The words in italic are a flashback from DaeJae's childhood. This chapter also contains another plot twist. Check the author's note at the bottom of this page for a better explanation of what happened in this chapter. ^_^

Protect the ones you love.

Three young boys with matching black hair were playing in the local playground. One of the boys, who were clearly older than the other two, plopped down on one of the swings watching the other two.

“Youngwon, play with me.” The tanned boy with black hair said excitedly as he jumped up and down.

“No. Daehyun, play with me instead. Can you push us on the swings, big brother?” The youngest of the three questioned as he smiled at the eldest.

“Sure, Youngjae, but only if we can go home soon. It’s almost dark.” Youngwon replied as he hopped off of the swing and let Daehyun take his place.

Daehyun stared at the two brothers with a frown on his face. Youngwon sure was taking his time getting back to the younger.

“Youngwon! Are you coming to push me or not?” Daehyun questioned in frustration as he crossed his arms and let out a long huff.

“Coming, Daehyun,” Youngwon replied as he grabbed Youngjae’s hand and dragged him along with him.

Daehyun squirmed in his seat before Youngwon gave him the first hard push that sent him barely off the ground. Youngjae laughed at his older brother as he attempted to help push the older to no avail.

Laughter filled the air as the two brothers made a game out of who could push Daehyun the highest. The tanned male gripped onto the chains that held the swing in place as he kicked his legs in the air.

Daehyun could feel himself getting higher and higher off the ground, and a sense of panic rose in his chest. He started clutching the chains for dear life as he let out screams that broke through the laughter.

“Stop! I want off! I want off right now!” Daehyun yelled out in fear.

Youngwon instantly grabbed the seat and tried to stop the swing, but he ended up falling on his knees in the process. Youngjae decided to grab hold of one of the chains and struggled to help the swing slow down.

“Keep your feet straight, Daehyun,” Youngwon grunted out as he slowly stood up and wiped the dirt off his knees.

Little by little, the swing began to sink lower and lower to the ground until it came to a complete stop.

Daehyun quickly hopped off of the swing as tears began to stain his cheeks.

“I wanna go home. Now.” Daehyun commanded in a whimper as he wiped away the tears on his arm.

Youngwon glanced over at Daehyun and frowned slightly. He didn’t say a word as he held both of the younger boy’s hands and led them down the street.

As soon as Daehyun was standing on the front porch of his grand home, a huge smile lit up his whole face as he opened the door and ran inside.

Youngwon and Youngjae slowly trailed right behind Daehyun as they watched his mother walk into the hallway with a curious look on her face.

“Hello, my darlings. It’s nice to see you both again. Did you boys have fun with Daehyun today?” Mrs. Jung questioned in her honey-like voice.

“Yes, ma'am, we did. If it’s not too much trouble, may I have a word with you in private?” Youngwon spoke up as Mrs. Jung looked taken back before she quickly composed herself .a

“My goodness. Such a well-mannered child you are. I hope my son grows up to be the same way. Of course, we can speak in private. Youngjae, why don’t you go play with Daehyun some more.” Mrs. Jung replied sweetly as she smiled at both brothers.

Youngjae nodded in response as he ran off towards the elegant looking staircase and headed to Daehyun’s room.

Daehyun sat in the middle of the floor with a doll in his hands. The doll was made of fine china, and the male ran his fingers gently over her as if she were the most fragile thing in the world.

“Mom bought me this China doll and said that it reminded her of me. What does she mean?” Daehyun asked quietly as he looked up at Youngjae.

“Maybe it’s because she thinks you’re precious,” Youngjae replied as he sat down on the floor across from the elder.

“Then can I call you my China doll?” Daehyun asked curiously as he smiled softly at the younger.

“Why would you want to call me that? I’m not a girl.” Youngjae mumbled as he scrunched up his button nose in protest.

“I know, but you’re precious to me,” Daehyun whispered as he looked back down at the doll in his hands.

“Then you can call me. You’re my China doll too.” Youngjae nodded as he giggled happily.

“No. I’m not,” Daehyun said silently as he turned to look at the younger with sadness in his eyes.

