If they were back in their rooftop house they would be huddled in front of their box television, some snacks from the convenience store spread out in front of them. No tables or chairs, just them sitting cross-legged on the floor as the news of the results are displayed on the screen that looks like it's about to separate into a million pixels. For years, it has always been the three of them.

But today, it seems like a celebration with friends as there are ten people gathered in front of the flat television, with them sitting on the black velvet sofa as they train their eyes on the screen. Besides ten people, another guest - Panther - has joined them, perched on top of the sofa's arm, quiet.

It seems that even Wooyoung, who by all means should be joining his family to keep up with the results of the election, has brought his younger brother to the Bae household and joined the crowd. The audience lounging in front of the television now includes the bodyguards, the three housemates, Wooyoung, Woosung, Yeosang, and the cat. All of them are waiting eagerly for the results to be announced, watching as the real-time votes are displayed on the screen.

It's no surprise to them how Bae Wonshik's party is leading, the difference between him and the other candidates' parties seemingly enough to sustain him until the end of the voting period. The final results will come in a few minutes, and they can't wait until they'll announce who will be the prime minister of the country, all courtesy of the votes by the citizens.

Danbi is the most anxious, both because of the mysterious message she had received and the possible outcome of the election. If everything falls into place, that means Bae Wonshik will become prime minister, and her life will change. For better, or for worse?

Am I even making the right choice?

Wait- have I ever made a right choice?

She snaps out of her trance when she sees Woosung waddling up to her, not being so subtle in staring at her until his eyes are unblinking. The kid keeps frowning, tilting his head and studying her features until she feels like she's sitting under a spotlight, unable to escape from the scrutiny of the little boy's eyes. If she can't handle his scrutiny, how on earth is she supposed to survive being chased down by the reporters, if what Bae Wonshik has told her about them is true?

"Why are you staring at me like that, little kid?" she tries to initiate with a voice that she hopes isn't too demanding, one that would scare him away. She can see Wooyoung looking at her cautiously, a mixture of a somewhat awkward and apologetic smile on his face. "Do I have something on my face?"

"You look so much like my brother's girlfriend, but I know you're not!" he says, not accusative but still with a high-pitched voice that makes the others turn to them.

"Well, uh," she laughs awkwardly, "that's because we're identical twins, so of course we'd look the same. Soyeon must be-"

"Did you take Soyeon somewhere so that you can replace her?"

Wooyoung's eyes widen as he hears the sentence coming out of her brother's mouth. "Jung Woosung," he says sternly, trying to show that he's not approving of his brother's question, curious or not. "That's not a nice thing to ask."

She's taken aback by his brother's straightforward question, while Mingi and Hongjoong are already glaring at the little kid, looking like they're ready to fight.

"I- uh," she becomes speechless at the direct question until her words fail her. "That's a very... direct question."

"Of course. Soyeon is missing and you are in her place," Woosung says definitely, with Wooyoung in the background looking embarrassed as he flaps his arms to stop him from talking. The little kid ignores his brother, chanting, "But Soyeon is so much prettier than you!"

The eight men glare at the boy, stunned by his statement. Even Panther looks intrigued by it that she meows, her yellow eyes directed at the young woman and boy.

"Jung Woosung!" Wooyoung hisses before he pulls back Woosung, who still can't stop staring at the woman. The older brother wants to apologize but their attention is stolen as the announcer starts talking about the final results of the election.

The numbers are displayed on the screen, the results on which party would rule each district, with the favour tilting towards Bae Wonshik's party. Collective votes from each district come up on the screen, the numbers pasted right over the map and the real-time calculations done right in front of them. With the amount of districts they have, the votes are totalled and the winner is clear as day to them.

I'm the daughter of the prime minister now.

It's as if she can already imagine how her father is celebrating at his place, his staff around him congratulating the fact that they're now working for the leader of the country. He'd be conferred the title soon in an official ceremony; a ceremony in which she'd probably be attending as his daughter.

His one and only daughter.

"Danbi," Mingi's excited voice breaks her out of her thought bubble, and she turns to see him and Hongjoong looking at her with shining eyes. "You're the daughter of a prime minister now! You're famous."

She laughs awkwardly, the strings of her emotions unalligned as she's not sure which to fix first. Everything seems to be muddled; the fact that her life is about to change yet she doesn't know with what cost. Will she be able to handle it? She discerns the situation around the room; some happy, some doubtful, some suspicious of her.

It has come to the point that even she doesn't know her own intentions.

"Wooyie, does that mean they won't try to find Soyeon anymore?" Woosung shrieks again, sitting on his brother's lap while looking up, only managing to see his brother's chin and nose. "Prime ministers are busy." He does a circle with both of his hands, "That means no time for Soyeon. No time for her, and she'll still be missing. Then she," he points towards Danbi who still seems to be frozen in place, "will be the daughter. That's not fair!"

"Woosung," he says, almost giving up. "Whatever you said about Danbi, that's not nice. Danbi deserves to be here as much as Soyeon does."

"Then why is nobody looking for her?" he interjects, looking like he's the one who's about to cry with the fact that the name is about to disappear from the house.

