14-year-old Jung Yunho stared at the 8-year-old Kim Jaejoong coldly, his eyes roaming from the platinum blonde hair to the outrageous full suit of green tartan his new stepbrother had on.

He had never dyed his hair in all his 14 years. He couldn’t believe a mere 8 year old had already experimented with his hair way more than he did.

‘I’m Kim Jaejoong and I’m sure that after you get rid of that trashy shirt you’ve got on, we’ll get along just fine,’ Jaejoong spilled dangerous words from those unbelievably pouty and pinkish tinted lips.

Yunho had never come across anyone who had such nerves as to tell him off about his dressing.

‘Quite the fashion expert, aren’t you?’ Yunho was the master at keeping his emotions well hidden and wearing an unreadable mask, something that was honed after years of watching his mother cheat behind his father’s back and catching the housekeepers and gardeners go at it like bunnies in heat in the basement of the mansion he lived in.

‘Of course, big brother,’ Jaejoong drawled, ‘I plan to work in the fashion industry in the future.’

‘Your previous school allowed you to dye your hair… blonde?’ Yunho spoke the last word with added emphasis to subtly hint his displeasure with the boy before him.

‘They didn’t and kicked quite a big fuss about it. That’s why I decided to quit and be home-schooled,’ Jaejoong stated rather smugly.

‘Quitting school just to keep your hair colour?’ Yunho scoffed, ‘Childish on your part, don’t you think so?’

‘I’m a child, what do you expect?’ Jaejoong smirked haughtily, ‘Besides, I will do anything to preserve my fashion image.’

‘Us Jungs have strong characters and I think you’ll do just fine in fitting into this household. Welcome,’ Yunho gestured for Jaejoong to enter the house.

‘Why thank you… Yunnie,’ Jaejoong shot Yunho a weak smile before proceeding through the mansion’s front doors.

Yunho flinched inwardly at the pet name but remained cool and collected on the exterior.

‘Brat,’ Yunho muttered and closed the doors behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yunho thought he knew his mother well.

She had always been a beauty and despite already being in her late 30s, she would still earn a few longing stares from men during socialite parties.

Yunho wasn’t much of a social person but his status in society forced him to attend such functions to build up future business connections, which would greatly aid him after he takes over his father’s successful magazine, Blitz.

Yunho had always been extremely sensitive to his surroundings so he always picked up on things faster than anyone else did.

A lingering touch already sparked his attention while he stood at the back of a room at a charity ball held at one of his mother’s closest friend’s house.

He shook his head disappointedly as he watched his mother exchange numbers with an impeccably dressed man in his mid twenties.

Yunho knew this simple exchange would indefinitely lead to an affair even before the unsuspecting couple did. 

He wished at that moment in time to have been born blind.

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‘She is cheating behind your back,’ Yunho stated when his father celebrated his 38^th birthday alone with his son.

‘Don’t sprout nonsense on my special day, Yunho,’ his father warned before proceeding to blow out the candles.

‘The only apology you would get from me on this matter is the fact that I have allowed this to go on for almost a year without your knowledge.’

Yunho’s father kept quiet. He knew Yunho wasn’t one who lied about such things. He had always been the obedient and filial son towards both himself and his wife. But he also knew that his wife wasn’t a woman who was capable of such lowly things.

‘Just because it’s the first time she’s skipping my birthday celebration doesn’t mean she’s… with someone else,’ the head of the Jung household avoided using the word ‘affair’.

‘You want proof? I can give it to you.’ Yunho looked his father right in the eyes.

The elder Jung sighed and closed his eyes, gesturing for Yunho not to talk any further.

‘I believe you,’ Yunho’s father said in a defeated tone.

‘And I believe you will do whatever is necessary to correct this.’ Yunho patted his father’s shoulders reassuringly.

‘Thank you, son,’ he nodded and continued, ‘Even if it means…’

‘I will fully accept your decisions even if it means losing my mother. I’m sorry for ruining this whole day for you. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Father, and good night,’ Yunho bowed and left the dining room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No tears were shed as the former Mrs. Jung walked out of the door.

Yunho’s father was overseas for a company meeting, leaving only Yunho at home to see his mother off.

‘You are no longer part of the Jung family but you’ll always be my mother,’ Yunho stated, bringing another bout of tears into his mother’s eyes.

