Given the location of the CCTVs she previously identified, Won leaned in at an angle where her lips wouldn’t be able to be read.

“Calm down, Cha Mu-jin,” she whispered to him.

Target’s head snapped up.

“Who the hell are yo-”

“I’m here at the request of Mr. Kim Sang-taek. The cameras are recording, so control your expression and keep your voice down.”

Target looked confused, but quickly put on a poker face. It was the response of a seasoned businessman.

‘I can’t quit yet.’

Cha Mu-jin could communicate, so it seems like his head made a less than 90-degree turn¹ he’s sane for the most part . 

“I’m going to get you out of here.”

“How…”

“I’ll figure it out.”

Target was silent for a moment before responding.

“No one has succeeded in escaping so far. Not one person.”

“Then, sooner or later, we’ll be legends for being the first to succeed.”

He inspected Won as if he were a curious animal examining a human reaching out to them for the first time. His eyes were stained with cynicism and distrust, but Won saw a glimmer of hope in them.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’m an expert.”

Won tore her gaze away from Target.

“We’ll talk another time. It will look suspicious if we stick around here too long.”

Cha Mu-jin didn’t bother to catch Won as she turned away. A part of him wanted to grab her and ask more, but he had enough patience and reason to hold back. Won thought he went insane from confinement and the talk of a “snake,” but he’s surprisingly coherent.

Won touched her neck, remembering how Target had looked at her like a puppy being abandoned by his owner before she walked away.

‘He’s unusually innocent.’

Won never thought she would use the word “innocent” to describe a grown man and not a child. However, she couldn’t think of anything better to describe his dainty appearance. For the first time, she realized that a man with broad shoulders, an angular jawline, a high-bridge nose, almond-shaped eyes, and protruding eyebrows could look innocent. She thought it was a ridiculous combination, but now that she is aware it exists, she was mesmerized by it. Her fascination doesn’t end there, as well.

‘There’s actually someone who looks like he’s never had even a drop of water on his hands in his life.’

Neither ‘master’ nor ‘heir’ are the right word. He is like a prince. He may be wearing the same striped, patient uniform as everyone else, but there is a distinctive air around him that sets him apart.

Won looked down at her own body and thought she was just like any other patient.

‘I have to complete my mission as soon as possible and take off this outfit. I don’t have natural elegance, so I need to at least dress decently.’

Won wanted to contemplate how to dress to impress a little bit longer, but she needed to address Cha Mu-jin’s “snake” talk.

Won concluded it didn’t seem like Target’s mental stability had deteriorated to the point where he was hallucinating from their conversation. If those symptoms did appear, Won would estimate him to be about 150 degrees gone.

So, what is this “snake” that scared her target so much? He is convinced it’s real and that it eats people.

When Target says “eaten,” Won assumed he didn’t literally mean cannibalism. This wasn’t a normal psychiatric institute, but cannibalism is too abnormal for even this facility.

An asylum used by the wealthy and those who wish to exercise authority over others for their own projects? Probably.

Abuse committed in secret in this facility? That wouldn’t even be breaking news in the media.

But a mental hospital that houses a cannibalistic monster…?

‘I’d rather assume they are conducting illegal clinical trials on patients.’

A cannibalistic monster is a complete fantasy disguised as a realistic possibility. Won wouldn’t accept it.

Since humans are animals who see and hear what they believe, Won interpreted the snake as a threatening figure and Target’s extreme fear of being eaten as a reason to escape. She decided to investigate who the snake was which made Target so scared.

‘I’m going to figure this out well in advance, just in case Target stumbles over it as we escape.’

Won decided it would be best to remove any obstacles to a clean escape with prince charming as soon as possible. If something were to cause the prince to freeze and panic in the middle of their escape, there would be no way out.

***

“The new patient is having a conversation with ‘No. 3’”

“Let’s get a close-up.”

At the command, the staff member zoomed in on the picture playing from the CCTV.

“I can’t see her mouth very well because the angle is bad. Let e pull up another screen.”

There was more than one CCTV in the hallway, so the employee tried another one. The results weren’t much different.

“Huh? I can’t see it from this side either. Their angle must be perfect because it isn’t easy to avoid the cameras.”

