Stigma || KTH

06 Panic Attack

"First suspect: Kim Sangcheol, 33 years old, engineer." Dongwoo, my colleague said and I wrote that on my notebook.
"Second suspect: Kang Jaesong, 37 years old, married, no kids, private employee." he said. "Noted." I responded to him.
"Last suspect: Moon Hojin, 29 years old, waiter." he said and sent me the envelope with all the suspects' personal information by email. "Have a look too." he told me.
"Were there any witnesses?" I asked him while checking the papers.
"Yes, two. The first witness was passing by the area. The second witness is the victim's close friend, the same girl who made the phone call to the police."
"Do you have any information from the first witness?" I asked him.
"He told us he only saw the activist's back and based on the information of him we selected the suspects." he told me.
"There's something I want you to do about this." he told me. "Sure, what is it?" I asked.
"I want you to find the shop's security camera which is opposite the bus stop." he said. "Okay, I'll do it just give me their phone number." I told him. "I'll sent it to you." he said and the next second I got a text from him. "What about the victim's friend?" I asked him.
"She told us that before the accident she and Areum had a phone call and while they were talking she heard a man's voice. We will show her the videos of the three suspects' interrogation and we will find out if it's any of them." he said.
"Alright. By the way Dongwoo, when will you come back?" I asked him. "Uh, I don't know. I will definitely stay more than a month, maybe more." he said, I said okay and he hang up the phone.

***

I hang up the phone and left the office. I walked all the way in the interrogation room before knocking the door. The chief opened the door for me and told me to come in.
"Did you interrogate the suspects yet?" I asked him. "Yes I did. All of them are denying that they commited the crime." he told me.
"Did you show the videos to the girl? Did she recognise any of them?" I asked him and he shook his head. "Yeona said none of them had the voice she heard. She said it was deeper."
"So everyone is innocent?" I asked him confused. "I guess." he responded.
Suddenly another colleague of mine knocked the door and came inside the room and asked us "Will we let them free?"
I looked at the chief and he said "I don't know yet. Have any of you checked the camera footage of this shop that I asked you to?" he asked us.
"I asked my colleague to do it and she'll do it today. She'll send me the footage and I'll show it to you immediately." I told him and he nodded.

***

"Hello?"
"Good evening, this is Sakoh Ayaka, I'm a police officer in Seoul Police Department. I suppose you're already aware of Cho Areum's case." I told him in a cool tone.
"Yes, I am. How may I help you Ms?" he asked me. "We need the footage of your security cameras." I said.
"I'm sorry but I'm not allowed to have access to these files." he said.
"Well, is there anyone there who can possibly help me with this? Is the owner of the shop with you?" I asked.
"I'm afraid he left. Would you like to call tomorrow? He arrives at 10." he asked politely.
"I will, thank you very much, goodbye." I hang up the phone and made a different call to Dongwoo to tell him the news.
"Yes? Dongwoo?"
"Ayaka! Did you get the footage of the security cameras?" he asked in a hurry.
"No, I couldn't. The owner isn't there at the moment." I answered him.
"When will he arrive?"
"Tomorrow morning. I will call them so I can speak with the owner himself." I said. "Great. Call me if anything new comes up. Okay?"
"Alright, bye." Ι hang up the phone and put it on my desk.
"Jihoon can you please cover me? I have a bad headache." I told my colleague.
"Oh sure. Don't worry. Go rest." she said and smiled at me.
I drove all the way back to the apartment and found it empty.
"Iori?" I shouted but I got no answer back. "She's probably at work." I told myself and started cooking dinner for us.
I cooked some pasta and put it in the fridge. I even started washing the dishes while waiting her.
After a couple of minutes I heard the door opening and my sister's voice. "I'm home!" she shouted. I went to the living room and hugged her.
"How was work?" I asked her. "I had a difficult customer today." she told me. "How come?" I asked her.
"Well he has bipolar disorder. He lost his grandparents and it seems like they meant a lot to him which led him to depression. He has hallucinations, suicidal tendencies, mood swings, poor concentration, panic attacks, insom- " she told me as if it was the most normal thing but I stopped her.
"Hold on, there's an actual person with all these symptoms?" I asked. It was the only thing that came to mind to say. Nothing better came up.
"Yeah, I feel really sorry for him, he has some type of trauma too and that's probably what started all this." she told me. Yeah, that really does make sense.
"Oh my, you should keep an eye on him more. Was it his first appointment?" I asked her.
"Yes and probably the last. I don't think he liked me that much." she said and I scoffed.
"C'mon silly, don't say that. You are a great person and a great doctor, I think he liked you but he is just shy." Ι told her and brushed her hair with my fingers.
"I hope so." she said and I smiled at her and she smiled back.
"Okay, I prepared some pasta. You want some?" I asked her and she shook her head.
"I want to sleep." she said. Then we went to our room and we said goodnight to eachother.

