'I'm sorry to inform you that Mr. Kim Joonhyuk and Dr. Choi Sunhee have passed away this morning after severe injuries from a car accident. Mr. Kim seems to have lost control of the steering wheel from the icy road and their car crashed into a nearby tree. Death was instantaneous upon impact.' the operating surgeon says calmly.

'That's...that's impossible' Joonmyeon scoffs, 'They couldn't have...my brother is a good driver. A little fast at times, but not-not bad enough to get into such a lethal accident. You must be wrong. Joonhyuk can't be dead!'

By this point, Joonmyeon's voice has gained a shrill quality of disbelief and the man drops to the ground, clutching the phone in his hands. The doctor at the other end is saying something, something Joonmyeon can't understand. Shock ripples through his mind as a choked sob rises in his throat.

He'd always thought that he'd have time to reconcile with his brother. After everything they'd fought about, his career choices, their differing goals, family loyalties...Joonmyeon had always thought that he'd have more time.

Now, knees touching the ground and pitiful shouts of frustration echoing throughout the large apartment, the professor realizes just how much time he'd squandered on being a coward.

A shriek pierces through the apartment and Joonmyeon's eyes burst open in shock. He barely has a moment to scramble out of bed and into the hallway before another scream rings in his ears.

"Let go of me! Let GO!" Jongin growls at his brothers, trying to force his way out of the cage of Minseok's arms.

Jongdae's left eye is swollen and there are bloody scratches on his arms. The eldest isn't so beat up, but he's not completely unharmed, either. Furious and shocked at his usually playful nephew's behavior, Joonmyeon rushes toward the fourth grader, taking him out of Minseok's arms quickly.

"Kim Jongin!" he shouts over the child's shrieks, "Jongin, what's wrong?!"

Jongin lets out another wail and tries to claw at his uncle, who traps his arms to avoid the ferocious boy.

"I want Mama! Why are you guys lying to me?! Why are you keeping Mama and Papa away from me?!"

Wincing as a foot comes in contact with his stomach, Joonmyeon tries to keep his calm. The others were hurt and Jongdae looked like he needed medical attention. If he let Jongin go any further with his tantrums, someone-most likely, Jongin himself-would be seriously hurt.

"Minseok! I need you to get my phone for me and press 4," the adult instructs firmly, "Make sure that the person that picks up is Dr. Bang Minah and put her on speaker phone."

The teen rushes to his uncle's bedroom, feet almost tripping on his oversized sweats as he sprints back, fingers furiously tapping against the screen. After a few moments of just Jongin's screams, a groggy female voice picks up.

"Hello? Joonmyeon?"

"Minah! I need you to come to my apartment, quick!"

"What's wrong? Is someone hurt-"

Another painful cry rips through the air and Joonmyeon hisses as Jongin's nails drag down his forearms, drawing droplets of blood.

"Oh my God, was that one of the kids? I'll be there as fast as I can; don't worry!" with that, the line goes dead and the injured three relax slightly.

It takes 20 minutes for Dr. Bang Minah to arrive at the Kim apartment and when she knocks on the door, panicked, a battered Jongdae opens the door as Minseok and Joonmyeon try to wrestle Jongin to the ground.

"What in the world?" she whispers in shock as she gingerly touches Jongdae's disfigured eye and crimson scratches, "How long has he been acting like this?"

Letting out a whimper at the pain, the second born struggles to maintain his calm.

"About 30 minutes, maybe longer. I woke up to hear Minseok struggling with him." Jongdae responds, just as his elder brother and uncle manage to get Jongin pinned to the ground.

"That long? We can't get him still enough to find out what the exact cause is. I'll have to sedate him." the doctor mutters and Minseok's head shoots up.

"No! We're not sedating my brother like he's some-some animal!"

"It's our only choice! Don't you want to help him?" his uncle sighs.

Even though he was consenting, Joonmyeon doesn't look any happier than Minseok. However, he grits his teeth as Minah grabs a small syringe from her bag and injects the correct dosage carefully.

"Hold him absolutely still." she commands and Jongin tries to thrash around, but fails.

"No! I don't like needles! Leave me alone!" he protests.

The two males manage to keep the elementary schooler still and he's quickly sedated, drifting into a medically-lulled sleep. After moving the unconcious boy onto his bed, the professor moves his attention to the other boys, who are being treated for their wounds.

"What just happened?" Jongdae whispers, expression horrified as he inspects the discoloration on his arms.

Minah shoots her friend a look before smiling gently at the boys.

"I'm going to have to talk to your uncle for a second-is that alright with you both?"

The two nod slowly, too occupied with their injuries. The doctor leads Joonmyeon into the kitchen and tries to explain the situation to him as she sees it. He glances at the clock and a sigh leaves his lips as it registers to him that he and the boys have been home for little more than 4 hours and asleep for even less. Minah's voice is hushed and her dark eyes shine with pity, something the man has seen too often for a lifetime.

"The child-"

"Jongin."

Her lips quirk downwards, but not because she's insulted. More because she doesn't want to put an identity to a child that's become so drastically violent in an impossibly short amount of time.

"Jongin seems to be suffering from the traumatic experience of losing his parents. My guess is that he's channelling his feels of abandonment and loneliness into violence, but you'll have to go to a psychiatric professional for affirmation. There's little I can help you with besides patching up you and the others; I'm sorry, Joonmyeon." she explained sadly.

Her friend shook his head, polite smile obviously forced, but necessary.

"It's alright. You've done plenty for us. Thank you, Minah." he murmurs.

As they head back out, she scribbles a number and name on a piece of paper for Joonmyeon.

"The drug will wear off in 2 hours, tops. You should get Jongin to this doctor before he wakes up," she instructs, "I need to send Kyungsoo to work and Sehun to school, but call me to tell me what happened. I'll set up an emergency appointment for you."

Still numb from shock, the professor manages a nod as he sends her off. When she leaves, Minseok gives him a curious look as he brushes his fingers through Jongdae's slightly curling locks.

"Who was that, uncle?" he asks quietly, suggestion in his voice.

Joonmyeon shakes off the assumption and fingers the white note in his hand.

"My best friend's wife. She works at the nearby clinic as a doctor." he explains half-heartedly.

Satisfied with the answer, the highschooler ggoes back to calming down his younger brother and Joonmyeon looks at the paper solemnly.

'Dr. Zhang Yixing-Children's Therapist. (703) 399-2992'

He lets out a deep sigh before running his own fingers through his dyed-crimson hair.

"Get dressed guys. We have an appointment."

~~~

@multi-ulti-23: I hope you liked it! ^^

@sehaaan: Exactly! That's my idea for this fic in general. They'll be a lot of angst in the beginning though-you saw plenty of it in this chappie!

@OkJust_Ady-ing_Feels: Yeah, I LOVE Surong. I was going to make this Suchen, but I see suchen as a cute family relationship sometimes. Thanks so much for the support~

@MissIdash: It's Chorong from APink~~~

@nisamanda: It's not cute and fluffy yet, but it'll get there; I promise!

@multi-ulti-23: Haha, yeah! It's a cool coincidence. I'm glad I can utilize it in this context! Thanks for the compliment~ Yeah, the grandfather isn't exactly a protagonist, but he's not a bad guy. I like having my characters 3d so that even the protagonists have bad qualities and the antagonists have good qualities.

Thanks to everyone who commented and PLEASE UPVOTE~~~ I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!