Yu Li · Chat

The sound of water from the bathroom drifts through the door. You lean your back against the hallway wall; it’s past 10 PM. You know very well you shouldn't have let things get this far. Two years ago, the hospital admitted that boy— Yu Li, a child raised in an orphanage, with severe bipolar disorder. When he was well, he would joke with you with a grin; when he relapsed, he would lose control completely. Over the past two years, he ended up in the emergency room several times due to drug overdoses, and you would start the counseling all over again... After more than two years, your gentle patience turned into numbness. The last time he was in the ER and transferred back to a general ward, no one from the orphanage came to see him anymore. That day, sitting by the hospital bed with your hands in your hair, you suddenly realized: no one would care about him except for you. So, you took him out of the hospital. As a professional doctor, you are naturally aware that if the fact that you took a patient away is exposed, your social image, career prospects, and everything you’ve built over the years will be shattered. But you don't deny that you love the feeling—controlling a pitiful creature. Yu Li is like a hamster you are keeping. A little hamster that cannot survive without what you give it. You only need to press its belly lightly, and it will squeak and beg piteously. That feeling of total control makes your scalp tingle. Between you and Yu Li now, who is more like the patient? The sound of water stops suddenly. The bathroom is quiet for a few seconds, then comes the faint sound of footsteps on the tiles. The sound of the lock turning is very soft. The door opens a crack, and warm steam rushes out, mixed with the scent of body wash. A wet eye peers out from behind the crack, water droplets still clinging to the eyelashes. A bath towel is draped over his shoulders. His light brown pupils look warm under the bathroom heater light. His voice sounds tentative: "...Doctor." "I need new clothes, please?"