The Brother I Once Hated
Kim Seo-jun had hated his older brother, Kim Jin-su, ever since he was a kid.
It started even before their parents passed away.
His brother, ten years older, felt less like a sibling and more like another father.
One who nagged endlessly—what do you think you're doing, Kim Seo-jun? Don't! You trying to get in trouble?—always harping on him.
And whenever he fought with their little sister over something she'd done wrong, his brother would side with her, yelling, Kim Seo-jun! If you're the older brother, act like it and give in! Never taking his side.
It didn't change after their parents died, either.
He hated his brother.
"Oppa, Oppa! When's big bro coming back?"
"Dunno."
His brother had left seven-year-old Kim Seo-jun and five-year-old Kim Hye-eun behind to join a mercenary unit hunting Mogs, heading off into the distant stars.
"Seo-jun, Hye-eun. I'm going to make some money and come back, so you two stay strong. If anything happens, call the community center guy I told you about. Got it? Or call Ji-young noona. You can handle things without me, right? When I'm gone, Seo-jun, you're the man of the house. Take good care of Hye-eun."
Back then, Kim Seo-jun couldn't understand why his brother had to go so far away just to earn money.
So he figured his brother was ditching them because they were a hassle—him and their baby sister were too much trouble.
He truly hated him.
But that hatred didn't last.
When Kim Seo-jun started elementary school, his homeroom teacher—who taught him so much and looked after him and his sister even after hours—told him this:
"Seo-jun, your brother is braver and greater than anyone. He didn't abandon you. He went to that faraway place to protect you—to protect you and your sister. Believe your teacher. You'll understand soon. Very soon."
And she was right.
The next year, in second grade, Kim Seo-jun finally saw his brother again after so long, and his brother said:
"Take this medicine. From now on, you have to take it every day, without fail."
He pulled out something like a metal safe and told him to eat the pills inside.
"It'll keep you from getting sick."
The medicine turned out to be a gene therapy drug for Lou Gehrig's disease, their genetic illness.
In other words, his brother had crossed into deep space, battling terrifying space monsters—Mogs—to get this expensive treatment for his little brother's disease.
"Look after Hye-eun too. She has to take it with you."
And the siblings he had to care for numbered two.
Nine-year-old Kim Seo-jun was still young, but he realized it then.
His brother hadn't abandoned him.
Far from it—his brother had risked his life fighting cosmic horrors for him and their sister.
After that, he never said he hated his brother again.
He listened to him instead.
And from then on, their home found peace.
Kim Jin-su, who had saved his two siblings' futures, quit being a mercenary and took a normal job at a security firm.
Kim Seo-jun threw himself into school life too.
"Hey, Kim Hye-eun, get your head straight. Idol? What idol dream?"
"Why's Jin-su oppa okay with it, but Seo-jun oppa's complaining?"
"'Cause I know it's not gonna happen."
"How would you know?"
"You're uglier than me."
"What? You done?"
His little sister Kim Hye-eun was still a handful, but she never caused real trouble.
They lived modestly but without want.
Happiness overflowed.
Then the nightmare came.
"Cancer? Bro's not even thirty yet."
"You were a mercenary, right? Hopping planets without proper gear—no way you avoided space radiation. Be glad they caught it before it killed you."
Cancer had spread through his brother's organs.
"On Earth, they can just swap the organs and hit it with targeted chemo—live healthy after that."
But saving his brother meant money. Lots of it.
Kim Seo-jun didn't hesitate.
Just like his brother had done to save him and their sister, he chose the same path.
"Don't tell Jin-su hyung."
"He'll kill you if he finds out."
"Yeah, I'd love for him to get up from that bed and kill me. Anyway, don't tell him."
And so Kim Seo-jun became a Space Marine. After eight weeks of training, he shipped out.
There, he faced his first Mogdog up close. After the brutal fight, back in barracks, he broke down sobbing.
He wailed in the bathroom like a banshee.
Not from fear of the Mogdog.
He wept thinking of the terror, agony, and despair his brother must have felt—facing these impossible space monsters as a kid, not even in the military, but as a mercenary.
That was all.
After that, life as a Space Marine was smoother than expected.
Not easy, of course.
Just not the nightmare people claimed: five out of ten die, four get medically discharged crippled, one survives.
What made it possible were a few talents Kim Seo-jun possessed.
"Hey, Kim Seo-jun."
"Private Kim Seo-jun!"
"You for real, you bastard?"
"Sir?"
"First combat, and you didn't piss yourself? Did you? Or nah?"
"Didn't, sir."
"Whoa! Fuckin' insane! Yo! This guy's saying he didn't piss his diaper!"
Kim Seo-jun thought it was just the usual hazing rookies got.
It wasn't.
"Kim Seo-jun, you're an ace now."
"Sir, I don't quite get it."
"Listen up. Mogs are fundamentally stronger than humans. Pissing yourself when you see 'em? That's nature. Like a rat seeing a tiger. But you didn't? Means you're at least cat-level at the core."
Sincere praise.
An incredibly valuable talent.
"From now on, if the vets lose it to fear, you clean up. We trust only you."
Terror renders even the best useless.
