Warning: Sexual topics and mentions of incest. Maybe more than mentions. Nothing graphic in this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own Enigma: An Illusion Named Family. I currently don't even have it on Steam, but it IS on my wish list, so I might be getting it in the near future.

GONE WITH THE SIN

"Sun-Hi?"

I turned and saw a light-haired girl timidly enter my room. "What is it, Yuna?" She should know that this was my working time. It was stressful enough without people interrupting me.

Yuna looked down nervously. "It's Samoon – oppa… He…"

I signed. "Can we talk about this later? I'm busy, right now."

She wanted to protest, but ended up nodding silently and closed the door behind her.

I knew what the problem was. It wasn't the first time she had told me about Samoon. I had spoken to him the first time, but he managed to talk his way out of it. IT didn't help that he could tell how half-hearted I was, then. He had been quite condescending. Being the second youngest – only older than Yuna – I didn't hold much power. No one listened to me, so I learned to keep to myself. It had served me well, thus far.

It was late into the night before I finally turned off the laptop. My eyes were blurry and my head was full of fuzz, but I felt guilty. Yuna hadn't come back. There was just a nagging feeling that I should check up on her.

Contemplating for a short moment, I decided to take the extra time to visit. Her room was irritably far. While my room was situated on the third floor where it's quiet, Yuna's room was on the first floor. I trudged tiredly down the stairs and when I finally arrived, I was glad to see her sleeping peacefully.

Great… Now, I'm getting too into it.

I turned around and suppressed a gasp. Dark, stormy eyes stared back at me. "S-Samoon…" I couldn't keep the fear out of my voice. Despite him being my brother, he frightened me. He had changed since his pharmaceutical company shut down.

"Why are you here?" he asked me, accusingly, as if I had been the one to do something wrong.

"Nothing," I replied even though I wanted to ask him what he was doing here, instead, but the darkness of the night only emphasised how his form towered over mine.

I sidestepped and tried to get around him and back into my room, but he moved in front of me. "Oppa… It's late. I should go back to bed. I have to go to the office tomorrow."

He looked at me with half hooded eyes. His slouched form made his face much closer to mine than I was comfortable with. "Good night."

I hurried back to my room, making sure that the door was locked. There was nothing that I could do for Yuna.

…

When I got back home from work, I found Yuna sitting quietly in my room. She looked up with tears in her eyes. "Sun -Hi…"

I dropped my bag and walked up to her. "Did Samoon…?" I was imagining the worst case scenario. Had he finally crossed over the line?

She shook her head. "H – He just… He just kissed me and t-touched…" Her voice cracked before a shuddering sob overcame her.

"Have you spoken to Minho-oppa about this?" With mother completely in her own delusions of grandeur, our eldest brother took care of the family. He was also the only one who seemed to have any authority over Samoon.

Yuna looked down and shook her head again.

"You know that I've spoken to Samoon-oppa several times already. Perhaps it is time that you've brought it up to Minho-oppa." Her reluctance was understandable. It would be difficult for anyone to admit that a family member was molesting her. Because of how close our ages were, I must have been more relatable or approachable for her. "I can speak to Minho-oppa for you. He is more reasonable and – "

"No!" she exclaimed. "Please, don't tell him."

I frowned. "He'd understand and will be able to help you."

"No…" she repeated.

I didn't understand why she was so adamantly opposed to it as she was. Was there a reason she didn't want him to know? "There isn't much more I can do for you, Yuna."

Disheartened, she sighed. "May I stay here tonight? I'm afraid to…" She trailed off unable to give what happened to her a name.

I really didn't want her in my room all night. This was my safe haven – everything I held private and dear were here. It even disturbed me that she was in here without my permission in the first place, but it wasn't as if I could just turn her away after what just happened to her. "As long as you're quiet. I want to get all my work done." And then relax tomorrow on my day off.

"Thank you, Sun-Hi!" Her smile made me smile. One night wouldn't hurt.

As promised, she was quietly amusing herself with a novel after dinner. I managed to efficiently get everything done. I stretched, hearing my bones creak. I felt far too old. My bed times have been much earlier, too. Maybe it was finally time for a bit of a vacation.

Turning towards my bed, I saw Yuna asleep with the novel, still open, on her stomach. Her arms were splayed out beside her … taking up the entire bed. What should I do, now? I didn't want to wake her, but I also didn't want to sleep on my desk chair. I've been on it for far too long already - there was a permanent indent of my backside on the leather fabric.

Eventually, I decided to see if anyone was awake to help me move another mattress into the room.

The halls were dark and there was rain pitter-pattering against the window. All that was missing was the lightning and thunder. Wonderful.

Fumbling for a light switch in the basement, I heard something creak. It definitely wasn't my bones. Quiet footsteps travelled closer and closer to where I was standing. It was completely irrational to feel fear for it had to be a family member. Nothing was going to happen, right?

Despite the logical thoughts racing through me, I ended up crouching behind one of the large pieces of work that mother had purchased. What if it was an intruder? That was definitely a possibility. We were a somewhat well known family. People – thieves – were bound to be tempted to steal from us. It had to be someone smart – something crafty – to get past our elaborate security system.

Bang!

I jumped, hitting my head on the wall.

The person stopped moving and I held my breath. The light switch was right above me. Should I try to stun him with it? Or would that only put me in a more precarious position?

"Who's there?"

I blinked. "M-Minwoo-oppa?"

