Chapter Text
Chapter 1
August 28th, 2019.
"Patient 707 is now permitted to leave." The radio sounded off in the room, "Bring out the patient to the Head office." The nurse currently on duty rolled his eyes and sighed. He was in the middle of a (not on break) lunch and was not thrilled to do work right now. He dropped his deli sandwich down on his plate and wiped his greasy palms against his white uniform which produced a greyish stain against the harsh fabric. Not that he cared. No one cared. No one ever in this place cared.
The nurse strolled out the lounge area for nurses and took his time to walk. The keys were swinging carelessly around a finger as he whistled (oh so very) out of tune. He turned on to a specific hall, a sign greeting him '690 – 730' he took a glance and nodded, affirming he was going down the right hall. The nurse's uniform blended in with the white walls casting eerie shadows from the horrid lighting hanging from the ceiling. If this place wasn't heavily maintained, those lights would be flickering creating that haunted hospital effect.
His footsteps echoed loudly within the silent halls. He passed rooms, looking out for the specified number he was commanded to go to, his whistling still horrendous.
707. He stopped in front of the door and smirked. Instead of opening it, he slid open a small metal window that was reaching his eye level, letting his eyes roam freely around the room and now had a big toothy grin on his face.
"JEON JUNGKOOK! RISE AND SHINE!" he bellowed loudly, against the opening "YOU'RE GETTING OUT TODAY." Before a response could be heard the nurse slammed shut the metal window and cackled. He took the correspondent key and unlocked the metal door, walking in with an enormous smile. "Hey buddy, time for you to go!" the nurse perked up almost too excited as if he was the one leaving today.
Jungkook was asleep when he heard a harsh voice jolted him back to reality causing him to promptly fall off the bed, suddenly he began coughing and hacking, his eyes tearing up as he felt his stomach burn. He barely glanced up but identified exactly who was at the door. Jungkook was still coughing, throat starting to hurt as he clenched his ragged shirt. The nurse stood in front of the door, cracking up, holding his sides as he tried finding balance. Jungkook surveyed the dreary room, eyes blurry. He recognized the distinctive shape of his bed stand and crawled to it, chest stinging.
He fumbled around trying to figure out the shapes and landed, with a sigh, on what he was looking for. His pills. He wiped his eyes with his hand, cough still going strong. His hands were shaking as he tried pouring two into his hand.
The nurse calmed down still stifling a laugh and strolled over to him, still gripping his sides. He picked up the bottle from the desk in the room and lowered it to meet Jungkook who was on his knees, holding his pills. Jungkook popped both of them at the same time into his mouth and snatched the water bottle out of the nurse's hand and took a big gulp, dousing them down. His nose scrunched as the sensation of water and the pills went down his throat and he breathed, his chest finally slowing down and his coughing subduing. After a minute or so Jungkook was finally able to breathe. The nurse was currently sitting comfortably in Jungkook's chair, twiddling with a pen from the desk next to him. When Jungkook stood up, he felt everything shift beneath him and almost landed back on the floor but caught himself against the bed head. He took a deep breath, blinking away the last of his tears and spoke, his voice thick and sore, "You…Fucker."
"Oh?" the man quipped, setting the pen down.
"You…gave…me…water…this…time? Why so generous?" Jungkook swallowed, moistening his colorless lips, his body still supported by the bed head as he dropped the bottle on the bed.
The nurse smiled, "Well, you are leaving today so I thought I'd be kind and give you water this time. Maybe if you had begged I would've given you your pills as well but Oh well." He got up off the chair and glided over to the boy, seizing his arm and slinking it over his shoulder. He grunted as he took on the weight of the boy. The nurse pondered about the muscle he felt when he pressed next to the boy and where he was finding time to work out.
The nurse took him to the wash area and dropped him near a bathtub, "Wash up. You're gonna want to look good for mommy dearest." He looked down at the boy and twisted his face and muttered, "Freak." He walked out and likely headed back to Jungkook's room to wait for the boy to finish bathing.
Jungkook waited for the footsteps to disappear before he let out a breath he didn't know he was even holding. He slummed down, feeling the pain catch up to him now. That Fucker. He always does that. Jungkook shook his head and slowly got up. He looked down, his outfit was that of a patterned white shirt and grey sweatpants that the center got him for his birthday last year. The pants were starting to get a bit too tight since his thighs were filling up space. He pulled off the shirt, dropping it mindlessly on the floor since this was the last time he'd be wearing the overused shirt that held a myriad of stains that were collected over the years.
He hated the showers. The décor of it. The tiles they used. It made him feel trapped, caged and powerless. The tiles were a dark moss green that had streams of light green swimming endlessly within them. Jungkook turned on the shower now fully naked, he felt the blunt ache of a bruise that was on his thigh he collected from one of his episodes a few days ago and shuddered thinking about it.
~~
"How is he?" the woman asked, hands unconsciously rubbing the handle of her purse, "Is he…better?" her voice was incredibly low-pitched almost as if she was terrified to generate tension in the silent office.
"He is." The doctor answered, "So much better."
Her shoulders dropped as she felt a weight lift off her chest. She breathed out and smiled, her eyes glassy. She kept fiddling with her purse handle almost breaking the beige leather, creating slight cracks along with it. She came about thirty minutes ago, and they gave her the full rundown on the supplies her son would need to readjust to the outside world. She scribbled them down diligently, also trying to keep in mind words to avoid using or questions that shouldn't be asked. She didn't want to trigger any unnecessary panic attacks or any like thereof.
