Used as My Twin's Human Guinea Pig

My younger sister, Melody Judd, and I are twins. We look alike, and our bodies work much the same way too. Because I'm in the wrong position during birth and delay the delivery by a few minutes, Melody doesn't get enough oxygen and grows up frail. From then on, I became her "test subject". When Melody, who is allergic to peanuts, wants a peanut butter sandwich, Mom shoves a handful of peanuts into my mouth. My whole body swells up, and I end up in the ER at 2:00 am to have my stomach pumped. On the day I graduate from middle school, Melody wants to get her ears pierced but worries she'll scar easily. Mom buys a piercing gun and puts more than 20 holes through my ears, from my earlobes to my cartilage, just to see if Melody will heal normally. On our 18th birthday, Melody, who has always been afraid of water, suddenly decides she wants to learn to swim. Without hesitation, Mom pushes me into the sea. "Go try it out for your sister," she says. "See if she can overcome her fear and learn to swim." As the waves swallow me, I smile. This is the last time, Mom. You've brought me into this world. Now, I shall repay that gift with my life. Chapter 1 "Mom, can I—" I didn't get to finish. With a loud splash, I was suddenly shoved into the sea. The waves were rough. Just like my younger twin sister, Melody Judd, I was terrified of water. I fought with all my strength to move forward, desperately trying to get back to the shore. The salty seawater rushed up my nose and into my mouth. Finally, I managed to grab Mom's pant leg. "Mom, help me! Please save me. I can't swim!" I begged, completely helpless. But I never expected Mom to raise her foot and kick me in the shoulder. I lost my balance and fell back into the sea. "Melody is eager to learn, so you're going to practice first!" Mom said. "Once you get over your fear and learn to swim, I'll feel comfortable enough to let Melody go in. "You selfish brat. If you hadn't been so troublesome when I was carrying you, your sister wouldn't have ended up like this. This is all because of you!" The waves crashed over me one after another. I fought against the current on instinct, trying to pull myself out. But the more I struggled, the angrier Mom became. She raised her foot again and kicked me farther away. Seeing that I refused to give in, she even forced my head under with her hand. "Get down there! Go!" Mom yelled. "You're the only one making a big deal out of this. It's just swimming. You'll learn after you go under a couple of times!" Her next kick landed in my stomach. The sharp tip of her high heel dug into my flesh, sending pain through my abdomen. I reached down to clutch my stomach, but a huge wave crashed into my face and swept me farther out. "Help! Help me!" I gasped, struggling with everything I had. Water filled my mouth and nose, choking me. I couldn't stop coughing, and a burning pain spread through my throat and chest. As water rushed into my lungs, I could hear Melody laughing from the shore. "Mom, Dad, look at how stupid Sophia looks!" she said through giggles. "She's using all four limbs. She's wriggling like a giant octopus!" Mom's voice carried a gentleness I had never heard before. "If that makes you this happy, Melody, then Sophia is good for something." It hurt. It hurt so much! The waves carried me farther and farther away. I couldn't hold my breath any longer. Using the last bit of strength I had left, I shouted, "Mom, Dad, save me! I'm going to die!" But the waves merely carried Mom's mocking words as they dragged me farther and farther away. "Stop pretending!" she yelled. "If you weren't so healthy and full of energy, you wouldn't have had the strength to bully Melody. Then she wouldn't have ended up with so many health problems!" Was that even my fault? I never asked for any of this, Mom. All I ever wanted was to live. Why did Melody get all your love and sympathy, while I got nothing but blame? Finally, I stopped struggling. If they didn't love me, then I would finally give them what they wanted. Chapter 2 As the seawater surrounded me, I felt as if something was pulling me farther and farther down. Gradually, the burning pain in my chest faded away. The deadly waves that had been raging around me suddenly turned gentle. They felt so warm and tender, like a mother's embrace. I saw the seaweed swaying below me and the light shimmering above the water. Then I watched myself disappear into the endless darkness. I was dead. It turned out that a person's spirit really did remain after death. I drifted weightlessly back to shore, where Melody lay on a beach chair as Mom fed her fruit. "Melody, you've always been so well-behaved," Mom said. "You've never made me or your dad worry since you were little. Unlike Sophia, who only knows how to cause trouble. "Last week, I even got a call saying she hit an upperclassman. The teacher wants me to go to school after the school break." Hearing that, Dad stood up angrily. "She's so young, yet she's already this rotten. I swear she only exists to ruin our lives!" he growled. "What kind of child did I even raise? If I had known she'd turn out this way, she should've been the one who was deprived of oxygen at birth!" No! That wasn't what happened! I didn't bully those upperclassmen. They were the ones who went after Melody first. I was just standing up for her. I wanted to grab Melody and beg her to explain for me, but my hand passed right through her shoulder. Right. I was dead. A moment later, Melody calmly spoke up. "That's just how Sophia is, Dad. She's always bullying people. She thinks she can do whatever she wants because she's friends with the school delinquents." After hearing her words, Dad became even angrier. "How did we raise such a worthless child?" Mom looked at the sea and frowned slightly. "The tide is coming in. Where did that brat go? She couldn't have actually gotten into trouble, could she?" But then, she seemed to brush the thought away. "Well, she's old enough to take care of herself. If she's dead, then good. At least she won't cause trouble anymore!" So it turned out, people could still feel pain after they died. I felt my chest tighten painfully. I wanted to cry, but no tears came. Mom, you got what you