▬「:CHAPTER ⊹ E I G H T ▫ ▪

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        sugar and spice . day and night . white and black . sweet and sour . present and absent . hot and cold . shy and bold . love and hate 
              ⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯BITTER && SWEET⋯⋯

“It’s in three days.”

“... Saturday?” Em asked.

Aron shook his head. “Three days.”

Yun Hee tilted her head in confusion. “Uh… last day of November?”

“Three days! Why are you both so darn slow?!”

Yun Hee frowned at the insult. She was not slow. “Regina Mundi day.”

“Regina what?” he asked.

“Thanksgiving?”

“What are you? American?” Aron asked.

Em glared at him. “You are.”

“Eastern orthodox liturgics?” Yun Hee added.

Aron placed a hand to his face and sighed. “Stop spewing out random holidays.”

“Wait! Fourth of JULY!?” She grinned.

Em glared at her. “Why are you going China on us?”

“What China?” Aron asked. “That’s America’s independence day.”

“Same thing! There’s Korea… then there’s everywhere else.”

Before either of the twins could comment on anything stupid and prolong the introduction of this chapter, Aron quickly announced, “Your birthday. Both of your birthdays is in three days.”

The two suddenly brightened up.

“Though I’m sure neither of you grew in the past year,” Aron said, grinning.

Em nonchalantly pushed Aron off his chair. Yun Hee didn’t feel like asking him if he was alright.

“That’s on Saturday, right? Yes! No school!” Em said with a small cheer. “I’ll wake up in the afternoon-”

“There are school days when you wake up in the afternoon anyway,” Aron said as he sat back down.

Yun Hee quickly smiled at her sister. “Let’s go play in the arcade all day!” she suggested.

Em shook her head. “I don’t play games. What are you? Five?”

The pout on her face was so sad. Knowing how immune Em was, she showed that expression to Aron. “Video games aren’t just for kids, right?”

He leaned back, wincing. “Uh, of c-c-”

Em slammed her hand on the table suddenly and grinned. “Ha! You forget we share the same face!” She turned to Aron again, clasping her hands in front of her and pouting as well. “You’re my friend, right? So you agree with me?”

Aron scooted his chair back, looking at the two cute girls in front of him. “... I don’t know! Where are the other guys when you need them?! Someone save me!”

Ren set his tray down across Aron, frowning at him. “What are you screaming about now?” He turned to where his pale friend was facing.

His eyes widened when he saw Yun Hee. Seeing her puppy face made him feel something tug at his heart strings. She just looked really, really… cute. Before his stare could grow long enough to get suspicious, he turned to her seatmate. Em had the exact same expression… “What’s with your face?” he asked her.

Em groaned and wanted to claw out her own hair. “No matter what I do…!” She glared at Yun Hee, irritated at how her pout had some special magical effect on Ren. She knew the blonde never succumbed to cute expressions - he was hell a lot cuter than other girls - so why was he giving in to Yun Hee’s all of a sudden? “I don’t want to go to the arcade with you now.”

“What? Why?” Yun Hee asked with a frown.

“... There’s this bibimbap place I always go to that gives me a discount during my birthday. You’ll meet me there, right?” she asked, this time turning to Aron. He nodded in reply.

“Bu-bu-bu-but I thought we’d spend our birthdays together…” Yun Hee her frown grew even more.

Em stared at her blankly. “I want to spend my birthday the way I want to spend it. It doesn’t include you - never did,” she said bluntly without a hint of tact.

“But that can change, can’t it?” She asked with a look of hope.

“You know birthdays come only once a year, I don’t want to take the risk of spending it badly with you… I mean, look at all the times we spent together,” Em said, recalling their past encounters. “... Did you find any of them enjoyable?”

Yun Hee fell silent. She did enjoy them, but only before it all would turn into chaos with fighting.

“Exactly,” Em said with a nod. “Right, I’m out of here. Still have to find the ninja and copy our math and history assignment,” she said as she bid the three a farewell.

Yun Hee pushed her tray of food away from herself and rested her head on the table, burying her face into her folded arms. No she wasn’t going to cry about her sister rejecting the idea of them spending their birthdays together, she was just a little frustrated that things never seemed to go her way with Em.

"You okay?” Ren asked. She didn’t reply. “Yun Hee?”

