Wang So realized he must have dozed off, but came instantly and fully awake at the urgent knocking—no, more like impatient pounding—on his front door.
"Hyung...?" Jung was awake too and looking confused.
"Stay put...be quiet! I'll be right back," So ordered low as he got up from the floor beside the bed. He cast a quick look back at Jung with a motion for 'silence' before he closed the bedroom door behind him.
So held back the sigh this time, but still rolled his eyes when he recognized the two early-morning visitors through the oval etched-glass inlay of his front door.
"Shouldn't you be in class...and don't you have to be at work?" He greeted them as he opened the door.
"Umm... College is on Spring break," Eun informed him.
"I'm on nightshift this week," Baek Ah added his own explanation. Grabbing a hold of Eun's arm, he dragged him across the threshold and past their older brother into the foyer. Pulling off his sneakers, he inquired, "Is Jungie still here?"
So turned his head to look back at the two of them, momentarily caught off guard by the 'forced entry'. Then he resigned himself to simply close the door and follow them into his kitchen.
"Yes, he's still here...But he's sleeping, so be quit," he answered Baek Ah's question and set out to put on a pot of coffee.
"You look like something the cat dragged in," Eun observed, frowning. "Did you get drunk last night?"
"I wish!" So gave back sullenly.
"Mind telling us why Jungie would be here at your place?" Baek Ah questioned. "What happened?"
"His mother happened, that's what!" The reply came harshly, from between tightly clenched teeth.
Eun's frown deepened. "She's your mother too, you know." The remarked earned him one of those lethal glares from his brother that always made him cringe.
"Don't..." So started to reply but was interrupted.
"Hey, guys!"
All heads turned toward the bedroom door, Eun and Baek Ah's eyes widening in obvious shock.
"Didn't I tell you to stay in bed?" So reprimanded his youngest brother, but hurried over to help Jung into the kitchen and seated onto one of the tall leather chairs. "Close your mouths, you two," he snapped at Eun and Baek Ah, then rushed back toward the bedroom. He returned moments later with a blanket and a small bottle, then went to retrieve an unopened bottle of water from the refrigerator.
"Here...before you do anything else." So gently draped the blanket over Jung's shoulders, then opened the bottles of antibiotics and water.
"Thanks!" Jung smiled up at So as he took the two pills and bottle of water that his brother offered him.
Eun and Baek Ah were still speechless and only exchanged a silent look of disbelief between them.
"What?" So asked when he noticed.
Another silent look exchanged with Eun before Baek Ah got the courage up to ask, "Did you do this?"
"That depends if you mean the beating up or the patching up," So replied coldly.
"Of course he meant the patching up," Jung quickly spoke out in support of Baek Ah. "He would never think that you'd hurt me like that."
"He'd also never think that your mother would hurt you like that," So countered.
"She's your..." Eun started, but a fierce glare from So and a rough jab from Baek Ah's elbow shut him up before he finished the sentence this time.
"Actually," Baek Ah broke the ensuing awkward moment of silence, "I suspected something was wrong last week."
"Why? What happened last week?" Eun questioned and Jung squirmed anxiously.
"I just barely patted him on the back and he jumped as if I had stabbed him," Baek Ah explained, fixing Jung with a somber stare. "Why did you lie and said you wrecked on your skateboard?"
Jung hung his head. "I didn't want you to worry about me," he muttered contritely.
Baek Ah hissed a string of expletives under his breath, and brushed his hair back with an obvious irritated motion.
"But it's okay to make me worried about you?" So asked.
"I didn't think..." Jung stopped himself, but not soon enough.
So nodded and there was a sudden deep sadness in his eyes. "I get it...you didn't think I'd care enough to worry."
"Wasn't what I meant," Jung whispered with a sob.
Eun made an attempt to ease the sudden, unpleasant tension. "Why didn't you take him to the hospital?" he asked, but instantly regretted it when So flashed him another glare that sent a shiver down his spine.
"And what?" So hissed, dangerously low. "Give her another chance to get her hands on him?"
"Okay, okay...point taken!" Eun relented immediately and raised his hands in surrender.
"It's probably best that he came here to you, instead of to either one of us," Baek Ah commented. "At least she won't look for him here." He had no sooner finished the sentence, when the sound of numerous sirens erupted outside.
Jung's head snapped up and he turned an unhealthy shade of gray.
Eun and Baek Ah jumped up from the chairs they had been sitting on, then exchanged a look again and paled as well.
"Did they follow us?" Eun whispered in disbelief.
