Seunghyun hold the breath he'd in when Seungri’s eyelids flickered and then finally opened. A faint hope had begun to play at the back of his mind – and he found himself clinging desperately to it: his younger brother had undergone unimaginable psychological trauma – and Seunghyun inwardly acknowledged that he didn't even know the full extent of what it had entailed. But he had been subjected to mind-altering drugs, incessant sleep deprivation and God only knew what else – all designed to confuse and manipulate him.

So couldn't there be a chance that Seungri wouldn't even remember what Arashi had tried to make him believe?

Seunghyun mentally crossed his fingers. If that was the case, then they could ease Seungri through the next few days and his recovery wouldn't be looking quite so uncertain.

But in the next second, that hope was cruelly dashed. Seungri's eyes met his hyung’s eyes for only the briefest moment and then they drifted off to the right and stayed there – staring miserably at the wall.

"Seungri…" He had to say something – but found that he simply didn't have the words.

The point swiftly became moot, as the doctor leant in front of him with a penlight in his hand. The height of professionalism, he had hung back just long enough to allow the father and son coax his patient back towards consciousness. But, as soon as he was fully aware, he stepped back in to do his job.

"How are you feeling, Seungri?" he asked, gently turning the boy's head towards him.

"Any pain?" When Seungri shook his head minutely, he carefully shone his light first into one eye and then the other. "Not even a headache? How about nausea?" Again, the responses were minimal, but the doctor seemed unphased.

"Follow my finger," he instructed, moving his index finger from side to side. "Excellent. Alright, Seungri, you're going to be feeling tired for a while – but the only thing you need right now is rest." He gestured to the IV line snaking into the back of poor boy's hand.

"You were dehydrated and somewhat malnourished, so we're just replacing some of the fluids and nutrients you lost. It's just a precaution and should help you get back on your feet in no time."

Again, the only response he got was a hint of a nod – and, as the doctor straightened up, Seunghyun leant back in. Worry was beginning to seriously gnaw at him. This was the point where his younger brother would normally be demanding to be allowed to go home. Instead, he just lay there – pale and silent – and his gaze had drifted back over to the far wall.

Seunghyun knew that he had to find some words – any words – to try and take away some of the utter agony and absolute devastation that was radiating off his younger brother in waves. But what could he possibly say, in light of everything that had happened?

He opted for the only thing he had; he opted for the truth: "Hey," he said, finding a smile – because he was genuinely happy to see him, no matter what had transpired or what might still be to come. "It's good to have you back."

After doing his part in encouraging his younger son towards wakefulness, Hyunsuk took a half-step back. It might have been deemed paranoid – but he didn't want his face to be the first one that Seungri saw.

It wasn't because he felt bitter, or angry, or accusatory. He felt none of those things – at least, not towards Seungri.

It was more because he knew that he couldn't school his features; couldn't keep the emotion out of his face. And he didn't want Seungri to see something there and, in his potentially confused and irrational state, interpret it into something it wasn't.

The moment Seungri opened his eyes, he knew such a fear had been unfounded. His younger son couldn't even bring himself to look at them.

It broke Hyunsuk's heart to see his normally ebullient son looking so subdued and lost. It almost completely devastated him when the doctor stated that Seungri only needed to rest in order to aid his recovery – and a sad smile of fond indulgence touched his lips as he recalled the countless other times his youngest son had awoken in a hospital bed. No matter what the ailment, the first words past his lips had always been: 'when can I go home?'

It had been an exasperating trait demand – but it was one that Hyunsuk desperately wished for now.

Instead, he could only watch as Seungri listlessly succumbed to the doctor examination – and never once had a single word to say.

He couldn't remember a single other occasion when Seungri had remained so completely silent.

Then the doctor stepped back – picking up Seungri’s chart from the end of the bed and making some notations on it. And Seunghyun stepped up to the plate – saying trite, almost meaningless words. But Hyunsuk still wished he had been capable of saying them.

Misinterpreting his expression, the doctor clapped him on the shoulder and smiled encouragingly: "He's going to be just fine."

Hyunsuk frowned at him and somehow bit down on the outraged response that sprung to his lips. Seungri, albeit awake and physically unharmed, was a long way removed from being 'just fine'. Luckily, he still had enough presence of mind to know the doctor hadn't intended to come across as being glib.

As the doctor exited the room, Hyunsuk almost called out to him – so deep was his concern – but then his oldest son's voice floated across to him:

"It's going to be okay, Seungri."

With those words, Hyunsuk looked at his sons and strove to find his perspective again.

Now was not the time to worry about probably wholly imagined paranoia over a doctor who might seem distant and cold.

He looked at Sungri and was forced to face his own cowardice. It was all very well deflecting blame towards the doctor – but didn't he have his own issues?

And they were issues that shouldn't be allowed to hinder Seungri's recovery.

This wasn't a time to feel sorry for himself or to dwell on past accusations or injustices; of the wrongs he had done – either by word or deed. It was not the time to think about the events of the last forty-eight hours.

It was the time to think about the future.

Taking a deep breath, Hyunsuk returned to Seungri's side – automatically positioning himself on the opposite side to Seunghyun. Then they did in wakefulness exactly what they had done in sleep: they sat at either side of Seungri and spoke words of love and reassurance.

