✕ garden

@[f] henry lau Andy's eyes widened again as the other grabbed at him, and he quickly brought himself forward, using his other hand to pry the other's grip off him. He was hyperventilating, his breath coming out fast and hard. All because of a simple touch, he was reduced to this. He could feel the other's hand on his waist, making him wanting to roll over back into the thorn bushes, anything to make him stop feeling another person. 'They' always touched you on the waist, wrapping 'their' hands around your body like it was a toy. Andy remembering this, looked down, trying to free himself from the other's hold. Looking back up, he noticed they were looking down at him and smiling. 'No, don't smile.' he thought, his panic gear shifting into overdrive. Such innocent acts like this always made him delve to far back into memories he would rather forget. It all made him scared and alone, and all in all, wanting someone to be there. His body and mind always refused though, always sensing danger in every touch.

"Please..." he said, almost begging now for the other to let go of him. And they did. Once they finally let go of him, he drew back, holding his hands to his chest and making himself small. "Ah." That was when he noticed how many cuts he had. His arms, hands, and legs were covered in tiny red scratches, some of them bleeding, and most of them about to. What was he going to do now? Looking back up at the other, Andy was speechless, trying to calm himself down while all the while trying to stop his hands from bleeding.

@[f] henry lau Once again finding himself in the garden, Andy sighed and sat down on one of the far benches in the shaded corner, away from the other people. Even just being in the same vicinity as all of them made him uncomfortable, to a point where he might have actually bolted up and ran away, if it weren't for the guards at all doors leading inside the building. Again, he didn't know why he was out here, but faintly remembered his caretaker telling him he needed tog get outside. So here he was, sitting on the bench, not at all lonely and not at all wanting company. Looking towards the rose bushes, a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips before disappearing, when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Hand. On his shoulder. Someone was touching him. It always started with a hand on the shoulder.

Andy went completely rigid and before he knew it, he ripped himself away from the bench, a scared look in his eyes as he flipped his body to face the other who just sat on the bench. He was about to scream, to say 'Don't touch me!' but he lost his footing and his voice caught in his throat as he fell backwards, into the thorny rose bushes. Ha. For a garden in a mental institution, you'd think they'd clip the thorns off the bushes. Looking back up at the bench, Andy winced as his body moved away from the other, thorns digging into his hands and legs. "D-don't touch me. Please." he said quietly, trying to stand up but failing as a few other thorns caught and snagged on his clothes. If it weren't for the thorns, he would have probably hit the other by now, even though he didn't want to. It was just his body's natural reaction. He just couldn't stand being touched.

@[f] kim jongdae There was nothing quite like reading a classic whilst on a break, accompanied by a satisfying lunch comprised of kimbap rolls and green tea. The lush and green environment that surrounded her had added to the ambiance, leaving her in a great mood. Who knew that something so seemingly peaceful had existed in a place like this, a place where stress and fear reigned. But this, this was a nice change and she could almost see herself do this every time she had a break. Almost. What held her back were duties, duties to protect the people inside those walls from unspeakable horrors as best as she could. Just thinking about it had upset her, making her stomach flip uncomfortably and a frown appear on her lips. But she quickly shrugged off such thoughts before she could fall deeper into them. She would not let it affect her, now was time for a break, a bit of rejuvenation before she would throw herself back into the chaos.

She could do this. This was just a small hurdle she would need to cross over if she had wanted to continue towards her dream of becoming a criminal profiler. She would have to witness and live with horrors worse than what she witnessed at this prison-like place.

She took a bite from her kimbap roll, before downing it with warm green tea. Then, she proceeded to glance at the budding flowers that sprung from the ground to welcome the spring before she would advance to the next line of her book. She continued to do this in alternations, having no particular patterns of any sort as she let herself relax completely. She did not have work until her night shift and a stack of old reads she had wanted to go through (a habit she did whenever she sought peace of mind). She still had a long way to go and too little of a time.

And she did not plan to let this time go to waste.

Completely immersed in the peaceful surroundings, Yixing began to hum quietly to himself, a song that he had heard many times before and would never forget, one that reminded him of the fact that he was a survivor of so many things. However, his song was cut short as he heard a loud sound, causing his eyes to widen and his body to tense up. He lightly flinched by instinct before slowly looking around, his brown eyes full of alarm. He prayed it was just a squirrel who had fallen out of a tree or something, but he knew the sound was much too loud to just be that. He soon enough found the source though as his eyes rested on the figure of a male on the ground. Eyebrows furrowing a bit, Yixing slowly stood up and hesitated before making his way over. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, sticking out his hand to help the other up. Upon looking at him, he soon recognized his face and tilted his head. "Zitao!" He exclaimed more of in surprise than anything else. "Oh god, are you hurt at all?" He asked once more, now becoming more concerned as he didn't know just how far the other's cannibalism went and what triggered it.

@huang zitao Eyes bright, body relaxed. This was the way Yixing liked to feel, like nothing could go wrong, as if his entire life had been perfect. Only one place could make him feel this way, only one place could truly clear his mind like this. The garden, the place he liked to call his personal sanctuary. Barely anyone knew about this garden, and though it was selfish Yixing kind of wanted it to stay this way, so that whenever he needed some time alone he could come and sit here for as long as possible. Here he sat on the patch of dry dirt near the spring. His eyes were closed, his head tilted back as he took in a deep breath. How he wished he could sit here forever.