My Brothers Are Not Villains

 prologue

When I was young, my parents died in a car accident. After that, I moved from  one  relative’s house to another until I ended up living with my aunt’s family, who were quite wealthy at the time.

However, as if fate was playing a cruel joke, within a month of my arrival, my aunt’s business failed, and their financial situation quickly deteriorated. Of course, it was just a coincidence, but people tend to become more superstitious when they are struggling.

My aunt’s family began to think of me as a cursed doll that brought misfortune. They believed I had consumed my parents and was now out to consume them too.

I was bewildered, but I couldn’t even protest, “This is unfair!” Anyone would have felt the same when looking into the eyes of my aunt’s family, who were just waiting for an opportunity to tear apart every word I said.

So, I couldn’t even express the pain I felt from being accused of “consuming my parents” and just silently endured their verbal abuse.

It was disgusting and humiliating (to put it mildly), but at that point, no other relatives would have taken me in, so I had to stay at my aunt’s house, no matter how things turned out.

For someone living on edge, smiling could be a problem, but not smiling was an even bigger problem. I became the “unlucky niece who smiles,” instead of the “gloomy niece,” to survive in that household.

Fortunately, the nearby library helped me when I was on the verge of wandering aimlessly after school.

Every day after school, I would spend time at the library, picking up and reading whatever book I could find.

At first, I studied, but after getting better grades than my aunt’s son, the floor of the small room I slept in felt like ice. It was a cold spring.

After that, I stopped studying. When I thought about it, studying was something for people with a future.

Even if I aced the college entrance exam, there was no way my aunt’s family would pay my tuition.

To be honest, what mattered most to me at that time wasn’t the future or anything like that—it was the warmth of the present.

On the next exam, I humbled myself and let my grades drop.

However, the small room I slept in didn’t get any warmer.

I was tempted to pick up my pen again out of frustration, but I stopped, fearing that next time my meals might disappear.

And so, I spent my days in a daze, and before I knew it, I was a third-year high school student with a bleak future ahead.

Since the new school year hadn’t started yet, I was technically a nineteen-year-old pre-senior.

And then, on January 9th, a date not worth commemorating, my uncle suddenly said he wanted to eat cake and handed me some money. He wanted me to go out and buy one.

So, I bought a cake for my aunt’s family and was on my way back…

Screech- Thud.

I was lying on the cold asphalt, watching my blood spread across the black road.

As the noisy murmurs and screams blended together on the street, I felt my body temperature gradually grow colder.

Ah, I’ve been hit by a car. And now I’m going to die…?

As my life flashed before my eyes, I realized there weren’t many happy memories.

Still, a faint sadness rose within me over the futility of my death. If I was going to die like this anyway…

…If I was going to die, then what?

I had spent my whole life ignoring what I really wanted, so I didn’t even know what I regretted. Now, it seemed pointless to think about it.

A tear rolled down from the bridge of my nose to the opposite cheek.

The changing traffic light blurred in my fading vision.

My consciousness was quickly swallowed by darkness, and in the blink of an eye, I met my death.

But then…

“What a beautiful baby girl!”

Something was strange.

“Oh, thank you, God…!”

“Darling, you’ve worked so hard.”

“Our daughter… Is our daughter healthy?”

With wide eyes, I looked up at the face of a woman holding me.

“Of course, she’s very healthy…!”

The woman, who had been speaking joyfully, met my gaze, and her expression became slightly uncertain.