Chapter 15: Brother Not Dearest

"Uh, yeah. Are you just realising this now?" Cilian rested a hand on the door knob, his expression completely deadpan. Ivy felt her cheeks heat up. "How was I supposed to know? You never mentioned it once!"

"Didn't think I needed to. We ran into each other a couple times in the actual past. I had already moved out when I started working for Yuri." Cilian shrugged.

Ivy racked her brain for memories of Cilian before he was introduced as Yuri's assistant. Nothing came up. She grumbled to herself, dragging her hands down her face.

"Figures," Cilian snorted. Ivy looked up to see him stepping through his front door. "See ya later," was all he said before the door slammed shut. Ivy sighed to herself. No wonder he so casually waited for this morning. It wasn't like he had to come all the way here.

Feeling like an idiot, Ivy stepped up to her own front door and pushed it open, stepping inside. She paused, noticing the lack of snoring.

"Yuri?"

"In the kitchen!"

She flinched, noticing the unpleasant smell of pork tickling her nose. "What the hell…" She walked down the front hall and turned the corner to the right, leading her right to the half wall that divided the living room from the kitchen. Yuri faced away from her and stood in front of their small stovetop, stirring in a black dutchpan. Along the counter were scraps of vegetables, meat and spice bottles, all thrown about. All Ivy saw was wasted money.

"Yo," Yuri said, glancing over his shoulder. "Go crack open a window, I'm making dinner." He tilted his head towards the hall that led to their bedrooms. But, Ivy was too puzzled to move.

"Where did you get the money for all this?" She asked.

"In front of you."

Ivy blinked before looking down at the open envelope that sat atop the half wall. She grabbed it, and stiffened at the sight of her name on the front.

"Your paycheque finally came in, so I went down to the store and bought the ingredients for some pork stew. I've been craving it all week." He hummed. Ivy felt sick to her stomach. "But…you know I hate pork stew."

Yuri suddenly paused, his back straightening up. Ivy could hear him sigh before he turned around with a hardened expression. "So what? I'm not allowed to treat myself? You know how much I like it. Not everything is about you, Ivy." His words were sharp, cold and cut right to the bone. Ivy dropped her head, her gaze glued to the floor. Everything in her wished to scream in frustration. But she kept quiet. She was used to this. "Geez, you're so selfish sometimes. And after everything I did for you growing up too." Yuri turned around to face the pot once more, stirring it gently. "I picked up a ramen pack for you, since I know you like that." Ivy hated how proud he sounded, "and I gave our rent to the landlord, which pretty much finishes things. You might want to think about picking up some more shifts, or get another part time job." He added, sighing at that last part. As if he'd be tired from the extra work.

Ivy felt her chest burn as she slowly raised her head. She tightly drew her lips in while holding back a glare. "Okay."

"Okay, what? You got an attitude now?" Yuri glanced over his shoulder, his eyebrows lowered with a darkened gaze. Ivy felt a shiver run down her spine. "No, Yuri. Sorry." She dipped her head before turning away, hearing the male scoff behind her. Her fingers curled into fists as she walked towards her bedroom. While Yuri began to hum, Ivy's mind raced.

She focused on their plan for that night, trying to block out the cruel words that echoed in her head.