The thing about being a twin, was that it was too easy for people to forget him. They would remember his face but forget his name, his personality, mistake it for the one who shared his look. One would think that they'll remember more of him…wasn't it 'cool' to have a pair of twins at the school? But he realised soon enough that in their mind's databases, they could only fit one face to one person. And that person was never him.

Invisible. It was like being invisible. They saw him yet they didn't. They'll call out to him "Youngmin!" and they'll realise their mistake when he ignored them, too used to it by now. The nicer ones called him the "quiet twin", the "withdrawn twin" but most just called him "weird”. It wasn't that he had nothing to say but he just couldn't be bothered with saying anything to people who couldn't even remember his name. Admittedly, he sometimes got stuck in his own world (very stuck) but it wasn't his fault he had such a vivid imagination. They didn't like it when he started making random hand gestures and mouthing words in the middle of the class. They thought it…queer. But he liked to make up stories in his mind, build sandcastles in the air as his teacher droned on and on and it wasn't his fault that he got so easily lost in it. He actually used to talk to his classmates, attempt to make friends but he'd given up the moment he realised they rather have his more open, more charismatic (or so he always claimed) twin. He decided to keep quiet and blend into the background because it wasn't like they could really see him, or wanted to see him, anyway.

So it was on such a day, when he were busy in his own world and ignoring everyone else - as much as they were ignoring him - that the new girl joined his middle school and came into his class, one hand clutching a walking stick. Honestly though, he hadn't noticed until the classroom suddenly became quiet, snapping him out of his daydream. The teacher was saying something, introducing her but the only thing people were focusing on was...her eyes. Pale, unfocused irises. Yet the smile on her face was so confident and happy, as if absolutely unafraid of anyone's response to her, nor the many difficulties she'll face in a normal middle school. It was surprising enough to push him back into reality for a few more seconds than usual.

The teacher led her to the empty seat next to him. It was once taken up by a classmate but halfway through the term, the girl had decided to sit somewhere else instead, tired of how easily he lost himself in his own world and ignored her, possibly also “weirded” out when he started muttering things. But it didn't matter. He didn't let it matter.

"Jo Kwangmin." The teacher spoke, making sure she got his attention before continuing, "Help her in class, arasso?" With that, the girl felt for the chair and then sat down, still smiling.

"So...Kwangmin, right?" She spoke to him, as the teacher moved to the front of the class, "Nice to meet you!" She stretched her hand towards his direction and he hesitantly shook it, trying to avoid her blank gaze.

"It feels so cool to be here. A real school!" She exclaimed. He wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or him, so he kept quiet.

"Yah! I can't see your expressions, so say something. " She pouted.

He searched his mind for words. It wasn't like him to say anything nowadays. "Ann...annyeong?" He stuttered.

"So that's how you sound like." She said, smiling, "You have a nice voice. And soft hands, if not a bit bony." She giggled. "What's Teacher doing now?"

He looked up. "She's just sifting through her worksheets. "

"What class is it now?"

"Math." He wanted to ask her how she expected to follow the class if she wasn't able to see but...it felt so awkward.

"Is our teacher nice?" She asked.

He shrugged, then realised she couldn't see it. "She's okay."

When the teacher started talking, the new girl stopped asking him questions, listening attentively to what was being taught. He realised that she didn't actually need to see because the teacher made a point to read out everything that she wrote down, though one needed to really focus if he wanted to follow the lesson just like that. He knew that would never work with him and his short attention span. Soon enough, he'd lost himself again.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt..." he muttered softly in the middle of the class.

"Charizard, ember..." he heard someone reply, though he was quite sure it was a water pokemon that was fighting him in his imagination. Snapping out of the daydream, he realised that it was his new deskmate who had responded.

"We can always battle, you know, if you want to." She smiled. "I don't have the cards or anything but we could imagine it. I'm choosing Charizard. You?"

"Pikachu. Pikachu's the best." He replied matter-of-factly.

"Not today." She laughed softly, "Charizard does ember. Your pokemon loses 20hp."

