Sister Searching for Her Little Brother
The Good Sibling Stories Gallery was full of posts from people searching for their families. With the sudden apocalypse and zombie outbreak, this destruction had torn countless families apart.
Things like:
Such exchanges had become all too familiar. The real problem came next: finding lost family members. That had become harder than mere survival.
And the solution to that was the Maelmang Gallery.
No cell phones anymore these days. In an era where all of humanity shared a single gallery. Though posting required a ton of points. Posts searching for family kept popping up steadily. Some parents poured every point they had into finding their kids.
But their efforts and heartfelt pleas rarely paid off. Almost none of those grieving souls ever found their families.
Most are probably dead already anyway.
Even knowing that. If anything, that's why they couldn't stop. Maybe that's why our gallery had an unwritten rule: don't comment recklessly on family-search posts. It was a courtesy to avoid torturing them with false hope.
But posts with zero comments looked a little lonely.
And this is a story about one such pair of siblings I encountered in that world.
I noticed that post for no particular reason. "Little brother." That word held special meaning for me. Or more precisely, maybe it was "noona."
Just as "dad" or "mom" meant the world to others. To me, "noona" evoked something warm yet heartbreaking.
But there wasn't much I could do about it. Family lost in this world? A dime a dozen.
So I scrolled past. But then an unexpected twist made me double back.
Incredibly, the little brother was alive. The sister naturally demanded proof in the replies. Only after sharing intimate sibling stories could they verify each other.
To save points, they moved to a private secret chat. Lucky for me, I could see it all.
A heartwarming scene of luck upon luck. But my face was grim.
And for good reason—
No matter how insane the world got, a 29-year-old sister's little brother couldn't be a 35-year-old middle-aged guy. The name didn't even match what the sister had said.
Imposter.
Not an uncommon sight. Posing as dead family to lure and hunt the living. Think old-school voice phishing scams.
Of course, the real family was probably dead anyway. Made it all the more vile.
The gallery's 100% anonymity was salt in the wound.
But since he knew details about the brother, he must know something about him. Not totally clueless.
Torture or threats to extract info? If lucky, the real brother might still be alive.
But as things stood, both would end up as slaves.
"Hmm."
I stared at their chat.
Every word from the "brother" was a lie. But the sister's love shone through as genuine.
...Noona.
I closed my eyes briefly.
After that last "stabbing incident," I'd avoided getting involved in outside matters as much as possible. No benefits, and dragging myself into it never ended well.
"Haa."
But this time, I couldn't look away. Family scamming family. That love being exploited. Even a guy like me couldn't stomach that.
Love and peace. A harmonious family was needed in this bleak world.
"Mind if I have a word?"
"Who are you?"
"I have something to say about your brother, Lee Se-ha."
"Pardon?"
Using admin privileges, I'd easily tracked down the sister's location. Not too far, thankfully.
Her name was Im Yi-myung. She eyed me warily.
She's holding up better than expected.
A bit thinner, but her face had vitality. Like she'd endured hardship but overcome it with her innate brightness. And the moment she saw me, she grabbed a hammer.
Rare to see someone so tough. Being kind didn't mean being a pushover. From experience, types like her survived long-term.
"Who the hell are you? How do you know about our Se-ha?"
"Just hear me out. It's not bad news for you."
"Then take off the sunglasses and mask first. Who'd believe you like that?"
"...This better?"
"Huh, pretty handsome? Why hide a face like that?"
"Uh, anyway, let's talk about something else."
Our chat might look friendly in text. But her social distance, movements—especially her expression—told otherwise. She looked ready to bash me open if needed.
Sisters are scary no matter where you go.
Her only little brother was at stake, so I got it. Fortunately, as I spoke, her suspicion eased bit by bit.
"You posted in the gallery looking for your brother, right?"
"How'd you know?"
"I keep tabs on info. Bottom line: the guy who commented isn't your brother."
I explained everything slowly. Of course, I glossed over being the admin.
Took some doing to convince her. But with prepared white lies and now-useless anecdotes, she finally trusted me.
"...You're more impressive than you look. Why come all this way?"
"That's not the point. Your brother's safety comes first."
"True. So... that post was impersonating my brother?"
"That's my judgment."
"But he answered all my personal questions. Stuff only we'd know."
"Wasn't there a slight delay in his replies?"
"..."
Probably. I'd watched the chat live.
Private info only the parties would know. But each answer had a tiny lag.
"Doesn't it strike you as off? Even if he trusts his 'hyungs,' introducing his blood sister to other guys in this world?"
"Hmm."
"Unless he's selling out his own sister... Er, sorry. Not something you'd do lightly, even for trusted folks."
"My brother's always been a bit dim."
"...Anyway, you felt something off too, right? That's why you're hesitating now."
Im Yi-myung said nothing. But that was her answer.
From what I knew, they'd already shared meetup spot and date. Yet she'd listened to a stranger like me. She had doubts too.
"If that's true..."
Her lips trembled slightly as she spoke after a pause.
"Doesn't that mean my little brother's in danger?"
"...Yeah. He answered your questions, after all."
"So he's captured."
More than captured, probably. Selling out his only sister's info? Torture or threats to his life wouldn't be surprising.
Once she reached that conclusion, Im Yi-myung nodded without hesitation.
"...Then we gotta meet."
"Yi-myung-ssi."
"We siblings are orphans."
Im Yi-myung sighed deeply.
"Dad passed, Mom ditched us for a new husband. Said she needed to live her life. So I raised that punk."
"..."
"He's a huge pain, never listens. But he's my only family. World ends, I prayed every day he'd just survive. Finally contact. If I let this slip, might never find him."
I had nothing to say.
Were all noonas like this? Throwing away their lives so recklessly. Made me angry. Jealous too. Of what I couldn't protect.
"...From my investigation, they're thugs. A woman alone can't handle it."
"I didn't survive this long on looks. Don't worry. Got connections and brains."
Im Yi-myung smiled faintly. Then bowed deeply to me.
"Thanks for going out of your way to warn me. You're a kind soul. Wish my brother took after you even half as much."
I clamped my mouth shut. Kind? I wasn't good enough for that.
I came this far from mild curiosity. And personal feelings.
Like getting pissed seeing drunks beat taxi drivers on the news. Just an extension of that.
"Hmm."
So this proposal came from the same place.
"Here's the deal."
"Huh?"
"I'll handle the thug ba... those guys first. Talk to them. Meet them after."
Meeting her brother meant risking her life. But not me.
I knew their location. And I was great at "talks."
"Whoa, I'd be grateful, but... why go that far?"
"...Beats me."
Why was I doing unpaid work? Truth was, I knew damn well.
Because my noona would've done the same.
Gazing at yet another noona before me.
I kept that thought inside.
Plus, those bastards rubbed me the wrong way.
Using separated siblings as hostages for profit. Scum like that had no right living on Earth.
I'd use their corpses as firewood for the crematorium.