Tea Stains [EXO Kpop Fanfiction]

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A hand tapped on Minjung’s shoulder incessantly, distracting her from the task at hand - folding the laundry. She ignored the person, only stopping briefly to push away their hand and continued folding. As she piled the clothes on top of each other and picked them up, Minseok followed, silently helping so that he could talk to her.

When the folded laundry was all placed neatly away, Minjung turned towards her brother, “Can we at least sit before you start talking?” she said. She knew that when he started talking, he wouldn’t stop until he was finished and that often took a long while – Minjung regretted it that one time her twin started talking to her about their new school; by the end of it, three full hours of non-stop chatter, her legs had fallen asleep where she stood.

He quickly nodded and they sat down at the sofa in the living room. A maid came over and brought them tea before backing out of the room quietly. Minjung sighed but picked up the cup anyway, sipping at the hot liquid. Minseok watched and waited patiently before speaking, “Sis, what happened yesterday?”

“Nothing.” Minseok rolled his eyes at his sister’s non-responsiveness.

“Oh, come on. I mean, you two came out and she was wearing your hoodie. Your favourite one too. Did she say anything?”

“Like I said, nothing happened. At least not to your standards,” she said, looking at her brother with a raised eyebrow.

“Shut up, I’m not perverted like my friends,” he pouted, crossing his arms. “It’s hard making friends at a new school, okay?”

“Yeah, if it’s hard for you, think about me,” Minjung said, “I’m the introvert here, Mr. Hyperactive-Extrovert.”

“Yah,” Minseok said, pulling on his sister’s arm. He began to tickle her, knowing it was the one thing that weakened her. As they giggled away, their household butler knocked and stepped inside.

“The Sir and Ma’am are home.” The twins stopped what they were doing and quickly sat up, fixing their rumpled clothes. “I shall take my leave,” the butler said, bowing then backing out of the room.

“Thanks for telling us!” Minseok shouted, then turned to Minjung. “Are you staying here to wait or are you going to leave?” He sounded neutral but his eyes revealed the slight fear he held of his own parents.

She sighed and shrugged, “It’s about time I faced the music.” Minseok let out a little cheer, and hugged her. Minjung simply gave him a pat on his shoulder, I have such a cute brother, even if he is older by a few seconds, she thought.

They both sat there in tense silence as they waited for their parents to walk inside. Minseok took his sister’s hand in his, clasping tightly enough that Minjung could feel him shaking slightly. She gave a gentle squeeze back, acknowledging him; she felt as scared as he was at having to see her own parents, the two people in her life that she truly despised with every fibre of her being.

Even though her parents were the ones who provided the living expenses and thus the luxurious lifestyle the twins were able to lead during their younger childhood days, Minjung couldn’t help but feel a sense of boiling rage, sadness and disappointment whenever she saw them. Her entire life so far felt empty of their presence; for as far back as she could remember, Minjung had never experienced what every other child had - parental love. She knew they loved her brother and herself, but they had never spent time together as a family - only whenever their grandparents had called and come over did that happen. Her parents only ever worked and worked, earning the money to pay for their children’s material happiness; they never spent enough time to bond with them as a family.

Minseok’s younger self had been a content child, playing with the maids and the hired tutors. He’d always been the more easy-going one between the two, often the only one who could convince his sister to join him in his games and adventures. Minseok was always the one who looked after the expressionless Minjung, able to tell apart all her emotions; they were twins after all, sharing a special bond since birth. They shared every secret, every feeling, every second of their lives.