Training (1)

Another difference between Cane and Noel.

Noel would deliberately make a noise or start a conversation when he came in to let me know he was in the room, whereas Cane moved without a sound. When he came there was no creaking of the door or even the slightest footstep.

Waking up with the unsettling feeling of being watched was truly unpleasant. No matter how hard I tried to get used to it, it felt like I would never adapt.

The person sitting quietly in the chair by the door was undoubtedly Cane, but each time I realized that he had entered the room silently and taken his seat, I was startled.

I had no idea when I fell asleep. I had spent the night venting my frustration by cursing Theo before going to bed.

I nervously sat up in bed and tied my messy hair back again. Walking over to the sink, I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Throughout this entire routine, Cane sat silently in the chair, watching.

He watched my every move with his arms crossed and darkened eyes. Suddenly, I realized that tomorrow as mentioned by Noel was today. The warning about it being hard stirred a faint anxiety in my chest.

“You haven’t eaten,” he said, his voice breaking the silence only after I’d finished washing my face and applying lotion. I tried not to flinch, but as soon as I heard his voice, my shoulders tightened involuntarily.

“I wasn’t feeling well.”

“Make sure to eat on time. There’s no need to suffer unnecessarily.”

As Cane stretched leisurely and stood up, his toned body elongated like that of a predator. He wore a black cotton T-shirt, which clung to his well-defined muscles, revealing just enough of their shape beneath the thin fabric.

I liked Theo’s body. What woman wouldn’t? He looked like a model straight out of a photo shoot.

But at this moment, that large, solid frame only served to heighten my sense of threat. Tensing up, I awkwardly tidied the rumpled blanket.

“Why bother tidying up when it’s just going to get messy again?”

Cane stood silently next to me, and I almost gasped in surprise. Thankfully, I just shrugged my shoulders in response. It seemed he noticed the extreme tension I was in.

“Am I scary, Doctor?”

He leaned in slightly, peering under the tilted angle of my head with a playful grin. I let out a small sigh, trying to take a deep breath while closing my eyes briefly before meeting his gaze again.

“Of course you are.”

“…Is that so? Is it natural?”

Cane straightened up and stroked his chin, a habit that seemed almost instinctual for him.

“I thought you were so calm that you wouldn’t be afraid.

His smile, playful yet cruel, reminded me of a child tearing the wings off a butterfly. I swallowed hard, trying to act as naturally as possible as I sat on the edge of the bed looking at Cane. I had to continue the conversation. I needed information about him and to keep him from doing anything reckless. I wasn’t sure if this desperate attempt would work, but I had to try.

“Cane, tell me more about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?”

Cane walked towards the door, dragging a large black bag closer to the bed. I tried desperately not to look at the bag, my eyes filled with fear. Instead, I forced myself to smile at him, although I wasn’t sure how natural it seemed. Damn, even an experienced stage actor would find it hard to smile in a situation like this!

“Tell me about your life. Like when you were a kid or something. It might help me feel less scared,” I joked, trying to ease the tension in the air.

But Cane didn’t laugh. He just stared at me intently.

“Why would I want to take away the fear?”

Cane asked, almost incredulously, as he dropped the bag with a thud beside the bed. He crouched down and unzipped it in a slow, deliberate motion.

For a brief moment, I seriously considered using the chains around my wrist to strike him on the head. But just imagining it filled me with fear. Violence wasn’t a defense mechanism I was familiar with.

“Am I being too friendly? I spent the whole night wondering why you weren’t afraid,” he said as he stood up, holding a strange device in his hand. It looked nothing like anything I’d seen before. There was a patch attached to a thick black wire, reminiscent of something used in medical procedures, and the wire extended to a heavy-looking base unit.

The sight of the device made me sick to my stomach.

‘What’s that?’

I tried my best not to ask the stupid question. I didn’t want to know what that strange thing was.

“Until this morning, you had two options.”

Cane said casually as if he were presenting a menu. He ticked off his fingers one by one.

“Tie up your other hand or don’t.”

His tone was nonchalant, but there was something far more menacing in his dark, glassy eyes.

“But since you didn’t eat, that second option’s gone. I’m in a bad mood now, so… looks like I’ll have to tie you up.”

The casual cruelty in his words sent a chill down my spine.