She let out a sigh before sitting up and pulling her tray back over to herself before grabbing the fork and began stabbing the innocent food on the try to put in to eat. She had a grumpy expression on her face as she chewed. Suddenly she slammed her hand on the tablet. “Why can’t Em and I get along!?”

Her outburst shocked Ren as he jumped in his seat.

“Awh, don’t tell me she’s throwing a tantrum? How adorable!” Aron smiled. This was the first time ever they’d see the kind and patient Yun Hee throw a fit.

She narrowed her eyes at him and frowned. “How did you two start getting along?”

Aron paused for a moment, honestly unsure of how to answer that… They just… did. “... You just have to stick around her a lot, until you grow on her.”

“Sounds unsanitary, like fungus,” Ren noted.

“Something like that!” Aron agreed, not at all minding the horrible analogy. “During her first birthday when I became her friend, I had to actually go to her house and force her to celebrate! She hated the idea, but look at us now! She may not like spending her birthday with you today, but who knows once the actual day come and it happens?”

Yun Hee’s eyes widened, nodding at his words. “So… if I can get her to celebrate with me… We might… finally start getting along.”

“People are extra nice on their birthdays,” Aron assured with a smile. “How do you usually celebrate?”

“A party… But I guess this year, it will be special! It's going to be a surprise party!” She cheered with a small jump, she was excited.

---

Yun Hee sat across from JR at the lunch table. She was nervous as he was waiting for her to spit out whatever she wanted to say to him.

"It's okay, just tell him what you wanted to say..." Ren said quietly to her right with a gentle pat to her shoulder. He could sense how nervous she was to speak to JR, since he looked so serious to her and all.

"He's right, we're here. Just tell him." Minhyun, seated to her left, took her hand into his giving it a light squeeze as if it was support for her.

She looked up to see JR just sitting there with crossed arms, waiting, while Baekho sat to his right watching.

"Take your time." Baekho smiled.

Yun Hee frowned. "You guys are just making me more nervous! This isn't some therapy session with me facing my fears!" JR just surprised her with a laugh.

"I'm sorry, I didnt mean to make you feel uncomfortable." His serious expression slowly fading from his face. "I'll ease up..." he shook his hands, stretching, cracking his neck from side to side.... only to fall back into that serious position with crossed arms again. The other three laughed while Yun Hee just pouted.

"Not funny!"

"Oh, you're so precious!" Minhyun hugged her from the side. "But really, JR, lighten up a bit, you're scaring her."

JR narrowed his eyes at him. “This is how I look everyday.” He softened his gaze when he turned to Yun Hee again. “Ask away or they’ll keep bullying you.”

“We weren’t bullying-!” JR shoved Minhyun’s face away from their conversation.

Yun Hee gulped and nodded… she shifted her gaze to JR, who was waiting patiently, then to Baekho who was smiling at her. “I was wondering… if you guys can help me out?”

“Who do I have to kill?” JR asked, completely serious.

Yun Hee shook her head. “No! Not something like that-!”

“... Kidnap someone then? I’m good with stealth,” Baekho said with a huge smile, not joking at all.

“A surprise birthday party!” she said before they could say anything more. “I was hoping you guys can help me prepare for one!”

They nodded in understanding. “For who?” Baekho asked.

“Em!”

“... Em…? Are you sure this isn’t a murder request-?” JR was about to ask.

“No!”

---

“A special order for the birthday girl!” the old cook said with a laugh, setting a plate of bibimbap in front of his customer.

Em took hold of her chopsticks, staring down at the wonderful food and drooling at the delicious smell. She was at a stall near her home, seated at the counter right across the cook and his kitchen. It was still a few hours before lunch, so there weren’t that many people.

She separated her chopsticks, but before she could dig in, the cook suddenly spoke up again. “Where’s your friend?” he asked, already ready with the boy’s usual order during this special day.

“... Late,” she muttered before taking her first bite. The wonderful taste easily washed her unease at the absence of Aron.

During their birthdays, they usually annoyed the hell out of each other in the morning. Aron would wake her up before the sun even rose - usually with a bucket of ice cold water.

She’d usually throw considerably large pebbles to the tune of Happy Birthday at his window right as midnight struck.

In either day though, they were each other’s first person to greet a happy birthday.

She hadn’t heard from him at all today.

