We were heading back to the dorm. Kim Hyun Joong was about to take the stairs with us when Kevin reminded him that he had elevator privileges.

 He laughed and waved at us."That's right. See ya up there."

We smiled and continued to the boy's stairwell.

"James Kim.!" Someone called out my name. I turned back to see Minwoo Chae standing in the corridor with Yoo Ji Sung. "A word, please."

I headed back toward the men and turned and waved at my friends. I gave them a reassuring smile that I would be all right.

"James, this is Minwoo Chae. He works for our company." Yoo Ji Sung introduced me to my God Father. I treated him like a new elder and bowed respectfully.

"He has been asked to check on you, personally, by upper management regarding your injury. Not to worry! You're not in trouble. Just go with Mr. Chae. Answer his questions. I'll see you later." He waved me off.

I was left standing in front of Mr. Chae, "If you would follow me, Please."

He led me over to the elevators and pushed the down button. We waited in silence for the door to open. When it did, I waited for him to enter then I did.

"Your Father wants to see you; I'm taking you meet with him." The elevator stopped at the first level of the underground parking. We proceeded to his car.

Once in the safety of the car, he turned to me. "Let me have a look. Can you move your neck? Is your voice really affected? Your dad's very concerned." he told his driver to head out.

"Where are we going?" I asked in a whisper.

"To get you checked out at the hospital, of course."

"I'm fine." But after saying it, it didn't sound very convincing.

It was well after 11pm by the time we arrived at the hospital. My father must have pulling some strings to have an ENT Specialist there waiting to look me over. After the doctor poked and prodded me, he reassured Mr.Chae that I would make a full recovery in 2 weeks.  He advised that I don't strain my larynx; avoid talking for a few days and definitely no singing for a week. I shouldn't do any physical exercise for at least a week. He gave me a prescription to help with the swelling.

Mr.Chae patted my shoulder, I could see that he was relieved by what he heard.

"Well, that good news! Let's go tell your dad."

We pulled to a stop at the estate gate, as the security guard quickly opened it  and waved us through. One things for sure, they hadn't cut back on security even though I wasn't around.

The house was silent as we entered. My dongseungs were fast asleep hours ago. We walked over to my father's study.

I knocked lightly at the door. "Come."

He was sitting at his desk rubbing his temples when I entered the room. He was in front in me in a second, looked me over, examining my neck.

"Looks pretty painful... Come and sit, Seungri. You look like you're ready to drop." With his hands  on my shoulders, he gently guided me over to the chesterfield.  "What did the doctor say?" he turned to Minwoo.

"His larynx is bruised and swollen, but the specialist said he'll recover fully in a couple of weeks." Minwoo informed my father about all the particulars. He also had called my manager, telling him I needed to be observed for a couple of days.

My father let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear." He sat down beside me and patted my knee. "No talking or singing, ah?!"

"Let's go tell your mom... Maybe after seeing you, I won't have to sleep on the couch.." he got up and held out his hand to me. I guess,  he had been really worried about me.

 He thanked Minwoo, said he would talk to him on Sunday and to enjoy his day-off, tomorrow. Or should he say, today! It was 1:30 am.

My father put his hand on my shoulder as we made our way up the stairs.

"Let's see if she's awake.' He quietly open the door to their bedroom suite and popped his head in. After a second, he pulled the door open to let me in.

My step-mother was sitting up in bed reading what looked like a script. Her eyes slowly raised up, " I thought I made myself clear..." When she saw me enter after my father, she grabbed her house coat and jumped out of bed.

"Seungri, Oh thank goodness! Let me see you." She grabbed both my hands and looked me up and down. When she saw my neck. She gasped. "What the Hell are you teaching our son at your company? How to get strangled?"

Wow! She was pissed. This was the first time I'd ever heard her raise her voice to my father, and it was  to show her concern for me. To be honest, it felt wonderful. I tried not to smile.

Still holding my hand, she led me out of their room, down the hall to the children's wing.

"You look exhausted, we'll talk in the morning." She went to my dresser and grabbed me some pajamas. She handed them to me. "Get some sleep." To my complete surprise, she gave my cheek a light kiss and then left my room.

I striped out of my clothes and slid into my pajama pants. I headed for the bathroom. I was shocked at the sight of my neck. No wonder everyone was pretty freaked out. It looked horrible. It was a weird shade of blue, green and purple and the swelling definitely adding to the overall look. At least, it looked as bad as it felt.

                                            .....

When I woke up, I was so stiff and sore. It took me a good five minutes to figure out a way to get my head off the pillow without wanting to puke. I think this is what whiplash feels like. Every move I made hurt. I picked up the phone and called my father.

"Would it be possible for you to come up to my room?" I asked with no more than a whisper.  I hated to ask for help but what could I do?

"Sure, Kiddo."

My step-mother had taken my dongseungs out for the day. My parents both agreed that I needed rest which would be next to impossible with two energetic youngster jumping all over me.

My dad planned to spend the day with me, 'taking care of me'. He suggested we spend the day in our home theatre watching some of new movies his company was producing. Not like I could really do anything else.

By Sunday evening, the swelling around my neck had decreased somewhat. It was still very painful to move it. The colour was changing too. Now there was greens and browns adding to the look.

I was called to my father study at around 8pm. The door was shut, as I approached.  I could hear my father talking loudly to someone but couldn't make out what he was saying.

I tapped on the door, not sure if it was the wisest thing to do.

"Come!" boomed my father's voice.

I slowly opened the door to witness a bizarre scene.

My father was standing in front of a kneeling Kang Bok Gu. I blinked a couple of time to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"Seungri..." he motioned me over.

 Now, I felt strange as I stood beside my father. I was face to face with the man who caused me so much pain.

"I take full responsibility for my actions... for my short-sightedness that caused such a preventable injury. I am reflecting on what I did...Please accept my sincerest  apology." He bowed his head down and remained in that position. "If you want to press charges against me for assault, I will plead guilty...If you want me to resign, I will immediately."

I was stunned beyond words. My mouth fell open. I stood there frozen, not knowing what to say or do. He was the last person I expected to see today.

I could feel my heart rate increasing and the blood was starting to pound in my ears.

"Excuse me, Ah- bo- jee. I'm not feeling well." I whispered to him. Not waiting for a response, I bolted from the room.

Once I was back in my room, my body calmed itself.  Why did I react that way?