I was late. Running as fast as my chicken legs can take me, I dashed across campus to my locker, where I still needed to pick up my books for class.

            “God damn it why did you have to stay up so late why, why, why?!” I asked, mentally smacking myself.

            As student body vice president, I was required to help out with the school’s upcoming homecoming dance, the itinerary for the senior field trip, and also keeping up with making posters to advertise those events. Plus I have my AP classes to juggle, not to mention I was also captain of the dance team at school, specializing in hip hop, jazz, and ballet.

            But despite those other extra curriculars, I was heavily focusing on my job as vice president, because I really wanted to impress the senior whom I’ve been crushing on since freshman year: Lee Taemin.

            Lee Taemin was student body president. He also has the highest GPA in the school, ranking at #1, is captain of the boys’ varsity soccer team, is the best piano player in the school, and he spoke fluent Japanese. His domination of the school never fails to amaze me.

            In my freshman year, I’d seen him play soccer during my break from dance camp. It was love at first sight, really. I thought he was so handsome and cool. Figures, since he’s the most popular guy in school. I didn’t get the chance to talk to him much freshman year, so I took the chance and campaigned my heart out for student council elections.

            I wanted to be vice president specifically so that I’d have to work next to Taemin all the time. It was rare for a sophomore to be vice president, but I made it through hard work and determination.

            And also by wearing cute dresses to school and curling my hair every morning. I got the whole idea from President John F. Kennedy, who knew that looking good on TV and whatnot really does get you votes.

            BUT, the important thing was that I’ve gotten much closer to Lee Taemin over the past couple of months of my sophomore year. I knew that Taemin, as a senior, would be leaving next year, so I was determined to make this year memorable for me and him. Homecoming was coming up and I was hoping to dear lord that he will plan to ask me.

            So there I was, running to my locker, thinking about homecoming, and Lee Taemin, when I suddenly clash into someone and fall completely onto the ground. I felt my back hurt as soon as I tried getting up.

            “YAH.”

            What now? I mentally groaned.

            As if my morning couldn’t get any worse, I’d bumped into just about the grouchiest and rudest person on the planet.

            I got up from the ground and took notice of the person I’d bumped into: some really tall dude, wearing really run-down converse. Ew.

            “Sorry,” I said. “It was an accident.” As student body vice president of course I had to be the bigger person in such a situation.

            “Whatever,” converse dude said. His voice was really squeaky. Sounded weird. “If I’m getting a ing tardy I blame you.”

            Ouch. Language.

            I brushed off my morning encounter and hurried off to class, getting into my seat just milliseconds before the bell rang. Today I was supposed to meet up with Taemin and the rest of the student council to discuss the plans for homecoming. I couldn’t wait.

            “I was thinking about a masquerade-type theme,” Taemin was saying. “A lot of stars and sparkles. What do you think, Naeun?”

            “Mhm! I think that sounds great,” I said. “I already wrote down a list of places that we can have the dance at. They all fit the school budget and the population of the school.”

            “Great!” Taemin took the list from me and I beamed, hoping that my research had impressed him. The rest of the student council acknowledged my efforts with approval.

            Then somebody started throwing grapes at our table. One hit my cheek and I touched the spot with utter disgust and annoyance.

            “Naeun, can you go tell those guys to stop throwing food at us?” Taemin asked me.

            “Sure,” I said. Anything for you, I suppose.

            I pranced over to the culprits, my vice president persona on high.

            “Excuse me,” I said. “But can you guys please stop throwing food around? The student council is trying to have a meeting.”

            One of the dudes got up and walked over to me. I stayed unfazed.

            “What if we don’t stop?” he asked.

            Oh goodness. Stubborn students who refuse to cooperate. “Then I’m going to have to report you to supervision,” I said, arms crossed.

            “Gosh,” the guy said with a scoff. “First you make me late to class and now you’re threatening to rat me out? How much more goody-two-shoes can you possibly get?”

            “Excuse me?” I asked him, confused. “I made you late to class?”

            “You don’t remember? It was just this morning,” the dude said.

            I looked down at his shoes and saw it: the dirty converse that I’d encountered earlier that day.

            Oh .

            “Wait, you were the one I bumped into this morning?” I asked.

            “Yeah. Did you get a tardy? Cause I got one.”

            “I did not get a tardy, actually,” I replied. “I made it in time.”

            “Wow, lucky you,” converse dude said. “I had to get yelled at by the teacher and everything. I even had to sit outside. All because of you.”

            “Okay don’t try to blame all of this on me,” I said. “You were the one who bumped into me as well.”

            “But you,” converse dude replied, “didn’t have to get yelled at. Now did you?”

            And with him getting the last word, converse dude took a seat back at this table. I’d come to get him and his friends to stop throwing food around. But instead I had to take a ride on the guilt train with conductor Converse Dude.

            “Did you tell them to stop?” Taemin asked me when I got back to his table.

            “Yeah,” I said.

            “Good job,” Taemin said. “You were taking an awful long time with them. I was starting to get worried.”

            Taemin? Worried? About me?

            “You didn’t have to be worried,” I said, trying to bite back my smile. “I could handle them even if they were flesh-eating piranhas.”

            I had to stay back after school a bit to help with the posters for the homecoming dance. Taemin had soccer practice so I didn’t see him, but of course he was there in spirit.

            When I was finished with the posters, it was about 5 PM and the skies were beginning to dim a bit.

            “Bye Naeun, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

            “Okay see ya!” I said, waving goodbye to some of my student council friends.

            Upon reaching the front gate however, I was stopped in my tracks by a dude wearing very dirty converse.

            Oh god not again.

            I pretended not to see him as I walked past him but he grabbed onto the hood of my jacket, forcefully pulling me back.

