Lucas Fang was in the midst of tracking down a newly turned vampire who had been convicted of killing her female coworkers. It was a case of extreme obsession and jealousy, getting rid of all the girls around the general surgery department's male god in order for her to be successful in her confession… Honestly, it truly left a bad taste in his mouth that three young women in the prime of their life died for such a selfish and stupid reason.
To be honest, even if the reasoning was stupid, the method was not and, coupled with the improved strength of a turned vampire, it had taken the lives of five young ladies' - both nurses and doctors - to determine the suspect. Honestly, if Lucas had not by chance saw one of the corpses as it was taken away and felt something was off, the police would probably still think it was the work of a serial killer or an extremely disgruntled ex-patient.
The surgery department's male god, Doctor Evans, who was at the centre of all this had also found something off and had his own suspicions on the murders. So when he noticed Lucas investigating, he quickly volunteered all the information he had. It could be said his identity as male god was not for naught, as the man had a strong grasp of psychology and a solid foundation of other medical fields as well, proving of great assistance and help.
It was also him who insisted on playing as bait to lure out the killer on this fairly windy night.
Thinking about putting a normal person at risk like this, Lucas frowns slightly but he couldn't let this opportunity be in vain. Lightening his steps he continues to follow the obsessed turned-vampire that was stalking her beloved. Quietly but swiftly he speeds up bit by bit, closing the distance as the male god also obediently follows the route they planned, bypassing his apartment and entering a nearby park.
The vampire doesn't notice, after all she was still a relatively new vampire and instead of learning to hone her abilities she chose to abuse them instead so it was impossible for her to notice the skilled vampire hunter unless he made a mistake. As for any suspicion against her male god, that was even less likely. She had stalked the other long enough to know sometimes her male god liked to walk around the park at night for a while to bask in the moonlight and enjoy the peace and tranquility of nature at night. Such a thoughtful and introspective man full of delicate feelings and aesthetics, it was no wonder she fell for him!
As the group enter the park, the hospital's male god pushes up his glasses and suddenly trips on a rock. "Ah!" He softly cries out as he falls to the ground, his glasses fall to the side. "Maybe it's a bit too dark to go out tonight." He sighs to himself as he combs his usually meticulous hair out of his face, revealing a handsome face that gave a more seductive and wild air than his usual scholarly, refined beauty.
Lucas had to admit, even if the beauty trap was a little crude, the beauty was really attractive enough nonetheless.
The vampire definitely thought so as well, and she didn't even hesitate to run toward her beloved. "D-Doctor Evans!" She calls out worriedly, but there is a wide smile on her face, excited and nervous at this unexpected opportunity to help him alone, "Are you okay?!"
"Oh, Nurse Adelaide?" Doctor Evan looks at her with feigned surprise. "You, what are you doing here?"
The vampiric nurse blushes, flustered as she is momentarily at a loss to what to say. "I- ah!"
She screams in pain as a dagger of pure light stabs at her back. "Adelaide Jones, you've been charged with the murder of three innocent humans. Under the Human-Vampire Protection Laws, you are deemed to be executed." Lucas coldly says behind her.
With reddened eyes, the turned vampire's face distorts and her skin begins to sizzle due to the intense concentration of light. Her hands begin to crackle with lightening, and the two men's faces turn serious as the park lights around them begin to flicker.
Electricity manipulation. If this turned vampire had gone the legal route, she would have her power tested. Lucas has handled quite a few vampires in his life and he can confidently say her vampiric abilities should be a Named one if we go by power alone. Not to mention it was extremely useful in this current society, many vampire families would be very interested in adopting her or sponsoring her, and she would be a happy rich lady for life.
Unfortunately… Love really can rot one's brain sometimes.
"You-" Adelaide Jones stares at her beloved doctor with a twisted expression, "Did you, know about this?!"
The handsome doctor smiles, "Honestly that answer kind of depends on which one of you wins, haha."
Lucas: …What an asshole.
Fortunately, Doctor Evans was not actually so heartless, and he takes out a small spray bottle from his pocket and swiftly sprays it in his former coworker's face. Caught off guard once again, she clutches her face and screams, the lightning quickly dissipating in her hands and the lights around the park settling.
