He's floating.

It's dark all around him, yet it is serene, a calmness enveloping him. Is this how his after is going to be?

An echo of hearty laughter stirs him from his floaty state, sitting up on air to glance at the door sheltering the soft sound. The door opens and as the light peeks through it, the boy squints.

"When I'm older, I'll be the king of Seoul." A six-year-old kid pumps his fist in the air, standing in front of a sand castle he must've built with the boy sitting next to it.

"No, silly Hyunnie. Seoul doesn't have a king."

"Then?"

The boy with a bowl cut shrugs, tilting his head to the side. "We should ask the hyungs!" The boy runs without a second thought, leaving the other one to stay in his place. "Min hyung! Seong hyung!"

The boy turns to Kihyun, the scene around them distilling into black, a void of nothing like it was a few moments ago. He takes a step towards him, the latter swallowing on his spit as eyes direct at him.

"I survived," the little boy smiles, displaying the space of a milk tooth that must have fallen. It's a face Kihyun barely remembers. The boy then raises his hand, another one placing their palm in his. Out of thin air, another boy, a teenager, smiling but there's a tightness to it.

"I survived too. So, why can't you?"

"I want to survive, but only if you do." A voice speaks from behind, and Kihyun cranes his neck to look. He finds a man, slightly taller and muscular, probably in his mid-twenties. One peculiar aspect about him is how his figure is translucent unlike the other two. "You have to survive." He says as he closes in and three bodies wrap themselves in a group hug, with Kihyun in the middle.

"You're not alone." They assure, tightening their arms around him. Kihyun chokes a sob, melting into their embrace, legs feeling weak. He closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Please survive." The last words of his other selves plead, everything around him then disperses.

The figures are his past and future selves, urging him to live on for their sakes. His older version is still not complete because that depends on his present self, whether he survives or not. It's in his hands. But Kihyun is perpetually exhausted.

The next time Kihyun opens his eyes, it is to a white ceiling and the beeping of a machine. He's still groggy, taking time to adjust to his surroundings.

"Kihyun!" The shrill voice of his mother intrudes his ears, a needling pain sewing its way into his head. "You're finally awake!" She sniffles as she cradles his face into her hands.

The boy hisses when Hyesuk accidentally caresses his bruised face. She abruptly moves away, giving a half smile. "Are you still in pain?"

'No shit, Sherlock.' Kihyun wants to cry out but he stays mum. So, he's alive. He sighs and glances at his mother who has worry written all over her face. "What happened?"

"Fired that bodyguard! I'm sorry I left you alone, didn't know he'd do something like that." Her tone is gentle, fingers rubbing his shoulder softly.

What's with all the care his mother has been showing since morning? Kihyun groans, sitting up slowly and shaking his head a little.

"Kang Kihyun-ssi, your IV drip is almost over and you can leave once I do a final checkup on you." A man in a white coat informs, coming up to him as his mother gives them space. So, he's in a hospital. The room is spacious, with a couch near the bed along with a table and mini fridge, with some coffee sachets placed on it.

Two men then enter the room, nodding their heads at his mother. "We have a few questions for you, Kang Kihyun." One of them gestures at Hyesuk with a flick of his hand, asking her to leave. "Your mother filled in us with the details already but we have to question you too. We found you unconscious in the master bedroom after Min Sehyuk informed us about the potential danger to you. Why did the bodyguard attack you?"

'Min Sehyuk? How did he know about this?' Kihyun doesn't really have a full grasp of what's happening but what is he supposed to reply to the officer? The truth? Or just lie and save himself from further pain? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to throw his father in the spotlight of investigation. But it still doesn't guarantee his life. And why is Min Sehyuk involved in this anyway? Kihyun's faith in the justice system is overshadowed by the fear he has of his father. His decision may entail a mess he's never had to deal with but it needs to come to an end. Either his father prevails or them.

"It was my father who asked him to beat me up," Kihyun whispers, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes as soon as the words leave his mouth. He soothes his fingers over his neck, still feeling the ache from being choked. What his father ordered was brutal, the worst he's ever faced till now.

There's a pause before one of the officers speaks. "The doctor said you had a concussion and may experience confused thoughts. Your mother presented doctor reports and explained your father's situation. He's been unconscious for two weeks now. When we found you passed out, he was in bed. Only the bodyguard beat you up."

