Reckless Hate To Love Me ⚊ Enhypen Jay

THE EXPERIMENT

"Ugh…."

The first thing you thought of that it's you making a painful groan as your body reboots. With a pounding inside your head that makes even your teeth ache, you slowly begin to blink open your eyes.

Dim light soothes your vision as it blurs and focuses. All you can do is roll your gaze around. Your body is heavy and sluggish. You can feel you're on something solid and flat, but that's about all.

Harsh white light pools from the far side of the unfamiliar room. It casts reflections on a selection of clean, white hospital machines. But as your vision clears, you can see they don't match the rest of the room.

The dank walls are peeling, blooms of green mould making a patchwork across the grey. Cobwebs, dust, and ivy hang like some kind of eerie bunting from the ceiling. The cracked, dirt-caked windows are partly sealed off by planks of rotting wood, though you manage to just see that it's dark outside.

Rain hammers on the metal corrugated roof above, but it's hard to distinguish that from the drumming of your headache.

Looks like an abandoned warehouse. At least you were kind of on the right track with the warehouse. The thought gives less comfort than you'd hoped. And you're beginning to wish all your senses weren't suddenly returning - the musty, damp smell invades your nose and makes you attempt a weak cough.

You groan lightly again, trying to roll off whatever you were lying on. But your arms don't budge, and neither do your ankles. Glancing down in a sudden panic, you find leather straps binding your limbs in place. The thick metal buckles pinch into your skin, the cold iron biting like ice.

"You're finally awake"

The echoing voice brings a flood of memories storming into your mind: the smoke, the fight, the zombies, Dr. Kim and Heeseung.

Gritting your teeth, anger surging through your body, you fight against the bonds with the sudden fire it's stirred within you. The straps don't budge but you continue anyway, letting out a yell with the effort.

"Don't strain yourself, Detective", Dr. Kim says, his shoes squeaking against the floor as he walks around the medical table you realise you were on. He strides into your limited view, "You'll still be recovering from the drug I gave you to keep you quiet"

Exhaustion claws at your arms and legs but you keep going, struggling and pulling at the bonds. Whatever Dr. Kim used on you still blurs the edges of your mind as you push on, trying to force yourself from the straps.

After a few minutes, while he just watched with crossed arms, you finally collapse back on the table. Your chest rises steeply with heavy breaths.

"Feel better?", he asks with a smirk. You glare at him, "Now that's out of your system, we can get on to the real task", he approaches closer, the light catching his face. His clammy skin glistens with perspiration.

He notices where your gaze has fallen and gives a heavy shrug, "Excuse my appearance. Your blood drained from me a while ago, and it's left me a little shattered", he raises a hand to tug back his strands of lank, sweat-soaked hair, his fingers shaking.

"My blood?", you ask, catching the words after a moment.

"Oh yes", he says, grinning and leaning over you, "Don't you understand? Your blood is…quite incredible"

Ignoring his previous statement, you fling yourself against the bonds, "Let me go now, you creep!"

Dr. Kim takes a shuffled step back, but he only shakes his head in disappointment at your reaction, "Come now, Detective. No need for insults"