Because We're Family
Han Seyeon's expression was close to blank.
A face that registered no emotion at all.
It was consideration for her younger brother of the opposite sex—and a suppressor for what lived inside her heart.
Deep down, Han Seyeon's self already knew.
That she harbored feelings for her little brother that went far beyond family.
That was why the suppressor existed.
The twisted urge to see her brother's naked body collided with more than twenty years of drilled-in moral notions. The result was a conclusion she could still hold her head high over.
"Let's get you up first."
"Mm..."
Indifference. She was simply looking after her younger brother the way an older sister should. The household was too poor to hire a caregiver, so of course the only blood relative and guardian would take care of him. Perfect. No matter how she turned it over, the excuse was flawless.
Even so, Han Seyeon forced the desire down into the deepest part of herself. It must never surface on her face.
She moved slowly toward Han Sein, took his hand and body, and helped him rise. He offered no resistance, entrusting himself completely to his only protector. Her quiet heartbeat began to hammer again in earnest.
"Want me to take them off for you?"
"I can manage."
Was that shame? The faint flush blooming across his cheeks looked unbearably cute. She wished he would get a little more embarrassed. If she truly empathized she ought to feel sorry for him—yet her lovely little brother's appearance was simply too pretty, too endearing.
The school-uniform trousers he still hadn't fully pulled up. The dress shirt and vest wrapping his body as if they were stifling him. An ordinary outfit, yet more than enough to tease at Han Seyeon's heart.
A student. He was a student. And that student was—
"Whoa—"
"Careful. Just stay still. I'll do it for you."
—her own younger brother.
One of the classic fantasies: a boy from a prestigious school. Han Sein had staggered while trying to peel off the vest alone and lost his center of gravity. Reflexively catching him, Han Seyeon pressed her lips tight.
He was so precarious. A male who looked ready to topple at the slightest shake was leaning into her hands, relying on her. The erotic charge of that fact went beyond anything she had imagined.
Yet she could not let a single hint show. She was his older sister. His family. His guardian. Beneath the pretext she herself had spoken aloud, her desire was being crushed lower and lower. Even when it swelled as if it would burst, she had to hold it down. That was the price of social eyes and the hypocrisy she had built for herself.
"Arms up."
"Mm..."
She took hold of the vest and lifted it carefully. Caregiving was new to her as well; she had to watch his unsteady body while stripping him, concentrating hard enough that the rising heat in her chest might settle. Even so her pounding heart only stoked the fire again.
One dress shirt left. Her hands grew more practiced with every piece she removed. Having found her rhythm, she drew Han Sein into her arms while they both faced the mirror—almost like a back-hug. The height difference made it easy. More than a full head taller, she felt the back of his skull sink soft and deep between her breasts.
She was in casual clothes, a thin one-piece dress. Perhaps that was why. Feeling the bare contact, Han Sein's ears flushed scarlet. Whether from the shame of being undressed or from the press of her chest, she could not tell—but Han Seyeon's mood lifted all the same. If it was the former, fine. If the latter... before she even considered that he might share her feelings, it meant her charm as a woman had reached him.
Time stretched in the uncomfortable silence. Han Seyeon shifted her arms and fully enclosed him. It was a perfect back-hug, yet once more she hid desire inside the excuse.
"This way you won't fall, right?"
"Mm..."
His timid little answer only deepened the smile inside her. Arms sliding in along his flanks, she wrapped his entire body while her fingers worked the buttons of the dress shirt one by one. Cotton against her wrists, the warmth of skin seeping through from underneath—trivial sensations that still stirred her.
Buttons fully undone. She took the shirt and drew it off, then tossed the garment aside with one hand. Her intense gaze drank in Han Sein's body.
Skin soft as white jade. Flesh so yielding it summoned the urge to touch; she almost laid a hand on the soft curve of his belly without thinking. She wanted to touch more, to claim more. Only half naked, and already the hunger climbed this high?
Han Seyeon endured the sharp, electric pulse low in her abdomen and dipped her head slightly. She did not want to see the two of them reflected in the mirror—lest the face soaked in desire be exposed. Hot breath spilled from her lips as she whispered, the words a warm temptation brushing his ear.
"Sit here. We still have to get the rest off."
