The first time Myungsoo traveled to another time and universe, he was 19 years old.

He didn’t do it on purpose, he didn't even know that he could do something like that. Time-travelling was something that he only knew could happen on books and movies, not in real life. If only he knew that his life would consist of traveling times and universes, he would have read more of those books and movies.

But unfortunately, he barely knew anything about it when he went to his usual bed one night and woke up in someone else's bed the next day.

Fortunately, he accidentally traveled to the right place. When he woke up, when he was barely awake, the first thing he saw was a man sitting on a chair on the bed, looking calm and was sitting in a way that told Myungsoo he had been sitting there for some time, perhaps waiting for Myungsoo to wake up.

Upon seeing Myungsoo waking up, the guy approached him and looked in the eyes, and said, “Don’t freak out, you’re safe here.”

Of course, the first thing Myungsoo did when he realized that he wasn’t in his own room was freaking out.

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Sunggyu traveled, too.

“The world is playing with us,” was what he told Myungsoo, after Myungsoo finished freaking out after waking up at Sunggyu’s room, “Apparently, we can’t go back to our universe on our own, we could only travel when the world decides that it’s time for us to go.”

Sunggyu also traveled to this room when he was 18 years old. He had been staying here since then because no one owned the house, so it was given to him. He had been  unable to go back to his universe. Apparently, there was a loophole in dimensions, causing people to accidentally got transferred to another timeline or another universe, and in this universe, it was well known already while in Myungsoo’s (ex)-universe, no one really knew about it. It was an unexplainable and unsolved problem, and Myungsoo had fallen victim to this loophole. Sunggyu had adapted to this universe, making this his home. He had met a lot of other victims, too. This room was apparently a portal where those unwilling travelers woke up after got accidentally transferred.

Those travelers disappeared soon after arriving here, fate deciding that they should go visit another timeframe or another universe.

Myungsoo felt depressed for days after that, realizing that he might end up not being able to meet his family and friends again. Considering that there was actually a registration for accidental travelers in this universe, he realized that it was common. Sunggyu had to urge him to register, but Myungsoo didn’t even want to do that because he was in denial.

"How am I going to live here?" He asked Sunggyu. He had no one he knew, no place to go. Sunggyu looked at him in something that Myungsoo thought as pity, but he had been calm throughout the time he had to deal with Myungsoo's sadness, so Myungsoo tried hard to not be rude to him.

“Don’t worry, I will help you,” Sunggyu assured him, squeezing his shoulder, “I have been here for almost five years, so I can help you.”

So, Myungsoo let Sunggyu took care of him. He had no choice.

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Myungsoo stayed for a longer time than most travelers who ended up in Sunggyu’s room.

After two months staying at Sunggyu’s house, Myungsoo thought that he might stay here permanently like Sunggyu, though perhaps it might be too soon to think like that. He had slowly gotten used to this universe, even got a temporary work that could make his life not so useless here. Sunggyu had already gotten a permanent job after deciding to finish school here, helped by the country. This was already Sunggyu's permanent universe unless he suddenly got transferred again.

This universe was a much more advanced version of the universe Myungsoo used to live in. Everything was powered by technology and there were fewer people living in the universe. When Myungsoo finally went out, he remembered being so amazed by flying cars. Myungsoo was so sure though that in perhaps in decades from now on, Korea could be like this, too.

“Don’t you miss your old home, though, Hyung?” Myungsoo asked one day, curious about Sunggyu’s life because he rarely revealed anything about his past life, “Your family, too.”

“I miss them,” Sunggyu admitted, Myungsoo could see the sorrow in his eyes, “I miss them a lot. But it’s not like I can do anything about it.”

It seemed so hopeless, their predicament. Myungsoo hated it. He wondered how this all could be possible. He browsed the internet (which was very fast, here) and read a lot of books that were available about time and universe continuum, but he barely understood anything. It was all too complicated for him.

“I have read a lot,” Myungsoo told Sunggyu, “But I still can’t find any solutions for this.”

