For a while, perhaps even a long one, there was nothing but silence. The recorder was on ever since the session began and, in this room, where there was only a small light bulb, a desk, and two chairs, the doctor and the patient each had different thoughts. The youngster looked absent-minded and internally struggling while the middle-aged doctor was reading his patient"s face, trying to find out an unsaid thing."Do you not want to talk about it?"
Out of habit, Doctor Galen held his pen and started scribbling random words while talking to Bin, who was only 17 years old.
"No, it"s fine."
The man nodded his head and asked again:
"Last time you said that the guard helped you escape. Do you have any idea why?"
The young man shrugged his shoulders and replied: "Maybe it was compa.s.sion? Or guilt. He and Shin were the ones who got me out of there."
As he heard of "Shin" again, Galen sighed and asked again:
"Shin… where did he go after you escaped?"
"I don"t know. He"s still in hiding and very rarely shows up to talk."
"You said he was very talkative when you were in the facility, right?"
"Yes, but it was mainly about the people there. He would describe how he"ll kill every one of them."
Seeing Bin"s pained expression, Galen, deep inside, knew it was time to stop but he did not because it was necessary to hear all the truth.
"Did Shin kill anyone back then?"
Bin tried his best to remember, his eyes closed tightly. After what seemed to be an eternity, he said:
"I think… there was a time where he stabbed a scientist with one of the plastic forks we eat with."
The doctor wrote something again before looking at the distressed and sweating Bin.
"Bin… is there any way you can arrange a meeting between me and Shin?"
When he heard that, the teenager shook his head while apologetically saying:
"I don"t know how to contact him."
At the end of this long session, the doctor gazed into the boy"s eyes and asked:
"Bin, what do you think about religion?"
The youngster didn"t need to think a lot and answer within a few seconds:
"What about it? Are you trying to pull me into yours again? I told you that I don"t believe in G.o.d."
"Yes, I"m aware of that but I do think it"ll comfort you to know that there is an afterlife… since you"re most likely going to die young."
In response, Bin chuckled and said: "That"s rather harsh coming from my personal doctor. Isn"t your job to prolong my life?"
"Yes but it"s also my job to tell the truth. Things aren"t looking too good but it might get better in the future."
*****
1 year later, in an abandoned factory on the coast of M-nation.
The place was eerily empty with the exception of three silhouettes.
"Doc, you hired me for this kid?"
A red-haired man with a fairly muscular body and a tight short frowned upon seeing the young man sitting across from him. He didn"t look particularly threatening yet Dr. Galen paid him a hefty sum just to subdue the target for some time.
"I already deposited the money so do your job and keep this to yourself!"
Galen reprimanded the talkative mercenary before shifting his attention to the infamous Shin, who Bin always talked about when recounting the past and unfortunate events. The youngster was glaring daggers both of them, not bothering to hide his hostility. If only he wasn"t so exaggeratedly bound, he would have lunged at them.
"Shin… is it?"
The doctor kept a fair distance from the immobilized boy before asking with a serious tone.
"So you"re the famous doctor everyone loves to talk about. Heh! Even a saint would dirty his hands for personal benefits!"
Shin talked with a chilling voice as he ignored the pain he was feeling from the mercenary"s restraints. His eyes were locked on the middle-aged doctor, ready to rip him apart.
"Bin was a fool to trust you! You don"t even want to help him, you"re just curious about something you could not comprehend or explain."
Galen sighed as he heard the young man"s rebuke, neither accepting or rejecting the insults.
"This hatred you harbor… where did it come from?"
Hearing this, Shin burst in maniacal laughter and wriggled his body, causing the burly mercenary to press his big hand on the former"s shoulder, almost breaking his bones.
"Unbind me and I"ll f.u.c.king show you where it came from!"
Shin abruptly turned to look at the red-haired mercenary for a couple of breaths before saying:
"I"ve memorized your face. There will come a day when I"ll break every bone of your body!"
After a short silence, Dr. Galen spoke again: "Shin, Bin"s memory is not clear but he told me you remember everything." He hesitated for a split second before saying:
"Is it true that Mina was there too?"
When Mina"s name was mentioned, it was as if Shin transformed into a devil. A formless pressure that even frightened the mercenary emanated from the teenager. Before any of the two could react, Shin actually freed his wrists and ankles, which were bound by tiny metal strings and jumped on the doctor, pushing him on the ground and grasping his throat. Blood gushed out of his wrists and ankles but he didn"t care at all as he ferociously glared at the man under him.
"Mention her name a second time and I"ll kill you and your entire family! I"ll rip yo-"
Before he could finish, Shin"s body was blasted a couple of meters by a monstrous force. He was knocked unconscious by the mercenary, who clicked his tongue, unhappy that a helpless captive actually escaped his grasp.
"Doctor, ya alright?"
Galen nodded his head as he caressed his red neck and gasped for breath.