Jiyong stomped down the hall to detention with one thought in mind; His step-bother was going to pay big time. He couldn’t believe his brother well step brother had done this to him. Sure he had pulled pranks on him but they were harmless. Both of them even laughed about them later. But this crossed the line and he was determined to make his brother pay for the mess he now found himself in. Turning the corner Jiyong spotted President Yang standing in the detention room door with his arms crossed. Not wanting to get in even bigger trouble Jiyong quickened his pace making it to the door just as the final bell rang. Trudging past President Yang he made a beeline for the desk in the back corner. He needed a quiet spot to work out his revenge.
 

****

Seungri happily walked out of the school building and down on the few steps. Sitting on the bottom stair he tugged his book bag off his back and set it in front of him. ping the top he dug around in the bag until he found what he was searching for; his latest library book. He opened the book and settled against the step to wait for his big brother to come. Paying no attention to the groups of kids around him Seungri submerged himself into the story. He was so engrossed in the story that he jumped at the sound of the strong engine. Seungri watched his father stop in front of the school as his mind raced to come up with a reason for the change in plans. Thoughts of Jiyong hurt or sick had Seungri grabbing his book bag and running to the car. Pulling the passenger side door open he threw his bag in the back seat before climbing in and holding on as his father tore out of the parking lot. “What’s going on dad?” he asked breathlessly. “Did something happen to Jiyong?”

His father fingers tightened on the steering wheel at the mention of his oldest. “Something happened alright.” His father snapped. “The school called a little while ago. Your brother decked another student, landed in detention.”

“Oh” Seungri said turning to stare out the side window. “Jiyong is dead meat.” Seungri thought.

****

Jiyong sat at the desk in the back planning the perfect prank for Seungri. Part of him, a very small part, was proud of his little brother for managing to sneak into and out of both schools without being caught. The other part was just plain ticked off. He’d thought they were finished with the prank wars for a while after Seungri’s last prank resulted in a cracked side window on their father car. He guessed the kid had been lying low waiting for the perfect opportunity.

Jiyong sighed as he crossed another prank of his list. That one was just too complicated and there was no way he could get everything he needed in a hick town like this one. He needed something simple yet effective. Glancing around at the brightly colored character trait posters he mentally went over some of their past pranks hoping to get a great idea. “Let’s see” Jiyong thought. “There were the plastic spiders in the bed, the jello in his sneakers, the huge toy rat in the shower, and of course the hands down winner the ex-lax hot chocolate.” Hmmm seems Seungri usually turned to phobias as a way to prank him. Not that Jiyong had any phobias. He just played along for Seungri’s sake since the kid had so many.

Knowing his little brother’s fear of small, dark spaces Jiyong momentarily contemplated locking his brother in their closet. But he quickly tossed that idea. After all Jiyong loved the kid, even though he really hated his guts at the moment.

His eyes stopped on a poster of a brightly painted face complete with red nose. Grinning evilly Jiyong began to hastily scribble notes in his notebook. Minutes later he sat back contentedly. The plan was perfect. He’d need to get a few things but he could do that on the way home. Grinning maliciously he made a list of all the things he would need. Hearing his principle call out that time was up for the day Jiyong gathered his belongings and headed for the door.

Jiyong walked into the store and hurriedly glanced around knowing he didn’t have much time. Spotting what he needed two aisles over he quickly made his way over and began piling items into his basket. After double checking his list he raced over to the register to pay and then hit the road once more. When he finally reached his street, Jiyong carefully stashed the bag of goodies in his tattered book bag before heading up the short walk way to their latest home. It was time to face the music.

****

There are their father sat glaring at the front door hands clenched in anger. Hearing someone walking on the porch he stood and crossed his arms. “Bout time.” He growled at Jiyong as soon as he came in. “Thought they said detention only lasted an hour.”

Jiyong set his book bag on the floor beside the door before going over to the couch. “It did. Took a while to cross main street with all the traffic.” Jiyong explained.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on?” his father gruffly asked. “Fighting after I told you to stay under the principal’s radar is one thing. I kind of understand that. What I wanna know is why the principal was ranting about you attacking another boy?! What the hell is he talking about?!”

“It’s really no big deal dad. Some guy at school started that rumor about me. Guess he didn’t like the competition.” Jiyong smoothly lied. “I took care of the big mouth. End of story.”

Jiyong’s father let out a relieved breath before scowling at his son. “I understand your anger son but that was not the way to go about fixing things. Not when we’re trying to keep a low profile.” He said. “You’re grounded for two weeks.”

“Two weeks?!” Jiyong groaned. “C’mon dad!”

“Want me to make it three?” His father threatened.

“No” Jiyong replied dropping his head. Two weeks that he couldn’t stand. “Sorry sir” he mumbled.

“Go upstairs and get washed up.” His father ordered. “Supper will be ready in ten.”

“Yes sir” Jiyong automatically replied. He slowly climbed the few stairs and glumly walked to the bathroom head down. He washed quickly and then enters the room he and Seungri shared.

Seungri glanced up as Jiyong pass him. “What happened at school Jiyong?” he innocently asked.

“Like you don’t know.” Jiyong thought. Plopping down on the edge of his bed he schooled his features before looking at his brother. “Some jack decided it would be funny to plaster my locker with pictures of some explicit dancer.”

