With both Jooheon and Minhyuk gone, Changkyun was moved into Shownu's room, and the extra room was cleaned of any leftover belongings and permanently locked.
The breakfast table was quiet, broken only by the whine of plastic against plastic as Kihyun grated his knife against the breakfast tray. Everybody was looking down at their own tray, not knowing what to say to break the quiet. Jooheon had always been good at talking, even if most of what he said was offensive or with the intention of riling someone up. And Minhyuk's inane babbling and rambling had been comforting in a way. Normal. Like they had just been seven boys in the high school lunch room gossiping about high school drama.
"So," Wonho spoke up after a moment. Changkyun looked up, somewhat curious but also resigned into silence. Wonho scanned their faces, passing quickly over Kihyun's and Shownu's when they gave no response, and landing on Hyungwon, who was staring down at his tray, his fork limp in his fingers. "Hey," Wonho said softly, putting a hand on Hyungwon's shoulder. "Are you all right? You don't look great," he said, eyeing the dark marks smudging the valleys underneath Hyungwon's eyes.
Hyungwon didn't respond, his eyes somewhat unfocused.
"Hyungwon?" Wonho scooted a bit closer, worried that Hyungwon would go unconscious any second now and fall backward, hitting his head on the ground. So far, despite the first time that had caught him off guard, Wonho had managed to avoid letting Hyungwon hit his head, but he knew how dangerous a head injury could be. Wonho swallowed, taking it upon himself to provide conversation for the table. "Guest visits are coming up soon. That's good, isn't it? To see your mom or dad."
Changkyun's lips tightened as though he wasn't sure whether to be happy or angry at himself for being happy. Shownu just smiled, a small smile, like he was content, and Kihyun twitched, shaking slightly.
"Don't let her near me," he hissed, head snapping up, and Wonho swallowed, realizing that he'd accidentally activated one of Kihyun's triggers. "Go away, I want everyone to go away, go away go away go away-"
Kihyun began ranting, slamming his hands on the table and muttering "goawaygoawaygoaway" under his breath, the letters and words blurring together as students from other tables started turning to look.
"Kihyun," Hyungwon said, his eyes refocusing temporarily as he stared with a tragic look in his eyes, like he wanted to help but knew that Kihyun wouldn't accept it anyway. "You're okay. You're safe."
"Goawaygoawaygoaway," Kihyun said, rocking back and forth in his seat, eyes crazed, arms clutching himself.
"Kihyun-" Hyungwon began, biting his lip before reaching out to put an unsteady finger on Kihyun's arm, trying to calm him down, but his actions backfired.
Kihyun immediately shot away from Hyungwon's touch, glaring at him. "GOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAY!"
Hyungwon's eyes were mirrors reflecting the pain hidden in Kihyun's eyes before they shattered.
"GOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAY!" Kihyun screamed, rocking back and forth once more, tears streaming from his eyes without his knowing as he clutched his hands over his ears, screaming the words over and over, and all Wonho could do was hold Hyungwon back from trying to reach Kihyun because he knew that if he did, Hyungwon would just get hurt.
The ward guards finally reached Kihyun and injected a sedative into his neck, waiting for his screams to die down and his eyes to flutter before they carefully removed him from his seat, carrying him to a stretcher and carting him away.
Hyungwon watched with horrified eyes.
He had done this.
He had known how important boundaries were, and...and he had crossed a line, the line separating Kihyun from insanity.
Kihyun had had a mental breakdown, and Hyungwon was partially to blame.
He'd never wanted to lose consciousness more, but it didn't come to him.
