Hyunsuk sit down heavily on the bed. This really was too hard and, without a doubt, he wouldn't have been able to get through it without his little sister's help.

Ga-in open the jewellery case and lift out a gold chain with a single emerald teardrop pendant.

When Ga-in show him the necklace, Hyunsuk almost broke down again – but he bit his lip to control his grief.

It’s was their anniversary gift.

Hyunsuk merely took the necklace from her. He held it up to the light and watched the pendant swing idly; the sunlight catching it on every counter-swing.

"She always wear her pearls with that dress," he eventually murmured. And then he lay on the bed and closed his eyes.

For once, he wasn't fighting back the teardrops; instead – lying on the bed he never though he'd be able to sleep on again – he clutched one close to his heart.

Ga-in look at his brother sadly. She wait for a moment – making sure his breathing had evened out and that he was properly asleep – before leaving him alone.

Seunghyun stare at the back of Seungri's head. His dongsaeng needed him and yet he was sitting there; struck dumb and feeling useless.

His mind raced and he thought about a dozen ways which he might break the silence – but as the moment dragged on and on, each excuse lost any pretence of feasibility.

He kept his arm firmly around Seungri's shoulders; the only support he could offer. But he knew it was a sad attempt.

Seungri had brought up the subject of their appa and Seunghyun had seemingly lost the ability to speak. What message did that give to the already traumatised boy? It could only be a negative one.

He opened his mouth. Even just speaking Seungri's name would be better than this silence.

But his heart was in his mouth – after all, anything he said would be a direct influence on the future of Seungri and their appa. The right thing would be the first step towards them rebuilding the solid relationship they had so recently shared; the mutual trust and respect that had been nurtured; re-shaping the bond which Seunghyun had always taken for granted with him and his appa; which he envied very much between Seungri and their eomma.

The wrong thing…

And it was too late for Seunghyun to think about the consequences of saying the wrong thing – because it happened;

Seungri shuddered and pulled away.

Breaking free, simply because his hyung was too shocked to stop him, Seungri slid to the end of the bed and then gripped the edges of it tightly.

"I need to take a bath," he mumbled, pushing himself shakily to his feet. His sleep hadn't really diminished his headache and he wondered when he can take a painkiller again – even as he recognised that it didn't really matter. The medicine wasn't going to cure him; wasn't going to repair the hole in their family.

Nothing short of a miracle could help them now. And Seungri was a long way from believing in miracle.

Seunghyun watched in mortification as his dongsaeng retreated towards the bathroom. Seungri's shoulders were slumped and his head was down. He looked hopeless.

He knew he couldn't allow this to happen; he can’t let Seungri go and lock himself in the bathroom when his dongsaeng was so clearly distraught. Anything might happen – and it could be his fault.

Desperation finally let him find his voice and he called out: "Seungri, wait!"

Seungri stopped, but he didn't turn around.

"What, hyung?" he asked, wearily.

"Seungri, you know that appa was completely devastated, don't you?" he asked, frantically seeking some way to avert this problem.

"You know that appa wasn't even thinking; that appa was just reacting. What appa said – what appa did – it was because of his grief. You can understand that, right?"

His words provoke a reaction, but it wasn't exactly the one he'd been hoping for.

Seungri slowly turned around and finally met with his hyung’s eyes. His eyes was intense and penetrating – and somehow disturbing.

"You don't get it, hyung" Seungri whispered.

"Maybe....– if I could remember." Confusion and frustration rose to dominance on Seungri’s ever expressive features.

"But I can't remember, hyung. Or maybe I can! I don't know! What's real, or what …" He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't even know what to think any more."

"Seungri.…" Seunghyun could only breathe his dongsaeng’s name – finally beginning to grasp the damage done. And the realisation made him doubt himself all over again. He wasn't qualified to deal with this. Seungri need a professional: a therapist who specialised in this sort of thing. He didn't have any psychiatric qualification.

And there was still the very real danger that he might end up doing more harm than good.

But how could he turn his back? His dongsaeng was standing in the middle of the room, swaying on his feet in distress. He had never, ever seen Seungri looking so lost.

"Seungri, do you trust hyung?" he asked, mentally crossing his fingers that there were some things – one thing – that psychopath would never be able to destroy.

Seungri open his eyes and nod faintly at Seunghyun.

"Then I want you to trust hyung." he pressed on.

"Hyung want you to your instinct. What's it telling you now?" He looked at his dongsaengs intently, as his words seemed to pull the younger boy out of his stupor.

Seungri moved back to the bed. "I don’t know hyung. It's confusing…"

"Instincts can't be confused, bro," Seunghyun said– hoping that his logic, so often a source of infuriation to Seungri, might provoke more of a reaction. "Hyung want to know what do you feel?"

"I really don’t know." Seungri sat back down on the end of the bed. "What I remember… Or maybe remember…" He shook his head, on the verge of being lost to that psychopath's games again.

"Seungri!" Seunghyun snapped – determined to keep his dongsaeng on track, yet deliberately maintaining a distance between them. Seungri look almost impossible. But he couldn't touch his dongsaeng – can’t offer the comfort he felt he should show. He steeled himself and repulsed his own instincts. Seungri need to do this by himself.

"Don't remember. Don't think. Just tell hyung what you feel."

Seungri feel a sudden, pressing need to be alone and he got back to his feet.

"I really need to take a bath."

Seungri was gone and Seunghyun couldn't even utter a word of protest; he was so shocked by the sudden departure. And he was left helplessly wondering if he had – only managed to do more harm than good.