ONE;

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“So…”

Do Young breathed. Tapping his fingers on the table. His eyes scanning the girl sitting before him.

“So what?”

The girl replied calmly, eyes as focussed as Do Young’s.

“You gonna eat that?”

He chirped while pointing sheepishly at the last plate of apple tart situated in front of him.

“Are YOU going to eat that?”

The girl chirped back, looking at Do Young questioningly.

“Well I was gonna…but I’m trying to be a gentleman you see, and maybe offered it to you first.”

He said boastfully, crossing his arms and legs simultaneously while looking smug as ever.

“Well do it then.”

The girl replied, a dimpled-smile escaped her lips.

“Do what?”

Do young looked almost stunned yet curious.

“Offer it to me.”

She continued.

“I would if only I knew you would say, no thanks oppa, you can have it instead.”

He refuted, pulling off the most girly girl girl voice he could possibly do.

“Now why would I say no thanks to dad’s delicious apple tart?”

The girl refuted back.

“PRECISELY WHY I CAN’T OFFER IT TO YOU!!”

He exclaimed, eyes wide as saucers.

“I can't believe we have to do this AGAIN!”

Do Young said as his fingers dug into his hair.

“I know…”

The girl replied, equally as petrified looking as he was.

“ROCK. PAPER. SCISSORS!”

The two simultaneously chanted.

A figure appeared out of nowhere and swiftly took a huge bite out of the apple pie.

“Okay I guess it’s mine then!”

The twins paused their competitive game of rock paper scissors only to find the last apple tart gone.

“AHHH HYUNG!!!”

“I was gonna eat that after I win Haneul!”

Do Young exclaimed.

“No, you weren’t. You twins are so telepathically conjoined that every time you play rock paper scissors, nobody wins or lose…”

Gong Myung said, wiping the crumbs from his lips before gulping down a tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

“Off to uni?”

Haneul said, tilting her hair to the side and showing off her oh-so-adorable dimple-smile.

“Yes Han, need to do a presentation on this assignment so the earlier I get there the earlier I get to prepare for it.”

Gong Myung replied, without failing to flash a kind smile at his sister.

Han is a special nickname the brothers gave to Haneul. Reason being when Do Young was young, he couldn’t really pronounce the word “Neul” and would only call his twin sister “Han” instead of Haneul…

Yea…Do Young isn’t the brightest when compared to his twin sis who is full of cheeky and mischievous tricks up her sleeves.

 “KAYS! I’m off. See you two in the evening!”

Gong Myung said while putting on his shoes.

“Kay bye hyung!”

Do Young replied waving.

“Bye Gong.”

Haneul chirped with her hands in her pockets.

“That’s oppa to you, my friend.”

Gong Myung corrected.

“I have not once called you guys oppa since I knew how to speak…what makes you think I’ll call you that now?”

Haneul said while wiggling her neatly plucked brows cheekily.

“No harm trying to fix my poorly mannered sister, right?”

He replied. Not forgetting to tousle Haneul’s head and running off to catch the bus.

“You’re just one oddball aren’t you…what’s so taboo about the word oppa?”

Do Young asked shifting his gaze onto his twin and leaning against the wall.

“There’s nothing taboo about it. I just prefer calling you guys by your actual names.”

Truth was, when both Do Young and Haneul was still in kindergarten, Haneul fell into a pool and almost drowned. She called out to her brothers but both of them were too busy to even hear her constant screams for help.

In desperation, Haneul gathered her last ounce of energy and shouted “GON MYUNG!” only then her brother came diving in to save her.

Since then she realized. ‘Oppa’ was too common of a word.

But neither Do Young nor Gong Myung knew about this memory of hers. They just…forgot.

 

 

The twins put on their blazers, washed the plates and put on their socks and shoes, getting ready to head off to school.

“See ya!”

Haneul chanted as she was about to leave the front door when she was abruptly yanked back by Do Young.

“So, you know NCT high.”

Do Young carefully asked.

“Yea…that’s the school you go dimwit. What about it?”

Haneul shrugged Do Young’s hands off and adjusted her backpack and blazer.

“Erm…they’re accepting in applications.”

“So?”

Haneul continued.

“Wanna apply?!”

Do Young asked excitedly.

“Err first off, it’s an all-boys school so no thank you and secondly, we see each other every single day. We even share rooms because you went ahead and decided that Gong should get his own bedroom because he is university now. The only time I’m free from you is when I’m at school… so why would I want to transfer?!”

Haneul said, crossing her arms while tapping her foot on the ground.

“Well, that’s cause they are offering a full scholarship to only one lucky female!”

Do Young chirped.

“Have you forgotten something really important?”

Haneul breathed, rubbing her temple with her fingers.

“What?”

Do Young asked.

“Your school’s reputation is !”

“Now I am not, I repeat, NOT going to apply to your school!”

Haneul said while she made her way towards the bus, while Do Young tried his best to keep up to her strides.

“But what about the HyeJin’s in your school!”

Do young exclaimed, successfully stopping Haneul in her tracks.

“They pick on you so much that you come home sad all the time. Plus, Hyung is so busy that he could only afford to work 3-part time jobs now that he is in university. Dad is hardly home because of his work in Busan. I’m earning for my own tuition and YOU my friend just got fired from your last 2 jobs, so I don’t know how are you going to pay for the next semester.”

Do young huffed tiredly, catching his breath after that rant.

“The reason I chose NCT high regardless of its rep is because we could afford it.”

He continued.

“But now that there is a full scholarship dangling in front of us. Why not just take it and lessen the burden for this family?”

Do Young insisted.

“Why don’t you go for the scholarship then?”

Haneul asked, brows furrowed and in deep thought.

“Because the scholarship is only for ONE female student and plus, your results are wayyyyyyy better than mine!”

Do Young replied.

“I mean come on, we all know that you took all the smart genes and left me with nothing while we were in mom’s womb.”

He joked, effectively making Haneul laugh.

“So, what do you say?”

Do young cooed.

After waiting for a while, Haneul nodded and turned to face Do Young.

“No.”

She replied before getting on the bus and leaving dumbfounded Do young behind.

His eyes widened before facepalming himself.

A ‘ding’ chimed and he lifted his phone to read the text he just received from his sister.

 

I’ll find a way to pay for my own tuition. Until then, just worry about your own studies Dodo!

Peace!