Chapter 1

After my scores were revealed to be the highest in the city, I was holding the report in my hand as I happily returned home to tell my family.

However, before I reached home, I unexpectedly got a call—it was from myself, four years into the future.

I was stunned to see how terrible I looked in the future, but I remained hopeful like a kid seeing candy.

"Are you really me from four years into the future? Will our parents finally be proud of me and love me like they love Yohan?"

Future Me was laughing so hard that he teared up. "Never tell them about your scores! They'll never be proud of you—all they care about is Yohan, and they will force you to give up your results because he fell short!"

I felt a chill run down my spine, but it was true.

After my parents found me and took me home, they took Yohan to luxury restaurants while making me eat cold leftovers, saying that my stomach was weak after being homeless for so long—that good food would be wasted on me.

I naively thought that success would bridge the gap between us and earn me fairness, but as it turned out, blood connections couldn't win against companionship.

And hearing what my own parents did for Yohan, I folded my report neatly before sliding it deep into my pocket.

Since they wanted to treat me like a tool, I had no reason to tell them that I made it into Jogen University.

Chapter 1

When I opened the door, the Lieberts were gathered around the dining table, which had a three-tiered cake on top of it.

And the words 'Congratulations on your admission' were written on the cake.

Naturally, it was bought for Yohan.

Even if he didn't reach the minimum score for undergraduate admissions, my parents, Anna and Joshua, would always celebrate the completion of any exam for him.

He was tearing up, hanging his head, with Joshua smiling understandingly as he patted his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Anna was handing him tissues, assuring him, "It's alright even if you got low scores, Yohan—you just couldn't perform well this time. I'll get you that watch you like, okay?"

Joshua nodded, his tone mild. "That's right. We'll be there for you for the rest of your life even if you don't make it to college."

I stood in the shadows, watching their blissful moment, when my starving stomach growled loudly.

Hearing that, Joshua turned.

All affection faded from his face as he frowned, though he hid his disdain. "Are you a cat, moving without a sound? You'll give Yohan a heart attack!"

Anna finally glanced at me as well, asking in an utterly flat tone, "Results are out today, no? How did you do?"

There was silence, and I could see Yohan looking up at me nervously.

Still, I lowered my gaze, keeping my hands in my pockets as I squeezed my perfect report.

"I didn't do well," I replied calmly. "Barely qualified for community college standards."

I clearly saw Anna and Joshua sigh in relief then, with Joshua turning to grin at Yohan. "See? Your dear brother is now a dimwit after wandering out there for ten years, and he didn't score highly in even a single section.

"You didn't do well either, but you're still in a much better position than him. There's no reason to feel inferior when you're a qualified jockey and pianist."

Yohan stopped crying and grinned too, quickly slicing into his cake. "Thanks! I knew you guys were the best!"

I gulped when the sweet buttery smell filled the living room, but Joshua called out to me before I could head to my room.

He pointed at the cold leftovers sitting at the edge of the table. "You can't eat sweet food with your weak stomach. Heat those up for dinner—don't waste any of it."

Leftovers again.

And when things didn't go well for Yohan, they would have countless righteous excuses on standby.

As he ate his cake, he tugged on Anna's arm while pouting. "I looked through some colleges. There are a few that look good to me, and we'll be graduating abroad… But the tuition fees are expensive, costing over six figures…"

"So what?" Anna shrugged, patting Yohan's head. "I'll spend a million as long as it pleases you!"

Joshua looked on and suddenly came up to me as if he finally remembered me.

His hand was huge and warm, but it didn't warm the coldness of my fingers.

And he certainly didn't care.

"Look, Cal—you've been back with us for six months, and we've spent a lot to help you recover. But Yohan has a congenital heart defect and can't afford to repeat a year, while that's not the case for you. I mean, you were out there wandering for ten years, and you've been through everything."

With that, he made the call as if it was only natural. "It'll amount to nothing even if you go to college, so don't bother.

"Tomorrow, your mom will ask someone to get you a job at an electronics factory, so do your best and don't hesitate to work overtime. You'll quickly make enough to foot Yohan's tuition fees."