Done with her food, she shoved her bowl towards the counter. “Thanks, ahjussi. As good as always! I’ll be back next year!” she said with a grin.

He laughed. “You can come by even before then!”

“... With money.”

“Yes.”

“See you next year, ahjussi!”

“Happy birthday, little Seoh!” he said with a laugh as she left the stall.

Em frowned a little at the nickname. Would her dad come home today? He hadn’t last year, but he did the year before that… It didn’t hurt to hope. A certain someone wasn’t accompanying her, so not like she had much to lose by going home. As she walked the short distance to her house, Em quickly stopped a few blocks away, eyes widening.

Yun Hee had a small paper in her hands and was looking around like a lost lamb.

The proclaimed smaller twin looked back again at the map Aron had drew for her yesterday. She had personally wanted to be the one to invite Em to where the party was held - Ren’s house. Yun Hee had thought it’d be difficult to persuade the blonde, but he easily succummbed to her wishes. She wondered why?

Catching sight of a few teenagers on the sidewalk, she approached them and gave a small bow in greeting. “Hello… I was wondering if you know where the Seoh household is?”

One of them looked up with her a scowl. “Huuuh? You don’t know your own house?”

Yun Hee frowned. Right, of course. If their classmates and teachers mistook her for Em, her neighbors would too. “Ah… Yes,” she said, knowing they wouldn’t believe her if she explained. “A little amnesia. Can you point me to it? Or to the street? Please?”

One of the guys grinned at her. She unconsciously took a step back. “Please? What? You’re acting awfully soft-spoken today! And you actually look cute without those glasses of yours.”

“Amensia? So you don’t remember us? We’re your friends!” another said with a mocking laugh.

Yun Hee’s eyes brightened up. She had thought Aron was Em’s only friend! “Really?! That’s great!” she said with a huge smile.

The three boy’s eyes widened. One of them suddenly stood up and draped an arm over Yun Hee’s shoulders. “Let’s go on a date.”

She gulped and shook her head. “U-Um, n-no thanks… I-I have to get going home-” He gripped onto her shoulder then a bit tightly. Panic began to set in. “H-Help-!”

But then the boy was suddenly forced off of her and fell to the ground with a bleeding nose. Yun Hee looked at her savior with a wide smile.

Her eyes went wide in shock when she saw her twin.

Em noticed her surprise and glared at her. “Were you expecting a handsome boy to save you? Sorry to disappoint you.” She turned to the fellow delinquents. “Leave. I don’t want you to ruin my eyesight with your ugly faces.” They glared at her, but left anyway.

Em lightly (which wasn’t all that light) slapped Yun Hee at the back of her head in scolding. “You idiot! You’re a cute girl - don’t go talking to such ugly guys! Did they look like trustworthy people to you?! What if I wasn’t around?”

“I was just asking for directions though…”

“They’ll lead you straight to a love hotel, damn it.” Em glanced at her wide-eyed and innocent face. “... And you probably wouldn’t even notice. Why are you here anyway? Rich people don’t hang around these parts.”

“I came to visit you, sister!”

“Don’t say that aloud! People will get the wrong idea!” Em quickly hushed. Even though it was true.

“Fine, I came to invite you to a party.” Yun Hee quieted down.

“... Party,” Em deadpanned.

“Yup, a birthday party, our birthday party.”

Em paused. A few seconds were needed for her sister’s words to process in her head. “... Party?” she repeated. “As in… for us?” She still couldn’t wrap it around her head.

“Yes, and well, so we don’t just stand here going back and forth I’ll get to the point. Birthday party, for you and me… at Ren’s house. Will you come?”

She hesitated a little as Yun Hee was speaking, but then grew excited when she mentioned where it was held. “Of course! Yes!” she said, a huge grin spreading across her face. “Let’s go!”

Yun Hee smiled back, glad that she was agreeing so easily. She had managed to convince Aron to let her do the inviting instead of him. And he thought she couldn’t convince her!

Noticing the paper still in her hands, Em grabbed it, frowning. “... Ugh. Aron’s art skills are like a fetus.”

“... They can’t even hold a pencil?”

“Exactly.” Em pointed at an apartment complex a few meters away. “That’s my house. Number 117. In case you come by, remember it.”

“... The one in between 116 and 118?” Yun Hee asked, glancing at where she was pointing.

“Obviously. It’s the door with 117 on it!”