Seungri stared at the wall. He felt the warm grasps of his dad's and his hyung's hands – but he didn't really feel them. Instead he was lost in a terrifying myriad of flashbacks and memories and false memories.

The light-His mother-The noise-His mother-The crash-His mother-The cell-His mother-His captor-His mother-The blame-The guilt-The confession…

Screaming out an unintelligible denial, Seungri jerked his hands free from the loving ones that held him so gently. He didn't deserve compassion.

He wrapped his hands around his midriff and began to sob. There was no escaping the utter agony in his heart and, each time a gentle hand tried to comfort him, he jerked violently away.

He couldn't hold on to the unity of family any more. He had torn their family apart at the seams – had destroyed the very foundation of who they were. He had killed HIS MOTHER!

"No!" he screamed. His confession hadn't been merely recorded on paper and a digital camera. It was seared into his very soul. And he couldn't face his father or his hyung, given what he had done. "Leave me alone."

"Seungri, we're not…"

The words could have come from either his dad or his hyung. It didn't matter. Seungri drowned out the rest of what might have been said: "Leave me alone!"

His head was threatening to explode. Inside his mind, the noise still hadn't left him alone entirely and each time he closed his eyes – each time he so much as blinked – he expected to be assailed by the thousand watt lights.

"Leave me alone," he begged again. But even as he made that supplication, he realised how terrified he was at being left truly alone.

His confusion was threatening to overwhelm him and his headache was in danger of returning full force.

On top of all that, his recent slumber had barely even dulled the edges of his exhaustion. Seeking an escape – even if it might invite more nightmares; they were certainly better than the horror of being awake – Seungri closed his eyes and collapsed back towards sleep.

Hyunsuk shook his head and closed his eyes, as Seungri retreated from them – both physically and emotionally. It wasn't so much that his younger son had jerked away from him; he had been half expecting it and almost felt that he deserved it, given what he had done.

But to see Seungri pull away from his brother…

Hyusnuk couldn't recall another time when he had witnessed such a thing. No matter what, Seunhyun had always been the one Sengri turned to. And Seunghyun had done nothing to deserve such a reaction.

That, more than anything else, drove home the extent of the damage Arashi had done. And it scared him more than he wanted to admit – even to himself.

If Arashi had somehow driven a wedge between his sons, then – on some level – he had won.

Hyunsuk wasn't about to let that happen. Though he might have done wrong by Seungri in the recent past – he was bound and determined to make this right. He could barely remember a time when his sons had even raised their voices in genuine anger towards one another. Of course there had been altercations and fallings-out: a dispute over a toy; a row over a television channel; even a heated debate over the best course of action in one of their amateur detective cases.

But Hyunsuk couldn't remember a single instance that had resulted in serious issues between his sons – and, without even thinking too hard, he could recall about a million times when they had turned to each other for help, support or just simple encouragement.

He couldn't imagine Seunghyun without Seungri. Or Seungri without Seunghyun.

And so Hyunsuk was determined to remove the wedge Arashi had somehow started to drive between the brothers before it came too firmly entrenched.

With this positive attitude firmly in place, Hyunsuk looked towards his eldest son. What he saw made him waver in his newfound resolve.

If his younger son's reaction had hurt him, then it had cut Seunghyun more deeply about a thousandfold. His oldest son looked beyond shocked. He looked beyond distraught.

Unable to reach out and comfort his brother – and clearly reeling from Seungri's behaviour during his brief awakening – Seunghyun looked totally lost. His hands hovered just beyond Seungri; wanting to touch him, to comfort him, but clearly terrified of provoking such an extreme reaction again.

But Seunghyun's expression told an even sadder story. In spite of everything he knew – in spite of all that had transpired – he had genuinely believed that he would reach Seungri; just like he always had in the past.

A friendly smile; a calm voice; an ordinary greeting and he would make everything okay again. It was his role as Big Brother – and it had never let him down before.

Hyunsuk shook his head again. He should have anticipated this – and he should have prepared for it. But he'd been so consumed first by grief for his wife and then by worry over his younger son; he had completely neglected Seunghyun. He should have been more honest about what Arashi had done to his victims; should never have concealed what the crazy was capable of.

But, as Seunghyun turned desperate and desolate eyes towards him, he pushed all of that to one side. He sat up straighter. Now, at last, he had the chance to do some good.

"Son, you knew something like this might happen," he said, keeping his voice deliberately low. Though Seungri genuinely seemed to have gone back to sleep, it might have been a very convincing act – but he wasn't about to suggest that they take their conversation out into the corridor. He knew exactly how such a suggestion would go down with his eldest son. "It was expected, so you mustn't think of it as a setback."

"I know I mustn't." Seunghyun's voice was even softer than his father's had been – but, in the complete hush of the hospital room, it was still audible. "But I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do." His eyes were impossibly wide; huge with the weight of unshed tears – tears that he adamantly refused to let fall in front of his brother, asleep or not.

"There's only one thing you need to do." Hyunsuk had a sudden epiphany and he smiled, easily recalling those million occasions he'd been thinking about so recently: "Do what you've always done – for your whole life. Seunghyun, just be his brother."