She nodded sadly and hugged Yunho goodbye and left for good in a cab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yunho wasn’t one who held grudges.

Despite not liking Jaejoong’s mother, Miss Kim, when she first came into their household to have dinner one night, he decided to open his heart as much as he could to accommodate her in their future encounters.

His father was very fortunate enough to have met Miss Kim, who seemed to have brought back the genuine smiles onto his father’s face.

Because of this, Yunho decided to let his father have another shot at love.

He learnt that Miss Kim was also a divorcee and had a son, Jaejoong, who was 8-years-old.

‘Perhaps they had bonded through their past experiences and pain,’ Yunho thought.

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Yunho defined Jaejoong as a psychotic-.

And that was shocking enough for him because he never used crude words on anyone before.

Jaejoong was the first person Yunho could not handle.

His stepbrother would prance around in outrageously loud clothes in the house and stick journal entries on his walls about the latest finds and analysis on the catwalks. Because Jaejoong’s walls were all filled up, this action extended to having papers stuck on the walls of the hallways.

Jaejoong would confiscate clothes from Yunho's wardrobe and leave notes on his closet doors, stating that the elder had made various fashion faux pas in his choice of clothes.

Before he left for school every morning, he had to be inspected by Jaejoong, the ‘in-house-fashion-police’ and almost 99% of the time, he would be dragged back to his room to have his clothes re-chosen by his younger brother.

Because of this, he now earned hungry and curious stares from his peers at school.

‘Mom, did you see the new collection of Chanel tweed coats? They’re so awesome!’ Jaejoong beamed at his mother at the dining table.

‘Aren’t they all the same?’ Yunho deadpanned.

‘What blasphemy!’ Jaejoong spat, ‘They’re way different! But of course to a nerdy mathematician like yourself, you’ll never understand.’

Yunho shrugged.

‘All you talk about is fashion, Jaejoong… Come, tell me about school,’ his mother urged.

Jaejoong stuck out his tongue in disgust but replied, ‘Boring. Both literally and in fashion sense.’

‘Why?’ Daddy Jung asked.

‘The teachers are all old and wrinkly and talk soooooo slowly. Plus, they dress like they all bought clothes from thrift stores, outdated and faded.’

‘Aren’t vintage clothes in?’ Yunho challenged.

‘Not when they look like they were made from worn out curtains,’ Jaejoong rolled his eyes and his words earned laughter from the parents.

Yunho suppressed a grin and continued with his dinner.

‘I want a sewing and interlock machine,’ Jaejoong declared.

Yunho missed quiet family dinners where they ate in silence but with Jaejoong around, meals started to remind him of those dreadful social gatherings he had always hated.

‘Give me the model numbers and I’ll get them for you,’ Daddy Jung smiled warmly at Jaejoong.

Jaejoong beamed and thanked his stepdad.

‘Have you thought of what you want for Christmas, Yunho?’ Daddy Jung looked at him.

‘I just…’ Yunho struggled.

The 3 others at the table looked at him expectantly for his answer.

‘I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I want to visit my mom for Christmas.’

Silence.

Jaejoong’s mom looked positively uncomfortable in her seat and Jaejoong just kept blinking with wide eyes at Yunho.

‘Is that fine with you, dear?’ Mr. Jung looked at his wife.

She thought for a while and nodded slowly without a sound.

‘Yes you may, Yunho.’ Daddy Jung told his son.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘What are you doing?’ Yunho asked Jaejoong, who settled in the car seat beside him.

‘I’m going with you to see your mom,’ Jaejoong beamed.

‘Who invited you anyway?’ Yunho looked out of the window, doing his best to not shove his stepbrother out of the car.

‘I asked mom and dad, got a few shocked expressions but got granted permission to join you in your little adventure.’

‘Just when I thought I could get some quiet time to myself…’ Yunho muttered.

‘So, where does your mother stay?’ Jaejoong bubbled.

‘In an apartment in the heart of Seoul,’ Yunho replied, ‘I’m sure you’d rather go shopping than meet my mom since her house is in the shopping district.’

‘True, but I would like to meet your mother at least once before I go on a shopping escapade.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Hey, mom,’ Yunho bowed as soon as his mother opened the door of her apartment.

