//2010, JUNE//

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

“Hyung, this kid is great, I don’t know, but I have this feeling that she will fit into our company”

The man he was talking to was listening to the tracks he had just played for him.

“Are you sure she really re-arranged all of these on her own?” Mr. Yang Hyun Suk checked the Soundcloud account where the tracks were coming from.

“Actually, I’ve been sending her messages as anonymous through her soundcloud account, and from where I see, I’m sure that she really has the skill to make all of that-“ He hadn’t finished his sentence when Mr. Yang Hyun Suk asked.

“And why she chose ours to be re-arranged? I see that she’s into western music rather than Kpop, but her works were mostly from our music.”

“I had that same question when I first saw her account, and yet she said that she found our music was unique and she wanted her friends to be more aware of Kpop.” He paused and showed Mr. Yang Hyun Suk their conversation.

“Actually I love the way she re-arranged our music, they are all fresh and catchy, just need some more improvements and she will surely meet our criteria, but the fact that she’s in States right now and we don’t really know who is this kid,  do you think we can do this?”

The guy suddenly took out a piece of paper from his folder and put it on the desk. Mr. Yang Hyun Suk glanced at the paper in front of him.

“What’s with this album cover?”

“This kid is the same kid who won our ‘design your Big Bang album cover’ contest last year, remember the kid who sent us tons of works before we chose this?” The guy paused and showed some pictures on his phone to Mr. Yang Hyun Suk, “Her skill has been improved a lot in just a year”

Mr. Yang Hyun Suk was absorbed in her display of works.

“This kid, who’s her name again?” Mr. Yang Hyun Suk slightly smiled.

“Oh Sooyun.” The guy’s eyes widened.

“Invite this kid to join our internship program as soon as she returns here and let’s see how far she can go”

The guy nodded at once.

//

SAN FRANCISCO, USA

The neon box blinked when a couple of teenagers walked out of the Music Store. The night breeze rustled their jackets as they talked on their way home.

“maybe you should stop replying that anonymous message on your soundcloud, we don’t know what exactly that stranger is up to” The boy seemed cautious.

“umm, at least that stranger is interested in my works, I can’t help but show my interest as well.” The girl spoke as she fixed her tousled pony tail.

“ahh, really? How if that stranger is up to something bad, he, yes, he might be a man who-“ He hadn’t finished his sentence when she cut him off.

“it’s just a soundcloud message, not a facebook, he only shows interest on my works anyway, he never asked my number or anything needed to be worried of, so, can you just stop your unreasonable worries and let’s think about our last project instead” She stopped and turned her head at him.

“Ahhhh, why you remind me of that hell of a , aisssh.” He kicked the empty space in front of him.

“watch your words, you don’t want to surprise your mom with that kind of words once we’re home”

“aisshh, I know how to speak to my Mom. Stop telling me things like that.” He said shortly.

“hmmm, how things have changed in just a year, I don’t know this will end soon, too soon.” She faced the sky in an awe.

“what do you mean oh? I haven’t changed a bit, I’m just adapting.” He defended himself.

“who said you’ve changed, I said THINGS, do you feel yourself belongs there? to THINGS oh?” She slightly laughed.

“aissssh, really, you got into my nerve Oh Sooyun, stop it, stop talking, I don’t want to hear more from you unless you want to go home on your own”

She mumbled at herself, “what’s wrong with him, turning into a jerk every time I talk about the final project”

“I can hear you Ms.Oh”

“Fine, I didn’t even ask you to walk me home” She speeded up and turned at the end of the block.

“YA! YA! YA! Wait for me!” He shouted before She stopped and let him passed her.

“now it’s clear who walks whom to home” She giggled.

“whatever you pleased, I’m sorry that I pissed you off, it’s just, can we just don’t talk about the final project for a while” He sighed at the ground.

She smiled, “you look a lot like him when you’re mad”

He turned his head at her, “who? Your brother? Should I join SM then?” He laughed.

“stop it, here you go again.”

“what? Why? Wasn’t it true? With the look of your brother, I’m sure I can make it through!”

“now you really piss me off, stop it, they’re not stupid only judging him by his look, they can see his talent. With you, they can only see your ert thoughts.”

“awww, that hurts a lot” He hit his own chest. “but I’m glad that you can see through my head, so I don’t need to tell you-“ He hadn’t finished his sentence when her sketchbook landed on his face to stop him.

He laughed.

“that’s not funny at all, what are you thinking right now, stop it right away before I scream”

“what? I’m thinking about Panda Express at the end of the block, doing part time job like this makes me hungry all the time. What do you think? Scream then.”

She laughed.

//

Sooyun arrived at her host family house before 11 when she found the oldest son of the family was still watching his favourite show.

“Hey, look, they talk about Korean Tourism Destination minutes ago, I think we should pay you a visit once you returned home”

Sooyun joined him to watch the show.

