where are you going?" I asked, glancing up a little more.

"I'm going to prepare for a treatment session with our newest patient." She smiled and waved at me and Wonho. "Behave well." She left the room and closed the door behind her.

I looked at the closed door, then to Wonho. "Thanks."

"Why?" Wonho picked up the pitcher and poured fresh tea into the other blue cup on the table.

"You covered for me before. When I couldn't respond to her."

"You looked really funny." Wonho smiled a little and took a sip.

"Why am I like that? You know, right?" I sat down in the chair across from him.

"Yeah I know." He nodded and held the cup close to his lips.

"Well?" I leaned in.

"Post-hypnotic suggestion."

I blinked. "I was hypnotized?"

"Well you can't have a post hypnotic suggestion unless you were hypnotized." He shrugged.

I slowly leaned back, looking to the side in confusion. "I-I don't remember..."

"That's the point of post hypnotic suggestion. Whoever hypnotized you can tell you anything and you'll believe it."

I looked back at Wonho. "You seem to know a lot about it."

"Yeah...weird." He took another small sip.

"...were you the one who hypnotized me?" I asked quietly.

A breathy chuckle escaped his lips. "Do you see my face even when I'm not in front of you?"

"...no."

"Who do you see?"

I thought for a moment and Ms. Kim's beautiful, smiling face appeared. It made my heart speed up again. "I...I see her."

"Why do you see her?"

"I don't know..."

Wonho sighed. "You like her, right?"

I felt my face flush and I focused back on his face. "I-I barely know her!"

Wonho chuckled again and put the tea cup down.

"What?" I leaned in again.

"You said you barely know her. That's funny."

"Why is it funny?" I felt impatience welling up inside me.

"It made me laugh." Wonho sipped some more tea.

I stared at him with a half open mouth then sighed loudly and put my hands on my face. "Why can't you give me straight answers...?" I said quietly. "I want to understand this situation and all your doing is making me confused and annoyed."

There was a long pause of silence.

"...I'm sorry." Wonho responded quietly.

I looked at him. He was staring down at his cup. I think I saw a hint of emotion in his eyes. It looked like frustration.

"...Look, we agreed to get out of here, right? Well we have to work together and trust each other. That means we have to talk to each other honestly. Okay?" I said adamently.

Wonho didn't move for several seconds. Then he slowly placed the tea cup back on the table.

"I want to speak honestly with you." He said.

"Good. Me too." I nodded. Then I thought about what Ms. Kim said when she came in a few minutes ago. "Ms. Kim mentioned a new patient. I think I met him before in the other room here. I don't remember his name, but I think we should try to talk to him."

"Why?"

"He might have a better idea about this situation. If you said I was hypnotized, then he must have been too."

"So how could he help us escape?" Wonho grazed his bottom lip, staring off into space curiously.

"Do you know if hypnotism is a permanent thing? Like if someone hypnotizes someone's memories away, can the person ever regain them?"

"...I don't know." He shook his head slowly.

His tone seemed normal. I believed his words this time. "Alright. Well we can test that. Let's look for this new patient."

"...alright." Wonho stayed still and didn't move.

"You okay?" I stood up and moved to his side.

"..,mmhmm." he nodded and glanced at me for a very brief second before standing up as well.

I nodded. "Good. Now how can we get out of this room without using the door?" I looked around the room for any vents or secret doors. The windows were made of glass, but there were bars on the outside.

"Press the button." Wonho said simply and pointed to the red button on the table.

"You think Ms. Kim will let us talk to him?" I arched an eyebrow at him.

"Press the button." He nodded and kept his finger pointed at the button.

I sighed. "Alright, I trust you." I leaned forward and pressed the button.