My Younger Brother Is Salivating After Me - Chapter 3

“It seems that while I was away, Grandmother made quite a mess of the Jang household. The estate is crawling with unfamiliar faces. Strangers who have no place here.”

“…….”

“Did Grandmother lay a hand on you, too?”

“No… nothing happened.”

“Then what did she mean when she said there weren’t many days left for you to stay by my side?”

At his pressing question, Yeohee hesitated, lowering her gaze.

“She must have been thinking of your upcoming marriage, my lord. Once you have a wife, it would be improper for me to continue serving you as I have.”

“It was you who promised to stay by my side for life. Are you going to break that promise now?”

“I’m not trying to break it… it’s just that I—”

“Then that’s enough. Your place is by my side, whether I marry or not,” Jaeyeon cut her off firmly, as if he would hear no excuses.

He took her hand and placed it against his chest. The white cloth she had used to wipe him had already drifted away to the other side of the bath. When Yeohee tried to turn and retrieve it, Jaeyeon caught her wrist, stopping her.

“This hand is enough.”

As if it were his own hand, Jaeyeon guided her palm across his body, letting her feel the firm muscles beneath the skin. Leading her movements, he brought her hand down along his abdomen.

Her fingers brushed past the coarse hair and finally touched his fully erect manhood.

“Ah, um…”

Yeohee’s body flinched at the contact, her skin prickling in shock. In her mind flashed the Lady Dowager and the young woman from the Hong family, the one slated to marry Jaeyeon.

Feeling awkward and panicked, Yeohee tried to pull away, but Jaeyeon had her waist and wrist firmly trapped.

“I… I’ve touched myself at night many times,” he said lowly, “but I couldn’t release properly. Tonight, you must help me.”

He placed his own hand over hers, making her grasp his shaft fully.

The thick, living heat of him pulsed and twitched against her palm. As he guided her hand up and down, the veins stood out sharply beneath the taut skin.

Though she had attended Jaeyeon’s baths countless times before, this was the first time she had ever touched his adult body so intimately. Despite the steamy air, Yeohee’s mouth went dry, and she unconsciously wet her lips.

Jaeyeon, still holding her hand around him, leaned his forehead against her slender shoulder. His breath grew increasingly ragged with excitement.

“Ha… You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to touch you,” he murmured.

Before Yeohee could fully comprehend his words, he bit her shoulder, hard enough to make her gasp. Instinctively, she tightened her grip on him.

With a muffled groan, Jaeyeon grabbed her hips, grinding himself against her without any space between them—almost as if he were thrusting inside her, even though they were still separated.

“Ahh, ha…”

His heated, unsteady breath spilled over her neck.

Yeohee had no idea why her lower belly clenched so tightly at the sound of his moans.

Startled by the strange sensation within herself, she tried to pull her hand away. At that moment, Jaeyeon shuddered violently, and thick, white semen spilled out, floating atop the bathwater in heavy clumps.

Frozen in shock, Yeohee could hardly move, and Jaeyeon immediately pulled her into his arms, holding her close.

“Remember,” he whispered urgently in her ear. “Your place is by my side.”

Though the water was hot, a chilling shiver crawled up Yeohee’s spine.

Without answering, she bit her lip hard. A droplet of water, clinging to Jaeyeon’s hair, fell and landed heavily on her shoulder.

***

A storm swept through the Jang family estate after its master returned. Jaeyeon ordered all the flowers the Lady Dowager had brought from Sanhyang and planted to be torn out once they started to wither, and under Steward Go’s leadership, he had all the new servants the Lady Dowager had planted in the estate over the past six months rounded up and expelled.

Though the Lady Dowager was furious at her grandson’s actions, she couldn’t openly express her anger. Instead, she focused all her efforts on arranging Jaeyeon’s marriage with the Hong family’s daughter, Hong Juhwa. She summoned Juhwa to the estate nearly every day, clinging to the hope that if she installed a daughter-in-law from a powerful family, she might find a way to return from Sanhyang permanently.

“Grandmother must think the Jang family’s storerooms are a bottomless pit,” Jaeyeon said dryly as he skimmed through the ledger Steward Go handed him.

During his absence, the Lady Dowager had purchased over five hundred bolts of fine Hwarung silk and more than two hundred expensive accessories, such as jade combs and coral hairpins. If those items had gone to people Jaeyeon cherished, he might have been pleased—but of course, all of it had gone to the Lady Dowager’s own residence.

“Send someone to Grandmother’s quarters. Tell them to recover everything she bought.”

“Yes, my lord. Also… this morning, a set of clothing was delivered to the Lady Dowager’s quarters,” Steward Go added, as if suddenly remembering.

Jaeyeon raised an eyebrow.

“Grandmother ordered new clothes for herself?”

“No, my lord… it was a bride’s wedding robe.”

A dry laugh escaped Jaeyeon’s lips.
“I made it perfectly clear I had no intention of marrying, yet now she’s going so far as to commission a wedding robe?”

Steward Go frowned before speaking again.

“But it’s odd. If it were truly for your wedding, there should be clothing for the groom as well. Yet only a bride’s robe was delivered.”

“Only the bride’s?”

Suspicion flickered in Jaeyeon’s eyes as he looked over at Guard Yang.

“Didn’t Grandmother send matchmakers to two families?”

“Yes. Three months ago, she sent them to the Hong family and to Lord Seo’s household. Judging by the way she’s pushing the marriage with Miss Juhwa, I assume she received no positive response from Lord Seo’s side.”

“Lord Seo… that would be Lord Seo Munbaek’s household?” Steward Go asked, cutting in.

“Yes,” Jaeyeon replied.

