Hyuk woke up from his rest and sneaked back home at around 3 a . m . in the morning .

"Oppa . . . ?" Yeo Ri mumbled, still half-asleep . She had bags under her eyes which showed just how long she had stayed up to wait for her brother .

" . . . " Hyuk stifled his voice after he realised that it was Yeo Ri . He hadn't expect her to still be awake at this hour . "What are you doing? Go back to sleep," he harshly scolded her with a low voice .

"What about you, Oppa? Why were you so la—" Yeo Ri's eyes widened as her eyes finally adjusted to the dark . She could somewhat make out his battered body .

Hyuk stood with slackened shoulders, one hand supporting his pained torso . Careful so as to not stumble around, he held himself up by leaning against the wall with one arm .

Yeo Ri hurriedly came to his side to help him . But just as she touched his arm, he pushed her away .

"Don't touch me!" He hissed .

Hurt flashed in Yeo Ri's large eyes . She bit her lips, looking as if she was about to cry .

The sight made something in Hyuk twist painfully, but he bore with the pain . 'Stop it . You can't . You have to stop this,' he whispered to himself in his mind .

"S-sorry," Yeo Ri stuttered . She lowered her head guiltily, thinking that she might have touched an injury . "Do you need help, Oppa? I-I can go find the first aid kit—"

"Don't bother . I want to rest . Just go back to sleep . I don't need your help," he coldly said . Every word he spoke felt like a stab to himself, but he had to do this . He couldn't get any closer to her . He had to put a stop to his confusing emotions before he did something unforgivable .

"O . . . okay," Yeo Ri reluctantly agreed . She was worried about him, but Hyuk was firmly refusing her help . She could only nod and accept his choice . She wanted to approach him but Hyuk was closing himself off . The wall between them was so thick and strong; she didn't know how to bypa.s.s it anymore .

As she slowly followed Hyuk back to their room, she wondered what had changed . Although Hyuk was brusque before, he was even colder to her lately . Not only that, he started to come home late and most of the time, he'd be hurt . The wounds were sometimes even worse than when their father had beat him, and it scared her . The thought of Hyuk getting hurt or dying made her heart hurt so much that she wanted to burst into tears . She was so, so worried . Hyuk was slowly descending to his destruction and she had no idea how to stop it .

"Hic—"

Yeo Ri m.u.f.fled her sobs under the cover of her blanket . However, Hyuk could hear her clearly . He was right beside her, after all .

Hyuk squeezed his eyes shut .

'Ignore it,' he silently chanted . 'Don't turn around . Don't look at her . '

He was dying to turn around and wipe away her tears, but he couldn't . He wouldn't . This was too painful, but it had to be done . The feelings he had for her shouldn't have existed and he must suppress it at all cost . These feelings have to be killed, he told himself .

He had made her cry . Those tears were his fault . He didn't have any rights to console her . If it wasn't for his d*mnable incestuous heart, she would not have to suffer so much . These thoughts swirled in his mind, making it even more unbearable for him . At that moment, Hyuk felt that the pain in his heart was even more painful than his physical pain .

After a while, Yeo Ri's sobs died down . She fell asleep with tears still running down her cheeks .

Hyuk finally turned around to face her .

Her cheeks were flushed and stained with tear marks . Her eyes were puffy and red . The aftereffects of crying would probably last for a while, and people would definitely question why she would look so terrible in the morning . He was sure that Gun would fuss over the girl after seeing her gloominess later .

Although she looked so terrible, Hyuk couldn't help but think about how much he wanted to kiss her .

D*mn him and his twisted, l.u.s.tful mind .