For the next few days, I spent the majority of time talking to each scientist on the team. They all had a different set of questions for me about different things; my family, friends, the schools I attended, any girlfriends I had, and even my thoughts on major events that happened in their time but not mine. Those questions were difficult to answer since I didn't experience them firsthand, but they seemed to remind me of similar events that happened in my past life.

After each session with the scientists, they let me walk around the facility and look out the windows, but I still wasn't allowed to go outside yet.

I noticed something each time we finished a session; there was an air of disappointment in their eyes whenever I couldn't remember specific things about my personal past life. It made me feel disappointed too; I really wanted to remember, but there seemed to be something blocking my vision of them, like a barrier made of one large out-of-focus lens. I knew I had parents and friends who cares deeply about me and the building I went to learn called school was something I knew was very important for my future, but I couldn't see any of them clearly.

At this point in the week, it became my top goal. I developed a lot of trust with the scientists to know that they would try anything to help me see clearer. Even if they were disappointed in some of my answers, I could still tell they cared about my well-being.

And I think the one who cared the most was Minho since he spent the most time with me when I wasn't getting asked questions by the other scientists. He even brought me some snacks to try from his home. It was those moments I enjoyed the most because he wasn't asking me questions about my past life. He spoke to me like a younger brother, giving me a lot of advice about the environment around us and how to navigate the new time I was brought back into.

"...how is the air outside?" I asked him quietly. It was now Friday afternoon, three more days until the leader scientist would send in the report about me to the government.

"It's fine, why?" He looked at me questionably.

"I remember in my time...there were some areas in the world where there was a lot of air pollution in the major cities."

His eyes widened a bit and he chuckled. "Oh right. That used to be a pretty big problem, wasn't it?"

My eyes widened too. "You mean you fixed it?"

"Pretty much." He nodded.

I let out a small sigh. "That's great. Really great."

He chuckled again. "Why are you so relieved?"

"It was a big problem...the Earth's atmosphere was suffering a lot too. Actually...at one time this week, I thought we were on another planet because you seemed hesitant about letting me see what's outside.." My gaze shifted to the side a little.

Minho burst out laughing. "Of course we're on Earth! If the failed invasion of Mars taught us anything, it's to never mess with an alien population and just let them be."

I gave him a small, surprised glance, then moved it back down. I didn't bother asking about that...

"...you never saw an alien in person, didn't you?" Minho smirked.

I cleared my throat. "No."

"They're not that special really." Minho shrugged then sensed my nervous demeanor. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

I shook my head. "It's okay. I should learn about this kind of stuff anyway."

Before Minho could respond, the leader scientist walked out of the main meeting room and approached us.

"Good afternoon." He bowed and we both stood up and bowed at the same time.

"Is everything okay, hyung?" Minho asked.

The leader nodded. "Yes, just fine. I just came to inform the both of you that Taemin has one more session with me today before I send in the final report to the government on Monday."

Minho blinked. "What about me? I don't get to ask questions?"

"I think the both of you have spent enough time talking to each other this week for him to tell you anything." The leader answered. "The questions I have for him will be a little different from the other team members but they are required for the report."

I glanced at Minho, who seemed a bit taken aback by the leader's sudden formality.

"...yes sir." Minho's head lowered a bit.

I turned to the leader who motioned me to follow him into the meeting room. I sighed a little, clearly tired with all of the questions, but after remembering it was the last session made me feel a little better. I glanced back at Minho before the leader closed the door. He gave me a tired but confident smile before the doorknob clicked and I was looking at the closed door.

"Alright." The leader rubbed his forehead a little and motioned me to sit down on one of the chairs. I nodded and slowly made my way over as he took his seat across from me. I kept my gaze on him, noticing that he seemed more tired than usual and a little snappy.

"...did you eat lunch?" I asked quietly, trying to sound friendly.

"Didn't have time." The leader replied bluntly and pulled out his notes and a pen. "Let's get started."

The session was the least interesting one this week. The leader barely listened to my answers, not that there was anything different than what I told the other scientists. We tried some relaxation exercises and brief meditation to get my mind loosened up but that didn't work either.

