When they got to the cafeteria, Jooheon was standing on top of the table, shouting at a different table.
"Yeah? You just keep sitting over there and laughing at us? You think we're a joke? You think I'm a joke? Come on over here and I'll show you who's a joke! What, afraid that I'll punch your nose in?"
Kihyun noticed some of the institution staff making their way over to the table and quickened his pace. "Yo, Jooheon, come on down already. Stop being an idiot."
Jooheon glared down at Kihyun. "What, you think I'm a joke too?"
"I think you're being stupid and reckless," Kihyun replied. "And if you get off the table, I'll tell you what else I think of you."
Jooheon growled at Kihyun before jumping off the table and stomping over to Kihyun. "Listen here, shortie-"
"No, you listen to me," Kihyun snapped, his tone low and his words quick. "If you don't calm down right this second, the ward guards are going to restrain you and sedate you again like last time you blew up. Remember how it felt, getting a needle in your neck and waking up with a headache? So unless you want to be rolled away on a stretcher again, I suggest you take a deep breath, sit down at the table, and start eating your breakfast."
Jooheon glared at Kihyun, snarling, before he sat down at the table, slamming himself down on the bench, and grabbed his utensils in his hands, glaring down at the table.
"Good Jooheon," Kihyun sat, sitting down next to Jooheon, watching as the guards in light grey uniforms stopped advancing toward their table. "Now eat your oatmeal like a good little boy."
"I've had about enough of your bullshit, Kihyun-" Jooheon began, turning toward Kihyun, but he stopped as Hyungwon silently descended into the seat next to Kihyun. "Hey, he looks like even more of a ghost than he normally does."
"Something happen?" Minhyuk asked with a concerned half-smile half-frown as he sat down next to Hyungwon. Wonho took the empty seat next to Shownu.
"I can't say exactly what happened last night, but Kihyun and Hyungwon woke up in the same bed," Wonho said with a nervous smile, trying to lighten the air with a joke and maybe figure out who he had available as allies.
"You know how intimate panic attacks in the middle of the night can be," Kihyun said dryly, and Minhyuk looked between Kihyun and Hyungwon.
"Hey, is that true? Did you have a panic attack?"
Hyungwon was zoning out, stirring his oatmeal with a mindless spoon, drawing circles in the substance.
"Hyungwon?"
He looked over at Minhyuk. "What?"
"Did you have a panic attack last night?" Minhyuk's lips had settled into a frown.
What did I do to deserve his worry? Why did it seem like yesterday, everybody hated me, and today, I'm the center of their universe?
"I'm fine," Hyungwon mumbled. From what he'd experienced with his parents, everybody was always concerned at first, wanting to help, telling him that if he just told them what had happened, they could help and make everything better. But then they didn't want to hear anymore, they wanted to stop hearing about it, wanted him to stop doing whatever he was doing to ruin the image they had of their perfect son.
Kihyun said nothing. If Hyungwon didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want to talk about it. But Kihyun made eye contact with Minhyuk nonetheless and gave a slight nod, pursing his lips, and Minhyuk got the message.
"I've got to show you my notebook today," Minhyuk announced to Hyungwon, grinning and scooting a tiny bit closer. "I've been working on drawing our teacher all week, and I think I finally got the nose down right. It's hard cause it's got this little hook, but trust me, when you see it..."
Minhyuk's voice trailed off as he rambled throughout breakfast, filling the uncomfortable quiet at the table. Minhyuk also forced Hyungwon to stop shaping his oatmeal into artistic symbols, instructing him to eat some of it instead, and by the time breakfast had ended, Hyungwon seemed a little less pale, and his frown had settled into a neutral expression.
Wonho's frown had grown, however. He didn't understand what was going on, but he knew one thing: whatever was happening had something to do with Hyungwon, and he needed to talk with him to find out exactly what.
