A girl was walking down a crowded street, wearing wide jeans and a hoodie that covered her medium, feminine figure—not tall, not short. Her hair was tied back carelessly. Her features were pale: large hazel eyes, medium-length brown hair, slightly thick eyebrows, a medium-sized nose, and medium heart-shaped lips. Her face was oval, and her skin was white. The weather was rainy, and she carried a backpack on her back.
Her thoughts were the only sound that could be heard, repeating over and over:
Why was I born? Is my life a mistake? Is my existence in this world a mistake? I couldn't study the major I wanted because I didn't have the money, despite my academic excellence in high school. No one loved me back. No one I admired ever returned my feelings. I was never anyone's favorite, not even my mother's. She favored my siblings. My father fights time to bring us food. I'm not poor, but I'm not rich either. I fight to get even the simplest rights as a girl—or rather, I don't even feel like a girl. I feel like an old woman waiting to die.
She stopped and looked at a billboard with an advertisement. The girl in it was very beautiful: long, loose black hair, medium-sized eyes with medium lashes, a small nose, slightly full wide lips, and three beauty marks decorating her diamond-shaped face—one under her mouth, one under her eye, and one on her nose. It was an ad for perfume.
A tear fell from her eye as she looked at the picture.
She's beautiful, tall, talented, loved, a singer in a famous band. Everyone loves her. Everyone wants just a glance from her. She is so beautiful that if you put her in front of a mountain, it would crumble from the intensity of her beauty. She is rich and gets everything I only see as dreams without even thinking about it. She is loved by the one everyone loves, the man every girl wants and would kill for. I don't hate her or envy her. I just want to be like her. I just wonder why life isn't fair.
She stopped when she found herself in front of her home's door in a poor, run-down area. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The house was poor but warm and tidy.
Her mother was in the kitchen. She turned and said with concern,
"My daughter Azilya, you're back. I thought your work wouldn't end before 4 p.m. If I had known, I would have sent your father to pick you up so you wouldn't get your clothes wet."
"No problem, Mom. I just arrived. Don't trouble Dad," Azilya replied coldly.
Her mother smiled kindly. "Go change your clothes before you get sick, then come eat. I prepared your favorite."
Azilya did not answer. She entered the room where her brother was lying on the couch browsing his phone, and her father was watching TV.
Her father said cheerfully, "Azilya, my smart daughter is back from work."
Her brother joked, "But, Dad, she's still not as smart as me."
Her father looked at him annoyed and said, "Your sister is the most beautiful and smartest girl my eyes have ever seen."
She paid no attention and went to her room while her father and brother continued to joke.
She found her sister lying on the bed. Her sister smiled and said,
"Azilya, I'm bored and you're outside; why don't we make sweets today to eat together with the family?"
Azilya said tiredly, "I'm not in the mood today." She changed clothes and put her phone on the charger.
At the dining table, everyone was gathered, eating and joking together when a small child entered, putting his bike at the door.
He looked very wet.
He said, "Mom, I'm home."
The mother, seeing his wet clothes, quickly got up and said,
"Go take a bath. I warmed the bathroom for you."
His father said, "My hero just got home from school."
Everyone was smiling in the warm family atmosphere, but Azilya looked at them coldly, neither happy nor sad.
Her father said kindly,
"Kolila, don't care about weight. You're beautiful whether you're fat or thin. Your beauty is unbeatable."
Her sister joked, "Kolila, you're close to becoming solar-powered; you don't eat."
Her brother joked, "She's about to eat me, and you say she doesn't eat."
She hit the bread on the table until everyone looked at her, smiled, and she quickly left the table for her room.
Her father said to her brother,
"Why is she always angry because of you? She's become angry."
He looked at them confused, not knowing why she was angry or what mistake he had committed.
Inside the room, her mother and sister were looking at her. She was covered from head to toe with a blanket.
Her mother said,
"I think your sister is under pressure. It's better if you take her shopping tomorrow and buy her some clothes to improve her mood."
Leeman returned the money to her mother with a smile,
"I will buy for her with my own money. You keep your money to buy whatever you want."
Her mother hugged her daughter with a smile and said,
"Let's go out so we don't disturb her."
Azilya woke up at the sound of thunder. She took her phone, turned it on, and found it was two in the morning.