wished for. Dad also glanced at the sea, but he dismissed the thought and gently put his arm around Melody's shoulder. "Come on, Melody. Let's go eat," he said. "There are lots of people at the beach. Nothing will happen to that brat." They walked away side by side, laughing and talking like a happy family. They were so close, and I realized they were the ones who truly belonged together. … The three of them ordered a table full of seafood. They ate and chatted leisurely, without a care in the world. "Don't throw away those mussels. Save them," Mom said. "Doesn't Sophia like them?" Actually, I had never liked mussels. Melody just didn't want them, so she always gave them to me. Dad looked at the time and said, "It's been over an hour. Why hasn't Sophia come back up? Do we even have to go get her for dinner?" Melody poured Dad some water, then said, "Mom, Dad, she's probably just angry with you. Don't worry. I'll go get her!" But I was already dead. Melody hurried out, while Mom and Dad smiled kindly behind her. "Melody's still the sensible one," Dad said. But a short while later, she came running back in tears, holding her hand over her face. "Mom, Dad! Please go talk to Sophia!" she cried. "She's angry and said she's leaving home! And she…" The more she spoke, the more emotional she became. Tears streamed down her face, and she looked like she had been deeply hurt. Mom panicked and pulled Melody into her arms. "Oh, sweetie! What happened? What did that brat Sophia do to you? Why are you crying like this?" Melody buried her face in Mom's shoulder and cried even harder. "I asked her to come back for dinner, but she said you only loved me! Then she slapped me!" With a loud crash, Dad flipped the table over. "That little monster!" he roared. "Where did she learn such terrible behavior? How dare she even hit her own sister? When I find her, I'll break her arms!" Chapter 3 Dad stood and marched toward the door. I shrank into the corner, unable to stop my body from shaking. He meant every single word he said. Once, Melody hit a shuttlecock up into a tree, so I climbed up to get it back for her. But as I was climbing down, I stepped on a branch, and it scratched her face by accident. Melody screamed and cried, saying that I had hit her. Dad didn't even ask what happened. He broke off the branch and beat me with it. He hit me so hard that he broke my arm. The pain was still fresh in my memory, and I instinctively tried to hide. But a moment later, I came back to my senses and realized he couldn't hurt me anymore. After all, I was already dead. Dad stormed toward the beach, yelling my name. "Sophia Judd! Sophia! Where the hell are you? Get out here right now!" I was standing right there. "You still dare to hide?" Dad shouted. "How dare you talk about running away from home? When I find you, I'll break your legs!" Mom hurried after him. The waves grew rougher, and the sky turned dark as if a storm was coming. "Enough. Let's find her first," Mom said. "It's about to rain heavily. Don't let anything bad happen." She then yelled into the distance, "Sophia, stop hiding. I can see you! Come back and apologize to Melody. Then this will be over!" Mom kept calling out, but she naturally never got a response from me. Her tone became more impatient. "Sophia, that's enough! How long are you going to keep this up? If you still won't come out, we won't care if you die out here!" I wanted to go back, but I didn't have a chance to anymore. Since I still didn't show up, Melody kept making things worse. "Sophia is really something," she said. "Why is she so stubborn and hot-tempered? Mom, Dad, don't be mad. I'll go look for her again." Just as she was about to leave, Mom grabbed her hand. "Don't baby that ungrateful brat. Let's go. She wanted to run away, right? If she dies out there, she has no one to blame but herself!" Rain began to fall. Mom and Dad shielded Melody as they hurried back to the hotel. In reality, I no longer existed. I was just a wandering soul. But at that moment, I truly felt the cold rain pass through my body. My heart ached so badly. The rain poured down, and the whole world seemed to be swallowed by darkness. The vast, dark sea closed in around me until I disappeared beneath it. … Knowing no one could see me, I drifted into the hotel and into Mom and Dad's room. Mom was drying Melody's damp hair. I moved closer, overlapping my body with Melody's. I wanted to borrow some of that warmth. I wanted to pretend for a moment that I could feel this gentle motherly love. Mom's hands stopped for a second. She looked out the window, a hint of worry still on her face. "Do you think something really happened to Sophia?" she asked. The moment Melody saw that Mom was still worried about me, her eyes flashed with hatred and jealousy. "Sophia's best at playing the victim," she said. "Once, she cried her eyes out in front of the school bully and told him I was picking on her. He got a group of kids to corner me in an alley. They… they even tore my clothes off." "What?" Mom slammed her hand on the table and shot to her feet. She grabbed Melody by the shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" Melody sobbed, "I just thought it was better not to make things worse. I didn't want to ruin Sophia's relationship with you and Dad." Instantly, the last bit of worry in Mom's eyes was replaced by anger. She held Melody gently, and for the rest of the night, she never mentioned me again. … The next morning, they were woken up by a commotion. When they opened the door, a man hurried past them toward the hotel entrance, talking loudly on his phone. "Did you hear? Something happened at the beach. They found a body!" he exclaimed. "Oh my goodness, did they drown?" someone replied. "I heard the body was totally bloated." A body? At that moment, Mom's heart sank. She grabbed Dad's hand and asked, "Do you think… Could that be Sophia? Could something have actually happened to her?" Dad glared at her. "Impossible!" he snapped. "That brat is too clever. How could she drown? Even if it's her, it's just another one of her tricks!" Even though he said that, they still followed the crowd running to the beach. Then, through the crowd, they spotted the dark navy swimsuit I had worn to the beach.