Hiii~ I know it's a little late, but it's here nonetheless! And I apologize for being absent for so long... >.< Please enjoy~ ^^

Beautiful poster provided by the amazing talents of my wonderful dongsaeng, superseoul11~ :)))

The next morning, when Dongwoon saw Miteum without her long wig, he mistook her for a random person in their apartment and tackled her to the ground, earning himself many slaps. Luckily, their mother didn't notice the fact that her daughter was now wearing a wig and sent her children off to school with their lunches. As usual, the twins took the bus to Anyang, and the younger was dancing to a song on her iPod. Today, it was Super Junior's "It's You," and she had to make sure she didn't hit anyone, especially since this particular routine required many arm movements. Once at school, Miteum grudgingly went to her class that she didn't share with her brother and mumbled a "Good morning" to Gikwang.

"Good morning, Miteum," he greeted back, smiling his usual smile. "How are you?"

"I'm fine..." Miteum slowly said, taking note of the familiar tone in her desk partner's voice. Gikwang continued to smile and just stared back at Miteum, making her feel uneasy and look away to the chalkboard at the front of the room. Throughout the morning, Miteum would often catch Gikwang looking at her, and she would subconsciously touch her wig, making sure it was still on. When lunch finally came around, Miteum awkwardly said goodbye to her desk parnter and left to Dongwoon's classroom. As soon as she sat down beside her brother, Dongwoon held up a few strands of her wig and commented,

"No wonder I didn't notice this yesterday. It looks so natural..."

"Stop touching it," Miteum whined, scooting away from the other. The twins began to eat their lunches but were interrupted by a round of sudden squealing and giggling. When Miteum and Dongwoon looked in the direction of the source, their faces paled slightly at the sight of BEAST in the doorway. Catching Dongwoon's gaze, Yoseob grinned and ran up to him, giving him a high-five and said in broken English,

"Yo, man! How does it go?"

"It's 'How's it going?', Yoseob," Gikwang corrected, suddenly beside Miteum, which shocked her. "Hello again, Miteum."

"Hello..." she uneasily replied, "What are you all doing here?"

"We're not here to see you, if that's what you're thinking," Junhyung dully answered, returning the fiery glare Miteum was giving him.

"We just wanted to spend some time with Dongwoon," Hyunseung politely replied, smiling at Miteum, who was instantly calmed by his charismatic presence. By now, everyone was seated in a clump of desks that had been pushed together, and Miteum and Junhyung made sure they were on opposite sides. Doojoon, Dongwoon, Hyunseung, and Junhyung talked about "guy" things (as Miteum put it), while the younger Son twin, Yoseob, and Gikwang attempted to talk about a topic they all found interesting. Yoseob started talking about ice cream, but Miteum wasn't a big fan of sweets. Gikwang tried to talk about a new brand of sneakers that recently came out, but neither of the other two cared much for that. One half of the group was actively engaged in a discussion about sports, but the other half was struggling in awkward silence. Almost hopelessly, Miteum asked the other two,

"So...do you like MBLAQ?"

"Oh, my gosh! Yes! Lee Joon is such a cool dancer!" Yoseob gushed, putting his hands over his cheeks. Miteum was genuinely surprised to meet such an avid fanboy, since Gikwang had just responded calmly the first day they met. Soon after, the three were all excitedly talking about the music group--Miteum a littl more excitedly than Gikwang, and Yoseob a lot more excitedly than Miteum. In the midst of their conversation, Gikwang asked Miteum,

"Who's your favourite member?"

"Cheondung, of course!" she answered on instinct, and instantly regretted it when Yoseob said,

"Oh, yeah! Hey, your cousin is in BEAST now. He's crazy good! Are you guys close?"

"Oh, we are...closer than you can imagine," Miteum quietly replied and mumbled, "We're almost inseparable..."

Right after her answer, the bell rang for lunch to end, and Yoseob unwillingly said goodbye to his new friend with a pouting face. The rest of BEAST (with the exceptions of Dongwoon and Yoseob) left as well; Junhyung and Miteum shot glared at each other before the former exited the classroom. Gikwang and Miteum returned to their own classroom as well and when they sat down, the former whispered,

"A piece of your hair is sticking out."

"Oh, realy? Thanks," Miteum replied, tucking it back under wig, but immediately froze when she understood the other's words. Slowly, she turned to face the calm, grinning boy and asked almost inaudibly,

"...How long have you known?"

