Treacherous

24 - tear down

I knew the consequences I'd met when I made my intrusion with Minhyuk. He'd warned me ahead of time what our greeting view would be. Warned me about the person I'd worried about.

"Rona, before we go there, I have to tell you something." he'd said, a few steps away from the crowd occupying the hallway through the waiting room.

"What is it?" I'd responded, distractedly looking behind him and spotting the urgent stare Jenny threw at me as soon as our eyes met. His grip on my arms tightened then, asking me to focus back at him.

"Hear me out. You really have to listen. I—" His brows furrowed seriously as he exhaled, "I want you to let me handle the situation inside, okay? And please stay away from Seokhoon. Don't pull any stunt and put yourself in danger."

"You're dramatic. It's a fight, Minhyuk. Not some kind of murder."

I almost laughed to see him horrified. He talked as if I'd get myself hurt by stopping a family conflict which I believed wasn't going to end up as badly as it is. Yet, he quietly waited for me to stop and I simply did.

"I know you might think Seokhoon's not all violent because he shows his gentle side to you, Rona. You might even think I'm being exaggerated when in fact you've watched him beat someone all these years. And it was still fine, yes," he said. "But whatever happened inside those room right now, it'll be something that could change your perspective of him, Rona."

It could change how I perceive him? Ridiculous. What drastic changes could surprise me more than Seokhoon who consciously gave his side story over the whole month of post-tragedy? Minhyuk said it like I'd push Seokhoon away from me. Like he'd been acquainted with it in the past.

"You said it like you've already witnessed them before," I admitted out loud. His solemn smile and somber eyes in the next second caught me on guard. "Have you?"

"The most terrible night I'd ever seen."

And I was another lucky one who got the front row on what scale Minhyuk classified the most terrible night. The one who got to witness what he might have been crowned a terrible day later. I watched Seokhoon's anger at his peak.

The room could no longer be considered as a space to leisure the moment we came in. Plastic chairs scattered around and two of them turned upside down. Makeup that belonged to Seokkyung poured down, its pouch on the table emptied the content inside to the ground below. And one of the wall mirrors looked like it was thrown over with something; I assumed the broken vase caused it.

While I held my breath to take it all in at a glance, Minhyuk muttered a curse with his eyes focused towards something. I averted my vision to see where he looked, and immediately regretted it.

No.

"Damn it, Joo Seokhoon. Stop it, you're going to kill him!"

Seokhoon punched Doha repeatedly amidst the mess. No words could stop him as if he was possessed. I took note of the way his jaw tensed, his eyes burning, yet his face remained impassive. Most of all, he didn't realize his knuckle was coated with blood as much as Doha's current state. It was like all he saw was an obstacle he had to finish at last.

Beside me, Minhyuk then ran forward and grabbed Seokhoon's shoulder to get his attention. When he resisted, Minhyuk threw him to the side by his shirt's back collar. It made Seokhoon stagger backwards, eyes empty whilst he searched for the ground to steady himself. And Minhyuk took that time to help Doha, who helplessly laid down on the floor, seated on the nearest plastic chair.

I couldn't see how bad the wound Seokhoon left on him at first. But now that he slumped back on the chair with a painful groan, I couldn't stop myself from feeling nauseous.