While the staff member was scratching his head, Won turned her back on ‘No. 3,’ a.k.a. Cha Mu-jin, and walked away.

“Wow, that was fast. I guess she didn’t have much to say and just made small talk?”

The employee’s expression was somewhat mollified. His boss, however, still looked suspicious.

“What if she knew she was in the CCTV’s blind spot and deliberately stood like that…”

“Is that even possible? Do you think even a normal person would know the angle of the cameras?”

The average person doesn’t even know where the CCTVs are hidden, but to know all their locations and calculate their paths in your head to figure out the blind spots? It’s a trick that only a top agent in a movie could pull off.

“It’s just a coincidence, sir. There’s no way a newbie who has just entered the hospital, no matter how good her eyesight, would know all the CCTV locations in the ward, let alone a patient who has been there for years. The woman hasn’t even made any move to look for the cameras, anyway.”

Sometimes patients would try to find the CCTVs like a treasure hunt, but that behavior was normally so obvious that the surveillance team could easily tell what the purpose was. It’s hard not to notice it when they stare at a blank ceiling or walls, but the newly admitted woman had no such signs.

“I see.”

Dr. Madison tapped his fingers on the desk to confirm.

“You mean she wasn’t acting particularly suspicious?”

“Correct. I didn’t see anything and there is nothing in the logs. Oh, she was working out alone in her room and she’s very flexible. She was doing yoga or pilates or something, and she can fold herself in half, and she has big breasts. Even when she lifts her arms up, you can see it is still about a handful.”

Recalling the way her body was accentuated by the movements, the staff member smiled.

“She’s got big hips, so every time she sticks out her ass, I’m just… so mesmerized. She’s like a doll and totally S-class, and all I can think about is how did that bitch get here? She works out a lot, too.”

“Do you want to eat her?”

When Dr. Madison asked, the employee swallowed hard. He probably would never get the chance to do it with a woman like that, ever.

“Are you going to let me?”

“We’ll see.”

Staring at Won on the screen, the corners of Dr. Madison’s lips lifted up.

“She has a delicious-looking body: white, big where it’s supposed to be big, small where it’s supposed to be small. She’s red where she is supposed to be red, and chewy. I’ve only tasted a little, but it was sweet and sour. It was very… delicious.”

The employee’s throat wildly bobbed up and down at the description.

“After you taste it, I’d really like to try her, please.”

The staffer looked at him for confirmation, but Dr. Madison shrugged it off. That was a decision to be made at the moment. If he tasted her and quickly got tired of her, he would pass her around; if he liked her, he would devour and coddle her.

After restlessly waiting for an answer, the employee finally gave up and changed the subject.

“No. 3 is going back to his room.”

“Keep an eye on him in case he tries to escape again. Report any unusual behavior.”

“Understood.”

“And keep an eye on the new patient.”

“Yes.”

New patients are supposed to be carefully surveilled for about a month. There was a chance they may have an accident because of the changed environment, or there was an occasional scoundrel who would come in disguised as a patient for whatever purpose. But a woman who was so dainty and feminine would have to worry about being mistreated by men because there is nothing lower on the pyramid than a woman with flowers in her head.

Staring at Won’s voluptuous breasts, which weren’t concealed by the patient gowns, the staff member slid his hand down to his genitals. He thought that if he could just fuck a girl like her, he would have no more wishes left.

Watching the scene, Dr. Madison smirked.

“You want to know something fun?”

“Wait? What…”

“That girl. When I was doing her physical, I saw that she had her nipples pierced with chains connecting both sides.”

“Shit, that’s something a crazy bitch would do.”

“I tugged on the chain, and her nipples hardened. When she glared at me, I almost fucked her on the spot.”

“How did you put up with that, sir? She might as well have been asking to be fucked since she came in like that.”

“Well, some of my patients suffer from paraphilia or an abnormal libido.”

“Ha, what a slut. She must have been whoring around all over the place out there.”

The employee’s eyes glazed over and he looked back at Won on the screen, ready to devour her completely. In his mind, she was already naked, lusting for several men in an orgy.

Dr. Madison decided to give him a warning.

“You know what happens when you touch a patient without permission, don’t you?”

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  he’s sane for the most part