Taemin unlocked the door and took notice of the shoes at the entrance. His mother wasn’t home but his sister was, so he merely shrugged off his own sneakers and headed upstairs. He peeked in her room and saw her sitting on her bed, the sleeves of her shirt rolled up as she rubbed a dark spot on her arm. Her pant legs were rolled up in a similar fashion, several bruises littering her legs. Taemin could smell the medical ointment from the doorway as he walked in.

“Whoa, what happened to you?”

Soomin looked up and made a face at the appearance of her twin. “This is all your fault, Taemin!” she told him as she picked up a folded pair of socks with her free hand and threw it. Taemin tilted his head to the side, letting the cotton projectile fly past him and into the hallway.

“It is?” he asked, puzzled.

“Yes! Haven’t you heard of keeping your hands to yourself?” Soomin asked in frustration. The look of confusion from her twin made her groan. “Did you know that Heechul guy you beat on is part of a gang?” she demanded.

“Heechul?” Taemin narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember.

“Yes! Look at me,” she told him. “This is what the gang leader did for payback!”

“Oh. Heechul. I only hit him on the back, once. I thought he was choking on his drink,” Taemin replied innocently.

Soomin shot a glare at her brother. “Right, as if I’d believe that. You’re not a part of a gang are you?” she questioned him suspiciously.

He shook his head. “Nah. Gangs are just for those who are bored,” he answered. “I hear there’s a bunch of rival gangs in town too, just a bunch of high schoolers I think. Just guys with nothing else to do.”

“Well you just had to mess with the guy who had nothing else to do, didn’t you. And this is the result Tae,” she replied, pointing to herself.

“So does that mean this thing is over? It’s kinda weird having guys check out my legs.”

She snorted, holding back her laughter as she reached over for more ointment and continued massaging the bruise on her arm. “No. I’m not giving up yet. Get used to that skirt little brother.”

She wasn’t giving up. She may have been beaten up, but she saw him. She saw Minho, and Minho saw her. It was a good enough start.

“Hey Soo, could you try to not get beat up again? I have a reputation too, you know.” Soomin glared at him and he pursed his lips. “There’s a tiny bruise on your cheek too,” he added, putting his finger to the same spot on his own cheek. “Try to keep your, our, face, bruise-free, okay?”

She rolled her eyes as she dabbed some medication on her cheekbone. “This is all your fault, Taeminnie,” she repeated with a sigh.

Taemin walked over and sat down on the edge of her bed. “If it makes you feel better, your bra strap left marks on my shoulder.”

Soomin turned to look at him, her eyes widening as her jaw dropped. “You actually wore it?” she sputtered.

Her brother nodded with a tiny chuckle. “Yeah well, I had to keep my end of the bargain too, right?”

“Yeah you do, but I didn’t think you’d actually wear the padded bra I gave you,” she pointed out.

He shrugged. “Makes it more believable right? Plus, I’ve always wondered how it feels to wear that thing.”

Soomin cocked an eyebrow at her brother’s sarcasm and he merely laughed at her expression. “Did Key put your makeup on?” she asked him.

“Yeah,” he answered. “It’s scary how he knows how to do that stuff.”

She giggled. “It is isn’t it. Probably why he’s so picky with girls, seeing as he could be as feminine as any one of them… Sometimes I wonder if Nicole’s tomboy-ish enough to make up for his masculinity… They’d probably balance quite well as a couple…”

Her brother stared at the ceiling, clearly not listening to his sister’s rambling.

“Everything good on your end?”

Taemin looked back over, a blank expression etched on his face. “Huh?”

She reached over to hit his head with her knuckle even though she was no where near to actually make contact. “Did anyone in my class notice anything?” she asked again.

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Key and I talked about me having a cold, or being sick or whatever, and everyone pretty much stayed away from me.”

“I guess that’s good, but it could mean that someone might notice up close—”

“Not really. Before we talked about the sick thing, I came face-to-face with one of your classmates, and he didn’t seem to notice.”

“You did? Who was it?” his sister asked with mild curiosity.

“Umm.” Taemin searched his mind for a name, a name which seemed to be avoiding his grasp yet again. “Brown hair, glasses, sits near the front, left side.”

“I thought you were gonna keep up the end of your bargain Tae. That includes the names.”

“I’ll get them,” he replied offhandedly as he reached over for the bottle. Taking some ointment, he rubbed it on one of the bruises on his sister’s leg, causing her to flinch.

Short brown hair, sweet yet clumsy, smiles a lot. She sighed inwardly. Well the good thing about it was that if he hadn’t noticed, they were in the clear, for the moment anyway.

Taemin was going to keep pretending to be her, because she wasn’t done yet.

What she didn’t get was why Minho could be such good friends with that loser. That Jonghyun guy was going to be a huge obstacle in her goal, not to mention additionally being a huge pain in the .

Just a little road bump- nothing to be too worried about.

But she saw him, and he even spoke to her. Soomin squealed in her mind at the thought of seeing her celebrity crush yet again, up close and in real life.

And that in itself, was motivation enough.