» Two of a Kind : Part 1 — ❝ Water ❞

Water : a transparent, odorless, tasteless liquid, a compound of hydrogen and oxygen, H₂O.

Friday

August 30

15:23

Indoor Swimming Pool

Water had always been a mysterious entity. Some perceived it as a strong and raging force of nature, strong enough to break tunnels through rock and wipe out mountains. Other thought of it as motherly for without water there wouldn’t be life. When she was swimming, Minjae didn’t think of how she perceived water but how water perceived her. After all, she was the one invading its space; she was the one trying to get through. While some swam with recklessness, Minjae considered that water was much stronger than herself and that instead of fighting it, she should just go with it. Instead of trying to break through, she would just go with the flow to where the water allowed her to go.

“Nice, Minjae, keep going, a few more seconds…” the teacher said on the side of the pool, checking her timer.

Panting and smiling, the girl grabbed onto the ceramic edge of the pool to allow her to get out once her length was done. She grabbed her towel and began drying her hair as the teacher fussed at her side.

“You almost broke your personal best time. With a little bit more practice, you could be one of the school’s best assets! You should seriously consider joining the swimming club.”

“I’m sorry,” Minjae refused nicely but firmly. “I’m afraid I can’t join that club.”

The teacher seemed surprised. “Oh, well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me. And I was hoping you’d relay with Jongin at the 400m…”

Minjae blinked, a frown appearing on her pretty face.

“What?” someone said, voicing her exact thoughts.

She turned around and came face to face with Kim Jongin, well-known all-rounder athlete and kind of a star on the campus because of both his accomplishments and his relation to the school’s president.

“I’m not joining the team,” she repeated to the teacher who shrugged and went to supervise another student.

“You have better things to do?” the boy asked without looking at her, showing he didn’t actually cared for her answer. That made Minjae’s blood boil.

“Actually, yes!” she couldn’t help but answer. “Not everyone dreams of being in a team with you.”

“You think we are not good enough for you?” Jongin asked, his arms folding over his torso and his brow furrowed.

“I think you are not good enough for me,” she retorted, head held high and haughty smile to prove she was satisfied with the way she answered him.

“Do you know what I think of you?” he said. And without leaving her time to answer that rhetorical question he continued. “I think you are so proud of yourself, playing Miss Independent when in fact you like having the attention.”

“Oh, now you’ve done it! I dislike you so so much right now!” Minjae’s eyes had grown into lines since she was frowning so much and her whole body was tensed with anger.

“After what you said, you really think I want to be liked by you?”

“Don’t worry, that will never happen.”

“Good, at least we are clear on that. It’d take a miracle for me to appreciate a girl like you.” 

Friday

August 30

16:34

Bus Stop

To say swimming was supposed to be a relaxing class, something that would kick out the weekend in a good way… Well, now she was pissed, even after a shower and the usage of a bottle of conditioner. Usually, taking care of her hair calmed her down, but not this time. She was still pretty angry with what had happened at the pool. If there was one thing Minjae disliked, it was people acting as if she wasn’t there. She knew of her popularity – it was difficult to hide the students taking pictures of her in the morning, whispering behind her back and screaming in joy every time she brushed their hand – but she never took it for granted. She didn’t want to be seen because she was popular, but rather she was popular because she wanted to be seen. And if it only came down to her, she probably wouldn’t keep this lifestyle and go for something simpler.

Anger made Minjae want to scream her head off, but she was trapped in her image. Around her, students stared her way and it was becoming a little bit bothering since she had to take the bus and would rather have no one watching her do so. She waved in their direction and smiled, effectively making them try to run away to hide. Did they really think they were being subtle?

Now able to take the bus, she boarded and took a seat near the door. Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, she sighed. Maybe she was still angry, but at least she had amazingly soft hair. Oh well…

Getting off the bus after some time, Minjae walked home. The twins were still at school, so was her sister and her mother was still working so she was alone. Tying up her hair into a messy bun and changing into an old sweatshirt, one that used to belong to her father and covered her body from neck to mid-thigh. As she put it one, she couldn’t help but sniff the collar. It had since long lost the scent of mint her father had and it now just smelled her, a strange mix of floral perfume, coffee and kimchi. Now that was a side of her nobody knew. They saw Minjae, the pretty prickly princess of Unmyeong, but at home, she was just plain Minjae, the wannabe housewife, who walked around in old clothing and didn’t care about her appearance.

Removing the light makeup she had put that morning, waterproof since she had swimming, she entered the kitchen, thinking it would be a good thing to cook a little for her siblings because they were always hungry when they came back from school. Noticing a note on a fridge, she picked it up. It was her mother’s handwriting, stating they had to buy lettuce and fish from the market.

With time to spare, Minjae headed for the market. Midway, she noticed she had forgotten the coupons that would allow her cheaper prices at school and she blamed Jongin for making her angry and forgetting. She would just have to negotiate, right?

Friday

August 30

17:21

Outdoor Market

“Listen, Lady, I had a coupon that stated or the same price I could have two!” Minjae argued, pointing at the cabbage head.

Immersed in her heated discussion with the saleswoman, she didn’t notice the car that stopped few meters behind her and its driver.

“Minjae, you know I like you, but you have to have your coupon or else I can’t give it to you.”

“Oh, come on! You know me! How about I babysit your daughter tomorrow so you and your husband can go on a date. I know you bought a really pretty dress lately and you’ve been dying to wear it out.”

The lady seemed to hesitate.