‘Yunho dear, hello there! And is this the brother you just called and told me about that was going to stay over with us tonight?’ Yunho’s lanky mother smiled at Jaejoong.

‘I’m Jaejoong, it’s nice to meet you! How do I address you?’

‘Miss Park would be fine, dear.’ The lady replied.

‘Good morning, Miss Park!’ Jaejoong bowed.

‘You must tell me where you got that lovely scarf from,’ Miss Park gestured for the two youngsters to enter her abode.

‘You like it?’ Jaejoong beamed, ‘It’s YSL. You do have an eye for style, and I’m sure we’ll get along just fine!’

Miss Park laughed, ‘I did some modelling back in my college days for my schoolmates who were in the fashion design course, just for some spare cash to shop.’

‘Ooo,’ Jaejoong went to give Yunho’s mom a quick hug, ‘I love you already! It’s such a shame that Yunho didn’t inherit any of your fabulous genes. He unfortunately turned out to have zero dress sense.’

Yunho rolled his eyes inwardly and pretended to be busy looking at the well-decorated Christmas tree in the livingroom.

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‘How come your parents are divorced?’ Jaejoong asked, flinging himself onto the bed to lay beside Yunho, who was busy solving mathematics problem sums way beyond his syllabus.

‘My mom had an affair.’

‘Your dad found out about it?’

‘I did and spilled the beans to dad.’

Jaejoong pouted sadly and nodded.

‘I’m such a backstabber right?’ Yunho looked at Jaejoong, who was adorably playing around with the hem of his self-knitted sweater.

‘You’re not! Well… I admire you for making that decision… It must have been really hard on you.’ Jaejoong sat up and scooted closer to Yunho.

‘I had nightmares every night after I revealed it. I still have them, but at least it occurs less frequently nowadays.’

Jaejoong patted Yunho’s back, ‘Anything I can do to help?’

Yunho looked at Jaejoong confusedly.

‘Okay, so I’m not the most gentle or kind hearted person in your life but - ’

Yunho grabbed Jaejoong and hugged him tightly.

Jaejoong was stunned for a few seconds but wrapped his arms around Yunho’s waist and hugged back.

‘You’re the first one to reach out to me after… my mom left,’ Yunho said an in almost inaudible voice, ‘Thank you.’

Jaejoong smiled to himself.

‘Keep this a secret,’ Yunho whispered.

‘What secr- ’

Jaejoong got cut off when he heard the faint sound of sobbing coming from his elder brother.

Jaejoong’s eyes went wide in shock when he felt tears fall against his skin and he started to pat Yunho’s back to calm him down.

Yunho had always been a straight-faced person who never revealed his true emotions to others so Jaejoong was extremely taken aback to find that Yunho was actually crying in his embrace.

Jaejoong’s face softened and cooed, ‘Cry it all out, you’ll feel better.’

Jaejoong felt Yunho nod against his shoulder.

‘Let’s be there for each other from now on okay? I know I can be quite overbearing at times, but please don’t ignore me okay? You always ignore me and I don’t like being ignored.’

Yunho broke away from the embrace and wiped away the tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his t-shirt.

He nodded, ‘I’ll do my best not to ignore you, but first, we must give each other personal space. I have never stepped foot into your bedroom ever since you moved into the house but you have crossed the line one too many times when you invaded my wardrobe.’

‘I’m sorry for entering your room without your permission. But for improving your wardrobe, I’m not apologetic about it.’

Yunho simply gave Jaejoong a blank stare.

‘You took away so many of my favourite clothes,’ Yunho stated.

‘They were hideous and were supposed to have retired decades ago,’ Jaejoong rolled his eyes.

‘You had better return them to me!’

‘I think you’ll feel better to know that I have donated instead of having thrown them away,right?’ Jaejoong grinned.

Yunho almost wanted to strangle Jaejoong on the spot but put his hands into the pockets of his pants to prevent him from murdering his younger brother.

‘This will become your favourite item in your closet from now on!’ Jaejoong happily got off the bed and rummaged through his luggage.

He jumped back onto the bed and handed Yunho a neatly wrapped present.

Yunho raised an eyebrow suspiciously at Jaejoong but the latter just gestured for the elder to open it up.

Yunho unwrapped the gift to reveal a knitted sweater.