The doctor's phone beeped and a message came in stating that the patient was ready for departure. The woman's palms began to sweat and her heart raced. She gulped before taking a sip of water, hands immediately falling back to her purse. The doctor confirmed his approval and they both waited silently until the door at the side of the office opened. She didn't see him at first; the nurse was in front of him but when he moved her heart danced. Her initial thought was to look at how handsome he's gotten. Jungkook stepped into the room, eyes squinting as they adjusted to the current form of lighting.
When he caught himself, his eyes instantly fell on the woman in front of him. The woman he called his mother. The woman whose visit was three years ago for half an hour. His mind didn't think anything. He merely looked at her with zero emotions filling his body. Was that bad? That had to be bad right? That was his mother; he was supposed to feel something seeing her, but his heart did nothing. It wasn't even racing in excitement when he was greeted with the announcement of leaving today.
The doctor ushered the young man towards a chair adjacent to his mother and sat down, legs folding easily. She gawked at him like he was some rare artifact she just discovered, her eyes trailed almost every inch of his body and took in his existence like he was unreal and had to reassure herself. Jungkook remained quiet, eyes shifting between the doctor and the wide toothy grin nurse. The doctor cleared his throat, sat up in his chair and fixed his white jacket, on it was a little nameplate that said 'Go Shin-Oh'. God, Jungkook hated that name.
The doctor smiled but Jungkook could tell there was no warmth behind it, "He can finally be administered leave. You must be relieved Mrs. Jeon, your son has been here for ten years and is finally getting to go home."
She teared up, her voice shaking as she thanked the doctor for the help in making her son better. The nurse came over and handed her a handkerchief, wiping away any oncoming of tears. The doctor now directed his attention to Jungkook and asked, "You must be thrilled Jungkook? Getting to go home after all these years."
Jungkook stared at him, with no emotion painted across his face and answered, "Yes, I'm very thrilled." There was not a hint of excitement in his voice but his mother believed that was just him being respectful and calm. The doctor clapped his hands, "Oh his recent therapy sessions have been so great! He has improved so much and is ready to experience the outside world without tumbling over and hiding in fear. Though there is one thing, I must update you on. He doesn't appreciate people touching him the only ones he allows are the nurses and counselors and well me."
Jungkook's mother's eyes widen as she pursed her lips, "Still…? I thought he would've gotten over that as well…Oh", He could see the sadness swimming in her eyes as she picked at her purse handle once more but he chose to look elsewhere instead of comforting her. He stared at the painting he was so used to looking at whenever he felt frustrated in one of his sessions with the (pain in the ass) doctor. It was a barren tree with white birds hanging all around it behind a large moon. It was such an odd piece that declared nothing and Jungkook liked that. He appreciated things that didn't have a meaning, it allowed him to think less and enjoy it to the fullest.
The doctor gave his mother one final run down before departing and she bowed, thanking him and everyone else profusely before rising from the chair. Jungkook followed suit and bowed quickly, not even glancing at the nurse. He followed behind his mother who was now muttering cheery words to herself, he took in the new surroundings and realized this was the first time he was ever on this side of the center. It felt unusual. He felt unusual. Seeing sunlight shine through the windows painting the walls with the shimmery glows of the midday sun. Seeing trees of varied sizes and shapes and at how green they were the most he got to see was the dead trees in the courtyard after lunch. He heard birds and cicadas both merrily singing amid the summer heat.
His mother couldn't help but keep glancing behind her; her son was so handsome. His hair was grown out, reaching to the bottom of his cheeks almost to his shoulders. He grew into his nose she thought, and his lips were small but so pink. She genuinely wanted to see him smile if she was being honest she thought he was going to come out happy and bouncing around, ready to go home, but he was so quiet and emotionless. He looked zoned out eyes staring into nothing as they walked down the hallways to the door.
He was bulkier than when she last saw him, he was taller too almost pushing a steady 5"9 and was still growing. His muscles were hidden beneath an oversized black shirt that he got recently when they brought in some donated goods last month, his large black sweatpants were also from that box. It covered almost every inch of him and he looked smaller than he was. He didn't mind, though, his clothes felt like protection and he liked everything to be protected.
~~
They finally reached his mother's car; Jungkook cocked his head and furrowed his eyebrows. “Since when did mom own a car like this?" he thought. It was a large silver SUV that glistened under the sun, she unlocked the car and directed him to the passenger seat. She also updated him on the baggage she had from the center was already in the trunk.
"So some updates I guess…Your father and I already have an academy you can attend to adjust easily, it's near the house and I'm sure you already elected what you wanted to do when we sent in the form?" Her eyes were on the road, but she maintained a keen attention to anything he would say.
Jungkook kept his face to the window, absorbing everything passing him swiftly. "Yeah, I um- applied to do photography and film production as well as um – something art-related I guess."
His mother nodded, her eyes focused and asked, "Are you nervous to attend school?" she wanted to take in his reaction but couldn't look away from the road, so she just paid attention to his voice. She noticed him shrug from the side of her eye.
"Don't know. I'm nineteen with barely any extreme knowledge…I guess I should be terrified."
She nodded again, slightly uncomfortable with the lack of interest seeping from his voice. He didn't acknowledge her with any intention of catching up nor did he propose any questions about anything. She made a mental note to call the doctor and inquire about it. She sighed and looked ahead. Her son was home and better. That's all she needed.