Lunch was awkward. Nobody was talking at all, and I strongly suspected that it was because of Taehyung and my presence. The hatred radiating from the girls sitting in the next table didn’t help, either. Maybe I should just leave, this is too awkward for me.

“Uh, I need go to the washroom, see you guys in the next class,” I quickly made up a lame reason to excuse myself. Jimin raised an eyebrow at me, but I hurriedly gave a half-hearted wave to the other guys and walked away.

I wasn’t even halfway near the washroom when I heard footsteps behind me. What the heck? Whoever they are, they need to learn how to be more discreet.

I pretended not to realise what was going on and entered the washroom, the footsteps thumping behind me the whole time, before stopping outside the toilet. I flushed the toilet, let the tap run for a few seconds, before flinging open the door. The door to the washroom swung outwards, hitting whoever was standing there the whole time. Stupid.

“Ouch! How dare you!” Someone screamed out. Jimin had warned me that Bangtan had some pretty intense fangirls, but I just laughed in his face when he told me that. Well, judging by the situation before me right now, it seemed like he was right.

“Come on, it’s not even that painful,” I snapped. “Why were you even following me, anyway? Jealous that I was hanging out with you oppas? I probably have more chances with them than you crazy people will ever have,” I teased.

Right then, the girl lunged forward and grabbed my hair, shoving me towards the lockers. “You , don’t think that you are the queen or something just because you sit next to him!” Damn, how intimidating.

“Like I said, even if I don’t sit next to him, I still have a better chance with him than you,” I laughed,  lifting my right leg up. Unfortunately, before I could kick her in the knee, a familiar figure appeared from behind her.

“Yeah, Haneul’s right. Seriously, you and your friends got to stop bullying every girl that interacts with me. It’s getting out of hand,” Jimin said, and the girl quickly scurried away after muttering an apology. I rolled my eyes.

“You didn’t have to act like a hero, I could have handed her myself,” I snapped.

Jimin grinned at me cockily. “I doubt so. Anyway, I have a chance with you, huh, love?”

“Get over it, Jimin, I only said that to spite her. I’m going back to the cafeteria.”

“That doesn’t matter, you still implied that I have a chance with you,” Jimin smirked, following me from behind. I groaned internally. This wasn't going to die down for a while, was it?

Perhaps sensing my frustrations, Jimin quickly changed the topic. “So, about the project… I was wondering if we can do it today after school?”

Remembering our discussion a few days ago, I replied. “Sure, I need to inform my… uncles first, though.”

I quickly stepped aside to let Jimin walk in front of me before hurriedly turning around and going back into the toilet. Stupid, Sera, stupid. Why the heck did you agree so easily? Locking myself in a toilet stall, I pulled out my phone and texted Xiumin. Technically, phones are not allowed in this school, but well, I don’t really care. Rules can’t be broken if no one sees you breaking it.

To: Xiumin

Hey, it’s Sera. there’s a science project, and I’m paired with this guy called Jimin. He’s coming to our house after school to do the project, pls help me clear all the suspicious stuff ok? Tell luhan too :) Also, it would be great if you guys can leave the hse or smth and come home at around 9? Sorry for bothering you!

After I pressed the send button, I quickly texted Tae, too.

To: Tae !! <3

Taee, JImin’s coming later for the project :( try not to come home until after 9 ok i will try to chase him out when it’s time haha. Sorry for bothering you!

I knew Tae would probably not see the text until he was on his way home, but I still sent it anyway, just in case. He was always a very good student, always adhering to school rules, and if he wasn’t a criminal, he would probably be at the top right now.

As soon as I pressed the send button to Taehyung, the school bell rang, signalling the next lesson was going to start. Walking out of the washroom, I sighed and pocketed my phone, totally not looking forward to the end of school. Jimin was going to come over, and I had a feeling that something was going to happen. And my feelings were almost always right.

“Hey, Haneul, wait,” Jimin yelled from behind, hurrying behind me. I rolled my eyes, but stopped for a short while for him to catch up. He appeared next to me seconds later, breathless.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Taehyung walking in the other direction, away from home, staring at his phone. His fingers moved, and in a minute, my own phone vibrated, signalling that there was a message.

