-- Geum Min

He’s pointing to a selca Min Woo took of himself and put on my phone. “That’s your bandmate, you pabo!”

“Me? I’m amazing, how can I be a pabo?” he pouts back. “What I meant was, why is it on your phone?”

I laugh. “You’re being silly. He took it on my phone, that’s why!”

“Why did he use your phone, though?”

“Because I was using it and he wanted to annoy me, that’s why. Why are you asking so much, anyway?”

He frowns. I can see he’s about to say something, but Yoo Min bursts in just then, clutching her phone to her heart and staring us with twinkly eyes – the perfect image of someone who’s crazy in love.

“Geum Min!” she sings on the top of her voice, dancing towards me. “He’s asking me on a date tomorrow!”

I clamber out of bed and fling my arms around her. “Jeong Min’s asking you to go with him tomorrow?!”

“I’m asking her to go where?” my brother Jeong Min asks, stunned, as he stands in the doorway.

Kwang Min grins and sits up. “You’re taking her on a date, hyung.”

“Mweo?!” Jeong Min’s jaw drops.

Young Min can’t stop laughing. Yoo Min seems like she wants to laugh too. My poor oldest brother is just standing there staring at us with a bewildered expression, wide eyes, and a gaping mouth. I giggle at his expression.

“Wait,” he stammers, dropping himself onto Yoo Min’s bed beside Kwang Min. “Why am I taking Yoo Min on a date? I don’t do , arasseo?”

Young Min starts howling with laughter while Kwang Min shakes the whole bed with his own laughter. Yoo Min collapses onto the floor.

Through her own tears of mirth, she asks, “Oppa, don’t you love me?!”

Jeong Min looks terrified. “Yah, what are you saying? I don’t love you… like… that!”

I take pity on my brother. “Jeong Min oppa, she’s talking about Boyfriend’s Jeong Min!”

“Oh,” he says sheepishly, his cheeks turning red.

I shake my head and help Yoo Min up. “What are you going to wear?”

She calms down immediately and goes wild, digging around in her closet to find something good enough to wear for her important first date tomorrow. The boys start discussing random things while we try and pick out a nice outfit for her. Every time we find something decent, I get Yoo Min to try it out and do a catwalk in front of our brothers so they can tell her what they think.

“Too formal.”

“Too casual.”

“Overly fluffy.”

“You look like some ahjumma.”

“YAH!”

Some chuckling, then, “Just go change!”

“Ew, so much… pink.”

This goes on for a few minutes, until eventually all three of them look my twin up and down before nodding. Yoo Min has found the perfect outfit now. She’s wearing a simple white shirt with a pink skirt, and pretty, strappy sandals. Satisfied, she changes out of her date clothes and walks out, setting them carefully on the chair at our desk. Tomorrow, before she goes out with Jeong Min from Boyfriend, we’ll both sit together and pick out a nice pair of earrings and maybe even a bracelet for her to wear. I’ll style her hair for her, and then my twin will go out…

On her first date.

The time comes too soon. Yoo Min is dressed and ready. She’s chosen to wear these earrings with her name on them. “Yoo”, it reads on her ear. I run a brush through her hair, brushing out all the tangles. Her hair is long and straight, just like mine, and it’s soft and silky. I decide to just brush it through, and tie a simple ponytail for her. I choose a decent pink rubber band to keep her hair up in its ponytail.

“I’m nervous,” Yoo Min tells me.

I smile. “I know. But don’t be nervous, you’re going to be with Jeong Min!”

“Oppa,” she adds after my sentence.

I roll my eyes. “Jeong Min oppa, then. Your Bubblegum-Mirror Prince.”

That makes her smile. “He’s probably going to be late…”

“Because he took so much more time than you to get ready.” I finish for her.

She nods and we share another laugh. I can see she feels less nervous as she relaxes in her seat, her phone. I’m pretty sure she’s waiting for a call from Jeong Min. He said he’d call when he came to pick her up. When Eomma heard about Yoo Min’s date, she nearly went crazy.

“It’s with Jeong Min? I approve!” she’d said immediately. “You can start dating him any time!”

While Yoo Min laughed, Eomma grabbed me. “But you, you cannot start dating yet!”

“Eomma, why not?” I demanded.

She stared at me. “Jeong Min is the only boy I approve of.”

