“Minyoung-ah!”

“What?” Minyoung asked flatly.  As soon as she opened the door to the apartment the twins shared, Minhyuk nearly tackled her with a hug.

“Where were you?  I was worried.”

“I saw Jaehyo.” She threw her backpack on the kitchen table and immediately went to the refrigerator.  “Oh food, how I’ve missed you.”

“What do you mean?  Jaehyo came back?”

“Duh.”

Minhyuk wondered if he should continue, and he did.  “How was he?”

“The same.”

“Do you still—”

“Let’s not talk about that right now.” Minyoung cut him off with a smile.

“Fine.”

“He’s annoying.” Minyoung opened a can of soup with a can opener and grabbed a straw from the counter.

Minhyuk frowned.  “I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.  What are you doing?”

“Eating soup.”

“Put it in a bowl or something!”

“Make me.” Minyoung stuck her tongue out.  “This is how I always eat it when I’m upset.  We don’t have ice cream, so I eat soup instead.”

“Why are you upset?”

“I’m so confused, Minhyuk.”

“About what?  If it’s homework, unfortunately, I can’t help you with that.”

“About Jaehyo…and…Yukwon.”

Minhyuk frowned.  Yukwon?  Since when was my sister confused about Yukwon?  “What does Kim Yukwon have to do with this?”

Minyoung smiled.  “It’s a secret.”

The two fell into silence, and Minhyuk observed his twin completely focused on the can of soup in her hand.  He looked around their simple apartment for a way to break the silence.  “I know what will cheer you up!” Minhyuk exclaimed.  He went to his backpack and took out a stack of letters.  “Confession letters.”

“What?”

“You know, those letters that people stick into our lockers.”

“I don’t…”

“The pieces of paper you always throw away.”

“Oh, those?”

“I saved them for us to read.  We both got a few.”

“Fine.”

Ever since the first day of high school—the day Minhyuk received his first confession letter—Minyoung and Minhyuk promised to read each other’s confession letters out loud just for the heck of it.

“This letter is from that girl…I don’t remember her name.”

“What girl?” Minyoung replied.

Minhyuk frowned.  “Eunji from my class?  Or was it Haneul from your class?  I swear they look alike.”

“That’s because they’re twins, oppa.  Just like we are.”

“Anyway, there’s nothing special in it.”

“Let me read it.” Minyoung stuck out her hand.

“No,” Minhyuk replied.  “It’s…weird.”

“Why?”

“She wrote me a poem.  A very scary poem.”

Minyoung chuckled.  “You should be honored.  I’m sure she doesn’t write poems for everyone.”

“And you got one from Yukwon.  Do you want me to read it?”

Minyoung frowned.  “I told you I didn’t want to talk about him.”

“I was just joking, Minyoung.  What exactly did he do?”

“If I tell you, you’ll kill him.”

“Is it that bad?” Minhyuk frowned, and his eyes narrowed.  He should’ve known that Yukwon wouldn’t leave his sister alone after messing things up.  Secretly, Minhyuk wished Yukwon had left Minyoung alone.  After all, Minyoung could take care of herself—with a little guidance from Minhyuk, of course.

“See?  You’re jumping to conclusions already, Minhyuk,” Minyoung said, “so I refuse to say anything.”

<:>

“We’re looking for a few ambitious students to lead the dance committee this year.  It’s a joint project with one of the other classes, so you’ll be working with students outside of our class.  If any of you are interested, please submit your name to me.”

Yukwon turned around toward Minhyuk.  “We didn’t have a dance last year.”

“Hm.” Minhyuk nodded.  “You’re right.”  Dances are lame…I wonder if Minyoung would even want to go to a school dance?

The teacher continued, “So, if anyone is interested—”

Just then, he received a text from his sister, which said something along the lines of “You better sign up for the dance committee thing or else.”  Sighing, he stood up.  “I’ll do it.”

Everyone turned their heads.  Minhyuk never spoke much, and if he did, he would never offer anything helpful.

“You, Lee Minhyuk?”

He scoffed.  “No, I’m just standing up and volunteering to mess with you.”

The teacher glared.  “Not funny, Minhyuk.”

“I thought it was.” Minhyuk shrugged and settled back in his seat.

“So, now that Minhyuk has volunteered, does anyone else want to head the dance committee?”

“What about the other classes?” One kid piped up.  “Do the other classes volunteer two representatives as well?”

“Er…” the teacher stuttered.  “I thought that our class could put in a little more effort than the others—”

“Well,” the same student called out, “do you know who the other people on the committee will be?”

