The smell of antiseptic was the first thing that assaulted her senses. She involuntarily wrinkled her nose at the smell; she was never a fan of it. The movement must have alerted someone, as there was a sudden babble of voices. With a groan she tried to raise her hand; her head was throbbing with pain. A gentle hand was placed on top of hers and gently put it back down onto the bed.

“Don’t move. You might pull out the needles” The soft voice spoke, running his thumb across the back of her hand. She balked at the word needles, moving her free hand to drag them out of the arm that was being held.

“N-No I don’t want n-needles I can’t” Her voice was croaking and it pained to move. But she had to get out the needles. She couldn’t be in the hospital. She hated hospitals, they scared her to death.

The hands quickly moved to grab both of her wrists, using his strength to hold them against the bed. Squeaking of shoes against the floor made her realise that someone was running to get a nurse and she froze. Nurses meant more needles, and they might sedate her. Jayoung quickly stilled, finally opening her eyes. Youngbae was the one holding her wrists, slightly loosening his grip once he noticed her compliance. Seungri came back in with the nurse, and she quickly came over to reattach the drips. She winced as the needles went back in, and she felt Youngbae’s hand move from her wrist to her hand, gripping it tightly. She squeezed his hand back, using his touch to distract herself. Jayoung looked at him, noticing the bruises littering his arms, and the split lip that matched her own. She opened to speak, to ask him what happened, but Youngbae shook his head.

“Later. Not now” He cut in, moving his other hand so he held hers in both of his. “How are you feeling? Are you in much pain?” Jayoung pondered this for a moment. Her head hurt a bit, but the nurse had just changed the IV drip so the painkiller would be kicking in soon. She shook her head, resting back against the pillow.

“I-“ She coughed a bit, trying to sit up. Seungri rushed over, helping her to sit up as Youngbae arranged the pillows behind her. was so dry. The younger male quickly swooped in, pouring her a glass of water and helping her take a few sips. Jayoung never loved water more than she did now. After half the glass was finished she thanked Seungri with a smile, resting back against the pillows. “Where’s everyone else?” She asked, closing her eyes briefly. The bright fluorescent lights assaulted her vision, they hurt to stay open for too long.

“Jiyong hyung and Daesung hyung are at home, we switched with them an hour ago. Seunghyun hyung’s resting in a spare bed in the next room. He hasn’t left the hospital” Seungri piped up, holding onto her other hand. “Are you hungry?” Jayoung shook her head, still slightly focussed on the fact that he said Seunghyun hadn’t left.

“IV drips make me queasy. I can’t eat with needles in my arms” She said quietly, and hearing Youngbae’s sigh in response.

“You haven’t eaten in four days, Jayoung” She froze at that comment. Four days? She’s been out for four days? She pursed her lips, but made no move to change. She refused to eat. Jayoung wriggled back into the pillows. Youngbae was slightly taken aback by her reaction. He hadn’t expected her to be so. . .childish about the situation. “Jayoung. Unless you start eating, they’re not going to take out the drips” He said sternly, frowning as she seemed to ignore him. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring down at her lap. She heard Youngbae’s chair scuff on the ground as he stood up, leaving the room. Jayoung looked up, worried she had offended him, but looked up to the chair being filled with no one other than Seunghyun. His eyes still had traces of sleep, slightly puffy from the lack of sleep. He reaches out, placing some bread in her lap.

“Eat” He mumbled softly, opening the plastic wrapper it was in. He watched her expectantly, sighing before tearing off a bit of the bread and holding it near her lips. “Eat” Seunghyun said again, and she reluctantly took the bit offered. Jayoung felt guilty about his lack of sleep, and she felt like she had to eat it to make him feel better. She chewed quietly, noticing that Seungri had gone. Looking at him curiously, he shrugged. “They’re going home to sleep. It’s my shift” Jayoung noticed the bruises covering Seunghyun as well, but they were worse than they were on Youngbae.

“How did both of you get injured? I only remember seeing one of you fighting him” She reached up to touch one of the cuts by his eyebrow, frowning slightly. Seunghyun looked down at his lap, eyebrows furrowing has he struggled to phrase his words properly.

“I. . .I was the one that bet him up. And then. . .when you were getting put into the ambulance. . .I hit Youngbae too” He looked ashamed, refusing to meet Jayoung’s eyes. She looked at him, mouth hanging open.

She couldn’t believe what she just heard. “Why would you do that? He’s like your brother” Jayoung reached out, grasping onto Seunghyun’s hand.

“Because he promised to protect you. And he failed in that. I failed as well, but I got punished when I fought him” He attempted to pull his hand away from hers, but with minimal effort. He didn’t really want her to let go of his hand. It was the first time she had voluntarily touched him without hesitation or flinching. She rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb, watching him quietly. She felt torn. In one way, she felt the slightest bit of love with the fact that Seunghyun cared about her so much to protect her and go as far as beating up Youngbae for failing, but on the other hand she felt terrible that Youngbae got hurt because of her inability to sit still. If she had just stayed behind the bar, she would have been fine. Seunghyun almost didn’t notice the silent tears streaming down her face, her grip tightening on his hand. He watched her, reaching out to wipe her tears. She pushed his hand away, shaking her head. Seunghyun’s heart broke the tiniest bit over the fact that she rejected him.

