"Purification Session"

...Min-Sol did not close her eyes all night. The echo of Patient 404’s scream reverberated through her bones, and the buzz of the electric prod seemed to tear through the silence of her room. She realized that the trap Do-Hyun had set for her was far deeper than mere walls and medication; he was seeking to assassinate her mind entirely....

...At seven in the morning, the iron bolt was yanked open violently. It wasn’t the silent nurse this time, but a large, broad-shouldered man wearing a faded green medical uniform, accompanied by Doctor Park, who smiled with icy detachment behind his glasses....

...“Good morning, Min-Sol. It’s time for the ‘purification.’ We want to help you leave your painful past behind,” Doctor Park said, gesturing to the large man to unlock the restraints at the sides of the bed....

...They led her through the long corridors of the institution. The lights flickered above her head like the pulse of someone dying, and the sharp scent of disinfectant grew stronger. They passed Room 404; the door was open. Min-Sol glimpsed a small puddle of water on the floor and burn marks on the wall, but the room was empty. Her heart froze… Had they killed him?...

...She was taken into a circular room in the basement, its walls covered entirely with mirrors. In the center stood a leather chair fitted with complex wires. They forced her to sit and fastened metal electrodes to her temples....

...“Min-Sol,” Doctor Park began, standing behind her so that his reflection appeared in every surrounding mirror, “tell me about the night of May tenth. Were you imagining blood on your husband’s hands? Or was it merely a delusion caused by your exhaustion?”...

...Min-Sol remembered Patient 404’s message: Lying is your only ticket. She looked at her pale reflection in the mirror and, behind it, saw Do-Hyun’s face forming in her mind, wearing his arrogant smile. She pressed her teeth into her lip, then spoke with carefully crafted trembling:...

...“May tenth? I… I don’t remember any blood. I remember being in my room, and the rain was pouring heavily. Maybe… maybe I imagined things because of the medication I was taking.”...

...Doctor Park exchanged a quick glance with the nurse. He increased the power of the current in the device but did not release it yet. “Think carefully. Do-Hyun says you screamed at him and accused him of murder. Were you out of your mind?”...

...“Yes!” she cried, feigning hysterical sobs. “I was sick! I didn’t know what I was saying! Please, Doctor, I just want to forget… help me forget!”...

...Doctor Park smiled in satisfaction. “That is the right beginning to treatment.”...

...They returned Min-Sol to her room, where she staggered convincingly, pretending to be dizzy. The moment the door closed, she wiped her tears away instantly. Her gaze turned sharp as a blade. She had forgotten nothing; instead, she carved the image of Do-Hyun washing the knife into her memory to fuel her fire....

...She moved toward the air vent and whispered, barely audible, “404? Are you there?...

...No reply came. But she noticed something strange beneath her bed… a small, sharp piece of metal wrapped in cloth stained with dried drops of blood. This was the “key” he had promised her before he disappeared....

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