***

I was sleeping peacefully until I heard a phone ringing in my sleep. I opened my eyes and turned on the lights.
I checked if the phone was mine and it wasn't. I also checked the time and it was 2:08 am and I sighed when I noticed that Iori was still sleeping even after all this noise by the phone.
I stood up and took her phone in my hands. I checked the caller ID and she didn't have the number saved.
I sighed when I realised that it was just a prank and that I woke up for nothing.
After a couple of seconds the phone started ringing again and it was the same number. I picked up the phone confused and heard a depserate voice saying "Iori? Thank god please help me!"
"Sorry, who is this?" I asked the person from the other line while still being confused since I didin't recognise the voice. And I'm sure that I know all of Iori's friends.
"Is this Sakoh Iori's phone?" he asked still panicked. "Yes it is. Who are you?" I asked him again.
"I'm Kim Taehyung, her patient. I need help, I'm having a panic attack!" he said and a shiver run down my spine.
"Taehyung please listen to me. I want you to sit down somewhere." I told him trying my best to stay calm.
Now I'm gonna be the one who'll have a panic attack and I'll have to wake Iori up so she can help two people.
"Okay." he said. He did as I say, "What now?" he asked cooler than before but you could still hear something off in his voice.
"Use muscle relaxation techniques. For example, take a few minutes to breath in and out in slow, deep breaths. When you're ready, shift your attention to your right foot. Take a moment to focus on the way it feels. Slowly tense the muscles in your right foot and squeeze it as tightly as you can." I told him and he didn't respond, the only thing I heard was him breathing deeply so I kept going.
"You can also picture your happy place such as a person you love or a place you would love to be now. It helps." I said and I still didn't get nothing back so I asked "Taehyung, are you there?"
"Uh yeah, yeah I am." he said.
"Are you alright? Do you feel any better?" I asked him concerned. He took a deep breath before answering "Yes, thank you." He hang up the phone without letting me say anything else.
I sighed and put the phone on the bedside table. I then got on top of Iori and started shaking her left and right. "Wake up!" I shouted.
"What the-? What happened?" she asked me. "A patient of yours just called and you decided to play the sleeping beauty." I yelled at her.
"A patient?" she asked shocked and stood up really fast. "Oh my! Who was it?" she asked me again.
"Kim Taehyung if I'm correct." I told her. "No way!" she gasped. "What? What is it?" I asked her.
"It's the guy I told you a couple of hours ago. The guy with bipolar disorder."
"He had a panic attack and called you to help him." I said. "Did you help him?" she asked me concerned about him.
"Of course I did. I remembered the steps of the book you gave me last year about emergencies." I told her with a proud smile on my face.
"Is he fine now?" she asked me. "If he wasn't would I be smiling right now, you dumbass?" I asked her and she started laughing.
"Thank you so much for helping me." she told me. "Anytime." I said and laid down again.
"How are you these days?" she asked me facing the ceiling, her hand on her stomach.
"I don't really get enough sleep. I get headaches every day. Honestly, I'm really stressed." I tell her.
"It's about Cho Areum's case, isn't it?" she asked me and turned her face to my direction.
"It's true. I've been so busy those days with her case. I can't calm down until the culprit is found." I told her and she nodded.
"Yeah I know, don't worry, you got this." she said and I smiled at her.
"C'mon it's late, we must sleep. We both have work tomorrow." I said and she nodded.
"Goodnight." we said in unison and I turned off the lights.