Identical Mayhem

“Fine. I’ll do it.” I said, sighing. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do though, Jinki. Don’t you think that it’d be better if you just told her the truth?”

“I don’t want to worry her.” Jinki replied from the bed he was lying in. He was strung up to numerous tubes and a heart monitor beeped steadily. An intravenous drip supplied him with glucose water while he regained his strength from the horrible car accident that had put him into this state a week ago. “It’s been more then a week since I last saw her. She might be wondering what happened to me, so you have to find her fast and clear all suspicions, okay?”

“I hope she finds out. This is just weird.” I replied firmly. “Something might make you regret this.”

“Please, Onew, just this one time, stand in for me, eh?” Jinki pleaded.

I sighed and turned around, striding briskly out of the Intensive Care Unit in which Jinki stayed.

--

“Still dreaming about your ‘best friend’?” Minji asked Rinrin smugly.

Rinrin flushed a deep red. “He’s just my best friend, Minji! There’s nothing more to it! Stop suggesting it!”

“Well I still think that the way you look at him is a tad too besotted to be just best friends.” She replied casually while looking at her nails and painting them a bright orange.

Kim Minji, Rinrin’s best girl friend, was always poking fun at Jinki and her. “Why? Jealous?” Rinrin asked.

“Maybe.” She pouted and batted her long eyelashes. “We hardly have enough girl time together. You’re always out with him.”

“Admit it!”

“Fine. But only when you admit that you like Jinki.” Minji smirked.

“Okay, okay, maybe I have a little bit of admiration for him, that’s it.” She sighed in defeat.

“Speak of the devil.” Minji chuckled, sliding off the table that she was sitting on and blew at her damp nails. “Have fun.” She winked at Rinrin and skipped out of the room after stepping on my feet playfully.

“What’s with her?” I asked, rubbing the back of my neck, annoyed. No one ever crosses me like that without asking for a beating. Not even girls. But having to play the role of my goody-two-shoes brother, I held in my anger and continued walking towards Rinrin.

“She’s always like that.” Rinrin laughed at my bewildered expression. “Where have you been these last few days?”

“Oh, you know, working on projects, of course. My university professor is so irritating! He loaded us with homework that kept me busy the entire week.”

Rinrin frowned. Crap. I forgot that Jinki loves studying.

“Er… I mean that’s what one of my classmates told me and I told him to shut the hell up or he’d get it from me.”

Her frown deepened. Damn, I’m really not good at this good boy attitude thing. “Erm, whatever, let’s do something more interesting, hey?”

“Like what?”

“Let’s go to the mall.” I stood up and grabbed her by the wrist, hailing a taxi while I walked to the roadside.

We stumbled into the taxi and sat beside each other awkwardly. Okay, so maybe I was awkward, but Rinrin seemed used to the silence between us. Maybe she even felt comfortable. But that’s because she doesn’t know that she’s actually sitting beside a stranger.

--

“So how was today?” Jinki asked when I staggered into the hospital room, emotionally and physically drained.

“How do you manage to be so nice, Jinki? I don’t think I can bear another day pretending to be you. So many chances to play pranks on strangers and I have to restrain myself just because Rinrin will be suspicious if I do something out of your character.” I groaned, massaging my temples to curb my throbbing headache.

Jinki stayed silent and frowned at me for a moment or two, before bursting into loud laughter that left me stunned.

“Hey! It’s not nice to laugh at people’s misfortunes!” I protested.

“Nothing. It’s just that…” He said in between spurts of laughter. “You’re complaining like such a kid. Since when were you this ‘uncool’? And your face was just so funny.” Jinki snorted.

I snorted and leaned against the wall. “I am the perfect epitome of coolness, Jinki. Do not even try to compare yourself against me.”

“Yeah, right.” Jinki said not unkindly.

--

“What shall we do today?”

“How about something more exciting?” I suggested. “Instead of the usual rounds in the shopping mall, how about we try out the amusement park?”

“What?” Rinrin stared at me. “Isn’t the entry fee going to cost a bomb?”