The person walked in front of where I was hiding and flipped the light switch on.

"Sun-Hi, what are you doing?" A dark eyebrow was raised at me. I probably looked as foolish as I felt.

Trying to will away the furious blush on my face, I carefully slippe dout of my hiding spot. "Oppa, I was just trying to find some spare mattresses."

"Behind mother's painting?"

I huffed. "Just help me look for them!"

He chuckled. "I believe that Mr. Steward has them stored on the second floor." With an annoying smirk on his face, he lead me back up the stairs. "Why exactly do you want another mattress? Did you somehow manage to break yours?"

"No," I replied, hoping that he really didn't think I was clumsy enough to do something like that. "Yuna has… occupied my bed and I need somewhere to sleep."

"And why is she sleeping there? Is there something you want to tell me, dongsaeng?"

At the teasing glint in his eyes, I gave him a sharp whack to the arm. "IT's nothing like that before her and I!" I contemplated whether I should tell him. She never said anything about telling Minwoo. Maybe he could help. "There's something else, though..."

"A boy I should be worried about?"

"Something like that…" How should I explain it? What if he didn't believe me? There was already a big rift between all of us. I had managed to slip under the radar, but it didn't mean that I was close to anyone in particular. He had no reason to believe what I wanted to tell him. "Yuna…" I had to try. It was for her own good.

"What is it?"

I opened my mouth, hoping that the words would just flow out, but they didn't. I couldn't do it. "It's nothing."

He looked down at me. "You know, we don't talk much, but you can still tell me anything, especially things that bother you. I'm still your older brother." The softness of his eyes told me that he wasn't lying.

It was as if something about him has changed. I had always called him my older brother, but it hadn't felt that way for a very long time. Not since father…

"Okay, oppa," I replied with a smile.

He chuckled. "You should smile more. With that frown always on your face, you're going to look like a wrinkly, old hag soon."

"Oppa!" I exclaimed in outrage. It wasn't as if I enjoyed my lifestyle. It was stressful and I wanted nothing more than to just relax and do whatever twenty-four year olds did, but it was difficult for me to get out of it. With the fall out, I felt as if I had to grow up faster, making my life my own. It seemed that everything had been useless. It was still stuck in this house, still part of this broken family.

Moments like these, however, made it almost worth staying for.

Minwoo retrieved and carried the mattress back for me. He spotted Yuna, but decided not to further comment on it. I was grateful. I really didn't know how to deal with what was happening to her.

I sighed after I thanked him. I felt so conflicted about everything.

…

Yuna opened her eyes once she knew that Sun-Hi was asleep. She had heard Minwoo come in and her heart skipped a beat. Why was he here? Did Sun-Hi tell him about what happened? It wasn't her secret to tell! She had told her only because she never seemed to talk to anyone. Had she been wrong? Yuna didn't want anyone else to know, especially not Minwoo.

Her hands clenched angrily. She'd never forgive Sun-Hi for this. Never.

…

I woke up the next morning to find that Yuna had already gone. How odd…

Out of sheer paranoia, I gave the room a quick scan. Everything seemed in place. Everything, except… Where was the gold candleholder that Minwoo had given to me for my birthday? Did she take it? Whatever for?

I'd have to ask later when I see her.

Rubbing my eyes tiredly, I forced myself to get out of my makeshift bed and headed to the bathroom. When I got out, I was feeling much better. The stiffness of my muscles had lessened, but I was ready for some more rest and relaxation.

As I made my way to the kitchen, strong wafts of nicotine assaulted my nose. I grimaced. What a foul thing to experience so early in the morning. I tracked the scent to the multi-stalled bathroom situated on the second floor. Opening the door, I immediately felt a sense of regret. It was overwhelming. The entire vicinity reeked and grey vapours stung my eyes. The ventilation was nowhere near strong enough to counteract the amount of smoking that she did. "Cheun-eonni! Can you please smoke outside? You know how bad this is. You might not care about your own health, but at least think about everyone else!"

"Stupid, brat," she sneered. "You think you can tell me what to do? I can smoke here if I want. This house will belong to me before it'll belong to you."

I crossed my arms. "This isn't about the property or the inheritance, but perhaps you've ignored one factor your calculation. The cigarettes will kill you before you can see an ounce of it." With that, I left her to fume in the smog.

Cheun was someone who I could never get along with, even before the incident. She was demeaning, arrogant, and an overall bully. I wouldn't be able to count all the times that she had done me wrong.

"Is Cheun smoking up a storm in there, again?" Minwoo was standing across the hall with an amused look on his face. "I can smell the smoke even from here."

"Oppa, what are you doing here? Don't you have work, today?"

He shrugged. "Decided to take the day off." Seemed like everyone needed a day to relax. "Maybe we can all go out somewhere like a family someday. We haven't had one of those for a long time." He had a wistful look on his face.

"That would be nice," I agreed, but both of us knew that it was unlikely. Some things just cannot be fixed.

"I'm going to go for a swim. Want to join me?"

I nodded. It had been a while since I've visited the pool. A dip should soothe my aching bones and muscles. I also really needed to get toned up. All the sitting really haven't done me many favours.

Minwoo was quick to start his laps up and down the pool, while I sat lazily against a massager that seemed to be doing wonders on my lower back muscles.

"Hyeong!" I heard Minhyuk call out.

I opened my eyes to see both he and Yuna were at the door. Yuna seemed to have her eyes fixated on Minwoo. Interesting…

"Have you seen Minho-hyeong?"

