Minyoung preferred napping to sleeping.  Whenever she tried to sleep, she would only dream about events from her past.  But Minyoung was exhausted that night, and she knew that she needed sleep if she wanted to function properly the next day.

Minyoung ran into the library, wiping her feet hastily on the floor mat.  She threw her backpack down and squeezed the water out of her hair. 

It was six in the evening, but neither Taeil nor Minhyuk could come to pick her up.  Taeil had a business meeting with their parents, and Minhyuk didn’t like to be bothered for silly things.  She didn’t want to ask, in fear that he’d dismiss her request.

No one hung out in the library in the evening, because, well, there wasn’t much to do in the library in the first place.  In fact, the place was completely empty when Minyoung ran in.

“So annoying,” she muttered.  The rain seemed to be coming down in sheets, which ruled any thoughts of walking home.

“I didn’t know that people were still here,” a voice called out.

Minyoung turned around, surprised.  “Sorry, I—”

A boy came out with a handful of books.  “It’s getting late.  Shouldn’t you go home?”

“Probably.”

“You aren’t going to leave,” he stated.

“I’m staying until the rain stops,” she insisted.

He frowned, looking out at the gray clouds.  “I don’t think it will stop anytime soon.”

“Thanks for stating the obvious.”

“Sarcasm?”

“What’s your name?” She couldn’t recognize his face at all.

“I’m Ahn Jaehyo.  I’m also ranked first in our year.”

Minyoung’s eyes widened, and a small smile played on her lips.  “You’re the kid that always beats me.  Nice to meet you, Ahn Jaehyo.  I’m Lee Minyoung, ranked second in our year.”

She didn’t get much sleep that night.

<:>

Minhyuk, on the other hand, slept well every night.  Sometimes, he slept too well.  The sun shone brightly through the cracks in the curtains of his window, and he smiled in his sleep.  He lazily reached for his alarm clock, subconsciously noting the time—7:45. 

Wait.

Still half-asleep, he quickly calculated how many minutes he could stay under the covers and realized that he had to leave at that very moment.  He threw his blanket off and ran for the bathroom, furiously brushing his teeth.

No time for breakfast.

On a normal day, Minhyuk would take his car to school, just to show off.  However, starting the car took a long time, something Minhyuk didn’t have, so he ended up sprinting to school.

To his relief—or rather, annoyance—he noticed his twin sitting outside of his classroom, legs crossed, holding a bag of potato chips. 

“H-How did you get here?” Minhyuk, still breathless from running, exclaimed.  “My alarm didn’t go off, and I didn’t wake you up.”

“Oh hey.  Do you want a chip?” Minyoung asked.

“There’s no time for that!  I barely made it to school.”

“Oh.  Well, I was in the library all morning, finishing a paper,” she replied, “Since someone stole all of my food last night.  I was so bothered by the fact that you ate the cookies that I forgot to type my report out.  But I finished!”

“Wonderful.  I’m just glad I made it to class in time.” He leaned against the wall in relief. 

She stood up.  “I was waiting for you!”  She giggled, noticing Minhyuk’s outfit.  His uniform was messy, and the buttons didn’t line up.  He even wore mismatching socks, which Minyoung found even more amusing, since Minhyuk hated it when things did not match.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Where’s your friend?  Yukwon, I mean.” She ignored his question.

“Him?  We aren’t friends, Minyoung.”

“You seemed close.” She suddenly smiled and waved.  “Look!  There he is!”

“Speak of the devil…” Minhyuk muttered.

“He seems nice.” Minyoung crumpled up her bag of chips and handed it to Minhyuk.  “Here, throw this away for me.”

“What?  No.”

Yukwon walked up to the twins.  “Good morning, Minyoung.  Hey Minhyuk.”

“Hi!” Minyoung smiled.  She noted the way his red hair fell across his face, as well as the ring on his finger.  The ring interested her.

“Minhyuk,” Yukwon said, turning to face him, “You look awful.”

“Oh, shut up.  I woke up late, skipped my morning shower and breakfast, and ran at top speed just to make it to school.”

“Do you want something to eat?” Minyoung offered.  “You nearly wiped out my food collection yesterday, but I refilled my backpack.”

“No thanks.”

