He woke in a cold sweat, his head was throbbing, and even the shallowest breath sent shockwaves of pain through his chest. Moving seemed entirely impossible, and a concerted effort to open his eyes only resulted in a haze of indistinguishable shapes and colors. He could hear someone talking, but found himself unable to concentrate on the words as he tried to goad his mind into remembering something—anything!

"Come on, So-yah! Wake up!...Look at me!" Yo pleaded urgently, trying his best not to sound as desperate as he felt. He gently shook his brother's shoulder, but immediately backed off when So gasped and grimaced in pain.

"Scoot over a little," Soon Deok motioned with her head as she returned from the kitchen with a pitcher of cold water and a fresh hand towel.

Yo reluctantly complied, giving her room to settle herself on the edge of the couch, where she had been, taking turns with Hae Soo pretty much nonstop over the past 24 hours, caring for his brother.

At the time when Soo's frantic scream had alerted them, So had still been coherent enough to make it back up the stairs and into the house with Eun and Baek Ah's help. He had stubbornly maintained the claim that he was 'okay', up to the point where he had passed out on the couch. With the events of the day in mind, they had easily explained it away with apparent fatigue, and written it off as one of their brother's 'normal' nightmares when So started moving restlessly. Hae Soo and Soon Deok had been busy in the kitchen, preparing dinner for everyone, and it wasn't until Eun's unsuccessful attempt to wake his Hyung, that they realized something was very wrong.

So had drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the night and the next day, while Soo and Soon Deok had worked tirelessly to cool his burning-hot forehead, and get him to swallow a few sips of water whenever he seemed alert enough to do so without choking. Nevertheless, and despite their best efforts, So's fever had continued to get worse, and he had become increasingly unresponsive.

"We should really get him back to the hospital," Baek Ah stated anxiously. "This doesn't seem like..."

"No!" Yo cut him off sharply. "Without Lady Hae's connections he would be unprotected, and I'm not taking that kind of risk...at least not as long as Wook and our...his cronies are still on the loose. No, I am not letting him out of my sight!"

Baek Ah cringed, but considered it wiser not to argue with his Hyung at this time. He had very well noticed Yo stopping himself from saying 'our mother', and referring to 'Wook's cronies' instead. Luckily, even Eun seemed aware that this wasn't a good time to make mention of Yoo Shin Myeong in any way, and kept his mouth shut.

"But if doctor Choi is taking over Eonni's network, maybe he could..."

"No! End of discussion!" Yo decisively rejected Hae Soo's suggestion.

She shrunk back visibly and hung her head, muttering a contrite apology.

"Wang Yo-ssi, could I talk to you for a moment in private, please," Soon Deok spoke up with the kind of look in her eyes that forestalled any possible dissent.

"Come on, you two...Help me get the dishes cleaned up." Soo waved Eun and Baek Ah along with a tense gesture as she headed toward the kitchen.

The brothers hesitated, until a stern glare from Yo sent them scrambling out of the living room.

"Okay, let's talk, Soon Deok-ssi," he started gruffly, after they had disappeared from view. "But if you're planning on lecturing me too, then you might as well save your breath. I am not putting my brother back into a hospital...any hospital...right now."

"Are you done?" she gave back, forcing herself to stay calm.

"Yes, I am!"

"Then shut up and listen to me now, because I'm only going to say this once..."

When she paused briefly, Yo leaned back in his wheelchair and crossed his arms with a somewhat condescending motion.

Her eyes narrowed ominously, yet she still continued in the same, quiet tone of voice. "I understand your concern, and I completely agree, but I'm not sure what would be more dangerous...Let me finish," she preempted his imminent objection. "He's been out of it for almost twenty-four hours, and his fever isn't going down...which is dangerous in itself, and you know it...And that's aside from the fact that now we can't even get him to drink water anymore...You are gambling with your brother's life here, Wang Yo-ssi!"

Yo didn't respond for a long moment, only looked over at So with a despondent expression. "You think I don't know that?" he muttered, fighting to maintain his composure. "Remember what he said yesterday...that he couldn't stand to lose another brother?...Well, neither could I...and I almost lost him four times already." Yo squinted his eyes tightly shut as his voice cracked with the final part of the statement.

"Then what do you want to do?" Soon Deok pushed the issue. "How about this," she continued with a resigned sigh when Yo failed to reply, "let's at least call the hospital, and try to get a hold of doctor Seong. Explain the situation and see what he says...if he has any suggestions of what we could or should do?"

"Fine!" Yo raised his hands in surrender, then abruptly turned his wheelchair around and headed for the patio door.

Soon Deok jumped to her feet. "Where are you going?" she called after him.

"Outside!...I need some air."

"No, you need to make that call..."

"Your idea, your call," he snapped back.

"I can't! They're not allowed to talk to me...I'm not family."

"Doctor Seong knows who you are. I don't think he'll have a problem with it," Yo still retorted as he rolled his chair out onto the deck behind the house, then ended the argument by forcefully pulling the sliding door shut behind him.

Soon Deok blew out a frustrated breath from between her teeth and shook her head. "This stubborn jerk is going to drive me insane," she mumbled to herself as she looked around the room for her purse. She spotted it on top of the boxes they had temporarily stacked into a corner behind the large entertainment center that occupied most of one wall in the living room. She took a step toward it, then jumped back startled when she felt the tight grip on her wrist.

