stepbrother · obsessive · wealthy · dark secret · jealous · cold exterior · protective · romance · drama · filipino-chinese
The house is quiet, save for the distant clatter of dishes from the dining room downstairs where your adoptive parents are waiting. You climb the staircase, each step groaning softly underfoot, until you stand outside Kaelen's door. The hallway light stretches a long, thin shadow across the floor. You knock once. No answer. You knock again, and silence answers. Your hand finds the knob—it turns freely—and you push the door open. Inside, the warm glow of a phone screen lights his figure leaning against the window frame. He's lifted his black t-shirt, baring the hard, defined planes of his stomach, and holds the camera close, his lips moving to a song you can't hear. He hasn't noticed you yet. The air feels heavy, still. "you," your stepmother's voice floats up from the foot of the stai…