“Eomma,” I wailed. “You can go and baby Sun Min. I’m old enough to be able to do what I want!”

“Ani. I don’t trust any other boys with my little girls. But Min Woo is nice, if you want.”

It was my turn to stare now. “Min Woo?!”

“Neh,” Eomma said, nodding. “He’s a sweet boy. I’ll be overjoyed if you marry Min Woo and Yoo Min marries Jeong Min.”

Both of us turn pink. “Eomma, we’re too young to even think about marriage!” we both insist at the same time.

“Eomma, you’re embarrassing,” Kwang Min remarks all of a sudden, coming up behind us.

Eomma sticks her tongue out at us. “No, I’m not!”

“You are too!”

“Not!” she protests, folding her arms. We decide not to argue with her.

I heard thuds, and I turn around to see Young Min noisily running down the stairs. “Is he here yet?”

We all shake our heads. “Yoo Min, hwaiting!”

“Neh!” we all agree.

Just then, the doorbell rings.

I bite my lip, grabbing Yoo Min and shaking her gently (I don’t want to ruin her outfit, after all). “You’re – not… you’re growing up so fast…” I mimic Eomma - and she laughs at my horrible imitation. “Have fun with Jeong Min, arasseo?”

Her eyes are overbright with a mix of excitement and happiness. “Of course,” she murmurs, her eyes glued to the door.

Kwang Min opens the door.

“Jeong Min oppa!” Yoo Min shouts, bounding towards the door. She flings her arms tightly around the figure at the door.

“Huh?” a stunned-looking Skye stares.

Yoo Min stops short. Both of their expressions are classic. My typical twin looks equally as astonished as the girl in the doorway. Her eyes are wide – but not as wide as Skye’s – and is open in a huge “O”. Skye’s expression is even better. She’s frozen in Yoo Min’s arms, her face red as a strawberry and her eyebrows disappearing into her fringe. Leaning back slightly, she keeps trying to pull away from my sister, who is too surprised to notice her efforts and let her go.

“What happened to –”

“Hm, Skye!” I cut in, trying to save Yoo Min from embarrassment. “Why don’t you come in?”

She gives an awkward smile to my twin before untangling herself and joining me next to Eomma and Young Min. “Annyeonghaseyo,” she says politely to them.

My mother grins at her. “You must be Skye. Everyone’s told me a lot about you.”

Skye turns pink, but she smiles back too.

“But… my Jeong Min oppa?” Yoo Min finally asks, walking solemnly back inside.

“Aren’t you going on your date with him now? Congratulations!” Skye yells, jumping up and down.

My twin turns red, staring at her feet. “Sorry I scared you like that - I thought you were him…”

“It’s alright,” Skye replies, still hopping around like a madwoman. “I was just surprised, is all.”

Yoo Min’s phone rings about then, just as the doorbell does. “Yoboseyo?” she says as she picks up the phone. “Jeong Min oppa? You’re at the door?” a pause, then, “I’m coming!”

Kwang Min, who understands enough of what’s going on, opens the door for her, and he greets Jeong Min, who looks very awkward but excited as he peers around my brother to stare at Yoo Min. He waves to her.

“Hi,” Jeong Min remarks to Kwang Min.

He just looks fierce as he stares impassively back at his bandmate. “No funny business,” he states. Before Jeong Min can say anything, he continues, “She’s to be back before eleven. If she calls any one of us and complains –”

“Oppa!” Yoo Min protests, shocked.

Eomma laughs and drags her son back. “Sorry, Jeong Min. That’s supposed to be my job, but I trust you with Yoo Min. Have fun, you two!”

Kwang Min looks like he’s about to say something, but his blonde twin covers his mouth and waves to Jeong Min with the other hand. “Hwaiting!” he calls.

“Yeah, good luck!” Skye and I shout at the same time, surprising the both of us.

Jeong Min and Yoo Min link arms, and they close the door behind themselves as they walk down the stairs and out to have fun. Eomma turns to us, and I can see tears in her eyes as she mouths, ‘My little girl is growing up!’

“Yah, Geum Min,” she says, louder this time. “You’re not dating anyone, arasseo?”

Skye looks confused. “Why can Yoo Min date but not Geum Min, Eommonim?”

Young Min laughs and begins to explain Eomma’s situation with trust. Skye starts laughing. “My mother is just like that too! But I think she’ll be fine if I actually do start dating someone.”