Before Youngjae could respond, his brother had walked through the door with a worried look on his face. Mrs. Jung stood behind Youngwon, biting her lip as she stared at the two youngest boys in the room.

“Jae, we have to go home now. Say goodbye to Daehyun. You can hang out again tomorrow.” Youngwon said flatly as he walked into the room and grabbed his brother’s hand, giving it a gentle tug.

“Okay. Bye Daehyun. We can play again tomorrow.” Youngjae said happily as he waved at Daehyun.

Mrs. Jung walked over to Daehyun and pulled him up with a disappointed look on her face. Daehyun had his head hanging low while his mother smiled sweetly at the two brothers.

 “You boys can play with Daehyun tomorrow. Give my love and best wishes to your parents.” Mrs. Jung said in a sickeningly sweet voice as she waved goodbye to the children.

Youngjae took one last look at Daehyun and saw the China doll clutched tightly in his hand as his head continued to hang low.

As soon as the brothers made it downstairs, a scream could be heard coming from Daehyun’s room. Youngjae’s eyes widened in fear as he looked up at Youngwon, who just shook his head slowly. Youngwon pulled his brother into a tight hug as he bit his lip harshly, not caring if he drew blood or not.

Nobody deserved to live a life of torture.

Daehyun felt his doll slip from his grasp as his mother’s hand was brought forcefully across his cheek. The boy let out a scream as his mother gripped his hair, giving it a harsh tug before tossing him carelessly into the armchair that sat directly behind him.

“You have messed up big time, Daehyun.” His mother barked out as she glared at the younger.

“What have I done wrong, mother?” Daehyun asked innocently as he gripped the sides of the chair as hard as he could.

“You couldn’t keep your temper in check, and Youngwon decided to tell me about it just a few minutes ago.” Mrs. Jung replied as she balled up her fist in frustration.

“I’m sorry, mother. I can’t control it.” Daehyun said weakly as he hung his head in shame.

“I didn’t raise you to be a failure, Daehyun. I do not tolerate failure in my house. There is nothing wrong with you. Now say it back to me.”

 “There is nothing wrong with me,” Daehyun whispered back.

“Louder. You need to speak up when you are talking to someone Daehyun.” Mrs. Jung stated as she placed a hand on her hip.

“There is nothing wrong with me,” Daehyun spoke as he lifted his head high.

“Good boy. Now I want you to keep repeating that phrase to yourself each and every-day. There is nothing wrong with you, Daehyun. You are perfection. You are not sick. You are perfect in every way.” Mrs. Jung said sweetly as she quickly walked out of the room, leaving Daehyun alone.

Daehyun remained in the chair, staring down at his doll that had fallen on the floor. If she was perfect, then so was he.

Youngjae hadn’t seen Daehyun for nearly two months, and he missed his best friend terribly. Every-time he asked his brother, Youngwon, if they could play with Daehyun, his brother would say that the younger was sick and couldn’t come out to play.

It all happened in a rush after that, and Youngjae could barely comprehend what was happening.

Youngjae was being pulled into his parent’s car with Youngwon sitting beside him, and his parents were both riding upfront. The whole car was eerily silent as Youngjae found himself looking out the window in the middle of the night.

The city lights passed by in a blur, and Youngjae felt his brother thread their fingers together and give them a loving squeeze. When he turned to look at his brother, he caught him looking out his own window with what looked like watery eyes.

Their car stopped in front of a white building with the front, and sides lit up by streetlights. Green bushes were planted just below the large glass windows and a solid concrete pathway connected to the white wooden porch that had matching benches resting on it in a coordinated fashion.

Youngwon was the first to hop out of the car, followed by their parents, who were smiling sweetly at Youngjae as they opened the door for him. Youngjae was scared of this place as he gripped his mother’s hand tightly while his father pulled out bags of his things and walked towards the double doors.

Youngwon was slowly trailing behind with his head hanging low, and his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

As soon as they walked into the building, they were greeted by a woman with dark red hair dressed in a black cocktail dress and matching high heels.

