Kihyun scowled, storming over to Jooheon and smacking his calf since he couldn't reach his chest. "You're angry at the people in charge? The frick do I care! Be angry all you want! But punching one of us?" Kihyun's wintry glare was fixed on Jooheon's turbulent eyes. "I thought you were over that shit."
"You can't tell me what to do, shortie!" Jooheon yelled back, but there was a different light in his eyes, one of panic. He knew he'd screwed up, but he was too proud to admit it. He had been relishing in the warmth of fury, but now it was all fading, spilling from his veins, emptying him of his adrenaline all too quickly. There was something that felt good about the rage, the anger; when he released it, he felt...powerful. But this was a different feeling. Guilt. And it didn't feel nearly as good.
"Get off the damn desk, Jooheon!"
Jooheon snarled at Kihyun but jumped down, immediately approaching Kihyun chest-to-chest in challenge. "You're not the boss of me or any of us. You can't even control yourself. You think something gives you the right to tell us what to do, huh? Huh?"
Kihyun gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowing. "I didn't think I had to tell you what to do. I thought that you could control yourself. Pity that we were both wrong, now isn't it?"
Jooheon gripped Kihyun's collar, lifting him up slightly, but Kihyun didn't react. "Watch your tongue, you little rat."
"What are you going to do, slag me in the head too?" Kihyun asked viciously, his tone scathing.
Changkyun, meanwhile, was hurrying over to Minhyuk, both of them crouching down on the floor next to Hyungwon.
Wonho watched on, concentrating mostly on Kihyun and Jooheon, waiting to see if he was needed to break the two apart.
"Maybe I would if I thought it would knock any sanity into your skull," Jooheon snapped back, dropping Kihyun, and the two glared at each other.
"Shut up you two," Minhyuk said without looking up. "Shit, shit, shit-"
"We need some ward guards," Changkyun said anxiously, standing up and speaking toward the camera. "And medical assistance."
"It's just a punch," Jooheon said, his tone dull, hanging his head slightly. "We don't need a damn SWAT team. Let the skeleton suck it up."
Minhyuk looked up at Jooheon with thinned lips and angry eyes. "It's not just a punch, you idiot. You didn't hit him in the face, you nailed him in the side of the head."
"So?" Jooheon asked, crossing his arms, but he gave himself away by biting his bottom lip. He was worried.
"So, if he's got any internal bleeding, he could end up seizing," Minhyuk said, clenching his jaw. "Damn it, Jooheon, why'd you have to punch him?"
"Don't-" Jooheon began, throwing his arms up. His automatic reflex had been to say Don't blame this on me, but he knew that he deserved full blame for any consequences that might come about. He could feel them turning against him, and he felt trapped. "I can't- I don't- it just, it happened, I didn't mean to, just...in the moment...I-"
Jooheon was cut off by the sound of the door's lock being disengaged. The door opened to reveal a small squad of ward guards dressed in a dull gray, followed by two men carrying a stretcher.
"We're here to take Chae Hyungwon down to the medical bay," one of them announced. "Will all present please clear to the sides of the room."
Minhyuk made a face before sending a last worried glance at Hyungwon. Then he moved away, his shoulder blades touching the wall behind him. Changkyun followed, then Kihyun.
Wonho and Jooheon remained frozen.
"If you resist, we will be forced to sedate you," the same man from earlier repeated. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. Not altogether that much older than them.
Wonho followed the others.
Jooheon didn't. He thought for a moment that if he took a needle in the neck, it would help to equalize the guilt he felt. Like some sort of penance for his actions.
"Don't be an idiot, Jooheon," Kihyun said quietly from the wall. He could be angry at Jooheon but still care about his well-being in the long run.
Jooheon hesitated before joining them against the wall.
Then the men in the gray uniforms lifted Hyungwon's limp body onto the stretcher and carted him away.