Minwoo shrugged. "He's probably in his study. What do you need him for?"

"He left his notebook in the kitchen," Minhyuk explained. "I just wanted to give it back to him."

A mischievous glint appeared in Minwoo's eyes. "Have you taken a peek, yet?"

"What?" Minhyuk's eyes widened as if he was shocked at such a scandalous idea. "Of course not!"

"Hold on. I probably know where he is." Minwoo climbed out of the pool and bragged a white towel to dry himself. "Are you coming with us?" he asked me, draping the towel on his shoulder.

I really wanted no part in the trouble that they were going to get into. "Go ahead without me." Maybe I should migrate to the hot tub. That would probably help a little more.

Once the three of them walked off, I made my way to the small, circular pool. The water was scorching. I allowed my body to acclimate to the temperature before fully relaxing against the side. I fell into a light dose before Minwoo returned. The water to the hot tub sloshed around. "How did it go?" I asked him with my eyes still closed. "Did you find Minho-oppa?" I opened my eyes to hear his story and froze. Minwoo wasn't the one who joined me. "Samoon-oppa! What are you doing here?" He was not known to ever be in the swimming pool.

I felt nervous when I noticed how close he was – far too close for my liking. The hot tub was only a metre and a half in diameter.

"Even I need to unwind, yeodongsaeng," he drawled.

I didn't like the almost crazed look in his eyes. "Alright, I'll just go and start my next – " I felt a hand tug at my bikini top as I tried to leave. "Oppa!" I hugged the cloth against my chest, hoping that it wasn't going to slip down or tear. "There's a lot I have to do still and I – "

"Don't lie," he interrupted. "You're completely caught up."

I cursed at his adept skills to read people. It was nearly impossible to lie to him. "I'm still done here," which was the truth. I didn't want to stay here anymore now that he had arrived.

"You don't want to keep me company?" His thumb caressed the side of my body.

"Stop!" I protested, trying to wiggle away from him. Where were the others? Was Minwoo even planning to come back?! "Samoon-oppa!"

With a particularly strong tug, he managed to tip me backwards, right into his lap. "You took something from me, Sun-Hi," he mumbled into my ears. His arms were wrapped tightly around my waist. I was trapped.

"What did I take?" It was difficult to keep the tremour from my voice. He was pressed too closely against me.

He rested his chin on my shoulder and looked off into the distance as if pondering something. "My muse."

"She's not yours!" I hissed before letting out a surprised gasp when he ground his pelvis against me. "O-oppa…" The bulge was definitely noticeable. "Stop!"

He kept one arm around me, while the other made a motion downward. "Let's make a deal." The hand teased the string that held my bottom together. "Find me a replacement and I will let her go."

"Anyone…?" I breathed in disbelief. There had to be catch.

"Anyone I agree to," he amended. "Within three days."

I started. "Three days?!" Who could I possibly find in three days?

A lopsided grin appeared on his lips. "One time offer. I'll give you the rest of the day off, but your time starts at midnight."

That was not much time, at all.

His arms let go of me and I immediately scurried away. I shook off the dirty feeling creeping through me. I'd have to quickly gather a list of available candidates and any potential women who were open to… new experiences.

Yuna hadn't visited that night. I was glad. There was far too much for me to do. IN three days, I could have her free from Samoon's grasp.

With that fuelling me, I worked through the night and went to the clinic with only one thing in mind. I needed to find a willing woman. This meant exploiting my position and possibly betraying my patients' trust.

I went through my appointments as usual, but making sure to put in little suggests – questions that allowed me to see into a part of their minds that was completely irrelevant to their problem. There was a couple who caught my attention. One particular woman was actually a closet nymphomaniac. She had come in because of her anxiety problems, but my questions seemed to have opened up a completely new can of worms.

"Perhaps your anxiety has stemmed from the fact that you haven't been able to explore you… innermost desires."

The young woman blushed madly. She was two years older than me; two years younger than Samoon. Her shy demeanor could easily be cracked, revealing how excited she seemed to be at the prospect of someone who could finally give her what she wanted.

I happily promised to set her up tomorrow.

Samoon was amused that I was actually trying to find someone to complete the deal and agreed to look at the two women I had lined up for him.

He had gone on the "blind dates" as promised while I interviewed more of my patients. There was no one in particular who fit the profile I had created, but with time growing so short, I showed the women a picture of Samoon. They seemed to show quite a bit of interest and agreed to potential blind dates.

I returned home, hoping that Samoon had found one of the two women to his liking. Unfortunately, there was no such luck. IN fact, he had looked extremely bored while talking about his day.

This didn't look good for me. I had really thought Haneul would be perfect. Was I looking at this from the wrong angle? What else was I to do differently? Maybe someone similar to Yuna? I knew that one of the women I had spoken to vaguely fit that description, but it seemed to be a long shot. Regardless, I shot her a quick call to set up the date for tomorrow - my last day.

It was going to be a long, long day for both Samoon and I. I didn't plan for him to have a single second to himself. He was going to find someone tomorrow. He had to.

I worked distractedly the next day. With so much on the line, how could I possibly concentrate on anything except the current predicament? I managed to set up two more women for him, but my hope had diminished.

Half an hour after all my appointments were over and done with, I remained in the office. He hadn't called even though his dates were over by now. Granted, I never requested that he did, but I was just dreading my suspicion.

