BELOVED BY THE TWINS

CHAPTER 18

"BELOVED BY THE TWINS"

by: Dark Flame Master

Juri walked out of the hospital feeling a little frustrated as she thought about the earlier encounter with Shin’s two roommates.

“They might be good-looking but they are so rude. Especially that Ruka guy,” she muttered to herself as she remembered how Ruka had acted toward her. Despite all of that she couldn’t help but smile.

"At least Shin had people around him, people who seemed to care about him even if they were too protective" she thought while walking.

The next morning, Juri was heading to school as usual when she noticed something unusual. A sleek black car parked a bit away from the entrance. It wasn’t close enough for the other students to notice but Juri could see it clearly. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Shin step out of the car.

"Is that Shin?" she thought about how he ended up in such a fancy car. Curiosity got the best of her and she quickly walked over to him.

“Hey, morning, Shin!” Juri greeted, looping her arm around Shin’s with a big smile.

Shin’s face turned bright red as soon as Juri locked her arm with his. He was clearly not used to close contact.

“J...Juri?” he said, looking both surprised and flustered.

Juri’s eyes drifted toward the car. “This car is—” she started to ask but she was interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

“Remove your hands from him,” a cold voice came from the inside of the car. Juri looked inside and saw Luca inside, his expression calm but his eyes were sharp and his voice left no room for argument.

“Huh? It’s Ruka, the rude guy!” Juri said, confusing Luca for his twin brother.

From the driver’s seat, Ruka leaned forward slightly “Remove your hands from him, shorty,” he said, glaring at her as if she had done something wrong.

Juri smirked, amused by his reaction. "Oh, is this Ruka?" she ask.

Ruka let out an annoyed sigh. “Just remove your hands,” he repeated, obviously losing patience.

Juri shrugged and let go of Shin’s arm raising her hands in the air as if giving up. “Alright, alright, it’s not like I’m going to steal Shin from you two,” she joked, smiling at the twins.

Shin, sensing the tension quickly changed the subject. “Juri, what are you doing here?” he asked, clearly wanting to avoid more drama.

“Oh, my apartment is nearby so I usually walk to school,” she said casually. Then, she turned to Shin. “Do you want to walk with me today?”

Shin hesitated looking back at the car where Ruka and Luca were still watching them. “Um… sure,” he said. He gave Luca a small wave and said, “I’ll see you later.”

Luca nodded. “Alright. Take care,” he said in his usual calm voice.

Ruka, on the other hand wasn’t as calm. “Hey, shorty!” he called out through the open window. “It’s fine if you’re friends but anything more than that is not okay!” he warned.

Juri couldn’t resist teasing him more. “Calm down but to tell you the truth Shin told me he likes me,” she said, laughing as she knew it would annoy him.

“You—” Ruka started, looking angry but Luca cut him off.

“We’re going to be late. Stop it,” Luca said, giving him a firm look before turning the car engine back on.

As the car pulled away, Ruka rolled down the window and shouted one last time, “SHORTY!”

Juri and Shin ignored him but Shin couldn’t hold back his laughter. He laughed so hard that he had to stop walking for a moment.

Juri looked at him, amused. “What’s so funny, Shin?” she asked

Shin wiped a tear from his eye. “It’s just…. He’s always so serious but the way you teased him...it was too funny!”

Juri grinned. “Well, I guess I found his weak spot.”

As they continued walking Juri asked Shin. “Shin, Ruka is the one who shouts right?” she asked, still confused about the twins.

Shin smiled. “The one who shouted ‘shorty’? yeah that’s Ruka,” he said

Juri sighed. “It’s amazing how you can tell them apart so easily. They look exactly the same to me.”

“Do they really look that much alike to you?” Shin asked, surprised.

“Yeah! If they didn’t talk I wouldn’t be able to tell who’s who,” Juri admitted.

Shin chuckled. “Well, it’s easy for me to tell them apart.”

Juri looked at Shin suspiciously. “Are they really just your roommates? They seem really protective of you.”

Shin nodded. “Yeah, they are. But it’s more like I help them with chores and stuff. It’s kind of like a job but they’re my friends too.”

Juri raised an eyebrow. “Friends, huh?” she said, still unsure but letting it go for now.

Before they knew it they had arrived at school. As they walked through the gates, Juri noticed that their classmates weren’t staring or whispering behind their backs like before. It seemed like her confrontation with the girls the other day had worked. She felt relieved.

Classes began and as usual Juri quickly became bored. She struggled to stay awake and her head was nodding forward every few minutes. Shin noticed, watching as her eyelids drooped and her head bobbed up and down. It was clear she was fighting to stay awake and Shin chuckled a little.

Unfortunately, the teacher noticed too. His patience finally ran out and he called her name sharply. “JURI! Answer this problem on the board!” he shouted, his voice loud and commanding.

Juri blinked still half-asleep as she stood up looking around in confusion. "Huh? What?"

"Come up to the board and solve this problem," the teacher repeated impatiently.

Juri sighed as she dragged herself to the front of the room. "Do I really have to?" she asked, trying to smile her way out of it.

"You think smiling will get you out of this?" the teacher retorted. "Now, solve the problem."

Juri sighed and picked up the chalk while looking at the board in disappointment. Shin watched from his seat amused by how much she clearly didn’t want to do it.

After a few moments of thinking, Juri wrote down her answer and turned to the teacher. “Is this correct?”

The teacher looked at the board, surprised. “Yes, that’s correct,” he said, sounding impressed despite himself.

Juri smiled proudly and walked back to her seat. During lunch, she and Shin sat together as usual.

“It's only my third day but I really hate that teacher,” Juri said as she took a bite of her food.

Shin laughed. “Hahahaha...I should have taken a picture of your face earlier. You looked so confused.”

Some of their classmates glanced over. They are surprised to hear Shin laughing. It was rare for him to seem so happy.

“You think that’s funny?” Juri asked, poking at Shin’s lunch with her fork and stealing a piece of his bacon.

“Hey, you have your own food!” Shin complained.

“But yours tastes better. Who made it?” Juri asked, chewing happily.

“I did. Who else?” Shin replied, rolling his eyes.

“Really? Then…” Juri said, her eyes lighting up as she stole another bite. “Can you make lunch for me too? Please, please?”

“No!” Shin laughed, shaking his head.

“Even if I pay you?” Juri asked.

Shin thought for a moment and then shrugged. “Okay, what do you want me to make?”

“Anything is fine,” Juri said, excited.

Just as they continued eating, a group of girls from their class approached them hesitantly.

Juri’s cheerful expression faded as she turned to them. “What? Go away,” she said, clearly still irritated from the past.

One of the girls stepped forward. “We… we just wanted to apologize,” she said nervously.

“Huh?” Juri frowned.

“We’re sorry for what we said,” another girl added, bowing her head slightly.

Juri looked like she was about to stand up and confront them but Shin gently placed a hand on her arm to stop her.

Juri sighed and rolled her eyes. “Just stop judging people without knowing the whole story, okay?” she said, her voice still sharp but less aggressive.

The girls nodded quickly. “O...okay,” one of them mumbled.

Juri glanced over at the boys sitting a few tables away. “And you guys, stop with the bullying,” she said, glaring at them.

The rest of the day went by quietly though Juri struggled to stay awake in class after lunch. By the time school ended she was yawning and rubbing her eyes.

As they packed up, Juri turned to Shin. “Want to come to my apartment? We can hang out.”

Shin hesitated for a moment but then nodded. “Okay but I’ve never been invited to someone’s place before.”

Juri smiled and the two of them left school together. Shin feels a little more like a regular student for the first time in a while.