“Deal?” Minjae said, wiggling her eyebrow.

“Okay. Because it’s you!”

The girl clapped enthusiastically, unaware that someone was watching her with surprise and interest.

“Minjae?” someone called.

She froze. She knew that voice. Taking the bag the saleslady gave her, she began walking away, covering her face with both hand and cursing the fact she had chose now of all time to wear her hair up instead of down where it would have made a safe curtain to hide with.

A hand was placed on her shoulder, forcing her to turn around.

“I knew it was you! Baek Minjae… What are you doing here, like that?”

Kim Jongin. He had to be the one to find out. For sure, he would go tell everyone and she would be treated like a pariah for her lies. He would not hesitate to make her life a living hell if she allowed him! But what could she do, he had seen her face! Unless…

“Wait until everyone knows the truth about you,” he said laughing.

“Excuse me? I don’t know you,” Minjae stated, trying her best to look confused which wasn’t so hard at the moment given the fact that she was pretty much surprised he found her.

“Pretending you don’t know me when today in class you insulted me? You seemed to know who I was, back then.”

“You must have me confused. I’m not Minjae. I’m Mina, her sister.”

“Her sister?” Jongin obviously didn’t believe but he still took a step back, letting go of the girl. She had the same face and the same hair, but there were dark circles under her eyes, her hair was tied in a very messy way and her clothes looked like she had taken them out from a garbage can at the corner. It was definitely not the Minjae he knew. And the way he had seen her talk with the lady previously arguing on a price but actually being nice? Not something he believed the haughty Minjae would do.

“Oh, you are her sister,” Jongin acknowledged. “Sorry!”

Minjae was thoroughly taken aback. He believed her, he really did!

“It’s okay, we get confused a lot.” For now, the girl only wanted to escape this uncomfortable position, shifting her eyes away from his, something she definitely didn’t do at the pool earlier that day, only unknowingly adding to Jongin’s belief she was someone else.

She was about to go when he grabbed her by the arm. “I am really sorry. Please let me apologize properly. I can treat you to ice cream? Minjae would say no, but you don’t seem like your sister.”

“Uh…” She had no choice but to follow him, fearing he would realize she wasn’t her twin if she started acting like she would normally do. And well, ice cream wasn’t that bad of a punishment.

“Here, let me take your bags.” Jongin stole her grocery bags and carried them in one hand. They weren’t really heavy, but she still felt slightly bad about it.

“Don’t worry, it’s the least I can do. I ran after you on the street, grabbed you, probably scarred you and accused you of something you didn’t do.”

“And you insulted my sister,” Minjae added.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that too. We just don’t get along very well. How about you?”

“We are friends. We don’t go to the same school but since we live at the same house we see each other often…”

At that point, Minjae was really trying to come up with a backstory that would explain why no one knew of Mina’s existence at school. And the more she was talking, the easier lying would get. Borrowing pieces of her twin brothers’ life, she carefully spun a tale about Mina, the homely and naggy twin of Minjae.

Friday

August 30

17:51

Ice Cream Parlor

They had eaten their ice cream for a while now, but they kept talking, sitting at a table of the parlor. It was weird talking about her as if she was someone else, but she didn’t have a choice, Jongin was really curious about having a twin and she just tried to be careful with what she said. Lying was getting easy, but making all her lies fit was becoming more of a challenge. What was it with his good memory when it came to details of her imaginary life?

“Why do you want to know so much about my sister? Do you like her?” Minjae finally asked, tired of being questioned and feeling that should close the conversation.

“No, don’t worry, I don’t see your sister like that,” he assured her.

Why should she worry of not about that, though?

“I’ve actually never been in love. Everyone always make it sounds like it’s so necessary but is it really? I wonder…”

Minjae blinked. She never thought that by pretending to be her sister, she could hear Kim Jongin spills his secrets.

“I bet you are wondering why I’m telling you? Well, you’ve told me a lot about your life so I feel like it’s fair,” he said.

At lost on what to say after that, Minjae kept silent for a while. After a few seconds, she looked at him and the look she saw in his eyes tugged at her maternal fibers. He seemed lost and for a minute she wanted him to be found.

“Love comes in many forms,” she started to explain. “You feel love for your parents, for your siblings, for you friends, your pets and even your possessions. And there isn’t a true form of love; they are all true and meaningful. So whether you love someone in a romantic way or not, you can’t really say you don’t love…”

“Thanks,” Jongin replied after a minute of pondering the thought. “I think I should take you home now. You seem like you had cooking to do?”

“Yes, I’m the one who cooks.”

“I’d love to taste your cooking one day,” he stated.

“Sure, one day.”

Saturday

August 31

7:04

Minjae's House

Minjae woke up Saturday morning feeling like she had been asleep for a while and that everything that had happened the previous day had been a dream. And maybe it had been because to Minjae, it felt surreal. She wasn’t sure if she had liked pretending to be Mina, but she did manage to have somewhat of a good time. When they weren’t yelling at each other, they could be civilized. Too bad it was a one time deal and that Jongin would never see Mina again, Minjae would make sure of it.

Entering her kitchen, she was surprised to hear so many laughs. Noticing that for once, she wasn’t the first one up, she raised a brow at the figure that was casually sitting on the couch, watching cartoons with Minhyun, one of the twins.

“Jongin?” Minjae practically screamed when she recognized him.

“Oh, hello! You mother let me in when I said I was your friend. You said I would get to eat your cooking one day and I figured one day could be today.”

Minjae blinked.

“What?”

Author's Note :

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