“... Just making sure. I don’t see the number, since the door’s open.”

Em’s eyes widened and she turned to her residence. It was open. She had left it closed and locked and…

“Yun Hee… Want to meet our dad?”

Yun Hee fell silent, looking pretty hesitant. That sounds so weird… someone else is my real dad.

Em allowed her a moment to think, but that moment was beginning to take too long. “You want to or not? We’re wasting precious time I could be spending putting wiretaps in Ren’s house.”

“Sure, I guess…”

“Follow me to our doom then,” Em said heading towards the apartment, Yun Hee following right behind her. They entered the small unit, Em leading her to the living room for her to sit down. “Dad! Don’t leave our door wide open - what if someone steals what little we have?!” she yelled out, taking a seat by Yun Hee.

“Thieves just pass by our door, don’t worry!” they heard him yell back from the right side of the room.

“He’s in the kitchen. So before he comes… Don’t cry,” Em warned.

Yun Hee glanced at Em in worry. “Why would I cry?”

On cue, they heard footsteps nearing them. Their dad entered the room and took his coat that was on the table. “I’m off, Eun Mi. I have an interview…”

His voice died down when he saw two of his daughter’s faces staring at him.

He focused his gaze on Em, ignoring her twin. “Why did you bring her here?”

Em glanced at Yun Hee then back at her father. “She wanted to meet you.”

“Don’t bring strangers into our house next time. Haven’t I told you that before?” he said, putting on his coat, still not acknowledging his other daughter.

Em nudged Yun Hee with her elbow. “He’s leaving…” she whispered.

“Okay then, let’s go.” Yun Hee nodded, trying her best to hide the hurt look on her face. This is probably what she meant by ‘don’t cry’... I should have known something like this would happen… I should have listened to mom. She couldn’t help but scold herself quietly for agreeing to this sudden meeting.

Em frowned. “Not going to say anything to him either, huh?” she muttered. She turned to her dad again. He was already by the door. “Dad!”

“What?”

“... Today.”

“What about today?”

Em leaned her head back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “Nothing.” It’s just your daughters’ birthday.

“Get her out of my house as soon as possible,” he merely said in reply before shutting the door behind him.

There was a brief moment of silence before Em groaned. “Basta~ard! Wouldn’t you agree?”

“A-Agreed...:”

Em saw her teary eyes and scoffed. “I probably shouldn’t have brought you here. It totally ruined your birthday, huh?”

“No…” Lies. “It’s okay.”

Em sighed and looked around, not wanting to meet her sister’s sad face. She was an expert in making people cry, but she hadn’t a clue on how to comfort them. “It’s uh… Well… he’s usually… No one likes him,” she said, finally. “So his acknowledgement means squat - heck, it’s even a disgrace if he knows your name. So… Eh… Stop crying!”

“I’m trying.” She hiccuped. “It’s just hard to be rejected by your real parent… I didn’t think he would…”

“... He isn’t much of a dad, so you’re not missing much,” Em said. “So…” She had no idea what to say. She was still crying. “Um uh… Cheer up! This is usually what I look at when I’m depressed - it might help you!”

Em reached for her phone and opened up an album. She grabbed Yun Hee’s hand and placed her phone on it.

Yun Hee looked down… and was met with a kid Ren, waving at the camera and smiling, two front teeth missing.

“I managed to get fourteen in total from Aron! Enjoy and be happy! You can’t cry in front of such a cute face, right?” Em said with a laugh.

“No, I can’t.” Yun Hee smiled with a small sniffle. She wiped the last few tears with her free hand. The next picture showed Ren hugging a terrified-looking puppy a bit too tightly.

“I’ll give you five minutes to calm down and enjoy my treasure collection, then we leave,” Em said with a nod as she stood up. “... I still have to look for some of my hidden cameras.”

---

“Hey es, we’re here~.” Em shouted at the front door of Ren’s house. Yun Hee began laughing her off at Ren and Minhyun’s displeased faces!

“Glad you could make it.” Minhyun imaginarily flipped his invisible long locks before turning to Ren and flipping his blonde hair in substitute. He seemed to have his hair down when they weren't in school.

“Hey!” Ren looked at him annoyed. “Don’t touch my hair.” Just then, Ren’s phone sounded off. “I am so fab, check out, I’m blonde, I’m skinny, I’m rich… and I’m a little bit of a .”