At this point the leader suddenly lost his patience. "Great. Just great." He growled lowly and stood up. I watched him walk to the window and stare out of it for a couple seconds before grabbing a coffee cup on the desk and throwing it across the room.

I stood up immediately, staring at the leader wide-eyed.

"THIS IS POINTLESS!" The leader shouted. "Your mind is still the same as when we first woke you up! You won't stand a chance like this if..." His head lowered and his leaned his arms on the desk.

I swallowed very quietly, honestly afraid to speak.

The door to the room opened quickly and Minho rushed to my side. "What happened? I heard something break!"

The leader didn't respond as the other scientists rushed into the room after Minho.

My face washed over in embarrassment and I quickly turned around and fled the room. The image of the leader's tired, furious face stayed plastered to my mind.

I got as far as the main doors I always walked by when I wasn’t getting asked questions and almost slammed into it, awkwardly holding myself up with either palms on the wood of the door.

It felt like my brain was getting sawed in half. I was sick and tired of not providing the answers the scientists expected of me and the incident with the leader made me realize that I was probably not going to look good in the eyes of the government and get terminated in the end…

“Taemin!” Minho’s voice sounded from behind me as his footsteps ran closer. I felt his hands grab my arms and try to pull me away from the door but I pulled away roughly and ended up stumbling and falling onto the ground. My back crashed against the door and I felt nothing but pain and major embarrassment.

“Hey, calm down!” Minho said a bit loudly, crouching down in front of me. “Don’t be so upset. It’s not your fault that our leader blew up in front of you—“

“Yes it is! Are you blind!?” I glared at him with a red face and very wet eyes. “I’m not what they expected me to be! I’m…I’m just not!” I felt tears building in my eyes as I clamped them shut and turned my head down.

“Taemin, please listen to me.” Minho sighed a little, clearly trying to sound nervous. “He’s just tired. We all are. We just want to send a good report to the government so your life can be preserved.”

“Yeah that’s clearly not going to happen.” I said bitterly.

“Just because you haven’t remembered any details of your personal life yet doesn’t mean you won’t ever. We just need to keep trying, even if we have to work through the weekend. We want to work hard because we really care about you.”

“P-please…just don’t.” I leaned away with my head lowered and tried to reach for the knob to the door. “I only caused you and your team a lot of stress.”

Minho’s eyes widened and he quickly grabbed my arm before my fingers could touch the knob. “N-no you can’t go out there yet!”

“I want to leave!” I raised my voice a little, fighting against his grasp. “Let go!”

We struggled for many seconds before he did something I wasn’t expecting. He pulled me into a tight hug and didn’t move his arms. I couldn’t move no matter how much I tried and the more he held me, the more a strange but warm sensation started to run through my body. At first it felt like a cold shiver but the instant it reached my toes, my heart felt a lot warmer along with my attitude.

Then I saw him. Not in front of me, but in an oddly clear vision my mind was portraying in front of my eyes. I saw his face clearly; similar features like mine, same expressions, same blood.

My older brother.

I stared ahead blankly, afraid that if I blinked, the image of him would disappear. He smiled at me in a kind of playful way and his lips moved. I didn’t hear what he said but he made me feel as if I rolled my eyes.

Then he was gone and I was staring at the hallway behind us. Minho was still holding me tightly.

“You need to have faith.” Minho said quietly but sternly. “I’m not going to give up on you, so you don’t give up on yourself. Got it?”

The tears in my eyes fell and rolled down my cheeks. I heard what Minho said but all I kept thinking about was the face of my brother and the warm, nostalgic feeling he made me feel whenever we spoke to each other. The image was so satisfying that I didn’t feel a need to see it again. It was like his second-long presence gave me a strong dose of inner strength.

“Hey did you hear me?” Minho asked, slowly pulling back to glance at my face.

My eyes closed and I buried my head into his shoulder, hugging him tighter. It seemed to take him by surprise.

“T-Taemin?”

I heard more footsteps coming up toward us from the hallway but I didn’t care. “I…I saw him.”

“Saw who?” Minho asked quietly.

The scientists caught up to us and were panting a little.

“What’s going on?” One of them asked.

I slowly pulled away to look into Minho’s eyes, no longer caring about whether he saw my tears or not. “I saw my older brother.”