‘See?’ Jaejoong pointed to the sweater he was wearing and then to the one Yunho held in his hands, ‘Scratch couple sweaters people, because Kim Jaejoong is declaring the new trend to be ‘Sibling sweaters’!’

Yunho could only stare at the smug looking Jaejoong.

‘I spent a whole week making this, so don’t you dare chuck it at the back of your closet!’ Jaejoong warned.

‘I won’t, Jaejoong,’ Yunho smiled for the first time in months.

‘You should smile more, Yunnie,’ Jaejoong said, ‘It’s gorgeous! And I rarely give compliments okay!’

Yunho nodded, ‘I’ll try my best. Oh, and Jaejoong… thanks for this wonderful present. It’s knitted really well.’

‘You’re welcome, Yunnie.’

‘I didn’t get you anything though,’ Yunho confessed.

‘Do you have a credit card?’

‘Yeah,’ Yunho answered slowly, looking at Jaejoong suspiciously.

‘You can make up for it by lending the card to me so I can go shop now.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yunho found it funny to watch his parents stare agape while he helped Jaejoong bring out the luggages from the car’s trunk.

After all, Jaejoong left the house with a hand carry luggage but came home with 3 large suitcases.

Yunho prayed that his dad wouldn’t confiscate his credit card after that month’s bills came in because Jaejoong had totally spammed his card yesterday night on his killer-shopping spree. Yunho could swear that no one shopped as hard and diligently as his younger brother did and it was scary. It was like as if Jaejoong was possessed or something.

‘Did you guys enjoy yourselves yesterday?’ Daddy Jung smiled at his sons.

‘I obviously did,’ Jaejoong beamed.

‘Of course you did,’ Mommy Jung laughed.

‘Me too,’ Yunho replied, ‘I’ll help you bring these up.’

With that, Yunho lifted 2 suitcases filled to the brim with yesterday’s purchase and went up the steps.

‘Seems like you two got closer, that’s good,’ Daddy Jung smiled down at Jaejoong.

‘We did and I’m so glad I spent yesterday with Yunho and his mom.’

Both parents nodded happily.

‘I’ll go unpack,’ Jaejoong carried the last suitcase and ran up the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Math makes me go into PMS mode,’ Jaejoong pouted angrily throwing his pen across the study table in the house’s library.

‘You’re male, Jaejoong,’ Yunho sighed and looked over at Jaejoong’s half completed math worksheet.

‘Finish it up for me, please?’ Jaejoong annoyingly latched himself onto Yunho’s arm and kept shaking it.

‘Fine,’ Yunho slid his brother’s homework over to his side.

‘Whoa, you have super powers,’ Jaejoong gaped.

‘Why?’ Yunho questioned.

‘You don’t need to use a calculator and you’re talking to me while doing those crazy algebra equations.’

‘I’m best friends with numbers.’

‘That just sounded ing stupid and amazingly enough, it’s true,’ Jaejoong giggled, watching Yunho speed through answering the questions.

‘Done.’

‘Oh my Gawd, I love you soooooo much,’ Jaejoong pecked Yunho’s cheek and ran off with the completed worksheet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘I feel like a proud mother right now,’ Jaejoong beamed, adjusting Yunho’s tie at the front door.

‘You’re happier than I am,’ Yunho laughed.

‘I know right?’ Jaejoong smiled, ‘All done. Did you bring all your paperwork?’

‘Yes, mom,’ Yunho joked.

‘I made your lunchbox just now, did you get it from the kitchen table, Yunnie?’

‘Yes, mom.’

‘Oh my Gawd, you’re the ing Editor in Chief of Blitz now,’ Jaejoong started to flail excitedly.

‘Yes, yes… You have been repeating that since last week.’

‘I can’t help it!’ Jaejoong hugged Yunho tightly.

‘I can’t wait for you to graduate and help me push Blitz to a whole new level,’ Yunho broke the hug and smiled warmly at Jaejoong.

‘Me too! I’ve got so much planned to improve the whole Fashion aspect for the magazine.’

‘I’ll be heading off now, so you be a good student and head to school later okay?’

‘I was planning on ditching class to check out the new collection at Armani…’

‘You horrible student,’ Yunho shook his head in disapproval.

‘But I still do well in school,’ Jaejoong bragged.

‘Fine,’ Yunho waved, got into his car and drove off to work.

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