I the water, waiting for it to get hot. Half asleep, I started brushing my teeth. Zelo and I had gotten back around six last night, and it was 8:30 right now. So why exactly was I up so early? Dad’s best buddy, the principal of SA, suddenly offered this morning to give us a special tour of the school. And of course, my dad couldn’t turn that down.

When the water became hot, I stripped off my clothes and stepped inside, letting the water run through my hair. The water helped to wake me up. I seriously felt like I was hung over or something, which was ridiculous since I didn’t drink last night. At least I don’t think I did…

Once out of the shower, I put on some warm and comfortable clothes, and then put on a light layer of makeup.

“Heena…” Zelo groaned as he entered my room, shirtless with a toothbrush in his mouth. “I feel like …”

“Yeah same,” I grumbled. “I didn’t drink last night, did I? I don’t remember any alcohol, but I feel hung over…”

“The only thing we drank was… that soda that Himchan brought…” Zelo mumbled and we both realized what had probably happened. “And he probably spiked it or something.”

 “Typical Himchan…” I sighed, drying my hair. It almost fell down to my waist, stick straight.

“I’m surprised we got back home then…” Zelo laughed weakly. “Himchan likes to use strong stuff.”

“You kids got back home thanks to me,” came Yongguk’s deep, annoyed voice.

“Whaat… that makes no sense,” I said. My words dragged, like my tongue was too tired to move much. Hm… why would my tongue be tired… hm… “We never called you…”

“I was in the same area and I saw you guys with your shady group of friends,” Yongguk said.

“Hey, only Himchan’s shady. The rest are okay,” Zelo cut in. “Like, Jongup’s opposite of shady.”

Yongguk continued, “It was around five-ish? Well you two were long gone… totally drunk, so I brought you two home.”

“Oh well thanks oppa,” I said. “Best oppa right here everyone.”

“You should’ve told us you were going out,” Zelo said. “Then we could’ve just been all together.”

“Well I didn’t know you two were gonna sneak-” Yongguk stopped mid sentence as Mom entered the room. He continued easily, “Sneak off with so much of my food! Mom, my stash is like dead because of them.”

“We’ll go buy more food later,” Mom said. The three of us exchanged relieved looks. Mom was… quite gullible. Innocent more like? “Junhong, Haemi, are you two ready? Dad said you guys are leaving in five.” She informed us. Junhong and Haemi are our actual names. Zelo and Heena are just nicknames we go by with our friends.

“Yeah,” Zelo said, spiking up with blonde hair with some gel. He wiped his hands on a towel. “We’re ready.”

***  ***  ***

“Hyunshik how have you been?” the principal greeted my dad warmly. “And oh wow! Junhong! Haemi! You two are all grown up! Last time I saw you two, you guys could barely walk!”

Well… wasn’t he an enthusiastic man.

“Kids, this’s Principal Woo, my old friend,” Dad introduced.

“I’m so thrilled to have your kids at my school,” he grinned at us.

 “Sir, we are so thrilled to start going to your school,” Zelo said to him, his eyes wide. I bit my lip and gave him a wide-eyed, vigorous nod.

“Excellent!” he exclaimed, seeming to buy our act instantly. “Wow Hyunshik, you’ve raised your kids so well!”

He exclaimed literally every sentence.

“Yeah, I did my best,” Dad said wearily, eyeing us sternly. He wasn’t as gullible/innocent/stupid as Mom. But there was no way he knew about most of the things we did. Heck, he probably only knew about the tiny minor misbehaviors. To our parents, Yongguk, Zelo, and I were golden, wonderful children. Yongguk was a star student and is now a first year at Yeondae University, and Zelo and I have always had perfect grades and always brought home a lot of music and arts awards.

“So where shall we start? We have two buildings: the academics building, then the arts building. Classes are in session right now so there’s probably not much to see in the academics building…” Principal Woo said.

“Then the arts building it is,” Dad said and we were on our way. We walked outside for a short time, greeted icy November wind.

“Our academics building is designed a little old fashioned. Kind of like a college building, but the arts building’s pretty modern.”

We soon arrived at a huge, glass building, about eight stories high. Principal Woo opened the door for us and we stepped in.

“I wonder what the tuition for this place is…” Zelo muttered under his breath.

As we took the elevator, Principal Woo said, “Junhong raps, Haemi sings, and you both dance, am I correct?”

“They’ve also learned to compose from their mother,” Dad added. “Although their composition styles are very different.”

“Ah, such gifted children,” Principal Woo beamed at us. He led us down a long hallway and opened one of the doors, revealing a brand new looking dance practice room. The mirrors were clean, the floor was spotless, and the AC was running although the room was vacant.

“We have the most advanced sound system installed into every dance practice room. SA has a total of thirty practice rooms, and they are open to students 24/7 as long as their grades stay at a B average or higher.”

Next, we visited the recording rooms.

“We use the same equipment that companies such as YG or JYP use,” Principal Woo bragged, then he continued on about his amazing school. Then that converted into Dad and him having a nice little chat about competitions, awards, etc.

I exchanged looks with Zelo.

“Principal Woo, where is the nearest bathroom? I’ll be back quick,” I asked.

“Oh me too,” Zelo said.

“Oh, turn the corner and it’s on your right,” Principal Woo said. “Just make sure to stay quiet since classes are in session.”

As soon as we were out of earshot, I dropped the act.

“This place makes me feel uncomfortable…” I muttered. “I know we’re not poor or anything, but this place makes me feel poor.”

“Good description,” Zelo sighed as we wandered the hallways. As we turned the corner, we ran into a strict looking teacher.

“What’re you two doing here?” she asked, looking us up and down, ending with a distasteful look at our hair. “Are you two students here? Where are your uniforms?”

“I’m sorry?” Zelo asked, slipping into perfect English. “We don’t speak Korean. Could you repeat that in English?”

“W-we no speak Korean,” I stammered in the crappiest Korean I could manage.

“Don’t try to mess with me,” she snapped. “I heard you two speaking Korean to each other. Come with me. I’ll let Principal Woo deal with you two.”

I glanced at Zelo. He shrugged. What could the woman do to us? We weren’t even students here yet.

We followed her through the hallways until soon enough, we were in the hallway with Dad and Principal Woo.

“Sir,” the teacher boldly approaching the two men. “I found these two students wandering the hallways during class, no uniforms, and showing PDA.”

I really, really had to fight from laughing.

“Junhong, Haemi?” Dad raised an eyebrow.

“I… I hate it when people mistake us as lovers,” I mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear, letting my bottom lip tremble a little.

“It’s okay Haemi,” Junhong put a hand on my shoulder; an act of comforting to the outside eye. “Some people are just too dense to see the obvious signs that we’re twins.”

He glared at the teacher.

“Junhong,” Dad said sharply.

“What? She upset Haemi,” Junhong stuck his tongue out.

Suddenly, Principal Woo burst out into loud laughter.

“You two are hilarious,” he grinned. “Hyunshik, don’t they remind you of us when we were young?”

Dad gave an exasperated shake of his head, but he was smiling.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Lee for the misunderstanding, but these two are not yet students of our school. They came on a tour today with their father. They will start attending here in a couple days.”

The teacher was at a loss for words.

“Mrs. Lee, I believe it is your lunch hour? Please go ahead,” Principal Woo said graciously. Looking a little bewildered, she walked away from us.

“Whoa Principal Woo, you’re a cool guy,” Zelo gave him a thumbs up.

“Thanks kid,” he laughed. “Hm… our school has always been a little… boring. Yes, it’s perfect, but gosh, the student body is just full of dull, boring kids. Maybe you two will liven up this place a bit.”