“He’s right. It’s always my fault. Everything is always my fault. I shouldn’t have run away. I should have just stayed at the house. I shouldn’t have gotten you guys involved” She sobbed, pulling her hand out of Seunghyun’s grip. His hand chased hers, but stopped once she clasped both of her hands together.

“No, No. Jayoung. Don’t think like that. He’s sick, he’s deranged. Nothing he’s ever said is the truth” He leaned forward, reaching to cup his hands around hers. She refused his touch again. “Jayoung. Please. We want to look after you. We don’t want you to get hurt again. We love you. I. . .I love you” The confession slipped out, and Jayoung froze. Seunghyun was silently crying himself, the tears welling up and silently sliding down his cheeks.

“Get out” She whispered softly, staring down at her hands. Seunghyun stared at her, opening his mouth confused.

“What?” He said, his ears not believing what he just heard. “Jayoung-“

“I said, get out!” She screamed, placing her hands over her ears. She didn’t want to hear it. Seunghyun didn’t love her. The way he acted, that’s not how people who love another act, in her opinion.

Jayoung’s view of love was rather distorted, though. The only love she knew was what her abuser gave her. Love was messing up, then taking the hits you deserved. Love was having dinner ready by six-thirty on the dot every night, to avoid his anger. Eating the same thing every week because it’s what he wanted. Cleaning the house and buying the groceries while he was at work, because that’s how you show you love him. You stay at home, and let him provide the money. What Seunghyun did was different.

Seunghyun healed her wounds, instead of causing them. He held her tight and comforted her when she was in a panic, instead of laughing and calling her weak. The male let Jayoung decide what to eat. He let her make choices, and protected her from the bad.

But then again, so did Youngbae. Youngbae gave her clothes, gave her food, and treated her wounds. He made promises, and sealed them with a thumb kiss. But he broke that promise. What Youngbae did was closer to the love that she knew. She didn’t really like that kind of love though.

A touch pulled her from her thoughts, and she looked up to see the same nurse from before. Seunghyun’s chair lay abandoned, with nothing but a bunch of flowers with a little ‘get well soon’ card with it. She hadn’t even notice him enter with them. Jayoung’s heart panged at the thought of how she blatantly sent him out, how she threw him out of her heart. The nurse made her relax and lay down, saying it was time for her to get more sleep. Jayoung didn’t know how she was going to get any; she was wide awake and worried. Everything hurt. Her bruises, her cuts, her bones, and her heart. That’s what hurt the most. The nurse changed the dosage of the pain killer, and Jayoung felt the weight of a medicated drowsiness overtake her, eyes closing. She didn’t try to resist. She soon fell asleep, devoid of dreams.

Seunghyun didn’t know where he was going until he arrived. He stared up at the apartment complex, entering and knocking on the door. A sleepy grunt responded and the door opened, Seunghyun being greeted by a half- Youngbae who’s eyes were half-closed, only half awake. Youngbae opened his mouth to speak, but was taken aback by the sudden grip of Seunghyun’s arms around him. He could feel the elder’s shake as his body was wracked with sobs. Youngbae couldn’t do much more than just hug his hyung and listen to his blubbered sorry over and over again. His hands soothingly rubbed his back, waiting it out until he heard the sobs die down and retreat into sniffles.

“It’s okay, hyung. I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. We’re brothers, and brothers fight from time to time” Youngbae was being truthful. He could never hate Seunghyun, and he knew he would have done the same if Seunghyun had failed to protect Jayoung the way he did. Youngbae blamed himself for what happened to Jayoung. He felt responsible. If he hadn’t let her leave the bar, if he had made sure one of them stayed with her at all times, they would have avoided this situation. “Come inside, I’ll make some tea. We can have something to eat, and talk” He helped the other through the doorway, closing the door behind him. Talking is what they both needed to do. Seunghyun voluntarily followed, still holding tightly onto the younger. He would never hurt him again, never. They were brothers. They will always be brothers, no matter what. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt any of his brothers.

They were all he had now.

a/n : I've had a lot of inspiration lately. I can't stop writing. I think this is my third update this week? I guess it's like an apology for how long it took me to carry it on last time. I've been busy with uni and work lately, but I want to keep finding time to write this fic. I'm starting to fall in love with it more than I used to. I hope you guys are loving reading it as much as I love writing it. And thank you so so much to jennyzaga, who comments almost every time I put a chapter up. It's nice to know someone is actually reading, and sometimes I feel like I continue this fic just because I don't want to let them down. Thank you! This author's note turned out longer than I expected, haha.