{panic(king): changki}

14

I rub my temple, feeling the dull throbbing as I sit in the plush chair in Mrs. Kim's office. Minhyuk is beside me in another chair, knuckles covered in dried blood as he picks at his nails. Minjun, a senior, sits on the other side of me. He is opposed to everything our rally stood for and thought they made the right decision taking me out of the program.

"So," Mrs. Kim starts, carrying a pile of envelopes and closing the door behind her. I get up to help her, but she waves me back to my chair. The pile of envelopes slumps over on her desk, and she turns to face the three of us once again. She crosses her arms over her chest. "I assume you all know why you're here," she says, giving all of us a stern look.

"Yes, Mrs. Kim," I say quietly, dipping my head.

"I honestly expected better from you, Changkyun. I didn't think you were the type to get into fights," she says, reminding me of my mother when she was disappointed in me. I dip my head and stay quiet. "I'd like to hear from all of you about what happened," she continues. Noticing Minhyuk's tense, restless state, she nodded toward him. "Would you like to go first, Minhyuk?" she asks.

The orange-haired boy nods with an exaggerated but relieved sigh. "Yes, I would. We were having a peaceful rally, trying to show Mr. Jin that we weren't going to stand for his discrimination anymore. And it was going well until we were at a disagreement about whether the music program should be open to people who are part of our community or not." Minhyuk was always one to exaggerate with a bit of a flair for the dramatic. I actually feel kinda proud of him that he's taking this seriously and telling the truth, not adding in details that never happened to make it seem more interesting.

He stands up and starts to pace the room while he continues. "People were starting to get shoved as our disagreement continues, and his pack started pushing their way into our crowd," he says with a sharp glare at Minjun. "Then I remember Changkyun getting punched. I don't know what led to that, but full on war broke out and I was trying to keep Hyungwon next to me and stay out of all of it, while also trying to find Hoseok and Jooheon and Hyunwoo and keep track of Changkyun and Kihyun. But we ended up getting separated and once I did find him again, two of his goons—" another gesture in Minjun's direction while the older rolled his eyes— "were taunting my boyfriend. And I remember exactly what they said."

"What did they say, Minhyuk?" Mrs. Kim asks.

"'You're a pretty thing, aren't you? What a disappointment you must be to all the ladies and your parents when you waste your time on men,'" Minhyuk says, like he's reciting lines for a play. "That's when I snapped and started fighting back. I jumped on one of them and gave Hyungwon enough time to get out but I was throwing punches."

Mrs. Kim frowns and writes something down. "Do you know who they were, Minhyuk?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "I didn't know their names, but I'm pretty sure they were juniors."

She nods. "Minjun, what about you?"

"He had a mouth on him, so yeah, I went to hit him. I was pissed about the little stunt he pulled trying to ruin our music program, which is just fine, by the way," he adds, with a sharp glare in my direction. "But he ducked and my fist connected with his head, then fighting broke out among everyone else. They probably deserved it."

"No they didn't—" Minhyuk starts before Mrs. Kim gestures to silence him.

"Mr. Jin told us to get rid of them," Minjun finishes. "So that's what we went to do."

Mrs. Kim nods to me once Minjun finishes. I try to ignore the dirty look Minhyuk is giving him as I start telling her what I remember. "We started the song Kihyun and I had written for the rally, and it was peaceful, the group of us just standing outside the music room, trying to prove a point. Then Minjun and his friends came out and started pushing their way into us, some a little rougher than others. He asked me to explain myself and I told him, in the politest way I could, that we were having a rally for reform in the music program and the school itself. He said that the program is just fine without people like us in it." I try to ignore Minjun's eyes burning a hole in the back of my skull. "So I told him I thought the program would be even better if there weren't people as close-minded as him in it." I purse my lips, focusing on Mrs. Kim's shoes. "Then he went to punch me, but I ducked, and that's when the fighting broke out. I don't think that many people got hurt, though."