"He hasn't talked at all since he woke up?" the doctor asked, staring down at his ten year old patient, sitting nervously on the hospital bed.

The nurse shook her head. "Not at all," she answered, looking pitifully at the boy.

The doctor got closer to the boy, hoping to get some sort of reaction. "Taekwoon," the older man called. 

Taekwoon didn't reply. He continued to stare into nothing, practically unaware of his surroundings. The hospital staff wasn't surprised by the boy's behavior. Everything he went through today would probably scar him for life. His doctor was already looking up some numbers to child therapists.

The image of today probably would never leave the doctor's brain. He'll never forget the image of the boy crying uncontrollably as four bodies were rolled into the hospital as well. He won't forget the image of the boy fainting upon hearing that he lost four members of his family today.

The doctor sighed. "Where's his father?"

The nurse swallowed. "He's...in the morgue," she answered. "Saying his goodbyes."

Taekwoon definitely heard that. He painfully gasped, wanting nothing more than to throw up right now. He felt tears coming from his eyes. It seemed like constant reminders were being mercilessly thrown at his face. Constant reminders of what he caused.

Feeling nothing but sympathy for the boy, the nurse reached out her hand in a comforting manner, wanting to rub circles on the boy's back. She wasn't surprised when the boy flinched, moving away from her burning touch. She wasn't surprised when his eyes widened and his breathing rate increased. 

"S-sorry," she quickly said.

"You have family in the waiting room," the doctor said kindly. "You have your aunt, uncle, and cousin out there. They want to stay with you while you wait for your dad. Is that okay?" He didn't want Taekwoon to be left alone. He may be only ten years old, but who knew what the little boy was capable of doing to himself.

Taekwoon slowly turned his head to face the doctor. He bit his lip, wondering if he even deserved such company.

"They really want to see you," the doctor added, looking into the boy's tearful eyes.

Taekwoon finally nodded, bringing his knees to his chest.

"Good," the doctor replied, a small, gentle smile appearing on his face. "Just trust your family and let them help you. Everything will work out in the end."

Taekwoon had only been home for a few minutes before the door bell rang. Confused, he rose from the couch and slowly opened the door. Taekwoon gasped as he opened his front door, surprised at the face that greeted him. "Brian Hyung," he said, still in shock.

"Leo!" Brian replied as he enveloped Taekwoon in a hug.

Taekwoon smiled at the English nickname his cousin had given him several years ago as he slowly accepted the hug. Seeing Brian was almost a rare occurance now, which made Taekwoon always so happy to see him. Though they regularly talked over the phone, nothing beat the joy of actually seeing each other. Brian was always that older brother Taekwoon always wanted.

"How's my little cousin doing?" Brian asked as he broke off the hug.

Taekwoon nodded. "I'm fine," he replied, his automatic answer every time someone asked him that question.

"Can I come in?" Brian asked.

"Of course," Taekwoon quickly said with a nod. He helped Brian with his bags and directed the older one to the living room, even though Brian was very much acquainted with this house.

Brian let out a sigh as he plopped himself onto the couch. "You've definitely grown taller since I last saw you," he commented proudly.

"Thank you," Taekwoon said, taking a seat next to Brian. "How's America?"

Brian shrugged. "It's all just work and play really," he answered. "Kinda like here if you think about it."

"What brought you here anyway?" Taekwoon asked. "You didn't call or mention that you were coming."

Brian smiled. "I'm full of surprises you know," he answered. "I can't stay in America without coming to visit Korea whenever I feel like it." He smiled at Taekwoon, noticing that the younger one wasn't convinced by his statement. Brian sighed. "Okay, remember Soo Jin? He's getting married. Decided to kill two birds with one stone and visit you first."

"Oh," Taekwoon said, surprised that the one mentioned was responsible enough to keep a relationship for more than two weeks. Taekwoon shook the thought out of his head, wanting to change the subject. "This is my last year of school," he announced. "When I graduate I get to go to America and visit, right?"

Brian scoffed. "I've been asking you to move to America for the past seven years!" he reminded him. "Of course you can come visit me. But hey, my offer still stands about you coming to stay with me."

Taekwoon nodded, his facial expression dropping a bit, which Brian automatically noticed.

"I know I may sound really insensitive with this," Brian began. "But I can't really feel too guilty. I'm related to you through your mom. Your dad isn't technically part of my family anymore..." Brian bit his lip. "You can leave him. You don't need him, not after everything he's done."

"But he needs me," Taekwoon argued.

Brian grabbed Taekwoon's arm, which was covered by his long sleeve shirt. Taekwoon jumped at the sudden movement. Brian didn't care, he just quickly rolled up Taekwoon's sleeve, revealing the dark bruises that mercilessly discolored his arm. "He needs you for this?"

Taekwoon recoiled his arm from Brian's grasp, holding his arm protectively to his chest. "No," he replied. "He really does need me. He's almost killed himself a few times. If I'm not there then he might actually do it." Taekwoon shakily rolled his sleeve back down, avoiding eye contact with his cousin. Images of his father threatening to over dose on sleeping pills or cut his wrists made Taekwoon's blood run cold.

Brian shook his head. "All of those times he threatened to kill himself always conveniently came after you told him you were leaving." 

Taekwoon bit his lip. "He's still my dad," he finally said. "He's just as weak as I am. He needs help."

Brian sighed, realizing that this conversation would go absolutely nowhere, just like all their other conversations about this certain subject. Taekwoon just didn't understand him. Taekwoon didn't understand that Brian always lived in fear of what could possibly being going on with his cousin while he's a thousand miles away. He was afraid that one day, Taekwoon would need someone to seriously rescue him, but Brian wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"Where is he, anyway?" Brian asked, looking around the room.

"I don't know," Taekwoon answered, finally realizing that he was home by himself. "I actually got back from school not too long ago." 

Taekwoon's phone rang, indicating that he had a message. He pulled his phone out of his pocket before slowly reading the message and replying.

"That your boss?" Brian asked in curiousity as Taekwoon finished the text.

Taekwoon shook his head. "My friend."

Brian raised an eyebrow. "Friend?" he asked in confusion.

Taekwoon nodded. "Hakyeon," he continued. "He goes to school with me."

"I thought I was your only friend," Brian said, pretending to be hurt. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought what we had was special!"