Eomma smiles kindly at her. “Skye, do you want to stay for dinner?”

My new friend nods, looking grateful. “Sorry for popping over so suddenly, it’s just that Geum Min told me about Yoo Min’s date and I wanted to support her. Also, I forgot to take my keys home today and my parents are out till late. I was at the park for a while, then I received Geummie’s message.”

“Geummie?” I chuckled.

She nodded. “Can I call you that?”

“Only if I can call you Skye-ee? Skye… aish your name’s no fun!”

Everyone laughs at that. By silent consent, everyone moves towards the kitchen and dining table – Skye following me. She’s thrilled to see our house, and she keeps pointing excitedly at the various pictures of us on the walls making random remarks on everything she sees. We both giggle over a baby picture of Youngkwang, and she thinks a picture of Yoo Min and I that was taken when we were three is adorable. I try to run away and hide my face when she says that, but she keeps me at her side with a grin and a strong grip.

I sit with Skye at the table while Youngkwang help Eomma bring the plates of food out. She wants to help too, but as the guest we should be extra nice to her.

“Yah, Geum Min! You’re my friend, so I’m not really a guest, am I?” she whispers to me.

I smile and drag her out of her chair and into the kitchen, proudly exclaiming, “Since Skye is my friend, my family is hers, and she’s not a guest!”

“Please let me help!” she adds, taking a tray of food out of Kwang Min’s hands.

He makes a lunge to get it back, but she sidesteps him and walks quickly with it out of the kitchen. She sets it down neatly on the table next to the rice and returns back to the kitchen to help me out with the cutlery and glasses. Kwang Min frowns and playfully snatches the glasses from her, sticking his tongue out at her.

“Hey!” Skye yells, running after him. “I was trying to help!”

“You’re the guest. You’re supposed to sit there and look pretty.”

Skye stares at him. “Mweo?”

“Or as pretty as you can look… anyway…” my brother hastily adds as I bring out the cutlery and start arranging them.

I turn to catch a glimpse of Eomma, whose eyes are bright with mischief and amusement. Young Min pops up next to me with the remainder of the cutlery, and we both set them down. Young Min’s phone beeps, and he takes it out as Eomma walks out balancing the bowl of dumplings in her hands. She carefully places it next to the bowl of rice that Skye brought out. I notice that Young Min seems extremely surprised to see the person who’s texting him. He sends me a distressed look. In return, I shoot him a questioning one, and he signals to me that he needs my help later. I nod.

Finally, Kwang Min walks out with the jug of water, and we begin our meal.

Skye seems to love the dumplings. I gave her one that I tried to make into the shape of a star, and she declares it the best dumpling she’s ever seen before she starts eating it. Her expression tells me that she genuinely means what she’s saying.

I’ve actually never met anyone outside of my family who’s as easy to read as she is. We’ve known each other little more than two days, but I already feel like I’ve known her my whole life. We like many of the same things. But the thing that makes me feel closest to her is that I can read her like a book, and so can everyone else. Everything she feels, she expresses in her face. Her eyes are always filled with emotion – whether happiness, nervousness or embarrassment – it shows. She’s naturally an expressive person, and I love her for it. It’s like I know her better than she knows herself.

“Eommonim,” she says now, after we’ve all finished eating. “Your Korean cuisine is daebak!”

Eomma laughs. “Skye-ah, you can call me Eomma. And thank you for the compliment!”

She blushes, “Neh, Eomma.”

Young Min, Kwang Min, my brother Jeong Min and I all cheer. Hyunsun look quizzically at us.

Suddenly, I feel like someone’s holding my hand. Surprised, I look down, but nobody’s holding it at all. I sigh, figuring that it’s Yoo Min whose hand is being held. Sometimes, I do feel like there is such a thing as twin-telepathy. Others I don’t believe in it. Like there was this once when Yoo Min walked smack into a door and whacked her forehead, and I started having a headache around the same time. It was so weird when she told me about it. There were other times too, like when I was being bullied by this gang in school, and Yoo Min suddenly came rushing to my rescue when she should have been going home early. It happens very rarely, but it does happen, all the same.

Right now, it felt like Jeong Min was holding her hand, and she was happy about it. I smiled softly and wondered what exactly it was that she was doing.