Just… hang in there

Seunghyun rested his head against the cool glass window through which he'd witnessed his dongsaeng's traumatic interview. He'd had to strain to hear Seungri's final, quiet words – but he did hear them and they sent a blessed sense of relief flooding through him.

Not knowing what to believe was a far cry removed from genuinely believing that he was responsible for their mother's death.

Seunghyun saw it as a good sign – a great sign – but the tension within the Interrogation Room hadn't diminished. Instead, it seemed as strained as it had been when they first began – if not more so.

They were waiting for Seungri to elaborate; waiting for him to either accept or denounce the evidence strewn across the table in front of him.

But Seungri appeared to be done – and Seunghyun wondered if that was his cue for him to go in and be the friend his dongsaeng so clearly desperately needed. But his father's body language wasn't an invitation: he stood rigid and unyielding, as he stared down at his youngest son.

Seunghyun's heart went out to his father. It must have been nigh on impossible for him to do this; to remain so calm, dispassionate and impersonal as he went over the evidence of the car crash which had killed his wife.

And he could see that his father was barely holding it together.

Seungri could fix this. Seungri could make everything right with just a few words; just with 'I believe you'. Even a nod of the head would have been better than the limbo that currently existed inside that room.

But Seungri had seemingly retreated in on himself and even a gentle prompt from the Police Chief Jin elicited no response.

Then suddenly the impasse was broken, as Seungri swept his arm across the table. Files and photographs were sent tumbling to the floor.

"Why are you doing this!?" Seungri demanded, surging to his feet. "Why won't you just let me confess!?"

Seunghyun almost ripped the door of the viewing room from its hinges in his haste to get to his dongsaeng.

Even in the few short seconds it took to get into the Interrogation Room, the scenario had changed by the time Seunghyun burst in there. Seungri was back in his seat – and Jae Sang's strong hand on his shoulder was clearly the reason for that.

But, in spite of his worry over his dongsaeng, it was his father who really captured his attention.

Yang Hyunsuk – renowned Private Investigator, former cop and veteran of interviewing suspect and victims alike – had collapsed into a chair opposite his younger son and was holding his head in his hands. He looked the picture of complete and utter defeat.

This had been his one and only shot – and he'd failed.

But Seunghyun wasn't prepared to give up quite so easily.

For a brief moment, at least, they had seemed to get through to Seungri. But they'd underestimated Arashi; underestimated his methods.

Seungri hadn't only been subjected to mere words. He'd been subjected to drugs and sleep deprivation and God-only-knew what other mind control techniques. He'd been brainwashed – and just facts, files and photos would never be enough to undo the damage that had been done.

Without speaking, without letting Seungri know that he was there – for he'd not even reacted to his dramatic storming into the room – Seunghyun bent down and began to retrieve the detritus strewn across the floor.

After a few seconds, he felt a presence behind him and he looked up into Police Chief Jin's concerned eyes.

"I'm sorry, son," the Police Chief said, sincerely. "I really thought that this would work."

Getting to his feet, Seunghyun turned to face him: "I want to try."

He saw the Police Chief look over his shoulder to where his father sat – silently asking his permission; but there was no help coming from that quarter. The Police Chief gave a half-shrug and Seunghyun saw it as the go-ahead.

He pulled the remaining chair around, so that it was side on to where Seungri sat and placed the files down. He didn't know what he had in mind; but he did know that they shouldn't quit.

His father's idea to get through to Seungri had been a good one. It just wasn't going to show them instant results. They needed to persevere; to keep reminding Seungri of the actual truth; to make him see it for himself. They needed to be methodical and go over every single scrap of evidence over and over again.

It would take time and patience. The words would have to be spoken with conviction – without even a hint of hesitation. They would need to be spoken with love and understanding and possibly even in anger, on occasion.

And they would need to be spoken as many times as it took for Seungri to genuinely believe them – even if that was a thousand times. It might take days or even weeks – but Seunghyun knew that it would work – and he was completely committed to the task ahead.

Opening the file that lay on top of the pile he'd gathered, he turned it so that both he and Seungri could see the contents. It was the Accident Investigation report.

"Okay." He took a deep breath. "Why don't we see what these guys had to say?'

Seungri didn't know what to do.

His confusion – not helped by his now raging headache – had free rein over him and he wasn't even thinking coherently any more.

Stray memories bombarded him and cruel words slammed into his skull: 'mother-killer-mother-killer'.

They were all he could hear.

All he could see were words on a sheet of paper; words that spelt out exactly what he'd done and thoroughly compounded his guilt.

"My name is Yang Seungri and I killed my mother."

He had said those words aloud. He had already confessed. So why wasn't anyone listening to him now?

He'd thought that his father and the Police Chief were making some sort of sense – but that was when the agonising memories had first started to haunt him. Both realities couldn't possibly be true – and, though he couldn't know it, Arashi's techniques had formed a lasting and damning impression.

Details filtered back to him – through the fog in his mind and penetrating past the words that continued to scream at him.

"I lost control of the car…"