After a year of studying in Seoul High School, the group were entering senior year. And one by one, they each will be 18 years old. Hana and Hankyung had their birthday on January, and Sowon and Siwon had their's in July. Now that September has rolled in, the Jo twins were celebrating their birthday too.

 

"Saengil chukahamnida, Kwang Min-ah, Young Min-ah!"

 

Hana and her friends [with Minjung and Yoonhee now] were with Boyfriend celebrating the twins' 18th year. They were in the team's practice room.

 

"You're finally of-age! I just hope you grow up mentally, too," Dong Hyun said, laughing.

 

"Aw! Now it's only me who's not a legal age yet!" Minwoo said and pouted. Hana laughed and put her arm on Minwoo's shoulder.

 

"'S'okay, Minwoo-yah. You only have a couple more months! Hang in there! You'll be like us too," she said in a confident voice.

 

30 minutes later they were dancing to 'Mr. Simple' by Super Junior when someone knocked on the door. At first nobody heard it because the music was too loud. But a second knock came and Hana's keen ears heard. She went to the speakers and lowered the volume. The others looked at her in confusion. She thumb-pointed the door and said, "Someone's at the door, mates."

 

Dong Hyun went to get it and Jeong Min was like, "Mates? You gone all British, man?" Hana scoffed at his comment.

 

They heard a gasp from Dong Hyun and looked to the door.

 

"Mr. Kim! What-What a surprise! Come in! Manager hyung! You made it!" Dong Hyun kept his words polite, but his voice was shocked and not happy.

 

"Well! We have a good number of guests. Saengil chukahamnida, Kwang Min-ah, Young Min-ah, chukahae." The founder of Starship, Mr. Kim, said.

 

The twins subtly bowed and mumbled, "Kamsahamnida."

 

"Let's do our business quickly. I have a number of other errands to run. Do your guests mind if they stay to witness this, or do you want them here?" The manager asked.

 

The twins looked pained and cast pleading looks at Dong Hyun, which he ignored. "I want them to stay." A collective gasp came from the other Boyfriend members, but Dong Hyun shrugged it off. "They'll want to know, anyway. Besides, this secret can be a burden."

 

"What is it, Dong Hyun oppa?" Sowon asked. "Whatever it is, you've got us, ok?" Dong Hyun gave her a helpless smile.

 

"Alright! Now that you all are of-age, we'd like to introduce the best we found. I'm sure you'd love to get to know them. Yeoja!" Mr. Kim called and the mannger motioned his arm to someone outside.

 

"For Dong Hyun, we found Min Ah." A blonde girl stepped into the room. She wasn't tall, but she wasn't short either. Only about Dong Hyun's height. She had a dazzling smile and a fair complexion. Her arms and legs were flawless.

 

"Annyeonghaseyo! It's great to finally meet you, Dong Hyun-ssi. I'm from a group called StarDust. We're still training, though," said Min Ah quickly. Dong Hyun only nodded.

 

"Hyun Seong, meet Han Mi." A rather petite girl came in next. She looked real fragile and real shy. Her facial features were soft and fine. She had a fair complexion too. Or, hang it all, she looked like a princess. She only bowed and smiled shyly.

 

"Her group's called Dream," explained their manager.

 

"Jeong Min, we'd like you to meet Hyun Young." A girl with dyed brown hair came in. She was a shade darker than the first two. She was lank yet her face held a dazzling smile. Her lips were rose-red and her eyes were chestnut brown. She bowed cordially.

 

"I'm from Sky HIgh. It's nice to meet you!" she said.

 

"Little Min Woo, we found Taehee."

 

"Yah, I'm not little! I'll be 18 soon!" Min Woo protested and pouted.

 

Another girl with fair skin came in. But what's different about her is that she's clearly a foreigner: blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. She was tall, but not so much, just right for Min Woo.

 

"Hello. I'm Jean, but my Korean name's Taehee. Just call me by that," she said in fluent English. "I'm from a group called Sparkling, by the way."

 

"Kwang Min, we got CJ for you." A tough-looking girl in a military jacket came in next. She had long brown hair tied in a ponytail. But she had such a pretty smile.

 

"Annyeong," she said, bowing. "I'm from the same group as Han Mi." She shot the shy girl a reassuring smile. Han Mi began to relax a little.

 

"And lastly, Young Min, we found-"

 

"Lee Min Hee-imnida! Please take care of me!" She cut Mr. Kim and spoke. A bubbly girl bounced in the room.

 

"Yeah, she's sorta childish." Mr. Kim explained sheepishly. Min Hee smiled at him.