“Hmm, that’s strange. Lord Seo’s house currently has no unmarried daughters eligible for marriage.”

“What do you mean?” Jaeyeon frowned. “Didn’t he have a beloved only daughter?”

At Yang’s question, Steward Go shook his head gravely.

“You must not have heard, having been away at war. Lord Seo’s only daughter passed away from illness four months ago.”

“Four months ago?” Jaeyeon repeated. “Then who in that household is left for marriage?”

“All three sons are married, my lord. However, the second son lost his wife about half a year ago. He has no spouse now. But… the rumors surrounding him are quite unpleasant. Even knowing they would become the daughter-in-law of a prestigious household, noble families hesitate to send their daughters there—especially since it would be a second marriage.”

“What kinds of rumors?” Yang asked, a sour look crossing his face.

Steward Go grimaced as well.
“They say the second son treats women harshly. Bruises on his concubines’ faces are common—and some have even died.”

Jaeyeon crossed his arms and lowered his gaze. A cold, dangerous light flickered in his eyes.

The Lady Dowager had sent a matchmaker to a household where only a widowed, violent second son was left. A wedding robe had arrived—but only for the bride.

Surely the Lady Dowager wasn’t arranging a marriage for one of the new servants she had brought into the house. Which left only one possibility—there was just one person who could be intended to wear that wedding robe.

“Steward Go, assign someone to Grandmother’s quarters. Find out exactly where that robe is being sent.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Steward Go bowed and quickly left the study.

Jaeyeon tapped his fingers against the desk thoughtfully.
Back at the bath, Yeohee had claimed that Grandmother hadn’t touched her. She had also deflected the Lady Dowager’s ominous words, saying they were surely about Jaeyeon’s marriage.

But now Jaeyeon wasn’t so sure.

“Could it be…” Yang trailed off uncertainly. “Could it be that the Lady Dowager intends… to marry off Miss Yeohee?”

The fury rising on Jaeyeon’s face made it clear he thought so too.

No—it wasn’t merely about moving her aside because of his marriage. It was something far worse.

“If that’s true…” Jaeyeon muttered, slamming his fist down on the desk as he rose to his feet, “then I need to meet with Lord Seo immediately.”

Yang hurried after him.

If Yeohee wished to marry, Jaeyeon would support her without hesitation. But if the intended groom was Lord Seo’s violent second son—

He would never allow it.

* * *

She looked down.

It had been brought to her secretly at sunset by one of the Lady Dowager’s attendants.
Inside the large chest was a red ceremonial robe—the wedding dress a bride would wear. Since it was a remarriage, they said the ceremony wouldn’t be very grand. The Lady Dowager had instructed that, seven days later, Yeohee should stay at the prepared house outside the estate, and once the groom’s family sent a palanquin, she would ride it to Lord Seo’s home.

If Lord Seo hadn’t delayed his response while verifying Yeohee’s status, the wedding might have already been held before Jaeyeon returned.

“I promised to protect him for life…”

Yeohee’s eyes grew wistful as she brushed her hand over the ceremonial robe.

The morning after Jaeyeon had nearly been strangled by his mother, he had gone to offer his daily greeting as if nothing had happened. His sick mother, having completely forgotten the events of the night before, opened her arms and called him sweetly.

Although she lovingly stroked his hair, Jaeyeon, remembering the night’s terror, trembled violently in her arms—and Yeohee could only watch helplessly from the doorway.

Even when Jaeyeon napped during the day, he often woke from nightmares, clutching himself and shaking uncontrollably. Each time, Yeohee had cradled his small, trembling body in her arms until he calmed down.

His breathing only steadied when he was nestled in Yeohee’s arms.

Perhaps it was because they were close in age, or perhaps because she had saved him from his mother’s hands, but Jaeyeon, who hated being touched by others, never rejected Yeohee’s touch.

Because he wouldn’t tolerate being touched by anyone else, the Lady Dowager was constantly displeased with her grandson.
She had long concluded that, since his mother was mentally ill, the son she bore must also be flawed. Because of this, despite Jaeyeon being the legitimate heir, the Lady Dowager believed he couldn’t become the head of the Jang family and favored Jaeyeon’s half-brother, born from a concubine.

If the half-brother hadn’t been frail and sickly, the Lady Dowager would surely have schemed to install him as the heir instead.

To Jaeyeon, his mother was a terrifying figure, and the Lady Dowager was someone who turned her back on him.
His weak-willed father was completely under the Lady Dowager’s control, and after his grandfather passed away, Jaeyeon would have had no one left.

That’s why Yeohee believed she had to protect him, even if she was the only one left.

Each time she had embraced the trembling Jaeyeon, she had whispered promises that she would always stay by his side.

But now, the day when she could no longer keep that promise seemed close.
Still, it was fortunate—Jaeyeon had grown strong enough that he no longer needed her to survive.

Since becoming the head of the family, he suffered fewer nightmares and was capable of defending himself. He also had people like Steward Go and Guard Yang by his side now.

“Are you inside, Sister?”

Tap tap.

Along with a knock, Jaeyeon’s voice came from outside. Before Yeohee could even respond, the door swung open.

Dressed in a dark navy robe, he quickly glanced at the large chest on the table and then walked toward her.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

As Jaeyeon approached, a chill swept through the room. Yeohee instinctively looked down at the chest she hadn’t had time to put away.

“I have something to ask you,” Jaeyeon said bluntly as he sat across from her and opened the chest without hesitation.

The lid fell to the floor, and the red wedding dress inside was revealed.

“I heard your marriage was arranged while I was away,” he said, looking down at the neatly folded dress with a detached expression.