Chapter 6
Finding my Twin Brother
O u r O n e W e e k T i m e I s U p
Finally, it was time.
"Good luck Kwangminnie!"
It was the end of the week, and the twins finished switching to get to their own events. Youngmin to his basketball game and Kwangmin to his Academic Math competition. Today's prize would be new computers for KangSeoo, so Kwangmin was excited and very nervous.
"Will you guys watch it?"
"Of course!" His two best friends Hyunseong and Minwoo said in sync.
"Thank you" Even though Kwangmin had been waiting for this day. His friends can notice the sadness in his voice as Kwangmin thanked them.
"You'll do fine. You studied well."
"I just wished Youngmin can come and see..."
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On the other side of life, Youngmin couldn't stand still. He kept urging the coaches to start the game as early as they can. His excuse to them?
"I'm ready! So let's play!"
The coach was very delighted to see Youngmin's excitement. The ace player swiftly ran back and forth around the court with the determination to win. Girls watching were screaming at how cool he was and boys were cheering him on to win for the school. It only made him cooler. Only screams of Youngmin's name was heard.
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Minwoo pouted extremely jealous that all Kwangmin worried about was Youngmin.
"Kwangmin-ah. You know you two can't be in the same place at the same time in school." Hyunseong patted Kwangmin's shoulder.
"I know..."
"Come on Kwangminnie! It's about to start!" To take him out of his Youngmin worries, Minwoo hugged Kwangmin's arm and walked with him to the stage where he can worry about the questions instead.
"Hwaiting!" His two friends cheered before leaving to watch from the audience view.
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"Let's go Youngmin! Let's go!" Boom Boom! Cheers from the band played.
Swish! "Another shot made by Jo Youngmin!" And the crowd goes wild.
It felt like forever for Youngmin. He never worked this hard on a game in his life. Sweat dripping, and chest pounding from panting, It only made him look more attractive.
He kept looking at the game clock. No matter how quickly he wanted the game to end, he felt like the clock was only slowing down.
"Come on coach!"
The team was a little confused about Youngmin's rush. They were talked about the game plan while the ace played shouted. The faster it ended, the better.
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Kwangmin stared at the crowd. His two friends smiling at him. It was a little embarrassing though whenever Minwoo brings a large poster sign with Kwangmin's name on it. Minwoo proudly waved it, not caring about the other people behind him who couldn’t see.
"For crying out loud Minwoo it's not a concert!" Hyunseong tried to grab the poster from the maknae but the fan boy was determined to keep it. The two battled for the poster a bit.
"No! Let him know we are cheering for him with all our hearts!"
With a sigh and a shook in the head, Hyunseong gave up. He made a face at Kwangmin who saw the whole thing and only smiled shyly.
Minwoo continued to smile brightly to Kwangmin and wave his cheering poster.
BUZZ!
"Begin!"
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And there it was. The beautiful noise Youngmin had been waiting for. The end-game buzzer.
Without a second thought to stay for the awarding, the ace player fled the court gym with Donghyun and Jeongmin following right behind him.
It was unexpected for people but the two close friends already knew where Youngmin was heading. It wasn't the first time they've seen him running around this week.
"Good job Youngminnie!"
“ha... Ha…” He panted. “Since when do you call me that? Only Minwoo does."
"Heh, it catches on." Jeongmin smiled.
They practically raced to the limo and once Youngmin got in, he let out a big sigh of relief. Finally he was able to relaxed.
"You know you and Kwangmin can't be in the same school at the same time." Well he relaxed until Donghyun said that.
"......" It angered him. "Are you stopping me now?"
Donghyun sighed at his dongsaeng's disrespectful tone. "No.."
Youngmin felt sorry, but he didn't voice it. Stress built up inside him.
They finally arrived at KangSeoo and at the last minute, Youngmin grabbed a hat to wear to hide a little of his face. It wasn't completely covered but it will do for now specially since the sun was setting.
Without even waiting for anybody to follow, he impatiently ran through the school gates then to the school gym where the competition was being held.
Unfortunately though, right when he got there, it was already the last round. He was far in the end and he tried to get through the crowd without being noticed. It somewhat failed. Some girls already noticed the YongDoJin uniforms Donghyun and Jeongmin wore. They smiled awkwardly trying to get through without getting their clothing pulled.
"What did we miss?" Jeongmin loved to sneak up on his hyung. Hyunseong's body shivered feeling Jeongmin's whisper in his ear.
The now blushing Hyunseong turned around and was greeted with a smiley Jeongmin. Happy about successfully teasing him.
"Ah... Jeongmin-ah...! Donghyun, Youngmin, You made it.."
"Barely!" At the sound of Youngmin's name, Minwoo turned surprised he was actually here. "It's the last round. It's a tie. If Kwangmin gets this.. He wins!"