“You could try showering at night,” Yukwon offered.  “That way, you don’t have to rush in the morning.”

“Hey, what time is it?”

“Eight.”

“Good.  There are still a few minutes before class.  Minyoung, you should go to class too.” He gestured for his sister to leave before heading into his classroom.

Yukwon followed behind him, noting the way Minhyuk acted around his sister.  He seemed caring, almost…nice.  From the way Minhyuk acted around him, Yukwon would never guess that Minhyuk’s heart was even capable of feeling those emotions.  That cold, heartless guy actually had a heart after all.

<:>

Minhyuk hated a lot of people for no reason, but he absolutely detested a boy named Woo Jiho.  Jiho made Yukwon look like a harmless fly.  Jiho was the leader of a trio called Block B, the school’s group of rebels that got away with a lot of things.  For one, they could be out of uniform.  Second, Minhyuk heard that they only had to attend school a certain amount of days, due to a deal made by Jiho’s father.

Third, Block B was known to recruit.

Being recruited into Block B was like winning the lottery.  It meant that one of the three—Woo Jiho, Park Kyung, or Pyo Jihoon—thought you were worthy enough to hang out with them.  Admittedly, being a member came with its privileges. 

And Minhyuk was recruited by Woo Jiho himself.

However, Minhyuk had no interest in joining the trio.  For one, it meant that he’d have to hang out with irritating people every day.  It was bad enough seeing them in the hallways, acting like they owned the place.  Second, it meant leaving Minyoung alone, and he couldn’t do that. 

So he declined.

Since then, Jiho had been extra mean toward Minhyuk.  Jiho didn’t go out of his way to do bad things, but whenever they’d pass each other in the hall, he’d always send Minhyuk a glare.  Minhyuk was pretty sure that the only reason why Jiho didn’t do anything was because of Park Kyung.  Park Kyung was a close friend of Minhyuk’s in elementary school before they drifted apart, and Minhyuk wondered if Kyung had anything to do with the lack of attacks.

Lunchtime was the worst, though, because Block B sat in the center of the cafeteria.  Minhyuk and Minyoung usually ate on the roof, but there were exceptions.  When Minyoung insisted on eating something, there was nothing Minhyuk could do to convince her otherwise.

“Hey Minhyuk, there are spicy rice cakes in the cafeteria today!” She walked over to her twin’s desk with a grin.  “We have to go before they run out.”

“Again?  I could’ve sworn we had that last week.”

“Please?”

“I don’t want to go there today, Minyoung.  You know how much I hate loud noises and high school gossip.”

“But…the spicy rice cakes…” Minyoung trailed off.

Minhyuk sighed.  I can never win these arguments anymore.  He grabbed his wallet and stood up.  “Fine.  But only because you’re my twin.”

“Yes!”

While they walked down the deserted hallway, Minyoung decided that Minhyuk walked too slow.  She started to speed up, causing her twin to roll his eyes.  She stuck out her tongue at his gesture.  However, she failed to see a group of boys standing there and accidently backed into one of them.

Minhyuk’s eyes widened.  “Minyoung-ah!”

The boys that were still standing turned to see the commotion.  Woo Jiho sat on the ground, and Minyoung sat a few feet away from him.

“Hey, it’s Minyoung,” Park Kyung said.  “It’s been a while.”

“You know her, hyung?” Jihoon asked.

“Yeah.  We went to elementary school together.”

Jiho stood up and extended a hand toward Minyoung.  She ignored his hand and stood up, just as Minhyuk reached them.  He grabbed Minyoung’s arm and pulled her slightly behind him.

“Oh?  Lee Minhyuk?  What are you doing here?” Jiho asked.

“We’re getting lunch.”

“Why don’t you introduce me to the girl behind you?”

“Why should I?”

Minyoung observed her brother’s reactions and decided that she didn’t like Jiho much either. 

“She’s very pretty,” Jiho said.

“Oi, Jiho, lay off,” Kyung muttered.

“I got this, Kyung,” Jiho replied.  “Minhyuk, I thought I did a good job researching you, but I guess I overlooked the most important fact.”

“Leave us alone, okay?” Minhyuk grumbled.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, my sister wants cafeteria food.” He nodded toward his twin and pushed past the group of boys blocking the hallway.