Chapter 2

Joshua didn't even let me refuse as he released me and left to pick up a wet towel to wipe the cream off Yohan's face.

It was as if making me drop out and work wasn't even worth mentioning.

Anna frowned unhappily when she saw that I wasn't moving, and she urged, "What are you spacing out for? Pack your bags already. The factory will provide everything you'll need, so work hard and don't embarrass us."

Yohan couldn't even be bothered to look my way, as he was busy browsing through a list of Jordans that cost thousands on his tablet.

I looked down at the white canvas shoes I wore. They were hand-me-downs from Yohan, riddled with holes, exposing my toes that were reddened from having to squeeze into a smaller size.

My eyes stung as I watched them revel in familial bliss, but I hurried to my room before my tears could fall.

It was a storeroom without a window, with only a hard bed and a very old desk as furniture.

Still, my phone vibrated when I closed the door, as I received a text.

[Mr. Caleb Liebert, we have selected you for Project Starfire, a top-secret government operation. Please keep in touch, and we shall send a car to pick you up by the end of the month.]

My heart skipped a beat upon reading that text.

That was when my phone screen flashed again, and it was yet another video call from a familiar face.

On the screen, Future Me sat in a dark basement room.

He said nothing, instead raising his hands to reveal a pair of callus-covered palms, with each joint swollen with fractures down to the web between his fingers.

"See this?" he rasped. "This is what happens if you do what they ask you to. You'll give in, thinking that you should since they are your biological parents. They'll stoop to threatening suicide if they have to, and you'll hand over everything to Yohan.

"After that, they won't pay you anything, while Yohan basks in the glory of your achievements in Jogen. All you get to do is work a factory job, and you still have to complete Yohan's assignments every night.

"If you think compromise earns you love, then understand that they will suck you dry. Even the compensation you receive for your broken fingers will be taken away to buy Yohan a sports car."

The video abruptly stopped, and I reclined limply against my hard bed.

At that moment, I gave up what little fantasy I had of familial love.

-

The next day, I left the house first thing in the morning to sign the voluntary non-disclosure agreement at school.

However, I had barely left when Yohan sneaked into my room, trying to check if I was hiding any allowance.

Instead, he found the results of my final high school mock exam.

Seeing that almost every sheet displayed a perfect score, he panicked because he knew all too well what that meant.

If I found success and was admitted to a top university, my parents' bias would even change someday, and the position he had secured for ten years in this house would crumble instantly.

Hence, he gritted his teeth and picked up a utility knife from the desk, cutting into his own wrist.

Wiping his blood on my report, he then wrote in blood: 'Caleb is pretending to attend a community college despite his scores to humiliate me. I know I have no right being in this house, so I will leave and let him take back what's his.'

And when he was done, he dropped limply on the floor and groaned out loud…

Chapter 3

Meanwhile, I finalized my acceptance of the admission to Project Starfire and the non-disclosure agreement at school.

But as soon as I stepped through the front door, a slap landed across my cheek, sending me stumbling and crashing painfully into the shoe rack.

Even as my ears rang and I tasted blood on my lips, I looked up to see Joshua glaring at me like he would skin me, bellowing, "You ingrate! Will you only stop when Yohan dies?!"

It was certainly not the usual pretense of affection, while Anna rushed out of my room too just then.

In her arms were my notes and treasured physics textbooks, which she flung to the floor.

Then, she stamped all over everything, leaving black footprints.

"How dare you taunt Yohan with mock exams!" she screamed, shaking with rage. "So what if you got good grades?! You've learned nothing aside from these dirty tricks when you wandered around for ten years, huh?!"

Yohan's wrists were heavily bandaged, and he sniffled as he reclined against the coat. "It's alright… Don't blame him… I'm just too stupid unlike him… I shouldn't stay here…"

I snorted.

The more he appeared to show understanding toward me, the more my parents hated me.

Wiping the blood off my lips, I stared at the mess on the floor, suddenly finding everything so ironic.

I would wake up at six in the morning to cook breakfast for them, clasping my mouth if I scalded myself.

I kept studying hard to ace all my classes so that they would smile for me.

And yet, they had already arranged for Yohan's future, even intent on sending me with him as his unpaid valet.

