Run tests on them?!

Reno and Yeonwoo exchanged glances, a glimpse of panic hidden between them. Obviously, they were aware of the fact that ever since the imperial guards had captured them, they were essentially slaves belonging to the Kingdom of Banyeok. However, the reality of what being a slave meant finally dawned on them for first them when they heard this.

“First, we’re going to take some blood samples from you and send it for testing. Then we’re going to run some physical tests and depending on your results we’ll decide which sector to send you to.” Said Minjoon, filling out a form handed to him from another officer in the facility. He handed the form back to the officer and nodded at him. The officer saluted and immediately sprinted out of their sight. Seems like everyone in this facility was afraid of Minjoon. Well, either they were afraid or they found the mere existence of Yeonwoo uncomfortable.

Reno’s face turned pale. Yeonwoo turned and looked at him concerned, “Reno? Are you okay? Your complexion doesn’t look right…”

They had suffered worse ordeals just the day before. Kidnapping, the murder of their entire group, Hyuk getting shot….so Yeonwoo couldn’t seem to figure out what it would be that would cause Reno to react like this.

“I’m terrified of needles.” Whispered Reno. “I still vividly remember my last vaccination. It was a nightmare.”

Yeonwoo tried hard to not crack a smile. Of course, he wasn’t making fun of Reno’s fear. It was just that if he was to take everything that happened to them into consideration, this was by far the most normal response Reno could give. Yeonwoo also found himself being relieved that it wasn’t anything bigger than that. A part of him worried that Reno had seen something he wasn’t supposed to. After all, they were in a new place and had no idea of the rules in the place. Not to mention the officer in charge of them, Minjoon, seemed to be an extremist when it came to rules and etiquette. It wouldn’t even come off as a surprise if he decided to end their lives simply because they put one toe out of the line.

The both of them waited anxiously as officers shuffled around. They all wore the same olive-green uniform and honestly, it was hard to tell their ranks apart. All they could tell was that right now, Minjoon was probably one of the higher-ranking officers. The senior officer who was with them last time seemed to be nowhere in sight.

After 5 minutes of waiting, much to their surprise, a lady dressed up in all white walked up to them. She wore a surgical mask which covered most of her face. She held a tray in her hands with a bunch of bottles and medical instruments on it. She looked at the nervous faces of both Yeonwoo and Reno. Maybe Reno’s face in particular startled her and she gave a warm smile to the both of them. Despite her face being covered with the mask, her eyes were kind and radiated warmth.

“Officer Minjoon, it would be of great help if you could bring chairs for them. I can’t possibly do my job with them standing.” Said the lady. While her tone was polite there was a certain sternness in it that made Minjoon immediately fulfil her wish. In a split second, he was back with two chairs and placed it near the nurse.

“Here you go, Dr.Miya.” said Minjoon, giving her a short bow.

She smiled underneath the mask and nodded back at him. “So, which one of you want to go first?”

Yeonwoo and Reno exchanged glances. They both seemed to reach to the same conclusion. Reno gulped and raised his hand feebly.

“Excellent! Please take a seat and stretch out your right arm.” She spoke. She summoned a standby solider nearby and asked him to hold the tray for her. She took a cotton swab and sprayed it with what looked like a disinfectant and wiped Reno’s right arm which he had hesitantly stretched out. The minute the cold cotton swab hit his skin, he felt goosebumps go all over his skin. He closed his eyes tightly. He felt like if he saw the needle, he’d faint right that second.

After cleaning the area around the vein, she removed the needle from the case. She probed his arm a couple of times with her finger, as if searching for his vein. She frowned and shook her head.

“This kid is so malnourished, it’s hard for me to find his vein. Open your eyes.” She said, throwing the needle onto the side of the tray.

Reno opened his eyes slowly, looking confused. Fucking hell, why was this dragging for so long? The longer this dragged on, the closer Reno was to fainting.

