Hello! Glad to be able to update another new chapter. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm getting excited with the story... How about you? Tee-hee. Please tell me what do you think so far! Okay? Ppyong~♥

“I’m home,” Youngmin said as he entered the house. He put down his backpack on the floor. Youngmin was busy taking off his shoes when someone hugged him from behind.

“Yah…! Hyunmin-ah! You startled me!” Youngmin turned around to face the grinning boy. He smiled to him and patted his little brother’s head. “Naughty boy…!”

Hyunmin laughed. Even though the boy was only two years younger than the twin, he liked to play around with his brothers which Youngmin thought was cute.

“Youngmin Hyung, where is Kwangmin Hyung? Why don’t you come home together today?” Hyunmin asked curiously. The twin always came home together, but today they didn’t and Hyunmin thought that it was strange.

Youngmin didn’t know what to say. “…Well, he has something to do, so he stays a bit longer at school.”

Hyunmin raised one of his eyebrows. “Oh, I see…”

Youngmin felt bad for lying to his brother, but he didn’t want to make Hyunmin worried by telling him the truth—the truth that he had pissed Kwangmin off. “Where’s Mom?” Youngmin tried to change the subject as his eyes scanned the whole living room.

“Mom went out not long after I arrived from school. She said that she needs to buy something for our dinner.”

Youngmin nodded. “Hyunmin, I’m so tired today… I think I’m going to take a short nap now.”

“Okay, Hyung.”

Youngmin gave Hyunmin one last pat on his head before climbing the stairs, heading toward the bedroom he shared with Kwangmin which is located on the second floor. Once he reached their room, Youngmin closed the door behind him and tossed his backpack somewhere. He jumped onto the bed and lied comfortably. He closed his eyes in attempt to sleep, but Minyoung’s almost-crying face appeared out of nowhere. Youngmin opened his eyes in shock and blinked a few times.

“Damn!” he groaned. Youngmin sat on his bed and tousled up his hair. “Why I can’t seem to get her out of my mind?!”

Youngmin mind wandered to when he yelled at her earlier. The image of her irritated face was still so clear in his head. Minyoung’s words kept ringing in his ears. He had no idea how much pain his words had caused to the girl. Youngmin felt as if he was acting like a jerk. But on the other hand, he didn’t want to admit it. Hey, he wasn’t the only one at fault! Minyoung was the one who pissed him off first. It was true that she had apologized, but still…

“I don’t know anymore…!” Youngmin yelled in frustation. It was as if his mind wasn’t working properly at the moment. Perhaps he had lost his sense of what was right and what was wrong. He knew that he had hurt someone—well, two people, in fact—but his arrogance took better half of him. Why would he feel guilty of what he had done? The girl was the one at fault. Yes, that was true. There was no way the prince of SOPA would ask for someone’s forgiveness. Heck no!

“Who cares anyway?” Youngmin snorted. “It was her fault, not mine! I shouldn’t be thinking of her…” He sighed again and rolled to the other side of the bed. He placed his head on the plushy pillow and yawned. His eyes were slowly shut as tiredness began to take over his sore body.

***

Hyunmin was playing Xbox 360 in the living room when he heard someone opened the door. He paused playing his game and turned to see his other brother, Kwangmin, walked inside.

“Welcome home, Hyung! You are kind of late today,” Hyunmin greeted the brunette with a cheerful smile as he usually did.

“Hey, Hyunmin!” Kwangmin replied with the same smile. “I got something to do at school, so yeah…” Maybe it was because they’re twin that they coincidently making the same excuse without even knowing it. “Is Youngmin home already?”

“Yup, he said that he will take a short nap. I think he’s sleeping now,” Hyunmin answered. “Both of you look so tired… Did something happen, Hyung?”

Kwangmin quickly shook his head. “Nope, nothing happened! Maybe we’re just too exhausted from having a dance practice earlier at school… I’ll be heading to my room now.”

“Alright, then.” The youngest sibling averted his eyes back to the screen in front of him. Soon after, he was already focused on his game.

Kwangmin climbed the stairs to the second floor. He opened their bedroom door, just to find his twin sleeping peacefully on the bed. Kwangmin sighed and put down his backpack. He quietly climbed to the bed which is covered by Pikachu’s bed sheet—Kwangmin’s choice, of course—and sat next to the sleeping Youngmin. The brunette shook his shoulder in attempt to wake his twin.

“Youngmin, wake up!” he said.

However, the blonde didn’t even flinch at all, much to his dismay. It had always been a challenge to wake Youngmin up. Youngmin was a sleepyhead and thus, it took a lot of effort to snap the blonde out of his dream. But Kwangmin wasn’t going to give up, not yet.

“Youngmin, wake up!” He tried again. “Come on, wake up!” This time, he shook Youngmin’s body harder, causing the boy jerked under his blanket.

