"We're not twins."
He had been born with a being that wore his face. That had a body that looked just like him. But there was nothing of his own frail soul inside this body. That other human was cruel, filled his once pure head with sinister lies of a better life. A better future, and the child that he was, he had believed the person that looked just like him. Until he left and never came back, even shed his own name to dump him into that dark space alone. He was becoming monster in this darkness… He had been made a monster. A machine. But you've never learned anything until you learn that even monsters can have nightmares. In his, he dreams of daunting red hair and shining golden eyes. And an innocent smile that repeats "I'll get us out of here. Just wait for me.". But that was not the worst part. The worst part was, that he had believed him. Every time.
Twins are said to share a soul, but his one was crushed while the other "him" got to live his happy ever after. No, they weren't twins. They were arch enemies.
He felt sweat forming underneath the uncomfortable brown wig. Why had he agreed to such a dress up? Not that it mattered, anyways. Nothing mattered. Nothing but finding the perfect pawn, an entry, a ticket to destruction. He had been given a special task, one that only he could perform. He had finally found his purpose. Even though he knew that his whole existence was nothing but a great mistake, he could still do some good. He just needed to find the right person for what was about to come.
He hopped from one public internet hotspot to another, hacking people was way too easy when they were all connected to the same access point. It was almost overpoweringly boring. He read their emails, their text messages, scrolled through their social media accounts and lazily flipped through their photo albums. It couldn't just be anybody. Most of the people wouldn't understand his drive, or would be to occupied with their personal life to even care. People from the outside were disgusting. Shiny faces, the perfect civilized citizen, but they all were nothing but filled with filth. Egocentric people just like the one person that left him to die a thousand deaths inside his heart. He can't help but to rub the back of his neck when reminded of this particular memory.
They did not deserve to be taken to paradise. At least not the way they were just then. They needed to be cleansed. To be ruined. And then, when they would be treated like a part of paradise, they would finally understand what true happiness was. Just like him, back then. It was the only way to save everyone from the rotten seeds that were so widely spread outside his little universe where no pain existed and everyone smiled.
He was currently reading the browser history of a middle aged business man that was enjoying his café late, being completely unaware that he, Saeran was sitting here, unravelling his deepest secrets. And what secrets they were. Obviously Mister Jun Won, currently living in Seoul, had a thing for little children. In the uttermost disgusting way. His browser history was full with sites that contained more than enough material to get him in prison. It made him gag. It made him sick and he felt his anger almost taking over him. Almost. perseverance is key.
Before he switched his target, he quickly wrote an email to the police, anonymously of course, with the questionable browser history attached. He wouldn't openly strangle this man here in public. But crimes like this needed to be taken care of.
From the corner of his eye, he could see something moving that reminded him of a silken waterfall. Something that did indeed catch his eye. A woman. She was sitting on the other side of the plaza and searched something inside her bag. She had long hair that was middle brown at the top and faded into a golden honey blond towards her tips. When she looked up, she was holding her cell phone to her ears and squinted her eyes as she answered the incoming call.
There was nothing in particular that he could pinpoint, but something in her stance wakened something akin to recognition inside of him. Strange, he had never seen that woman before.
He hacked into her phone. Not because he was utterly interested, but because of that routine that he had set into. As soon as he got past the ridiculous firewall of her system, he put on his earphones and listened to her conversation with the voice at the other end of the phone line.
"gosh, where are you? I've been calling you three times now, why are you picking up only now?"
A female voice asked annoyed.
The woman across from him rolled her shoulders and sat up so that she was sitting with a straight back, trying to manually slip into another persona. He could tell that she was acting courageous when in reality she must feel the exact opposite. She smiled while she spoke, but it didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes… He knew that expression. That fake spark of liveliness even though there was nothing reflecting in them.
"Aww, did you miss your older sister that much? I am so lucky to be loved." It sounded more mechanical than quirky. If that ever had been her intention.
The other female voice only huffed irritated, obviously ignoring that woman's act. Or not recognizing that she was acting at all.
"You're only 12 minutes older than me, so stop acting up. You're so annoying! Taeyoung called me and told me about your date. He said that you stood up from the table and left because he told you that you're pretty and he would like to date him. What's wrong with you? With your attitude, you'll never find a guy that will marry you. At least not here."
The woman inhaled sharply and her jawline tightened for the fracture of a second. But it was gone just as soon as it had happened. Whatever snide response she had originally wanted to give, gone.
There was silence after that before the other female voice sighted defeated. "You know that this is not what I mean. But you're not in Germany anymore. Things are different here, culture wise. Sometimes it is better smile and simply accept. A woman should be like a flower, beautiful and elegant."
