PRISONERS [Taekook]

열여섯

The chilly breeze coming from the barred window of the office is the only semblant of relief Donghyuk gets from the thickening air of the room. He's nervous, it's obvious in the way his eyes look everywhere but at his counselor, or the way he picks at the skin around his fingernails enough to peel it off.

"Lee Donghyuk."

The boy's gaze finally falls on the man before him. He's leaning on his desk, thick-rimmed glasses resting on his nose, his thin lips pursed naturally. Traces of age litter his face. He's full of wrinkles, sagging skin, there are moles and freckles all over his face. Donghyuk doesn't know if his hair is shaved bald or if all the hair just fell off his scalp. He doesn't put too much thought into it and just stares at the doctor expectantly.

"As I said, you are eligible for early release. You've had perfect attendance to mandatory and even took additional classes and enthusiastically participated in activities. You have also been incarcerated as a minor, which is also quite an advantage in reconsidering the length of your sentence. There's no reason as to why we shouldn't let you go earlier than planned." The counselor clears his throat and calmly opens what appears to be Donghyuk's file. "Your record is spotless, save for two... incidents, I believe?"

The boy shivers and picks at his skin too hard. "Yeah."

"For the most recent one, you said your former cellmate was responsible, right? I believe they call him Gucci boy?" Donghyuk nods. "As for the first one... We never truly went in depth about it since you refused to talk, but the record says there was a rape involved. Were you the victim of it?"

"Y-Yeah." Donghyuk says, trying to control the stammer in his voice.

"Do you remember who the abuser was?"

Of course he does. He's the face of his nightmares. Every single fucking night.

"Yeah."

"Could you... maybe give us a name? Or a description?" The counselor asks.

Donghyuk freezes. He rips a patch of skin from his finger and winces at the sharp pang of pain that goes through his whole hand, but that is nothing compared to how terrified he feels.

"No." He immediately refuses, shaking his head frantically. "No way. I-I'm not a snitch."

The doctor sighs. "Listen, Lee, you know we take things like abuse very seriously in this prison, don't you?" He speaks in a way that tries to be soothing and Donghyuk scoffs. Right. "So you also know that we can't release someone who has helpful information that could help us make this a better place. You understand that, right?"

Donghyuk can't fucking believe what he's hearing.

"Are you threatening me?!" He shouts, desperate. "Are you saying that I have to risk my life snitching on someone who can crush me in an instant if I want to get my early release? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"You don't have to risk your life. If you accept to give us valuable information to help punish a dangerous abuser, we can put you in protection for the time being and you will benefit from an early release in two weeks' time." The counselor explains calmly, leaning back against his desk chair. "It's not a threat. If anything, it's a great deal."

Donghyuk gulps, distress washing over his features as he opens his mouth to speak but doesn't find any words to say. His throat is dry and he feels like he's suffocating, panic creeping agonizingly slowly into his mind. He's always had a gut feeling about his counselor, he's never trusted the strict look he always had on his face, how he never even cracked a smile save for the hypocritical grin he flashed one time when the warden contacted him, how he always scribbles things on his notepad robotically instead of looking Donghyuk in the eyes and listening when he speaks.