The sun shone, a majestic jewel on an endless azure sky. Trees lined the streets with no wind between their branches.

Soojung confidently crossed the school courtyard, her clothes and hair flawless, backpack on and swinging a paper bag, no sign of fatigue anywhere, entirely focused. Her posture straightened the more she approached other people, attracting a glance and a whisper or two as she strode onward. She fixed her burgundy skirt and her matching tie, one step closer to the school building.

She wasn’t exactly a fan of summer, but she had to it up and ignore the heat wave, especially the increasing warmth around her chest area. In spite of the humidity clawing at her body and the stares nagging the back of her head, nothing would ruin her day.

It was her year. She could feel this explosion of energy coming from the marrow of her bones, electrifying the surface of her skin and forcing her brain into a state of full awareness.

Her plan was simple, and, with that simplicity, she shall prevail where others had failed.

With the entrance exams nearing, Soojung was one hundred percent sure of passing each and every one with flying colors. She’d gloat in the agony of her twin as her parents make her every wish come true while simultaneously scold and send her brother to their grandparents’ farm to help out for a couple of months. He’d be literally knee-deep in by the time he’d come back to repent and beg on all fours for forgiveness.

Just thinking about it made her feel a lot better.

Soojung got inside the building, a wide hallway stretching forward.

Tables belonging to school clubs flanked the pathway, each performing their yearly ritual of convincing a pure soul into joining their demonic ranks. She cast a smile in the direction of the school newspaper club, her fellow colleagues waving and loudly calling out her name to be heard on top of the ruckus. She cheerfully replied with a short ‘hello’ and wished them well, took the first right corner and climbed up the stairs.

Finally, a quieter, narrower hallway welcomed her. It was just her luck that first period was far away from all the drama happening downstairs.

Yes. It was good to be back.

Since the hallway was empty except for a group of first years chatting idly by the stairs, she tugged her skirt down, cursing in her head. She still could not suffer the size of it and, to that day, the school board hadn’t changed it. Just one more year of that insufferable uniform and she shall taste freedom.

Soojung shall reign queen for decades if everything worked accordingly. She snickered at the very thought of humiliating her brother. The shall writhe beneath her feet in pain.

She stopped in the middle of the hallway, forming a fist as she clenched her teeth to prevent more chuckles from escaping . Eyes squeezed shut, she held back the malefic laughter that dared expose her devious schemes.

When she finally couldn’t take it anymore and opened wide to let out a satisfying laugh, her happiness (and that poor attempt of an evil cackle) had been cut short.

Soojung frowned as Jongin got out of a classroom. Without protesting, Jongin wrapped his arms fondly around his sister, tightly embracing her. She groaned against his shoulder.

“Sorry! I had some school stuff to take care of. Did you miss me on the way here?”

Jongin released her from the bear hug and Soojung fixed her tie and her skirt for the second time that day.

“Not really.” Jongin ruffled her hair, ruining the two hours she spent on it. “Stop that!”

“But you’re my baby sister,” he sing-sang, grabbing Soojung into a headlock and rubbing his knuckles all over the top of her head.

Soojung jerked herself away from Jongin, gasping. “Ten minutes! By only ten minutes!” She combed her hair with her fingers, annoyed she had no mirror at hand.

“Still, my baby sister.”

“Ugh,” Soojung showed him the paper bag, putting an arm’s distance between them. “You forgot your lunch.”

“No need,” Jongin beamed. “It’s pizza day. That means I get a double portion.”

Soojung blew air up, sighing. “Are you still blackmailing Taemin?”

“For pizza? Always.”

Speaking of the devil, just as Soojung was about to comment on Jongin’s everlasting lack of empathy towards his best friend’s meals, said best friend appeared from around the corner.

He halted for a fraction of a second to check his behind, then ran past them at full speed, only a blur of blue and grey, shouting “RUN MOTHERER, RUN!” and flew down the stairs.

The first years stared after the lunatic, slowly redirecting their attention at the twins, then over their shoulders at the same time. Soojung and Jongin followed their line of view to find a raging teacher with his face redder than Soojung’s uniform, huffing and puffing by the corner. The teacher’s gaze locked with Jongin’s, his lips contorting in a way that Soojung had never thought possible.

He let out a roar, pointing at them.

“KIM JONGIN, YOU’RE DEAD THIS TIME!”

“You better go,” Soojung said quickly, ing the paper bag at Jongin’s chest. “Like, now.”