 

"Well! Since we've introduced you, we'd best be off," said Mr. Kim. He strode out of the room like a proud peacock with Boyfriend's manager trailing at his wake. He shot the group an apologetic look and gently shut the door. Which leaves the kids in a awkward silence.

 

"So, this is your practice room?" said Min Ah, breaking the silence. "And you must be their friends from school! It's an honor to meet you!"

 

Hana, Yoonhee, Minjung, and Sowon smiled and bowed. The boys reluctantly followed suit.

 

"Kwang Min-ssi, since I don't know you much yet, I won't call you oppa," said CJ. She looked to the rest of the girls and they nodded.

 

"Appreciated," was all Kwang Min said in a cold tone.

 

"Young Min-ssi, please introduce us to your friends. They look really nice," said Min Hee.

 

Seeing the twins and the rest of Boyfriend uncomfortable, Sowon handled the situation herself.

 

"Thanks! It's nice to meet you too. Choi Sowon-imnida," she said and slightly bowed again. She shot a glance at her brother that prodded him to do the same.

 

"Oh, uh, yah. Choi Siwon-imnida," he said and bowed too.

 

"Oh, I see! Fraternal twins! Though you look so much alike," Hyun Young. Sowon beamed at her.

 

"Annyeong! Kim Hana-imnida," said Hana. Hankyung immediately followed up.

 

"Kim Hankyung-imnida," he said.

 

"We're over-flowing with twins here!" said Taehee. This was the first time she spoke in Korean, and she was very fluent in it too.

 

"Why don't we head over to the park? You guys can hang out with Boyfriend, since we've had them for the entire day now," Hana suggested. Kwang Min and Young Min's jaws dropped. How could she do that?

 

"Uh... uh... you girls go ahead, if you please. We'll just wrap up what we left here," said Hyun Seong.

 

"We'll help," said a rather sweet and timid voice. Hyun Seong's eyes widened as he looked at Han Mi. What a wonderful voice...

 

"No, no, that's alright. I insist," said Dong Hyun. He led the girls out and quietly shut the door. Then the twins faced Hana with flaming eyes.

 

"What were you thinking?!" said Young Min.

 

"It's your duty, pabo. You have to do this unless you wanna drop out of Starship," said Hana. shrugging.

 

"Why don't you want to, anyway? They seem very nice," asked Sowon.

 

"Why, indeed?" said Hyun Seong. He, Jeong Min, Dong Hyun, and Minwoo surrounded the twins.

 

Suddenly, someone's phone buzzed. Siwon's.

 

"Uh-oh. Yah, yeodongsaeng, umma says we have to go home," he said, reading the message.

 

"Aww! Can't you tell her that we're in the middle of something important?" Sowon said, pouting. Kyopta.

 

"I could, but when we get home she'd go all nosy on us. D'you want that?"

 

Sowon scowled. "Arasso."

 

"Kajah. We'll see you guys at school!"

 

The Choi twins got out of the room. The ones left heard them saying goodbye to the girls, then came the sound of Siwon's car zooming off.

 

Minjung and Yoonhee said they had a unfinished business at the mall, and Junho volunteered to accompany them. Which leaves Boyfriend and the Kim twins.

 

"You guys aren't leaving too, are you?" Minwoo said, pouting. Kwang Min tried pouting too.

 

"Kwang Min-ah, don't try the cute thing on me, it won't work. You have to do this," Hana said hardly. Truth is, it's hard to ignore Kwang Min's cuteness.

 

"They'll torture us! Look at Dong Hyun hyung!" said Young Min.

 

"Jeongmal mianhae. It's a star's duty. Dong Hyun-oppa, try not to be so harsh," said Hana. She cast the group one last smile and pulled her brother out. Once their car's out of sight, Dong Hyun started talking.

 

"What's up with you boys?"

 

"You know, hyung. I like Sowon, remember? And Kwang Min likes Hana," said Young Min.

 

"Don't try to squeeze in their lives anymore!" said Jeong Min. "You're only making their lives complicated. Those girls have Han and Siwon!"

 

"I know it hurts, kids, but there's nothing we can do. Who knows: you might end up seeing things you like in Min Hee and CJ," added Hyun Seong.

 

"Easy for you to say. You're already captivated by Han Mi gongju," scoffed Kwang Min.

 

"Yah!"

 

"Hyungs, just... try, ok?" Minwoo piped up. "Give it a shot."

 

The twins looked at each other and sighed. They shrugged and led the way outside. Who knows, right?