"Pikachu does lightning attack and Charizard fails to dodge." He imagined his favourite yellow pokemon moving and attacking the opponent very quickly, imagined the fire pokemon falling down, only to get up again, though badly wounded. Over the 45 minutes, the two of them played many rounds and in all honesty, it was much more fun like this, with two people. Somehow, she'd managed to concentrate on math as well though. She'd answered most questions correctly when the teacher had asked, unlike he had done. How in the world did she do it?

"How does this teacher look like?" She asked, as the Language teacher stepped in to replace the Math one, the lesson having just ended.

He racked your brain for a description. "Scary?" He tried.

She laughed. "Anything else?"

He bit your lip. "Hair in a bun. Slit eyes. Witch-like."

"Witch? Will she eat us for lunch then?"

"Aniyo. She's in hiding. But sometimes I think she does." He remembered a story he'd once made up about her. Of course, it was one he'd made up in his head when daydreaming. (If she ever saw it on paper, she'll kill him for sure.) "She'll ask to see you after class, then she'll eat you. To replace the child, she'll shape shift a rat to look just like him, except he never acts the same way again. Never follow her out of class."

The girl was shocked. "Doesn't anyone else know?"

"No, only me. I saw her once and she'd nearly caught me. But I made her forget."

"Did you cast a spell? I once did that to my previous teacher. I made her forget I didn't do my homework, though I nearly got caught by another classmate."

"There hadn't been anyone else in the corridor. But the worst part was that it nearly didn't work..."

He started to delve into his own world again, though this time, it seemed that he had a companion. It was...it was different. But nice.

~

"Annyong!" Youngmin greeted the girl. His twin muttered a hello to her as well, as the both of them walked into the class the next morning, with his relatively cheerier brother tagging along as Kwangmin walked towards his seat.

"Annyong!" She replied with a smile. It was a warm, pretty smile but in all honesty, he still wasn't quite used to the blank gaze. "Kwangmin, is that your brother? I heard you have a twin! That's so cool." She exclaimed.

Youngmin flashed his brother a cheeky grin then moved next towards her and sat down on your seat. "Ne. I have a twin."

Somehow, she'd managed to determine the position of his shoulder and playfully whacked him there, "Yah! Don't pretend you're Kwangmin."

"How did you know?" Youngmin asked, surprised, though he did get up and let his brother sit.

"You two sound different. " she stated.

"Everybody always tells us we sound the same." Kwangmin shrugged.

"Maybe you two look the same but no, you don't sound the same. Not to me." She smiled. "I guess it doesn't matter if you're twins to me then because you're definitely two different people. It'll be cool to see two people who look the same though! It's probably like seeing clones!"

The two brothers looked at each other then shrugged, not knowing how to reply. Youngmin made his way towards his own seat and his friends immediately started crowding around him, chatting with him. His classmates liked him a lot. He was the more open twin and he knew how to not lose himself in his own world. Kwangmin had also heard girls mention before about how "cute" he was. It was hard for someone who'd experienced his brothers tanthrums and laziness to believe though. If it was any consolation, he knew his brother wanted to be "charismatic", not cute, which was actually even harder for him to imagine.

"Could we play that game today again?" She asked him, out of the blue.

"Mwo?"

"Make believe." She replied. "If you don't mind, of course. I think you come up with really interesting stories! It takes..." she racked her mind for the right words, "It takes away the darkness." She said this with a wide smile. Kwangmin wasn't too sure how to respond.

"Well, it's no secret that I'm blind." She laughed, sensing his discomfort from the silence, "I can't see so I like to imagine things, imagine people or places or stories in my mind. When I do that, the darkness disappears and is replaced with something much more interesting! It's as if I can see again."

Kwangmin bit his lip, still not sure what to say. He really had to start learning how to talk to people again...

"If you want to concentrate in class, then it's okay." She told him, though he noticed her face had fallen slightly, "I just thought yesterday...was fun."

"Aniyo! I mean...n-" Kwangmin facepalmed at his stuttering, "I mean...It was fun! And...I like daydreaming. A lot. So let's continue playing, arasso?" For some reason, saying this made his cheeks feel hot.