She returned to her place. The sounds of wind, rain, and thunder grew louder.
She started scrolling on her phone when suddenly she saw news:
"Breaking: Yoran and So Yein Confirm Dating."
There was a video of them talking about their relationship. She went into the comments and started reading, tears streaming from her eyes.
Suddenly the phone became hot, then turned off. She placed her wrist over her eyes and began to sob uncontrollably.
"He loves her, Yoran, the one I love and obsess over — the one everyone loves. And I am loved by Mi Van, obsessed with work. Why her and not me? Why does she have everything, and I have nothing? Even my phone broke. I wish I were her."
Suddenly a bright light shone from the phone, lighting up the whole room. She looked in astonishment, vision blurred.
She held the phone and saw:
"If you agree to switch, press accept."
She pressed accept, and the light grew stronger.
---
The next day,
Her mother said goodbye to her son and sent him to school. Her father said,
"Wake Azilya; I'll take her to the villa where I work today."
She smiled,
"No, she will go out with Leeman. I took a day off to take her out."
She called, "Leeman, wake your sister."
Leeman, drinking her coffee, said,
"Coming."
She went to her sister lying on her back on the bed, long black hair loose, medium eyes, medium lashes, a small nose, slightly full lips, and three beauty marks on her diamond-shaped face. She was covered with a blanket only to her stomach.
Leeman said in surprise,
"Since when does Azilya sleep on her back? Doesn't she usually sleep on her stomach and hates sleeping on her back?"
Azilya didn't care. Leeman shouted jokingly in her ear,
"Azilya!"
She jumped off the bed, her long and very thin body wearing only short shorts and a crop top.
Leeman looked playfully,
"Since when do you wear this type of clothes? Be careful going downstairs; Dad is still here."
Azilya looked at her confused,
"Who are you, and where am I?"
Leeman touched her forehead,
"Did you catch a cold last night? You're acting strange."
Azilya started trembling, took a vase, climbed on the bed, and shouted,
"Who are you? Or else, I'll hit you. Did you kidnap me because I'm famous?"
Leeman shouted,
"Mom, come quickly, Azilya has lost her mind!"
The mother rushed in,
"My dear, Azilya, come down. Let's talk about what's wrong with you."
Azilya shouted,
"Shut up! You're not my mother! Who are you?"
The mother replied fearfully,
"I am your mother, my dear."
Azilya screamed,
"I told you you're not my mother! Who are you? I'm famous!"
Leeman joked,
"Are you dreaming or watching too much of So Yein that you think you are her?"
Azilya replied firmly,
"I am So Yein. Why do you call me Azilya if you know me?"
Leeman smiled playfully,
"Are you crazy? How can I tell you apart from her?"
Azilya still refused, shouted,
"Give me the phone. You must be crazy to think I'm your daughter. I will prove to you who I am, and then you'll send me to prison."
Leeman gave her the phone.
"Show us if you must."
Azilya started searching for So Yein's profile and saw a girl with a medium feminine body, neither tall nor short, beautiful features, large hazel eyes, medium-length brown hair, slightly thick eyebrows, a medium nose, medium heart-shaped lips, an oval face.
She threw the phone and shouted,
"It can't be! No, no! What is this?"
Leeman took the phone and said seriously,
"Are you crazy? Come back to reality."
Azilya said,
"I still remember that I filmed those ads myself."
Her mother cried,
"My daughter has lost her mind. She is gone."
Leeman helped her mother stand, who was crying.
Leeman left her mother and brought all the pictures to Azilya, who was sitting, hiding her face in her hands and crying.
She placed the pictures before her.
"Look for yourself, it's you since childhood."
Azilya looked at the pictures with tears streaming down her face, screaming,
"No! It can't be! No!"
---
Elsewhere,
Inside a luxurious house, in a fancy room,
A maid quietly entered and called softly,
"Lady So Yein, wake up."
A girl with a medium feminine figure, neither tall nor short, beautiful features, large hazel eyes, medium-length brown hair, slightly thick eyebrows, a medium nose, medium heart-shaped lips, and an oval face opened her eyes in shock and rubbed them.
"I must be dreaming."