Grudgingly, I confronted him at home. His face was expressionless as it usually was. I dubbed it his "resting position." He was typically creepily calm.

He waited for me to speak first, so I complied, my anxiety getting the best of me. "Well? How did they go?" I was standing nervously in his room, the only place he'd agree to discuss this. My back was to the door. I wanted a quick escape in case anything went wrong.

"It went well," he replied, making my heart leap with hope. "You have excellent taste in women. Had a nice variety to choose from." He began to walk towards me. "The first one was quite eager. Played shy before practically throwing herself at me."

I looked at the clock, which glowed dimly in the dark room. Ten minutes before midnight. If he didn't give me a definite reply, there was no way I'd be able to find anyone else.

"The second one didn't seem particularly interested. She commented on my… poor posture and left rather eagerly." He had moved on, did that mean Haneul hadn't been to his taste? He just said that I had excellent taste for women! That had to mean something, right?

"What about the rest?" I asked when it felt as if the second date didn't go as well as I'd hope, either.

"Hm?" He looked at me with hooded eyes, a hand on his chin as if he was trying to recall what I meant. "What about the rest?"

"How did they go?" I growled in frustration. Two minutes had already passed. I didn't have time to play games!

"I didn't go."

I froze. "What?" My blood ran cold. "What do you mean you didn't go?" We had a deal! This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening!

"I cancelled them." The corner of his lips quirked upward. "The ladies were all very nice. I told them that I already had my eyes set on someone, so you shouldn't worry about your patients not coming back."

He even knew that they were from my clinic. Cold realisation hit me. I had been so foolish. He never intended to play fair. I fell for it like an idiot. Why hadn't I seen it sooner? He could read me so easily, yet m – the psychologist – couldn't even begin to figure him out. "Why? Is there no way to win your game?"

"Of course there is." He sat down on a nearby chair and crossed his arms. "You still have six minutes."

Six minutes? Was he mocking me? Who could I possibly dig up in six minutes? It wasn't as if our house was even in an easily accessible place. It was a twenty minute drive to even get anywhere.

Think! Think! I had to get Yuna out of it, but how?

I glanced back over to Samoon who was calmly staring at me. My eyes widened. NO, he couldn't possibly mean… "Oppa…" Even though we never looked like it, we were still blood related siblings. "Would…" Could I do this? Would I sacrifice myself for an adopted sibling? "Would you accept me as a replacement for Yuna?" Of course, I would. Even if we weren't blood related, Yuna was my younger sister.

His face twisted into a countenance of triumph. He knew he had won, but it was inevitable. I had made a deal with the devil. Why did I ever expect anything else? It was a lose-lose situation for me.

He waited until the last second to reply. "Of course, Sun-Hi. You may take her place. I never intended to keep her for long, anyway."

My face fell. Was this a trap… for me?

He shifted his legs and patted his lap. "Come here."

I shook my head. What did he plan to do with me?

"No?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "Perhaps I should call for Yuna?"

I shook my head, again, and hesitantly made my way over to him. He was enjoying this far too much. In front of him, I paused. My heart was racing. I didn't want to do this. Without another thought, I twirled on my heel to flee, but his hand grabbed my wrist. I stumbled an my legs hit something, causing me to tumble over face first.

A heavy form followed, crushing me again the mattress.

"O-oppa…" I couldn't breathe.

His weight was lifted off me. When I rolled on to my back, I saw that he was still hovering above on his hands and knees. He looked like the Cheshire Cat, with his wide grin and glinting eyes. I seemed to be Alice, completely lost in a world that seemed so foreign to her. Nothing made any sense.

"Stop!" I protested when he buried his face into the crook of my neck. His hair tickled my ear and nose. "Oppa! We can't do this!"

His hand trailed down the front of my body. He tugged at the button-down blouse before ripping it open. The soft clatter of buttons echoed in my head. Was he going to…? He never went that far with Yuna!

Slender fingers caressed the underside of my breats, causing me to tremble with fear. He continued to touch me until abruptly, he stopped. His chest rumbled against my body.

Was he… laughing at me? "Samoon-oppa…?"

He lifted his head and looked at me – an amused grin plastered on his face. "I won't take your innocence today, dongsaeng. No need to be so afraid." He rolled away and say lazily on his bed. "You may leave."

He didn't need to tell me twice as I scrambled away.

"I'm in no hurry because you're already mine."

…

I had very little sleep during the last few nights. Even though Samoon hadn't done anything else, the anticipation was killing me because I knew it wouldn't be long before he came for a night visit.

"Minho-oppa, are you alright?" I asked when I noticed him massaging his temples.

We were sitting in the lounge. He had a laptop in his lap and a notebook beside him. I sometimes wondered if he ever stopped working even when he slept.

"I'm fine," he replied, but the stress could be heard oozing from his voice.

I bit my lips. "Is it the family finances?"

He looked up at me in shock. "What do you mean?"

"It's no secret that mother has been extravagantly spending money – the auctions, the feasts. It's as if she's been living in her own world since father passed away." We rarely talked about him. It had been a sore subject. When I looked at Minhyuk, I couldn't help the burning hate that coursed through me sometimes. Father had died saving him, but… It was also the reason I would keep him safe. Father had exchanged his own life for his, I wasn't going to let that be in vain. "We have to do something about it before mother runs this family to the ground."

Minho sighed. "And who would like to stop her?"