Youngmin growled. He lazily opened his heavy eyelids to see Kwangmin’s face, hovering above him. “What’s up?” he asked. His voice was hoarse from just waking up.

Kwangmin sighed, relieved to see that his twin was finally awake. “We need to talk,” he said with a serious face.

“Arasho, arasho…!” Youngmin got up and sat on the bed. “What do you want to talk about? Can’t it wait until later? I’m tired, you know…” He yawned again.

“No, it’s really serious. Youngmin, I want you to apologize to Minyoung.”

“What?!” Youngmin half-opened eyes widen in surprise. He couldn’t believe that his brother had just woken him up from his cozy sleep to talk about this irksome girl called Minyoung. “Kwangmin, do we really need to talk about this? This is not my favorite subject of conversation, you know… I’m sleepy. I want to go back to sleep.”

But before Youngmin laid himself on the bed again, Kwangmin had caught his wrist. “No, Youngmin… Listen to me! Don’t treat this matter easily… Do you know that you’ve just hurt someone’s feeling? I don’t want you to act like this… I hate seeing you acting like a jerk. You have to apologize to her for what you’ve done.”

Youngmin narrowed his eyes in disbelief as he heard those words. “Me? Acting like a jerk? Tell me exactly what I have done to her!”

“Come on, Youngmin! You know exactly that you’re the one who is at fault here… Why do I need to tell you your mistakes? You aren’t a child anymore, are you? It’s only normal for us to apologize after making a mistake! Why are you being so stubborn?” Kwangmin argued. “I didn’t know that you’re actually so childish… This isn’t the Youngmin I know!”

Youngmin lips formed a perfectly round circle. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Did those words really come from his twin’s mouth? “Childish? You called me childish, Kwangmin? You said that I am not acting like myself, but I thought that it is the other way around! You never interfered whenever I had a fight with someone before… So why do you care so much now? You know exactly what happened between us! She was the one who pissed me off first! You were there when that happened… So why do I feel like you’re defending her instead of me, your own brother?”

“No, it’s not true!” Kwangmin snapped. “I’m not defending anyone here… I’m just trying to clear up the mess you two have made! It’s true that she was irritating at first, but she has apologized to you, hasn’t she? You’re the one who ignored her when she did! Furthermore, she was just asking for our help because she can’t dance… And we have agreed to help her in the first place. You have no reason to treat her like that—to treat her as if she is a pain in the !”

“That’s because she really is! Kwangmin, you can speak like this because you don’t know what happened… I think… I think that she’s only trying to use her lack of skill as an excuse to get closer to us! In another word, maybe she’s just trying to use us in order to gain popularity! She is a new student, remember?”

“You said ‘maybe’, Youngmin… You don’t have any proofs at all! How can you accuse someone like that? You can’t blame others for your own fault, you know,” Kwangmin sighed. “Moreover, from what I see, Minyoung isn’t that type of girl who only gets close to us in order to be famous. Can’t you see how plain and innocent she is? You can know her nature just by listening to her words… She’s always being so sincere and innocent. I bet that she has no intention to hurt you in the first place. It’s you who are being extremely sensitive toward her!”

Youngmin thought about Kwangmin’s words for a while. Actually, what he said was true. Compared to other girls, Minyoung always dressed simply and never put heavy makeup such as way too sparkling lip-gloss that made your lips look greasy or bold mascara that made your eyelashes look like peacock’s tail—how fake! Instead, she preferred natural, soft makeup that emphasized her natural beauty which made her look attractive in her own way. Her uniform skirt wasn’t as short as those es’ were and she didn’t wear too much accessories. On top of that, she never tried to flirt with either of them and always behave politely. Now, Youngmin felt even guiltier after finding the truth behind Kwangmin’s words.

Youngmin bit his lip uneasily. “…M-maybe you’re right,” he stuttered with his words. The blonde then sighed in defeat. “I know… I was wrong. It was all may fault. Maybe she isn’t really as bad as I thought. I was being rude to her and I regret it now. I’m going to apologize to her tomorrow. Are you satisfied?”

Kwangmin tried to suppress his smile but failed in the end. Of course, he enjoyed the satisfactory of successfully convincing his twin. “Yes, I am,” he said.

The blonde rolled his eyes and then they laughed together. “You know, Kwangmin, we never had a fight like this before… To be honest, I was kind of surprised… Never in my life had I thought that we will have a fierce argument just because of a girl!”

It was true. The twin always got along really well. They rarely fought or had an argument. Even if they did, they would make up quickly by speaking it up or just simply made fun of it. It was their first real argument after many years. Both of them felt uneasy about this.

Hearing his twin’s words, Kwangmin just laughed with embarrassment. “Yeah, me, too… It has been a while since we had a real fight. Guess we’ve somehow grown up, huh?”

Youngmin pretended to think about Kwangmin’s joke seriously. “Hmm, I don’t think so… For me, you’re still as childish as you are when we were twelve,” he teased.

“Hey, look at yourself before speaking!” Kwangmin was slightly offended.

Youngmin couldn’t hold his laughter anymore. Soon after, both of them burst into laughter. They laughed so hard, their laughter was even audible to Hyunmin who was still busy playing games on the first floor.

The youngest boy shook his head. “What’s so funny? Seems like they’re really having fun…”

***

Minyoung waited nervously at the dancing room. Kwangmin had promised her yesterday that they would continue the dance lesson. But she had been waiting for 15 minutes now and there was no sign of them at all. Minyoung wondered what happened yesterday between the twin… Had Kwangmin talked to Youngmin? Considering Youngmin’s nature, she wasn’t sure that the blonde would listen to Kwangmin. Or did they have a fight? Minyoung began to get worried. If they really did, she would feel guilty, especially toward Kwangmin.

When Minyoung was lost in her own speculations, the door was suddenly flung open. The girl turned around and found the twin standing there. She smiled awkwardly at them.

“Hi!” Kwangmin was the first one to greet her. “Sorry, we’re late… The teacher made us stay longer to practice our singing. How long have you been waiting here?”

“About 15 minutes or so,” Minyoung replied. “But it’s okay,” she quickly added.

Kwangmin’s face suddenly became serious. “Err, Minyoung, Youngmin said that he has something to say to you… I’m kind of thirsty, so I’ll go grab something to drink. Do you want anything?” He kindly offered.

“Oh, no, thanks… I’m fine,” Minyoung said.

“Okay, then. I’ll be back in no time,” Kwangmin winked to the girl. He hit Youngmin’s shoulder lightly—as if encouraging him—as he made his way out of the room.

Youngmin sighed while Minyoung didn’t say anything. She just stood there, not moving an inch, and not looking at him either. Minyoung was curious of what Youngmin had to say to her, but she didn’t want to expect too much from him, so she just patiently waiting. It was okay even if Youngmin didn’t say anything at all. At least, it wouldn’t hurt as much as listening to his harsh words.

Meanwhile, Youngmin felt the need to break the silence. He knew that his twin had given him the opportunity to apologize to her, but Youngmin didn’t know where to start… He cleared his throat, trying to think of the right words. “Err, actually, I-I…”

“Yes?” Minyoung looked at him uninterestedly.

Youngmin cleared his throat again. It was evident that he was feeling nervous, but he tried to remain composed. “Umm, well, about yesterday… I-I…” Again, his words stuck like a lump in his throat.

Minyoung rolled her eyes. “Speak clearly, Youngmin!”

Youngmin took a deep breath and exhaled it. “Okay, listen,” he said with a stern expression. “About yesterday… I-I think that what I’ve done is wrong… I shouldn’t yell at you and say those harsh words... I didn’t mean to hurt you, really. It’s just that… well, I found you kind of irritating, so I—”

“Wait,” Minyoung cut him off before Youngmin had the chance to finish his words. “Me? Irritating? In what way?” she asked demandingly.

“Well…” Youngmin paused for a while. “You’re so stupid, even for an amateur, I couldn’t help it… You don’t have the skill to dance at all! I don’t know why the teacher even bothered to ask us to help such a helpless student like you, while there are a lot of more talented students out there… Furthermore, you’re really spoiled and unreliable… You’re being such a nag to Kwangmin and it pissed me off since I think that you might only use his kindness… You’re also—”

“Okay, okay, stop there!” Minyoung cut him off once again. This time, anger was evident on her face. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. “Am I really that bad in your eyes, Jo Youngmin? Is that all you wanted to say? If you’re finished talking, then please let me excuse myself. I don’t see the point of me staying here anymore.”

The girl was about to leave the room when suddenly she felt someone grabbed her wrist. “Wait…!” Youngmin said. “I’m not finished talking yet.”

“What? There is more?” Minyoung turned around to look at the blonde’s face and stared deeply at his eyes. She was hurt; Youngmin could see that. “I know that you don’t like me, Jo Youngmin! To tell the truth, I don’t like you either! Do you enjoy making fun of me that much? What else do you want to say to me? You want to call me a spoiled brat? A girl with no talent? Fine, call me whatever you want! I don’t give a damn! Now, let me go!”

Minyoung jerked her hand in attempt to escape as soon as possible, but the boy wouldn’t let go of his grip. “Hey, calm down! Would you please listen to me first? I didn’t come here to fight with you again…!”

“Then why did you talk like that, huh?” Minyoung asked in hoarse voice. Her eyes started to get watery. She didn’t know what she had done to cause Youngmin to hate her that much.