Jongin grabbed it, at first perplexed about what he had done, but from the way the teacher was still watching him as he regained his breath, all that anger searing beneath his eyes, and from the way Jongin’s own heart hammered in a rush of adrenaline that only came whenever Taemin got them in trouble, he knew better than not to go against what his instinct told him: run motherer, run.

“,” he dashed in the teacher’s opposite direction before the man could catch up to him.

What the hell had Taemin done this time?

---

The scorching hot sun hadn’t forgiven the two boys panting on top of the rooftop, one who sat on the ground where a patch of shadow had cooled off the cement enough to make it bearable. He then lied on his back, defeated, allowing his strength to recover.

Jongin was holding onto his stomach with his left hand, dropping the paper bag and rolling his backpack off, placing them both next to Taemin as he too sat and leaned his back against the wall.

It was hot for August, a late summer that promised a lot of pain. Jongin wasn’t sure he was ready for it, butterflies, unrelated to the bull of a teacher chasing them down and up two flights of stairs, flapping their wings in his throat.

“Okay, what was that about?” He let out another gasp. Jongin battled with his jacket and tossed it on top of the paper bag. He loosened up his tie, suddenly regretting he had taken so long to prepare too.

The first day of school after holiday hadn’t exactly started as he had hoped.

Taemin rubbed the sweat off his brow with his wrist, amused at Jongin, his chest still rising and dropping as he inhaled the thick air around them.

“I forgot my uniform.”

“Seriously?” Jongin let out a short whine in protest, lifting his arm and dropping it right away over his knee, squinting at him and opening his mouth to say something, only to give up. Taemin’s grin widened. “I don’t want to know. Did you get your schedule?”

“Well good morning to you too, Mr. I’m-so-important-now-I-miss-my-best-friend’s-birthday.” Jongin’s family had a thing with travelling, so Taemin hadn’t seen the other for a month or more.

“I’ll make it up for it later, just,” Jongin waved his hand. “Seriously, what happened now?”

Taemin swung his arms forward, sitting up and grabbing Jongin’s jacket. He put it on Jongin’s backpack and delved through the paper bag.

“I forgot my uniform, I told you.”

“There’s no way Two-Eyed Park chased us the entire school just because you forgot your uniform.”

“I don’t know man,” Taemin pulled out a lunch box, “teachers are cray-cray during third year.”

“Keep that,” Jongin mumbled when Taemin greedily opened the lunch box. He rubbed his forehead. “Dude, I asked if you got your schedule.”

“No,” Taemin chewed happily, letting out a soft moan. Food always comforted him and gave him energy after claiming another victory against the teachers. “I don’t really care.”

“Thought so,” Jongin ped his backpack, hitting Taemin’s head with the paper he retrieved from his notebook. Taemin took it, chewing quicker. “How are you going to graduate if you don’t take anything seriously?”

Taemin didn’t answer.

He focused solely on the paper, clenching his fist around it.

“We’re in different classes.”

He spoke absentmindedly, not believing they had finally done it. The school council had finally given him the middle finger and separated the two troublemakers. That meant he could only see Jongin during lunch time, maybe on breaks if he got lucky, and during club activities.

But Taemin wasn’t in any club and as far as he knew, Jongin wasn’t either. That left the weekends and the hours after school when they would be heading home, unless Jongin had cram school, which, again, made it harder to spend as much time as possible together.

And it hurt him.

“Yeah.” Jongin snatched the paper from Taemin and rolled it. “I’m still getting your pizza today.”

That joke wasn’t enough to cheer him up.

“Whatever. It’s not like they can punish me worse than they already had. Also, I can’t wait for this year, Jongin. I have so many ideas that you’ll need another head to keep up with me.”

Jongin stuffed the schedule inside the paper bag. He got up, swung his backpack on and stooped over for his jacket.

“No more dares.”

Taemin almost choked on the rice, his hand shooting up to his mouth to catch any pieces that might have left him while coughing.

“What?”

If there had been something that lasted on everybody’s mouths were the names Lee Taemin and Kim Jongin, the two biggest idiots of the school who carried out their dares with utmost sanctity. Their good-looks were rapidly shrugged off when that first dare on the first week of their first year made every girl and some boys squirm in disgust.

No one talks about that dare (unless they are new and then someone tells them and then they’d move as far away from Taemin and Jongin as possible – the boys don’t mind it, more space during lunch time).