So she was a foreigner? Well that was a funny twist. He found the picture of the person calling and his heart stopped. They were fucking twins. TWINS of all the things they could have been. He needed a moment to calm himself.
"Of all the virtues that one can possess, beauty is the one that withers first. And what then? I will become a mere accessory."
Perseverance is key, perseverance is key. He managed to unclutch his fists and felt the waves of angst subside. So what if they were twins? Even better, if one fails he would simply take the other. Good for him.
The two women kept bickering for a while and he was in the middle of creeping through her documents when he found a folder that was password protected. He snickered lowly to himself and started decrypting the content. It was full of medical records and pictures of a girl with... with…
His spirit left his body at once.
Images flashed before his eyes. Screams. Tears. Blood. Memories of his pathetic life. Never again.
He never wanted to see pictures like that ever again.
When he looked up, he saw her getting ready and before realizing it, he followed her.
Yes, she was the one. He would take her there and she would be strong enough to pull through until the end. And then he would lead her to salvation, because he felt like they had more in common than he ever thought possible.
You feel more tired after the phone call than you should. Speaking up to her, trying to joke when you felt nothing but death inside of you was hard and draining every ounce of life energy out of you.
Get a grip. it isn't her fault that she had lived a nice and sheltered life. It's not her fault that she thinks the way she does, she had been raised to do so. You'd probably believe all that she believed as well, if you had stayed here with your mother back then. You have no right to be angry at her. In fact, you have no right to be angry at anybody but yourself. You decided a long time ago, that there was no use for you to become a normal woman and lead a normal life. Love and the like just wasn't for you. You learned it the hard way, but better late than never. But that didn't mean that you should be jealous of your own sister, she has done nothing wrong.
You stop and breathe in deeply. Then start counting to ten.
Tuck them away
Tuck those irritating feeling away. Into the place you've build inside yourself. You feel the familiar feeling of your emotions fading before you actually reach ten, and presume walking.
Better
Your phone buzzes inside your bag. You reach for it and stare on the notifications. A text message, but the app-icon was different from the messaging app you usually use. Weird. You open it anyways.
…. unknown has entered the chatroom
Unknown:
…Hello?...
You stare at the screen with a blank expression.
Unknown:
Can you see this?
You:
Who are you?
Unknown:
I'm sure you're surprised
Unknown:
It's not every day you get a text from a stranger
Unknown:
I'm a bit flustered myself. I found a smartphone at the subway station, but all it had was this messenger app.
Unknown:
I want to find the owner, but I don't see any contact info or call records…
Unknown:
I've been sending messages with this app but no reply...
Unknown:
All I see is an address and some important looking numbers in notes.
Unknown:
I'd like to go there myself but I'm currently abroad...
He's not going to ask you to go there instead, right? And even if he were, you won't go. You had to be in a much more fucked up emotional place to do something as stupid as that.
You:
First… who are you?
Unknown:
Me? Oh sorry. I didn't even introduce myself.
Unknown:
I'm just... a student studying abroad. I'm Korean.
Unknown:
I could tell you my name, but it doesn't really matter.
Unknown:
You won't find me on search engines ^^;
Unknown:
But, anyways..
Unknown:
Can you help me find the owner of this phone?
Unknown:
I know you're surprised to have someone suddenly pop up and ask you a favour like this.
Unknown:
But still…
Unknown:
I'd appreciate it if you could help.
You:
Why are you so obsessed with finding the owner? You can just give it to the police or the post office
Unknown:
Well… Normal people won't be able to understand…
Unknown:
To be honest, I have a religion..
Unknown:
My religion says that you must not miss any opportunity to do good, no matter how small.
Unknown:
Well some say that it's just nosy
Unknown:
But I'm not like normal people.
Unknown:
I can't help but think about how stressed the owner might be…
Unknown:
It's really a safe place. If you feel unsafe, you can turn around.
Unknown:
I know the area. It's developed.
Unknown:
Please?
A religion? Why does he have to be so vague? It wasn't a cult, right? You have no business with cults.
You:
No. You're creepy.
Unknown:
Creepy?...^^;;
Unknown:
I'm not a creep.
Unknown:
Haven't you ever heard of the saying 'you get a treat if you listen to older men'…?
A treat? You can't help but to chuckle at that. Was that a Korean thing? Although you've been born in this country, until two months ago, you've barely been here at all. Was it normal to have sugar daddies? Helping people out of the blue and going to strange addresses was not really the sanest thing to do, but then again, why didn't you feel scared at all? Because you've only recently locked your feelings away, remember? While you felt nothing right now, it wasn't exactly wise to hold a conversation like this when you're in this condition. But… You were so tired. So very tired. And something about what was happening right now, managed to spark your interest. They say, that curiosity kills the cat. But what if the cat doesn't care if she dies?
