chapter one: strangers

“I can’t believe I’m finally here.” Park Jae Ah smiled as she tightly clasped the brochures in her hands as her eyes sparkled at the sight of the vast buildings. “After so long.” She let out a breath of air in relief and tilted her head towards the boy next to her. The sun shone right onto her black hair, heating her up, as she squinted her dark brown eyes against the bright light.

  Park Jaehyun looked nothing like his twin sister, beside the fact that he was male and she was not. His bright blue hair looked lighter than usual in the sunlight as he rolled his eyes at her. The black, circular glasses slid slightly down his nose and he reached up to push it up. “You’re just lucky to be here.” He retorted to his sister, with a slight snort. “You know even Omma is surprised that you were able to get into this school.”

  Jae Ah pressed her lips together and shot him a glare. She reached up and used her index finger to push back on his forehead, surprising him, “Why do you even wear those glasses?” Jae Ah scoffed. “You have perfect vision.” Jaehyun ignored her and began walking through the large gates of the college they had been staring at for a good 20 minutes. A smile came over Jae Ah’s lips and she was quick to follow him in.

Classes hadn’t started yet in the college so it was fairly empty in the area. But Jae Ah was still amazed by it all and kept pointing things out to her brother as he rolled his eyes and on each one of her comments. It wasn’t odd for the two of them to attend college together, even after living together all their lives.

Jae Ah and Jaehyun were incredibly close to each other, even if it didn’t seem so. They had spent almost every day together since they were born 21 years ago and that had created an unbreakable bond between the two of them. One that had only strengthened when they lost their father during their early teen years. As the only male left in the family, Jaehyun had stepped up to take care of his mother, Jae Ah, and their younger sister. His mother had a well off job so he didn’t have to take up work but he was still the one they relied on.

Jae Ah heard the sound of a few people chattering and she looked past Jaehyun to where a few girls were seated on some scattered tables. They were laughing to each other as a few of them glanced to her and her twin brother. She figured they were looking at Jaehyun, as he did stand out with his blue hair, and hid her smile.

“Looks like you’ve already become popular.” Jae Ah sang as she bumped into Jaehyun. She only reached up to his chin but she didn’t have to look up to see the sour look that Jaehyun shot her. He wasn’t as social as her, despite the fact that they shared a lot of other similarities. Jaehyun preferred to be on his own, listening to music and dancing, unlike Jae Ah, who loved to be at the center of the group.

Jaehyun glanced at the group of girls as they passed them and hid his disgust. He didn’t like getting attention from girls who were just looking for a guy to hit on. He liked the background, which was the main difference between him and Jae Ah. He was quiet for a few more minutes as they ventured through where their future classes would be. He wasn’t that impressed by the school, but he had been determined to go there, if not for the fact that Jae Ah was set on it. He couldn’t imagine being without Jae Ah, as she was the closest person to him, so he had decided to choose the same college as her despite the fact that he had more choices to pick from than she did.

Jae Ah felt her phone buzz in the light pink bag that rested against the side of her leg and perked up. She slid out her phone and read the message that showed on the screen as a smile took over her lips and her expression brightened. She quickly lifted her hand and looked around before finding something that caught her eye. A bright smile shone on her face as she sped up to her target.

Jaehyun was surprised by her sudden change and he followed her gaze to see who she had found. The look on his face fell slightly at the sight of the other man. Although Kim Jinwoo had been dating his sister for over a year now, he had never really liked him. In fact, he hadn’t liked Jinwoo from the moment that they met in the fifth grade, where Jinwoo had instantly clicked with Jae Ah. He followed his sister towards Jinwoo and a few other guys but his steps were a lot slower.

Jae Ah crashed into Jinwoo with a loud laugh as his arms came around her. Ignoring the teasing comments his friends made, she smiled against his chest before pulling away from him and turning her head slightly to see if Jaehyun had followed. She saw him lingering a few feet behind and looked back to Jinwoo with a large smile, “I’m finally here.”

“You’re finally here.” Jinwoo repeated, a smile on his lips, as well. His eyes trailed behind her to Jaehyun and he nodded in acknowledgment, “Hey, Jaehyun.”

“Hi, hyung.” Jaehyun muttered in a reply, his eyes elsewhere. He knew the only reason that Jae Ah had chosen to attend this college was because Jinwoo did but he had underestimated how much he was going to have to see Jinwoo now. The year that Jinwoo was away from their hometown, and in college, was Jaehyun’s favorite yet.

“Did you look around?” Jinwoo asked Jae Ah, reaching out to take her hand in his and interlacing their fingers. “Do you like it?”