change [chānj] n. - the alteration of something or someone to result in an outcome different from its initial form or state

“You guys need to get out of this room,” a voice commanded as he stood next to Kyungsoo’s still body. “Take him and move out of here, we need to lock this room up.”

His words went ignored by the others, and he let out a prolonged groan to express his frustrations. He crouched down and was about to lay his hands on Kyungsoo’s body to throw him out, but stopped when a small, cold hand wrapped tightly around his wrist. He glanced up in alarm and felt chills run down his spine at the glare he received from the girl.

“Don’t. Touch. Him,” Mihyun almost growled under her breath as she tightened her fingers around the other’s flesh.

The guard quickly obeyed her wishes, and nearly fled the room to escape her deathly aura. The room immediately fell dead silent, and the only noise that sounded was the quiet sobs that escaped Luhan’s lips.

“Mihyun, get up,” Sehun spoke in a soft, pained voice as he attempted to haul the girl to her feet. “Please Mihyun, get up. The guard has probably gone to fetch others to forcibly remove us.”

He continued to plead with her, but she remained on the floor unmoving, tears running down her face as she stared silently at the still figure in front of her. Sehun turned to his Hyung for help, but gave up when he saw Luhan sobbing into his arms as he held handfuls of Kyungsoo’s now blood soaked shirt in his tight fists.

“Kyungsoo! Kyungsoo what are you-!”

It was this voice that finally got Mihyun to react, and she slowly focused her gaze on the figure that had come running into the room. Jongin’s head turned furiously from right to left searching for the familiar face until his eyes finally zeroed in on the figure next to Mihyun.

Jongin let out a choked gasp once he processed the lifeless, bloody body belonging to the man he was looking for, and he staggered down to his knees in shock. Baekhyun let out a sharp shriek when he ran in behind him, and Chanyeol stopped mid-step with a gaping jaw.

“Is he…?”

Nobody needed to supply a verbal response for him to know the answer.

Loud muffled sobs immediately filled the room as Baekhyun buried his face into Chanyeol’s chest, the taller wrapping his arms tightly around the smaller’s body. Silent streams of tears ran down Chanyeol’s face, but he resisted the urge to cry audibly as he rubbed Baekhyun’s back reassuringly.

The only person that remained silent was Jongin.

“Jongin…” Chanyeol whispered silently as he outstretched an arm to lay a comforting hand on the other’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me,” Jongin’s voice quivered, his entire body beginning to tremor as he stared down at the unnatural shade of white Kyungsoo’s face was turning. “Please, don’t touch me right now.”

Chanyeol obeyed his wishes and immediately retracted his hand to rewrap around Baekhyun’s waist.

“Hyung is… hyung is…” Jongin stammered as he fumbled to his feet to stagger towards the still body. A tear finally broke loose and traveled quickly down his cheek, followed almost immediately by a heavy stream. He fell down to his knees with a heavy thud, his arms hanging lifelessly at his sides as he stared down at his hyung.

“Y-Yah, Kyungsoo,” Jongin whispered weakly as he reached forward to shake Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Yah, hyung, hyung, it’s time to wake up. Hyung, Kyungsoo hyung. Kyungsoo hyung, you’re making everybody cry, so hurry and wake up.”

Mihyun stared at the boy in silence, silent tears spilling down her cheeks as she felt her heart crack deeper and deeper with each of Jongin’s words.

“Hyung please,” Jongin sobbed as he clung desperately to the front of Kyungsoo’s shirt. “Please, hyung, you can’t leave me. What am I supposed to do now? What am I supposed to do if I’m all alone? Please, hyung, please don’t leave. Or just, just take me with you, Hyung, I’m begging you.”

Sehun turned his head away to blink back his own tears, not bearing to see how Jongin crumbled to pieces right in front of their eyes. In all the years he had known Jongin, not once had the other ever shed a tear. It was always Jongin consoling the crying Kyungsoo, and now it was as if all those years of bottled up emotions were spilling over right on the spot.”