If one suddenly decided to reject a dare, the consequences were so dire that Taemin and Jongin had never skipped a single one, no matter how horrifying it proved to be. Sometimes, a prank or two occurred as well, but only because it had been part of a dare – somewhere, somehow, it had to be carried out, no matter what.

Their last, more serious, dare went a bit too far when they both appeared dressed up as girls, skirts borrowed from Soojung included, and sang and danced in front of an audience. Ironically, that got Taemin a fan club made of rabid girls trying to grab his attention and dubbing themselves the Pretty Boy Squad (until someone reminded them of that dare and all girls left the following day).

But now, during their last year, the last year Taemin had been preparing for so long to come up with the greatest dare of all time, there was absolutely no way Jongin would be backing away.

Taemin wouldn’t let him.

He rose up to his feet, pursing his lips. Taemin knew Jongin best and he had never resisted his kicked puppy look for as long as they had known each other – and it’s been damn long. And at first it seemed to be working, with Jongin staring at Taemin and his large wet eyes and the way his lips trembled slightly, and that cute little sound he let out had almost melted his heart.

Then those butterflies returned in a flurry and shattered the illusion.

“No, Taemin, I’m done with it. I promised my folks I’ll be going to University. I can’t do it if I get in trouble all the time.”

Taemin at his lips, glowering at Jongin.

“Yeah, well, you didn’t seem to care until now.”

“It’s different this time.”

“Not.”

Jongin frowned. “Look, I,” he turned to the side, as if he couldn’t face Taemin, but also did not want to shun him. “Look, I’m sorry I missed your birthday. And I’ve also been stuck with cram school and somehow I ended up on the welcoming committee for the newbies and, yeah.”

Taemin hadn’t softened his features. “So?”

“So, this year’s going to be different.”

.

“And,” Jongin continued, “I want you to meet someone.”

Taemin lifted one of his eyebrows, still not buying it. Jongin was up to something. He knew it.

He wouldn’t let him trick him.

---

Taemin didn’t like Jimin.

He didn’t like the way his entire face brightened when Jongin introduced them, his eyes almost shut in joy and his voice a pitch too high for his ears.

He didn’t like the way he exclaimed ‘Nice to meet you, hyung! I heard so much about you from Jongin-hyung!’

He didn’t like the way he wore his uniform, nothing loose, or his perfect hair. He didn’t like his height, matching his, giving him that petite and cute impression despite his rather solid build, and Taemin just knew never to trust the cute kind. They’d stab you in the back with a smile on their faces.

He didn’t like the way he touched his shoulder when Taemin mumbled his name, patting there in a friendly manner.

Stop acting lovable.

Taemin shrugged his shoulder, so Jimin would remove his hand away faster. Jongin elbowed Taemin, prompting him to lift his eyes from the floor where he had been loathing on Jimin’s expensive looking and polished shoes.

He did not like the way Jongin casually walked side by side with Jimin and how they already had inside jokes the more Taemin trailed along, listening to fragments of their conversations while trying not to grab the guy from behind and smash his head into the nearest trash can.

He should dare Jongin to do that later, but the good angel that survived multiple gunshot wounds from the bad angel still had left some power in him to stop Taemin from even proposing such atrocity.

At least Jimin was a first year, so Taemin’s only comfort was the fact that Jongin wouldn’t be in the same classroom with him.

Then, when Jongin bid them farewell, he shook hands with Jimin and had this secret code with their fingers.

The bad angel shot the good angel again.

---

All the rage and the maniacal thoughts that had been building up throughout the day vanished once lunch break commenced.

Ever since he was a kid, pizza had always made Taemin feel better. Something in the greasy deliciousness they served at the lunch hall increased his mood tenfold and he was ready for another torturous class.

Lunch break had always been when he and Jongin began the first dare of the day, starting with who shall stuff more food in their mouth, to the more extreme situations, like Taemin pouring a bottle of apple juice on his lap and yelling for everyone to hear that he had peed in his pants.

“Hey,” Taemin grabbed a tray, startled for a second when Soojung suddenly appeared next to him. “Where’s stupid?”

“Need a mirror?”

Soojung rolled her eyes. “Jongin. Where is he?”

“He’s not in your class?”

While Soojung had always been the only girl he didn’t feel the need to impress or fear of embarrassing himself in front of, she sometimes gave him that look that made him feel insignificant and girls can be really scary, he concluded.

Or maybe she was just sleepy.

“We’re in the same class, dumb-dumb.”

“Oh,” he hadn’t even noticed. “For real?”

“I’m right in front of you. What have you done all morning not to notice it?”

