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When Eren was younger, he loved the fact that his older brother was a celebrity because of the numerous perks it came with: autographs from other celebrities Zeke had collaborated with, free promotional goodies and merchandise from companies Zeke modeled for, and all the luxuries that Zeke treated him to because he couldn’t help but spoil his younger brother. Even though he wasn’t in the entertainment industry like his older brother was, Eren got to enjoy fame just by being associated with Zeke, and Zeke always liked to mention his younger brother during interviews. Classmates would clamor at his desk during breaktimes and fight to sit at the same table as him during lunch. Even the older students tried their hardest to get his attention. Paparazzi, journalists, and fans of Zeke would chase him down after school to get any information they could about his brother, and it caused such a disruption that the school had to hire security just to ensure everybody’s safety. It’s something Eren had bragged about in his younger years, but he’s since outgrown the attention.
“I don’t really understand how you could grow out of something like that. I feel like the pros far outweigh the cons,” Connie says as they walk down the busy street towards the large mall downtown. It was a popular hangout when they were college freshmen, but now they typically frequent bars and restaurants and only go to the mall if they need to go shopping for something. In this particular case, Sasha and Connie had only mentioned they needed to get “something” with a big of vague hand waving and Eren hadn’t asked for any further details.
“Well, different people have different values -” Armin begins.
“Yeah, and I value not having to see my brother’s abs plastered on every advertisement that I come across,” Eren says with a roll of his eyes. With how averse he is to seeing his brother everywhere, some people might think he hates Zeke, but the reality is just that it’s awkward seeing his brother’s professional thirst traps in public. “Do you know how bad it was when he was modeling those jeans? Those photos barely showed his jeans, they were practically just ab shots!”
“I remember those! Your brother looked really good,” Sasha says. She doesn’t even flinch when Eren shoots her a glare and instead she and Connie burst into giggles at Eren’s dirty look.
“I still don’t know why you need to throw a fit over it. Your brother is just doing his job,” Jean says with a shrug. “Just bask in the residual limelight and let him shower you with presents.”
Eren sighs. He’s not sure if any of his friends truly understand his plight, but they’ve always taken his relation to Zeke much better than other people. Instead of freaking out or taking advantage of him for his brother, they’ve just treated Eren normally and it’s something he really values about them. To them, Eren is a normal civilian because he’s going through the same motions as them instead of being caught up in the entertainment industry like his older brother. Unfortunately, they just can’t grasp the fact that he’s not far enough from Zeke’s celebrity to be considered normal. It’s even worse now that Zeke’s older.
“It’s different from before,” Eren protests. “Zeke used to be this wholesome child model for children’s clothing. It wasn’t that bad when he got older and modeled as a teenager, but have you seen the stuff he’s been up to lately? He’s practically naked half the time. He was modeling another clothing line and the photo they chose was him taking off the shirt. How do people even see the product? They’re selling so much of his sex appeal that he’s practically a porn star!”
“Wouldn’t that be better?” Armin asks. He walks with his head down like he usually does, oblivious to the inquisitive glances that his friends give him. “If he were a porn star, most people would deny knowing his name because watching porn is so stigmatized even though it’s a normal way for people to take care of their sexual needs.”
“Do you watch porn?” Mikasa asks Armin bluntly.
“H-huh?” Armin stammers, startled at how casually Mikasa had asked. A pink flush is blooming across his cheeks as he stumbles over his response. “Well, that’s, ah, it’s normal, right? Of course, I watch it sometimes but it’s not like I watch it every day -”
“We should watch some together sometime,” Mikasa says, which only makes Armin’s cheeks flush a deeper shade of pink.
“Okay, as much as all of us would love to flirt with Armin right now, we have bigger problems at hand,” Eren says.
“How is your brother being a top model our collective problem?” Jean snorts.
“Yeah, what do you expect us to do about it?” Sasha chimes in. “Convince your brother to switch to being a cam boy? With the career he has, don’t you think it would attract even more attention, which is exactly the opposite of what you want?”
“His image is going to switch from being a wholesome, hot supermodel who loves his younger brother to a raunchy porn star. Even if he doesn’t end up doing incest porn, you know there are absolutely going to be people who make bad incest porn with actors that look like you and Zeke,” Connie says.
Eren groans. He had simply wanted to complain to his friends, but they’ve somehow made everything worse and now he can’t stop picturing his brother being a porn star. He didn’t think anything was worse than his brother shooting sexy promotional advertisements, but his brother shooting porn — and people making their own bad incest porn using a fictionalized version of his brother and presumably him — is infinitely worse.
“I thought you guys were supposed to be my friends,” Eren grumbles.
“We are. That’s why we wanted to show you this,” Sasha says with a grin, throwing her arm over Eren’s shoulders as Connie does the same on his other side. When she sees Eren’s panicked expression, her wicked smile only grows wider.
“I told you guys this was a bad idea,” Armin warns from behind, which only makes Eren’s dread grow.
Eren’s eyes flit from Sasha to Connie. He could struggle against them, but they have him trapped between them and he doubts Mikasa, Armin, or Jean will help him. “Wh-what’s going on?”
“Sorry,” Armin mumbles.
“You’ll be fine,” Mikasa says as Jean snickers beside her.
“Did Zeke tell you about the new videos he shot for Paradis? They have a new fragrance line and everyone’s going crazy about Zeke’s ad,” Connie says, his grin as equally wicked as Sasha’s if not more.
Even though everything in Eren’s body tells him to turn and run away, he walks robotically as his friends lead him to the entrance of the mall. At the very front of the mall above the entrance is a large screen that runs advertisements and the ad playing at this particular moment has a very familiar face. It’s too familiar.
“ No ,” Eren gasps in horror, but it’s too late.
Zeke’s face fills the entire screen and the camera slowly pans out. Eren’s brother lifts his head, an angelic halo surrounding him as his eyes close and he spritzes his neck with Paradis’ newest fragrance: Wings of Freedom. The camera continues to pan out, revealing more and more of Zeke’s body.
“ No !” Eren stumbles towards the entrance in horror. He can only stare up at his brother’s bare body helplessly. “ No!”
Eren’s friends snicker as more and more of Zeke’s body is exposed: his rippling biceps, his six-pack abs, his thick and muscular thighs. The only part of his body that has been discreetly covered is his crotch which is hidden by a black satin ribbon. They’ve somehow even managed to get a shot of the side of Zeke’s shapely ass. Everyone might be going crazy of this advertisement, but Eren has seen far too much of his brother than he ever cared to see.
“Amazing how much they can get away with without showing him entirely naked,” Armin says in a futile attempt to lighten the mood.
The screen switches back to Zeke’s face. Eren’s brother smiles seductively at the camera and says in a deep, husky voice, “Free yourself with Wings of Freedom.”
Somehow it’s this, not the sight of his brother almost buck naked, that makes Eren’s knees buckle in the middle of the parking lot.
Mikasa is already there to catch him so that he doesn’t smash his face into the pavement. She holds him up, allowing him to lean against her as she rolls his eyes at his dramatics. “You okay?”
“I would like freedom,” Eren says finally. “Freedom from the shackles of this mortal coil.”
“He’s fine,” Mikasa announces as their friends laugh at Eren’s expense. She walks half-dragging, half-leading Eren alongside her. She pats him comfortingly on the back. “Come on. Let’s go get you an ice cream. At least Zeke isn’t a food model.”