"Park Jimin?" a lady in a white lab coat holding a wooden clipboard reads off her sheet of paper. Jimin is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his stomach, ignoring the slight grumbling noises it's making due to the fact that he skipped lunch. He raises his hand, with doesn't get seen at first, but gets noticed after he extends it completely. The lady looks at her list once again before examining Jimin up and down, as if to confirm that he truly is Park Jimin, not some impostor of a lower grade. She didn't need another one of those. Not after what happened a few years back.
"Ah, there you are. You're the last one on the list," the lady finally smiles, indicating Jimin to follow her into the science lab. The lady's name reads Kang Seulgi in neat, clear letters on her name tag located on the right side of her chest. Just below her name is a label saying that she is a secretary, probably Dr. Kim's.
"Sorry for that. Didn't want you accidentally being some guy messing around from a grade lower. This test is strictly for eighteen year olds. No one above or no one under. We have tried with all sorts of ages, but those weren't exactly successful tests. We have recently developed a test that works for older people, but it's still being tested," Seulgi informs Jimin. He wants to ask what happened to the people who got tested that weren't eighteen, but he decides to keep it to himself thinking she won't tell him anyway to keep it professional.
The science lab looks completely different. All of the tables, books, and all sorts of science equipment have been shoved into a corner and white strips of cloth like bed sheets are hanging from the roof, creating little enclosed spaces for testing. The bed sheets create a total of ten separate 'rooms' with a 'hallway' splitting everything down the middle. It looks completely different and Jimin isn't sure if he likes it or not.
Seulgi leads Jimin behind a white sheet and tells him to sit down on the chair in the middle of the makeshift room. There's one other chair, a spinning one beside a small table supposedly belonging to the person conducting the test. On top of the table was a plastic box labeled Kim's Scientific Lab of Science, which doesn't tell Jimin much about the contents of the box. He resists the urge of walking to it and opening it and sits down on the other chair instead like he's told.
"Alright, someone will be here shortly to preform your test, alright? Hang tight 'til then," Seulgi says as she checks something on her clipboard. "Got any questions?"
"Well, um," Jimin hesitates before asking, "Is it gonna hurt?"
"It's different for everyone. It mainly depends on your pain tolerance, but even if you have a low one, it shouldn't hurt as much as you think," Seulgi smiles encouragingly. "Oh, and stop looking so scared! I'm sure you're excited to find the one you're with hm?"
"I guess," Jimin shrugs. He's still not really sure how this whole thing works. "What if I don't have a soulmate?"
"Oh, don't think that. There's only been a couple people weren't matched with anyone, so there's no need to worry"
"I don't know," Jimin says disbelievingly. "I'm known to be an unlucky person."
"I thought that too when I was your age," Seulgi sighs, her grip on her clipboard tightening. "You see, I wasn't paired with anyone."
Jimin looks at her sympathetically, not sure what to say. He watches as Seulgi looks wistfully at the plastic box on the table, as if she wanted a redo. Suddenly, she shakes her head and loosens her grip on the clipboard.
"Any other questions?"
"No, that's all,"
"Alright. Have a nice day!" she chirps before disappearing behind the sheet of cloth, leaving Jimin alone with his thoughts.
So it is possible to not be paired with someone?395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aAahGb2c6
What if I'm not paired with someone?395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIVv70n71U
That would give Jeon something else to bully me about.395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCFyvEduyg
Why does Jeon bully me in the first place?395Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbhWOL5tre
Don't be silly, you know why.
"Park Jimin?" a man asks for clarification, interrupting Jimin's train of thoughts.
"Oh! Yeah, that's me!" Jimin squeaks, shaking all over as he bowed. His anxiety as getting the best of him once again. Disappointed but not surprised.
The man is wearing black glasses and a white lab coat like all the other employees working for Kim's Scientific Lab. His name tag reads Kim Namjoon, which was in a curvy font unlike Seulgi's which might mean that he has a more important job.
"I am Dr. Kim, the one who runs this whole operation," he smiles proudly as he sits down on the spinney chair and starts to open the plastic box. "I inherited Kim's Scientific Lab from my father and decided to keep running the soulmate test. I am very fond of this whole operation since this is how I found the love of my life."
The box contains a couple alcohol wipes, a needle, and some bandages.
"How was your day today Jimin?" Dr. Kim asks as he rips open a packet of alcohol wipes and rolls over to Jimin.
"Good," Jimin says as he watches Dr. Kim push up the sleeve of his tee-shirt and wipes an area of his arm.
"Hm, that's what everyone says," Dr. Kim shakes his head, laughing to himself a bit. "How good was it?"
"Better than usual," Jimin answers truthfully. Dr. Kim hums at him to tell him to keep going as he proceeds to prepare the needle.
"Well, you see, I woke up on time today and got here early, which sounds good right? It's not. I got to school early and I walked into my best friend making out with his soulmate in the hallway. It was disgusting," he says, scrunching up his nose in disgust. Dr. Kim chuckles and rolls over to Jimin once again.
"Alright, this will only take a couple seconds. I just need to be sure that you're not allergic to the chemical we're using, alright? It's just like any other shot you would get at the doctor's office when you get a vaccination," Dr. Kim assures, positioning the needle above Jimin's skin.
"What if I am allergic to the chemical?" Jimin asks curiously.
"We have an alternative that you hopefully won't be allergic to"
"What if I'm allergic to that?"
"Full of questions today aren't you, Mr. Park?" Dr. Kim laughs, carefully sinking the needle into Jimin's pale skin. "Don't move."
"Yeah, my mom says I ask too much questions ever since I were little," Jimin says, eyeing the needle in the corner of his eye.
It came out as soon as it went in. Before he knew it, the needle was being put back into the box and a bandage was placed on the spot where he was injected.