“Please take me with you H-Hyung, don’t le-leave me all alone. I ca-can’t sur-vi-vive if I’m all alone, Hyung,” Jongin choked as he pounded his fists weakly against Kyungsoo’s chest. “Please hy-hyung, I don’t wa-want to be al-al-on-one.”

Mihyun couldn’t bear the sight any longer, and she reached forward to press a comforting hand onto Jongin’s back. She wanted him to know that he was wrong, that he wasn’t all alone. He wasn’t all alone because the rest of them would remain by his side forever.

“I said don’t touch me!” Jongin nearly screamed as he spun around to shove the girl roughly to the ground. His eyes were glazed with sadness, anger and pain, and he couldn’t bear to think that somebody actually thought they could comfort him. What a joke. What a painful, humorless, joke.

Mihyun ignored the sharp pain that jolted up the palms of her hands that broke her fall, and she didn’t blame the other for his action even the slightest bit. She should have known better than to try to comfort him at a time as serious as this. He would need time. Jongin would need lots, and lots of time.

“It’s your fault you know,” Jongin whispered in a cold voice.

Mihyun’s eyes lifted themselves off the ground to meet Jongin’s icy cold ones.

“It’s your fault he died,” Jongin growled as he took a step forward. He appeared twice as dangerous with Kyungsoo’s blood smudged over his skin and clothing. “It’s your fault any of this happened. It’s your fault he died! It’s your fault!”

 Mihyun froze once she processed his words, not even realizing that Jongin had begun to charge forward to attack her from rage. He was whipped to the side by an angry Sehun, and pinned to the wall by Sehun’s frightening strength.

“Don’t you dare blame this on Mihyun,” Sehun growled in a low tone. He knew that Jongin was out of it, and that he would most certainly regret his words and actions once he was to get a hold of himself, but Sehun would never forgive the other if he were to lay even a finger on Mihyun with the intent of harming her. “You know as well as I do that this is not her fault. Don’t you dare try to point fingers.”

“Then whose fault is it, Sehun?!” Jongin screamed, his eyes gleamed a hint of madness as he stared at Mihyun from over Sehun’s shoulders. “Who was the one who tried to get us to do this damned rebellion?! Who was it that Kyungsoo was trying to impress?!”

Jongin managed to break himself free from Sehun’s grip, and he charged himself at Mihyun once again before Sehun could block him off.  She simply stared at him as he came forward, not even attempting to protect herself against his angry fists. What right did she have to shield herself? Her eyes widened in surprise when she was suddenly blocked by a figure, and Luhan let out a little grunt when Jongin’s clenched knuckles met roughly with his back.

“That’s enough, Kim Jongin!” Baekhyun shouted angrily as he ripped Jongin off of Luhan and shoved him roughly to the ground. “Do you think that Kyungsoo would be happy with you going mad?! With you hurting Mihyun?! With you hurting your brothers?! Save him some face, would you?! Don’t you dare make it so he… so he died f-for nothing!”

Baekhyun’s bottom lip trembled as he stared off to Kyungsoo’s body that remained still against the cold floor. “Don’t you dare, Kim Jongin. We’re all hurting, and we know that you’re hurting the most, but show some decency for ’s sake!”

Jongin sat there with his head hung in shame as he listened to the words Baekhyun had to say. His body began to shake when he broke out into silent sobs once again, and he pulled his knees to his chest before wrapping his arms around them. Baekhyun stared at him with uncertainty, but slowly inched his way forward to place a gentle hand onto Jongin’s shoulder. When the other made no moves to protest, Baekhyun quickly engulfed Jongin into a tight hug, breaking out into a fresh batch of tears himself.

“He’s gone, Kyungsoo’s gone, hyung’s gone,” Jongin repeated over and over to himself as Baekhyun rocked him back and forth as an attempt to calm them both down.

“Hyung, are you okay?” Sehun asked in a low voice as he helped Luhan climb to his feet.