You:
I'll listen to you
Unknown:
Haha, I was joking.
Unknown:
But you seem like you'll listen to me ^^
Unknown:
Anyways
Unknown:
I know I'm asking too much.
Unknown:
You might think I'm odd.
Unknown:
… I am a bit odd to be honest.
Unknown:
But would you consider it? I'm talking to you right now.
Unknown:
Two complete strangers at two complete different places… It's a miracle we've connected.
Unknown:
No one responded to my messaged. You're the first one.
Unknown:
I don't know how we got connected…
Unknown:
But maybe this was meant to be?
A picture of a brown haired guy with green eyes popped up. He was wearing a black shirt and a red jacket. He smiled while facing the camera. The time stamp said that it was taken only a minute before. You could see a building in the background that looked like an airport.
Unknown:
That is me in the photo.
Unknown:
Maybe this will make you less suspicious…?
Unknown:
I'm returning to Korea soon, so I'll definitely make it up to you.
Unknown:
If you feel unsafe near the place, you can just delete the app.
Unknown:
Please, I'm begging you
You sigh. You shouldn't do it. It could be dangerous. No, it most likely will be dangerous. But you feel nothing. Nothing at all. You let him give you the address to the apartment and start texting the address to your sister, asking her if it would ok to stop by that place on your way back home. Your sister is startled but agrees after you explain the situation to her.
"I'll go with you and keep an eye out. There is no way I'll let you go there, alone." She greets you as you get into the passenger seat.
It is fine by you, either way. But you don't tell her that. Instead you simply shrug. It takes you about half an hour to get to the building complex. It is a rather modern one, the whole neighbourhood seems to be well of.
You two get out of the car and enter the building.
"Does it say which apartment it is?" your sister asks. You scroll through your conversation with that unknown guy and ask him. It takes some time until he answers but he sends you the requested information in the end.
The door of the apartment has one of these fancy security locks that need a password to open it and you want to ask your mysterious chat partner if he can find the combination on his device when your sisters phone rings and she suddenly hands you the thing. It's Taeyoung from before.
You feel tired again and try to explain that you're sorry but you won't see him again. Ever. He however doesn't stop talking and you hand your own phone over to your sister so that she could deal with this Unknown guy until you had this mess sorted out.
She arcs her eyebrows in the most annoying way at you and starts grinning while texting. You hope she doesn't do anything stupid, but return to the phone call eventually to get this over with.
The woman from before is standing in front of the door. Next to her stands a woman that looks almost exactly the same, and still completely different. Her twin sister.
At first, he felt a rush of annoyance when he saw her texting her sister and she said that she'd be tagging along, but after cooling down a bit and talking to the saviour via the phone, he decided it was just as fine. If she didn't mind, he wouldn't mind as well. If it ever came to any complications, he could still get rid of one of them.
He asked the original pawn if she saw a padlock in front of door in which she could insert a password. But just when she wanted to answer, her sisters phone rang. She looked annoyed and handed her own over to twin number one, while receiving the phone from his chosen one and starting to type, stating that she can't see a security lock.
He hated liars. They were just like that god damned redhead from hell.
Lies. Lies. All lies.
His head started spinning and he couldn't think straight.
Unknown:
Are you sure?^^
One chance. One more chance. If she lied now, then that would be it. He would find someone else. Someone worth his while. It was a pain in the ass, since he really wanted the woman from before to be his target, but what if she was just as much of a liar as her sister?
He fumed, noticing how sweat was forming on his arms. He could see the threads that held his mind together, loosing structure.
I'll come and get you. We are twins. I am you and you are me. Gold eyes piercing though his heart. Red hair burning in his brain. Just wait for me. Wait for me…wait…for me….
You need to remain calm. The saviour entrusted you with the task. Do not fail her, now.
He managed to cool down whatever had been starting to burn up inside of him. Continuing to breathe in as steady as possible and then breathe out. A routine. Routines are what kept him going. What kept him sane. They were structure. They were his lifeline.
When he felt like he pulled himself together enough, he looks at them again.
Twin Number two just giggled as she hands the phone back to twin one, who looked annoyed by her sister's playful antics. She replies that she was only joking and is indeed seeing lock with numbers on it.
He feels a wave of relief. So they weren't alike. She was no liar. He would trust her and only her.
He pulls up the passcode and sends it to her and she swiftly starts to typing the digits into the door lock. There is a soft beep and then the entrance is open.
As they enter the apartment, he waits for a few seconds, before retreating, a smug smile written all over his face.
Unknown:
It's going to be fun from now on.