I sat on my bedroom bench, legs crossed and palms placed against my right cheek. It was 4 AM by the time I came back home from the hospital after having a conversation with the patient, and I felt exhausted, not physically, but mentally. I didn't even bother changing into my pajamas or taking off my shoes. My eyes were finding it hard to stay opened, but my brain was resisting the urge to shut down for the night. Too much was going on inside my head and a lot of thoughts were being thrown around here and there to the point that my head felt like bursting.

The events of today and all the conversations that I've been part of kept on replaying in my head, but I seemed to constantly pause on only one particular event of the day: when I couldn't find the video. It was odd, way too odd. In fact, it was the oddest thing that has ever happened to me before.

I remember watching that video a million times just to learn the technique behind Hoseok's method of hypnotizing, so there was no way I was hallucinating. Most of the university students watched the video too! The video did exist, just why not at that exact moment?

Another thought that kept me up was the fact that the one person I was searching for was a murderer. I couldn't imagine myself standing in front of him knowing that he could end my life if he just felt like it. The whole scenario of him killing the man played in my head as detailed as the patient described it to me. I witnessed the horror of seeing his lips form into the words "Kill yourself" as slowly as they possibly could and it only made everything worse for me.

I wondered what would happen if he knows that I know who he truly is, what he has done, and what he is capable of. My body was left trembling involuntary and when I came back to my senses, I straightened my posture and cleared my throat. There was nothing to be afraid of. He was just a human being. Sure, he does know how to manipulate minds and end people's lives, but he remains a human and every human has a weak point. I made it my mission to figure out what his was, just not tonight.

I let out a deep sigh before taking off my shoes and throwing them to the far corner off the room, then crawled over my bench and onto my bed. I kept on crawling until I reached the top of my bed and then slipped under my blanket. My body was too tired that I couldn't even bring myself to go switch off the lights, so I just kept them on and in no time, I drifted off to my dreamland.

After what felt like seconds to me, I heard my alarm go off. I let out a loud groan before rotating my whole body until I was laying on my left side and opened one eye to check the time. It was 7 AM already. I closed my eyes again before slamming my alarm shut and layed on my back. I stayed still for a couple of seconds, trying to go back to sleep, but my conscience kept on convincing me otherwise.

As always, my conscience won the battle and so I started kicking my legs up and down as hard as I could against my bed then sat up straight, annoyed and frustrated to the maximum. I could see so much of my hair that I could only imagine how messy it must've been. The moment I decided to open my eyes fully, the light attacked them mercilessly, leaving me with a pair of closed eyes and a severe headache. The first task I gave myself at the start of the day was to get my eyes adjusted to the light intensity of the room and when that task was fulfilled, I forced myself I get out of bed and dragged my body to the bathroom to get my morning routine started.

Not much time passed until I found myself sitting next to my kitchen counter, sipping my coffee in annoyance and cursing at everyone who had to get me involved in that murder case. After a long while of drinking my coffee and cursing at everyone, I stood up and checked the time on my watch. There were some minutes left before my regular departing time, so I plopped myself on the couch in front of the television and turned it on.

The moment the television started working, I found a small picture of Ms. Bon Hwa on the screen and it made my fingers pause a couple of centimetres away from the buttons on the remote. My eyebrows got knitted automatically and I shifted a bit closer to the television so I could focus more on what was written on the screen.

The newscaster was basically saying everything Ms. Bon Hwa had told me, and it confused me a lot because I remembered telling everyone to get out the room before I spoke to the patient. I didn't even tell anyone about the full story. The picture of Ms. Bon Hwa disappeared and another picture popped up. This time, it was a box with a silhouette of a person and question mark, but that wasn't what surprised me. I heard a very familiar voice speak to the newscaster on air and I managed to trace it back to the detective who was with us yesterday. I raised the volume of the television before sitting back and preparing myself to hear what he had to say.

"As I said, Ms. Kim Bon Hwa claims to have seen a man murder another. The testimony we have received from her couldn't have been used as evidence simply because they didn't make sense. The lady claims to have heard the murderer ask the victim to kill himself, and the victim immediately complied without having any second thoughts," I heard through the television. I had a very bad feeling about having this detective speak on air, mainly because I sensed that he didn't like me very much, and because he seems to have a big mouth.

"Now, sir, do you have any suspects in mind?" the newscaster asked after arranging the pile of papers in front of her and laying them on her desk as neatly as possible.

"Actually, yes. I, personally, do not suspect a particular person, but there was another person who thinks he could've been the murderer. Although she failed to provide us with evidence, Doctor Sun Hee told us that she thinks the murderer is a man called Jung Hoseok. She claims that the man is in his early twenties and that he is an illusionist and a professional hypnotist. Her claims about his method of hypnosis did match the witness's testimony, and that is why we didn't seal the case as suicide, but there is a very high chance that-" I heard and turned off the television in shock. The man literally spilled everything out. He didn't even cover up my identity. All he had to do left was tell them my address so Hoseok can pay me a visit and murder me right on the spot.

I dropped my remote on the couch before staring straight ahead at my reflection on the television screen in fright. My lungs were fighting for oxygen and my skin was secreting sweat like crazy. The mad beating of my heart made my chest ache a bit and I started getting a bit dizzy due to the decreased amounts of oxygen I was receiving.

This is bad, very very very extremely bad! I didn't mind others knowing about me, but what about him?! He was probably sitting there in front of his television, smiling at the screen like the maniac he is while hearing the news. Finding where others live nowadays isn't really a challenge anymore and if he gets his hands on this information, I'm dead, literally. My hands started sweating so I rubbed them against each other as anxiety took over my body then took a look at my watch. The arrows pointed at eight o'clock exactly, so I stood up, straightened my clothes then walked to the door of my house after clearing my throat.

The way to the university was smooth, so reached my destination earlier than I should. I found an easy parking and then headed to the office to sign myself in. It wasn't time for the device to work yet, so I had to wait a couple of minutes to be able to leave the office peacefully and not fret over when I should come back to sign in.

"Good mooorrnning Sun Hee!" One of my male colleagues sang once he walked past and slammed a folder of papers against the main front desk.

"Morning," I replied back with a slight smile.
"Get this to the head please," He asked the receptionist before turning his attention back to me.

"Guess who made it to the morning news?" He asked me with a slight bump on the shoulder.

"Meee," I said with a small smile, trying to portray excitement and enthusiasm when there were actually none.

"I always thought you would go big just not that way," He joked.

"Yeaah, I didn't plan this either," I replied back and rubbed my neck then received another playful punch on the shoulder.

"You are awesome," He said and then stuck his finger against the device once it turned on.

He smiled at me then said," All yours."

I nodded then pressed my thumb against the device, but rotated my head in his direction when I heard him shout on his way," Don't hang out much with the killer though, they might suspect you."

I turned my head back around at hearing that with wide eyes and gulped. That is another thing to fear right now: Being held as an acquaintance to the killer. They'd have the right to think so. Afterall, what do that Hoseok guy and I know how to do?

Hypnotize people.

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Hello my lovelies!

New updaatteee!

This is getting exciting already, but tbh, I already hate this detective guy... but I have a question for you to answer...

What are your theories behind the very sudden disappearance of the video?

I'd like to know what you think!

Also, a preview of your thoughts on the story is highly recommended! Of course, if you want to! Constructive criticism is the best, so please do make sure to point out anything you want to me as long as it doesnt involve hate towards me, Hoseok or any other member, and of course my lovelies...

Let's give our hope more appreciation and love because he deserves it... A LOT..

Don't forget to take care and love yourselves,

Thank you all,

I love you,

-R 💜💜