chapter sixteen: spies

“Jae Ah!” She jumped at the sound of the voice and hit something with the arm she had been resting on, knocking it to the ground. Her gaze followed the crash and she found her bowl of cereal on the floor with milk leaking from the sides of the overturned bowl. She turned the other way to find Jaehyun shooting her a disapproving look.

“You’re so clumsy.” Jaehyun sighed as he slipped into the chair perpendicular to her. His bright blue hair almost reached his eyes now and Jae Ah noticed it more closely this time. “Why are you so sleepy?”

Jae Ah groaned, slumping back onto her arm, forgetting about her cereal, “I don’t know. I did get much sleep last night though.”

“Yeah, because you came back so late.” Jaehyun glared at his sister as he poured some cereal into his own bowl. “It’s your fault.”

She shot him an apologetic smile as her eyes fell shut again, “I couldn’t sleep at all last night.” She finished, feeling the exhaustion wash over her once more. It was true, she couldn’t sleep at all, but she had omitted the part about not being able to sleep because her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Mark and his friends.

Jaehyun fell silent for a few moments, looking at something on his phone. His eyes slowly wandered back to his twin sister and his brows furrowed slightly in worry. She was fast asleep once more, but her expression looked slightly troubled, as if she wasn’t happy.

“How are you going to take your test today?” Jaehyun asked, placing a hand on her arm and shaking her awake again.

Jae Ah’s eyes fluttered open and she blinked blankly at first, not understanding his words. Then, abruptly, she sat up with wide eyes, “Test? I have a test?”

Jaehyun gave her a dumbfounded look before his lips began to pull up in amusement, “Yes?”

“Oh my god.” Jae Ah groaned even louder as she scrambled out of her seat before suddenly remembering about her cereal. She looked down at the bowl with a devastated expression.

“I got it.” Jaehyun rolled his eyes.

Jae Ah shot him a grateful look before she rushed off to her room to grab her books. She took out her chemistry book and flipped it open to the page she had been studying last but every time she tried to remember the formulas, her mind only reminded her of her sleepiness.

Half an hour past slowly with Jae Ah wracking her mind to cram study but not absorbing anything despite her hard work. Jaehyun knocked on her door when the time came for them to leave and the twins met eyes, relaying a message between them.

Jaehyun sighed as Jae Ah stood up and packed her bag away. He shot her a small smile as she followed him out of the room and mumbled, “Don’t worry. You’ll do fine.”

But two hours later, after her exam was finished, Jae Ah knew she did anything but fine. She sat, slumped against the side of the building her class was in, sighing in sadness. Jae Ah had always done well in her studies. It was something she prided herself in. So the fact that she had done so badly on her exam disappointed her.

Suddenly, she saw a can appear in front of her face, startling her. She followed the hand up to find her twin brother staring back at her, his black rimmed glasses falling off his nose. He pushed it up with one hand and shook the can in front of her with another.

“Take it already.” Jaehyun ordered and she stood up before doing so. He took one