I grimaced at the thought. One of the worst kept secret between us was mother's violent nature. We often turned a blind eye, especially since Minhyuk had to face the brunt of it and he never complained. All these conflicting thoughts made my head spin. "I'll be going to bed. Don't overwork yourself too much, oppa. Good night."

"Good night."

Despite wanting nothing more than to go to bed, I couldn't fall asleep. I laid under the covers, turning left and right.

Sometimes, it felt as if I was making headway with our relationships as a family, but I would always end up back at the beginning. Yuna had all together stopped talking to me. I couldn't even ask her about my candleholder. What could I do? I actually quite enjoyed her company and now, I felt… lonely?

I was snapped out of my reverie when I felt my bed dip down and arms encircle my waist. Had I been in such deep thought to not even notice someone coming in?!

Silence filled the room as I waited to see what he was going to do. It wasn't as if there was much more that I could do. His grip was uncomfortable tight. "Did you plan to sleep, tonight?" I could feel his lips quirk up against the side of my neck.

"Don't do this, oppa. Please," I begged him when I felt his hand tease the top of my pyjama pants.

"You promise to replace Yuna," he murmured. His warm breath fluttered against my chest. "This means that you belong to me. I can do whatever I want with what's mine." In that instance, he had managed to tear apart the soft cotton fabric.

"No!" I cried out before he covered my mouth with his hand. I thrashed around trying to get away. Eventually, he managed to manoeuvre his entire body on top of me. My face was pressed into the pillow, muffling my cries.

His fingers raked across the front of my panties, causing a gasp to escape my lips. "No…" I squeezed my eyes shut. His thumb found the sensitive bud hidden in my folds. I bit my lips, suppressing the noise that was threatening to burst from my mouth. "O – oppa…"

He stopped.

I was breathing heavily, wondering why he stopped. There was lingering feeling of.. I couldn't place any logical name to it.

His boy suddenly fell heavily on top of my own. I turned my head to see that his eyes were closed. Did he… fall asleep?

I held very still for a moment before trying to wiggle away. His claw like fingers dug into my hips. "Don't move."

I froze.

And I waited.

"I haven't always been like this…" he whispered. He rolled us over so that we were back in our initial position with him spooning me from behind. "I wasn't always a… monster."

I felt my heart clench at his confession. No matter what he did, I could never think of him as a monster. The change in him was drastic after the accident in his Research Centre. One of the test subjects had died and the company hadn't been able to recover. It shut down, leaving Samoon with the guilt and nothing to occupy the void that was left behind.

"It wasn't my fault."

I had heard this many times. An employee was careless. There had been a contamination in one of the batches. "I know," I told him gently, squeezing the hand that was spread across my stomach. I just didn't understand why he had been reduced to… doing this with his younger sisters. "But why…?"

He chuckled. "Hyeong is infatuated with Yuna. I needed something to have on him. When I threatened to tell everyone, he didn't seem to care. The inheritance was already in his grasp. He didn't need any of us to go in, so I decided to take her from him."

"Minho-oppa… did he…?"

"No," he bitterly replied. "He may have feelings for Yuna, but the inheritance seems to be more important to him. He wouldn't even budge at all, so I decided to have Yuna help me." His tone changed. It became darker – more malicious.

"How did you get her to help you?" I was almost afraid to hear the reply.

"It seems that our dear adopted sister has been taking money from the family. I found the documents of her wires. If hyeong found out, she'd be thrown out with nothing… or at least that's what she believes."

I always knew that this family has been keeping numerous secrets, but I didn't realise just how much has been happening without my knowledge. "Then why did you agree to let her go?"

"As I told you, I grew bored," he drawled. "I only ever needed to keep the documents with me."

"But why me?" We were blood related. There was no way getting out of trouble if anyone found out.

"Who knows?"

…

The alarm clock pulled me away from my peaceful cocoon. I reached over to turn it off, but the immediate feeling of flesh that wasn't my own alarmed me.

My eyes snapped open and a pale, quite manly, chest greeted me,. The events of last night came flooding back in. I took note that my panties were still on. That was good, but when did his shirt come off?

I looked up and saw that he was watching me with hooded eyes. The alarm clock continued to ring until he deftly turned it off, his eyes never leaving my own.

"Good morning," I whispered.

There was something extremely wrong with this scene, so why didn't it feel like it? I didn't want to get out of bed and leave the warmth and body contact. I should be running away, screaming in terror, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was strangely… at peace, so I laid my cheeks back down, perplexed.

…

"Sun-Hi."

I froze when I heard mother's voice. "Eomeonim," I greeted back, worried about why she had singled me out. "Is there something you need, eomeonim?"

She quickly watched me for a moment before becoming distracted by the cup of tea in her hands.

I waited for her reply – tense and worried.

"Where's the little murderer?"

It took me a moment to realise that she was referring to Minhyuk. I just got back from work. Why did she expect me to know where he was? "I can go find him if you wish."

She waved her hand dismissively at me. "Go, quickly. I have an auction to go to."

I gritted my teeth. "Perhaps you'd like to spend more time with us? It seems like we've been seeing less and less of you."

"You're all grown up. There's no need to cling on to me like a toddler. God knows I've suffered enough back then."

It hurt hearing how she spoke about us. "So are you planning to make us suffer, now? Where do you think all the money is coming from? Certainly not you."

"How dare you?! We provided for all your miserable lives," she screeched.

