Mental - HyunSeungI.N.

Chapter Four

At least he wouldn't be going to jail.

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"We're here."

Jeongin looked up to the front seat of the car where Detective Seo was sitting and then turned his head to look out of the window. The psychiatric facility loomed over the parking lot.

Jeongin bit his lip in nervousness. It honestly looked quite intimidating.

Detective Seo offered to escort Jeongin to the ward. Even though police officers were supposed to keep their opinions unbiased, the officer couldn't help but feel a little bit of pity for Jeongin.

Jeongin opened the car door and stepped out, the cool air hitting his face. Jeongin took a deep breath, overdramatically exhaling a few seconds later.

This would probably be the last time he'd be outside in a while.

The officer got out of the car and gestured for Jeongin to follow him. "I'll take you in, come on."

Jeongin followed the officer, looking around trying to observe his surroundings. Jeongin looked up in the sky, spotting a white, puffy cloud. Jeongin smiled before looking back down at the ground. That was probably the last cloud he would see for months.

Jeongin followed Detective Seo into the building. The officer stopped by the door. "You just have to go to the front desk, they'll tell help you check in."

Jeongin nodded, muttered a quick thank you, before walking up to the front desk. The lady at the desk looked up at Jeongin and gave him a noticeably overly fake smile. "Hi, how can I help you?"

Jeongin played with his fingers. "I-I uh... I got a referral and I need to uh... ch-check in."

The lady nodded and looked at her computer. "Okay. Could you please tell me your surname?"

"Yang."

The lady typed on her keyboard before looking back up. "Yang Jeongin?"

Jeongin nodded.

"Okay. I'll get someone to bring you to your room in just a moment. Please take a seat in one of the chairs."

Jeongin tried to flash the lady a smile, but it probably looked like a wince. "Alright, thanks."

The lady went back to typing on her computer. Jeongin swallowed, trying to release the tension in his body before walking over to one of the chairs in the waiting room.

Jeongin sighed as he sat down, eyes immediately wandering across the walls of the room. Three of the walls were painted a dull yellow color, as if they were trying to cheer up the place but failed miserably. The last wall was covered in a large mural. It depicted a bunch of smiling people holding hands, standing on a large hill. A bright, dull rainbow was painted over the people's heads, complementing a large yellow sun in the corner of the wall.

Jeongin looked away from the mural, uneasy.

He could never be as happy as those people.

Jeongin's thoughts got interrupted by a voice. "Hello."

Jeongin looked up, seeing a familiar face. "Jisung?"

Jeongin knew that Jisung worked as a nurse at a psychiatric facility, but didn't expect it to be this one.

"Hi, Jeongin. I was quite surprised when I heard your name as one of the new patients." 

Jeongin looked down, a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, I finally got caught... um stealing something."