1 GHOST OF A FEELING

[LIFE HACK #1: If you see your doppelganger, kill it before it kills you.]

Moon Yujin's favorite motto was 'practice what you preach.'

[So here I am now.]

It didn't matter that she was currently in an alleyway across from the convenience store where some of her schoolmates were chilling. Even if there was a high chance that her schoolmates might see her acting like a lunatic while fighting her doppelganger that they couldn't see, she still took the risk.

She gripped the handle of the wooden baseball bat in her hands tighter. Then she swung it as hard as she could into the face of her doppelganger– again and again.

[Yep, my doppelganger. And by that, I'm not talking about a living person who looks like me. When I said 'doppelgänger,' I'm actually referring to the ghostly phenomenon known as our 'evil twins.' Most people don't know this, but a doppelganger is a ghost usually viewed as an omen for the death of the person who is copied.]

In short, the fact that her doppelganger appeared today only meant she'd die soon. Like she said earlier, a doppelganger was the harbinger of death to their "human version."

[And yes, doppelgangers really exist.]

Yujin had black shoulder-length hair (with bangs!), black eyes, and fair skin. Since she was on her way to Haneul High School, she encountered her doppelganger while she was in her school uniform: a gray sweater vest over a white long-sleeved blouse with a purple ribbon, a purple plaid skirt, white socks, and a pair of black shoes.

Her doppelganger looked exactly the same…

… except her "evil twin" had a blank face– literally.

It helped, though.

After all, she would have found it difficult to squash the face of the doppelganger with her baseball bat if it looked like her.

[Most doppelgangers only appear when the person they copied is about to die. However, there are doppelgangers that will actively try to kill the person they copied in order to steal their place– just like my doppelganger.]

"You're pretty tough, huh?" Yujin, who was now out of breath after smashing the doppelganger's face with her wooden baseball bat, complained lightly. She stopped swinging her bat and put a hand on her waist while crouching and catching her breath. "Right, I forgot that you get stronger when my birthday is near."

Her doppelganger stood in front of her in an awkward pose. The ghost's knees were bent, and its shoulders appeared to be dislocated. Moreover, its head was tilted peculiarly since Yujin broke its neck earlier.

To be precise, she broke the doppelganger's neck by hitting its face with her baseball bat nonstop.

Thus, her "evil twin" could no longer move to attack her.

[Duck, I'm running out of strength.]

She wanted to say 'f*ck' and not 'duck,' but she couldn't bring herself to curse openly.

[I should exercise soon– my doppelganger won't leave me alone until my eighteenth birthday.]

It was redundant to call the ghost 'doppelganger' repeatedly. But what could she do? Her Aunt Hayi, the one who taught her everything she knew about ghosts, drilled into her head that she should NEVER give a doppelganger a name– not even a pet name.

[I didn't ask why, though.]

Her thoughts got interrupted when her doppelganger let out an incoherent scream while coming at her for Round 2. The ghost's arms were stretched as if it was aiming to strangle her.

[Let's get this done and over with.]

She stood properly and gripped her wooden baseball bat with both hands, then she hit the doppelganger's face with all the strength left in her body. And, this time, she uttered the words that would activate the spell engraved into the wooden baseball bat from its end cap to its knob.

"Begone, copy-cat!"

When the wooden baseball bat hit the doppelganger's face, the markings engraved on the bat lit up. The glow that highlighted the markings had the color of fresh blood. It was as if the baseball bat bled when the doppelganger's face exploded.

Yep, the doppelganger's face exploded after she smashed it with the baseball bat.

Hence, she closed her eyes tight.

[Gruesome, as always.]

Thankfully, it was over now.

When she felt the wooden baseball bat lightened, she opened her eyes. Her doppelganger finally disappeared.

For now, at least.

"I know that I was supposed to die ten years ago," Yujin complained to no one, then she hit the end cap of the wooden baseball bat against the concrete ground to vent her frustration. "But don't you think it's overkill to send my doppelganger to kill me every time my birthday is near?"