"You haven't worked a single day in your life!" I shouted back at her. "You're not the only one who's lost someone. We lost a father who loved us, even enough to give his life for his son. You're going a disservice to his memories by treating Minhyuk like shit! Everything that he had left for us is now gone into the trash that's sitting in the basement!"

Slap!

There wasn't so much pain, but the entirety of my right cheek going numb. Tears involuntarily welled up in my eyes. "Why don't you live for us – the ones who are still alive?" With that I ran around the corner, only to bump into the worried form of Minho.

He placed an arm around my shoulder before leading me to his front study.

I sat quietly sobbing, while he set a cup of hot water in front of me.

"Better?" he asked once my tears slowed.

I nodded. "Sorry," I croaked, my voice hoarse from crying. I couldn't believe that I had just blown up at mother. "I didn't plan to yell at her…"

"I know." There was nothing but understanding in his eyes.

Just then, Minwoo had burst into the room with Samoon trailing behind him. "What happened? We heard shouting."

"Nothing that you have to concern yourself with," Minho replied for me.

Minwoo's eyes trailed down to my face and his mouth dropped open. "What happened to your face?!"

I gently touched the tender patch of skin. The area was swollen, pulsing with pain. "Nothing," I repeated Minho's reply. Exhaustion made it difficult to think. What had just happened kept repeating in my head.

Minho and Minwoo continued to talk. I knew Minho made sure to keep anything about the inheritance out of the discussion, but anything else that was said came as a blur of sound that I couldn't understand.

…

"I'll take her back to her room," Samoon offered. He didn't care about the conversation. Mother had always been abusive. What happened today was only a preview of what all of them would soon experience.

His two brothers looked worriedly at him before nodding. He slid his arms underneath her knees and back and lifted her up. She barely seemed to notice that she was being transported elsewhere, let alone that he had no intentions of taking her to her room.

By the time he arrived, her eyes were closed. She had dozed off. When he placed her on the bed, however, she stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked tiredly at him.

"Oppa…"

He ran a hand through her hair. It was always such pleasure hearing her say that. "Dongsaeng," he purred, slowly laying down beside her.

"Where…" She squinted her eyes, trying to get them used to the darkness. "Am I in your room? Why…?"

He smirked. "Wouldn't you say that it'd be safer if you stayed with me?"

The way fear flickered on her face was almost tangible, it was delicious.

He leaned over to give her a peck on the corner of her lips. "Don't worry. She won't get you here."

To his surprise, she rolled over to face him and buried her face into his shirt. Sobs filled the room. He didn't know what to do. This was usually the time that he left or gave a snide remark, but he couldn't – not to Sun-Hi.

He wrapped his arm around her wait to pull her closer. The problem was apparent – he had fallen too deep into this. It was only supposed to be fun, perhaps even just an experiment with how far she'd go for someone who didn't care about her. As their interactions increased, however, his cravings reared its ugly head. He wanted her.

As usual, he began to take what he wanted. He'd steal kisses and touched everything that belonged to him. What he truly wanted was to take her. He wanted to ravage her until she screamed his name, whether in fear, pleasure, or anger, he didn't care. Or so he thought.

He had everything planned that night, but then that delicious fear went sour. He couldn't bring himself to do it. Rape was something that never truly occurred to him until she became his. At the same time, he knew that he could never pull through with it.

"Go to sleep," he urged her when she began to squirm in his arms. Did she know how hard it was to restrain himself when she was rubbing her body against him?

"You're… not going to do anything?" she sounded skeptical. Her once tired eyes were wide and round, looking at him.

"I will if you don't go to sleep right now."

Immediately, she clamped her lips closed. Her body was as stiff as a board.

He chuckled before burying his face into her hair and felt himself succumb to a pleasant slumber.

…

He fell silent and then, completely still. I didn't know what to do. He confused me. He would be so forceful one moment, and then rather sweet and tender like now.

Slowly, I relaxed enough to comfortable settle in his arms. Why did he have to be so comfy?

Creak.

My eyes snapped open. I could feel Samoon stiffen against me. My heart raced as I realised that someone else was in the room. What were they going to think when they see the two of us together like this?!

As I waited, I realised that the creaks weren't necessarily approaching us, nor was there a shout of disgust. Who exactly was in here with us?

Creak!

This time, I couldn't stop myself from giving a small jump. The movement stopped.

I held my breath.

Soft shuffling footsteps drew nearer.

Suddenly, Samoon's arm had reached out over me. I turned to see who it was and gasped in horror as the point of a knife greeted me, only inches away. Samoon had managed to grip on to the attacker's wrist. I followed the black-clad arm up and was horrified to see an unfamiliar face staring down at me. Most of his face was shrouded in shadows, but I knew that he was definitely male and he was not someone I knew.

"Who are you?" Samoon demanded as he slipped away from the blankets and manoeuvred himself into a better position.

The intruder let out a string of explicits while trying to pull away. Through first hand experience, I knew how strong Samoon was, despite his hunched posture and slight appearance. His baggy sweaters hid his toned body well.

Once the man realised that he couldn't flee, he went on the offense. His other hand flailed and threw a disoriented punch towards Samoon who easily dodged the first.

In another moment, they were both on the floor. I rushed passed them, looking for the light switch and calling for help. It was difficult to fin dthings in this large, unfamiliar bedroom.