Wooyoung presses his lips together, feeling like he should be disciplining his brother, but knows that he's only speaking the truth. He feels slightly guilty; these past days, now that every day seems to be a negative when they try to find her, he's starting to lose focus on that too... and as he looks as Danbi his heart is pushed into a deeper denial; because I feel like she's here with me, although different. A more outgoing person, a more cheerful person.

Someone that I feel like I can relate to more.

With another guilty thought he mentally slaps himself; my girlfriend is missing and I'm already putting her down? Jung Wooyoung, you're better than this.

Is she... missing though?

"The ceremony will be done tomorrow," Yeosang informs her, already picking up Panther, looking to return her to Anna. "So I'm guessing you'll need a lot of practice today, but don't forget to rest."

"Practice, right," Danbi says absent-mindedly, zoning out as her eyes are directed at the television screen. "I need to practice."

"Are you okay?" San asks as he notices her looking out of it. "You don't look too good."

"I'm fine," she quickly says, already standing up from the sofa, her feet pushed against the carpet. "Looks like I need to go over the profiles of those important people again. I don't want to make a fool out of myself tomorrow."

She holds her phone close to her, hiding her slightly trembling hand. Of course he would win; the favour is always on his side, but when it actually happens, she gets a reality check. She's just gotten into something big, and right now, with the mysterious message looming over her, things might even get more complicated. Once she's exposed to the world, once people know how Bae Wonshik's daughter looks like, there will be no doubt that it will be easier for them to chase her.

She gets up the stairs, hand sliding over the railing while her left is gripping her phone until her knuckles turn white. Her vision is still unfocused as she brings herself away from the room, feeling like she's a ghost roaming the house as her feet bring her somewhere to soothe her mind. Her heart is pulled to somewhere she never thought she'd go; Soyeon's painting studio.

As much as they're twins, she doubts she has the artistic blood running in her. Where did Soyeon get her skills from anyway? One of their unknown parents probably, and considering how she doesn't have a drop of artistic blood in her, she can't even tell which side it was inherited from since she doesn't have any idea on who they are.

Too many mysteries to be unravelled, and she's pretty determined to uncover them all.

Who their parents are, why was she the twin chosen to be abandoned, the seemingly suspicious Bae Wonshik, the secrets Soyeon are keeping...

Danbi stops as she arrives in front of the door of her painting studio. She feels as if the studio is a sacred place for Soyeon, a place where all her troubles and secrets are kept. A place where she feels safe in the vast mansion, a place of solitary.

She can't help but step inside, pulled in by the paintings all around, and she starts frowning as she studies the paintings in there. She steps from one to another, her eyes flicking everywhere as she absorbs all the colour in the room. Then she spots it, the painting that has become the subject of scrutiny of the three of them.

The painting of the tree with fallen leaves.

"Oh my god," she says to herself. "It's her. She's soyesul. Bae Soyeon is soyesul."

She keeps repeating it as she observes the paintings only with her eyes; she doesn't dare to touch them, as if feeling like she would destroy them if she were to lay her hands on them. How far can things turn around when the artist Hongjoong admired so much turns out to be her twin? Everything feels like a cruel, twisted fate that it even starts to feel sinister. What more does life have in store for her?

She's mesmerized by the paintings; the pictures of the paintings uploaded on her social page definitely doesn't do any justice to the art. The colours are more vivid, the hues dancing around to bring her into a different world as she looks at each painting. Each is painted with such care that she can feel the sincerity delivered on the canvas; the silent cry of an artistic heart.

If Soyeon is someone who doesn't express her emotions verbally, she's definitely someone who delivers them through her paintings.

Seeing them in person makes her feel like the paintings are talking to her, yet she still can't make sense of the meaning behind them. Maybe it's just her reading in things too much, but she now knows; her twin is trying to tell something through her art.

As she turns around towards the easel that's facing the window, she stops, almost scaring herself as she sees what's on the canvas. It looks like a painting in progress, yet after Soyeon is missing no one even stepped inside of the studio to clean it up. The easel and work look like they've been left as if Soyeon is just out to get some coffee, and would return in a few minutes to continue with her work.

Danbi can feel her heart pounding loudly in her chest as she sits in front of the easel, this time unable to resist tracing her hands on the unfinished painting. The concept looks too ominous yet she's drawn to it like a moth to a flame, the single colour splashed over the entire outline making shivers run down her spine.

On the canvas it's her face; or maybe she should say it's Soyeon's since they look alike, but what's making her feel unsettled is that in the drawing there's not only one person. There are two people, but she's not sure on whether she'd call it a reflection, or another person that looks like her.

In short... me? Danbi thinks to herself. There's no way... there's no way Soyeon knows of an existence of a twin before this, right? Does she know that she has a twin?

Another thing that's making her hairs stand on end is the single colour splashed on the canvas, as if Soyeon was in an outrage and decided to destroy her unfinished work by splattering red paint on it.

Like the colour of blood.

With a shaky hand she feels the dried up paint, tracing them until it reaches the eyes of the person. The paint splattered even made it looks like the portrait is crying tears of blood, the eyedrop shapes cascading down her cheeks. She almost feels like she's the one crying blood, her vessels dried up of blood as she traces the paint...