“Nothing,” Taemin followed the queue, dragging his tray along. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“You know how they assign a third year to the first years and they spend an entire first week before school officially starts to present the building and the curriculum and all that boring we also went through?”

“Yeah.” Soojung scooted over as the line moved.

“Well, Jongin met a guy during that week.”

Soojung knitted her brows in deep thought and if Taemin hadn’t next to her, she might have missed the cue to move along the line.

“Okay,” she said nothing else and waited for Taemin to grab his food.

“Well, that guy annoys me.”

“Is the guy annoying or just the idea of him with Jongin annoying?”

“You’re not helping.”

“Then why are you asking for my help?”

Taemin and Soojung turned to the side with their trays heavy of food.

“I’m not asking for your help.”

“Honestly, I just want to know where’s Jongin. I need his charger.”

A loud laugh exploded in the lunch hall. Taemin searched for that sound. Something wasn’t right. Soojung followed, scurrying along to make space for the rest of the students leaving the food line. She picked an empty table, with Taemin sitting across her, biting into his spoon.

“I think we found him.”

Not far from their table were Jongin and Jimin, surrounded by three other girls. Jongin let out his signature hearty chuckles again.

Soojung and Taemin lowered their heads so they wouldn’t be detected. Taemin’s eyes flashed, still chomping on the spoon, while Soojung concentrated on the group around her brother.

“That’s the new guy?” She asked, Taemin nodding. “He’s hot.”

Taemin glanced disapprovingly at Soojung. He wasn’t bad looking, but still irked Taemin.

“Those girls,” she pointed her chin at the group, “are always flocking around the hot guys.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Do what?”

“Have lunch without me.”

“You mean Jongin?”

“Who else?”

“Maybe it’s just a one-time thing.” Soojung placed her palm on the table and used it to point at the girls without looking suspicious. “Those two are part of the welcoming committee too. I believe the third girl’s a first year.”

“So it’s just a committee meeting?”

“I can go ask if you give me your pizza.”

“No.”

“I dare you to give me your pizza.”

“Sorry, dares only work with Jongin.”

Soojung slapped the table. “You,” she got up and leaned down, “owe,” went around the table “me!”

Then investigated.

---

Taemin discovered his weather controlling abilities that day, a gloom cloud hovering dangerously above his head.

“So it wasn’t a committee meeting.”

“No,” Soojung turned forward in her chair, sighing.

Taemin just nodded.

Eh, who cares.

Jongin was his best friend. He’ll invite him to lunch tomorrow, he was certain of it. He also knew they’d go home together, so he just had to hang in there for a couple of more hours. But when he finally dashed out the gate, Jongin mustn’t have finished lessons yet.

He waited patiently by the gate, looking down and kicking air.

More and more students left school, violet and pink hues painting the horizon. The cloud that had been attached above Taemin sent a small bolt of lightning and thundered as he squatted by the gate, still waiting. The pink turned orange and violet, indigo.

Maybe Jongin did join a club and since they hadn’t spoken since morning, he didn’t get a chance to tell Taemin. But he could have messaged him and whether Taemin checked his phone, there were no notifications, not even from games, or a missed call. And whenever Taemin wanted to ask Jongin what was holding him up, he locked the screen and gazed again at the pavement.

Or maybe Jongin had to finish up things with the committee. He knew it took two weeks to complete everything from when they too went through the whole process.

He smiled when he remembered how much they annoyed their third years that they had to be changed during the second week. No one could have guessed back then that they dared each other to put as many questions as possible, from the annoying ‘but why’ to the classic ‘so where’s the food again’.

Taemin couldn’t recall who had won back then.

Just like Jongin apparently forgot they were heading home together that day.

He got up with his head still hanging low and hesitated with his first steps. It was going to be too dark soon and he had to get home and feed himself, clean up his room, see what other chores his parents left him before they headed to work, both choosing the better-paid graveyard shift to support him and his brother’s education. Maybe he could do homework too, but he didn’t believe he’d be able to put his mind into it.

When he was about to turn corner, someone called his name. Taemin saw Jongin rushing after him.

“Hey!” He signaled him to stop, carrying his backpack in his hand to gain speed. “Wait up!”

“What the Hell took you so long?” Taemin retorted when Jongin was in ear’s reach, but couldn’t help smile at how happy Jongin looked.

Guess he had a great day.

“Sorry, I,” Jongin gasped, holding onto his stomach like in that morning. He really ought to work out. “Why do I always end up running when it comes to you?”

