“Well,” the doctor began. “That was a rather interesting way to introduce ourselves. But, don’t worry, I’ve seen worse.”

Standing up and walking over, the doctor shook Seulgi’s unresisting hand.

“My name is Doctor Uisa. This may be a dubious way to start, but it is still a pleasure to meet you.”  

“The pleasure is mine,” Seulgi may still be incredibly shaken, but she had politeness beaten into her at an early age. She is a smart girl, so it didn’t really take too much effort to train her in manners.

Still, Seulgi pulled her hand back faster than was normally considered acceptable, but they both ignored this uncomfortable fact.

“More water?” the doctor asked.

Seulgi looked at her glass in surprise and found it empty. She simply nodded and the doctor herself got up and refilled the glass and handed it back. This spoke well of her, Seulgi started to think that she might be easier to talk to than initially thought. She was not haughty, or rude, nor did she have a stick up her…backside.

Seulgi was a big believer in body language. So, she observed this woman with every bit of concentration that she could muster. She thought about that phrase ‘All that she could muster.’ She had a new appreciation for it, as in her current situation, she had to literally collect – to muster – all the concentration that she could. She was far from her normal meticulous self. Normally her mind worked like a finely tuned machine. But, after that episode, she was lucky that she could pronounce her own name.

Still, she observed the doctor in her currently limited way. The mid to late fifties. Shoulder length hair that was turning gray. She left it undyed, too. That surprised Seulgi. Tastefully dressed, and subdued, she looked like one of the super-rich people who did not flaunt it. She came across as someone who managed to obtain money, power, and prestige without it going to their head.

Her face was what Seulgi would call a flawed beauty. What made this more impressive was that she had chosen to keep these flaws. She obviously had enough money to go under the knife and get whatever face she decided to buy. This told Seulgi that this woman was comfortable in her own face and saw no reason to conform to other people’s notion of a beauty standard. She has as strong of a personality as she did an iron clad self confidence.

The final part that she thought about that made it even more likely that she would like this woman was that she had the wisdom to hire her friend.

While waiting for JooHyun to return, the small respite of the doctor getting her some water, allowed Seulgi to reset her mind. She recomposed herself physically and mentally.

She nodded gratefully and gracefully to the doctor in thanks. She was not willing to trust her voice just yet. Speaking of voices, she thought about that ‘More water?’ With just those two words, she could tell that her voice was nearly as gorgeous as JooHyun’s. She had a quirky thought by wondering if she sang. If she did, she would love to hear it. Come to think of it, the office manager also had a beautiful voice. Hmm…Christmas Carols must be heavenly in this office. Maybe getting her brain rebuilt is not the only reason to hang out in the office.

She managed another brief moment of amusement with a quirky thought – she would prefer some soju right now. She has had some very fine beers, both locally and abroad, but she needed something stronger today. Maybe she would pick some up on the way home. She didn’t care what her mother said about it today.

Her mother. She sighed mentally at the thought of trying to deal with her tonight. Maybe she would get more than one bottle. Thinking about how contentious her mother could be, she might need more than two. Thinking how her father, who had been absolutely lovely the last few days, but he tended to side with her mother in the nagging. She might need quite a few more if she had to deal with them both.

Granted, she forgot that he had threatened to throw her mother out on her ear if she started to nag, too. Still, just because she bought a lot of soju on the way home doesn’t mean that she had to drink it all in a single night.

She continued her justifications.

Granted, she had her head screwed on tight, so one night of getting plowed would not make her an alcoholic.

Her justifications continued until she was interrupted by JooHyun’s return. The woman was still ridiculously graceful, but the other two women were already aware of it, so they ignored her.

She sat next to Seulgi and unselfconsciously laced her fingers through the hand that was resting on the cushion. She smiled and for a tremulous one in return. The haunted look started to come back until she tightened her fingers on Seulgi’s hand. With that reassurance, Seulgi visibly forced herself to relax.

She squeezed back with a silent OK.

She wasn’t, but she would keep telling herself that she was until she believed it.

She looked at her watch and saw that it was three in the afternoon. She had already been there for two hours. That’s when she noticed that there were no clocks in the office. The doctor didn’t wear a watch.

Seeing what Seulgi was looking both for and at, it was easy for the doctor to know what she was thinking. She smiled. “Don’t worry, Ms. Kang, we don’t believe in timepieces here.” She said the archaic term ‘timepieces.’ Seulgi was further amused and impressed.

“You are here until you are done with the session. This leeway means we can actually work on things and keep working until things get resolved. If time needs to intrude, that is what I have JooHyun for.” The two women smiled at each other with the inside joke that wasn’t a joke.

“So, let’s start with the basics, shall we? What do you know of this group?”

Seulgi met her gaze when the doctor started talking. So, as she was asked simply, she answered simply. “Honestly? Nothing. All I know is that just after an event, I was told that I needed to come here. I was also given a small threat to my person if I didn’t.” She said that last with a smile that was not a smile.

“Then let me give you a small history lesson, OK?” Waiting for a nod to continue, she did so. “This practice was started by my grandfathers. My father continued it and it has been passed down to me. We have a small set of a very diverse and distinguished groups of clientele.

“We service both sides of the law. We service both the holy and the unholy. We serve both the high-class and low-born. However, the main qualification for us to accept you is that any prospective client has to be recommended to us by a current or prior client. It would have to be an extreme case for us to accept an unvetted patient.”

JooHun let go of Seulgi’s hand and stood up. She went over the craft poured a glass of water and handed it to the doctor before returning to Seulgi.  

“That being said, to give you a perspective of just who made you to be someone with an A+ client rating without even being seen first, was from a Family that has been clients since my grandfather’s time. I was told, personally, to treat you as the highest rating a new person can come in as.

“Obviously, you have a basic idea of who spoke for you or you would not be here. But they have an interest in you that I have not seen before. She told me that you are family and to be added to their account. What that means is whatever you say here is ironclad. There is only one exception to this and that is if you tell me that you are going to harm yourself. That is one of the laws that I respect and follow – if you say that you are going to harm yourself and leave the facility, I will call the law to collect you. Anything else is protected.

“As an example, my father had an exceptionally accomplished North Korean sniper with an unconfirmed kill list that would still be impressive  today if you ever hear of them.”

At this, she took a sip of water.