            “Ow! What the heck do you want?” I asked him.

            “Serves you right for trying to ignore me.”

            I fixed my jacket with an annoyed frown. “What are you still doing at school anyways?”

            “I just got out from,” he paused and leaned in closer to me before saying, “detention.”

            “O-Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

            Converse dude gave me a “surreeeee” look, as if he knew that I wasn’t actually sorry to hear that he’d just gotten out of detention.

            “Detention is fun,” I added. “It’s really quiet in there and you can do your homework and read.”

            “You play the preppy, nice-to-everybody vice president card really well, don’t you?” he sneered at me.

            “It’s my job,” I said with a shrug. “Now if you excuse me, I have to get going.”

            “Where?”

            “Home,” I said. “Where else?”

            “I’ll walk with you,” converse dude said.

            I gave him a look, completely weirded out. “Ummm I can walk home by myself, thank you very much.”

            Converse dude chuckled, a chuckle that made me feel stupid. What does this guy want?

          “I have a feeling,” he said, “that we’re both going to be headed in the same direction anyways, Son Naeun.”

            The dude had actually followed me home. I made sure to keep my distance from him, always walking a few steps ahead. And he seemed to be keeping his distance as well, amazingly. We made no conversation whatsoever, which was completely fine by me.

            Upon reaching my house, I was surprised to find an unfamiliar car parked on the driveway.

            Something’s fishey here.

            I looked back at converse dude, who was giving me an innocent looking grin.

            Something is reaaalllyyyy fishey here e_e

            “Aren’t you going to go home?” I asked him.

            “We’ll see,” was all he said.

            Already having an extremely bad premonition, I opened the door to my house.

            “I’m home,” I announced as I made my way to the living room, where my mother usually was.

            My mother was there alright, next to a man who looked around her age.

My dad had left me and my mother when I was seven. So life has been pretty hard for us financially until my mother found a career as a real estate agent and now we’re somewhat stable. I don’t remember much about my dad. But my mother sure remembered a lot about him. I’d always thought that she wouldn’t really get over the whole abandonment thing but lately she’s been dating this dude who seems to be decent enough. I’ve never met him though.

At least, not until now I guess.

            “Mom,” I said slowly, “what’s going on?”

“This is Kim Sanghyun!” my mother said enthusiastically as she introduced me to who I presumed was her boyfriend. I haven’t actually ever met him officially, even though my mom has been dating him for about a year and a half.

“It is very nice to finally meet you, Naeun,” Mr. Kim said with a friendly smile. “I have heard many great things about you from your mother. You are just as beautiful as she said you were!”

“Thank you, Mr. Kim,” I said. I was getting a good vibe from the dude. Thank goodness.

“We have some big news to share with you,” my mother said. She was smiling off.

“Your mother and I,” Mr. Kim started. And I sort of knew it before he even finished it. “...are going to get married!”

            “Oh my gosh that’s great!” I exclaimed, genuinely excited for my mother. “Congratulations!”

            “Thank you, Naeun,” Mr. Kim beamed. “I will be very happy to have you as a daughter.”

            “You will also be getting a new stepbrother! Isn’t that great? You’ve always been an only child and I’m so worried about you not being able to socialize as much as other kids. But now you’ll have someone to talk to and hang out with!” my mother said excitedly.

            Wait what.

            “Stepbrother?” I asked.

            “Yes,” Mr. Kim said. “I have one son from my first marriage. He’s two years older than you and goes to the same school as you. His name is Kim Myungsoo.”

            “Hm. Never heard of him,” I said.

            “That’s strange. I thought I told him to -- oh there you are Myungsoo! Could you come over here, please?” Mr. Kim gestured over to someone behind me.

            I turned around, but even before seeing the face of my new stepbrother I was already pondering where converse dude had gone after I’d gone inside without closing the front door.

            And maybe, I’d even known it before Mr. Kim had told me.

            But there was no doubt about it, no reason to hide my surprised face as converse dude walked into my living room.

            “Hello, Ms. Son,” he said as he bowed to my mother. “Or, should I say, Mrs. Son? Mom?”

            My mother giggled like a little girl. “Oh he’s so charming, just like you, Sanghyun!”

            “Honey, you’re making me blush!”

            While my mother and my new stepfather were making googley eyes at each other, I was still in a state of psychological shock.

            “You knew about this,” I said through my clenched teeth, “the fact that we were going to become related. Didn’t you?”

            “I’m just so happy,” my new stepbrother said sarcastically, “that I have a new little sister.”

            “What’s your name again?” I asked. “Kim Myungsoo?” Then I started laughing because Park Myungsoo’s face popped up in my mind.

            “Yah, stop laughing!” my new stepbrother demanded. “It’s not funny!”

            When I refused to stop laughing he said, “If you don’t stop laughing on the count of three I am going to smack you, Son Napoop.”

            I stopped laughing. But not because of his threat. “What did you just call me?”

            He smirked.

            “Well then,” I said, “if I’m Son Napoop then I guess you’re Kim Myungpoop, right?”

            “I can’t believe you just said that.”

            “Well I can’t believe that an annoying thing like you is going to be related to me.”

            “Not playing the preppy vice president card now, now are you?”

            “They’re so cute!” my mother cooed. “Look at how they’re getting along!”

            “I think,” Mr. Kim said, swinging an arm around my mother, “that we are all going to like this marriage very, very much.”

A/N: Hoped you guys enjoyed that pretty lengthy chapter! I've actually been working on this whole stepbrother-stepsister-myungeun story for a long while now and didn't want to post it until I was entirely finished but I just couldn't contain myself! There's still some rough edges here and there so thank you guys for putting up with my constant changes. I'll try to update again soon (: