Chapter one:

Eric sat at the table, his mouth fully open. He couldn’t believe what his mother had just told him. He tried to process everything slowly, clearly and accurately but no, his mind kept bringing up how terrible it would be if Jung Hyuk now returned to Korea after all these years. Eric’s mom had seated him and his sisters to the chairs around the table, coaxing them to listen with the foods she had prepared.

“Why?” Eric asked. “Why is he coming back!?”

Grace Mun sighed. “He finished his degree of marketing and is ready to come back. Jung Hyuk seriously fell in love with America.” She replied.

Eric rubbed his temples under his siblings’ scrutiny.

“But what about me?” He whispered. “What about the fact that I have been pretending to be Jung Hyuk…that it’s my real name?” He bombarded his mother.

She stared at Eric.

“We never thought he would come back.” She told silently.

Eric let out a gasp that was mixed with shock and disapproval. He laced his fingers above his chin and looked at the emptiness. He had never realised why he had to use the name Jung Hyuk. Though Eric had been forced to possess the name, as if the Mun family hadn’t another maknae in their family, he had grown with it for some time now.

“But mom,” the oldest daughter said. “It’s not like we don’t love him,” she glimpsed at the youngest child quickly and continued, “He just never was there.”

“He feels like a distant cousin.” One of the girls said. “…who just looks like Eric.” She added after a while.

Grace Mun understood the point her children were listing, but it was Jung Hyuk; Mun Jung Hyuk, the other maknae. Eric had been quiet for a while now, and no one wanted to know what was going through in that head. He had many reasons not to like his twin, but none of them were enough to convince his mother to postpone the comeback.

“What about…the things…he did to Eric?” The youngest daughter asked and once again everyone looked at the maknae.

“It’s all history.” Grace Mun responded nonchalantly.

“MOM!” The oldest daughter said again. “He was dangerous! Isn’t that the reason why he had to stay to America!?” She yelled.

Eric felt his chest clenching.

“Ridiculous.” The mother spoke. “Jung Hyuk isn’t the same man anymore. You’ll see.”

****

Hyesung passed the money to the salesperson and took his coffee cup, bidding a cheerful goodbye, though the day was more than cheerful. He was getting towards Tae Hak when someone collided with him and spilled his coffee to the white t-shirt. He gasped and turned to look at the culprit.

“Eric?!” Hyesung yelled.

“Eh?” The man formed an ‘o’ between his lips.

“YAH!” Hyesung screamed after noticing his shirt. “You !! Look what you did to my shirt!”

The man in front of Hyesung suddenly bowed and apologised more than enough. The main vocalist looked at him in confusion and tried not to catch attention around him. He was failing badly as the manager moved next to him and took his hand.

“Eric, why are you acting so strange?” Hyesung asked with a frown, but received no answer. “YAH! MUN JUNG HYUK!”

It was the man who furrowed his eyebrows this time. He blinked his eyes at Hyesung and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Hyesung held his hand on his hips after passing his coffee cup to the manager and glared at the man, trying to hold the madness inside him.

“Excuse me,” the man opened his mouth, surprising Hyesung with the abrupt politeness. “But may I ask…how do you know my name?”

“Huh!?”

****

Hyesung was nibbling his lower lip unconsciously. That man was crazy. Everyone knew Eric was living in his own beautiful world but never had he been that crazy. Hyesung frowned, his eyes focusing on the street lights that disappeared from his view as soon as they had appeared. Also, what had taken Hyesung aback was the question the man had asked next. Of course he knew where Shinhwa Company was located. Of course! But was he friendly enough to take that lunatic there? No! 

Tae Hak stopped the car in front of the company.

If the crazy version of the mikkulaaji was there now, Hyesung knew he had been messing with him 100%.

When the main vocalist entered the hall, he saw four other bemused eyes staring towards the office. He advanced the others and was about interrogate what was going on and they looked like they had seen a ghost, Dongwan turned his head and gasped terrified.

“Two…there’re two…” he chanted.

“Two of what?!” Hyesung exclaimed.

Junjin pulled him to see from the small slit on the door, as his heart skipped a beat and the two Erics were looking at each other seriously. He didn’t know what got into him as he pulled the door open and screamed directly from his lungs and interfered whatever the two were doing. Minwoo and the rest followed the main vocalist horrified, clinging onto the shirt of the man. Then Eric heaved a sigh and lifted his hand, carefully and reluctantly, onto the other man’s shoulder and gestured with his hands.

“Guys, I…umm…” he started. “…this is my twin brother.”

“YOUR WHAT!?” The members yelled in unison.

“My twin brother…Mun Jung Hyuk.”

The members watched Eric in utter shock as the eyes of their leader fluttered halfway open and the sad expression of sorry and misery deepened. Hyesung didn’t know about the others, but he felt like he was being betrayed.