I heard a cry of pain and turned in shock, worried that Samoon was injured. Instead, I was relieved to see that he had come out on top, but the knife was now dripping with blood. I warily approached him, observing the scene in front of me. I never managed to get to the light switch and the darkness made it difficult to see if the intruder was dead or alive. When I turned to look at Samoon, a flash of lightning brightened up the entire room. Blood had gotten on to his light blue sweater, but he seemed unharmed. I was about to embrace him, to tell him that everything was alright now, but another figure had entered the room. It was female.

She screamed and hit Samoon.

She wished him dead.

She had a cane in her hands, hitting him.

He turned and stabbed her in the stomach.

Blood splattered on to his face.

She stumbled backwards, dropping the cane.

Another flash of lightning, follow by a loud rumble of thunder made my blood run cold.

Mother was staring back at us in shock. She gurgled out some blood before tripping out of the room.

At this moment, the intruder tried to gain the upper hand on Samoon, but the action was cut short as the sharp metal buried itself into his chest. He fell back heavily – dead. His face was tilted to the side, eyes still opened in shock.

"O – oppa…?" I was afraid that he'd kill me if I went to him now. He pulled the knife back out. His dark, stormy eyes were wide. He slowly shuffled his feet towards me. I could tell that he was already in shock.

"It's not my fault," he choked out as he half collapsed against me. I could feel the fresh, warm blood soak into my shirt. "She attacked me. No one could blame me… I was only defending myself!"

Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around him. It was true. Mother had attacked him first, but she had also uttered Minhyuk's name. She must've gone into the wrong room. "No, it wasn't your fault," I comforted him. "It's going to be alright. Everything is going to be alright."

I laid a kiss on his head, knowing that nothing was going to be the same again.

…

Someone had stabbed Minho. I knew that our security had already been breached when the first trespasser had had the misfortune to enter Samoon's room. I pondered over the possibility of another one lurking about, but when Samoon called Minwoo out during his supposed rage over mother's death, I knew that something else wasn't quite right.

Samoon and I haven't told anyone about mother, but the way Minwoo looked at us, he seemed to already know. I didn't know how he knew, but he did.

Minhyuk quickly tried to break up the feud. He was right, we didn't have much time left. Minho was dying, so Samoon and I followed Minhyuk to find medical supplies for Minho. It didn't take long and when we treated him, things started to look a little better. He had woken up, lucid.

Soon, we decided to move downward with the medallion that Minho had provided for us. We aimed to open up the security system to leave, but Minwoo and Cheun had different plans. They went their own way. It was suspicious, but knowing that Samoon would probably be able to protect us, I dismissed it for now.

On our mission, we found Mr. Steward, sleeping in his room. He was our head butler. His fatherly demeanor had a calming effect on our group.

"Wait!" Minhyuk suddenly stopped and told us to hide. We crouched behind grand statues and waited with bated breath. I looked over to him and saw his eyes tracking something that I couldn't see.

I nudged Samoon who was standing beside me, completely exposed and seemed unaffected. He already knew. I was supposed to be the psychologist here! How did I not see the signs from my own brother?

"They're gone, now. Come on." He sneaked away, not noticing the looks we were sharing from behind him.

Not long after, we arrived at the basement, but Minho wanted to show Minhyuk and Mr. Steward something. I knew that I must've been the family vault. It kind of hurt that he didn't trust me enough to take me with them, but I had already known the truth. He didn't need to show me that we didn't have anything left there.

I looked beside me and saw Samoon glaring at our older brother, knowing that Minho would've written him off the inheritance if he could.

Yuna was left behind with us. It was awkward. She had a tight grip on the candleholder, something that I really wanted back at this moment.

"Was it funny?" she whispered, facing us. The shadows of the house made it difficult to judge her expression. "Was it funny to see me squirm? Were you laughing every time I told you my troubles?"

I frowned in confusion. "I don't… understand. Why would I laugh at you?"

"I've seen the two of you together! You're even worse than him! You pretended to be my friend! I really thought of you as my eonni!" she screamed, tears falling down her eyes. "I hate you!"

Cautiously, I approached her. There must've been a misunderstanding. "Yuna, I wasn't plotti – "

I froze.

A warm, wet feeling spread from the centre of my body. What? I looked down to see the candleholder. Where was the rest of it…? "Yuna?"

"I hate you! I hate you!" she screamed.

In front of my eyes, the sharp tip of the candleholder rematerialised out of me when she backed away and ran off.

Arms wrapped around me as I began to fall backwards.

"Sun-Hi!" His worried face looked down at me.

"Oppa…"

…

She blinked heavily three times and fell limp. He cursed when he realised all the medical supplies had gone towards Minho. He'd have to make do with something else. He tore at the bottom of his sweater until a ragged strip came off. This would have to do for now until he could scavenge anything else.

He gritted his teeth in frustration. The silly girl had gone off attacking her saviour. He was going to kill her the next change he had.

He carried Sun-Hi to the direction that he had seen his two brothers went. The office door was wide open, but the vault was sealed shut. He set her down and banged angrily at the thick black metal, hoping for some type of response, but he received none.

He searched fruitlessly for medical supplies in the room, but found none. "Damn it!" he cursed loudly.

He picked her back up and continued up. His room was the only place that he knew would have what he needed for sure. As time passed, she grew paler.

"Sir!" he heard a voice call to him.

He turned to find Mr. Steward jogging slowly towards him. The butler's eyes immediately locked on to the injured girl in his arms.

"Set her down," Mr. Steward instructed.

Samoon was hesitant, but when the other man brought out a roll of bandages and painkillers, he set her gently on to the plush carpet.

