The Fake Brother's Secret
“Ungh...”
Jo A-young groaned softly, her eyes fluttering open after about an hour of unconsciousness.
“You okay?”
I asked from beside her. I'd stayed by her side at Kang A-jin's suggestion. She said Jo A-young would feel more at ease waking up to see me first—and she was right. Sure enough, Jo A-young's furrowed brow slowly relaxed as her gaze landed on me.
“Ah... Sung-gi oppa.”
“Yeah, I'm right here.”
It was a bit embarrassing, but I took her hand in mine.
“I... I think I had a dream. A really awful one. My oppa... he killed our parents...”
“It wasn't a dream.”
As Jo A-young tried to deny reality, calling it a dream, Kang A-jin spoke up from where she stood by the wall. That's right—she'd been in the room the whole time too. While I'd taken on the role of comforting Jo A-young, she'd ended up with the opposite job, through no fault of her own: delivering the harsh truth.
I'd thought maybe we could ease into it more gently, but in the end, whether slow or fast, nothing would change. If we had to tell her the truth anyway, better to rip the bandage off quick. Especially since we were trying to bring her into the fold. The longer she was out of commission, the higher the chance Jo Dong-geun would realize she was with us.
“You... why would you show me something like that...?”
“A-young-ssi needs to know what kind of person Jo Dong-geun really is. What I showed you was 100% real—events that actually happened. Most people who knew about it are dead or missing. If it weren't for me, no one would have told you the truth. You'd have kept believing he was a good oppa, blind to his true face.”
“No way... That can't be true...”
Jo A-young's grip tightened on my hand, her raw anguish transmitting straight through her fingers. It had to be devastating. Just reliving the death of the adoptive parents who'd raised her was bad enough—but to learn the culprit was her own flesh-and-blood brother? I shuddered, imagining how I'd feel in her shoes.
“A-young-ssi, you haven't even known him for a full year since reuniting, right?”
“Well, yeah, but...”
“He never showed you his real self. He's not a good person—not by any stretch.”
“Ah, I'm leaving now. My head's splitting just being here.”
Jo A-young started fumbling to get out of bed. Seeing this, Kang A-jin spoke up.
“At least watch this before you go. You need to see exactly what your oppa is.”
Kang A-jin pulled out another talisman. Just like the one from before at the table, a beam of light shot out, unfolding into a holographic projection.
This footage started right with Jo Dong-geun.
“Long time no see.”
The door opened, and in strode the tall, powerfully built Jo Dong-geun with a sleazy grin. It didn't take long to figure out whose perspective this was filmed from. The conversation made it obvious who he was talking to across from him.
Kang A-jin. This must have been from her meeting with him a few days ago—recorded from her viewpoint. Her discomfort came through crystal clear: the desperate wish to avoid facing him, to end the talk as fast as possible.
But Jo Dong-geun ignored it, ushering her into the room. And the horrific scene inside.
Empty booze bottles and drugs scattered everywhere. Worst of all, naked women collapsed in pitiful heaps on the floor. Blood trickled from between some of their legs; others foamed at the mouth. Their bodies bore torn skin and bruises everywhere.
The talisman projection wasn't sharp enough to confirm, but they looked like regular women, not hunters. And who they'd been up against? Obvious.
An S-rank—no, not just any S-rank, but Jo Dong-geun. I'd tried it myself back when I was a normal awakener with Kim Seol-bi. I knew full well it was physically impossible for civilians to survive that. How much agony had they endured? Just picturing it made every cell in my body crawl.
Jo A-young was hit even harder—her hand in mine started trembling uncontrollably.
“No way... No way that's possible...”
The footage rolled on with the conversation between Kang A-jin and Jo Dong-geun. I could feel his overwhelming power. Even Kang A-jin, who seemed nearly invincible to me, was powerless before him—like a mouse facing a cat.
That bastard...
With Jo A-young right there, I held back the curses, but my rage built with every second. He was blatantly sexually harassing Kang A-jin. Especially the part where he chased after her as she tried to leave and grabbed her in a hug—I ground my teeth so hard it hurt.
“Stop... please stop showing it...”
The footage had already ended, but Jo A-young waved her hand anyway. Tears streamed from her tightly shut eyes.
“You don't have to be that sad.”
Kang A-jin dropped another bombshell. Even for her cool-headed self, that seemed too much. If I were in Jo A-young's place, I'd have struggled to accept that tone.
“How can you say that right now?”
Jo A-young glared at Kang A-jin.
“It's simple. Jo Dong-geun isn't A-young-ssi's real brother.”
“What?”
“Pardon?”
Jo A-young and I blurted out in unison, stunned.
Jo Dong-geun wasn't her real brother? What the hell...?
As my mind reeled, Kang A-jin used sorcery to pull over a chair and sat down, her usual calm expression and tone intact.
“It struck me as odd. Why was Jo Dong-geun so obsessed with A-young-ssi? Sure, a long-lost sister from childhood, but killing her parents just to keep her close? That's beyond irrational. Especially for a heartless monster like him.”
“But... the documents...”
“Those can be faked easily. You know S-rank hunters wield massive influence, right? A-young-ssi was essential to him.”
“But I... I don't get it...”
Me neither. Why was Jo A-young so crucial to him? Even if she was, did he really need to go through all that hassle to bring her to Korea specifically?
“It's rare, but some skills only activate for specific people. A-young-ssi visited Korea before meeting Jo Dong-geun, right?”
“Yes... Since my roots are Korean, I came with my parents once.”
“That's when he saw you. And felt something off—his mana surging, like a massive buff.”
“A buff...?”
“Jo Dong-geun's one lucky bastard. Not only did he awaken as an S-rank, he found his soulmate in a sense—you. He realized you supercharge his abilities. Coincidentally, you were both orphans, and records showed you had one brother. I looked into it myself out of suspicion, and Jo Dong-geun had no siblings on file. He orchestrated the whole thing. Whether he planned it solo or had help, he figured pretending to be your real oppa was better than forcing you here—keeps the buff stable forever. If the skill holder doesn't want it, even involuntary activations lose potency.”
The tears stopped flowing from Jo A-young's eyes. She looked lost, unsure what to say.
“If you want proof, I can show it. I don't have much time, so my evidence is limited, but dig deeper and more will surface.”
“How did you even figure this out?”
I asked. We'd talked about Jo A-young yesterday, even planned to recruit her. Until then, I'd had zero clue Kang A-jin knew her secret.
“When Jo Dong-geun hired me for something involving A-young-ssi, I read his memories. I suspected a hidden truth and pulled more while around him. Not crystal clear enough for talismans, but obvious he had zero sibling attachment to her. My work's always risky—I need ways to protect myself. Against him, the best leverage was A-young-ssi. Exposing crimes wouldn't faze him. But without her? He couldn't match other S-ranks.”