Luhan nodded his head and held a thumb up to signal that he was okay, but glanced down at Mihyun in worry. The girl continued to sit there silently, her face stretched into the familiar stoic expression she had abandoned so long ago as tears continued to roll down her pale cheeks.

“I’ll take care of her,” Sehun whispered as he placed a warm, gentle hand on top of Luhan’s head. He glanced over at Baekhyun and jerked his head to the other’s direction. “Go to him, Luhan, you don’t have to act brave.”

Luhan’s bottom lip began to quiver, and he finally broke into another round of sobs when his eyes unconsciously strayed over to Kyungsoo’s still body. He nearly flung himself onto the sobbing pair, and Baekhyun immediately welcomed him by wrapping an arm tightly around his shoulders.

“Look at me, Mihyun,” Sehun called out quietly as he stretched out two fingers to tilt up the girl’s face. He gently wiped away the streams of tears with his fingers, and cupped her frightening cold cheeks with the palms of his hands. “Don’t listen to Jongin, okay? Don’t listen to what he said, he’s not in his right mind.”

Mihyun offered no words in response, and Sehun bit down on his bottom lip as his gaze traveled from her face to the others of the room. Tears stained the faces of each and every one of them, and even Sehun himself had to gulp down hard to prevent similar features to appear on his own face. He had to be strong. Even when it hurt, he had to be strong enough for the rest of them; they were all broken.

They were all beaten, broken and bruised with deep wounds scattered across their bodies and minds – and the wounds, these were wounds that would time a long time to heal.

Mihyun leaned her back against the window sill, her eyes closed as she listened to the heavy pattering of rain on the other side of the cold glass. Even the sky was crying for Kyungsoo that night.

She knew Sehun was right. Jongin would most certainly regret the words he had mindlessly spouted earlier that evening, and would without a doubt immediately apologize once she was to walk into the cage tomorrow morning.

She knew that ultimately, it wasn’t her fault, and although Mihyun wasn’t the type to always see oneself as the cause for everybody’s suffering, it didn’t hurt any less. The pain was still feeding on her heart even if she wasn’t the one to blame.

Even though she knew that ultimately she wasn’t the one to be blamed, she still wouldn’t forgive herself.

“Stop thinking, will you?”

Sehun sighed when the other didn’t even react to his voice, and he slowly stepped forward with outstretched arms to engulf the girl into a comforting hug.

“Please leave, Sehun,” Mihun whispered quietly, causing Sehun to freeze mid-step. She shrunk away from his arms, forcing herself flat against the cold window glass to avoid his warmth.

“No,” he replied in a small, stern voice as he stared at the girl with narrowed eyes. “No, I won’t leave.” Still, he dropped his arms to his side to avoid making the girl even more uncomfortable.

Mihyun remained silent for a long time before finally muttering under her breath, “Do as you wish.”

Sehun offered her a small smile and sat down to lean his back against the base of the seat Mihyun was resting on. The back of his head leaned against the side of the girl’s left knee, and he closed his eyes when Mihyun began to run her fingers gently through his hair. A silence captured the room, the only sound made was the hard pattering of rain against the roof and walls.

“Can I ask you something, Sehun?” Mihyun asked in a voice so soft Sehun had to strain his ears to hear.

“Hm?”

“How… how can you be so collected when I know that you’re hurting inside? How do you stop yourself from crying?” Mihyun whispered, her voice cracking midway through her sentence. A few tears slipped down her cheeks, and she quickly wiped them away before Sehun could notice.

Sehun remained silent for a few seconds, before he tipped his head back just far enough so he could meet eyes with Mihyun. His lips lifted in a small, sad smile, and he raised his hand to wipe the corner of Mihyun’s eyes. “Because you’re crying. Because you and all of the other hyungs are crying, so I can’t cry too. Because I have to protect you, because I have to be calm enough to protect you and all the other hyungs when you guys aren’t capable of doing it yourself.”

“Because if I cry,” Sehun continued in a small voice. His eyes swam with insecurities as he glanced up at her face before his dry lips. “Then who else is out there to protect us?”

