Hyunjoong

I hastily approach the door and look through the peephole; seeing a dark, hunched figure ponders me whether I should open it or not. After a minute of reluctance, I finally give in and open the door warily.

''Yes?'' I ask with an unsure tone, squinting my eyes to see who it is. The figure turns out to be an ahjumma carrying some sort of a file with documents. This village never fails to surprise me.

''I need to speak with you, can I come in?'' she asks with a mild voice. I nod and open the door widely to allow her in. As I notice ahjumma limping, I guide her carefully to my armchair and gesture her to sit. She thanks me and I sit on an old, unstable chair, balancing myself to not fall.

''Ahjumma, is there a problem?'' I ask attentively. She pulls out the file and places it on the coffee table, eyeing me to take a look at it.

I pull out pictures, documents and old news articles. Every one of them is about the twins. 

''Why are you showing me this?'' I ask, going through the pictures and the birth certificates of the twins. She leans toward me;

''I think the second twin is still alive,'' she says.

''What makes you think that, ahjumma?'' I ask curiously.

''I keep having recurring dreams of that baby as a grown man. A tall, brown-haired, handsome man who looks intelligent... and the eyes of his mom,'' she whispers intently. After explaining it, she looks directly at me;

''You are the lost twin,'' she explains. I laugh nervously at her statement but stop mid-way as I see her serious face.

''Maldo andwae, ahjumma,'' I sigh and point at the pictures; ''I've never had a brother and I was born in Seoul. There's no way I could be the ''lost twin''. I think you have me confused of somebody else,'' I say and rub my temple.

''Is that why you keep having the very same nightmare where you can't breathe, can hear screams and have a blurry vision?'' she points out. I jerk my head up; ''How do you-''

''I know because I was there. I was there when the fire happened, Hyunjoong-ah,'' she snaps. I look apologetically at her and try to rationalize the situation.

''Hyunjoong-ah? You know my name?'' I ask tentatively.

''I'm your imo, your mother's sister,'' she says quietly. My heart drops from astonishment and I try to take in everything she says about my past right now.

***

After several hours of the never-ending discussion; ahjumma, I mean imo, had to take her leave and head home before someone saw her coming out from my house.

Slowly and swiftly have I processed the information she has given me. Never would I have thought to be the ''lost twin'', despite the fact that I'm Seunghyun's hyung... and the real, unknown leader.

Can this get any worse?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Seunghyun

Seeing imo leaving Hyunjoong's house angers me and I approach her. She stops with an expressionless look on her face.

''What were you doing in that house?'' I ask sharply.

''It doesn't concern you,'' imo says coldly and makes a move to leave. I grab her wrist; ''Imo...'' She tries to wriggle out of my grasp and I let go. With a turn on her heel she starts walking again.

''What did you tell him?!'' I hiss quietly and she continues walking away.

How does imo know Hyunjoong? Aish, I shouldn't have let her walk away like that. Hyunjoong mustn't know about my real identity at all costs.

I decide to head home to Hyomi's for some company.

Hyomi opens the door looking freshly showered and radiant as always. As she sees me she makes a bored expression and sits on the sofa, reading a book. I close the door and fling myself on the sofa beside her. I twirl her hair playfully and she ignores me, not even giving me a glance. Observing amusingly at her for a while, I speak up;

''Those ddeoks were delicious,'' eyeing her carefully. ''Did you give some to Hyunjoong?'' I ask concisely. As a response to that, Hyomi drops her book onto the floor and her lips start to tremble, hardly noticeable. I reach down to pick the book up and I place it on the table.

''W-what do you mean?'' she asks, trying to keep a steady voice. I whisper into her ear;

''Do you think of me as a babo?'' I ask in a fruity voice. Seeing as she nervously folds and unfolds her hands repeatedly, I decide to tone it down a bit.

I lean back on the sofa and fold my arms behind my head.

''I think it's time for you and me to go on a short trip, away from Jeungsan,'' I say in a honeyed voice.

''Seunghyun... please.. I.. I'm sorry. I won't do it again.. I-''

''Kiss me and we won't go,'' I interrupt. Hyomi's moonstone eyes bulge out and she bites her lower, rosy lip. I look pleasantly at her hesitation as she suddenly starts nearing me, her eyes not meeting mine.

One little movement and our lips finally meet with a warm sensation. I feel something wet on my cheek as I notice Hyomi tearing up. As our lips slowly parts away, I can still feel her plump lips lingering on mine. I get up from the sofa and grab my coat to leave. Before I open the door, I kiss her on the cheek. As I turn to leave I say;

''You should be happy that it was just a kiss and nothing else.''

With that, I close the door and head to the monastery to arrange a meeting, leaving behind a devastating Hyomi.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hyomi

I wake up with the sun shining brightly and I decide to text Hyunjoong:

5:56 A.M

H.M: Oppa, are you awake? 

H.J: Neh, what's up?

H.M: Seunghyun knows that we met up yesterday...

H.J: Jinjja? Eottoke?

H.M: Mol lah, I should have known, it's all my fault.

H.J: Don't say that, at least you're not hurt.

H.M: Mmm.

H.J: Hey, can you meet up with me now?

H.M: Neh, my dad won't arrive here until afternoon and Seunghyun is still sleeping at his place. Why?

H.J: Come to my house in 10 minutes.

H.M: I will, but oppa, did anything happen to you?

H.J: Kind of, I have something to tell you.