The Twin | Kim Gyuvin ZB1

9 On My Side

Two weeks after they handed in the written report and presented it, every student got their individual score sheet back.

Gyuvin had a peek at his grade and instantly stole an excited glance at Siwon, but in contrast to his big reaction, she put her head down again on the desk indifferently after looking at hers.

"How did yours turn out?" One of Gyuvin's neighbouring classmates asked him nosily.

"A+, of course. What else do you expect from our Gyuvin?" Seungeon answered before Gyuvin could even react.

"You never know. His partner made everything unpredictable." The classmate referred to Siwon with a disdainful attitude. "It must have been tough for you, needing to do the whole project on your own. Even so, you still got an A+. That's so impressive of you."

"I didn't do everything by myself. Siwon did her part, too." Gyuvin immediately clarified.

"Hahaha, are you trying to be humble? You're saying Ryu Siwon actually helped you finish the report? I'd rather believe the sun's rising from the west."

"Why would I lie about that?"

"Are you defending her now? Don't tell me you like the bad girl type. What about Siyoung then?" He teased Gyuvin in the most irritating way possible.

"Why is Siyoung coming up in this conversation?" Gyuvin was slowly losing his patience over his classmate's ongoing crap.

"You know you can't have both the twins, right?" He smirked smugly.

"What are you talking about? Siyoung's a friend, and Siwon is just his partner for the project this time. It's that simple." Seungeon sensed Gyuvin's growing anger and mediated right away, calling for a ceasefire.

Gyuvin couldn't care less about what others had to say. He went straight to Siwon during break time.

"Ya, Ryu Siwon." He squatted on the floor and crossed his arms on her desk.

"What?" Siwon shifted away stiffly when she lifted her head and saw how close Gyuvin's face was.

"I thought you'd at least show a tiny bit of excitement now that I can no longer harass you with your secrets."

"I don't think getting an A when I'm working with the top student is that surprising. You think I'd waste my energy on a deal with an uncertain outcome?"

"How can someone be so apathetic like you?" Gyuvin taunted while snatching Siwon's score sheet from under her arms. "They only gave you an A?"

"Ya, give it back!" Siwon raised her voice and stood up from her seat, not noticing that she and Gyuvin's actions were drawing attention to themselves.

Gyuvin froze for a moment when he saw what was written on Siwon's score sheet and slowly brought his attention to her. "What is this?"

"Don't even think about breaking the deal. You got your A+." Siwon pointed at Gyuvin with her finger.

"That's not the point. How can they give me an A+ and give you a C?" Gyuvin whined.

"Probably because I didn't present?"

"That's ridiculous. You made the slides, and the presentation only takes up 15% of the mark."

"Then maybe I got caught writing the report using ChatGPT?"

"You know better than me that you wrote it yourself."

"And who would believe that?" Her words silenced Gyuvin.

"This is unfair, though."

"Life is unfair." Siwon grabbed her score sheet back from Gyuvin.

"Do you not care at all?" Gyuvin grew angry at seeing Siwon act like it was none of her business. "I'm going to talk to the teacher."

Siwon instinctively grabbed Gyuvin's wrist to stop him from leaving the classroom. "Don't waste your time."

When Siyoung got to Gyuvin's classroom with Minah and Joohee, all she saw was the two looking at each other with Siwon holding Gyuvin's arm. Siwon instantly came to her senses when she met eyes with Siyoung. She let go of Gyuvin and went back to her sleeping position.

"Gyuvin-ah," Siyoung quickly drew Gyuvin's attention to herself. She didn't like how he was looking at Siwon; she didn't like seeing them having any interaction at all.

"Oh, hey." Gyuvin finally noticed the three girls. He walked back to his seat, joining the girls as well as Yujin and Seungeon.

"Was Ryu Siwon bothering you?" Minah side-eyed the sleeping girl in the corner of the room.

"No, she wasn't." Gyuvin was so done with all the spiteful remarks towards Siwon in just one morning.

"Our poor Gyuvinnie. Now that the project is over, you don't have to deal with that girl anymore." Minah mistook Gyuvin's frustration as frustration towards Siwon.

"She's not as bad as you guys think she is." Gyuvin clenched his fists and took a deep breath. If it wasn't for his promise with Siwon, he would be spilling everything, from Siwon's part-time job at the bookshop to how the kids at the orphanage adored her. But would anyone believe him, if he did?

Jealousy grew in Siyoung as she watched Gyuvin stand up for Siwon. Insecurity surged, knowing that her twin and Gyuvin had gotten closer to each other behind her back.

"Guys, should we go to the arcade after school today?" To lighten the atmosphere, Joohee proposed to spend some time as a group after school.

"Yess! I haven't been to the arcade in so long." Seungeon beamed.

"Sorry, I can't make it," Yujin said. "I have practice after school."

"Our Yujinnie is preparing hard for the performance at the school fair." Gyuvin leaned himself against Yujin like a big, tired puppy.

"Ohh, we can finally see you dance." Joohee's eyes glowed with anticipation.

.

The moment Siwon got back to her room at night, Siyoung came stomping in right after her. Siwon was expecting it to some extent after what happened in school in the morning. She also overheard what Gyuvin said to Minah, and that was definitely adding fuel to the fire.

'She's really not as bad as you guys think she is." – Siwon hated to admit it, but she felt a slight rush of warm current through her heart. It was the feeling of having someone on her side...

"Ya, I see you've decided to just ignore everything I've said." Siyoung's face was flushed with anger. "This is the last time I'll warn you: Stay away from Gyuvin. You were simply his partner for the project. Don't get the wrong idea that the two of you are friends or anything like that."

Siwon felt Siwon's insecurity gushing out with her words, but frankly speaking, she still didn't understand why Siyoung was so wary of her. Siwon stayed silent while Siyoung went on.

"Don't even think about falling in love with him. He's way out of your league."

Siwon went into deep thought after Siyoung finished venting her anger at her. She wondered if part of the reason she couldn't talk back to Siyoung was that, deep inside, she was starting to consider Gyuvin as a friend. She found that thought terrifying because she knew she shouldn't get attached.