Byunghee straightened up, staring at the boy curled up in his arms, he had fallen asleep from exhaustion. Cheolyong was still in denial. And really, so was he. But what choice did he have? He had to stay strong. Stay strong for the only brother he had left, now. 

"Excuse me?" 

Byunghee looked up. A doctor - he recognized him as one of the doctors who were in the room when ... Seungho ... First woke up. "Do you need help bringing him back to his room?" 

Hesitating, Byunghee looked at the maknae. "... Okay." He tightened his arms around the boy, and the doctor stood up with him. Byunghee and the doctor walked in silence, until Byunghee asked the question. 

"Do you ... what do you think will happen to Seungho?" 

The doctor frowned. "I ..."

"Be honest." Byunghee stared at him pleadingly. "I need to know. Please."

"His memories are lost. This could be just the temporary memory loss often found in victims of car crashes, but we don't really know yet. We'd like to do a few scans, and wait until he's recovered more from his injuries, we could also use that time to see whether he will regain his memories." 

"What if he doesn't remember?" Byunghee used his foot to nudge open the ward door, carrying the sleeping maknae to his bed. The doctor trailed after them. "There ... is always a chance. But I think it's unlikely that he will lose all memories." 

"Can we help in any way?" 

"Perhaps you could spend more time with him. Patients with amnesia can sometimes recover their memories quicker if they are around familiar places and people associated with their past memories." The doctor stood up again. Byunghee sat down by Cheolyong's bed. "I'm sorry, we don't know too much right now. We'll do a small interview with him, just to see how much he remembers." 

"Okay." Byunghee swallowed. "Thank you."

"We'll try our best," promised the doctor, bowing and walking out. Byunghee sighed and turned his head towards the TV. The screen was black and blank. 

I wonder if they know about this? 

Why would it matter? He told himself firmly. It's just us three now. They chose to leave us.

Do they still care? 

They'll be worried, right? 

But only because it's human nature to feel pity. Byunghee slapped himself lightly. Wake up. 

But that doesn't change the fact you miss them, right? 

Shut up. 

Byunghee clenched his fists, digging his fingers into his palm, trying to silence the continuous stream of thoughts. 

You do miss them, don't you? But it's pointless, because this is hopeless, right? 

That's the problem. 

Byunghee turned his gaze out to the window, where the clouds were drifting lazily across the grey sky. 

Just forget it. Concentrate on helping Cheolyong, and helping Seungho. 

But if I asked, would they help me too? 

Sighing harshly, Byunghee shifted his chair closer to the bed and rested his head on his arms, his gaze flickering over his maknae's face one last time, checking that he was still here, that he hadn't left too, and closed his eyes. 

But soon he opened them again, because suddenly all he could see in the darkness behind his closed eyelids were the same memories that still haunted them now. 

The four others, the five of them, together. 

I wonder whether they still feel the same? 

No.

That's not important right now! Byunghee rubbed his eyes, biting his lip. What's important now is Cheolyong and Seungho. They're your brothers, they're more important. They were always the most important. 

MBLAQ was always the most important. A+ was always important. 

And they didn't think that it was important. That was why they left. That was why they left them. 

Right? 

Byunghee sighed and rested his head on his hands, watching as Cheolyong slept. He looked to peacful. So young. 

So vunerable. 

I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. Byunghee cast a glance towards the other side of the corridor, at a certain door, where Seungho was. Seungho, their leader, the one who'd always been there for them, and now who didn't even recognize who they were. 

I'll protect you this time. I promise.