Kihyun shakes his head. "No, you don't understand, he was awake." He drops his head in his palms, feeling the band-aids wrapped around his head and one plastered over his cheek, the one he himself slapped repeatedly. Just thinking about the incident has his heart racing uncomfortably.

"The bodyguard confessed already. He claims to have beaten you up because Kang Wooshik had declined his request for a salary raise for months. It was anger that drove him to do that, a kind of mockery of your father to show how he couldn't protect you even if he was right there in the room."

That's a formidable lie. Kihyun chuckles bitterly, it's all over even before it started. His father won already and there's nothing he can do. Luck has never been on his side, to begin with. He doesn't know how the man pulled his strings but congratulations to him for being the best manipulator alive.

"Alright, what else do you want to ask?"

Kihyun answers a few questions and the officers leave soon after. He stares at nothing in particular, fingers playing with each other, thoughts a cluttered mess in his head.

"Are you hungry?"

Kihyun turns to the new voice in the room and sighs. "Is that what you ask a guy in a hospital?"

"Are you alright? It's a laughable question to ask because I am not blind and you look like death warmed up."

Kihyun cracks an involuntary smile, clicking his tongue. "You have no brain-to-mouth filter, Min."

"What can I say," Sehyuk shrugs with a shit-eating grin. "It's one of my many charms." He sits at the end of the bed, near the older boy's feet. "Still hard to understand someone who is paid to protect your family did a number on you."

"It's not his fault. My father ordered him so he had to. He was awake and—"

Sehyuk's mouth hangs low, eyes focusing intensely on the bruises over Kihyun's body. Finger marks on his neck, busted lips, and purplish-blue bruises on his face.

"You think I'm lying or confused just like the officers."

The blond blinks owlishly, still scrutinizing Kihyun.

"No one thi—"

"I believe you," Sehyuk whispers, cutting off the older mid-sentence. "I believe you but I can't wrap my head around the fact that a father would do something like this! He's a nutcase!"

Kihyun whips his head at that, a vulnerable 'oh' leaving his lips. "Just like that?" He did not expect the younger to have blind faith in him in this way. Spending time with each other has unconsciously helped them lower the walls they built around themselves and uncanny incidents have brought them closer. It may also have had a hand in Sehyuk being here for him.

"I know you wouldn't lie in a situation like this, I have experienced it firsthand with the incident with Jaemin. But when we found you, your father was on the bed, unmoving. Your mother explained to the officers that he's been like that for two weeks."

"That's how he wants everyone to think. You're right to call him a nutcase because he told me he's been waiting for me all these days, pretending to be unconscious."

Sehyuk gapes like a fish out of the water, mouth opening and closing without any words. Kihyun doesn't blame him for it, after all, no normal person would call Kang Wooshik's actions fatherly. The silence that stretches between them speaks volumes, it's all he needs at the moment. No judgment, no pressure. Someone who isn't family or friend, someone he isn't emotionally connected to.

"If your father is awake, I think you should talk to your mother about it. Or you could head back to my place for the time being, at least for today, and figure out how to tackle the current situation."

The bruised boy sighs, licking his parched lips. "I'm not sure about that."

"It's just till tomorrow morning, you can talk to her. Or is she like your fath—"

Kihyun shakes his head, wincing at the pain that passes through it. "No...no, she is not the best but definitely better than him." He removes the blanket covering his lower body and stands up slowly, Sehyuk helping him to do so.

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah." Kihyun wobbles but soon gains balance, holding onto the other's shoulder when he dips occasionally. Sehyuk's hand hovers around his back just in case.

When they reach Sehyuk's apartment, Kihyun sits on the sofa and the host offers him a glass of water with an apple after he changes into a polo t-shirt and cotton pants.

"Kihyun, there's something you should know..." the blond starts, drumming his fingers on his thigh.

The older turns to him, taking in his serious expression. "What is it?" He asks curtly.

"I forgot to tell you an important detail." He clears his throat. "The couch we are currently sitting on is actually a sofa-cum-bed..."

Kihyun coughs out the water he is drinking, staring Sehyuk dead in the eye, gawking. "I-is that revenge for how I bullied you! My back has been dying in the past weeks!"