The whole room fell silent for a few seconds before it bursted with laughter. Ren pulled out his phone embarrassed, silencing it.

“It fits so well!” Minhyun laughed. Yun Hee was laughing until she was crying.

Em gave Ren a thumbs up. “I still love you!”

“Haha, I can’t breathe… ow my stomach..” Yun Hee continued to laugh. Instead of Ren getting annoyed he actually didn’t mind he was being laughed at by Yun Hee. It was nice to see her laughing, not to mention he found it cute.

Em looked around at the party, not really familiar with all the faces present. Were they Yun Hee’s classmates and friends?... (Actually, they were also her classmates, but not like she could tell the difference). There was a large banner hanging above them with the words Happy Birthday and the place was decorated colorfully. She continued moving her head from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse of everything and everyone…

“Where’s my servant?” she asked aloud.

Ren frowned. “... Aron? I thought he’d be with you.”

She brightened up a little when she realized it was Ren that had spoken. Present friend or not, she wasn’t going to let that stop her from enjoying herself at her future house.

“Happy birthday, Yun Hee and Em!”

Everyone but Yun Hee took a step back in surprise at the figure that had appeared in the middle of their circle.

Yun Hee smiled. “Thanks, Baekho!”

Em narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “... Where’s the other terrifying-?”

“Were you going to insult me?”

Em turned around and held up her hands in defense from JR.

“Seeing as Aron isn’t here, I’ll be the one to force you,” he said, not making a move but his aura suddenly thickened.

Yun Hee frowned. “Why do you have to force-?”

“Over here!” one of their classmates called out, pointing to two colorful chairs by the staircase, party hats on it.

Em paled when she saw JR take hold of the orange party hat. Yun Hee’s hat was her favorite color - blue. They bet Em would like the opposite color on the color wheel. “The color’s great and all-” They were right. “-but no way in hell am I going to wear-”

His face didn’t change, but his aura seemed to have darkened.

Em looked around for a shield- She grabbed onto Yun Hee’s arm and forced the girl in front of her. “JR’s being mean!” she whined, hoping that Yun Hee would be able to control him like she did the other guys.

“Uhhh…” Yun Hee stuttered. “Be...n-nice?”

JR smiled at them. “Please?”

“He told me to go die, didn’t he?!” Em said to her sister. She wasn’t scared of JR, no way… He just so happened to be able to block every hit she threw at him back in first year. Not like that was enough to make her nervous - no.

“Let’s just go sit down!” Yun Hee turned around, forcing Em towards the seats. Em sat down, accepting the hat JR gave her slowly. She glanced at Yun Hee who was smiling and putting hers on. At JR’s steady stare, Em followed suit.

“Say cheese!” Minhyun smiled, holding a camera. He snapped a photo, Yun Hee prepared with a smile and a wave while Em wasn’t prepared, looking at the camera with a confused look. “You can look back on this memory and laugh at Em’s confused face!” He laughed.

“Want me to throw that camera of yours into the wall?” she threatened.

“No way, this is your mom’s camera… you want to deal with her?”

“What mom?” Em blinked. “Oh…” She grinned. “Well, I’m a rebellious daughter. Will she cry if I break it into pieces?” she asked, turning to Yun Hee with a sadistic grin.

“I’m not sure… she may just let it slide the first time.” Yun Hee replied sounding unsure.

“First time…? Does she have a lot of cameras?”

"Well..." she scratched the back of her head, "I may have dropped the last one she had... but it was a total accident!"

"Then accident it shall be." Em smirked looking back towards the camera.

“Okay, that’s enough planning for trouble!” Ren interrupted, knowing that Em would indeed shut up if he was the one that spoke up. “On for the actual event!”

The two sisters noticed how people had begun bringing out either paper bags or wrapped up boxes. Yun Hee smiled brightly, preparing to say several thanks to the gifts she’d be getting. Em frowned slightly, wondering if she’d have to say thanks to anyone.

As people began lining up… the difference in length between Yun Hee’s many friends and Em’s… very few acquaintances had become very distinct.

Minhyun was on the side, filming the moment. He caught Yun Hee’s beautiful smile and words of gratitude.

“Rumor has it, you love Hello Kitty, so I got you this special Hello Kitty pen set.” The female classmate that sits in front of her in first period smiled while handing the small present to Yun Hee.