 

Outside, they fan out with the girls. Hyun Seong and Han Min were going great. Dong Hyun found that Min Ah is a very smart conversationalist although she talks a lot. And he liked her for that. Jeong Min came to realize how pretty Hyun Young is, and her skin's tanned because she was half-Filipino. Minwoo and his Taehee noona were having fun playing. She was only a few months older, so they could relate in kid stuff like playing games. Kwang Min foung CJ not so tough as she looked. She was scared of little things like spiders, which he found adorable. Plus she had a beautiful smile. Meanwhile, Young Min and Min Hee were having a walk. These two found out many things they have in common.

 

"So... tell me about yourself, Min Hee," said Kwang Min.

 

"Well, I won this singing competition back at home in Incheon where Mr. Kim was watching. He said if I wanted I could go on training under him and under Starship. I didn't refuse. I mean, who wouldn't want to be a star and meet your idols?" Min Hee said.

 

"Is that all he said to you?"

 

"Well, no. He also said I would have to marry someone from Starship. It's their rule, he says. I really didn't want to do it. I have this crush back home [his name's Donghae] and things are going pretty well between us. We might even get together. But when I told him about what Mr. Kim said, he said he didn't want to come between me and my career. He knew how much I wanted this. He... He started ignoring me since then, and went out with other girls," said Min Hee sadly. She looked like she was about to cry. Young Min felt really sorry for her and wrapped a consoling arm around her.

 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to tell me," said Young Min.

 

"Gwenchana. I've been keeping this secret in me for so long. It has hurt, until now."

 

"Sounds like my life, only girl-ified," chuckled Young Min. "I have this crush too. She's Sowon, the girl back there? Hana's brother Hankyung likes her and almost punched my lights out when I pretended to kiss her.  But I still want her nonetheless. I've liked ever since I saw her in my first day at their school. Sometimes I wish I hadn't gone to their school and have this loop right now. Before that I was completely ok about the whole marry-someone-from-Starship thing."

 

"Young Min-ah," Min Hee said and looked up into Young Min's eyes, "please don't fall in love with me. I don't think I can love someone else other than Donghae. I won't be able to love you properly. Maybe someday, when my group's too awesome and precious to loose, I'll convince Mr. Kim to let us have freedom."

 

"Sounds like a smart plan. Ok, I'll try not to fall for you," said Young Min. "But you'll be my bestfriend, alright?"

 

"Of course!" Min Hee beamed and pinched Young Min's cheeks.

 

"Ow!"

 

Later, the group had dinner together then dropped each of the girls home using Dong Hyun's car. On their way to their own dorm, Dong Hyun got this opportunity to ask how the afternoon went for the twins.

 

"I saw the others have great times today. But I didn't see much of Kwang Min and Young Min. What happened to you two?"

 

"CJ and I became good friends. Maybe, JUST maybe, I might be able to leave Hana alone," said Kwang Min catiously.

 

"That's wonderful, hyung!" Minwoo exclaimed.

 

"I said MAYBE, Minwoo-yah," muttered Kwang Min.

 

"How about you, Young Min-ah?" Hyun Seong asked.

 

"It was cool. I had Min Hee tell me about her life. It sounded so much like ours, only in a girl's POV. She became my best friend," said Young Min noncholantly.

 

"Best friend?" Jeong Min asked suspiciously.

 

"Neh. Nothing romantic," said Young Min coolly.

 

"Young Min-ah!" Dong Hyun stomped on the breaks and they skidded into a halt. All the boys at the back seat got thrown forward.

 

"Hyung! You could've killed us!" said Hyun Seong, who had slammed into the back of the passenger's seat with Jeong Min in it.

 

"Young Min-ah! Ige bwoyah?! What do you mean 'nothing romantic'?" Dong Hyun said in a dangerous tone.

 

"Let me explain," Young Min said, still calm. "Min Hee has this great plan that I think would work wonderfully. Her group will work hard so that someday, they will be too precious to loose. Then she would blackmail the big man into giving them freedom to choose partners. Either that or he looses them."

 

It became really quiet.

 

"You really think it's gonna work?" Minwoo asked.

 

"Even if it will, I still don't like it," Dong Hyun said. "It's too risky."

 

"I'm not saying this because it'll work for all of us. But it will certainly work for me," said Young Min. "You don't have to be in this with me. Just promise me that we'll be great too, for my freedom's sake. Jebal?"

 

Dong Hyun glared at Young Min at the rearview mirror. After a while, he sighed and got the car started. No one said a word.