Scope of Life || Yeonbin

chapter 4: potential panic

As soon as the gun was pointed at him, Chan didn't have a choice, "Scorpio."

BANG

I didn't hesitate, pulling the trigger of my rifle as a reaction to the command. When the recoil of my rifle settled back down, I saw that Roger was on the ground now through the scope, and I had to avert my eyes. I picked my head up, looking down at the scene with my bare eyes instead of magnified on one person. It was chaos. People were screaming all over the place, and I could see the pool of blood underneath him from all the way up here.

"Subject neutralized." Chan said after a moment, his voice small and quiet.

I felt sick to my stomach, taking my hands away from my rifle and sitting up. I sat with my legs folded under me, putting most of the pressure on my knees and placing my hands on my thighs. I looked down at the surface of the roof instead, pebbles and stone scattered everywhere from me rushing over here. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to think. My mind was going all over the place—

"Soobin? Soobin, say something." I heard Chan over the radio, and it made me shake my head out of my thoughts.

I gulped, forgetting how to speak for a moment, "Just stay there... Changbin, can you go get him—"

"I-I'm fine..." I cut him off, finding the strength to speak again, "I'm just packing everything up. I'll be down in a minute." I replied, not moving and still staring at the rocks.

"Are you sure?" Yeonjun spoke this time, hearing the concern in his voice.

I took a deep breath, "Y-Yeah..." I shook my head to snap out of it, leaning forward to unload the magazine and put my rifle away, "I'm fine. I'm sorry."

I didn't hear them say anything, or maybe I was just tuning everything out. I tried to be calm, starting the breathing exercises that Dr. Hwang taught me. Once I got my rifle packed up, I slung the case over my shoulder and took a deep breath, heading back to the roof access door. I gripped the strap going across my chest, walking into the elevator once it got up to me and pressing the button to go back to the first floor. I closed my eyes for a moment, taking another deep breath.

You're ok. Just breathe.

I opened my eyes when the elevator dinged open, and there were people looking in my direction as I took a step out. It made me anxious, probably knowing exactly what I did. I lowered my head and walked passed them, not needing my social anxiety to sky rocket right now. Nobody seemed to notice me when I exited the building, walking quickly across the street to get to the rest of my team, and that's when one reporter noticed me.

She ran up to me, a camera man following right behind her. She had a stack of papers in one hand and a microphone in the other. How did she even get passed the barriers the police put up to block the road?

I flinched and took a step back when she got close, hearing her frantically say, "Was it you who shot this man? Why were you in the building across the street? What exactly happened?"

I froze, tensing up from the overwhelming nature of the questions. I was still trying to do those breathing exercises, but they were helping less and less as time went by. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. It's like I didn't even know how to speak anymore, and it was making me anxious. I could see Roger on the ground, the image of his lifeless body still fresh in my mind. It almost made me panic, feeling my hand begin to shake—

"Hey!..." I heard a voice say, making me turn my head. It was Taehyun running over to me, quickly putting himself between me and the reporter, "What're you doing? You're not supposed to be passed the barrier. This is a crime scene."