"Kim Danbi."

She pushes the chair backwards out of surprise, toppling it to the floor as she hears the voice. She gets too absorbed in her own thinking that she didn't notice San standing near the door, scurrying to her before asking whether she's alright.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he explains. "They asked me to help look for you," he scratches his head, "because you seemed pretty shaken up."

"Why you?" she asks the most unimportant question, feeling slightly embarrassed how that's the first thing she's been thinking of. The truth is she's ashamed that San had caught her when she's feeling unlike herself, her guard down and she's vulnerable.

He exhales, chuckling slowly. He grimaces, "Because they said I'm the best at... you know."

"I don't know. The best at what?"

He presses his lips before mumbling under his breath. "At comforting people."

"And what do you usually do when comforting people?" She raises her eyebrows, to which San only grimaces again. "You give them a pep talk or something?"

"No," he pouts. "Never mind then, it seems that you're feeling okay." He turns around but she stops him in his tracks, pulling him by the lapel of his suit jacket so that he'll face her again.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well, you don't have to know."

She narrows her eyes. "And why don't I have to know?"

"Because you're feeling okay."

"Come on," she groans. "I'll tell you, I am pretty shaken up. So maybe you can help with, I don't know, some encouraging words."

"I would, but that's not how I comfort people," he says defiantly. "And I'm pretty sure you'd report me for harassment but not before you beat my ass up."

"You..." she trails off because she finally knows what he means. "Oh."

"I only do it to people I already know and only if they're comfortable with it. The other boys, for example. I don't simply, you know, pull people into a hug. That would be harassment."

"Is that... how you comfort people?" She purses her lips.

"Uhm. It's effective, apparently." He clears her throat before announcing, "If you're alright then I'd tell them-"

"Does the offer still stand?"

"Wh- what?" he stutters, almost choking on his own spit. "Did I hear that correctly?"

She nods, not at all embarrassed. "You said you only do it to people you already know and only if they're comfortable with it. I'm both."

"Are you trying to... do something to me?"

"No," she says truthfully as she blinks. She doesn't view it as anything other than a hug from someone to another in need, but clearly he doesn't think so. "It's just a hug to comfort someone. And I'm fine with it. Plus I feel like I need it." She opens her arms wide that almost makes San stumble backwards.

"Wait a minute-" he puts up a finger in front of him, looking scared as if Danbi is about to pounce on him. "Is that what you do with your... housemates? Like you just... hug? Without feeling..." he does a circular motion above his heart, "anything?"

"Why would I feel anything?" She frowns. "It's just a hug. I hug Hongjoong and Mingi all the time, and nothing happens. You just feel all warm inside." But she lowers down her arms when she sees how his pupils seem to slightly tremble. "Ah, I guess you're uncomfortable with it then. Sorry, my mind was just a mess that I thought a hug could solve it all." Then she narrows her eyes, "I mean, if you said you're the best at comforting someone, and doing that is by hugging someone... why did you come all the way here?"

He sighs. "Alright, they didn't specifically send me; I was just worried about you. It's just... things seemed to be hard on you and people kept blaming you for things that are out of your control. It must've taken a toll on you, and now even more as you're about to be revealed to the public. I know," he takes a deep breath, "how it feels like to be compared to someone, feeling like you're not enough to be fit in the mould someone approves. You just seemed uncomfortable, that's all. I wanted to make sure that you're alright."

She turns away before discreetly wiping some tears off before turning back to him again. "Wow- I- I've never had other people besides Hongjoong and Mingi noticing those little things. I guess I'm not that good in hiding my feelings." The tears cascade down her cheeks and she admits, "I tried to pretend that it doesn't hurt but it does. How people kept blaming me for being the reason Soyeon is missing. Even Wooyoung's brother, a kid, said that to me. Gosh," she laughs through her tears, "kids can be brutally honest that I hate them sometimes." She presses her palms against her eyes. "I swore to myself to never have them, because one, they can hurt you by being too honest and two, I'm scared I'll just be a reflection of my unknown parents who abandoned me."

As she closes her eyes, forcing herself to stop from crying, she feels the warmth of his body, embracing her in a light hug. She knows that although she said explicitly that she's fine with it, he's still being careful around her.

He steps back after a second but she slides down her hands to his waist level, linking her hands behind his back. If he's surprised that she's holding on to him he doesn't show it, and instead lets her rest her forehead against his chest. He purses his lips as he can feel her gripping him tighter, bunching up his suit in her fist as her tears soak his undershirt.

He wants to let go because he's scared that she'll notice his heartbeat that's starting to peak, giving himself away to her. But it seems that she's holding on with quite a grip, so San is only left to hope that she somehow won't realize that his heartbeat started increasing as soon as he hugged her.

What San doesn't realize is that Danbi's heart rate is beating at the same pace as his, something quite foreign to her because no matter how many times she's had some harmless hugs with Mingi or Hongjoong, this has never happened.

It's something that she has never felt before.

It's definitely something more than just feeling all warm inside.