In Sungmi’s head, the only way to be certain that this plan would work was to have a test run. And there was only one person she thought it could possibly work on: Kyungsoo. If he couldn’t tell it was her straight away, then the others wouldn’t be able to either – she was sure of it.

Lying down on Sunghee’s bed was strange when she entered the cabin, and that’s when she really felt like she was actually doing this. Suddenly, she felt vulnerable. Very, very vulnerable.

The door to the cabin swung open, and the sound of Chanyeol chattering away about this and that could suddenly be heard. “And then he dropped the glass and everyone stared at him. It was so funny.”

Sungmi heard the sound of a sigh, and from the volume of it she guessed that Kyungsoo had also entered the cabin. Footsteps approached her bed, but she remained still. She had to wait until it was just her and Kyungsoo alone here before revealing herself – otherwise it could end in disaster.

“Sunghee, how are you feeling?” Kyungsoo asked gently, reaching out and feeling her forehead. Sungmi stayed quiet, even when he let out a little, “Oh, your temperature is gone.”

“How is he?” Chanyeol called over, sounding like there was something in his mouth.

“He’s… fine,” Kyungsoo replied, blinking down at the body in the bed, surprised by the sudden change in him. 

“Really?” Chanyeol asked, sounding surprised. “But he looked so poorly yesterday.”

Kyungsoo hummed lightly, still looking at Sungmi intently. There was something not quite right about this. “Yeah, have you seen Sungmi? I should tell her.”

Chanyeol hadn’t seen her, then mumbled something about needing the toilet before leaving the cabin and the pair alone together.

Leaning down a little, Kyungsoo’s eyes dragged over her face and he hesitantly stretched out and brushed some of the hair to the side of her face. The fact that it was now short felt so foreign to Sungmi, who was used to such a familiar action from the boy.

Kyungsoo’s fingers lingered over her roots slightly, and for a moment Sungmi thought he might have been checking if it was a wig of some sort. He sighed quietly, the side of his lip lifting in concentration. About what, Sungmi didn’t know.

Rearranging himself a little, Kyungsoo knelt down on the ground beside the bed and propped forwards onto his elbows. He was quite close to her face, but seemed to be a little unaware of just how close as he observed her carefully. Sungmi got the impression that he could tell that something was wrong, but that he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

Her eyes drifted to his completely then, meeting his gaze for the first time, and he stared straight back at them for a long moment, unblinking. His head lightly tilted to the side, then he blinked twice quickly, pulling his head back.

“Su-Sungmi?” he whispered in a hiss, on his feet in a flash.

The girl gulped, sitting up quickly. That move in itself proved him right because there was no way Sunghee could have reacted so quickly or sat up so effortlessly.

“You…” Kyungsoo breathed out, eyes as wide as saucepans as he took in the girl in front of him; took in her new look, and slowly, understanding crossed his startled features.

“This is insane,” Kyungsoo breathed out, shaking his head in wide-eyed disbelief. “This isn’t right.” Sungmi couldn’t really say much to that, so instead she sat up a little more and pulled her bottom lip inside , waiting for his next words. “Crazy…” he muttered to himself, gazing off to the spot just beside her head. “Do you even realise what you’ve just done?” he asked, still not looking at her but with a voice that was so silent that it was almost inaudible. It left a sort of haunting behind it that she wasn’t used to hearing when he spoke, and it was unsettling in the cruellest way.

Glibly nodding, Sungmi drew back her blanket a little, sliding her legs out of it. Kyungsoo watched her doing this as if verifying that it was indeed Sungmi – Sunghee wouldn’t have been able to pull the move off so effortlessly.

“I can’t just let him die,” she murmured in the way of an explanation. “He needs to score better in these tests. Or else he really doesn’t stand a chance.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes darted to her face, his brow scrunched in what she could only guess was horror. “And what about you?” he asked.

Sungmi tilted her head a little. “Well, I’m not going to let myself die, either. It will just be for a few days.”

Shaking his head frantically, Kyungsoo suddenly looked very frustrated. “It’s not like that, Sungmi!” he shouted, surprising her a little. “You don’t just get to pick if you live or die! If they catch you then they will kill you! This is illegal.”

She frowned a little. “I know that,” she muttered, swallowing. “I’m not that naïve.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo demanded with an incredulous scoff that was very unlike him. “Because that’s certainly what it looks like. You can’t just–” His voice caught, and he turned his head away quickly but not before she saw the look on his face.

Swinging her leg around gently, she moved herself so that each of her legs were positioned outside of his, locking him in. She reached up and gently cupped his cheek, silently asking him to look at her. Under her hand she felt a small trickle of moisture; a tear. When Kyungsoo eventually did look up at her, his face looked more than a little uncomfortable. In fact, it looked like it was in nothing short of pain.         

at her lip nervously, Sungmi let out a small but shaky breath. “I-I know this isn’t going to be simple, or easy, or whatever else you think I’m deluding myself about. But I’m not just going to let him die, not when I can help him by doing this.”

Kyungsoo stared at her for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “Don’t do this,” he breathed, his breath just reaching her face.

Sungmi leant forwards until her forehead sat against his. When it sat there, she breathed steadily for a moment before also shaking her head. “I’m not going to be talked out of this.”

Closing his eyes over, Kyungsoo released what can only be described as a defeated sigh. “I know.” He shook his head hopelessly, turning away from her. “I just wish for once that you weren’t so stubborn.”

Chanyeol or Sehun didn’t really have much of a hope of guessing the swap, considering they had known the siblings for less than two weeks. Baekhyun was a lot sharper than he let on in Sungmi’s opinion, but even he remained utterly in the dark about the switch, although Sungsook had reported to Sungmi that he had been to her that day about how she wasn’t much fun. Odd as it may seem, Sungmi felt flattered by the comment.

The test the following morning was in hand-to-hand combat, something Sungmi knew very little about, other than it was a pretty big sport for betting on back home. Kyungsoo had stuck to her side just like glue since discovering the switch between the siblings, but this changed as soon as they reached the training grounds where they were divided randomly into sections, separating them. All the trainees would be matched up and scored, depending on their skill and their opponents’.

Out of her group, the only person Sungmi knew was Sehun, so chose to tuck herself in beside him as best she could. Acting as Sunghee was uncomfortable for her, and her eyes were constantly darting around as if to try to find some sort of clue that someone was on to her. Kyungsoo had warned her to keep her eyes down though, and to really be Sunghee. After all, most people had heard about the sick boy Han Sunghee by now, so they expected him to be a little pitiful. If she suddenly came out doing high-kicks and kangaroo punches – not that she knew how to do either – then people would be suspicious, obviously.

“Ever fought before?” Sehun asked as they lined up, waiting to be matched up to an opponent.

Sungmi almost scoffed at the suggestion, trying to imagine her mother’s reaction if she had ever been sent home for brawling at school. But Sunghee wasn’t a scoffer, so Sungmi held it back.

“No, my family wouldn’t have liked it.” Well, at least that bit was true.

“Tire your opponent out,” Sehun told her quietly, crossing his arms casually. He had a very cool air of confidence about him today, and Sungmi wasn’t sure if it was because she was feeling so horribly insecure, or if he was just pretty confident about this particular task.

“Have you fought before?” she asked since he really seemed to know what he was talking about.

Sehun shrugged absently, glancing aroun