The teacher frowned.  “I can ask the other teachers when we’re done nominating.”

“Of course.  Make our class do a lot of the work, huh?” Minhyuk muttered.  “How stupid.”

“Maybe a girl volunteer?”

Minhyuk watched in amusement as all of the girls either a) looked down, b) looked out the window, or c) looked at the clock.  He then turned to Yukwon, and an idea struck him.  “Yukwon, volunteer.”

“What?  Me?” Yukwon replied, turning around.

Minhyuk rolled his eyes.  “Yes, you.”

“I’ve never planned a dance before.”

“Neither have I, idiot!”

“But…”

Minhyuk glared at the other boy.  “As much as I hate using my sister as a bargaining tool…Minyoung is the representative from her class.”

“Fine.”  Yukwon bit his lip, tried to gather all of his courage, and stuck his hand in the air.  The teacher, relieved, eagerly called on him. 

“Mr. Kim?”

“I’ll volunteer too.”

The teacher smiled.  “Very well.”

<:>

“You know,” Minyoung said, “I’ve never planned a dance before.”  She sat next to Minhyuk in the library.  His eyes were closed, but she knew he was paying attention.

“I’m sure it isn’t that hard.  We should be smart enough to figure it out.”

“I don’t know.  I’ve never even been to a dance before.”

“What?” Minhyuk exclaimed.  The librarian shot him a grumpy look, and Minhyuk bowed his head in apology.

“It’s true.  I was never interested in that kind of stuff.”

“B-But what about the one we had two years ago?”

“I ditched it.”

“But you paid for a ticket!  We arrived at the same time.”

“I got a refund.  Besides, I hate dancing.  I was only going for the food, but then I found out that there was no food.”

“Minyoung-ah, going to a dance is a very important part of high school!”

“Sure.  I’ll just have to miss out on that part of high school.” Minyoung snickered.  “Lighten up, Minhyuk.”  Minyoung’s smile faded away in an instant, and Minhyuk looked up.  His sister glanced around the library nervously.

He frowned.  “You okay?”

“Someone is watching me.”

“What?” Minhyuk was about to turn around, but Minyoung tugged his arm.

“Don’t look.”

“Who?”

“Ahn Jaehyo.”

“Where?”

“Behind the bookshelf.  He’s reading a book, but he’s looking up every so often.  That probably means he’s watching me.”

“Why do you think he’s watching you?”

Minyoung shrugged.

Just then, the library door flung open.  About half of the people in the library looked up from what they were doing, causing the boy standing there to look embarrassed.

“Kim Yukwon,” Minyoung whispered.

“What is he doing here?” Minhyuk replied.

“He goes to school here, dummy.  He can hang out in the library if he wants to.”

“But—”

“He’s coming over here.  What should I do?” Minyoung asked.

“Since when have you freaked out over a boy?” Minhyuk scoffed in annoyance.

“I’m not freaking out, Minhyuk.  I’m thinking out loud.”

“Right.” Minhyuk rolled his eyes.

Yukwon walked over casually, backpack slung over one shoulder. “Guess what?”

“What?” Minyoung replied, amused.  When Yukwon smiled, she couldn’t help but notice that her mood brightened as well.

“Did Minhyuk tell you?”

“I don’t think he did…?”

Yukwon smiled, placing his backpack down at the table.  “I’m also heading the dance committee.  The teachers gave me a checklist.”

Minyoung grinned.  “Nice.  We’re all in charge of planning the dance, then?”

“Idiot,” Minhyuk muttered to his twin.  “He obviously did it so that he could hang out with you.”

<:>

On the way out of the library, Minhyuk pulled Yukwon back so that Minyoung couldn’t hear their conversation.

“Listen—”

“I know you want me to stay away from Minyoung.  But I’m not going to.”

“No, idiot.”

“I think I like it when you call me Kim Yukwon better than when you call me idiot.” Yukwon rolled his eyes.

“Just…don’t be stupid, okay?  I know that you’ll probably ask Minyoung to the dance…”

“I don’t know about that.”

Minhyuk frowned.  “Are you kidding me?”

“I don’t want to get rejected by Minyoung before I confess to her, Minhyuk.  Does she even like dances?”

“How do you know?  What if she’s actually waiting for you specifically?”

“Yeah right.  Hope can only get me so far, Minhyuk.”

“That’s your problem, Yukwon.  You’re too afraid to take risks.” Minhyuk left Yukwon standing there, looking back once before running to catch up with his twin.