From: Tae !! <3

It’s fine, have fun ;)

Oh. That was short. Normally, the messages that Tae sent would be quite long, and he likes to send stuff in paragraphs. I turned around again, trying to see Tae, but he was already out of sight.

“Is Tae not coming?” Jimin asked me, with his usual smirk on his lips.

“Nah, because you are coming, but that’s understandable, I wouldn't want to be in the same house as you, either.” I replied with a smirk.

“Ouch, that hurt,” Jimin gasped, holding his hands to his heart dramatically. “I thought we were friends!” I couldn’t resist laughing at that line.

“Our friendship is one sided, then,” I replied playfully. Then I suddenly thought of something. After the break, Park Jimin hadn’t called me ‘love’ once. “That must be a new achievement,” I muttered under my breath, but unfortunately, Jimin caught it. He raised an eyebrow at me.

“I was thinking, you didn’t call me that stupid nickname once after the break. It’s a new achievement,” I blurted out, and Jimin laughed, but I could sense that it was a genuine laugh.

“What, love?” He asked, and I cringed audibly. “Well, you didn’t like it, and I’m nice, so I stopped.” He shrugged as if it was nothing.

“Since when did you care about other people’s feelings?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. He pretended not to hear me. I wanted to press on, but it would just be plain annoying, and we were reaching my house anyway. I will just ask him next time. If I can remember.

“No! For the hundredth time, I’m sure this is better,” Jimin argued, snatching the paper away from me and cancelling what I wrote down before scribbling down his own ideas.

I glared at him. “I’m telling you, Jimin, your idea is too cliche! We won’t be getting any marks for creativity if we use your ideas, because I’m pretty sure most of the other groups will be doing the same thing anyway. Mine’s better. It’s unique.”

“Yeah, yours is unique, but we have to do this according to the rubrics! I am hundred percent sure mine fits all the criteria and we will get high marks. Even if our creativity mark gets a zero, we will still be safe! Look, creativity is only two marks,” Jimin huffed, shoving the paper into my face.

I shoved his hand away. “I’m not blind, I am aware that it’s two marks. And fine, let’s just use your idea then. This is supposed to be a four-hour long project, and we have already spent half of the time arguing over pointless and procrastinating,”

Honestly, yes, I admit, Jimin’s idea was actually more feasible and more practical and was better. However, out of the schools that I had gone to in the past two years, whenever there was a project like this, most of my groupmates would do the exact same thing as what Jimin was doing right now, and to be honest, I was quite bored of it.

On the bright side, though, I was pretty sure I can complete this project in one day, if something doesn’t screw up.

“I’m going to the toilet,” I told Jimin, who was currently engrossed with typing stuff into the document. He nodded and I stepped out of my room in relief. I didn’t actually need the toilet, of course, but I needed a break, even if it’s just a short one. What was the teacher even thinking, pairing two stubborn people together?

We had spend two hours deciding on a topic, and then in the subsequent hour, we quarrelled every five minutes. Most of the time, Jimin knew I was right, and vice versa, but we were just too stubborn to give in and will continue arguing until the other gets tired. I can’t wait till we complete this stupid project, I thought, before stepping back into my room, only to find Jimin sitting on my bed, holding something in his hands.

“What the hell are you doing!” I yelled, leaping forward and knocking Jimin, and also what he was holding, over. The force resulted in me lying on top of him, and we stared at each other for a very awkward five seconds before I pushed myself off him, who had a very sheepish expression.

I picked the thing that he was holding up, and with just one glance, I already knew what it was. Taehyung’s birthday card to me last year.

I glared at him angrily. “Didn’t your mum tell you not to rummage through other people’s belongings, especially if you didn’t have permission?”

“I don’t have a mum, so no,” Jimin replied straightforwardly without looking at me. Oh. Oh.

“I… I didn’t know, sorry, I-” I fumbled with my words, but he cut me off before I could say more.

“It’s fine, I haven’t had a mum since I was two, so it doesn’t really matter, anyway,” He said, trying to sound nonchalant, but his tone gave him away. I suddenly have an impulse to hug him, and to comfort him, and tell him that I don’t have a mum either, but that would just be weird. And you are still pissed at him because he looked through your stuff, I reminded myself, but it sounded more like a warning to not do anything stupid.

