The Proctologist's Brother

Episode 1

Ben is 23, freshly graduated, and completely out of luck — no job, no partner, no plan. His one real joy is spicy food, and that joy has just landed him in a proctologist's chair. Worse: the doctor is Ethan, the son of his stepfather, Uncle Fang. They've lived under the same roof for years but barely speak. Ben's mom invites him to a family dinner and insists Ethan is his brother, so why wouldn't he come? Ben isn't convinced. At the hospital, Ethan orders him back onto the exam table when the first check isn't clear. Ben thought the surgery was the humiliating part. He was wrong.

Episode 2

Three days after surgery, Ben can barely walk, and he's swearing off spicy food forever — or at least until the next craving. At the clinic, he's called for exam room three, and there's Ethan again, telling him to get face down on the table. Ben tries to bolt. Ethan doesn't let him: the exam has to happen, brother or not. That's the moment Ben realizes something about himself — the harder he runs from a thing, the faster it catches up. And what's chasing him is a surgeon in gold-rimmed glasses who also happens to be his brother.

Episode 3

Ethan tells Ben to relax — tensing up only makes it worse. Then come the questions: has he ever used anything like this before, any prior rectal procedures? Ben nearly blurts out that he's still a virgin, but lying face down in front of his brother, saying it out loud somehow sounds more humiliating than the exam itself. He begs Ethan to just finish so he can go home. Ethan delivers the verdict: internal hemorrhoids, nothing severe, but they need a minor procedure. Local anesthesia, same-day discharge. Friday, 2:00 p.m. Don't be late — and stay away from spicy food.

Episode 4

For a second, Ben can't tell whether Ethan is worried about him or simply being his doctor. All he knows is that his heart is beating faster. Then comes dinner at home, and Ethan sits across the table talking about a young patient scheduled for a minor procedure on Friday afternoon — right in front of everyone, like Ben isn't even there. Ben's mom asks how the hospital visit went; he keeps it vague, just a small issue. Across the table, Ethan's eyes say he's messing with him. Ben has no idea what game they're playing, but he's already losing.

Episode 5

On the operating table, Ben insists he can still feel everything. Ethan tells him it's all in his head — the anesthetic is working. And physically, maybe it is. But Ben can feel the edge of Ethan's glove, his breath, the hem of his coat brushing against him when he leans in. Every detail lands. When it's over, Ethan says the wound looks good, no shower tonight, slow down or he'll have to stitch him up again. Ben tells Ethan he's pretty good with stitches, way better than Ben is with a needle of spicy food tonight — then notices Ethan has warned him about spicy food twice. Why does he keep saying it?

Episode 6

Ethan offers to walk Ben out. Ben says he can manage alone, but Ethan points out he's waddling like a penguin, and a palm lands on Ben's arm — warmth coming straight through his hoodie. Ben tells himself it's just professional. His heart doesn't get the message. In the hallway light, Ethan stands in front of him, and for a second it feels like he's looking at something more than a patient. Then: no spicy food tonight. That's the third time. Ethan says it's because Ben looks like the kind of patient who doesn't listen. But the tone isn't a brother's or a doctor's. It's someone who's already decided to take care of him.

Episode 7

Day two after surgery. The wound still aches, but honestly, the boredom might finish Ben off first. No going out, no sitting too long, no spicy food — his life feels completely pointless. Then Ethan texts: take your medicine on time. Ben lies and says it doesn't hurt anymore. Ethan calls it immediately — Ben's typing too slow, which means he's still lying on his stomach, which means it still hurts. How does he know? He didn't see anything. He just knows. Ben suddenly feels like his body isn't entirely his own anymore. Someone else knows it better than he does. He shouldn't react like this to one text. He can't stop.

Episode 8

Ben tries to grab his own food; Ethan won't trust him not to pick the wrong thing. Ben's mom backs Ethan up — no spicy food, listen to your brother, he's a doctor. Ben can feel Ethan watching him, the same weight of that gaze from the exam, and doesn't dare look up to confirm it. Later, someone asks about his weird walk. Hemorrhoid surgery — don't ask for details. Who did it? Lucky him: his brother happens to be a proctologist. But it isn't all bad. Ethan shows up himself three days in a row with food. Not delivery. Himself.

Episode 9

Ben tries to file it away: Ethan is just being a doctor, taking care of his patient. But something about that word — patient — feels wrong, and what scares Ben more is that he can't come up with a better one for what they are. At two in the morning, the only thing looping in his head is Ethan: his fingers, his voice, his breath behind him. Ben tells himself that's normal after an exam like that. It doesn't feel like fear. It feels like anticipation. Then Ethan is at his door — Ben's mom gave him the key, she said Ben lives alone and needs someone checking in. He's been there two hours. Can't sleep. Me neither.

Episode 10

Ben wakes up and the first thing he sees is Ethan's face. Then it hits him — he never went back to his own room. Last night he sat down beside him, they talked, and he fell asleep there. What does that mean? He doesn't know, but his body chose the spot next to Ethan without asking. Now Ethan is in his kitchen like he belongs there, and that thought scares Ben more than the exam ever did. His body has healed; his brain is another story. At least twenty times a day he opens his phone hoping his doctor messaged him. Ethan never has. Ben keeps checking anyway.

If awkward family dinners, a doctor who remembers everything you'd rather forget, and two people circling each other without saying the obvious sound like your kind of night, hit play and see how long Ben lasts.