I looked at them as they glared at me, and I finally asked the question weighing down on my mind for a while. "I'm your real son. Why are you treating me like this?"

Silence ensued, but Joshua soon recovered from his shock and snapped, "Where were you when Yohan kept us company? What did you do for the family, even if our blood flows in your veins? How do you even compare?"

I suddenly burst out laughing, so much so that my shoulders were shaking, and without tears in my eyes at that.

So suffering for ten years out there was a crime in their eyes—a crime called not doing anything for the family.

Just as Anna scowled and was ready to lecture me again, the landline rang.

Anna answered it impatiently and put the call on speakerphone. "Who's this?"

In an instant, my homeroom teacher, Mr. King, was yelling with a cracked voice, "Mr. and Mrs. Liebert! Congratulations! Caleb scored 1600, making him the top student in the city!

"Every recruiter is calling my number non-stop to poach him! Honestly, how humble can you be not to announce it?!"

Chapter 4

Mr. King's voice echoed in the living room, leaving it dead silent.

Anna froze, still holding the phone, while Joshua looked utterly taken aback.

That was when Yohan cried out, clutching his chest and collapsing unconscious on the couch.

"Yohan!"

Coming to their senses right then, they didn't stop to question me as Joshua quickly picked Yohan up and rushed to the hospital.

Two hours later, I was called over.

Suddenly, both Anna and Joshua were endlessly nice and were charming instead of slapping or insulting.

Anna even held out a check to me. "Here's five hundred grand."

Joshua then walked up to me, affectionately clapping me on my shoulder. "You're a good boy, Cal. You've done so well in your exams, and we're so proud of you.

"But the people in the big city are two-faced, and you're too rigid in personality—they'll just bully you over there. But that's not the case for Yohan, since he's grown up mingling with the elite all the time. And he has a heart condition, so he doesn't have much time to waste, let alone to repeat a year."

Pausing to sigh, he then moved on to what he really wanted. "That's why you should let Yohan take your spot in Jogen University. You have five hundred grand now, and we promise to give you more money every month for the rest of your life, alright?"

Beside him, Anna was glaring as she added, "You weren't around for ten years. It was Yohan who had been a good son in your stead. So don't be an ingrate—you owe him, and it's time you pay your debts."

I felt the irony even as I stared at her check.

I owed Yohan?

I'd spent ten years wandering without anyone caring for me, surviving freezing winter after freezing winter.

Heaven knew how many kitchens I had to wash dishes in just to get textbooks.

Even as I stared at the check, I remembered the broken fingers I had seen in the video call.

Although I took a step back to avoid Joshua's touch, I said calmly, "Fine."

Joshua and Anna were at once delighted and shoved the check into my hand before running back to Yohan's side.

I could hear them talking loudly about holding a banquet to celebrate, inviting everyone from friends to relatives, classmates, and business partners.

Hence, they spent the next two weeks preparing for their party, completely forgetting that I existed.

They didn't even look my way after I went days not eating with them as I kept packing and cleaning my room.

It was the perfect window of opportunity, affording me the most silent of departures.

And the day before the banquet, I didn't take a single thing from the house—only my own ID and physics textbooks.

A black luxury sedan was waiting downstairs, and a Project Starfire crew member even graciously opened the door for me.

I got into the car and never looked back.

-

At the banquet, Yohan stood in his tailored suit, reveling in the flattery that classmates and relatives were showering him with.

"You really keep your cards close to your chest, scoring above everyone else in the city as soon as you get serious!"

"Oh, Anna! You're so lucky to have raised such a star!"

Anna was naturally getting smug from all the praise too.

Just as Yohan was straightening his suit and ready to go on stage to make a speech, the doors suddenly opened.

Then, a courier entered and announced, "Jogen University admission notice! Who is the recipient? Please personally receive it!"

The crowd cheered in excitement, while Anna had the stage crew turn on the camera projector to show the admission notice.

"Come on, let's all bear witness to the moment of Yohan's triumph!"

She opened the envelope as the crowd applauded, and the name on the admission notice was shown very clearly on the gigantic screen behind her.

However, the claps stopped as soon as everyone saw the name, because it read Caleb Liebert!