***

"STUDENT, do you want to be an idol?"

Sun Geun-wook almost laughed after hearing what the woman who approached him said.

He was minding his own business while standing in front of the glass wall inside the convenience store called '25/7.' But he wasn't spacing out like an idiot. He was actually busy watching Moon Yujin swing a wooden baseball bat around as if she was hitting something that he couldn't see.

That girl was really a weirdo.

[But she's MY weirdo.]

"You're handsome, tall, and your proportions are really good," the woman who looked like in her mid-twenties said encouragingly. She was pretty stylish. Messy (dyed) blonde hair, gray contact lenses that made her eyes look unnatural. Blazer, crop top, cycling shorts, sneakers. Yep, this woman really looked like the part of someone who worked in the entertainment industry. "Student, if you're interested in being an idol, call me."

Then the woman handed him a business card.

Geun-wook smirked after seeing what was written on the card. "Namoo Entertainment?"

The woman smiled and nodded proudly. "Yes, I work for Namoo Entertainment– one of the country's 'Big 4' entertainment companies. You probably heard about us. The biggest boy group in the country is currently signed under our label–"

"I smoke," Geun-wook said, cutting the woman off abruptly. Then he pulled out the box of cigarettes from his black trousers' pocket. "I also drink even though I'm underage, noona."

'Noona' was how boys like him addressed their older sisters, or girls older than them.

Of course, it was a term that you couldn't use for someone you just met without their permission. But Geun-wook didn't care about things like that.

"Noona, will that be alright?" Geun-wook asked, smirking. "I bet my pictures while I was partying hard in the past would resurface on the internet if I debuted as an idol."

The woman scouting him visibly paled.

"That nutjob has a history of beating up our schoolmates, too," Choi Doyun, his friend who was eating a cup of ramen beside him, said. Then he turned to the woman who was trying to scout Geun-wook. "Noona, I know that Geun is ridiculously handsome. But if a psycho like him debuted as an idol, it's over for your company…"

Geun-wook stopped listening to Doyun talk shit about him when he heard a burst of loud laughter. When he turned in the direction where the loud noise came from, he saw a group of boys laughing their asses off at something– or someone– they were filming using a smartphone.

Gray sweater vest over a white long-sleeved polo, purple necktie, black trousers. Those noisy little twerps wearing the same school uniform as he did.

[Oh, those m*therfuckers are my schoolmates.]

Then he realized that those bastards were actually filming Moon Yujin while talking shit about her.

"Look at that strange girl."

"Why is she swinging a baseball bat when she's not hitting anything anyway?"

"She must be some crazy bitch."

"It's a shame since she's cute."

"Right? I'd date her if only she doesn't have a loose screw."

"Let's just take a video of her acting like a lunatic, then let's post it on Wootube for some pocket money."

[Do they have a death wish or something?]

Geun-wook smirked after hearing what those bastards said about Moon Yujin. "Noona," he said, calling the woman without turning to her. His eyes were still glued to the smartphone that was yet to stop filming Moon Yujin, after all. "There's one more reason why I don't want to be a celebrity."

His gaze then fell towards Moon Yujin who finally stopped swinging her bat around. A smile spread across his face while watching Moon Yujin put her beloved wooden baseball bat inside a GUITAR CASE. There were sling/cover bags made specifically to carry baseball bats, and yet she insisted on a guitar case for god knows why.

[She's so f*cking cute.]

"I want to date," Geun-wook said, then he finally turned to the noona who was trying to scout him earlier. "The idol industry treats dating as if it's a mortal sin, so no, thank you."

This time, the woman's face looked like she already regretted scouting him.

"Noona, that nutjob is a big playboy," Doyun, his friend who seemed like his purpose in life was to defame Geun-wook, said smugly. "If he debuts as an idol, he'll probably be the type of idol who sleeps with his fans."

Geun-wook was about to tell Doyun to shut the f*ck up when he heard his schoolmates talk about Moon Yujin again.