“Well, even the scientist hasn’t gotten an answer about this phenomenon,” Sunggyu chuckled as if finding Myungsoo amusing. He ruffled Myungsoo's hair, making Myungsoo felt like a kid.

“I miss my family,” Myungsoo confessed. For days, he kept dreaming about his parents and his brother. Sometimes, it was a happy memory he dreamt about, sometimes, he dreamt that they were crying so much from losing him.

“I know,” Sunggyu said, “I hope you will be able to go back to your place.”

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A year passed by, and it seemed that Myungsoo wouldn’t be going back anytime soon. He had gotten used to living here, feeling as if he belonged here, with Sunggyu. Sometimes, another time traveler showed up and spend the time together, but just like how Sunggyu told him, they disappeared short after. The longest someone stayed with them was two months, sometimes someone even disappeared again only after one day staying there. Seeing them, Myungsoo felt like that he was a little luckier then. He couldn’t imagine visiting several universes at a short time span.

Myungsoo put a cup of tea on the table, in front of the newest traveler that arrived here. He was young, a little younger than Myungsoo, maybe. His name was Sungjong, and he seemed even more upset than Myungsoo when he realized that he was transported to another universe.

“Why does it have to be me?” Sungjong asked, his eyes were still red from tears. Myungsoo felt bad for him—he always felt bad for all the traveler that ended up here.

“Well, we don’t know about that,” Sunggyu answered, calmly as always. He was so used to deal with a new traveler, being a guide to the new traveler was basically his job. The traveler who ended up here were lucky, though.

“Is God having a revenge on me because I didn’t attend Church last week?” Sungjong wondered. Myungsoo almost chuckled at that, because that questioned seemed so naïve and innocent.

“Well, God doesn’t have a feeling, I’m sure he didn’t like having revenge,” Sunggyu said, actually rolling his eyes. He used to be religious, Sunggyu told him. But after what happened, he started to question everything.

“Then why?” Sungjong asked again, desperate for an answer, “What does the universe has against me?”

Funny how even when he went through a depression era, Myungsoo never questioned why it was him who got transferred to another universe. Hearing Sungjong’s questions, though, he started to wonder if he really did something wrong to get this punishment. Or maybe, even though God didn’t like having revenge, he might like playing games with his creations instead.

▴▾▴▾▴

“Do you think I will be permanently here, forever?” Myungsoo asked Sunggyu, wrapping his arm around Sunggyu’s while staring at the sky, admiring the stars that were rarely seen. The city had a blackout on purpose once in a while, in order to preserve energy and to let the people knew how beautiful the stars could be. It had been almost three years, and it seemed he was not going anywhere soon.

“Well, it has been almost three years, I guess you will be here forever?” Sunggyu wondered, as Myungsoo leaned his head on his shoulder. They had gotten much closer, had really gotten used to each other’s presence. They had no one else but each other, so they had to rely on each other.

“I guess, so,” Myungsoo said, even if he was the one who asked the question in the first place.

Sunggyu was a nice person, a little prickly sometimes, but a nice person. Myungsoo felt grateful for him, because he made it easier for him to adapt here. If Sunggyu wasn’t there, he would be so lost.

“Is it bad that I feel happy about this?” Sunggyu asked him, making Myungsoo looked up at him.

“You feel happy about this?”

"I have been here alone for 5 years before you come, and no one accompanies me long enough," Sunggyu explained, leaning his head on Myungsoo’s head as they both stared at the sky, “It feels nice to have someone by my side.”

Myungsoo nodded needlessly, understanding. It must be lonely for Sunggyu, he had no one here. But he had Myungsoo, now.

“Sometimes I want to leave, sometimes I don’t,” Myungsoo admitted. Two years ago, he would definitely say he wanted to leave this place and go back to his family. But after growing fond of Sunggyu, he couldn’t say that his feeling was definite.

“Would you take it, if you have an opportunity to go back to your universe?”

“I don’t know,” Myungsoo shrugged, “I want to see my family again…but I don’t want to leave you. Can’t we go back together? You said that we might come from the same universe.”

“That will be nice, perhaps, but doesn’t that seem like a too generous choice?”

Sunggyu was right. Getting