"Since you first came to the room as Cheondung," Gikwang replied simply, leaning back in his seat. Miteum sighed and glanced around her, then turned back to her desk partner and whispered,

"Please, don't tell anyone. If the others find out, I'll be kicked out, and--"

"Don't worry," Gikwang cut her off, "I wasn't planning on telling anyone."

"Oh... Well, thanks," Miteum awkwardly said.

"But..." Gikwang started, making the other groan in annoyance, "In exchange for keeping your secret, you have to keep a minimum grade of 90% in all of your subjects."

"W-What..?" she asked him incredulously. Gikwang smiled and answered,

"I know you're failing math and science. You're barely passing history and English language, and the only class you have an 'A' in is P.E."

Miteum glowered at her unusually observant desk  partner and was about to reject his offer when she remembered that he needed to keep her secret. Pouting slighlty, she mumbled, "Fine..."

Throughout the rest of the school day, Gikwang would correct all of Miteum's mistakes on the classwork, and during passing periods, he reviewed t he lesson with her, making sure she really understood the criteria. By the end of the day, Miteum was mentally exhausted, having never studied during school. She didn't care about grades, but now she had to. When school was over, Gikwang patted Miteum's head and mused,

"Good job, Miteum. Let's ace that quiz tomorrow, okay?"

Miteum had her head in her folded arms and mumbled incoherently, which Gikwang took as an "Okay." After Gikwang was gone, Dongwoon entered the class and approached his sister, tentatively asking,

"Are you okay..?"

"I'm great," the younger grumbled in response, making the older raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Well, I'm going to the dance room now. Take your time getting there. It'd be hard to explain how you got t here in ten minutes when Seoul is half an hour away," Dongwoon advised, to which his sister just nodded. 

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

"Yo," Miteum--now Cheondung--greeted as she entered the dance room. She had been hiding in the bathroom for twenty minutes before deciding that she was too bored and came out.

"Cheondungie!" Yoseob sang and slung an arm around the newest member's shoulders, happy that he now had a dongsaeng that was shorter than him.

"Uh, hey, Yoseob-ssi," Miteum stiffly greeted back, uncomfortable with the skinship, and squirmed out of the other's grip, which made him pout. Yoseob followed Miteum as she made her way across the room and whined,

"Why are you speaking so formally? We're in the same grade level, right? Call me 'Hyung!'"

Since Gikwang rarely called him his Hyung and Dongwoon wouldn't give up the formalities, Yoseob gave Miteum his best puppy dog eyes and pleaded,

"Please? Please? Pleeease?"

"...Ugh, fine...Yoseob Hyung," Miteum agreed, falling victim to the older boy's powerful aegyo. She had never thought of anything as cute before, but Yoseob was quickly becoming an exception. Dongwoon, however, felt his world crumbling into dust. First, his sister cut her hair and was wearing a boy's uniform as a disguise, and now she was addressing older boys as "Hyung"? He knew Miteum wasn't the girliest girl in the world, but sometimes Dongwoon felt it was his fault that Miteum didn't experience the same joys other girls his sister's age did.

"All right, now that we're all here..." Doojoon began, gaining everyone's attention, "...We can talk about something important."

"Is another school's team challenging us again?" Junhyung monotonously asked, annoyance evident on his face. Doojoon chuckled and answered,

"No, not today. There's a competition in Myeondong on Saturday. I went ahead and entered us."

"Isn't that kind of far away, Hyung?" Hyunseung asked, and the leader replied,

"Yeah, but it's all about spreading our name, right?"

The others, albeit unmoving, silently agreed; Miteum felt something in the atmosphere change--felt that being known across the country was these boys' dream.

"But just like a lot of previous competitions, this one only allows three members per team," Doojoon announed, which caused Miteum to stiffen and warily ask,

"And these three members would be..?"

"Me, Hyunseung, and..." Doojoon paused, debating over the last choice before finalizing, "And Junhyung."

Smirking, Junhyung looked at a gaping Miteum, who, when she noticed him looking at her, immediately scowled and chewed on the inside of her cheek to refrain from yelling at the other.

"So the rest of us just go home right after school..?" Yoseob asked the older members. Doojoon replied,

"Pretty much. It'll only be until the competition's over, so don't worry, Yoseob-ah."

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

"THIS !" Miteum angrily yelled, kicking the back of the bus seat in front of her. Dongwoon quickly apologized to the annoyed Ahjumma before turning to his sister and chastising,

 "Calm down..! I'm sure there's a perfect reason why those three are going to compete."