She clapped her hands together, "Arasso!" Her smile was wide and radiant and somehow, seeing it made him happy. There was something very warm and fuzzy about the feeling of friendship.

~

"He's coming. Shh." Kwangmin whispered to her. They were both huddled up in the corner of the classroom, their eyes shut tight.

"No, the footsteps sound too light. I think its someone else." She whispered back. Despite this, she was clinging on to his hand tightly.

It was recess now and the rest of the class had gone off to the canteen. Just like other days, she had brought biscuits to school so that they didn't need to leave the classroom and could continue playing. His brother once remarked to him that it was childish to still play make-believe in middle school but it seemed like a good thing now… She treated it as a good thing.

Suddenly, a scary voice spoke, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Witch! The both yelped, still stuck in the imaginary world they had created. Immediately after, they realised that the voice was actually real. She gulped and shivered slightly, while Kwangmin slowly opened his eyes, hoping it wasn't who he thought it was…

Their language teacher was staring at them with fiery, piercing eyes that made Kwangmin unconsciously shift closer to the wall. They were dead, so dead...

"Detention. Both of you. " Her voice was steely cold, "For eating in class-" she shifted her gaze to the box of biscuits, "And for being rude to the teacher."

Kwangmin briefly considered how much better it was to be blind now and not have to face her gaze. Peeing in his pants was not an option for a middle-schooler.

~

"We really have to clean the room up?" She muttered, crestfallan.

Kwangmin was angry, a lot angrier that he would have expected himself to be but making a blind girl clean up an entire classroom (the older kids had had a class party and there were even food scraps on the floor) was simply unfair! Their teacher had given them a classroom each to clean up and informed them that they weren't allowed to help each other. Laying down punishments for students who broke the rules were understandable but…How was this sort of punishment reasonable at all?

He watched her enter the classroom assigned to her, tapping the floor with her walking stick and trying to avoid tables. He couldn't stand it.

"I'll help you." He stated, rushing inside the room, beginning to clear the paper plates off the tables.

"She said we couldn't help each other." She protested, "And I can still feel and pick up things! I'm not that hopeless."

He looked at her, incredulous.

"Kwangmin-ya, you have your own classroom to clean." She sighed. "If I remember correctly, that room's bigger than this one. See? She gave me the smaller classroom. It's alright."

Kwangmin just shook his head, not saying anything. He was still pissed at the teacher's decision. She really was an evil witch.

"Just sit down. I'll help you. It's not like she'll come in and check anytime soon." He told her.

"But I can do this myself! Really!" She exclaimed. "Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't face a punishment like other kids."

He looked at her and her flushed face, realising that there was more to her reluctance to letting him help her (which he really, really, really wanted to do) than he initially assumed there was. She wanted to prove herself.

Kwangmin sighed, "Fine. But I'm still helping you. You can help me with my room after that."

She nodded her head, stretching out her hands to touch the tables, apparently looking for things to throw away. Kwangmin slowly shifted a paper plate towards her direction and as she made contact with it, she picked it up and put it to a side. He noticed there was a hint of a smile on her face at her ability to help.

"Is it okay if I put everything in a pile and you help me throw it away afterwards?" She asked.

He nodded, "Sure." He watched as she continued to search for things and he shifted another plate towards her direction, allowing her to find it. Her smile was even more noticeable now. He continued doing this throughout the whole process of cleaning up and although it took a lot longer than it should have, the smile on her face was worth it.

~

It was the first school year in which he actually wanted to come to school, actually felt excited to wake up early and stride into the classroom and take his seat next to the first and only person outside his family that he had opened up to. She was his first true friend. He wished... he just wished the year had been longer.

"You don't seem your usual self. What happened?" She asked him as they walked down the corridor. People generally noticed the fact that she was blind and gave her space but he still always made it a point to walk on the side of her that was most crowded with people. He knew how much she longed for independence but he still felt the need to protect her, as much as a skinny twelve-year-old boy could do.