[They're not done yet, huh?]

"Focus the video on her legs!"

"For a crazy b*tch, she sure has nice legs."

"I'm sure we'll get a lot of views– argh!"

The bastard who was filming Moon Yujin didn't get to finish his sentence.

After all, Geun-wook grabbed the bastard's hair. Then he smashed the bastard's face into the glass wall. When the bastard dropped his smartphone, Geun-wook stepped on it again and again until it broke apart.

While he was busy doing that, the staff of the convenience store and the customers were thrown into chaos. He also heard some of them yelling to call the police.

[Maybe they should call the ambulance first because I'm not stopping.]

"Noona, I told you, didn't I?" Choi Doyun said to the scout, then he stood up while shaking his head. "A nutjob like Geun Sun doesn't deserve to debut as an idol."

Geun-wook laughed at what Doyun said, then he turned to the other bastards who were watching Moon Yujin with lewd eyes earlier. They seemed to be frozen in shock after seeing their friend get assaulted in broad daylight. "You're f*cking next."

[I guess it's a good day to commit mass murder.]

***

[LIFE HACK #2: Stay away from toxic people– especially those who have anger management issues that resort to violence.]

It was a shame, but Moon Yujin couldn't practice what she preached this time.

[Please cut me some slack– there is always that person who becomes your exception to the rule.]

And for Yujin, it was Sun Geun-wook.

"Did my mother send you here?" Geun-wook asked, his eyebrows furrowed. For someone who just went out of the police station for assault, he looked fresh. "Fuck, you're not supposed to be out this late."

Yep, that was true.

Haneul High School exempted her from the self-study period that would usually end around eleven PM because of her "weak body." She wasn't also attending any private academies. It wasn't easy for a senior high student like her to gain that much freedom, but nothing was impossible for her Aunt Hayi who arranged her schedule for the entire academic year.

"The teachers already don't like you because of your aunt," Geun-wook said while clicking his tongue. "They'll hate you even more if they find out that you came to the police station just to pick me up."

Yep, that was also true.

Right now, Yujin and Geun-wook were standing in front of the police station.

She heard this little punk got into a fight again because of her. Thus, her guilty conscience forced her to check on him personally.

Her thoughts got interrupted when Geun-wook ran his fingers through his blond hair.

Yes, blond.

[It's only dyed, but it looks good on him.]

The school allowed him to have dyed hair because he was a model for a famous hair dye brand. Haneul High School had quite the number of students who were also models, actors/actresses, and idols, after all. Hence, the school was lenient with the hairstyle or hair color of the students.

Geun-wook snapped his fingers to get her attention. "Are you listening, Yujinie?"

'Yujinie.'

That was Geun-wook's pet name for her.

"Your mother sent me a message earlier," Yujin said while adjusting the strap of her guitar case on her left shoulder. Then she handed the plastic bag from the 25/7 Convenience Store to Geun-wook. "'My son ended up in the police station again because of you. If you have any conscience left, stop him from acting like a delinquent.""

Geun-wook clenched his jaw, his pretty light brown eyes showed a glint of anger in them.

She slowly averted her gaze from him because she didn't want to see the pained look on his face. However, she realized that it was a wrong move.

When she turned away from Geun-wook, she then made eye contact with Mr. Jun Go.

[It's Geun-wook's mother's secretary.]

Mr. Jun Go bowed to her as a greeting. After she bowed back as a greeting, the secretary hopped in a black car and drove away.

Now she understood why Geun-wook seemed to be in a foul mood.

[Instead of coming to the police station herself, Mrs. Sun sent her secretary in her stead to settle with her son's charges. They probably settled with the victims again by using money.]

It happened so many times already that she didn't have to ask Geun-wook the details.

"Next time, just ignore my mother's message," Geun-wook said, a little calmer this time. After that, he snatched the plastic bag away from her hand. "What's this?"

"Tofu," she said. "Congratulations on your release."

