27 Brotherly Love IV

After hours of pleading and bargaining, Yuliang finally relented and agreed to his brother's request, on the condition that Yukio gets a part-time job for his spending and only uses the money Yuliang saved up for essentials.

During work, a conversation about their living situations had taken place between the staff. Yuliang hadn't said much, but from the little that he had said, Mina critically pointed out how his brother was unfairly freeloading off his efforts without making any efforts to share the load.

Before that conversation, Yuliang hadn't thought there was anything wrong with the way they did things.

No one back home paid much attention to how they were surviving, except for granny, but granny was often too busy with the clinic to pay too much attention to them.

Sharing the labor of earning money, when Yukio was often busy with school, and Yuliang was earning what he could while apprenticing under granny, just hadn't been a thought that crossed either of their minds. Granny had never been one to just hand over money to them, so Yuliang had to work for every penny they had, and she had never pressured Yukio to pursue the same pathway Yuliang did either. So Yuliang naturally assumed that the way they did things was completely acceptable and that earning money for both was exclusively his job.

"Honestly, brother, you have no idea what type of position you're putting me in, asking me to do this. If my friends find out I have to work part-time, they're going to laugh at me for being poor." Yukio complained from the bed as Yuliang got dressed.

Yuliang directed a glare in his brother's direction as he smoothed down his hair. The long locks had been disturbed over the course of the day and needed another brushing. He sneered, "Then get better friends. I know actually working for your luxury lifestyle sounds awful after being a leech for so long, but take it from your brother, who started working at 13. Grow the fuck up or get the fuck out."

Yukio's easy-going expression shifted into a slight frown. "No need to be so hostile. I never asked you to do all that. You did that yourself. I don't remember you ever telling me that you needed any help."

There was so much wrong with that sentence; Yuliang had to bite his tongue to prevent the scathing, unforgivable words that threatened to escape him.

Not long after the words left his mouth, Yukio's face shifted into something more remorseful. His hand twitched as if to reach out, "Oh...I didn't realize. I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" Yuliang spat, roughly buttoning up his shirt. "It's my fault for not saying anything before, right?"

"Brother…"

"Enough, Yukio. Let's just go."