“Hello there. I’m Ms. Kim, and I presume you are the Yoo family?” The woman asked sweetly as she knelt in front of Youngjae.

“You must be Youngjae. We’ll take good care of you here.” Ms. Kim said softly as she smiled at the boy.

Youngjae just hid behind his mother as she slowly let go of his hand and bend down in front of him.

“Ms. Kim is going to be looking after you for a little while. She’s going to take care of you. Make sure you’re good to her and everyone here.” Mrs. Yoo stated as she gave Youngjae a peck on the cheek.

“No. I want to go home. I don’t want to be here.” Youngjae mumbled as his lip began to quiver.

“You can’t, Youngjae. You have to stay here until you get better.” Mr. Yoo chimed in as he let out a heavy sigh before turning his attention to Ms. Kim.

Sick? How could Youngjae be sick? Not once had Youngjae been to the doctor, so he couldn’t possibly be sick, could he?

“I promise we’ll take good care of you here, Youngjae.” Ms. Kim stated as she held out her hand to him.

“Don’t worry, sweetie. You’ll be fine here. We’ll come and visit you every single day, and then when you get better, we’ll come back and take you home.” Mrs. Yoo said sweetly.

“You promise?” Youngjae asked in a whisper.

“I promise.” Mrs. Yoo replied with a faint smile.

Youngjae just nodded as he took hold of Ms. Kim’s hand and stood beside her. Youngjae looked at his brother, whose face was filled with concern and sadness.

Youngwon walked up to Youngjae and held him tightly but not before slipping an envelope into the younger boy’s coat pocket.

“Be strong, Youngjae. I love you, little brother. Goodbye.” Youngwon whispered as he stood up and turned his back towards the younger.

Youngjae watched his family walk away from them, not knowing that this would be their last time seeing each other.

Youngjae held the worn-out envelope in his hands as he stared at it. This was the last thing his brother had given him, and inside it held the past, the present, and the future. He felt disgusted each-time he read the letter to himself.

It had all been for greed and pure selfishness. He had been locked away like a bird in a cage and convicted of crimes that he didn’t commit.

Daehyun was the one who was sick, not him. Daehyun was the one who was suffering from a mental illness, and yet Youngjae was the one who had to take the fall to protect his precious reputation. His parents were easily swayed when large amounts of money were rubbed in their faces.

Youngjae had been a fool to think that his parents had actually cared about him. All his parents cared about was money, and that point was proven when they tossed him into the lion’s den for however much they had earned from giving him up.

Did Daehyun even know what his parents had done for him? Did he know just how far they had gone to protect their reputation?

Youngjae was an innocent man who had been condemned to a lifetime of despair. Yet, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to hate Daehyun.

If he had to spend an eternity in Hell to save Daehyun from the demons that tormented him, then he would gladly walk into the Devil’s Den with a smile on his face.

Love makes you do crazy things.

A/N: Now nobody can say that Youngjae doesn't care about Daehyun because he most certainly does. I was so disgusted writing this chapter. Not because I feel like it's terrible, but because there are actually people in this world who are just like Daehyun's parents as well as Youngjae's parents. Some let money control their very lives, and those strive to live the picture-perfect life even though they have so many problems going on. I honestly don't know how to make this story more realistic because it speaks the truth on so many levels that people tend to forget or overlook. That's why I was disgusted while writing this chapter, but it was needed to know how Youngjae ended up in the mental institution. Basically, Daehyun is the one with mental illness. I'm just going to say now that he is bipolar. Youngjae's parents sent him to the institution in Daehyun's place because Dae's parents paid them a ton of money to do so so that they could keep up their reputation of being the perfect family even though they are far from it. Youngwon has his faults, too, even though he was the only one against it. Daehyun wasn't really sick within those two months because he was actually getting tested for his mental illness. Youngjae is still keeping up with the act of being bipolar because, well....he really freaking loves Daehyun even if he himself doesn't understand it. Phew. I hope I just cleared everything up. Comments and subscribers are welcome here. Thanks to those of you that have commented, subscribed, and voted up this story. I love you all. ^_^