Youngmin was utterly shocked. He didn’t realize that his words had hurt her again. They kept staring at each other’s eyes as he tightened his grip on her wrist. Youngmin didn’t know why, but he began to feel his heart aching as tears flowed down along Minyoung’s cheek.

“L-listen,” he spoke nervously. “It’s true that I really hate you at first… It’s true that I have thought that way of you… But that was before I changed my mind. Yesterday, Kwangmin talked to me and made me realize that I was wrong this whole time. I shouldn’t be rude to you, even though you had pissed me off at the cafeteria that day. You’ve tried to apologize, but I was being arrogant. Okay, it was my fault. You’ve also learned really hard to dance, yet I called you a spoiled child. That was also my fault. Now that I’ve realized it, I’d like to apologize to you.”

Minyoung was shocked to hear his words. The boy in front of her stared at her and then, with a serious face she had never seen before, he said, “…I’m sorry.”

Youngmin felt that his voice came out softer than he intended to—almost like a whisper.

“What? I can’t hear you…” Minyoung said, still taken aback.

Youngmin gulped. He gained his braveness and once again said with a louder voice, “Minyoung, I’m sorry.” His voice quivered a bit at the end, but it was clear enough for her to hear.

Minyoung’s mouth flung open in disbelief. Did she hear it right? The prince of SOPA, Jo Youngmin whom everyone adored, had just asked for her forgiveness? There was a long silence. The next second, Minyoung broke into laughter. She laughed out loud while holding her stomach. Her tears of pain turned into tears of enjoyment.

Youngmin didn’t expect the girl to laugh so hard out of sudden. He felt slightly offended by her reaction. “Hey, what’s so funny?!” he demanded.

Instead of answering the blonde’s question, Minyoung kept laughing hard. Youngmin face blushed with embarrassment. “Aissh, this girl…! Jinja…!” he cursed.

Minyoung was still laughing. She laughed so hard until she felt her lungs running out of air. She thought that Youngmin’s rosy face was cute. She just couldn’t stop laughing.

“Stop it, please!” Youngmin commanded. His face grew even redder.

“Okay, okay,” Minyoung choked. She tried to control herself from laughing again. The room suddenly became quiet. “Ah, today must be my lucky day! Having the school prince, Jo Youngmin, apologized to me is such a rare occasion! I think I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life,” she playfully joked.

“Babo!” Youngmin commented.

This time, Minyoung didn’t feel offended at all. Instead, she was feeling really happy. Never in her life had she thought that Youngmin would kindly apologize to her. She even thought that they would become enemies forever because Youngmin seemed to hate her that much.

“Wow, Choi Minyoung is the first one to tame the arrogant prince, Jo Youngmin! They must record this and put it in the Guinness Book of World Record!”

“Fine, fine, you can say whatever you want. I’m not going to repeat myself again, so laugh while you can!” Youngmin grunted, clearly annoyed. But he didn’t look that pissed off anymore. It was a different kind of expression from what Minyoung had seen before.

“Yeah, I will… I will laugh as much as I can!” Minyoung replied.

Youngmin rolled his eyes at the girl’s words. “Umm, does that mean that you’ll forgive me?” he asked curiously.

“Well, you’ve made a lot of unforgiveable mistakes… You’ve also said harsh things to me and treated me badly… I was really irritated by your attitude, you know? However, considering your sincere apologize, yes… You’re forgiven,” Minyoung smiled.

Youngmin had just realized that actually, the girl in front of him looked so much prettier when she was smiling. It was his first time to see Minyoung’s smile. All that he had seen before was her sad, scared, angry, and irritated face. Those expressions were really horrible compared to this one.

The blonde then sighed in relief and smiled back involuntarily. He felt a lot easier now. It was as if a hundred-ton load had been removed from his shoulders. Apparently, it was better this way. Not hating anyone and not having any enemies. Besides, making someone smile is a lot better than making her cry. Youngmin mentally took note of what he had just learned today.

Suddenly, Kwangmin appeared out of nowhere. Actually, he had been standing there for a while, but the two were too occupied with themselves, they didn’t even notice him. Kwangmin saw what happened between his twin and Minyoung. He felt happy to see that finally, the misunderstanding between them was cleared up.

“Seems like you guys were having fun. Shall we continue the lesson?” he asked innocently as he handed a can of orange juice to Youngmin and passed another one to Minyoung.

“Sure!” Minyoung enthused with a wide grin plastered on her face. Now that the problem was solved, she wanted to focus on her dance lesson. She couldn’t wait to practice together with the talented twin.

Little did she know, Youngmin and Kwangmin were busy admiring her beautiful, sweet smile. It seemed like the flower in their hearts were going to bloom in next to no time.