It is Saturday and for once my brother is up. Actually... he is more than up. He is in a panic. He is frantically slamming on his computer keyboard as if his life depended on it. He stared at the clock while typing. Then, he suddenly stopped. He scrolled furiously with his computer mouse while reading what was on the screen.
He stopped and folded his arms. He was thinking for a moment then he clicked on the mouse. He looked at the clock and it hit 10 AM. He wiped sweat off his brows and let out a sigh of relief.
Then his phone rang and he picked it up. He listened to the other person and nodded in agreement. Then he gets surprised about something. Then he stared at the clock.
He hung up the phone. He got dressed in his usual plain shirt and A***** sweatpants, ignoring all of the fancy Clothes Store clothes, and left the house.
I... against my better judgement decided to follow him.
...
He was at a bookstore looking at the fiction section. He was just staring at that section. When a customer picks out a certain book I can see him being giddy. When they glanced over and ignored the book, he looked sad.
"If he is here to buy books, he should just get it and stop being a creep!" I vented mentally.
Then there was a bit of a commotion. Someone was setting up a table and chair with a banner that reads:
"Today at 11AM! Author of 'Life and Drama of Airplanes' and many more bestsellers! 'Minji's Brother Dearest' is holding a book signing event!"
"What... kind of pen name is 'Minji's Brother Dearest?'" I thought. That almost made me gag.
My brother looked at the commotion and walked towards it. He sat down on the chair reserved for the author.
I tried to reach my brother to get him off that chair...
"Are you 'Minji's Brother Dearest'?" A female fan asked my brother while holding a book.
My brother gave a confident nod.
"Oh. MY. GOSH! I really loved the 'Life and Drama of Airplanes'! I especially love the part when the U849 was crying and was like 'Looks like they all abandoned me. I should have given the other airplanes the respect that they needed. I am no longer the queen of the skies.' It was so dramatic to see the bully of the airplanes go down like that!" The fan gushed on.
"My favorite part was the youngest member of the U838 family who was born with disabilities trying so hard to overcome all of the problems and managed to get into the air!" Another fan mentioned.
"Mine is the YC010 and YC030 twins getting adopted into the E family and being renamed E010 and E030. They managed to become so important to the E family!" Third stated.
"Can you sign my copy of the book please!" The first fan asked politely.
"No fair! Me too!"
"Me three!"
My brother beamed at the people in front of him, nodded and took their books and signed it.
...
My brother is 'Minji's Brother Dearest'... wait... My name is Minji...
"What... the heck?!!" I mouthed as I pieced the information together.
My brother looked at me and smiled. I stared directly at him and signaled that I wanted to talk to him afterwards. He gave me an okay sign with his hand.
...
There was a crowd of people. The book signing event went on for two hours past the posted end time to accommodate the people who made it on time. Then finally my brother looked at me and signaled me to come.
He signed a copy of 'Life and Drama of Airplanes' with:
"To my dear sister Minji, I hope your dreams and aspirations soar through the skies like the planes in this book! Signed, your brother Kim Seong-Woo 'Minji's Brother Dearest'"
I looked at the book with disgust and then slammed it on the table.
"This is not the reason I wanted to talk to you!" I stated. "Why did yo..."
A petite lady in a business suit came rushing in and grabbed my brother.
"YOU ARE LATE! C'MON LET'S MOVE!" Then she dragged my brother without looking back. My brother grabbed my shirt and I grabbed the book on the table. We all got dragged by a petite lady in an uncomfortable looking business suit.
...
"Ladies and gentlemen! We have a treat for you today! Introducing the bestselling author Minji's Brother Dearest!" The MC announced as the crowd erupted into a deafening applause and cheering. I, in the midst of the crowd, clapped awkwardly looking at my brother getting on the stage.
The lady brought us to the TV studio where they were filming a talk show called "The Daily Trend Report". The business suit lady looked confused when she saw that I was dragged along but she shrugged and had me sit in the audience. Now, I am watching my brother being interviewed live on national television.
"That explains the Palladium card..." I noted silently.
"Hahaha! That is so funny Minji's Brother! Actually we had a question from the audience about your pen name. Why did you call yourself 'Minji's Brother Dearest'?" The MC asked.
I froze. I knew the answer. He is going to say that he is actually a brother of a sister named 'Minji'... Me...
My brother flailed his arms around to communicate.
"Oh... Interesting... I see... oh! That is funny! So you actually are a brother to your sister named Minji!" The MC reacted.
The crowd started to murmur. The producer of the show lifted a sign to the MC.
"Oh, this is just in from the production staff. They said that your sister is actually here watching live!" The MC announced. The murmur got louder.
One of the TV cameras turned around and faced me. I can see the cameraman zooming into my face. I covered my face between my arms.
"Awww... looks like she is shy! I am sorry to put you on the spot like that!" The MC remarked.
"She actually looks pretty too! Your physical traits must run in the family!"
I peeked out to see that the camera is no longer there and my brother is nodding confidently.
"Speaking of physical traits! You actually modeled for the famous Clothes Shop brand in their latest advert! ..."'
...
I drowned out the rest of the TV show. I not only found out that he is a best selling author, my brother also used my name in his pen name, and I just got exposed on national TV...
After the show, the crowd surrounded my brother and we were dragged by the petite lady in a business suit to the green room.
"Seung-Woo, I know I may be your editor but, if you get any more famous with your work, we might need to talk about getting you an actual manager." The business suit lady said. My brother nodded in agreement.
"Well, at least for today, good job!" She said while closing the door to the green room.
I stared at my brother. He looked at me with an expression that seemed to say "Didn't you have a question earlier?"
I snapped awake and asked the question. "I heard the answer from the show. 'I couldn't think of a better pen name.' but what was the actual reason you called yourself that?"
He flailed his arms around to explain.
"So... you did not want to have yourself doxxed. So you tried to think of a pen name but couldn't think of a good one and just called yourself 'Minji's Brother Dearest'???!!" I shouted.
He gave a thumbs up.
I tossed the signed book in his face.
"YOU IDIOT!" I screamed and I left the green room.