“Are we getting phones today?” Ari bounced excitedly down the stairs, hyped up by the strong smell of bacon and eggs. Seunghyun followed at her heels, equally as happy.

“Yes, you will be, if you finish all your work.” Their dad replied, sipping his coffee, holding out his plate for their mom to put eggs on.

“YES!” The twins high-fived; they’d been promised phones for a few months now, but had never actually got them. The day had come!

“Two hours of practice each, first!”

“WHAT?!”

--

Ari rolled her aching shoulders and groaned, leaning against her tired twin. He laughed and poked her side.

“At least we’re getting phones.”
“I’m starting to question how much a phone is worth.”

The two sat in the car, waiting for their mom to finish getting ready. Within minutes, the four were off and heading towards the mall, a loudly singing Seunghyun entertaining the rest.

“Hey, your bruise is gone. Maybe I should punch it again and make you shut up while I’m at it.”

“ARI!”

“Sorry mom, dad.”

--

“Hey, mom, I want this one!” Ari held up a cute, white, touch screen phone, shaking it in front of her mother’s face. She laughed and moved her arm away, taking the phone to see for herself.

“It’s nice. Should I get you and Seunghyun couple phones? There’s a black version of this—“

“MOM!” Seunghyun complained, appearing over his mother’s back. “I want an iPhone!”

“That’s way too expensive, darling.” She patted her son’s cheek, having to reach up quite a bit. “This one is just fine. I like it better than the iPhone.”

“...because it’s cheaper...” he mumbled, walking away sadly. Their mother snickered, and made her way to find a salesperson to help her.

“Oh, Ari. Hello!”

The girl turned around to see Lee Sungyeol waving at her, and Kim Myungsoo behind him. Puzzled, she waved back, and stepped back while she was at it. Why were they talking to her?

“Fancy seeing you here,” He continued, glancing around the store. “Are you here with Seunghyun?”

She nodded, and pointed, still wide-eyed. Sungyeol shot her a bright smile, and thanked her, pulling Myungsoo along with him to find her twin. Myungsoo turned and gave a small smile, as well, and her heart soared.

--

Beep

Seunghyun opened one eye and stared at his new phone.
A message? At this time of night? He groaned and unlocked the device.

I’m coming over.
- Ari

He laughed, and texted back “sure”. Finally, they’d have a way to make sure the other wasn’t asleep before they made their frequent visits. Or maybe just a way to wake up the other before they came over.

“Hey,” The door creaked open and he heard her tiptoe. He scooted over and let her lie down.

“I’ve been thinking.”

He frowned. This was never a good sign. Her life was simple enough for her not to think too hard about anything.

“Perhaps I should play piano for the Battle.”

“No.”

The reply was quick. No way on Earth would he ever let her play. Never. Never ever ever ever.

“But!”

“No!”

“Seunghyun! Look, I don’t want to bring them down any further! You know my violin is bad, and everyone else knows it! They know it! If I play piano and they sing and play guitar, it’ll be better than what we would do if we were a string quartet!”

“Ari, no! You don’t even need to win!”

“Woohyun wants to!”

“To hell with what Woohyun wants!”

“What about what I want?”

He stopped for a second, and reached to her hair. There were very few times that she argued with him, and she never won. Why was she suddenly so adamant?

He gave her head a final pat, and kissed it.

“Good night, Ari.”

“Does that mean—“

“Good night.”

He could feel her brighten up, and she hugged him tightly.

“Good night Seunghyun!”

--

“Ari!”

The girl sat upright, surprised by her brother’s loud voice. She stared at her surroundings; her desk, her open laptop, and her unfinished scores.

“Oh shoot!” She finally muttered after looking at the time, pushing Seunghyun out quickly. “We’re going to be late!”

“You think I haven’t realized? Oh, God, hurry up!”

She ran around her room, pulling on her uniform while brushing her teeth while stuffing papers into her bag. 5 minutes later, a very flustered Ari appeared from her room, and her twin chuckled.

“Come on.” He grabbed her shoulder and gently guided her down the stairs.

--

“I think you have a bit of drool on your face.”

Minhwan peered at Ari’s face, and she hastily wiped with the back of her hand. Seunghyun gave a loud laugh, hitting Minhwan lightly on the side of his head.

“I fell asleep writing scores yesterday!” The girl defended herself. “I’m entering as a band!”

“What?!” Jaejin, Jonghun and Hongki looked over curiously. They were a band. Why weren’t they entering as a band?

“Oh, let her be.” Seunghyun pushed the three back from his twin. “Woohyun doubts her violin skills so she hopes her piano will make up for it.”

“Piano? You play piano?” Jonghun looked over. His cello hit him in the head as he moved quickly and he groaned in pain.

The girl blushed and ran off quickly through the gates. Seunghyun stared down his friends, giving Jonghun a slap to the head.

“Good job, kiddos. You scared her off!”

--

--

stupid.