Mihyun’s eyes darted up gratefully when she felt a large, warm hand engulf her smaller, shivering one. Sehun gave her a small smile when their eyes met, and gently squeezed her hand reassuringly. He glanced at Luhan who was curled up into a small trembling ball beside him, and reached out an arm to pull his hyung closer.

Luhan’s eyes flashed with gratitude and he snuggled into Sehun’s side, enjoying the warmth the boy projected. He had wanted to curl up close to the couple earlier, but was afraid that he would invade in their time of privacy.

He glanced up when a hand much smaller than his slipped into his grip, and shyly smiled when he saw that Mihyun had reached across Sehun’s lap with her free hand to offer her comfort as well.

It was hard on all of them.

“We’re here,” Jaesuk called out in a soft, soothing voice as the car slowed to a stop. He turned his head slightly to glance over his shoulder at the solemn trio, and bit down on his bottom lip. “I’ll be back to pick you all up in two hours.”

The group of three turned their heads to gaze out the window; the Noye building appeared twice as somber as it once did before.

“Thank you, Jaesuk,” Mihyun smiled weakly when he climbed out of the car first to open the door for them.

Jaesuk offered her a smile in return, and gave her a comforting pat on her shoulder as she climbed out of the car.

The three of them waved goodbye to Jaesuk before they started to head into the building with heavy hearts and stoic faces.

Sehun stopped in alarm when he suddenly felt the warmth of the small girl missing from his side, and he glanced back with raised eyebrows. If the circumstance wasn’t as it was, he would have smiled in delight as to how adorable she appeared. Mihyun hung her head as she clenched each of the sides of her dress tightly in her balled fists. She bit down hard on her bottom lip, and her eyes were squeezed tightly shut as she tried to mentally prepare herself. “Mihyun?” he called out gently as he walked back towards her.

“What if he’s still angry with me?” Mihyun whimpered quietly, flinching when Sehun laid a warm hand on the top of her head.

“Why are you being like this?” Sehun asked as he gently began to pat her head. “This isn’t the Han Mihyun I know.”

She peeked shyly up at him and quickly averted her eyes when they met with his.

Sehun chuckled under his breath as to how different Mihyun’s character appeared, and he wrapped his arm around the girl’s shoulders to urge her forward. “Come on, Luhan’s waiting for us.”

Mihyun timidly nodded her head, and the two pushed pass the first gate to join Luhan on the other side.

“Luhan, wait for—” Sehun’s eyes widened in horror, and he was quick to smack his hand to Mihyun’s eyes, flinching when they met a little too roughly with the girl’s face.

“Sehun?” Mihyun asked in alarm, her voice tinged with a bit of panic. Sehun was relieved that she hadn’t seen what lied before them just yet, and he quickly spun her around to face the opposite direction. “Sehun what’s wrong?”

“Don’t look, Mihyun,” Sehun pleaded with her as his hands clenched her shoulders, his fingers digging a little too deeply into her skin. “Please, please promise me you won’t turn around.”

There was a beat of silence, and Mihyun nodded her head, “Okay.”

“Luhan Hyung, Hyung come here,” Sehun called out as he left Mihyun’s side. He pulled his hyung back and engulfed the smaller into a tight hug. “Luhan don’t look, don’t look any more.”

Luhan let out a few choked sobs as he held tightly onto Sehun as if he was his life line. Sehun ignored the dampening of his shirt, and he stared up in horror at the sight of Kyungsoo’s lifeless body hanging off a wooden post that must have been transferred there overnight. A thick rope was knotted around his neck as it hung him from a tall wooden post, swaying gently when the wind would hit parts of Kyungsoo’s body.

Sehun choked back a sob, not wanting to alarm of Mihyun and tempt her to turn around – even though she must have already known that something was wrong with the quiet sobs Luhan emitted. His eyes darted around the empty courtyard, and he was relieved to see that nobody was in sight. The three of them had come early, so none of the other Noyes must have discovered the hanging body yet. None of the other Noyes had discovered the warning; the warning of what was to come to you if you were to act out of line.