“Really? Thank you!” Yun Hee smiled, taking the present happily. The next classmate also presented her with more Hello Kitty merch. You could see just how excited she was at the moment.

But Minhyun also saw in the camera how at times, Yun Hee was also glancing hesitatingly at Em and her very small line that wasn’t even a line - the few people were just surrounding her. He shifted the camera to her, wondering how she was handling it.

“Kunai…? You’re giving me kunai? I respect you now, ninja,” Em said with an appreciative nod as he grinned back in reply and headed to line up at Yun Hee’s gift giving.

Em looked down at JR’s gift of pink gloves with brass knuckles… “I like this too… but it seems like you two are treating me like some murderer.” JR chose not to respond and instead went towards Yun Hee’s line as well. Em glared at his back.

“I know you aren’t an official member and you threaten our members a lot, but we admire your perseverance,” the president of Ren’s fan club said, handing Em a long tube case.

Em opened it and spread the long paper open - it was a poster of Ren. She smiled brightly at the girl. “Very nice and high quality! I don’t like being in your debt, so I have a bag tag of him, I’ll give it to you on Monday.” The president nodded in agreement before heading to Yun Hee’s line as well.

Yun Hee just stared at Em’s side… she looked shocked. She’s not the only one obsessed with the guy… Minhyun laughed when she looked towards him confused. After receiving a few more gifts, it was the president from earlier that was now handing her a similar tube case. She quickly shook her head, “No, no thank you.”

“No you don’t understand, this isn’t a Ren poster, it’s a special Minhyun edition poster since well, you hang around him a lot.” The president winked.

“Take it!” Minhyun shouted over.

“Uh… O-okay, thank you.” Yun Hee took it from the student president.

“Hey, give her my poster too.” Ren called over with crossed arms, not liking she was only getting a poster of Minhyun.

“Since the man requested it, here.” The president snapped her fingers, a fellow member stepping forward with another tubed case. Again, Yun Hee was hesitant and accepted the poster. What is with these girls and idolizing Ren and Minhyun?

“Oh, right! Em,” the president said, going back towards her. “You want an Aron one?”

“I see his face enough… can I get JR’s? So I have something to throw my new kunai at,” Em said. She could feel JR’s glare on her, but she resisted.

“We don’t give these posters out for those purposes, sorry.”

“Who do you have posters of exactly?” Yun Hee asked curious.

“The five hottest guys of Pledis High, of course!” she said. At her still quizzical stare, “Aron, JR, Ren, Baekho and Minhyun… We also have posters for the four hottest girls of Pledis High as well. Nana, Raina and Lizzy, and soon to be you, fanboys have been requesting it.”

"M-Me?" Her eyes went wide.

Minhyun darted over, “Can I pre-order mine!?” Yun Hee face palmed as the president pulled out some papers and began taking his order.

---

After a few more classmates handed their presents to Yun Hee, next in line were the four boys. All their sentences started with, ‘I got you a Hello Kitty-(merch)’.

“I got you a Hello Kitty bracelet.” Baekho smiled.

“Awh, thanks Ninja.” Yun Hee smiled excitedly, ripping it out of the box right away. “I wanna wear it now!” She held her wrist up for him to help put it on.

“Wow, she’s just as obsessed with Hello Kitty as Ren is obsessed with Lady Gaga.” JR chuckled. He stepped forward once Baekho was done. “Here.” He handed over a medium box. She quickly opened that present too.

“Ooo! A jacket! I’ve always wanted this one too!” She jumped up, ping it and throwing it on. “Thank you, JR.” She was about to give him a hug when she stopped and struggled to stand up, failing her arms around to catch her balance.

He smiled at her with a small laugh. “You’re welcome.” He pulled out another box from his bag and handed it to her. “Aron gave it to me yesterday, just in case he couldn’t make it.”

“Oh?” Yun Hee took it from him and opened it. “Oh!” There was a pair of the fake Hello Kitty glasses. Immediately she put them on. “So much Hello Kitty!”

“Open my present next!” Minhyun butted in. She did so, he had gotten her a Hello Kitty necklace, and just like Baekho’s gift she wanted to wear it pronto.

Last but not least, Ren stepped forward with his present.

