Luckily, this teacher knew kids very well. When she approached him from behind and called out his name, he didn't respond. She took apart one pile. He immediately began stacking them again. Her suspicions were confirmed. He had autism.

Lu Han and I didn't understand. All my mom told us for the first tear was that Tao was "special". I didn't understand. Lu Han and I were special, weren't we? Iris twins weren't common.

But Lu Han got what I couldn't get. In his third grade class, he knew what "special" meant for a child. Sometimes I think he dealt with everything the hardest.

It wasn't until my dad finally sat down with me and defined the meaning of "special", that I could comprehend our situation.

He said that not everybody was the same, and that some were slower than others. It wasn't by choice, but it was simply how they were born. And no matter what bad thing anybody said about them, we had to stick up for them. The world shouldn't hate someone who can't help who they are, and isn't harming anyone else.

I asked him if he was talking about Tao, and he said yes.

~

"We have a huge problem." I said, quietly closing the door to my brother's room.

It was about 2:00 am, and no one except Tao and our parents were asleep.

"How huge?" Lu Han asked from his bed.

"Dad knows I lied to him. About the day you broke your legs." I sat beside him.

"!" He cursed. "Did you spill anything?"

"Of course not! But dude we have to think of something fast. He might try to sniff out Tao." I whispered harshly.

"Wait, does he know for a fact what Tao did?"

"I'm assuming so! How do we get him off of our tail?"

Lu Han's eyes danced around the room, looking for a good answer. Finally, he met my eyes. "A distraction. Something that will rattle him so much he forgets everything."

My eyes widened. "No. No no no no no never ever in a billion years."

"What, do you have a better idea?" He was getting desperate.

I bit my lip. "Me coming out will cause more pain than helping anything. He will disown me. Kick me out of the house. Tao will be so frustrated and hurt he might kill himself. He needs me, you both need me!"

He was silent for a long time, staring into his lap. "Then come up with something. Fast. As in today."

~

I was running on three hours sleep when I crashed into someone on my way to Tao's classroom at lunch.

"Oh ! Ok I'm so sorry-oh crap Chanyeol!"

The freshman blinked as he got up from the floor. His glasses fell off so he had to pick them up and dust the lenses.

"You look like you're in a hurry..." He mumbled.

"Yeah- I am so sorry are you hurt? Did you want me to carry you to the nurse's office? You can get on my back!" I babbled.

He held up his hands. "Chill, I'm ok! You on the other hand...look really really tired."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, I-I'm supposed to meet Tao..."

"Well then...let's go see him." Chanyeol smiled, gesturing for me to follow him.

"Uh...ok." I lamely agreed.

Once we walked in, Tao ran up to me, anger brewed in his eyes. "Gege! Ms. Kwon bought sushi for Senjin's birthday!"

I cringed, knowing he hated fish of any sort. "Ok then, tell her you don't want any."

"I will..." He put his palms up for Chanyeol. The other freshman gladly complied with the greeting.

"Tao, come grab your plate!" Ms. Kwon howled.

He frowned. "I won't eat today!"

"Tao, you'll be complaining at the end of school. Just have some rice..." I told him.

"It's got fishy germs!" He whined.

"Don't be rude. Tell me nicely that you would not like any rice." I was beginning to get annoyed.

He got frustrated and turned away, ignoring me completely. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Chanyeol.

"I'm sorry, he's really picky when it comes to food..." I explained.

He nodded in understanding. "Hey Tao." My brother whirled around at the new voice.

"Chanyeol?"

"I packed oatmeal for my lunch today. If you want, I can make it for you." He smiled.

Tao immediately brightened up. "Really?"

"Of course! We're friends, right?"

"Yeah!" Tao fisted the air, a sign of accomplishment.

"Shouldn't you thank Chanyeol now?" I suggested.

He bit his lip, embarrassed. "Thank you..."

"It's not a problem. Wait here Tao and I'll make it for you!"

Chanyeol set his backpack on the table and took out his lunch bag. He stole the contents from it and went over to the classroom sink. I put my bag on a chair and followed.

"Thanks so much...but you don't have to give up your lunch..."

He shook his head, pouring water into the container of oates."It's fine. He takes wushu, right? He'll need the strength."

That completely surprised me. I wasn't aware that he knew so much about Tao. What else did he know?

"Hey Chanyeol...you want to be a psychologist, right? As in...you help people with problems." I began.

  "Depends on what kind of problems." He adjusted his glasses, making sure the measurements for the oatmeal were right before sticking it in the microwave.

"Well, my parents are...on the verge of discovering something really bad. I need to distract them." I sugar-coated.

"Discovering something? Did you sneak out and have fun with your friends or what?" He pressed the microwave buttons and turned to me.

"I can't tell you, sorry."

"Then I can't help, I'm sorry. I'd need to know the situation." Chanyeol looked down, disappointed with his own answer.

By this point, I was desperate. They, my parents, could do anything with the truth.

I leaned in close to his ear, causing him to gasp.

"The day Lu Han broke his legs. He threw himself off the roof to save Tao. If my parents knew that, they'd send him to God-knows-where. Please...help me."

I watched his eyes widen in shock and him trying to recover himself. "U-um. Wow...uh."

"Don't tell anyone. But please...help me."

The microwave dinged and Chanyeol rushed to take out the food. "Uh Tao here's your oatmeal! I have dried fruit and nuts in my bag. There might be brown sugar too!" He placed the food in front of the impatient panda.

"What happened?" Chanyeol demanded as he walked back up to me.

"T-Tao was playing on the roof...we saw him and freaked out...Gege ran up to get him down...but Tao fell off and Lu Han helped shield him from impact to the ground." I explained.

He took off his glasses and paced around a little bit before coming back up to me. "You need a solution by today, right?"

I nodded, the desperation sinking in even more.

He paced around again for a good five minutes before coming back. "I have something, but it's only a temporary solution."

"Lay it on me."

"Have a complete 180 degree turn on your personality."

I stared at him. "What?"

"In their eyes, become everything you normally aren't. If they worry about you, they won't worry about Tao." He flipped out his phone. "I'll help you. Are you free tonight?"

I blinked. "Uh...I have to take Tao and Lu Han home. Otherwise I'm free."

"Good. We'll go to the mall and I'll teach you to be someone you're not. Ok?" He attempted a smile, writing a note down in his phone.

"Ok, um, where...do you live? I'll pick you up." I offered.

His smile turned into a grin. "The blue house on Seventh St."

"Ok...thank you." I captured him in probably a bone-crushing hug.

He chuckled nervously. "Any...anytime."

~

"I may have found it." I told Lu Han as I lifted him in my car.

"Thank God. What are we going to do?" He sighed.

"You are going to watch Tao tonight while I go shopping. Trust me on this. I think...our house needs a rebellious teen."

He blinked and smiled, perhaps believing it might work.

_______________________

My sister was so cute today. We went to a sushi joint and at the end of the meal we got three candies. But because my mom didn't want one, she gave them to me. My sister was all "Let's share!" but they're hard candy...so you can't share them. I ended up giving them both to her.