My Younger Brother Is Salivating After Me - Chapter 2

The Lady Dowager’s face crumpled as if smeared across the ground.

“So please, let’s put an end to these meaningless efforts—and Grandmother, it’s time you returned to Sanhyang.”

“You’re banishing me again?” she snapped.

“Banishing?” Jaeyeon said smoothly. “You belong there. That is your home.”

About a year after he had become head of the family, Jaeyeon had sent the Lady Dowager to live quietly in the southern region of Sanhyang.

It would have been best for her to enjoy a peaceful retirement. But the Lady Dowager, always greedy and obsessed with appearances, couldn’t let go of her old habits of manipulating the former lord—her son—and now wished to wield the same control over her grandson.

What she failed to realize was that Jaeyeon was not the same weak-willed child as his father. If she had, she would never have made the foolish mistake of trying to send a woman into his sleeping chambers while he was unconscious.

“I’ll take my leave now,” Jaeyeon said.

He rose from his seat and gestured with a nod for Yang to lead the way. Following him, Jaeyeon exited the courtyard, crossed the long corridor, and arrived at a study surrounded by young bamboo.

As Yang opened the door, sunlight spilled onto Jaeyeon’s lean back. Inside, Steward Go, who had turned at the sound, immediately prostrated himself on the floor.

“Greetings, my lord.”

“Rise.”

Jaeyeon reached out and helped him up, frowning as he did. Steward Go’s hair, once neatly tied, was now disheveled, and he was skin-and-bones thin, as if he’d been imprisoned for months.

Jaeyeon turned to Yang with a silent question.

“He was locked in the west warehouse. It happened shortly after the Lady Dowager arrived,” Yang reported.

“For what reason?” Jaeyeon asked.

“Because he refused to hand over the warehouse keys.”

“So the Lady Dowager started looting the storerooms the moment she arrived,” Jaeyeon said with a bitter laugh.

Steward Go bowed deeply, apologizing for failing to protect the storerooms.

“But more importantly, there seem to be a lot of new faces among the servants,” Jaeyeon said.

“They were brought by the Lady Dowager. I heard she replaced those she dismissed,” Go explained.

“How many?”

“By my count, between thirty and forty.”

“Thirty to forty… You can identify them, can’t you?”

Steward Go, who had served in the house since Jaeyeon was a boy, knew every face among the servants—and even the inventory of every storeroom. He nodded with certainty.

“Of course, my lord.”

“Good. First, recover your strength, then sort through the ones she brought in. Also—has Grandmother done anything to harm Yeohee? I noticed she returned from Cheongnim Temple today without even a carriage.”

“The Lady Dowager ordered that Lady Yeohee be treated like any common servant, forbidding her use of the carriage. And though I was locked up, I heard from others that the Lady Dowager summoned her several times.”

“You don’t know what was said?”

“I only know that Lady Yeohee was ordered to refurbish Saerimwon. Recently, she’s been seen going back and forth from Yeondang to Saerimwon. Beyond that, I know little. The Lady Dowager dismissed all of Lady Yeohee’s attendants and replaced them with her own people. I’ll look into it further through the children.”

“Do so,” Jaeyeon said, waving his hand.

Yang gestured for a servant to help Steward Go out. Jaeyeon sat in the chair, drumming his fingers on the armrest. Yang quietly approached after closing the door behind him.

“Something troubling you, my lord?”

“Mmm. Earlier, Grandmother said there wasn’t much time left to keep Yeohee by my side.”

“Perhaps she was implying that after your marriage, Lady Yeohee couldn’t stay in the house.”

“That’s what they think,” Jaeyeon said. “But what about the facts?”

“As Steward Go said, there isn’t much more to add. Aside from the order to refurbish Saerimwon and a few private meetings with the Lady Dowager, not much else is known. The new servants seem cautious around me, so learning what was discussed would be quicker if you ask Lady Yeohee directly.”

“I wonder… if she will speak easily.”

Tap, tap, tap —footsteps came running from outside.

At Jaeyeon’s glance, Yang went to open the door. A young servant, startled by the sudden movement, peered inside nervously.

“T-the bathwater is ready.”

Meeting Jaeyeon’s gaze, the boy quickly lowered his head. Normally, it was Yeohee herself who would come to inform him.

“I’ll be there shortly,” Jaeyeon replied, then gave Yang a look, silently ordering him to investigate further.

Yang bowed quietly in acknowledgment.

* * *

A faint sigh escaped Yeohee’s lips as she sat at the table. She tightly clenched the fingertip that Jaeyeon had bitten with her other hand. The mark was already fading—it hadn’t been a hard bite.

It had been about a quarter of an hour since she returned to her quarters after preparing an herbal bath to help Jaeyeon relax. Normally, attending him during his bath was also part of her duties. However, today, one of the Lady Dowager’s attendants had blocked her way, saying that from now on, others would serve Jaeyeon instead of her.

“He doesn’t like being touched by others.”

Yeohee had come to the Jang family estate when she was seven years old. After her grandfather, who had cared for her, passed away, she had been living alone in a rundown country house when an elderly man in a blue long robe visited.

Introducing himself as an old friend of her grandfather, the man, Jang Munhyeon, asked her to be a companion to his grandson. The boy was two years younger than Yeohee and smaller in stature. He felt less like a friend and more like a little brother she needed to protect.

Maybe that’s why she had once stood in the way of that woman to protect Jaeyeon.

It had happened about two weeks after Yeohee had moved into the Jang estate. Unable to sleep, she had gone for a stroll and gotten lost in the enormous mansion.