“A ring!? Why didn’t I think of that!” Minhyun face palmed as Yun Hee slipped the Hello Kitty ring onto her right ring finger, making sure not to place it on her left ring finger and cause a misunderstanding.

While Yun Hee was getting merry over all the accessories she had gotten, everyone else couldn’t help but laugh at how cute and happy she looked with all the Hello Kitty on her.

In particular, Em was staring at her glasses… not at the ring she had gotten. While they were talking, she briefly met eyes with JR. The guy who had brought Aron’s gift for Yun Hee looked down briefly before facing Em again, shaking his head, meaning he had received no other parcel besides the glasses.

Before she could check her phone for the nth time that day, a small coupon suddenly appeared in her face. Minhyun was grinning at her. “Happy brithday too, Em! Free pass to an all-you-can-eat!”

She accepted it with a smirk. “Not bad, Top.”

“... Not good enough to get my name right either,” he said with a laugh. He wasn’t particularly close with Em, but he liked how she always made Yun Hee have several different facial expressions - her troubled face was something not many people wanted to cause after all!

Her eyes went wide in surprise when Ren handed her a small box as well. “Happy birthday,” he said as calm as possible, preparing to be harassed. Luckily, she resisted the urge to jump on him and she accepted the box with a huge grin, opening it… It was an alarm clock. “Now you have no excuse to be late, got it?”

Em laughed and nodded. “Thank you! I’ll treasure it forever! I’ll put it away deep in my safe for preservation!”

“No! Use it, will you?”

She was still jumping up and down in excitement at his gift. “Thank you~!” she repeated again, “I really, really want to hug you right now!” She said, making squeezing motions with her hands. It was her birthday, and though him dodging her was a daily occurrence, she really didn’t want to be rejected today too-

But then she heard him sigh. He gave her a small smile. “It’s your birthday, isn’t it? You don’t have to ask.”

She squealed and quickly hugged him. She was squeezing the living daylights out of him, but he just patted her lightly on the back. He allowed her a few more seconds before he forcefully pried her off. Em let herself be separated, still high at the fact that he even allowed a few seconds. She then turned to Yun Hee and gave her a thumbs up. “Best birthday gift! Thanks for inviting me!”

“No problem, sis.” Yun Hee smiled, placing a bow on top of Ren’s head. “Glad I was able to find a last second Birthday gift for you.”

Ren looked at the two birthday girls in aghast.

Em clung onto his arm. “So I can bring you home?!”

“I don’t see why not?” Yun Hee joked.

“No!”

“Oh, it’d just be till the end of the evening… right?” Yun Hee looked to her sister, still joking. “Or… maybe midnight…”

“Or forever!” Em said with a grin.

Ren’s face went deathly pale at the mere notion.

“You can take me home!” Minhyun volunteered to Yun Hee.

“You have to come home with me anyways since you insisted on bringing my mom’s camera home yourself…” Yun Hee laughed.

Minhyun’s smile froze up when he felt a glare directed at him. Ren was smiling at him. “Oh? How nice of you, Minhyun!”

He could feel fear crawling throughout his skin at Ren’s smile. JR, on the sidelines, gave Ren a thumbs up in approval at his skill. “Um… y-yes-”

Ren shifted his gaze to Yun Hee, his sweet smile not changing, but the atmosphere had turned happy and nice. “Can I come too?”

“Uhm…” She glanced to Em briefly - who was too busy looking at her phone then to pay attention - before looking back to him. “Sure. My mother’s been wanting to meet my friends for awhile now.”

“Then we get to go too, right?” Baekho said with a grin, JR beside him, nodding.

Minhyun glared at the three boys. “You’re ruining my chances!”

---

The party was nearing its end. Most of the food had been devoured, the cake no longer around, and everyone was just mingling.

Ren took hold of Em’s wrist. “What the hell are you doing?”

Em threw the small device into a crowd of people so he wouldn't see. “Uh, nothing!” He narrowed his eyes at her. She whistled innocently and looked away. After a moment, he let go and turned to leave.

She reached into her pocket for another small camera lens- which was suddenly swept from her hands. “Stop,” Ren said, glaring at her.