It was common in their culture to eat tofu after getting out of jail.

"I only got out of the police station– not out of prison," Geun-wook said, but he checked the tofu inside the plastic bag anyway. "Oh, I like this brand."

[I know.]

He knitted his eyebrows as if he suddenly remembered something. "Remind me to kill Choi Doyun later."

The first thing that entered his mind was a blob of red perm hair.

[Ah, that's Choi Doyun. The redhead that always follows Geun-wook around.]

"Isn't Choi Doyun your best friend?" she asked, confused. "Why do you want to kill him?"

"That bastard is my mother's lapdog," he said through gritted teeth. "He probably told my mother that I was defending your honor when I got into a fight this time. My mom wouldn't have sent you that guilt-tripping message otherwise."

"Your mother wouldn't have sent me that message if you didn't fight in the first place."

"It's not my fault that there are bastards out there who want to die early."

She clicked her tongue at him. "Frustrating mustard."

By 'mustard,' she actually meant 'bastard.' But, as usual, her mouth couldn't spew out curse words.

No wonder Geun-wook looked at her in disbelief, then he laughed. "Yujinie, you can't still curse normally until now?"

She just bit her lower lip and avoided his gaze.

The freaking mustard laughed again. "Is it because when we were in middle school, I told you that I don't like girls who use bad words–"

"Of course not," she denied vehemently, looking at Geun-wook straight in the eye with her head held high. "I can curse now."

It was a lie.

Lying was bad, but her pride wouldn't allow her to let Geun-wook make fun of her "dark history" back when they were in middle school.

"Really?" Geun-wook challenged her with an arrogant smirk on his face. Then he put his hands inside the pockets of his trousers before he leaned down to match her eye level. "Repeat after me, then."

"Fine!"

Oh, god.

She knew that she fell into his trap, but she was already at the point of no return.

[Me and my useless pride.]

Geun-wook already had a triumphant look on his face even before they began. "Say 'f*ck.'"

Yujin shut her eyes tight and wished for the best. "Duck."

"M*therfucker."

Her face turned red since she wasn't used to hearing something as vulgar as that. "Motherduckling."

Geun-wook had the audacity to laugh before he dropped another vulgar word. "F*ckface."

"Duckface."

"Shit."

"Sheep."

"Shithead."

"Shrimphead."

"D*uchebag."

"Ladybug."

"B*llshit."

"Bulldog," she said, her conscience poking her this time. [I'm so sorry to all the bulldogs in the world!]

"You'll make bulldog owners upset if they heard you," Geun-wook teased her before he said another curse word. "Crap."

"Crab."

"Damn."

"Clam."

"Crap."

"Frappe."

"Dick."

"Argh, my ears," she complained before she gave a response. "Chick."

"Jerk."

"Elk."

"B*tch."

"Pitch."

"Now you're pushing it!" Geun-wook complained, laughing. "For f*ck's sake, why don't you just use normal curse words?"

[I would if I could, you know?]

Yujin opened her eyes to glare at Geun-wook. "Annoying mustard."

He just laughed again. "So, I'm a 'mustard' in your book now?"

"Come to think of it, your hair color looks like mustard."

He looked offended by her comment. "Excuse me? My hair is a pretty shade of blond. Don't you dare compare it to mustard– one of the fugliest colors out there."

"Sure, mustard."

He just rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm done checking on you, so I'm going home," she said, then she waved at him. "Try not to kill people for my sake, okay? Because even if you do that, I'll still call the police on you."

"How sweet."

She just ignored his sarcasm, then she walked away from him.

"Moon Yujin!"

She was about to cross the road when Geun-wook called her by her full name. Thus, she was forced to turn around. He sounded serious, after all.

"Yujinie, I realized something important earlier," Geun-wook, who was now lighting up the cigarette between his fingers, said. "You're still my favorite girl."

So what?

But she was taught to keep her mouth shut if she had nothing nice to say, so she just kept quiet.

Geun-wook puffed a smoke before he continued. "Let's date, Yujinie."