"I'm sorry!" The young lad laughs, shaking his head. "I completely forgot about it. After you asked for a bed in the morning, it hit me later that the sofa can be used for sleeping too."

"You're unbelievable..." Kihyun groans, placing the empty glass on the table in front of them, and kicking Sehyuk's shin. "Get off my property now, let me sleep in peace." He pushes the other away. They snort with carefree smiles and grins painting on their faces.

"This is my hou—"

The bell ringing pauses their play-fighting and Sehyuk gets up to answer the door. "Uh..." he steps back into the living room. "Someone is here to meet you."

Kang Hyesuk comes in with a Gucci bag held in her hand, wearing a ruffled-sleeved shirt and bell bottoms. "Kihyun, why did you leave the hospital and come here?"

"Because I need a breather. How did you even find me?"

"Wasn't staying here for two weeks not enough for you? And I had a chat with your friend in the hospital when you were unconscious." The woman pinches the bridge of her nose. "Come home, I have had enough."

"I'm not moving an inch from here."

"Yeah? The police told me you accused your abeoji of beating you up instead of the bodyguard. Why would you do something like that?"

"Because he was the one who ordered it!" Kihyun raises his voice, standing up from his place.

"For god's sake, come to your senses! He's been bedridden for weeks now."

Kihyun doesn't completely blame his mother for the way she is. It's to be expected of someone who submitted herself to her husband since the day they got married. A woman born to a middle-class family, and rose in ranks only due to her husband. Nonetheless, it was her choice. But what about him and his brother? They didn't have a choice.

"He was awake, and I'm not going to change my statement. The next time I go to the police, I will tell them how he's been abusing—"

"Kang Kihyun! Mind your manners!"

"You should also come with me and file a report against him."

"I'm not going to support you on trivialities like these, stop all this before things go downhill."

"If I go back there, I will die." Kihyun sucks in his lower lip, nibbling on it. "It may have been an accident but I was the one who pushed him and led him to that state." When he meets his mother's eyes, they don't flicker with surprise or shock as he expects. "You...you knew, wow." He bleats with a slight curve of his mouth.

"It wasn't hard to put two and two together when you disappeared the very night and never returned." Hyesuk raises her hand as if to reach for her son. "I know your father hasn't been the best but he—"

"Understatement of the decade!" Kihyun claps in mockery. "Please, continue."

"We can fix this. Your father just needs some time." Hyesuk's voice wavers, her tone unsure of her own words.

"Time? You spent over thirty years with him and I, twenty. How much more time does he need! He doesn't need time, he needs to di—"

"Kihyun, enough! Let's go home, he is already injured."

Kihyun laughs, throwing his head back and his eyes turn misty. "That's hell, not home. Eomma, don't you see me? Standing here, right in front of you, bandages glaring at you and telling my state. I'm the one who you carried in your belly for nine months!" He slaps his hand repeatedly on his chest. "Me and hyung are your flesh and blood! And the son you think let you down, was framed by your damn husband!"

"That's a lie—"

"I heard him myself! And that is how we got into an argument! Open your eyes before he really kills all of us!"

Hyesuk still shakes her head in denial, tears collecting at the corners of her eyes. "He can't do that..." she whispers.

"You think a man who can crack your rib and beat your children black and blue wouldn't send hyung to prison for his gain!" Kihyun fists his shirt where his heart is. "It hurts eomma, it hurts so much I want to kill myself! Be free of this bloody family!" Tears stream down his face by now and Kihyun sniffles, eyes training on the coffee table. "You want to take me back to that hellhole, right? Then here." He walks to the table and picks up the knife placed beside the apple Sehyuk had offered him.

"Take this and stab me." He wraps the woman's fingers around its hilt, then pulls it toward him.

"Kihyun, stop it!" Hyesuk cries, pulling the knife towards herself and they struggle to get what they want. The knife clatters to the ground when the mother pulls it with extra force and loosens her grip. She wails, putting her hands on her face, ruining her makeup in the process. "Stop!"

"If you won't, then I will." Kihyun bends to pick the knife up, puts his wrist forward, and with a swing of his other hand, he cuts into the flesh, a thread of blood springing into the air.