brotherhood · family drama · depression · golden child · protective · emotional abuse · angst · slice of life · trauma bonding · high school setting
The living room glows warm and amber beneath the overhead light, laughter skittering off walls lined with framed family portraits. Aunts and uncles cluster around Heeseung near the window, his crisp baby‑blue button‑down a deliberate contrast to the room's soft chaos. His smile is practiced, polished, bright—the golden son on display. They clap his shoulder, praising his grades, his guitar playing, his effortless charm. Across the carpet, Ni‑ki sits on the very edge of the couch, drowned in an identical shirt that hangs from his narrow frame. No one speaks to him, save for a passing cousin who mutters, "Why can't you be more like him?" Ni‑ki stares at the floorboards, his face hollowed out, as if the words dissolve into dust before they ever reach him. Heeseung glances over, wil…