"That's right!" a voice piped up from behind the twins. Slowly turning around, Miteum and Dongwoon found themselves looking at a grinning Yoseob and Gikwang. Eyes wide in shock and trying to disguise her voice, Miteum incredulously asked them,

"Did you two follow us?!"

"Maybe..." Yoseob replied in a sing-song voice, looking up innocently.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Miteum roared, and Dongwoon had to clamp his hand over , putting his arms around her to make sure she didn't claw at the other boy's eyes. Nervously but politely, Dongwoon asked,

"W-Why are you on this bus..?"

Gikwang spoke up this time, "Yoseob wanted to see your house--"

"And Miteum-ah!" Yoseob interjected.

"And I came to chaperone," Gikwang finished.

"I don't need a chaperone..." the other boy mumbled, crossing his arms and pouting. Pulling out of Dongwoon's hold, Miteum inquired,

"So what's the reason only those three get to go to Myeongdong?"

"The first reason is that they're the oldest and were the first ones on the team," Gikwang explained, "The second reason is that they're the best."

"Doojoon Hyung's our leader. None of us could function as a team without him. Hyunseung Hyung is a dancing genius. Hands down, he's the best out of all of us. Maybe in the whole district," Yoseob elaborated, and Gikwang finished,

"And Junhyung Hyung... Well, we actually don't know a lot about him or his past, but he's got skill. He's no Hyunseung, but he's better than the rest of us dongsaengs."

Miteum gave an insolent "Hmph," refusing to believe that Junhyung was any better than her. Her thoughts, however, were cut short when Yoseob chirped,

"So, Cheondungie, why do you and Dongwoon ride the same bus?"

"Uh, well...you see..." Miteum tried to speak, but no words came out. Dongwoon blurted out,

"We live in the same apartment building!"

Techincally, it wasn't a lie. But the twins had no time to relax as Yoseob began to ask more questions.

"In Seoul? Then, Dongwoonie, why do you go to Anyang High? It's so far away. And isn't Seoul High for rich kids? Why does Cheondungie live in an apartment? Don't you have a mansion or a condo?"

"Well...er...Miteum and I don't like Seoul High, so we transferred," Dongwoon nervously explained, then elbowed his sister/cousin in the side, silently telling her to explain the rest. Thinking of a story, Miteum went on,

"And I'm actually...a scholarship student. I, uh...I'm not a spoiled rich kid like Junhyung rudely assumed."

Again, technically, they weren't lies. Yoseob nodded and accepted the stories, and Gikwang just smiled at Miteum. After everything processed n his m ind, Yoseob giddily asked,

"So can we go to your apartment, Dongwoonie? I miss Miteum-ah. She's my best friend now!" 

Miteum felt something stir inside of her when she heard the words "best friend." She didn't even mind that Yoseob was speaking so casually after only knowing her for two days. She had a friend.

"Er...I guess it'd be okay," the older twin consented, not wanting to reject his Hyungs. They did get on a bus to travel two cities away from their homes, albeit uninvited. The bus ride to Seoul didn't feel so long now that Yoseob kept the conversation alive, and soon they were at Dongwoon, Miteum, "and Cheondung's" apartment complex. After walking up to the third floor, "Cheondung" took his leave to the fifth floor, where his apartment was; the three other boys continued to Dongwoon's apartment. Dongwoon gave Yoseob and Gikwang a short tour of the home (there wasn't much to show) before Yoseob asked,

"Where's Miteum-ah?"

Before Dongwoon had to fabricate a story, Miteum came out of their shared room with her long wig and normal girl's uniform on, acting surprised, and asked,

"What are you two doing here?"

"Miteum-ah!" Yoseob squealed, and he ran up to the girl, embracing her tighlty. "I missed you!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. That hurts, Yoseob-ssi," Miteum mumbled and squirmed out of the hyper boy's hug, still not accustomed to such intimacy. Immediately, Yoseob pouted and hopped up and down, saying,

"What is it with your family and formalities? Call me 'Oppa!' Oppa!"

Miteum's eye twitched at the word, and--as nicely as possible--replied,

"No, thank you."

Yoseob's bouncing came to a halt, and the look on his face resembled that of a little boy who had just seen a puppy get run over. Tears welling up in his eyes, Yoseob cried,

"Why not?!"

"I don't want to," Miteum stated, her monotonous voice contrasting with Yoseob's desparing one. The grief-stricken boy hugged Dongwoon and exclaimed,

"She won't call me 'Oppa!' How cruel!"