The warning that came in the form of Kyungsoo.

“Come on Luhan,” Sehun whispered quietly as he gently pulled him over to Mihyun. He had to get the two of them out of there quickly, before anybody else was to come out. He wouldn’t be able to shield their eyes if anybody else was to make a ruckus.

A scream shot across the air once he turned around, and Sehun swore under his breath before whipping around to see the source of the noise. A group of Noyes had come out to get their work out of the way, and were certainly rather surprised with the sudden body that was hanging lifelessly in the air.

“S-Sehun?” Mihyun called out in a shaking voice, terrified of what she would see if she were to turn.

“Please, don’t turn around,” Sehun pleaded once Mihyun began to shift in place. “Don’t turn around, please, Mihyun.”

He didn’t understand what had happened. He had been standing right next to Mihyun yesterday when she had given out shaking orders to transfer Kyungsoo to a safe place. How could they have failed their job so miserably to have his body hanging out here now?

The shriek of the Noye had attracted much attention, and slowly groups of Noyes began to seep into the courtyard. A loud murmur quickly filled the air, and Sehun broke out into a cold sweat as to how he would get the pair of them out of there. He froze when he heard a familiar cry of “KYUNGSOO!” slice across the air, and he looked up in desperation to see Jongin shove his way through the crowd to the familiar body - Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Xiumin closely behind him.

Mihyun automatically spun around at the cry of Kyungsoo’s name, and her lips parted in horror at the ragged sight of Kyungsoo. She ignored Sehun’s pleads to stay still and shot forward with lightening speed.

With the loud ruckus going on in the courtyard, a handful of guards came out to forcibly lower the noise of the mob. Mihyun was shoved roughly to the ground when she attempted to free Kyungsoo of his restraints, and Jongin suffered a similar fate shortly after.

“Yah! Don’t you know who that is? That’s Han Mihyun!” one of the guards exclaimed, smacking the one who had handled her roughly on the back of his head. The other guards immediately fell still at the information, not wanting to give the girl any reason to hold them with disdain.

Jongin jumped to his feet and rushed forward without hesitation, only to be struck to the floor once again. The guards wouldn’t lay a finger on Mihyun, but those rules certainly didn’t apply to the Noyes. Jongin was about to charge blindly forward once more, but was held back by Mihyun’s outstretched arm. He was about to scream angrily at the girl, but pressed his lips together once he glanced at her face.

He wasn’t the only one who was hurting.

He bit down hard on his bottom lip to seal his screams, and stepped behind the girl to allow her to handle the situation. His blunt nails sunk into the palms of his hands as he stared up at his Hyung’s body, and tears prickled his eyes at the sight.

“What is going on here?” Mihyun let out a low growl as she seized the front of a guard’s collar to pull him roughly forward. “Who ordered Kyungsoo’s body to be treated this way? Do you have no respect for those who have passed?” Her words were said in an almost silent volume, but each syllable was dripping with acidity. “Who?”

The guards exchanged nervous glances with each other, not knowing what they should say or do.

“Are you deaf?” Mihyun growled in a low tone. Her eyes flashed dangerously and she pulled the guard closer to glare straight into his eyes. “Who?”

“It was your father.”

Mihyun’s eyes darted towards the new presence, and she let go of the whimpering guard’s collar. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at Jaemin, and her hands balled into tiny fists. “What did you say?”

“Your father called my father to return the body after he found out that you had your people take that Noye,” Jaemin explained as he slowly stepped forward. He held up his hands in surrender, a symbol that he wasn’t approaching with the intent to fight. “Your father said it would set a good example to the other Noyes, and my father agreed.” He gestured to the wooden post. “He had this set up over night.”

Mihyun’s blood ran cold with his words, and although she knew that Jaemin shouldn’t be trusted, she knew that he was speaking the truth. She knew her father well enough to know that this was exactly something he would try to pull.

