One fine evening, Kyungil was given the task of picking up this little kid from the primary school. He had done this quite a few times since their parents were family friends. As they both walked across the school ground, towards the main gate, Kyungil noticed Hae Rin sitting alone in the bleachers, looking troubled. He quickly approached her, while the little one followed behind.

But even before he could voice out his concern, the little fellow squealed as if he was already familiar with the girl while the latter just looked confused. Kyungil ignored the hyperactive kid for a moment and inquired her if something was bothering her.

Even though she refused that it wasn’t the case and yet looked and sounded the opposite, he still decided to let the matter slide since he felt that she didn’t want him to pry more into it. So he diverted the topic and asked her if she was waiting for someone and when she said she was, he silently decided to just hang around until the said someone showed up.

In the meantime, the little boy who was with Kyungil was upset about the fact that Hae Rin didn’t recognize and acknowledge him. Even when she tried to speak something, he didn’t give her any chance, still busy with his ranting.

But when he heard Kyungil address her as ‘Hae Rin’, he quickly got on his feet, “Hyung, did you just call her Hae Rin?” Kyungil nodded, not understanding what was happening. “But noona, you told me your name was Hae Jin.” He looked at her accusingly as if he had been deceived by her.

“Are you talking about me?” another voice called out from behind them. The two boys turned around, only to be left with their mouth hanging open in astonishment. “What’s wrong with you boys?” the newcomer rolled her eyes, as she pushed the little boy’s chin back in place. “Hello there kiddo,” she ruffled the little boy’s hair before turning towards Hae Rin, “Sorry, didn’t notice the time.”

Meanwhile, the little boy yelled, “How many times should I tell you? I'm not a kiddo. I’ve a name and it is Lee Jun Young.” He huffed while she stuck out her tongue at him.

“So is this big high school boy here bothering you?” she asked Hae Rin, pointing towards Kyungil while the two shook their heads simultaneously. “Then care introducing?” Hae Rin glanced up at her with pleading eyes which the other girl quickly acknowledged. “Okay, I’ll go first. Hello there stranger, I’m Kang Hae Jin and this is my sister. And yes, we are twins if you can’t already figure it out.”

“Introduce me! Introduce me!” the kid kept jumping in the back.

“Fine kiddo, I’ll do. Hae Rin, meet kiddo-I mean- Lee Jun Young and kiddo, meet Hae Rin. Happy?” Hae Jin looked at Jun who in turned nodded enthusiastically.

He rushed to the front and held out his hand towards Hae Rin, “Nice to meet you, noona. I can call you that right?” Hae Rin briefly glanced up at the boy and shook his hand, before nodding with a smile. “Noona! Your eyes-” his mouth was quickly shut by Kyungil’s hand.

“I guess it’s my turn now? Hello, I’m Song Kyungil,” he extended his other hand to Hae Jin which she shook. “Nice to meet you. I didn’t know Hae Rin had a twin. She never told me.”

Hae Jin glanced down at her sister who just shrugged, “the topic never came up,” she casually replied while Jun giggled. “Wait! You said Kyungil? So you are the Student council sunbae? Oh, I see.” She looked at her sister with a smirk while she glared back at her.

“So are we heading home now?” Kyungil quickly cut in, understanding how the bickering was making Hae Rin even more uncomfortable than she already was.

“Are we all going together?” Hae Jin asked while Kyungil replied, “Why not? We all live in the same area.”

“Oh yeah, here I’ve got your spare glasses. I totally forgot about it.” Hae Jin took it out of her bag and handed it to Hae Rin, who looked visibly relieved to hear that. She started to cheer up a little after wearing her spare glasses and they continued home, simply chatting about this and that.

It was not just these two who got confused with the twins. Even the whole school had trouble differentiating them, initially. At times, the JinRin twins took advantage of it but it slowly started becoming not so easy since the teachers and staff were starting to notice the subtle difference between the two.

Although the twins were always together, they also had some friends who were only close to either of them. For example, Benji and Da Yeong were closer to Hae Rin than Hae Jin. “I’m sorry but your sister is kind of intimidating,” was what Benji told Hae Rin one day, almost in tears when the teacher nearly paired him up with Hae Jin for a group project. They later exchanged the pair, of course with the teacher’s permission, but that’s another story to tell.

Although the two were seen as identical twins, this pair of twins is what one would unofficially call, ‘mirror twins’.  Although this mirroring is not explicitly visible, except for the slight height and weight differences, and the small dimples that form on the opposite cheeks which was barely noticeable.

Hae Rin was more comfortable using her left-hand while Hae Jin used her right hand. This could only be noticed when they were writing or were using an equipment for sports/music. They were also be able to use the other hand for the same purpose,  only that, things got a bit sloppy at times especially their handwriting.

This extended even to their academics and sports. They both were not that different with their academic score or sports excellence. Only when it came to their nature, did they slightly differ. Hae Rin being slightly introverted while Hae Jin on the other hand, was a bit extroverted.

Anyway, as days passed by, the twins, Kyungil and Jun met at least every other weekend because their family had a gathering, due to which, the four had gotten a lot closer. Hae Jin and Jun went to the same dance studio for classes and when they were free, they took martial arts classes at Kyungil’s uncle’s gym.

This initially started because the twins’ father was worried. Hae Rin used to get bullied in her previous school and although, the people in her current school hasn’t bothered her yet, he was still concerned, “Is everything okay in school?” he asked Hae Rin one fine evening when the two were alone in the garden, tending to the plants.

“Yes, dad. People seemed to be scared of Hae Jin. So they hesitate to bother me.” She shrugged.

“Wait! Is your sister a bully in school?” their father raised his voice a little.

“No, no, she stands up against the bullies, even if the victim is someone unknown to her. So people don’t like crossing her.”

“I see,” he nodded his head, deep in thoughts, “Hae Rin-ah, I’ve been thinking this. Why not we learn to stand up on our own?” Hae Rin looked confused, “I know this friend who runs a gym in the town. What do you think of learning martial arts or self-defense arts?”

And that was how she started going to the club where they taught a few martial arts, boxing, etc. Since it was Kyungil’s uncle’s place, he was pretty much around in his free time, helping his uncle and that somehow, helped Hae Rin to quickly adapt to the place. Eventually, Hae Jin and Jun signed up as well.

As days turned weeks, weeks turned months, it was already time for the twins to graduate primary school and enter middle school. There was not much change in their routine, since their school’s trust had all levels of schooling in the same ground, just different campus this way and that way.

Since Kyungil was in the final year of high school, h