"Ne?"

"Don't pretend. You seem glum." For someone who couldn't see any facial expressions, she was always able to tell how he felt.

"It's nothing." He muttered.

She raised her eyebrows at him and then sighed. "I've already heard about how you're transferring schools."

"Wh-what? When?" His eyes widened.

"The girls were whining about it. I think Youngmin told them... Congrats to both of you for passing the auditions though!" She smiled, though it seemed a bit forced.

He bit his lip. "Thank you..."

"Maybe you'll appear on TV one day. That'll be so cool."

"I don't know...Omma thinks it's a good opportunity but I...I..." I don't want to leave you, he wanted to say. But it was a bit...It would make his cheeks hot.

"You should go for it!" She cheered, "It's a once in a lifetime chance to be a star...you should take it!"

Her voice was injected with enthusiasm but the young girl looked like she was about to cry.

"I..."

"If I counted the steps correctly, this is my class. Yours is at the homeroom, right? Bye!"

He didn't know what to say in return but it didn't matter because she'd turned her back to him immediately and dashed into the classroom. As quick as she had been, he had glimpsed the glistening tears. The walk back to his homeroom was done in a complete daze, leading to him being late for class and forced to stay back after school.

Detention brought back memories that he knew he would never stop missing once he left.

~

He'd talked to his mom about her before, so when the last day of school arrived, she had insisted on taking a picture of the two of them. "For memory's sake," his Umma had said. It had hurt to smile for that picture...As valuable as it was to him, a photograph held no value for a girl who could not see.

"I bet you'll do well in the future." She smiled and said to him, as they attempted to prolong the period of time they had before his Umma dragged him home, seeing as how the school was quickly emptying itself of students, eager to get home and start the holidays.

"I..." He began, but stopped because his voice had cracked. He unconsciously glanced around to see if anyone was looking at them. He felt like he was too old to be seen crying in public.

"Thank you for being my friend and making the darkness much more friendly, Kwangminnie. I'll miss our adventures." She spoke softly, quickly wiping away a tear that had fallen.

"I..." Kwangmin shook his head and gave up on the words. Stepping forward, he hugged her small frame and felt her hug him back. Slipping the disc into her pocket, he answered her questioning look, while trying not to choke on the words in between sniffles, “Please listen to it.”

~

She had asked her brother if there was anything written on the disc cover before he slotted it into the computer for her. He’d replied that the handwriting was messy and hardly legible but it looked like the words “Letters to a friend I will never forget” had been scribbled on it.

She was glad she’d chased her brother out and locked the bedroom door afterwards. All it took were the first few seconds of the voice recording to make the young girl cry.

Thank you for being my friend, for listening, for everything. I’ll always miss you, you who had understood me from the start and had shared your stories with me. I'll never forget you.

People say I’m quiet but I cannot stop talking when I’m with you. I have so much to say and everyday, I’m still left with so much that I wanted to say but did not. This…this is a vocal recording of what people would call my diary. Maybe I’m the only weird boy who keeps a diary but…If you will, please listen…  

-o-

“March 15. Pikachu nearly died today but I’m still smiling because I never thought someone would play that with me. But you did…”

Kwangmin quickly closed the small notebook and stuffed it back under his dormitory bed, as he heard one of the members past by the bedroom. Honestly, he’d taken it out simply to look at it again. He didn’t need to read the actual diary because he could remember every word he’d written in it, every word he’d repeated out loud that night into the voice recorder…He hadn’t wanted to leave her with unspoken words burning inside him because that would make him miss her more. Time had allowed certain memories to fade away but it still ached inside when he recalled his time with his childhood friend.

I wrote to you every day and at the thought of you being happy to see me…

As I touch the letters in my pocket that I was going to give you…

They says the best song lyrics were written from true experiences, that they were expressions of true pain or love, were attempts at releasing those feelings into bars of music so as to avoid being overwhelmed by the emotions. Staring at the scribbled lyrics on the paper, he hoped the same applied to raps.

Author's note: The next chapter will tell of Minwoo's childhood.