Was this karma for everything that he had done? Were they going to take his one chance at happiness away?

"There – " Mr Steward was cut off by the sound of a loud shout.

They shared a look. It wasn't something either of them could ignore. Samoon quickly lifted Sun-Hi back into his arms, being extra careful not to disturb her wound. They headed to the direction of the noise and arrived to a horrific scene.

There was blood splattered across the walls and floor. Minhyuk was on his knees, clutching his head, while Yuna and Minho were laying on their sides, facing each other. A puddle of blood had pooled around them.

Samoon sat Sun-Hi against the wall as Mr. Steward walked towards Minhyuk who looked worse for wear. A little away from his younger brother was Cheun. She was sprawled on the floor with her limbs splayed out a awkward angles.

As Mr. Steward assessed Minhyuk's wounds, another figure came in.

Minwoo.

"This is unexpected," Minwoo said, observing the sight in front of him. "I thought you would be the first to go." His eyes were trained on Minhyuk, now.

"What?" Minhyuk was in a state of disbelief. What was his brother talking about?

"You," Samoon said, catching Minwoo's attention. "What did you hope to gain from this?" He had a strong feeling that Minwoo may have been behind all this. The music lover often disappeared during this ordeal. Cheun was his primary companion and not that she was dead, it was obvious that he had something to do with it, but why?

"Yes," Minwoo admitted. "The one who planned everything and included Yuna in all this is me."

"You were the one who told us all to share the property!" Minhyuk cried. "Do you want it all for yourself, now?!"

"You still don't realise… I haven't killed anyone; I was only the trigger," Minwoo stated. His face was stoic. "Samoon was the one who killed mother."

Everyone looked at the hunch figure who refused to give them the satisfaction of a reaction. This was the least of his worries. He just needed to be here long enough to protect Sun-Hi.

"Mother had gotten lost in the dark and stumbled into his room. She attacked him as she would to you. I don't blame him for defending himself. He's been on edge these days, anyway," Minwoo elaborated. "Chaun stabbed Minho. She wanted the inheritance and thought that if Minho was out of the way, Samoon would share some of the legacy with her – for she was the one who would have gotten rid of the obstacle, but you got in the way. I found her trembling on the stairs and tried to get her on my side, but she was quick to figure things out and fled. I'd reckon that Yuna had gotten to her just before you arrived."

"Do you plan to push all the blame away?" Samoon narrowed his eyes.

"This family has destroyed themselves," Minwoo hissed. "I guess that being a part of it has made me fractionally responsibly." He retrieved a knife from his sleeve. "Why don't you try to stop me?"

Minhyuk gritted his teeth and charged angrily at his older brother. How could he betray everyone like that?!

Minwoo was swift, he seemed to move with the fluidity of a dancer. Minhyuk, who was already worn out from the previous encounter, was clumsy. He stumbled to dodge, but the knife caught his side and he lost his balance.

As he stared at his older brother in disbelief, Samoon intercepted the strike that was meant for him. Blood dripped to the ground.

Samoon ignored the pain in his hand as he pulled Minwoo towards him by the blade of the knife and threw a punch into his brother's stomach. The force drew a pained grunt from Minwoo. His brother fell heavily to his knees, but even disarmed and in pain, he let out a cry and tried to hit Samoon who was not feeling too merciful. He threw another punch to the jaw.

The rage that he had kept in check had burst out, fuelled by adrenalin. He continued to hit Minwoo until a pair of arms wound around his waist.

"Oppa, stop…"

…

I was breathing heavily as I leaned against his back. I was completely drained of energy and my vision was blurring in and out of focus, but I couldn't let this continue on. Minwoo was right. We had destroyed ourselves and it needed to stop. "Haven't we all lost enough? I don't want to lose any more of you," I sobbed. "Please… let's be a family, again."

Minwoo let out a pained chuckle. "I only ever wanted that," he whispered. "I was willing to recruit Yuna to the plan, but then she began to hurt people. I never meant for any of this to happen." He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry…"

Samoon clenched his jaw and let go of the knife. I sagged against him and he caught me in his arms. "Thank you."

My happiness was cut short when Minwoo found the knife. He turned it in his hand before looking at us. "I'm sorry."

The blade plunged downward before any of us could stop him.

"No!" I screamed. All my recent memories of him came flooding into my mind. He was a good person. They all were. Why did we have to do this to each other?

Suddenly, my legs gave out and my world faded to black.

…

When I woke up, I was in the hospital. Samoon sat hunched in a chair beside me. He had a book in his hand and seemed deep in thought.

It took me a moment to realise why I was in here. I clenched my eyes shut, trying to will away the vivid images. A part of me wished that I had never woke up, but when I opened my eyes to see dark, stormy orbs staring back at me, I knew that I could never leave him like that.

"Oppa…"

He leaned over and rested his forehead on mine before capturing my lips.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Happy New Year!

I actually wrote this several months ago when I first watched ManlyBadassHero play it. I just never had the motivation to type it up and after I did do that, I contemplated whether I should split it into two or three chapters, but I've decided against that. So here is all 23 pages of it!

I also really don't know much about the Korean language or mannerism. I tried to get it from the way the character spoke in the game. Please correct me if anything seems out of place.

This week, I've acquired the first episode of Life is Strange. I haven't played it yet, but I have watched the gameplay. Would anyone be interested in a fanfiction for it?

Either way, happy holidays, everyone!

Stay safe.