Ch 3

As Priyanka embraced her brother, she felt a surge of protectiveness wash over her. Despite their differences and occasional clashes, she cherished their bond and couldn't bear to see him in pain, whether physical or emotional.

"Come on, let's get you patched up," Priyanka said, guiding her brother gently to the sofa. With practiced hands, she cleaned the wound on his foot, her movements careful yet efficient.

Despite his initial protests, her brother soon relaxed into her care, a hint of gratitude shining through his stoic facade.

Once she finished tending to his wound, Priyanka sat beside him, their shoulders touching as they leaned against each other.

In the comfortable silence that followed, she sensed her brother's tension slowly ebbing away, replaced by a sense of calm.

"You know, you don't have to bear everything alone," Priyanka said softly, breaking the silence. "I know things have been tough lately, but I'm here for you. Always."

Her brother glanced at her, his eyes reflecting a mix of emotions—gratitude, sadness, and a hint of resignation. "I know, Priyu. I just... I don't want to burden you with my problems."

Priyanka shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "You're not a burden, Abhi. We're family, and that means we share each other's joys and sorrows. So please, let me help you."

They sat together in companionable silence for a while longer, the weight of their shared experiences hanging in the air. Despite the challenges they faced, Priyanka felt a sense of reassurance knowing that they had each other's backs.

Eventually, her brother broke the silence, his voice tentative yet determined. "I...'ll try to do better, Priyu. For you, for Mom and Dad, I'll study harder and make things right."

Priyanka squeezed his hand gently, her heart swelling with pride. "That's all I ask, Abhi. Just remember, I'm here for you every step of the way."

With a renewed sense of determination, they shared a smile, making their bond stronger than ever. As they settled into a comfortable rhythm, Priyanka knew that no matter what challenges lay ahead, they would face them together as a family.

After instilling confidence in him, she turned to look at him with a smile that didn't reach her ears. "I am sure; I told you to watch guard tonight. Then why did I find my loyal guard emerging from his hibernating cave all sleepy?"

Getting her cue, he tried to run away, but his injured leg forced him to give up his plan of running away. The awkward silence ensued between them as his brother's eyes skirted around, not daring to look toward her.

Sighing, she forced her face toward him and patted his head gently. Ruffling and massaging his hair, she asked him softly, "Were you playing your games all night yesterday?" Her gentle demeanor eased his nerves, and he shook his head slowly, his headache vanishing from her massage.

Noticing him enjoying her message, she slapped his head upside down. "Why did you hit me?" Rubbing his aching head, he glared at her, questioning the sudden slap. The pain didn't go away even after a few seconds, worsening his splitting headache.

Relishing her brother's angry expression, she took her sweet time answering his questions. Pointing at the oil bottle inside the kitchen, she gestured at him to massage her head.

After all, she was the one who returned from a tiring day of work and dating, not her lovely and cute brother.

She sat down as her rough hair lay on the sofa, her beaten-up scalps waiting eagerly for her brother's magical hands. Sounds emerged from the kitchen, but despite the passage of time, Abhi was nowhere in sight. On top of that, due to sitting in an unnatural posture, her neck started to hurt.

"Hey, Are you coming or not?" She demanded that he hurry up with whatever nonsense he was doing in the kitchen. Abhi, warming the oil on slow gas, had no choice but to increase it to meet his big sister's demands.

With the lukewarm oil in his hands, he turned the television on to the lowest volume and massaged her head. As her scalp was massaged and her starving hair drank the oil greedily, she felt like she was in heaven.

"So, you said you were not sleeping because of games." She asked aloud, barely opening her eyes. It felt like sleep was whispering in her ears—to leave the worldly thoughts behind and sleep candidly in her embrace. "Mhm," Abhi grunted softly in affirmation, as he didn't want to wake the tired sleepyhead.

She yawned, her mouth opening wide enough to show her tonsils, and murmured in her sleep, "Did you finally make a girlfriend?" her voice barely escaping from her mouth.

Abhi, who was pouring some oil on his palms, stumbled and nearly spilled it on the sleepyhead's face. Happy that a horrendous disaster had been averted, his drumming heart threatened to burst out of his chest, he relaxed and started beating in his normal rhythm.

"What are you?" He wanted to retort that everyone couldn't find a partner like her, but he noticed that her sister was in deep sleep with a peaceful and content smile. While listening to her snoring, he slowly supported her head as he lifted her in a princess carry.

"Mhm! Don't stop." She murmured in her sleep upon noticing that her massage had been stopped. Usually, she would have stopped her brother from lifting her, as she couldn't bring herself to believe in his hulking muscles, but she was too sleepy to care about that.

After laying her on her soft bed carefully, he tucked her in the blanket, slowly stroking her face with a hint of a smile on his face. He gently pulled his hand from her sleepy grasp and closed the lights before leaving her room.

Abhi's fleeting, barely perceptive smile faded as soon as he left her room. His shoulders slumped as he entered his room, his gentle demeanor replaced with stiffness.

Just like in his sister's room, there were life-sized posters of various K-pop male idols in his room. However, he was a fanboy of one of them; the other idols were worshipped and stunned by her sister instead.

As there was a shortage of space in her room, they were placed inside his rooms, whether he wanted to or not. Even the room's blue wall and the galaxy paintings were chosen by his sister.

"Woo Eun, Oh, Woo Eun, tell me, should I tell my sister? What am I doing behind her back?" Looking at the cut-out of Woo smiling brightly, he opened his computer.

Woo was one of the most handsome idols and actors in the K-industry and one of their mutual favorite celebrities. He stretched as he sat in front of his gaming desk, bought it with his hard-earned money, and waited patiently for it to start.

He opened his gaming file, hidden in which was his writing app, where he was writing his original story. Wearing his spectacles, he rubbed the dark circles that covered his face entirely and sighed wearily.

While he wrote, he frequently checked the door, making sure that nobody was spying on him. His wariness stemmed from the encounter that happened a year ago.

A year ago, Abhi, whose face flushed red, smiled so much that his cheeks started to hurt. Clad in a formal coat and pants, he surprised his parents by throwing a grand party for them. The star of the party was his first-ever written original book, which he was going to post on Amazon.

As he showcased the book on which he had spent his blood, sweat, and tears, his heart thudded in his chest erratically. He felt nervous as he thought he could finally get acknowledged by his parents, just like his sister.

Sweat flowed down his face as he waited for their jubilant reactions. Time felt incredibly slow at that moment, but all of his strange feelings vanished once he saw his parents' proud smiles. His tense nerves finally relaxed, and he felt the knots in his stomach vanishing. With that came intermittent, sharp bursts of hunger, as he hadn't eaten anything that day.

But all that happiness of him getting acknowledged vanished upon reaching home. At home, he found that his parents had thrashed and burned his computer upon learning that his grades, which had risen for the first time, were even lower than before.

His parents had just burned his PC, on which he was wasting his life, but to him, what burned that day wasn't some machine; it was him and his relatives who were burning.