“That’s horrible Jiyong” Seungri sympathetically said.

“Yeah it was.” Jiyong went on waiting for him to crack a smile and say “got ya”. “See some jock was hurling insults while he laughed so I walked up to him and knocked him flat.”

“Sorry man” Seungri said.

“You should be sorry. I mean you will be.” Jiyong thought. To Seungri he just shook his head.

“I’m taking a shower.” He called over his shoulders before heading to the bathroom to put his plan in motion. Jiyong tiptoed down the stairs, snatched up his bag, and silently made his way back up the steps to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror he quickly applied the face makeup careful to make his eyes look angry. He completed the look with the fake nose and brightly colored wig and suit. Looking in the mirror he snorted at the object of his little brother’s deepest fear; clowns.

Jiyong opened the door an inch and peeked out. Once he ascertained that the hallway was empty, he quickly and quietly made his way down the hall to the closet and stepped inside to wait. He didn’t have to wait long. A few minutes later their dad shouted up that supper was ready. He watched through the cracked door as Seungri came bounding down the hall. “Closer” he thought. “That’s it Seungri. Just a little more.” He stayed hidden waiting for Seungri to get close enough.

Seungri bounded down the hall stopping at the closed bathroom door. Knocking he called out “Jiyong supper’s ready” before continuing on his way. At the end of the hallway he started to turn when a figure leapt out of the closet at him.

“BOO!” Jiyong shouted as he jumped out at Seungri. He laughed as Seungri turned and ran for the stairs. Jiyong’s laughter stopped as Seungri suddenly lost his balance half way down and tumbled head over heels down the remaining steps stopping with a sickening thud at the bottom of the staircase.

“Seungri!” Jiyong shouted in horror as he stared at his little brother lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Noticing that Seungri wasn’t moving he yelled for his dad as he raced down the stairs to aid his injured sibling. Falling to his knees beside Seungri, Jiyong gasped at the rapidly growing pool of blood under his brother’s head. He took a moment to appraise his brother’s condition.

Seungri was lying on his stomach with only the left side of his face showing. Jiyong couldn’t see the obvious head injury but he assumed that a cut somewhere on the right side of Seungri’s head was the cause of the blood. Two other injuries immediately caught Jiyong’s attention. The unnatural way Seungri’s right leg was bent under him revealed at least one break and his left shoulder appeared to be dislocated judging from the look of the limb. There were no other visible injuries but that did nothing to ease Jiyong’s worry.

He carefully reached out and put shaking fingers against Seungri’s neck. He let out a relieved breathe at finding a strong heartbeat. Jiyong then placed his hand in front of his brother’s nose mentally cheering at the small puffs of air he felt. Needing to see his little brother’s face Jiyong put a hand on the back of Seungris neck to turn his brother over.

“Stop! Don’t touch him!” His father shouted as he burst through the doorway. Skidding to a stop he dropped down next to Jiyong and roughly yanked his hands away from Seungri. “You can’t move him!” he growled. His father hurried to the phone to call for an emergency. He threw the phone down and quickly went back to Seungri’s side.

Jiyong watched quietly as his father took charge of the situation.

He tentatively placed a gentle hand on Seungri’s wrist needing some reassurance that his little brother was still alive. He sat there replaying the disastrous prank over and over again as his guilt began to grow. Feeling someone shaking him Jiyong started. Hearing his name called he turned to look into the furious face of his father.

Kneeling back down beside Seungri his father checked his son’s pulse and respiration once more before turning to Jiyong. His father’s worry bled into anger as he took in the clothes and make up his son was wearing. He scowled instantly figuring out what had happened. The anger he was feeling grew into rage when calling Jiyong’s name garnered no response from the boy. Grabbing his son’s shoulder he roughly shook Jiyong while continuing to call his name. As soon as Jiyong turned to face him his anger came tumbling out. “What the hell were you thinking?!” his father hollered. “Seungri could have been killed!”

Jiyong flinched as his dad’s harsh words hit home. “I, I didn’t, didn’t mean...” he stammered.

“Go get that crap off your face and change before I do something I’ll regret!”

“Yyyy-- yyyeeess” Jiyong shuttered. He slowly stood and made his way up the stairs. He quickly walked past the closet and over to the bathroom. Trudging to the sink he the hot water and snatched a wash rag off the towel rack. He ran it under the faucet several times and then lifted it to his face. Jiyong thought about the night’s events as he began to scrub the clown paint off. He had overbroad the stupid prank and Seungri had suffered the consequences. His step-brother could have been killed and for what? Some prank? He scrubbed harder as the image of Seungri falling flashed through his mind. He scrubbed and scrubbed as he continued to mentally berate himself. The sound of sirens broke through his thoughts and he raced to their room. After a quick change, he sprinted back down stairs making it to Seungri’s side just as his father opened the door for the paramedics.

Jiyong and his father warily watched as the paramedics descended on Seungri. They swiftly assessed the youngest condition calling out vitals and injuries. Once they put a neck brace on the little boy, they worked together to situate the youngster on a backboard being careful of his neck and back. They then strapped Seungri to the board and placed him on the waiting gurney. They hurried out to the ambulance.