At Lucas' inquiring look the doctor shrugs. "I took some undiluted hydrogen peroxide* from the hospital."
*A chemical that can cause burns and skin irritation, similar to most strong acids, but can be used as an antiseptic when handled properly. To gain a reference 3% concentration of hydrogen peroxide is safe enough for general household cleaning needs. 35% is usually for industrial standards. Many large companies etc will by the concentrated stuff to dilute themselves as it can be cheaper. For hydrogen peroxide you can't get 100% concentration due to instability etc so just assume like 80% here, idk blue has only handled some acids.
Seeing Lucas' disbelieving expression, Doctor Evans immediately gave him a an assuringself-righteous look. "Don't worry, no one would suspect I stole hospital property. I do it all the time and never get caught.""
…Well, okay, Doctor Evans was actually still quite heartless.
Trying to ignore the implications of that statement, Lucas immediately pulls out a machete from his bag. The knife of light was left still pierced in the turned vampire's body to keep her as restrained as possible, alleviating some of the pressure to deliver a swift and merciful end to this villain. However the moment the blade touched her neck, Lucas yelled in pain as painful electricity ran up from his hand all the way to his shoulder. If he hadn't dropped the weapon in time, he was sure the voltage would've reached his heart.
"Motherfucker!" He curses angrily as his right arm spasms uncontrollably. Lucas can tell immediately that this arm will be out of commission for tonight at least.
The nurse, making noises between laughter and sobbing begins to shake her entire body cracking with energy. Doctor Evans, still lying languidly on the ground immediately starts crawling backwards as he senses the impending danger, trying to get some distance before standing up. "Lucas?" He questions, his voice a little high-pitched with nervousness as he can see the nurse stare at him with bloodshot eyes full of tears and obsession. "Lucas, a little help here."
"D-Doctor…" The nurse wheezes out, "Why are you looking at him? Look at me… after what you did, why can't you still not look at me!?"
"You're so annoying, he's right behind you, if I look at him I can't not look at you either!" Doctor Evans snaps.
Lucas: …
Nurse Adelaide: …Oh, that's true.
Seeing the final confrontation is going to be messy, everyone readies themselves warily, none interested in being the loser of this outcome. After all the loss was really not something any of them can afford to eat. However before the first move can be made, all three of their phones started ringing with notifications.
The heartless Doctor Evans couldn't stand it and pulled out his phone with a frown, "Who the fuck- oh my god! My lovely flower just posted!" The Doctor begins to grin wildly as he opens his phone happily, completely ignoring the vampire and vampire hunter in front of him. After all, he sees the possibility of death every day in surgery, but his increasingly quiet idol has finally posted something after so many weeks!
Lucas: …..
Nurse Adelaide: …..
Taking this opportunity of mutual speechlessness, Lucas also checks his phone, worried it was from one of his family members out hunting or his little sister Jessica who he hadn't heard from in a while. However, the notification made his eyes light up despite himself. "ShiningGreenTea actually posted so many different chapters?!" He exclaims, before worrying a little, "No way, are they dying? How can someone like them update like this out of the blue?"
Nurse Adelaide: ....
Feeling a bit left out, Nurse Adelaide also pulls out her phone, the chemical burns on her face stinging painfully but very slowly healing back. At the very least, it's not a huge problem to look at the phone. However as she opened her phone to see the messages, her eyes widen and she squeals, "Ah! Ah! Ah! My cutie Jasmine posted! No way, I'm so happy!"
"You follow Jasmine too?!" Doctor Evans exclaims with interest. "He's so cute, I can't believe he's a boy sometimes."
"Well, if you were a superfan like me, and saw his streams you would definitely be without a doubt." Nurse Adelaide can't help but lift her chin up with pride, a piece of burnt skin falling off her face as she does so.
"Oh trust me," Doctor Evans chuckles, "I've seen the streams. I was even there for Jasmine's first one despite being on duty!"
Nurse Adelaide freezes. Then, mechanically she cracks her neck and looks at where the handsome, gentlemanly Doctor Evans is sitting in the ground. "…Are you, no, it can't be.." She mutters, "…Dr Feet?"
