Ficorpio
Chapter 1
The night before my eighteenth birthday, I had a dream.
In it, I discovered I was nothing more than a disposable supporting character in a boys’ love novel.
The story had two male leads. One was Ethan Sterling, my tall, gorgeous childhood sweetheart. The other was Michael Bennett, my fiercely overprotective older brother.
I was merely Ethan’s excuse to get close to Michael.
The author had written me in for one purpose: to produce a Sterling heir.
So when Ethan confessed his feelings to me yet again, I threw an infertility test report at him.
“Molly, you’re finally eighteen. I’ve been waiting for this day for so long.”
After my birthday party ended, Ethan pulled me into the garden behind the Bennett residence.
He held out a bouquet of red roses.
“Molly, I love you. I have for years.”
I gazed up at him. Ethan was tall and strikingly handsome, the kind of man who drew attention without even trying.
But I didn’t take the roses.
If I hadn’t learned that I’d been transmigrated into a boys’ love novel, I probably would have accepted his confession without hesitation.
After all, who wouldn’t fall for an extraordinary guy they’d known all their life?
But I knew the truth. I was only a disposable obstacle in the love story between Ethan and my brother.
So I widened my eyes and put on my most innocent expression.
“I’m sorry, Ethan. I’ve always thought of you as another brother.”
He froze.
The hand holding the bouquet slowly dropped to his side.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he fixed me with an intense stare. “Molly, was everything between us just in my imagination?”
I knew exactly what he meant.
Neither of us had ever put our feelings into words, but the affection woven through all those years together had been impossible to hide. Almost everyone who knew us assumed we would eventually end up together.
But I knew that, at this point in the novel, Ethan simply hadn’t realized yet that the person he truly loved was my brother.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “If I ever gave you the wrong idea, I apologize.”
Love might be precious, but staying alive mattered more.
There was no way I would become a tool for producing his family’s heir, only to die in childbirth and provide one more tragic twist in the tortured romance between him and my brother.
A sudden laugh came from behind me.
A hand landed on my shoulder. It was my brother, Michael Bennett.
He gave me a thumbs-up. “Not bad, Molly. I thought that bastard Ethan had you wrapped around his little finger.”
Chapter 2
Then he patted me on the head. “Never thought you’d actually turn him down. You’ve done the Bennett family proud!”
I glanced at Ethan Sterling’s dark expression and quickly pulled my brother’s hand away.
“Michael, you’re so annoying. How many times have I told you not to pat me on the head?”
Claiming I wanted to go upstairs and open my birthday gifts, I hurriedly abandoned the two of them.
Before I left, I cast a look of utter disdain at my brother’s backside.
Who would have guessed that my sunny, heroic older brother was destined to be the bottom in a Boys’ Love novel?
What an embarrassment to the Bennett family.
When I returned to the living room, my parents’ eyes immediately lit up.
Mom peered behind me with a knowing smile. When she didn’t see anyone, she asked, “Where’s your boyfriend?”
“What boyfriend? Mom, don’t make things up.”
“Are you embarrassed, Molly? You’re eighteen now. I’m not against you dating. And if it’s Ethan, your father and I would be thrilled.”
I rolled my eyes inwardly.
Too bad Ethan was in love with my brother.
“I don’t like him that way. I’ve always thought of him as an older brother.”
I gave them the same excuse I had used to reject Ethan.
Under their deeply suspicious stares, as if they thought something had gone terribly wrong with my brain, I calmly went upstairs and collapsed onto my bed.
My thoughts drifted back to the novel’s plot.
After my death, Ethan and Michael had plunged into a tortured romance, endlessly chasing and fleeing from each other, torn between love and hatred.
The truth was, my brother had realized his feelings for men long ago.
But because of me, his feelings for Ethan were impossibly complicated.
He loved him.
And he hated him.
If Ethan had understood his feelings sooner, none of those complications would have happened.
But now that I had awakened to the plot, I couldn’t let the tragedy play out again.
People in love deserved their happy ending.
I would protect Ethan and my brother’s relationship myself!
Then I wouldn’t have to die, either. Everyone would win.
The next morning, I saw Michael emerge from Ethan’s room with wet hair and nothing on above the waist.
I clicked my tongue. I should have known. My idiot brother had always been hopelessly careless about things like this.
In the novel, it was precisely these thoughtless little gestures that had driven Ethan wild. In the end, he’d fallen so hard there was no saving him.
Michael was the ultimate oblivious tease.
He had no idea that his best friend would eventually develop a serious interest in his ass.
A sharp flick to my forehead made me wince.
“Why are you sneaking around this early?” Michael asked. “Were you too dazzled by your brother’s magnificent physique to look away?”
Clutching my forehead, I pretended to gag.
Ethan suddenly appeared and stepped between us.
“What do you think you’re doing, walking around half-naked in front of Molly?” he demanded.
Chapter 3
“Oh, come on, Ethan. I’m not half-naked. Besides, I used to change her diapers when we were kids.”
For some reason, that only made Ethan angrier.
He gritted his teeth. “Michael Bennett.”
Michael immediately surrendered. Muttering curses under his breath, he turned around and trudged back to his room to put on a shirt.
We both knew what it meant when Ethan used his full name.
He was genuinely angry.
And Ethan was terrifying when he got angry. He never struck back right away. He simply waited until you had lowered your guard, then found the perfect opportunity to get even.
Michael had learned that lesson plenty of times growing up.
It didn’t help that Ethan had always been an outstanding student and the picture of courtesy in front of adults. My parents believed every word he said without question.
More importantly, what I’d just witnessed confirmed my suspicions.
Ethan was jealous!
He was upset because Michael had shown off his body in front of me.
As the possessive male lead of a Boys’ Love novel, Ethan naturally couldn’t stand anyone else seeing what belonged to him.
My brother’s body was for Ethan’s eyes only.
Ethan turned to face me, his dark gaze fixed intently on mine.
I lowered my head and swallowed.
I honestly hadn’t meant to look at my brother’s bare chest.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Ethan raise a hand. For a moment, it seemed as though he was going to tousle my hair like he always did, but in the end, he let his hand fall.
“If your brother ever shows up half-dressed in front of you again, cover your eyes. You’re not allowed to look.”
Just as I’d expected. He’d come to warn me.
I nodded repeatedly and promised, “Don’t worry. I definitely won’t look!”
Ethan seemed satisfied with my answer. He even smiled at me.
Considering how pleasant he was being, my rejection last night clearly hadn’t affected him at all.
So this was the difference between loving someone and not loving them.
Fortunately, I hadn’t fallen too deeply for him either. Otherwise, I might have been the only one left nursing a broken heart.
But none of that mattered right now. My curiosity was burning out of control.
“Did my brother sleep with you last night?”
I desperately wanted to know how far things had progressed between them. After all, I’d already disrupted the original plot.
Ethan frowned. “He has his own room. Why would he sleep with me?”
Then he seemed to realize why I’d asked.
“The shower in his bathroom was broken, so he came over to use mine.”
“Oh.”
Outwardly, I remained perfectly calm. Inside, I was screaming.
In the original novel, Michael had also showered in Ethan’s room.
The sight of him had stirred certain… reactions in Ethan, making him slowly begin to question his sexuality.
Sure enough, without me standing in their way, things were progressing much more smoothly between them.
That summer, Ethan Sterling did something unusual: he stopped spending his days at the Bennett residence.
After what happened that day, he temporarily vanished from my world.