With heavy worries, everyone stared at the golden boy on stage. Kwangmin was scared and very nervous but he tried to keep his composure. He was given the final problem with only 60 seconds to solve. It felt like forever to the audience who anticipated the result of the winning answer.
The crowd went silent.
"Congratulations KangSeoo High! Your answer was correct! You win!"
The silence immediately died. Screams and cheers from the school supporters overpowered and specially Minwoo.
"Cho Kwangmin!! Cho Kwangmin!!" Like a fangirl, the hyper maknae screamed and jumped for joy with his poster.
"Woooooooo!!" Jeongmin cheered along with Hyunseong who made whistles as they watched Kwangmin receive a trophy and a medal.
Very proud. Incredibly proud, Youngmin sure was. A huge smile was planted on his face for a long time as he clapped and clapped. He tried not to cheer so he could blend in with the crowd.
The pride of the school, Cho Kwangmin was standing in the middle of the stage, waving to his friends as happy as he can ever be.
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"To Kwangmin!!! Woooooooo!" The five friends all raised their glasses of apple cider to cheer.
The eventful day finally ended and for a bit, they've decided to relax at Jeongmin's house for some snacks and drinks. Legal drinks of course. Juices and soda's appropriate for their age.
Laughter and smiles relaxed everyone and the new found friendship between the six felt great.
Each and every one shared their story for the day then gradually turned into their own separate conversation.
Donghyun sat next to Minwoo and the two talked about when to plan their next meeting without spitting out the real reason why.
Jeongmin was getting attached to his new favorite person to tease. They happened to sit next to each other and Jeongmin kept poking Hyunseong's arm without a reason. After a few minutes, the victim stopped questioning Jeongmin's ways and just let the boy play with him.
The Jo and Cho look alike were so happy they finally got some time to relax. The worries and the stress for the week were over and they are thankful they don't have to go through that again for a while.
They chatted for a bit until they noticed their two friends was getting along so well. They smiled very thankful for it.
The night was deepening and each had to go their separate ways.
Kwangmin, Hyunseong, and Minwoo were all dropped off by Donghyun. How kindly of him. Luckily all three lived around the same neighborhood. Youngmin decided to sleep over Jeongmin's. It wasn't the first time but Jeongmin knew there was a reason for it this time.
Once everyone left, the eldest of the two questioned.
"So what’s wrong?"
"Eh? nothing! Just wanted the real truth on how Kwangmin was doing being me. I know he might not tell me everything, but you can. How did he do in class?"
"Oh great! He might have even bumped up your grades."
Both chuckled.
"Great. So what else?"
And so Youngmin kept his ears open listening to Jeongmin's stories about what Kwangmin did, how he did it and when. A smile stayed in his face hearing the cute stories about Kwangmin's actions in class. He didn't notice it, but that smile stayed throughout the rest of the night.
Back in his real home, the person of interest was dead tired sleeping on his bed. Tucked in a Pokemon blanket and hugging a Pikachu plush.
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It was a new day. The beginning of the weekend actually. The bright sun peeked through the window and kissed Youngmin's cheek to wake him up gently. Sweet and slowly, he opened his eyes and remembered he wasn't in his own room but in Jeongmin's guest room. Either way, it still felt like home.
A yawn and a stretch was all it took to wake him up. He felt good waking up by himself without anyone to bug him. At least before he glanced at the clock. It was two in the afternoon.
I slept that long?!
He realized he must have been too tired from yesterday's game.
It was confirmed when he read the note Jeongmin left on the bedside table.
Youngmin-ah! You're never easy to wake up! So I went out with Hyunseong~
You know what to do around the house.
Have fun~
♥ Jeongmin
He tilted his sleepy head. Hyunseong?... So he tried to wake me up... His heavy sleeping habit never dawned on him until now.
He got up and decided to go home to have a nice hot bath.
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"I'm home." Youngmin greeted the second he opened the door. It became a habit after living there.
Kwangmin's mom waved softly before returning her hands to cooking. She was wearing a cute floral apron over her clothes that made her look like a happy hardworking mom and housewife. Youngmin loved the feel of it.
"Ah, Kwangmin-ah. Didn't know you went out. I thought you've been in your room this whole time." What she said shocked Youngmin. "I'm almost done here. I'll bring you a sandwich later."
And as quickly as he can, Youngmin ran upstairs to 'his’ room leaving the mom baffled.
He had a thought to why 'his' mom said such a thing and as he ran up the tough wooden stairs he prayed his guess was wrong. Youngmin quickly opened the door only to be slapped with how wrong he was. He closed it behind him making Kwangmin turn showing an equally surprised face.
"What are you doing here?!"
"What are you doing here?!"
Both tried their best to whisper their surprised voices.
"What do you mean what am I doing here?!"
"This is my room!" Kwangmin got up from his study desk "The week is over isn't it?!"