“Take down Kyungsoo’s body,” Mihyun whispered, her whole body trembling with anger as she stared at Jaemin. Her head whipped over to the pack of guards that stood beside her and she spoke in a venomous voice. “Take down his body now.”

“H-Han Agashi, we can’t do that. It was your father that—”

“You heard her, take him down.”

Mihyun’s eyes darted over to Jaemin in surprise, but she refused to let any emotion seep onto her face.

“B-But Sir! We can—”

“Did you hear me? Did you forget who the actual owner of this place is? I said take it down,” Jaemin barked as he stormed forward.

The guards cowered under his intense gaze, and they quickly moved to get Kyungsoo’s body down from its post.

“Sehun, call Jaesuk,” Mihyun ordered as she handed the taller male her cell phone. She turned to Jaemin with narrowed eyes and gestured him forward, “You come with me.”

Mihyun held up a hand to calm Sehun when he stepped forward to prevent the two from leaving, and his eyebrows narrowed in concern. “It’s fine, Sehun,” Mihyun reassured the other with a gentle pat on the shoulder. “I’ll be fine.”

“What is he, your body guard?” Jaemin asked dryly once the two were in a private area.

“Are you joking with me right now?” Mihyun asked with crossed arms.

Jaemin’s eyes flickered up to her tense face, and he his dry lips nervously. “S-Sorry, I was just drying to loosen the mood.”

Mihyun didn’t respond, and he felt himself break into a cold sweat under the girl’s intense glare.

“What are you trying to pull?” Mihyun finally asked after a long period of silence.

Jaemin’s eyes flashed in alarm, “What do you mean?”

“What are you trying to get by pretending to be the good guy? What do you want from me?” Mihyun continued one with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t… I just wanted to help. I might be a bad guy, Mihyun, but I know when wrong is wrong,” Jaemin tried to explain. His eyes flickered to the area where they were trying to get Kyungsoo’s body down. “And this was just wrong.”

“Don’t pull that bull with me,” Mihyun growled as she shoved Jaemin back to the wall. She pressed her forearm against the front of his chest, and glared straight into his eyes. “You can do whatever the you want with me, but don’t you dare harm the other boys. Pull something like this again and I will personally see the destruction of both you and this whole damn place.”

“I’m being honest,” Jaemin exclaimed defensively as he pushed her off of him. “I don’t have an ulterior motif!”

“Didn’t I already establish that I’m not in the mood for jokes?” Mihyun spat in anger.

“I’m not joking!” Jaemin shouted. This time it was his turn to push Mihyun against the wall of the building, his hands placed on each side of her head. “Why won’t you give me a chance to prove myself?! You’re right, I am pitiful! I’m pitiful and pathetic, and I’m tired of living this way! I’m tired of suspecting everything, tired of having to look for the loop holes of everything that’s done! I’m tired of being pitiful, and I’m tired of being pathetic.”

His eyes drooped in sorrow as he lifted his gaze to meet hers. “Just give me a chance to prove myself, will you?”

Before Mihyun could respond, Jaemin was whipped off of her and onto the ground with an audible thud.

“Are you alright, Agashi?” Jaesuk asked as he stood protectively in front of the girl. He glared down at Jaemin and was about to move forward to attack until Mihyun stopped him with a small tug on his shirt. “Let’s go, Jaesuk.”

“Are you okay?” Sehun asked quietly as he pulled her away from Jaesuk to engulf her into his own arms.

Mihyun stared at the small body Jongin clung to. He desperately fought anybody who tried to pull him away from Kyungsoo, regardless if they were a familiar face or not. She glanced over her shoulder at Jaemin who remained lying on the ground where Jaesuk had left him, and turned back around when their gazes momentarily met. She watched as Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Xiumin tried to get Jongin to release Kyungsoo’s body only to earn themselves nicks and bruises. She gazed at Luhan, who was sprawled across his knees sobbing heavily into the palms of his hands.

“No,” Mihyun finally responded in a voice so silent that it was swallowed by the loud commotion around them. “I’m not okay.”