“I bet I can run faster than you.”

“Wait, that’s not fair.” Jongin secured his backpack back on, laughing. Then he bolted ahead. “I bet you can’t! First one to your house is a !”

Taemin laughed too, darting after him.

“Then you already lost!”

---

The next day, Taemin had been strutting across the hallway, pleased with himself (and actually wearing his uniform for once – just so he could smugly pass by Two-Eyed Park’s classroom). He should have never doubted his best friend because if there’s one person in his life that he loved dearly, apart from his family, it was Jongin and there was no way that years and years would be erased due to something as minor as ‘the new guy’.

When lunch came and Taemin went straight for Jongin’s table, he screeched when another person sat right next to him and knocked their trays together.

“Ah, hyung!”

Oh no.

No, no, no.

That voice. That perfect hair, perfect clothes – damn, those shoes are new and look just as expensive – and damn perfect eye-smile. Why had Jimin taken the seat right next to Taemin? There was plenty of space in the lunch hall.

“Hi,” Taemin mumbled, burying his face in his food too. If he had his mouth full, he would have a reason not to join them. He turned to Jongin for an explanation.

“Sorry, I invited him over.” Jongin put his chopsticks away, not sure whether he was entering the lion cage or not. “Is that ok with you?”

“Yeah,” Taemin mumbled, gorging on his meal. “Whatever, I don’t care, yeah.”

Jongin glared.

“I can go,” Jimin grabbed his tray, ready to find another seat. Taemin’s hand shot forward, grabbed Jimin’s and pulled him back down.

“You.” Taemin pointed at Jimin with the straw from his juice box. “Stay.” Then he hid again with his food.

Jongin wasn’t sure if he should thank Taemin or disapprove his stubbornness, but from the way Jimin exalted that kind of joy that reminded him of his five-year-old cousin, he couldn’t bicker with his friend and ruin the mood.

So all three sat silently and ate, Jimin and Jongin sharing a few words, mostly on committee work, until the bell rang.

Taemin was the first to discard his tray and hurry away to class.

Jongin sighed, not even having enough time to tell him good luck. He froze when he saw Soojung by the lunch hall door, frowning at him. Great, his sister had something against him too?

Butterflies swarm in masses out of his throat, making it hard to breathe.

Why was he even feeling that weird lately?

More exactly, why was everybody suddenly acting so strange?

---

“You ok?” Soojung turned to Taemin’s desk. She couldn’t see what he was writing in his notebook due to his hand shielding it.

Taemin peeked at her, his eyes glistening.

Soojung knew that look.

“…don’t do it Taemin.”

“Do what?”

“Get in trouble.”

Taemin snorted. He went back to drawing a rudimentary miniature version of Jongin without pants in the lunch hall.

It was only for that day. He was sure Jimin wouldn’t have lunch with them again from the way he acted. Taemin admitted it was childish, but if Jimin was the good person he posed as, he would leave them alone, no matter what Jongin would say.

Speaking of Jongin, Taemin couldn’t wait for them to go home again, so when classes were over, he hurried as always to the gate.

Jongin was already there.

“Dude!” He punched him lightly in the arm, hugging him after. “I got two packs of ramen ready for us,” he pulled away, poking Jongin’s chest. “You’re gonna lose again.”

Taemin planned on spending a lovely evening in a contest of who could make the worst ramen, then eat it until their bellies were about to burst. Last time, Taemin poured milk in his and since Jongin ‘accidentally’ dropped his ramen in the sink right after he dropped too much pepper in his creation, they had to share the liquid resembling vomit.

“Sorry. Actually, I was waiting to tell you that I’ll be going to cram school every day after class. So we can’t go home together anymore.”

And Taemin felt right in that moment as sick as when he ate that ramen.

He had cram school, he said. Every day, he said.

“Alright.” Taemin nodded. “Lots of luck… call me later?”

“Sure.”

Jongin bid him farewell and Taemin didn’t waste another second in front of the gate.

He ate his ramen alone at home.

er, it was an excellent bowl of ramen.

---

Lunch the following day wasn’t so excellent.

Jimin sat next to him again and went on and on and on about this TV show where dancers competed to be the best on a weekly basis. He knew everything about his favorite, from the dancer’s favorite colors to the angle he took with the music.

It didn’t help that Jongin was actually interested in what Jimin had to say. Taemin saw the way he rubbed his chin and the way his eyes were set solely on Jimin, meaning he was paying close att