My brother is an Idol

Chapter 14: Story 2. I am not your brother- Chapter 14
Story 2. I am not your brother.

Chapter 14

After washing up, Hyoyoung returned to her bed. She was so tired that her body felt heavy like a piece of wet cotton. Her head was filled with too many thoughts so even though she was sleepy, she couldn’t fall asleep.

“It was such a long day today…”

Lying on her bed, Hyoyoung went through the day in her head. She had an awkward day at school with Mikyung, who was constantly talking about The M, then she was practically kidnapped and forced to work as a stylist for the group. She watched the show at a café and returned home late. This all happened in a single day and it was the most pressure she had felt in her 18-year life.

‘By the way…’

Hyoyoung suddenly sat up.

‘The strangest thing about today was that jerk! My own brother!’

She remembered the things Hyojun said and how he acted.

‘He has never shown that he cares about me, yet today, he declared to the world that he loves me? What the heck? Why did he do that? Was it because he wants everyone to think he is a good older brother? He wants to attract more fans maybe?’

Then suddenly, Hyoyoung heard a conversation from outside her room.

It was happening in the garden, which was located right outside her bedroom window.

‘Who’s out there in the middle of the night?’

Hyoyoung opened the window quietly to listen in.

“Leave Hyoyoung alone.”

It was her older brother’s voice, and to her shock, Kiwook answered, “I can’t. I’ve waited ten years for this. TEN YEARS!”

Hyoyoung was wide awake now. She snuck closer to the window so she could hear better. What were they talking about? Ten years? Ten years of what? After the internet show earlier today, Hyoyoung suspected there was something strange going on between Hyojun and Kiwook, and she thought that perhaps she could find out now by eavesdropping.

“She doesn’t know anything.”

“But she will find out someday. And when she does, I want her to choose me.”

“No. Never. I won’t allow it.”

“But you are already her older brother. You got to be her family all these years. You have no right to stop me.”

“Yes, I do. It’s precisely BECAUSE I am her older brother that I have the right to do this.”

“Hyojun…”

“Think carefully. She was only 8 years old at the time.”

“No, she was 5 years old. And for me, it already started then.”

“She was only a child.”

“Yes, and so was I. But now both Hyoyoung and I are adults. And how I feel hasn’t changed. Not one bit.”

“What you are feeling is just sympathy. You are just feeling sorry for her.”

“How can you say that? Do I look that kind and selfless to you? Do you really think what I feel isn’t real? You are wrong. I am desperate. My desperation was so big that it was enough for me to say it on a live show today.”

“You don’t even know her.”

“And you think YOU know Hyoyoung? You think you know her just because you are her older brother?”

“No. Not as a brother. I know her as a man. A man who loves her as a woman.”

***

When Hyojun was little, his dream was to have a younger sister. Then one day, his parents brought home a quiet little girl and told him she was his sister.

Hyojun fell in love with her immediately and unconditionally.

However, no matter how nice he was to her, Hyoyoung wouldn’t look at him. She avoided his eyes and hid in the corner. She played alone with paper by shredding them into small pieces. Then one day, Hyojun became frustrated at her rejections so he grabbed her hand. To his shock, Hyoyoung screamed and cried uncontrollably until she fainted.

All he wanted was to play with her, but to Hyoyoung, Hyojun was someone to fear. No matter how hard he tried, Hyoyoung refused to accept him.

Then one day, about a year after she was adopted into Hyojun’s family, a dirty and poorly dressed little boy came to their home. It was then that Hyoyoung finally started to open up a little.

That boy, who came holding a crumpled piece of paper with their address, was Kiwook.

Hyoyoung hadn’t been able to get along with anyone at home, but when she saw Kiwook, she cried out and threw herself into his arms.

She called out to him, “Oppa!”

Hyojun’s parents were shocked but all they did was watch Kiwook as he played with Hyoyoung and calmed her down. Two days later, Kiwook’s grandmother came to take him home. At that time, Hyojun felt enormous jealousy and anger towards Kiwook. HE was Hyoyoung’s older brother, yet why did she call Kiwook, oppa? Why wouldn’t Hyoyoung open up her heart to him?

Hyojun cried for days with bitterness, but thankfully after Kiwook’s visit, Hyoyoung began to change. It was a slow process, but she started to smile and talk more. In two years, she became much more open and finally accepted Hyojun as her older brother without question. From then on, they were able to become normal siblings.

Hyojun never talked to his parents about it, but he remembered that day perfectly. He remembered that boy clearly as well. And when he got into his junior high school and saw Kiwook in his class, Hyojun immediately knew who he was. And he suspected that Kiwook also knew him.

Thankfully, Hyoyoung didn’t remember much from the time Kiwook visited her at their home. No one in the family told her anything and whenever she complained about how she didn’t have many memories from her childhood, they told her that she almost drowned in a swimming pool and that was why. They told her she had a concussion and lost a lot of her memories.

Hyoyoung was a simple and trusting girl, so she believed everything that was told to her. There were no photos of her as a child either, but she was told that there was a fire at their previous home that destroyed them. Because there were no photos of Hyojun as a child either, she had no reason to suspect otherwise.

But Hyojun knew everything.

He knew the truth.

Hyoyoung was originally adopted into Kiwook’s family, but when Kiwook’s parents divorced, she was abandoned again. From the shock of it, she lost a lot of her memories and refused to speak for a long time. By the time she was adopted into Hyojun’s family, Hyoyoung was a mess. Kiwook, also a child at the time, attempted to find his adopted younger sister and he succeeded after going through the paperwork at home.

So the story of Hyojun, Kiwook, and Hyoyoung happened like this, ten years ago.