“Sure! I’ll be glad to welcome you in my country, you should meet my twin, you two may get along very well”

“wow, that sounds cool”

“hahaha, but, I think I’ll go upstairs first, my project can’t wait any longer, sorry” She apologized.

“that’s fine, sure your project can’t wait, it’s your last one” He paused, “time does fly and you’ll return to your country soon”

She exhaled.

“Oh, George, don’t make me feel bad,  I’ll make sure to keep in touch with you when I’m in Seoul, I already think of you as my own brother, so does Alex and Sierra, you guys will always be my little brothers and sister.” She smiled at him.

“You know how much I want to have an older sister, and I’m glad that I finally have one” He smiled back and lifted his fist to her, a brother fist.

She lifted her fist to him and smiled before she went upstairs.

//

Sooyun was checking her email for the final project when her eyes spotted strange mail in her inbox. She thought it was a spam from subscribing YG’s website, just then she opened the mail and she lost for words once she read the mail.

“OH-MY-GOD” She mouthed as she realized that it was almost 12 o’ clock and she didn’t want to wake the entire house. She re-read the mail for times before she was sure that the mail wasn’t a spam, and that it was officially sent from YG Office in Seoul. She checked the note sent along with the invitation and she found out how things worked until the email was sent to her. The stranger who was interested in her works all this time, was actually YG’s head of creative division that found out about her soundcloud and spotted her skill at once. Even he knew about her as the winner of the design contest YG once held.

Things started to make sense and she felt her heart was going to explode due to the excitement it held. It was just months before she returned home, before she could finally apply for YG internship program. She threw herself on the bed, facing the ceiling, her thoughts travelled back in her memories.

She remembered the time when people started to realize just how different she was from Sehun. First their family, and then their teacher at the primary school who discovered that she had different interests from Sehun. When Sehun was totally absorbed in some physical activities, she’d rather stay in the class, drawing. When Sehun was out with his friends, Sooyun stayed at home watching television, making things on her own, writing stories, and drawing again. Nevertheless, people loved them both. They kept being their class’ sweetheart, the twins who everyone loved.

Things started to change as they grew, their Mom tended to show more love towards Sehun, at least this what Sooyun felt. In school, the girls were totally falling for Sehun, as a result, they tried to get along with Sooyun in order to steal Sehun’s attention, once they got dumped off, they left Sooyun and even turned to bully her. Sooyun only had a few of girl pals, and when she got along with the boys at her school, the girls started to spread rumour about her. Even when she finally chose to stand alone, the girls were still spreading rumour about her, at last she decided to ignore them and she grew indifferent.

People started to love Sehun more than her, even she, herself started to think that way, that Sehun deserved more loves than her. To that, she started to hated herself, hated her fate to be Sehun’s twin, to share the same look but different personalities.

And when suddenly a guy in the park talked to their Mom about SM audition once he saw them, a chance their Mom wouldn’t pass ever. Things started to settle in Sooyun’s mind when she made it through the first audition but Sehun didn’t. She knew more than anyone, even her own mom, just how Sehun wanted to be an idol, and how people would easily fall for him, and how she loved him, more than anything. So she kept it secret until the last audition Sehun found out himself that she had turned down the chance to be an idol at their first audition.

 Four auditions made her realized that being an idol wasn’t her dream at all, she didn’t want to be under the spotlight, instead, she wanted to make the spotlight. She first thought that she was just avoiding her fate to be Sehun’s twin, but then she realized that it was simply the fact that she had different dream than Sehun, just like how their first teacher predicted.

When finally Sehun made it through on their fourth audition, Sooyun made her mind that she needed to realize her own dream.  She started to work harder than anyone to get enrolled in the best school when Sehun was focused on his trainee program to improve his dancing skill. She learned how to operate Corel and Photoshop on her own once her art teacher introduced them to her, excelled at operating it to support her sense of art when the other students began to forget the applications.

She had entered many design contests before she won YG’s contest right before she joined the student exchange program at her school to study in States for a year. Here, she learned how to compose music from a friend and a teacher whose part time job was a producer. She started to make her own arrangement for her favourite songs and uploaded it on soundcloud. It felt just like yesterday she learned how to compose her own music and now she was watching the ceiling after she received the invitation to join YG internship program as a producer or graphic designer.  She breathed in the air, as much as she could, and she felt her chest was about to explode. After all, now she was even closer to her own dreams. Would she still find her own dream if she wasn’t Sehun’s twin? When the pressure was lighter to her, when nothing made her worked harder than anyone, until finally the hard works were paid off. She was wondering with her eyes pinned on the ceiling above her when she remembered Kibum, his classmate who joined the exchange program with her, the boy who she had just ate with at the Panda Express. She took her phone and texted him.

//