The maid pulled her out of her daze,
"Lady, Mr. Yoran is waiting downstairs. He said you should get ready quickly for the press conference."
She got up quickly and asked,
"Why did you call me?"
The maid replied,
"Your name, Lady So Yein."
She smiled and said,
"Are you joking? My name is Azilya."
The maid looked at her in surprise and then at the pictures in the room.
So Yein looked around the room, pinched herself, and said,
"Maybe I'm dreaming. I will go back to sleep and return to my normal world."
She lay back on the bed, and the maid left.
Downstairs, the maid found a man wearing a black suit with a wide black coat over it, and black hair, sitting in the living room.
She said,
"Sir, I don't know why, but Lady So Yein is acting strangely. She says her name is Azilya and wants to go back to sleep to wake up from this dream."
He said calmly,
"I'll wake her. Don't worry."
He went upstairs and found her sleeping on her stomach in a messy way.
He said,
"Get up, we have a meeting to announce our relationship."
She smiled with her eyes closed,
"Ah, Yoran's voice sounds so real, even in my dreams. It's a beautiful dream I want to live."
He approached her and pulled her by the ear.
She jumped up, pained, much shorter than him, and said,
"I knew it was a dream. Mom, get up! No need to pull my ear. I'll tidy up the house myself, leave me alone."
He angrily said,
"I'm your mother now!!!"
He left her, and she opened her eyes looking at him strangely.
He said,
"You have ten minutes for me to find you. Do you understand? I don't want this fake thing because the fans see us as a beautiful couple. The company forced me to be with you. Otherwise, I wouldn't accept it."
He left, and she entered the makeup room and found the makeup artist and stylist.
One of them asked,
"Lady, would you prefer to start with makeup or outfit?"
She looked at them strangely and pointed her finger,
"Who am I?"
They looked at each other in surprise.
"You're Lady So Yein."
She took the phone on the table and tried to open it, but it was locked with a code she didn't know.
She looked at the makeup artist and said,
"Give me your phone, please."
She took her phone and began searching for her sister's account.
She opened it and wanted to message her but noticed the last picture her sister posted.
The caption said, "Me and my sister Azilya."
She screamed,
"What is So Yein doing with my sister?"
She turned the phone to them and said,
"It's So Yein, not me."
They looked at her in surprise.
She started searching for So Yein to prove her words but stopped when she found So Yein's pictures — they were her own.
She sat, staring into space, and recalled last night's memories.
Her picture appeared next to So Yein's with the words:
"If you want a life change, switch."
She whispered,
"Did we really switch?"
She looked into space and said,
"Tomorrow, we'll return to our real selves. This is a beautiful dream I want to live fully."
After about an hour, So Yein went downstairs wearing a short pink dress and light pink makeup that highlighted her features. Yoran was sitting there.
He stood and looked at his watch.
"We're late."
She came quickly and suddenly hugged him.
"Yoran, I missed you."
He pushed her away quickly, looking at the staff, and whispered,
"Stop acting for the cameras. Don't do that anymore."
She looked at him and thought,
"So they're just pretending."
She stepped back, and they left the house, staff holding umbrellas for them.
Suddenly, Azilya and Leeman appeared in front of them.
Azilya covered her face with a mask and said,
"Yoran, it's me, So Yein. Can you prove to them I'm So Yein?"
Yoran said,
"How did you get in here?"
The staff ran and grabbed Azilya and Leeman.
"How did you get in here? This place is secret and only accessible by code. Are you spies? We'll call the company and expose you."
But So Yein said,
"Stop." Everyone stopped and looked at her.
She approached without looking into her sister's eyes and said,
"Who are you?"
Leeman said excitedly,
"You don't know her, but she knows you — she's my sister. She's so obsessed with you that she thinks she is you . That's why I came to prove to her that she isn't you"
She thought,
"If no one here knows who I am, I'll keep up the act until the day ends, then return to my real self."
She looked at Azilya and said,
"If you come here again, I'll call the police."
Azilya came closer and said,
"You know I'm So Yein. I don't know what happened, but it's okay. Take my life. Just be patient."
Then she turned and left quickly, dragging Leeman with her. They left after Leeman smiled and said goodbye to Yoran and So Yein.
So Yein looked at her in surprise and said,
"Just one day and we'll return to our real selves."