Without warning, the doctor put on hand on Reno’s chin and using her gloved thumb, pulled down Reno’s lower eyelid. After observing for a few second, she took her hands of his face and sighed. “I kind of expected it but this is particularly bad. Severely anaemic. Probably the same for the other guy with him. I can’t withdraw too much blood from them. Just enough to run some tests, we might have to postpone some of the tests later.”

Reno’s eyes widened in horror. Did this mean he’d have to go through nightmare again? Maybe it would be better if he died right now.

Miya looked over at Minjoon, waiting for his verdict on this matter. Minjoon shrugged his shoulder and said, “You’re the doctor. Do as you please.”

She gave a small smile. “I thought you’d say that.”

 Yeonwoo analysed their interactions. From the looks of it, while a doctor’s status would not be as high as Minjoon it seemed like he had a certain degree of respect for her. Was it because of her position as a doctor or was there some other reason behind it? He shook his head. It didn’t matter. He had more pressing matters to worry about.

Miya returned her attention to Reno, who still sat in the chair, pale faced. “I’m sorry but we’ll probably be doing this one more time. And regardless of your status in Banyeok, you’ll be subject to periodic health checks, so I suggest getting used to needles. I know getting over a fear isn’t easy, but I’d appreciate it if you tried.”

Reno nodded weakly. Maybe because she was doctor or because she seemed like a caring woman, he found himself nodding before he even realized it.

She smiled and changed her gloves. This time, she took a belt and fastened it around Reno’s upper arm. She flicked the area around his veins a couple of times, trying to make the vein more visible and accessible. Reno had already shut his eyes tightly at this point.

She opened another needle and carefully placed it on the vein. Seamlessly, she pushed it in and pulled blood. Reno winced slightly but before he could realize it, the needle had been taken out, and Miya was wiping his arm once again with another disinfected swab. She put a patch over that spot and said, “Press on it for 5 minutes and then you can remove the patch.”

Reno nodded and got up from the seat. He looked at Yeonwoo and let out a huge sigh. “I almost shit my pants there” he whispered.

Yeonwoo let out a smile. “Quit exaggerating.”

The same procedure was performed on Yeonwoo minus the dramatics. He wasn’t fond of needles either and he was a little bit nervous considering the fact it had been years since he had even seen a needle but other than that, he thought he did pretty good.

Dr.Miya examined the bottles of blood she had collected and nodded at them. “Alright, seems good. Although, as I said, once we fatten you both a bit, we’re going to run some more tests and give some state approved vaccinations. You’ll also undergo a thorough health inspection at the respective sector you are assigned to. Any questions?”

Yeonwoo was tempted to raise his eyebrow but since his respect for doctors ran deep, and he refrained himself from doing so. Any questions? Fucking hell, of course I have questions!

 He smiled politely. “No questions.”

Reno gave Yeonwoo a puzzled look but decided to follow in his lead, as he always did. “Same here.”

“Well, that wraps up my duty. Unless you end up with severe injuries, I doubt there would be an occasion for us to meet since I deal with these rowdy bunch of people. God knows what they’re preparing for.”

Minjoon cleared his throat and sent a glare towards Miya. Although, not as fierce as his glares towards others, this was still enough for Miya to shrug and quietly leave.

Once she left, Minjoon summoned another officer and briefed him on something before sending that officer towards Reno and Yeonwoo.

“We’re going to proceed with the physical examination.” Said the officer. He looked at them with a curious look. There was no malicious intent behind his eyes yet for some unknown reason, it made Yeonwoo uncomfortable. It made him feel like he was some zoo animal on show. He looked away awkwardly.

The officer’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m sorry! It’s just that we haven’t seen outsiders in a quite long time. Not to mention, we have three of them this time so naturally we’re curious. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the sta—OW!”

Before the man could complete his apology, Minjoon had promptly the smacked the back of the junior officer’s head with a thick bundle of papers he had been looking through. His glare pierced through. “Did I send you over to chit-chat or get your job done? I swear you incompetent bunch—”

(to be continued...)