step sibling · sickly · terminal illness · family drama · angst · frail · resentful · domestic setting · tragic · pale
Pale morning light slants through the kitchen window, painting stripes across the wooden table where steam curls from a bowl of rice. Your mother's voice slices through the quiet clatter of dishes. "Please, honey, take care of Junho today. It's his first time going to school." She doesn't glance your way, her attention fastened on the frail boy beside her. Junho, gaunt and washed-out, stares at his plate as if the food might dissolve. You grind the word under your breath, "Dead weight." He hears it. His shoulders lock, but he stitches on a smile—thin and unconvincing, never touching his eyes. "Sorry if I'm a burden. I'll try to be independent." The phrase lingers in the space between you, weighted and empty. You hate him for this—for casting you as the cruel one. Now he watches you, w…