Poster & Banner credits to Kurogane and Kurogane's Art Studio

“Welcome to the wonderful world of jealousy, he thought. For the price of admission, you get a splitting headache, a nearly irresistable urge to commit murder, and an inferiority complex. Yippee.”

- J.R. Ward, “Dark Lover”

2 JEALOUSY

[Flashback – Three Days Ago]

“Brother.” Seunghyun flung out his arms in exaggeration for an embrace, showing all of his white teeth with his dazzling smile. “Long time no see. Did you miss me?”

“Seunghyun,” Jiyong acknowledged stiffly, pointedly ignoring Seunghyun’s opened arms and question. To be fair, Seunghyun had never been anything but a good brother to him. He was from their mother’s first marriage before she married Jiyong’s father and became pregnant with Jiyong. Despite not sharing the same father, Seunghyun was genuinely nice to Jiyong. He got a kick out of teasing Jiyong, but then again, he got a kick out of teasing everyone. Overall, he was a decent guy, which made it harder for Jiyong to hate him.

“I was quite disappointed in you for not showing up at the airport to welcome me home, little bro.”Seunghyun wagged his finger in disapproval at Jiyong’s lukewarm response before thanking a blushing waitress for offering him a glass of white wine. “You also missed out on dinner with us that night. And the art exhibition the day after. Did you do that on purpose so that Dara and I could have some alone time together?”

“You two already spend enough time together as it is,” Jiyong grunted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. For the past few days that Seunghyun was back in town, Jiyong had been seeing less of Dara. Every time he suggested to eat together or go somewhere after their classes ended, Dara would always tell him apologetically that she already made plans with Seunghyun. It pissed him off greatly, but he didn’t want to appear like the unneeded third wheel by tagging along.

“True,” Seunghyun admitted, his grin widening when he caught the undeniable resentment layered in Jiyong’s voice. “What can I say, Dara really missed me. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

Jiyong’s eyes shot daggers at Seunghyun, but refused to say anything. Jiyong wanted to punch him in the gut for rubbing it in how he was close with Dara, but he got the feeling that Seunghyun was trying to taunt him on purpose, to get a reaction out of him. What a bastard.

“Darong!” Seunghyun waved Dara over, and she walked over to them with Seungri. Seunghyun handed her his glass. “Have a taste.”

“It’s my favorite. Sauvignon Blanc.” Dara smiled, and Jiyong felt himself wanting that smile selfishly for himself. Only his, and not anyone else’s, definitely not Seunghyun’s.

Seunghyun winked, wrapping his arm around Dara’s shoulders. “How could I forget anything about you.”

Jiyong gripped his glass of champagne harder, resisting the urge to fling it at his brother’s face. Is he flirting with Dara? It was as if he wasn’t here, an outsider that can only watch and not participate in the scene rolling out in front of him. Seunghyun and Dara were spinning off to a universe of their own as they began telling each other about the newest wines they added to their collections.

“The golden couple reunited,” Seungri commented, looking in the same direction he was and missing the deadly look in Jiyong’s eyes. Jiyong stared at Seunghyun and Dara with a twisted expression on his face. They do look like an ideal couple, with Seunghyun’s chiseled features and Dara’s radiating beauty.

It had always been this way. Growing up, it was always Seunghyun and Sandara. The two were the same age, two years older than Jiyong, and had been classmates for every grade since kindergarten. They had so much in common, never running out of things to talk about. Paintings, art exhibitions, wine tastings, dramas. Those were topics that they could go on for hours discussing about, leaving Jiyong out of the loop. They call each other their best friends, but Jiyong knew better. When they were kids, it was obvious to him that Dara had a crush on Seunghyun. He could tell from the sparkle in Dara’s eyes whenever she looks up at Seunghyun that he would never be the same to her as his older brother.

Never once has it been Jiyong and Sandara, until the day Seunghyun left to study abroad in America after high school. It was the perfect chance, and Jiyong seized it readily. They became closer, talking about everything and making plans to hang out – without Seunghyun, for once. He became an equal, no longer the younger boy that lagged behind in the shadows. After Jiyong got into the same university as Dara, he became a part of her squad and her designated driver when she went out partying. It was on one of those nights filled with spilled drinks and out-of-control grinding that they had their first night together.

Jiyong downed his glas