“Who cares?” I replied. “You only live once. Besides, if you can’t afford it, I’ll pay for you.” It is, after all, money from Jinki’s own wallet, and not mine.

“Are you sure?” Rinrin asked in a doubtful voice when we approached the large golden gates that led to the ticketing counters.

“Of course!” I insisted. Why not spend his money on a good time, anyway? He owes me a lot for this favour he asked of me, anyway. I have a justifiable reason to spend his money on expensive tickets.

“And the total amount is one hundred dollars.” The ticketing manager said.

“Really?” Rinrin stepped back and looked up at the board. “It says here that it costs sixty dollars per person.” She looked at the manager questioningly. Damn, this girl is too honest for her own good. But who cares, eh? It’s not even my own money.

“Well, you see, we have this promotion going on right now.” The manager explained. “Instead of one hundred and twenty dollars for two people, it costs one hundred dollars for one girl and one guy. It’s a couple discount.”

Wait, what? Couple discounts?

“We’re not a couple.” I found myself blurting out.

Rinrin’s face turned a dark shade of red due to embarrassment and I found my own face flushing to match hers.

“What utter lies. There’s no need to be ashamed, young man. In fact, you should be proud that you have such a lovely young lady here as your girlfriend.”

Rinrin turned away and walked stiffly to the entrance, waiting for me there. I muttered something unintelligible under my breath and hurried to where Rinrin was before the guy could say anything more. I hate that kind of annoying people where they make random assumptions before they even know what’s going on. But it’s not like I can say anything about it either. I actually always thought that Rinrin was together with Jinki; not that I can ask her whether she is, cause she thinks that I am him.

We went through a bunch of different rides, and surprisingly, Rinrin wasn’t scared at all when we took the rollercoaster rides. Or, at least I think so. She didn’t scream, but she did freeze up in a stiff position for the entirety of the ride.

“Must we go in there? I hate haunted houses.” Rinrin shuddered, standing at the entrance of the attraction nervously.

Well, actually, I hate them too. But for a completely different reason.

“These are so fake!” I snorted, flicking the plastic head that hung down from the ceiling while Rinrin clutched tightly onto my arm.

She giggled softly, but still peered around the room anxiously until I finally stopped and turned to her. “Look, these things are completely fake. They don’t even look the least bit realistic, so just tell yourself that these things are nasty little painted plastic mannequins and you’ll be fine.”

She stared at me with wide eyes, not answering. Damn, she’s actually quite pretty for a nerd. Why didn’t Jinki get together with her? She’s quite nice as well.

I walked through the haunted house in a funny mood, while Rinrin hung onto my arm like she’d die if she let go or something.

When we exited the haunted house, I looked at her and did a double take. She was shaking really badly, and her face was pale.

I waved a hand in front of her face and she stared blankly at me. “What’s the matter? Are you okay?” I asked in a soft voice.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. They’re not real anyway.” She said in a squeaky voice.

I couldn’t help it. I ended up bursting into laughter while Rinrin stared at me with a bewildered expression on her face.

“Sorry, your face was just so funny.” I said in between bursts of laughter. Gee. I guess I’m kind of like my brother, eh?

The rest of the day went by in a blur, and I found out that Rinrin isn’t as nerdy as I thought she was. She loves a good softball game, and is actually, quite innocent. There was something that happened that told me that, of course.

A guy approached her earlier and asked her for directions. Rinrin didn’t suspect anything, and just told him. When he said that he’d like her to show him the way, I started suspecting something, but the idiotic girl went and complied. What else could I have done but rejected the guy for her and steered her far, far away from him? Hey, it could’ve been worse. If the guy actually talked back to me, I’d have punched his lights out.

“Just don’t do that again, kay?” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose with my index finger and my thumb.

“Do what? Give directions?” Rinrin asked, sipping her drink through her straw.

Aish. This girl just doesn’t get it. “All he wanted is not just directions.” I explained through gritted teeth.

“Then?” She looked at me with a clueless expression on her face.

“He wanted to… I don’t know!” I threw my hands up in frustration as we walked towards the taxi stand. Man, I should just get a car for myself.