"Ugh... o-okay."
His voice sank even smaller. The final layer. Once the most important pieces—pants and underwear—came off, Han Sein's...
She swallowed hard. He never noticed.
"Augh..."
"How much moving around did you do?"
"Climbed a mountain a bit..."
Han Sein sank down slowly—literally dropping onto the toilet seat. There was no graceful process. Muscle soreness, what people called "lactic acid buildup," worked exactly that way: it kept you from sitting properly and made standing again nearly impossible.
Anyway. Han Seyeon lowered herself carefully onto her knees. He would need to wash soon; she planned only to throw the clothes outside and shut the door. Like a princess kneeling to put shoes on a prince, she looked up at him from below.
"Don't look..."
"Okay. I won't look."
Don't worry. I'm not interested.
Han Seyeon buried the desire under the most indifferent mask she could manage. Her heart hammered, yet her face wore the expression of an older sister simply doing what needed to be done. Her hands went to his waistband. Strike while the iron is hot—she meant to peel pants and underwear away together. Thought became reality.
Hands sliding downward. From waist to hips, hips to thighs, fabric and fingers both feeling the give of soft flesh that dimpled around them as if swallowing her touch. And her endlessly pounding heart whispered to her: be a little more honest. Draw closer to the desire.
Pants and underwear caught at his ankles. She yanked them free and tossed them roughly aside—then made a mistake. Words she had already spoken and already heard, yet still a true slip.
"Now again—"
"D-don't look...!"
Her sentence never finished. Her head was already rising; her little brother's shame-filled cry climbed higher. The words should have entered her ears and come out as an answer, but her eyes were too busy devouring his body.
Thighs firm enough that she wanted to fill both hands with them. Soft belly folded cutely from the way he sat. And there, half-hard and claiming its presence, the thing itself—smooth, bare, peeking out in a way that summoned the urge to take it into her mouth.
A little higher still, her gaze found his face. Expression flooded with shame. Eyes trembling so hard moisture gathered at the corners, cheeks burning. Han Seyeon could not look any longer.
A firm pressure on the crown of her head. Her naked little brother pressed his older sister's head down. From his mouth came the scolding—hadn't she said she wouldn't look?—and Han Seyeon let out an uneven breath of relief.
She had looked, pulled by desire, and feared the unguarded expression would be caught. She had nearly done something she would regret while her mind was clouded with lust, nearly let the hunger show plain—yet because Han Sein pushed her head down she could keep her face lowered.
"Y-you said you wouldn't look..."
"Sorry. I did it without thinking."
Twitching corners of her mouth and sticky gaze both fixed on the floor. The breath leaving her lips was hot and rough. Unsteady breathing and heartbeat, spurred by everything inside her, simply kept doing their work.
"Come on. Stand up. Eyes closed, see? Okay?"
"Yeah."
Hoo. Han Seyeon exhaled a short breath and rose, showing him her tightly shut eyes—a little performance, a device to soothe him. It couldn't be helped. To wash him she would of course have to look at his body; for now she simply wrapped her tongue in a lie to calm his heart.
She helped him up again. Eyes slowly opening. Along the short path from toilet into the bathroom proper, her gaze took in her little brother's bare body. His trembling legs looked ready to give out. Their joined hands clenched tight, yet the reality of relying on his sister for everyday life remained unchanged.
And then—
"Ah."
Both their faces crumpled at once. Han Sein's expression said he would have to go through more bothersome effort. Han Seyeon's was dazed by an entirely different kind of stimulus. Of course. They had both thought they were already fully naked. Both of them had overlooked one thing.
The socks.
Han Seyeon's eyes squeezed shut—no, she was still watching him endlessly through narrowed lids, but she put on the act so she would not catch a scolding from her little brother. It was a desperate scramble to protect the household while her mind swam. The careful movements of a woman who did not want to end up on the evening news.
None of that mattered. Her younger brother's appearance was simply too stimulating. Her heart pounded harder than it ever had after six full rounds of sparring. Others might not understand, but for Han Seyeon at least it was overwhelming.
A body without a single thread of clothing—and the pure white socks still wrapping only his feet. The contrast was so sharp she had no choice but to crush the desire with superhuman force.