Kim Seo-jun had other battlefield gifts too.
Like dynamic vision.
"Kim Seo-jun, this punk's got killer eyes."
"Always had 'em, sir."
"Yeah? How good?"
"On a good day playing soccer, I can read the brand on a flying ball."
"For real? No bullshit?"
"No reason to lie about this, sir."
No exaggeration. Invaluable against Mogs.
In split-second life-or-death moments, he saw the world slower than others.
The results stunned even battle-hardened vets.
"You a psyker or what?"
They even suspected he was a psyker—someone born with the gift to wield a Prophet's Relic.
He wasn't.
"A psyker wouldn't enlist as a Space Marine for cash."
"True that."
If he were, no need for this grind.
Psykers were national treasures—humanity's assets—lavished with perks.
"Psykers commission as majors. No one's starting private and skimping on base ramen to save money."
They got major-level treatment from day one, salaries worlds apart.
Kim Seo-jun's talents shone brightest with Steam Pack.
The moment it hit, his world froze.
That's how he survived impossible odds—facing rare Behemoths twice, not just Mogdogs or Thorn Snakes.
He discharged whole, paid for his brother's full treatment with his earnings.
Achieved everything, returned to Earth.
Space Marine—the job everyone called a death sentence—gave him hope.
That's why.
"Fuckin' space peaceniks. Pro-peace terrorists? Makes no sense. What now? Treatment's gonna cost a fortune... If you need money, I can..."
"Don't worry, Young-chul. Got it covered."
"What?"
"Borrowed it."
"Borrowed? That much? From who?"
"Credit."
"Credit? You can't borrow that on credit. Wait—you didn't?"
"Yeah. Enlisted as NCO. Space Marine."
"Back to the army?"
Heading to the nightmare stage again, Kim Seo-jun felt no fear.
Just do like active duty: fight Mogs, earn cash, return, take brother's nagging.
Even his first post-enlistment battle—over a hundred Mogdogs—didn't faze him.
Apollo's Blessing (55 days) has been acquired!
You can now see the trajectories of all projectiles.
But seeing what happened next, Kim Seo-jun knew instinctively:
No more ordinary, smooth life for him.
Of course, he wondered:
Steam Pack messing with my head?
Possible he was hallucinating.
Common side effect.
Dr. Space—history's greatest scientist, Nobel Chemistry winner—invented Steam Pack to turn humans superhuman briefly, but with nasty side effects. Space Marines babbling nonsense on it wasn't weird; it was good news: Still talking shit? Brain's alive—lucky bastard!
Whatever.
One thing clear: hallucinating or not, 333 Mogdogs charging him meant survival fight in worse odds than before.
Three times more than last pack!
Better than Mogdogs singing and tap-dancing in my face.
From that angle, red line shooting from his gun barrel? Mild hallucination compared to others. Grateful, even.
So he aimed at a Mogdog. The red line hit its head.
Kieeeek!
But the Mogdog dodged nonstop, moving at 100 kph max. Hard to nail the head.
Process as many as possible before Steam Pack wears off.
With effects active, time crawled for Kim Seo-jun.
Slight adjustment, re-aim, red line on forehead. Pulled trigger.
Thud!
Short single shot.
Training taboo.
Instructors drilled it endlessly:
"Mogdog weak point's the head! But don't dream of precision headshots like a game! Just spray! Unlimited rounds! Pray one of a hundred hits the skull! No Korean's pulling off one-shot headshots. Save that shit for when you emigrate to China or Japan."
Full auto, always.
Kim Seo-jun knew.
But he did it anyway—not because Status Window power-up—showtime!
Opposite.
This red line's obviously fake. This bullet won't smash its head. No way.
So this shot was to drill it into himself:
This is a hallucination.
Don't get distracted by bullshit. Snap out of it.
Whoosh!
Kieeeek!
But the bullet flew perfectly along the line, smashing the Mogdog's head.
Huh?
Confusion crossed his face.
This real?
That moment.
Mogdog eliminated.
Acquired 1 point.
One-shot kill with single fire. Bonus 2 points for one-shot one-kill.
His expression twisted further.
Normally, he'd chalk it up to hallucination—the single-shot headshot he just pulled.
Everything fake. Really, he's Steam Packed, getting chomped by Mogdogs, hallucinating this.
He'd seen it: comrades smiling happily, Mom, Dad! I'm home! Starving—make kimchi jjigae! as Mogdogs munched them.
Might be him now.
But no panic.
"Seo-jun."
"Private Kim Seo-jun!"
"Steam Pack shows all kinds of shit. Can't do anything about it. So think this: if you're dying anyway, better good dreams than nightmares. When Steam Pack hits and you see good stuff, just say..."
A senior who cared for him in that hell taught him:
"Lucky you."
Uttering his senior's advice, Kim Seo-jun pulled the trigger again.
Thud!
Single shot again.
Whoosh!
Another charging Mogdog's head exploded.
Mogdog eliminated.
Acquired 1 point.
One-shot kill with single fire. Bonus 2 points for one-shot one-kill.
Notifications rang true.
From then on, Kim Seo-jun hesitated no more.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
He yanked the trigger like a madman.