She pouted and looked down, like a kid that had been caught. “... Fine.” When he left her, she stood by the wall, looking around at everyone talking… She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, a bit bored now. She was usually hardly bored around parties, so why was she so idle now?... She looked to the empty space on her left. Oh, right…

Soon the other classmates took their leave... it was just the twins and boys along with a few lingering classmates who were talking amongst themselves near the front door, using up Ren’s wi-fi.

Em’s gaze caught sight of Yun Hee and some of the other guys talking. Figuring the five seconds of loitering around was enough, she went over to them. “Hey, sis, I’m leaving.”

“Why so soon?” Yun Hee frowned.

“... Because there’s nothing left to do. Unlike you, I don’t have any friends here,” she said.

“Why not make some?”

Em’s nonchalant gaze turned dark. “Pardon me for not needing several people at my beck and call like you. I’m good with one friend.”... who wasn’t here.

“But what happens when that one friend…” Yun Hee stopped herself, realizing she was being negative when she saw Em’s dejected face. “Sure you’re fine with one friend, but that doesn’t mean you only need one…”

“I’ve lived longer with no friends,” Em said with a shrug. “One’s more than enough. You’re just too dependant on others.” Yun Hee frowned. She didn’t mean for it to turn out like this.

“Em, don’t say that.” Minhyun scolded before turning back to the other twin. “Don’t listen to her.”

Em laughed. “Riiiight. Because what you just did wasn’t her depending on you to defend her at all. She couldn’t do it by herself, huh?” Seeing their brief display of friendship just made her especially irritable… probably because she hadn’t been greeted by her own friend at all that day.

“So I defended her before she could say anything, am I just supposed to stand by and watch you bully her? What kind of friend would I be if I allowed that?”

This time her laugh was even louder. “Has too many hits to your head killed your brain cells? That’s exactly what I was talking about earlier. She has friends that help her out - lovely. I don’t need friends, because I can defend myself just fine. Understand now?”

“Why-” Minhyun was about to say something back before Yun Hee stepped in between the two.

“Enough… there’s no need to be arguing right now.” She turned to Em with a solemn expression. “Look, I’m sorry I even tried throwing this party for you. I even asked Ren if we could borrow his house because I knew it would make you happy. But if you’re just going to be rude to me, and my friends, then yeah, you can leave. We don’t need a bully here.”

Em opened , then shut it and paused. She took in a deep breath. “I never said I didn’t like the party. You know why I was rude to you? Because you went all high and mighty and said ‘why not make some friends’?” She didn’t know how to make friends after all.  “Sorry for needing only one friend to make me happy. But okay - I’ll leave. Bye~!” she said, raising up her hand in dismissal as she her heel.

“One friend… who isn’t even here-?” JR suddenly said.

He staggered back, holding onto his jaw. His eyes were set into a glare at Em who was scowling at him with clenched fists. She had punched him - quick and hard. He could usually dodge her attacks, but her going back to them suddenly had surprised even him.

Yun Hee quickly went in between them. “Stop it, Em!”

“He was asking for it,” she said before turning around again and walking briskly towards the exit.

Yun Hee just watched Em leave with a saddened expression. Why is it always like this…?

“You okay, Yun Hee?” Baekho asked, noticing.

JR glared at him. “What about me?” He winced at the pain talking caused to his lower jaw.

Just then they heard something being thrown onto the ground. When they looked, it had been Yun Hee’s blue party hat. Being Yun Hee, she was fighting back tears, always crying when something upset her.

“Don’t take it out on the hat.” Minhyun tried to joke, but was met with a weak punch to his arm before she ran off. He was surprised as well as everyone else. “Yun Hee?”

“Wow, she never hits people…” Baekho worried.

“She’s turning into Em.” JR muttered before getting hit by Minhyun.

“Don’t say that!” He glared. She would never turn into Em, there was just no way and he didn’t like JR saying such a thing about her like that. She must be really upset...

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◞* ✄ — END CHAPTER ⋮E I G H T 

 

 Preview:  Chapter 9 

“I didn’t want to disturb whatever fun you were having with the others!”

“What made you so sure I was having fun with them?! I mean, how could I…?”

“Because I made sure to tell those guys to make you have fun! They didn’t do good?”

“... They aren’t my friends - they’re yours!”

 

“Yah! You better not be doing anything naughty in there!”

“Damn it, Minhyun! We were just about to!”

“No, we weren’t!”

 

“Calm down, I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

“Idiot! When you’re not there Em is 10x crueler than normal!”