Yang Hyunsuk had eventually crashed on Police Chief Jin’s couch. The scotch did its trick and let him succumb to sleep, when sobriety would never have allowed him such a luxury.

He still woke with the dawn. Police Chief Jin was nowhere in sight – but Hyunsuk barely gave that a pause for thought. It didn't matter where his host was – all that mattered was where he himself needed to be.

The Police Chief had stopped him from going to the hospital in the middle of the night, but now he was no longer an obstacle.

Before leaving though, Hyunsuk put on a pot of coffee. The alcohol had flowed steadily, if not freely, and he needed to clear his head. He also needed the time to put his thoughts in order – and to try and figure out exactly what he was going to say. One thing was certain: he wasn't about to go blundering in again.

He had to find some way to make his younger son understand – and to forgive him.

Grief had been his primary motivator – grief and the driving need to understand and to try and apportion blame. He knew in his heart that it was Arashi. All he'd wanted was for Seungri to give him some kind of confirmation; some grounds to base that suspicion upon.

He had been wrong in his methods and now he felt the overwhelming need to make amends; to hold what was left of his family together.

Police Chief Jin had driven them to his house the previous night, but that wasn't much of a problem to him. The Chief, by necessity, lived close and the hospital was just a short cab ride away.

The ride might have been short, but it proved to be expensive. As the cab pulled to a halt and Hyunsuk got out, he saw a sight that instilled an irrational urgency in him. His sons were exiting the hospital and, though he didn't know why, he knew it was important that he spoke to them both – and most especially Seungri – before they left the place where the damaging words had been spoken.

He dragged a bill out of his wallet and muttered 'keep the change', affording the cab driver with a more than generous tip. Then he took off at a run across the hospital parking lot.

"SeungHyun! Seungri!"

He called out their names merely to alert them to his presence. But when they turned towards him, their expressions caused his run to slow to a walk.

Then SeungHyun stepped protectively in front of his brother and Hyunsuk faltered; coming to a complete standstill.

From the brief glimpse he'd caught of Seungri, the boy looked on the verge of an all out panic attack. Somehow, Hyunsuk couldn't blame him. And nor could he blame SeungHyun for the defensive posture that he struck.

Now, it was no longer simply a case of reaching Seungri. He had to get past his firstborn son in order to do so.

It struck SeungHyun that his dad had shouted out the name 'Seungri’. Not addressed him by his full name as usual, as had been so condemnatory the previous day. He tried to see it as a good sign.

But, 'good sign' or not, he had to try and gauge his father's mood. He wasn't about to allow a repeat of the scenes in the hospital room and he wasn't above running interference for Seungri – or of taking any direct flak should things become more heated.

"Dad, we were…" And then he was forced to trail off. They hadn't made any definite plans, aside from getting Seungri out of the hospital.

SeungHyun idly wondered where he'd been thinking of taking his brother; home didn't seem the most tactful of places.

"SeungHyun, please…" Yang Hyunsuk tried to move around his eldest son and was dismayed to see him shift to keep his body between him and Seungri. He shook his head, deflated. This was no more than he deserved. "Can we at least go for coffee? Maybe we can… talk?"

As much as he loved and respected his dad, SeungHyun wondered if it was too late for such an olive branch. After all, it didn't matter what emotion had driven him to say those devastating words. The damage they had caused was potentially irreparable.

Seungri looked like he was afraid of him and, because of that, SeungHyun was having a hard time finding any sort of forgiveness.

But their father was looking full of remorse and there was a definite hint of self-loathing lurking deep within his brown eyes. If SeungHyun wasn't feeling forgiveness, he was definitely feeling at least a mild sense of pity.

Hyunsuk had done wrong – and he knew it. He was just seeking some way to right that wrong.

SeungHyun had to afford him some respect. The older man was almost desperate for atonement and yet he was standing back and letting SeungHyun call the shots. He wasn't trying to bulldoze through to his youngest son, just to find some way to make himself feel better. That had to be worth something.

Seungri clearly felt it too. He sidestepped away from his brother’s protective posture and, though he never actually looked at his dad, his words were obviously aimed at him:

"Maybe, uh… Maybe not coffee…" His words were low and hesitant. "But, uh… Maybe…"

"There's a cafe just around the corner." SeungHyun took pity on his brother and interrupted the broken, faltering words. He wasn't entirely convinced it was a good idea, but if it was what Seungri wanted then it was what he wanted, too.

SeungHyun and their dad both ordered coffee, while Seungri opted for a raspberry smoothie. They managed to find a table, in spite of the early morning rush.

Then, all three sat and stared into their respective drinks: two trying to find the right words to say and one seeking the strength to get them past those words. Eventually, it was Seungri who broke the strained silence.

"D… dad…" He stumbled over the familiarity, as though wondering how it would be received. "Can I… Can I just say something?"

"Go ahead, son." Hyunsuk attempted reassurance – but he still couldn't bring himself to look Seungri in the eyes.

SeungHyun could only switch his gaze back and forth between the two. He didn't know what Seungri wanted to say; didn't know how his dad would react. All he knew was that he hated this to be happening in such a public place. It had too much potential to end badly.

But he was not allowed the time to give thought to those possible consequences, as Seungri spoke again.

"I'm sorry." The words were barely audible. Seungri’s gaze was affixed firmly to his untouched drink. Both of his hands were on the table, lightly encircling the base of his glass. As he spoke, he began to slowly rotate the glass. "Mom said…"

"Seungri." SeungHyun wanted to stop this – but he might as well have been invisible; or inaudible. His words were totally ignored.

"Mom said if I got so much as a scratch on the car…" The glass had been twirling faster and it suddenly slipped from Seungri’s fingers and crashed to the floor. "I'm sorry, dad! I'm sorry!"

"Oh, Seungri…" Hyunsuk reached out and grasped at his son's forearm – immeasurably relieved when his touch wasn't rejected. "Son, you have nothing to be sorry for."

SeungHyun looked away then – feeling as though he was intruding on a very private moment. He let his gaze wander around the coffee shop and noted that no-one seemed to be paying even the slightest bit of attention to their unfolding family drama.

Even the staff seemed somewhat blasé about the broken glass and the spilled smoothie. But then, SeungHyun realised, they were situated so close to the hospital that such dramas were merely a daily occurrence for them.

He looked back towards his brother and his dad, hoping against hope that they had found a way past the walls that divided them. All it would take was a hug. SeungHyun knew that it was all Seungri would need for some sort of atonement.

Then he had to look away in disappointment. Their dad’s hand still held Seungri’s arm and there was fleeting, brief eye contact. But…

SeungHyun looked around again and saw a stranger watching them. The man was pretending to read a newspaper and, when he saw that SeungHyun had noticed him, quickly the paper aside and took off for the nearest exit. Recognition slammed into him.

"Dad! Arashi!" SeungHyun only needed those two words.

Hyunsuk never gave a thought to anything else in that instant. Not his children, not the café and not the dozens of people who were potentially in the way. He saw his target and went after it.

If SeungHyun or Seungri had ever harboured any doubt over their dad's love for their mom, then it was gone in that instant. Yang Hyunsuk had the air of a man on a mission and he had looked homicidal.

"Dad!" SeungHyun’s mere voice was never going to be enough to stop him. But how could he leave his brother alone? What promises would that violate?

"Go!" Seungri’s urgent voice negated that argument. He was scared – almost panicked – and who the hell could blame him? The man that their father had so recklessly gone chasing after might already be responsible for the death of their mom.

SeungHyun hesitated – torn between the need to stay with his brother or go after his father. Irrefutable logic won out. Seungri was in a public place, surrounded by people. His dad was alone and chasing after a certifiable madman.

"Call Police!" Seunghyun wasn't entirely sure who he aimed those words at but, as he exited the café, he did spare a glance back.

Seungri was fishing in his pockets for his cellphone. But, more reassuringly, a waitress had a telephone receiver gripped firmly in her fist and was already beginning to dial.