Doctor Evans looks at her with some surprise, "How did you know?"
Nurse Adelaide: ....
She turns to Lucas who was frantically texting his cousin about all the ShiningGreenTea updates. "Hey, hunter." She calls out.
"Hmmm?" Lucas looks up from his phone.
Nurse Adelaide gazes at Lucas Fang, her eyes devoid of light, hope and the will to live. "Kill me. Just… kill me."
Lucas: ….
Can anyone tell him what just happened?!
Meanwhile, Doctor Evans was happily praising Jasmine's new vampire cosplay photos crazily while not forgetting to ask the other to show feet.
…
Online, many readers have exploded with excitement and tears.
Defining My Brother has updated. One long chapter. Over 90,000 words.
It starts off with the stepbrother waking up, tears in his eyes, sweat drenching his brow. He dreamed of the outcome of their lives, he dreamed about what happened if they adhered to the definition of others. The unhappiness, the regret, the numbness. It was so painful. To continue to live a life like everyone else, to choke back everything unique in order for people to just… not care about you anyway… It was absurd and hateful and so, so saddening.
Thus the stepbrother after having such a dream resolves to change things for the better. All the long time fans of the story cheered as they read this, after all, while the ending of Defining My Brother was painfully poignant and touched many people's hearts, who wouldn't want to see the two young men be happy and live freely?
Unfortunately the night the stepbrother had the dream was the night before the protagonist came back from the boarding school he had been sent off to after being rejected by even his parents.
One could argue that it was probably the worst timing. Too much time has passed, too much damage has been done, and yet not enough time has passed, and they were both still at the age of youth where they were helpless and dependent on adults.
But sometimes the hardest time to escape is the only time life gives you. Because not everyone has the opportunity to keep waiting for a 'better' time.
And so, in the middle of the night, bags were packed and plans were made. The moment his brother came back from boarding school, tired and worn down on many levels, the stepbrother rushed out with a comically large amount of bags and pulled him into a waiting taxi.
What comes after is a bittersweet story of two young men trying to find their own way in the world. The harsh struggles of living independently, the fears, the urge to go back home where it's stable and safe. There is fighting, mistakes and harsh words. Crying, screaming, and regrets. But as painful as it is, slowly they got used to it.
The pair of brothers learned tricks to save money and power, they learned how to balance education with work and they slowly began to make a path in their lives.
Both of them couldn't bear to deal with meeting the people they knew from the past so they went to night school and could only helplessly drop out. In exchange they both tried to get their diploma through night school instead. Naturally they also had to find ways to afford it, with neither letting the other brother give up their education.
The pair of brothers learned tricks to save money and power, they learned how to balance education with work and they slowly began to make a path in their lives. The stepbrother who originally didn't do well in academics, worked hard and gained a business degree, while the brother who once was an elite now took an apprenticeship at a local tailor's. Neither of them met their parents original expectations, but both were quite pleased with themselves.
In the end they opened up an online store selling cute handmade plush items, as well as offering options to send over old soft toys to get fixed up and even customized to the clients' needs. Because of the stepbrother's foresight they managed to become a fairly well known local gem, and had many interesting advertising tricks to draw in many customers online. Overall, while they were not making millions, they lived very comfortably with the income made.
The brother who many had worried that his 'feminine interests' would turn him gay, found a lovely girlfriend who loved his plushies, and the stepbrother whose sexuality nobody worried about unexpectedly got together with the butcher who worked across the street from them. However what people thought, and what people said, to these two men who no longer lived under the expectations of irrelevant people, they no longer cared.
Because they had rewritten their definition.
[Fuck, I'm crying. 90,000 words isn't enough, give me 900,000 words!]
[Ahhhhh I didn't expect this, I can't believe author made me wait this long to give me this heartwarming update!]
[I enjoy that while it's still quite a happy ending, author didn't overly romanticise or ignore the hardship to get to that healing point. It's a little bit rushed and occasionally reads like a summary but given the massive amount of words in this chapter and the amount they had to write I'll let it slide kek. Overall it's still got more heart than your average coming of age Hollywood movie these days, and it definitely moved me a lot.]