Cane sighed, seemingly disappointed. His slow, drawn-out speech made it hard for me to breathe. All the while, he continued looking through the bag, leaving the strange device on the bed.

“Wa-wait a second, Cane.”

“Why, why, why?” he mimicked my tone mockingly. I forced an awkward smile.

“You said you wanted to train me, right? But this isn’t how you do it. Humans aren’t trained this way. You get to know each other through conversation, by communicating and sharing your feelings. That’s how you become important to someone.”

Cane paused for a moment, considering my words, but his smirk only deepened.

I pulled Cane’s hand away from the bag and sat him down beside me. I felt like I was suffocating under the weight of fear, but I forced myself to be brave.

‘This person in front of me is my dear patient, a person who needs my help, a person deserving of sympathy.’

I silently reassured myself. My calm, soothing voice, the kind often appreciated by patients with mental disorders, floated through the air.

Cane stared at the hand I had grasped before slowly raising his gaze to meet mine. Those deep, unreadable eyes locked onto me. Every instinct screamed at me to look away, but I resisted, forcing myself to smile softly as if to reassure him.

Then Cane leisurely clicked his tongue three times.

“…You hold my hand so easily. Seems like you’re not scared of me, after all.”

Cane’s voice was thick and slow, dragging out each word.

“Doctor, I’m not the Theo you’re so madly in love with.”

The situation changed in an instant. Cane grabbed my hand while his other hand kept looking inside his bag. I panicked and tried to pull my hand away with all my strength, but he didn’t let go. His hand didn’t move at all when I struggled, and instead, my wrist started hurting from his tight grip and my efforts to break free.

Cane moved quickly and efficiently as if he had done this a thousand times before. As soon as he found what he was looking for in the bag, he immediately cuffed my left wrists and secured them tightly to the bed. I was forced to lie down, helplessly pinned. The cold silver handcuffs gleamed as they tied my hand.

His movements were smooth and efficient, as if he had done this dozens, maybe hundreds of times before. Only then did I begin to struggle violently. Swinging my right arm, still free thanks to the long chain, I tried desperately to break free from Cane’s grip. But my struggle was futile, no more than an amusing attempt to him, as insignificant as an ant’s bite.

He wrapped the chains tightly around the headboard, completely limiting the movement of my right hand as well. His actions were robotic and precise.

“Cane, Cane!”

I gasped, calling out his name in desperation. He looked down at my legs, deep in thought, as if considering his next move. Despite the brief chaos that had ensued, he wasn’t even out of breath. Not a single part of him seemed unsettled.

“Please, don’t do this.”

I begged, looking up at him with desperation in my eyes.

“You know exactly what I’m about to do, don’t you?”

Cane asked, grinning as he spoke. I was shaking now, all the mental simulations and strategies I’d rehearsed in my head were completely useless.

“I’ll be as gentle as I can with you, Doctor” he added, his voice soft and unsettling.

He spoke as if he were angry, and I cursed under my breath. How could someone who claimed to be gentle tie my wrists, thrust strange devices at me, and create such a terrifying environment? I knew it would be impossible to reason with a madman, but I didn’t give up hope and tried to continue the conversation with Cane.

“Cane, we still have a lot to talk about, don’t we? I have so many questions for you. Instead of torturing me blindly, why don’t we have a deep talk?”

“You’re quite a smooth talker. You really know how to make someone want to talk.”

Cane chuckled, seemingly amused.

“But torture?” he added, feigning hurt.

“That stings a bit. Sure, others may have tortured you, but not me, Doctor.”

I clenched my teeth and cursed inwardly. How could someone claim to be gentle while tying me up and creating this terrifying atmosphere? It was absurd. Yet, even though I knew reasoning with a madman was futile, I clung to the hope that I could reach him through conversation.

Cane sat down next to me and began to fix my disheveled hair. His touch could hardly be described as gentle. It was clumsy and awkward, far from gentle.

“Then let me kindly explain what I’m going to do. After hearing my explanation, you can decide whether this is torture or not, whether it’s something I should do or not. You be the judge, Doctor.”

Kane spoke in a cheerful tone as he pulled the device sitting idly on the bed towards him.

There was no need to hear his explanation – I was sure it was something that shouldn’t be done. He seemed pleased with his own kindness. He pulled the device closer to me, positioning it so that I could see it if I turned my head slightly.