"Don't leave!"

Even though the words were barely above a whisper, her heart skipped a beat and she spun around, dropping to a knee beside him. "So-yah!"

His grip loosened and his hand fell back onto the couch, but he was still looking up at her. "What happened?" he asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

"I don't know! You passed out yesterday, and..."

"Yesterday?" So regarded her with a dubious squint.

"Yeah, yesterday, when you were down in the garage, talking with Hae Soo-ssi..."

"Wait..." He wearily shook his head, "I don't...I don't remember that at all."

"What's the last thing you do remember?" Soon Deok queried, struggling to hide her renewed concern.

"The last thing..." His brow creased into a deep frown.

"Hyung! You're awake!" Baek Ah's excited shout interrupted, as he peeked around the corner into the living room. "Yah! He's awake!" he yelled back toward the kitchen, then hurried to his brother's side. "You're awake! Are you okay?"

So clutched a hand to the side of his head and grimaced. "I was, until you started screaming," he declared harshly.

"Mianhae! Mianhae!" Baek Ah dropped his volume to a whisper as he squatted next to Soon Deok. "We were just all worried to death about you. You scared the hell out of us...right, guys?" he added the question, directed at Eun and Hae Soo who had rushed into the living room as well.

"It's true, Hyung," Eun confirmed, also whispering, yet nodding eagerly. "We almost started a fight with Yo-hyung, because..." A rough elbow-jab from Hae Soo shut him up, but not in time.

"Because what?" So questioned, shifting a suspicious gaze between Soo and his brothers.

"Well..." Eun squirmed and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Because Wang Yo-ssi was dead set against putting you back in the hospital," Soon Deok answered instead.

"I was just tired. Why would I..."

"You were out of it for almost twenty-four hours, and you had a fever of over forty degrees," she informed him somberly. "Matter of fact, if you hadn't woke up when you did, I was going to call doctor Seong...And you still have a fever," she added after a quick check of his forehead.

"I'm okay," So insisted, though belied by an unsuccessful attempt to sit up.

Baek Ah and Soon Deok reached out simultaneously to support his second effort, neither of them able to conceal a grimace when So exhaled sharply in the process.

"Yeah, that's what you told us yesterday too...right up to the point when you passed out," Eun commented, trying and failing to sound unconcerned. "Scared me to death when I couldn't get you to wake up for dinner."

"I really wish you would stop..." So groaned, interrupted by a hard cringe as he straightened and moved his legs off the couch. He quickly propped his hands onto the edge of the cushions to steady himself, then finished, "making a big deal out of this."

Soon Deok pursed her lips, and scrutinized him with a probing glare. "Fine, we will, I promise...But answer me just one question first...What is the last thing you remember from yesterday?"

"You already asked me that a minute ago," he pointed out.

"Yes, I did," she conceded. "But you didn't answer me then because we were interrupted," she added with a sideways glare at Baek Ah, then continued seriously. "That's why I'm asking you again...What is the last thing you remember, So-yah?"

He countered her intense gaze for several moments, before he suddenly looked away and frowned again. "I don't know," he shrugged. "The last thing I remember is you, trying to kill me with those damn speed bumps in the parking garage...What am I missing?" He guardedly added the question when Soon Deok exhaled a long breath, while Soo and his brothers gaped at him with their mouths open.

"Wait..." So squinted painfully and pressed the heel of a hand against his forehead when no one else said a word. "We were supposed to meet with Lady Hae...What happened with that...and when did we get home?"

"You...you don't remember any of it, Hyung?" Eun was the first to get the courage up to ask. "You don't remember us going through all those boxes? You stormed out of the house when Noona found the papers that..." Eun audibly clamped his teeth together, realizing his mistake too late when So cast him a quizzical scowl.

"What papers?"

"Evidence Lady Hae gave us," Soon Deok made an attempt at damage control, and stifled a relieved sigh at the opening of the patio door as Yo wheeled himself back inside and momentarily stalled the situation.

"Yah! About time you woke up," he quipped, grinning at So, before he became aware of the unnerving atmosphere in the room and instantly sobered. "What's going on?" he questioned, directed at no one in particular, though with a suspicious squint at Soon Deok. "Is everything all right?"

Eun started to reply, then thought better of it and merely scratched his nose in an agitated motion.

"Everything is just ducky...except for the fact that I'm apparently missing half a day's worth of brain cells," So answered at last, when nobody else volunteered.

Yo stared at him in alarm. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." So huffed annoyed, "right now I can't remember anything more than driving over five levels of speed bumps in a parking garage, okay?"

Yo wavered for a brief moment, then shrugged. "Oh, well...you didn't miss much," he declared with a valiant effort to appear casual while he flashed a warning glare at the others.

"Yeah, right," So retorted scathingly when Hae Soo once again elbowed Eun who failed to hold back an audible gasp. He looked for a moment like he would further dispute Yo's claim, but then merely exhaled a frustrated breath and shook his head.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said instead, clutching Baek Ah's and Soon Deok's shoulders and pushing himself up off the couch. He warded off Hae Soo's hand when she reached out to help him gain his balance, then made his way to the bathroom, followed by the worried looks of Soo, Soon Deok and his brothers.