"Looks like!" So mused as he also stood. He closed his eyes for a moment and dug his fingernails into his palms, trying his best to remain calm. With almost half a kilometer distance from the beginning of his driveway to the house, it was a fairly safe bet that they weren't looking for any of his neighbors.
Jung stared up at So. "Hyung..." he choked out, a tremor in his voice and his eyes wide with fear.
"Stay put!" So commanded and started toward the front door.
Baek Ah grabbed his brother's arm, fixing him with an unyielding stare. "I'll go, Hyung! Stay back and keep your cool." When So appeared ready to argue, he urgingly added, "You know this is a set-up!"
"He's right!" Eun whispered hastily and reached for So's other arm as soon as Beak Ah released him.
So jerked free of Eun's hold, but only moved to protectively stand in front of Jung.
"Police!...Open up!" The order was followed by hard pounding on the front door.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" Baek Ah yelled and sprinted toward the door. He had barely touched the handle when the door burst inward and he was thrown back against the wall. He dropped to his knees, dizzy and momentarily disorientated. Blood was dripping onto the floor in front of him, and he realized it was coming from his forehead when he reached a hand up to his face. Some of the blood was getting into his eyes, but he could still make out the dozen—or maybe even more —figures in riot gear that stormed past him with automatic weapons at the ready.
Baek Ah screamed at his brothers not to move, but it was lost in the chaos because everyone was screaming. He tried to get up when something impacted with brutal force into his lower back and knocked him flat onto the hardwood floor. The pressure on his back remained and, turning his head as far as possible, he was able to catch a glimpse of one of the black-clad figures, standing over him with a boot on his back and the rifle aimed at his head.
Jung screamed So's name and Baek Ah turned his head toward him, just in time to see his older brother getting slammed against the wall behind the kitchen table by four of the assailants. So didn't resist in any way, but still received a vicious hit from a rifle stock to his stomach that doubled him over, and a follow-up to the back of his head that knocked him to the ground.
Eun was already on the floor, held down in the same manner as Baek Ah and bleeding from his nose and a cut on his cheek.
Only Jung was still untouched, but crying and looking scared out of his mind.
Suddenly, the uproar came to a complete stop and everything went silent. Baek Ah turned his head again when he noticed Eun staring toward the still open door and gasping in shock. He felt his heart sink as he realized what his brother was seeing.
Head held high and a contemptuous expression on her face, Yoo Shin Myeong stalked into the kitchen, escorted by one of the men in riot gear.
"That's him!" She pointed a gloved hand at Wang So who was laying motionless on the floor, blood seeping from underneath his braided ponytail. "That's the bastard who kidnapped my son and tortured him."
Unable to say anything at that moment, Jung stared up at his mother as she brushed her gloved hand across his cheek.
"That's BULLSHIT!" Baek Ah screamed instead, earning himself a " Shut up!" and a hard jab of the gun barrel to his back from the guy who was holding him down.
"But she's lying," Baek Ah hastily continued nevertheless. "She's the one who beat..." He didn't get any further, but still heard Eun scream just before the impact of the rifle stock to his head rendered him unconscious.
"You bastards!" Eun yelled and struggled against the man who was holding him down. "So-hyung didn't kidnap anybody, and she is the one who beat up Jungie!" He pointed at Yoo Shin Myeong.
"Now, now, now!" Yoo Shin Myeong sneered, gazing down at him scornfully. "Why would you say such a thing, Eunie?" She turned back toward Jung and continued to brush her gloved hand across his cheek. "Why would I beat up my sweet little boy? Do you realize how crazy that makes you sound? Hmm?"
"Jungie, tell them!" Eun pleaded, looking over at his youngest brother who still only stared blankly up at his mother and hadn't even reacted to her touching his cheek.
"JUNGIE!"
No response whatsoever, and Eun felt his chest tighten in fear. What is this? Why is he just sitting there, staring at her like he's hypnotized?
"There, you see?" Yoo Shin Myeong laughed. "My Jungie is just glad that Mommy came to save him." Continuing to stroke her son's cheeks, she turned to the man who had escorted her inside. "I want him arrested and charged with kidnapping and first degree assault," she ordered, indicating So, who still hadn't moved. "And these two," she pointed at Eun and Baek Ah, "need to be charged as accomplices."
"Yes, Ma'am!" The reply was brusque, and a couple of quick gestures directed his men to carry out her commands.
Eun still struggled against being restrained. To no avail. "Jungie!...JUNGIE!" He tried one more time to get his brother's attention, to have him explain and rectify the situation, but gave up when Jung made not the slightest effort to resist his mother as she took his hands, pulled him up from the chair, and led him out of the house.