Awkwardly patting his shorter Hyung's head, Dongwoon attempted to placate, "Don't worry. She hardly calls me 'Oppa,' and I'm her real brother."

But Yoseob just burst out into tears (which almost seemed too real) as he yelled,

"And you, Dongwoonie! You won't call me 'Hyung!'"

Miteum sighed, knowing it would take a while for Yoseob to calm down. Twenty minutes later, when Dongwoon offered him ice cream, Yoseob finally stopped sobbing. Afterwards, the four watched television; Miteum made sure to sit on the end of the couch with her brother beside her so that the other two couldn't be near her. Unfortunately for her, Yoseob sat on the floor, hugging her left leg, and Gikwang had pulled up a chair to sit at Miteum's right. They spent the next four hours like that, surfing through television channels and making comments here and there; at one time, they tried to guess what ice cream flavour the actors were eating in a drama. By seven o'clock, the four were watching "Romance Town," and Miteum had fallen asleep out of boredom. Noticing this, Gikwang stood up, stretching, and suggested,

"We should probably go home now, Yoseob."

"Huh? But it's just getting to the good part," Yoseob said, eyes still glued to the TV screen. GIkwang chuckled and urged,

"Miteum is sleeping. We don't want bother her, do we?"

Looking up at his sleeping dongsaeng, Yoseob's mouth formed an "o" in realization and stood up, whispering, "Okay, then. Bye-bye, Dongwoonie! See you at school tomorrow."

Dongwoon walked his Hyung's to the door and waved goodbye, closing the door only when he could see their figures no more. Moving to his sister, he gently shook her awake, whispering,

"Miteum, wake up. The others left already. Wake up... You still have to do your homework."

"Ugh, I don't want to..." Miteum mumbled, turning away from Dongwoon, who sighed in defeat. A tiny chime sounded from Miteum's cell phone; she lazily flipped it open and read the text message:

7:12 p.m. Wed, 19 May
From: Lee Gikwang <3

Hiii~ Its Gikwang~ ^^ I took
ur cell phone during class, txtd
myself to get ur number and 
added my number to ur phone.
Like my entry name??? ;D
Make sure to study for tmrrw's
English quiz. And remember...
all A's, or I'll tell everyone ur
secret! Kekeke~
See you tomorrow! :3

Miteum snapped her phone shut and groaned, standing up lazily as she trudged to her and Dongwoon's room to study for the quiz she could have cared less for. Momentarily confused by his sister's sudden change, Dongwoon shrugged and figured that whatever it was, if it got his little sister to study, the must have been a good thing.

Aw, man... It's 12:18 a.m. Just missed the deadline. I'm sorry, you guys... >.< Please, don't hate me... I hope you guys liked this chapter~

I just realized how much I strayed from Gikwang's real personality... But when I first saw him, he struck me as this kind of guy (with maybe a slightly larger ego), so I kind of stuck with that. I hope none of you mind... And d'awwwh~ Yoseob is so cute in this story. Hahaha. At least, I hope you find him cute... *fails at this kind of stuff*

Oh, and "Romance Town" is a real k-drama. I actually find it boring, but if you guys wanna watch it, go ahead~ I'm just not really a fan of that genre... lol

Hm... I wonder which BEAST member I'll focus on next chapter. I've already focused on Dongwoon (obviously), Gikwang, and Yoseob... Haha, I seriously don't know which one it'll be. xP I guess we'll see.

A short blog entry some of you might like to read: http://www.asianfanfics.com/blog/view/17940 

For those of you who don't know:

~"Oppa" - What a girl usses to address/refer to an older brother, older brother figure, or boyfriend (who is older than her). As you can imagine, it gets really annoying when you hear it 24/7... =___=
~"Dongsaeng" - What you say to address/refer to someone younger than you (of any gender). You don't really call someone  "Dongsaeng" though, unless you're saying something like, "Oh, you're so cute, my little dongsaeng~!" It can mean "underclassman" or "younger sibling," which I find really sweet~ ^^

I'm going to take a short break from updating this story to focus on my other story "Isolation." It's been a really long time since I've updated that one, and my readers deserve better from me... I'm really sorry, and I hope you all understand... :'C

Super fantastic lovely chocolate cookies to:

joycecute25
vhe2kangin
eLKaye101

Double digits FTW~ :DDD I now have twelve subscribers~ Thank you all for subscribing, commenting, and--most importantly--reading~ I really appreciate every single one of you. ♥

Until next time~