There was a pause before Jimin spoke again. “So… who’s Sera, and why do you have her birthday card, given by Tae?” He asked this with the usual smirk and the playful tone, and it seemed like any trace of the Jimin in the past one minute was gone.

Oh no. What do I do? I wished Tae was here. He would know what to do.

I smirked back and tilted my head back a bit. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out, isn’t it?” Wrong move, wrong move, now he’s going to try to find out who’s Sera, and he will know that I am not Haneul, and I will be dead.

Stupid, stupid. I got to stop acting before I think.

“Just kidding, I will tell you who Sera is, but you have to promise me to keep that a secret,” I continued, still smirking, trying to appear calm on the outside. Inside, however, I was shaking.

“Of course, Park Jimin is the best at keeping secrets,” Jimin grinned brightly, before gesturing me to go on.

I pretended to look at the birthday card again, flipping it back and forth, while trying to think. “Sera… she’s my twin sister,” I finally got out.

Jimin raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing me. “No wonder in that picture, she looks just like you do. But why isn’t she at Seoul with you guys?”

Wait, what? “You said Sera looks just like me?”

“Yeah, your hair colour is different, but eh, you guys just look the same,” Jimin shrugged. Right, I didn’t really change much this time round. Normally, whenever we moved, I would put some disguises on or something, but this time Taehyung and I only changed our hair colour.

“She’s not here because she… she died in a car accident,” I said, trying to look sad. “That was why we moved, you know? There was just too much sadness, too much memories revolving around her in Busan. I must have taken her card by accident when we moved, it was really chaotic.”

There was another round of awkward silence that passed between both of us, and we both looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Unable to take the awkwardness anymore, I broke the silence first.

“Oh, look at the time, it’s getting late, you should go,” I said, gathering up the work that we had done so far, which wasn’t much and giving it to him.

Jimin took them and watched me with an amused smile. “Our project isn’t even done, and you are already chasing me out.”

“Well, my family is coming back soon, so you should go,” I said again, pushing him out of my room and towards the door. “We will continue this project tomorrow, right?”

“Give me your number,” He said abruptly.

“What?”

He snatched my phone from my hand before answering, “I told you before, if you want to do this project at my house, I have to sneak you in. So I need your number so that we can work together and you can be sneaked in successfully.”

“You make it sound so dramatic,” I rolled my eyes, but unlocked my phone for him to key his number in anyway. He fiddled with my phone for a while, before pressing the call button on my phone and his phone rang.

“There, all done,” He announced proudly. “Bye, Haneul.”

“Bye,” I replied flatly, watching him leave. I made sure he was out of sight before slamming the door back and locking it.

Before I could even go back into my room, my phone started ringing.

From: Jimin oppa ;)

See you tomorrow ;)

I scoffed.

To: Jimin oppa ;)

Jimin OPPA? Seriously? What kind of contact name is that?

His reply came almost immediately.

From: Jimin oppa ;)

Aw, come on, you know you secretly want to call me that

just joking don't get mad

you can just go and change it, you know

Yeah, I could just go and change it, but at that moment, I was too lazy. And it's not like I am actually bothered, anyway. I lied down on my bed and was thinking about what to reply when a message came, once again from Jimin.

From: Jimin oppa ;)

oh right, meet me at 9am tomorrow, I'll text you my address later. Wait for me outside the gate, don't ring the doorbell or anything, just text me and I'll come out and sneak you in.

I rolled my eyes.

To: Jimin oppa ;)

How troublesome.

From: Jimin oppa ;)

You were the one who wanted to come, so you can't complain.

Well, it seems like whether in real life or online, Park Jimin and I couldn't go more than ten minutes before starting to quarrel. Somehow, that thought amused me. I laughed to myself and was about to reply back before a text from Jimin came again.

From: Jimin oppa ;)

Hey, Haneul, let's be friends.

Well, that is shocking. And sudden. What the heck does he want with me? Jimin makes me really confused, and not in a good way.

To: Jimin oppa ;)

Alright.