"Alright. Now we wait about five minutes or so. That's how long it usually takes for the chemical to kick in. I only put a little bit in so that we know if you're allergic or not. If you're not, I will inject more," Dr. Kim says as he carefully closes the box. He peeps his head out behind the sheet and calls over Seulgi. She takes the box and puts a sticker with Jimin's name on it.
"How do you know when it's working?" Jimin asks, turning his arm a bit so that he could see the bandage.
"If you're allergic to it, you will get hives, and if you're not, you won't," Dr. Kim answered simply.
"What's the chemical for?"
"Well, you see, it enhances the organism in your body that reacts to your soulmate and will make finding your soulmate much easier," explains Dr. Kim. "It's not necessary, but it makes our jobs simpler, which answers your question from before. There have been some people that were allergic to both of the chemicals, like Miss Kang, you know, the kind lady that escorted you here. My goal is to create a chemical similar to the other two so that there could be that third option not only for Seulgi, but for everyone else with that same allergy."
"Dr. Kim! I can't thank you enough!" Seulgi beams from behind a strip of cloth with only her head poking out. "I apologize for eavesdropping, but that is truly amazing!"
"You're very welcome, Seulgi"
"Oh! Seokjin is here to see you," Seulgi pulls back the sheet to reveal a broad-shouldered, black haired man wearing a large grin.
"Namjoonie! Hi! I brought you food- Oh! You're not done yet?" Seokjin glances at Jimin curiously before handing Namjoon a bag of food.
"He's the last one," Dr. Kim smiles fondly at him. "Jimin, meet my soulmate, Seokjin."
"Aw, aren't you a cute little one. Call me Jin," he says, walking forward and pinching Jimin's cheeks. Jimin waves off his hands and rubs his cheeks to soothe the pain.
"I'm Jimin," Jimin tells him, not sure whether or not he likes Jin so far.
"I'll see you later Joonie!" Jin waves them goodbye. "See you Jiminie!"
And he left.
"Alright, it's been well over five minutes – more like twenty actually. Looks like you're not showing any signs of hives or other reactions. Great!" Dr. Kim smiles, lifting up Jimin's arms and examining it all around for signs of any allergy reactions.
"I'll just inject some more into you," Dr. Kim says as he injects Jimin once again.
"Seulgi, we're ready for the test." he tells her.
"Okay, I'll be right back," Seulgi rushes off to fetch the equipment.
"Now, don't be overwhelmed by the size of the machine. It's pretty big, I know. I was scared of it too back then, but we're still trying to create a smaller, more portable machine," Dr. Kim explains, now wiping Jimin's forearms with an alcohol wipe. "Don't worry, it won't hurt as much, but I suppose it depends for every person."
"Yeah, Miss Kang told me that earlier," Jimin says nonchalantly as he watches Dr. Kim clean his forearms.
"Will it leave a scar?" Jimin asks.
"There are some people I know with scars from the machine, but it all goes down to who performs the test, how much pressure they apply, how deep they insert the equipment, and how sensitive the patient's skin is," Dr. Kim informs Jimin.
"Alright, here it is," Seulgi announces, wheeling in the machine. It's quite large, about half the size of Dr. Kim himself. Many tubes and wires are dangling from it, making it seem scarier than it actually is.
"Relax, Jimin," she assures before flashing a quick smile and leaving the two.
"She's right," Dr. Kim nods. "I know it's hard, but you must try. Take deep breaths and close your eyes."
Jimin takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes, trying to think of happy thoughts and erase the image of the machine in his head. He feels needles being sunk into his left forearm which is much more noticeable and painful than the little shot. Jimin's first instinct is to pull his arm away, but Dr. Kim is holding his wrist in place, making Jimin unable to move his arms. Next came the other arm and Jimin almost wants to yelp in pain, but Jimin bites it back.
He feels Dr. Kim pull away and he slowly opens his eyes to see Dr. Kim smiling at him.
"You took that better than most people," he congratulates. Jimin's eyes wander to his forearms where the tubes and wires are pressed into his skin. The sight of it made it more painful than it already is.
"Dr. Kim? I have a question," Jimin pipes up, hoping that taking would ease the pain or at least make him forget about it for a while.
"Go ahead"
"Why do we have to do the written test? Why is that necessary when we have to do all of this," he says as he lifts up his arms a little to show him. He instantly regrets it though when pain shoots from his forearms.
"Ah, well you see, we used to do these tests without the written tests a couple years back," Dr. Kim explains. "These tests weren't as accurate as we hoped – and they still aren't – so one of colleagues, Dr. Wang, came up with the idea of having a written test too. I wouldn't even consider it as a test – more like a survey."
"What do you mean 'they weren't accurate'?" Jimin asks as he watches Dr. Kim shut the machine down, meaning that the test has been completed.
"As you know, people have a sexual preference. Sometimes, our test is isn't accurate and puts, let's say, a gay male with a straight female. That would be a problem wouldn't it? There's more, but that's one of the big ones. You get the idea," Dr. Kim says as he removes the tubes and wires from Jimin's arms causing him to retract them on instinct. Dr. Kim lets him, though and calls Seulgi once again to take away the machine once he was done writing something on a sheet of paper.
"I'm not quite sure I completely understand this whole 'soulmates' thing," Jimin admits as he gets up from his chair. Dr. Kim leads him out of the science lab, which looks as if nothing had happened. Seulgi and some other people had cleaned up the place as Jimin's test was being done.
"Don't worry, when you get your results, your principal will explain everything you need to know," Dr. Kim says as he pats Jimin on the back. "It was nice meeting you, Park Jimin. Have a great day."
"Thank you, Dr. Kim," Jimin bows before waving goodbye to both Dr. Kim and Seulgi, thinking that it would be his last time seeing them.
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