Sensing my anger, she kept quiet and followed me silently to the waiting taxi. “Why’re you so upset?” I closed the door behind me and sat down fuming next to her, not sure of how to reply to her.

Why was I so upset? Why am I so pissed off at something that’s over? Why? I have no clue myself. I don’t even know how to explain this.

“Are you going to tell me or not, Jinki?” She asked, a note of anger creeping into her voice.

I jerked at my brother’s name. Oh yeah, I forgot. She knows me by my brother’s name. Not by mine.

Somehow, that kind of irked me too. I kept silent and stared out of the window, a frown forming on my face.

“Will you please answer me?”

I turned to see her searching my face intently.

And so I told her the truth. “I don’t know.”

“What?” A look of puzzlement crossed her face. “What?”

“I don’t know.” I repeated.

“I heard you the first time.” She was quiet for a minute or two, and then she spoke up again. “Remember the first time you helped me?”

I looked at her. I didn’t. But then again, I couldn’t exactly tell her that, could I? “Yeah.”

“I always thought that maybe you didn’t like me, and that it was puppy love, nothing much really serious. But after seeing you so… I don’t know, flustered. Well, I guess I think I really do like you, Jinki.” She smiled tentatively at me.

Something in me snapped. “Don’t call me that!” I said furiously and she looked at me in shock.

“Hey, hey, hey.” The taxi driver warned. “Take your lover’s spat somewhere else. Your quarrel is giving me a headache. I think you shouldn’t be treated your girlfriend like this, boy. She seems like a good enough person.”

“She is not my girlfriend!” I snapped at the driver, clambering out of the cab.

I turned back and saw something that made me regret my words. I had forgotten to take into mind her last words before I had said that.

She thought that I had rejected her.

She bit down on her lip and looked around. “Well, funny place to alight at, huh?” She said bravely.

I looked around and noticed that we were at the hospital.

“Rinrin, I-”

“Look, you don’t have to like me back, Jinki. Just promise me that we’ll still be friends after this?” A tear trickled down her cheek, and I reached out towards her, wanting to wipe it away. But she shied away from me, and this time it was my turn to be hurt.

“Onew?” Someone called from behind.

My eyes widened in surprise, and I spun around to see Jinki hobbling towards me in crutches. “Hey, so how was the outing with-”

He stopped short when he saw Rinrin. Panic flashed quickly across his face before he composed himself.

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” He asked Rinrin softly.

“O-Onew? Who’s that? And there’re two of you?” Rinrin closed her eyes and shook her head back and forth slowly. “I don’t understand.”

“We’re twins. Identical twins.” I explained harshly. My emotions were too fragile and I wasn’t used to it. “Maybe now that you know I’m not your precious Jinki, you’ll forget about all your feelings and everything you’ve said to me just now.”

“What’s going on?” Jinki looked at me.

“Rinrin confessed her feelings for you.” I said to him. Then, to her, I spoke. “There. I’ve done it for you. Now you don’t have to worry about gathering courage to confess.”

A clean break was best for us. In the rage of the moment, I my heel to leave, and strode away from the scene that would haunt me for years to come.

--

It was for her. Everything was for her.

Now that she’s reunited with her Jinki, she’ll forget about me. Yes, she may hate me, but I’ve shortened the painful period for her. It’ll soon give way to hate. I’ve even taken away her dilemma of having to choose between sweet Jinki and horrible Onew. But then again, what sane girl would choose me over perfect Jinki?

Maybe she’ll hate me for the rest of her life, but I know that she’ll be happy with Jinki. In fact, they just got married last month. They didn’t know it, but I was there for a short while.

Just in time to see them kiss. 

Characters:

SHINee: Lee Jinki, Lee Onew

Fic: Park Rinrin

By: minminXP

For: chicken_oppa

I'm sorry for taking forever to finish this story. I just couldn't find a way to wrap this up nicely. So sorry if the ending , but I couldn't find any other way to stay true to Onew's bad boy character and pair him up with Rinrin. So, you have Onew yearning for Rinrin who hates him. I'm a bad author. T.T