[ShiningGreenTea says it's just an alternative universe extra but I refuse to listen. This is canon! Canon!]
[I know some people are commenting on how unrealistic some of this is but I do think the author conveyed some of the struggles fairly well given it's just one chapter. The two brothers didn't immediately reconcile and there was a lot of back and forth in their resolve- which was a little grating at times but I do get it- and even their success objectively is not necessarily impressive. Compared to other stories where a person reaches the peak of life after hardship, I find this really down to earth, and still fits the vibe of the main story.]
[I need more Butcher X Stepbrother content wtf]
[Ah ah ah the little girlfriend is so cute and caring, I also want a girlfriend like this!]
[Personally I think this does diminish the sad ending of the main story a lot but I think the author also agrees, that's why they mentioned it as an alternative universe extra at the start and at the end. So keeping that in my mind I did find it enjoyable, and much more heartwarming. It makes me think at least somewhere out there they're happy in some capacity.]
[From being resigned to a definition to rewriting their definition, ahhhhh I really like it!]
[Eberonw id writng so well byt im fking sobbung my ass off her e ansjdhaksl]
Not just Defining My Brother, but various other novels from the lazy ShiningGreenTea had updated. It was unprecedented, many people even suspected the author was dying and this was the last gift to the readers. Such a ridiculous rumour seemed to hold weight with more and more people, even finding hidden patterns that didn't exist in the latest chapters to further confirm the theory. After a day of celebration a certain niche part of the internet became one big funeral.
Jia Hyson, reading the conspiracy theories and tearful messages of mourning: …Sorry, I'm not dying! (ꐦ ´͈ ᗨ `͈ )
'On the bright side, Bebe has gotten the IP addresses of various vampires and vampire hunters.' Bebe comforts. 'So the plan did work out.'
"Yes, but it's really making me reflect on my update schedule now as an author." Jia Hyson says through gritted teeth.
'Well, does that mean you're going to improve your consistency?'
Jia Hyson awkwardly coughs. "I mean, I said it's making me reflect. Not making me want to change."
Bebe: 눈_눈 Hah, men.
What they didn't expect was that the response from various fans over this was so big it finally even became a hot search that surpassed a popular celebrity's big cheating scandal. Naturally with more clicks into it, the chances of meeting a bored hunter or vampire increased. Soon the small list of dozens of hunters and vampires increased to hundreds, until it finally fit roughly two thousand names in total. This doesn't seem like a significant amount but with the relative scarcity of vampires and, in turn, hunters, this was a fairly staggering amount.
Jia Hyson sighs emotionally seeing this, once again witnessing the weight a good story can capture in a community.
Of course, on the other side with the Jasmine account, while the traction was significantly less, there was still a surprisingly high amount of clicks from vampires and a few hunters. Looking at the data, the positions and statuses of those Jasmine fans were on average significantly more superior than the numerous ShiningGreenTea fans they had found. There was the secretary of the North American Vampire Hunting association, the Chief Financial Officer of the East Asian National Blood Bank for Vampires, the crown prince of the Summer Moon Coven…
Bebe sighs emotionally seeing this, once again witnessing the weight a crossdressing pretty boy can capture in a community.
Either way, they at least got the network they needed now.
"Bebe, I want you to sort everyone out according to those who have a strong sense of justice bordering on hero complex, those with useful items, those who are braindead fans, those who are very strong, well trained and well-learned, and those willing to do anything for the right price. Weed out anyone too shady or could betray too easily." Jia Hyson orders before pulling out his phone and typing out a few different emails. Some vaguely threatening, some emotionally-provoking, some flattering, and then one very blunt one about payment. "Then send them the email you think is best suited to them, feel free to mix and match according to their personality, I trust you Bebe."
"Easy." Bebe already began to scan through the list of names. "It'll take an hour or two, but Bebe will be thorough in grasping their characters."
Jia Hyson nods in satisfaction before pulling out his phone and texting. "Good."
"What are you doing?" Bebe asks curiously.
Jia Hyson flashes an innocent smile. "Just texting Prince Silas to have breakfast with me."
Bebe: ???