"Aren't you already going out with at least five girls from different schools?"

"I was just flirting with them because I was bored."

She frowned upon hearing that. "That's horrible."

"I always make it clear that I'm not up for a serious relationship," he said with a shrug. "They knew what they were getting into when they got involved with me."

"I don't understand why you chose "flirting" with girls as a hobby just to ease your boredom," she said bluntly. "You could have just learned how to crochet or bake cupcakes."

"Well, I'm also a person who can't live without love and attention."

[That you can't get from your mother?]

It wasn't a nice thing to say, so she just bit her tongue and kept her mouth shut.

"That's probably why you don't want to be an idol or a mainstream celebrity," she said. "You won't be able to date around if you became a trainee."

"Uh-huh," he admitted. "I was inspired by Lee Minju."

"And who's that?"

"Arguably the prettiest high school girl in the whole country," Geun-wook said. "She gave up her dream of becoming an idol when she met her boyfriend."

"I see."

"I see that you're not interested in someone else's life," Geun-wook said, laughing. Then he started walking towards her. "Moon Yujin, if you agree to date me, I will stop playing with other girls."

"No, thank you."

"Ouch," he complained. "You could have at least pretended to consider– oh, f*ck!"

Geun-wook took a step backward abruptly when a boy (probably around their age) in his skateboard went past the narrow space between them.

When Geun-wook stepped backwards, he lost his balance and fell on his butt.

And oh, he also dropped his cigarette because of what happened.

"Sorry!" the boy on his skateboard yelled without looking back at them. "I'll be careful next time!"

"F*ck you!" Geun-wook, who was still sitting on the concrete, yelled at the skater boy. "I'll kill you if I see you again, you lame dumbass!"

She frowned while listening to the mustard curse like a sailor.

Of course, she didn't have a problem with Geun-wook cursing. She wouldn't judge a person only based on that. However, she didn't like how he would snap easily. Especially since he would often resort to violence if he was angry.

[He used to be a gentle child.]

Parental negligence could really sometimes change a person negatively.

"Stop acting like a mustard," Yujin said, then she offered her hand to Geun-wook. "Here, take my hand."

Geun-wook cursed under his breath, but he raised his hand to grab hers.

However, much to her shock, someone else had grabbed her hand before Geun-wook did.

[Huh?]

She raised her head– her eyebrows knitted– to see what kind of rude person would grab her hand without permission.

As soon as she saw the "culprit," her entire body froze.

[Geun-wook…?]

The person holding her hand looked exactly like Geun-wook– and he even had the same black and white varsity jacket that the mustard wore over his school uniform.

However, the 'Geun-wook' holding her hand was strange.

First of all, he was very pale. Second, his skin was extremely cold. In fact, she thought she was holding a block of ice instead of a human hand. Third, his clothes were dirty. Finally, his face was a mess– blood was actually trickling down from a huge cut on his forehead.

Obviously, the boy holding her hand wasn't the living Geun-wook.

[Doppelganger…?]

Could the ghost holding her hand be Geun-wook's doppelganger?!

She wasn't sure because her own doppelganger was faceless. Moreover, her "evil twin" was never this calm. It would always attack her as soon as it appeared in front of her.

"Yujinie!"

Geun-wook yelled her name as if to catch her attention, then he grabbed her hand without warning.

The doppelganger dropped her hand, then he pointed a bony finger at her.

[Ah.]

She made the mistake of making eye contact with the doppelganger.

The ghost's eyes were very dark as opposed to Geun-wook's light brown orbs. Looking at the doppelganger straight in the eye gave her the chills.

<"You,"> Geun-wook's doppelganger said monotonously. <"See. Me.">

Yujin's knees collapsed. The next thing she knew, her butt already landed on the concrete ground with a painful thud. [Geun-wook's doppelganger can talk?!]

***

NOTE:

1. The family name of the characters comes first before their given name.

2. Geun is pronounced as 'goon.'

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