It was a night with a bright full moon. She wandered, counting the stars as she searched for her room, when she spotted a woman shuffling unsteadily toward Jaeyeon’s quarters.

The house was still and silent, the servants all fast asleep. She could have just ignored it and gone back, but the woman’s unfocused eyes and unstable steps filled Yeohee with an eerie unease.

Following quietly, Yeohee peered through the cracked door into Jaeyeon’s bedroom. The woman stood at the bedside, silently staring down at the sleeping boy.

At first, Yeohee thought she was just checking to see if the young lord was sleeping soundly. Relieved, she turned to leave—when a choking noise suddenly came from inside the room.

Alarmed, Yeohee rushed inside. The woman, her hair wildly disheveled like a ghost, was now straddling Jaeyeon, her hands wrapped tightly around his neck.

Jaeyeon’s small arms flailed helplessly in the air. In a panic, Yeohee grabbed the woman’s wrists, struggling desperately to pull her away.

The woman retaliated by grabbing Yeohee’s hair and yanking violently. Pain lanced through Yeohee’s scalp with every pull, but she couldn’t afford to back down—if she let go, Jaeyeon could die.

“Ah, ahhhh!”

Yeohee sank her teeth deep into the woman’s arm, eliciting a scream that pierced the stillness of the night. Servants, awakened by the noise, rushed into the room.

They pried Yeohee off the woman, and shortly afterward, Jang Munhyeon arrived. After quickly assessing the situation, he ordered the servants to seize the woman.

The woman, who had thrashed wildly, eventually collapsed from exhaustion.

Still trembling, Yeohee rushed to Jaeyeon, who was coughing weakly and huddled into himself. She held him tightly, sobbing until her eyes were swollen shut.

Later, she learned the woman who had tried to strangle Jaeyeon was his own mother.

Jang Munhyeon explained that Jaeyeon’s mother had become mentally unstable from illness and would sometimes wander into her son’s room at night, mistaking him for something else—and try to kill him.

Though Yeohee understood the words, her young mind couldn’t truly comprehend. How could any mother, no matter how ill, try to choke her own child?

Perhaps because of that experience, Jaeyeon developed a strong aversion to being touched by anyone other than Yeohee. Although he had gotten slightly better over time, he still allowed only a few trusted people in the estate to touch him.

“Miss Yeohee, are you inside?”

A voice calling from outside snapped her out of her thoughts. She stepped out of her room to find a young servant bowing politely.

“What is it?” she asked.

“The master has requested your presence,” the child said.

“Me? Where is he?”

“In the bath. He sent everyone else away and asked for you alone.”

The boy’s small feet shuffled nervously, as if he had been scolded to hurry.

Without hesitation, Yeohee followed the boy toward the bathhouse. Standing outside were the Lady Dowager’s attendant—the one who had earlier blocked her—and Jaeyeon’s guard, Yang.

“Guard Yang,” Yeohee greeted.

“Please go in. The master is waiting.”

Yeohee glanced at the attendant. His face was bruised and swollen on one side. Earlier, he had so arrogantly blocked her path; now, he wouldn’t even look her way.

“Miss Yeohee,” Yang urged.

Yeohee entered the bathhouse. A wave of hot, damp air enveloped her, making her dry clothes cling uncomfortably to her skin.

Jaeyeon was resting his arms along the stone edge of the rectangular bath, his body half-submerged.

“Are you angry?” he asked suddenly.

Blinking in confusion, Yeohee hesitated.

Jaeyeon motioned her closer with his hand.

“Isn’t it your job to attend to me during my baths? But you just left after heating the water. How else am I supposed to interpret that if not anger at being blocked at the door?”

“No, it’s not that…” Yeohee said, approaching him and soaking a towel in the water. She sat on the edge and began to wipe his shoulders and arms.

Wherever her hands touched, his muscles shivered faintly.

As Yeohee leaned over to wipe his chest, Jaeyeon suddenly caught her slender wrist and pulled her toward him.

“You’re not getting tired of caring for me, are you?”

His pull made her lose balance.

“Of course not,” Yeohee replied quickly, bracing her hand against his shoulder to avoid falling into the water.

Watching her cling to him, Jaeyeon reached out and wrapped his arm firmly around her waist.

The moment he pulled, her body slid against his.

Splash!

A loud splash echoed as water sprayed everywhere. Though she didn’t fall face-first, she was drenched head to toe, looking like a soaked mouse.

“You’re soaking wet.”

Blinking the stinging water from her eyes, Yeohee felt his hands gently cupping her face, turning her to look directly at him.

“That… that’s because you, my lord…”

“Won’t you call me ‘brother’ anymore?”

Jaeyeon tightened his grip on her waist. Their bodies slid closer together until she could feel his firm body pressing against her wet skirts.

There was no cloth between them below the waist.

The hardened proof of his manhood pressed starkly against her through the thin, soaked fabric.

“It’s not like it used to be anymore, is it?”

“Not like before…”

Jaeyeon’s words trailed off as his gaze swept slowly, almost possessively, over Yeohee’s body. The wet, clinging fabric left nothing of her figure to the imagination.

“You’ve certainly changed a lot since we were young. But I have not changed. I still need your touch.”

His voice was low and earnest.

“When others touch me, I fear… fear that those hands will one day strangle me,” he said quietly.

“That’s why earlier… When the maid tried to undress me, I struck her across the face.”

The image of the Lady Dowager’s maid from earlier flashed through Yeohee’s mind—the one whose cheek had been swollen and red. So that was why. Jaeyeon had hit her.