"But you didn't tell me anything so I thought it was still going!" Youngmin shook his head and hands trying to make sense of the confusion.
"But you didn't tell me anything so I thought it ended! I came back last night!"
The two handsome boys sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, shoulders slumped. The lack of the communication about their plan surely was buried due to their busy switching charade.
"I.. Don't want to go back Kwangmin.."
The real Kwangmin felt the sadness his mirror friend showed. Being prince Youngmin was great, but Kwangmin felt the loneliness Youngmin felt in that huge mansion. It was like running around an endless puzzle. Millions of doors to take but don't know which one is the real way out. Well at least for Kwangmin anyway, being foreign to the place and all.
"I understand Youngmin... But we can't both be here..."
A knock on the door startled the twins.
"Kwangmin-ah! I made you a sandwich." They both panicked, specially Kwangmin. Hearing his mom's voice scared him and ran around the room looking for a place to hide.
".…..!!!"
"Kwangmin! Hide!" Youngmin pulled the panicked boy to the closet and tried to shove his body in there.
"Wait! Wait! Why me?!"
"Because your mom already saw my clothes!"
"But I'm the real-!" The shut of the closet door ended Kwangmin's protest.
Youngmin went ahead and opened the door welcoming his mom to place the sandwich plate on the study table. He thanked himself for locking the door earlier.
"There you go son. Why lock the door?"
Youngmin scratched his head, not expecting to be questioned. "I was about to change...?"
Kwangmin's mom smiled and leaned to kiss 'his' son's cheek. "Your growing up so fast."
Youngmin smiled slightly blushing. He never felt this cared for before. Sure his maids bring him food all the time, but not without real care. He felt really loved.
Kwangmin who was peeking from the closet had the perfect view of the scene. He never saw Youngmin glow like that. He really is a prince.. He saw everything he wished to be in Youngmin. Cool, calm and collected. He felt selfish to take Youngmin's happiness away and the fact that he knew he was the only one who can fulfill it, left his heart tied in a knot.
Once his mom left, Kwangmin slowly walked out of the closet and watched Youngmin lock the door before heading to the sandwich.
"Hey! That's mine!" Kwangmin quickly snatched it from Youngmin and took a bite.
"Oh come on....! I haven't eaten all day!" Youngmin fought back and took the sandwich from Kwangmin's hand to take a bite. He turned around to hide his flustered face as he realized he just had an indirect kiss for the very first time from anybody.
Oblivious to it, Kwangmin sat on the bed and stared at Youngmin's back, thinking of how to fix their little problem.
"Youngmin-ah... Why don't we just tell our parents we met each other at the mall then became friends. So you can sleep over anytime you want."
With his mouth full and cheeks puffed, Youngmin turned around and only nodded as a reply to Kwangmin's suggestion.
Kwangmin smiled at how cute it was. Youngmin must have been really hungry. It would be fun to have Youngmin eat dinner with him and his family.
It was a good and honest plan, Kwangmin thought. He preferred it rather than sneaking around. So to get to it, he took Youngmin's hand in his and walked out of the room ready to tell his parents about his new friend.
"They will be so surprised~" Kwangmin was excited, Youngmin was too but only smiled.
"Jagiya, I'm worried about Kwangmin..."
"Why? Is there something wrong with him?"
Youngmin squeezed Kwangmin's hand to stop him from walking any further. He pulled Kwangmin‘s hand back and held it tight. Confused, Kwangmin looked at Youngmin in the eyes without saying anything and the other's eyes told him to stop.
Kwangmin knew what Youngmin wanted and it was to eavesdrop but being the good boy Kwangmin was, he didn't want to. He shook his head but Youngmin just held onto him to keep him from moving and leaned both bodies against the wall.
"I just heard him talking to himself" The parents' conversation continued.
The main reason Youngmin wanted to listen was because he wondered if the parents noticed 'Kwangmin's' behavior when they switched. Was it obviously different?
"Well he has been quiet this week... And asked a lot of questions about us.."
It was natural. Youngmin was curious.
"Do you think he knows...?"
Knows? know what? Kwangmin looked up at Youngmin again. They were face to face but that wasn't the bigger deal right now.
"We should tell him yeobo..."
"No! no! I told you, we cannot tell him. He will hate me."
Hate?! Kwangmin was getting more curious and nervous. Youngmin felt it and caressed the hand he held for comfort.
"I don't want him to find out from other people! Or when he has to fill out applications for college! He is growing up! He deserves to know!"
Know what?! Know what?! Kwangmin felt like interrupting and yelling his thoughts. Youngmin only held onto him tighter to stop his intensions. He somewhat heard what Kwangmin was thinking.
The dad let out an exasperating sigh. "He won't find out that way..."
"What about hospitals huh?! When the time comes and he needs to check himself into a hospital, he will find out from the forms there that you are not his real father!"
The twins’ eyes widened and Kwangmin’s heart stopped.
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