Sometimes, when Myungsoo reads the old texts – the few they still have, preserved in the dusty old library of the national archive – he wonders what the world used to be like. They don’t have much knowledge of Before. Something clearly happened between Now and Before, but no one knows what exactly. If there were records, those, too, have been lost. Still, of what remains, there is enough for Myungsoo to glimpse that people in the past used to have formulas to calculate things like mass and weight. Things that tell him mass is a product of density and volume, and that weight is a product of mass and gravitational pull. None of the formulas make much sense to him, both because concepts like mass and weight are outdated and no longer used to measure things  and because Myungsoo is no Physics student.

//

Myungsoo first met Dongwoo in his office. It was a bad day at work, there were too many things he had due the next month and on top of that, a paper he was confident would be accepted by the anthropologist journal got rejected. Myungsoo was slumped in his chair, fingers pinched around the bridge of his nose when someone came into his office.

“Hello, is Sunggyu here?”

Myungsoo looked up, irritated by the intrusion and too-energetic voice.

“No, he’s in the next office.”

“Oh. I’m sorry for disturbing you!”

Myungsoo’s voice probably didn’t hide his obvious annoyance, and he expected the visitor – a young man with pink hair and a bright smile – to quickly get out. He didn’t mean to sound harsh, but his bad mood had him hoping his usual stern face combined with his curt words would send the man out of his office as soon as possible. It didn’t. Instead, the man dug into his pocket, fiddling for a moment before he placed something on Myungsoo’s desk.

“You look like you could use some sugar. Anyway, I’m sorry for my mistake! I’ll be off now. Hope you enjoy the candy. It’s my favourite.”

The man had beamed, before skipping out of Myungsoo’s office. Against the dull off-white walls, stacks of books and gloomy atmosphere of Myungsoo’s small office, he stood out too much. It wasn’t so much his clothes, which had more colours than Myungsoo could count, or his hair. Mostly it was just his aura, the way he carried himself. Bright. Maybe a little too bright. Myungsoo sagged back against his chair once the man left, eyeing the lollipop on his table for too long after. In the end, he unwrapped the shiny foil. The candy was sweet on his tongue, but not overly so.

//

There’s a bottle of beer in his hand, uncapped but only half-drank. Myungsoo tries not to spill it when bodies jostle him, and Sunggyu laughs.

“Are you okay?”

Myungsoo nods, avoiding another sweaty body moving past him.

“I know this is probably not your thing, but thanks for coming here with me to watch Howon dance.”

Myungsoo raises his bottle higher so people won’t knock the remaining contents onto his shirt.

“Sure,” he says. He doesn’t tell Sunggyu he has another reason why he’s here. Instead, he looks to the stage, waiting for the lights to come up, and tries to find the person he’s looking for.

“Oh hey, I didn’t realise Dongwoo’s in the same item as Howon.” Sunggyu already has his phone out, recording the performance. Myungsoo’s own phone battery is flat, so he just watches the dance, watches Dongwoo leap through the air effortlessly, legs spread in a jump split before he gracefully lands. He’s engrossed in the performance, following the smooth arcs made by Dongwoo’s arms when he turns, head turning to keep up with the various trick moves Dongwoo does to hype up the crowd, turning somersaults and flipping through the air.  It’s only later, after the lights go off and the next item move up does Myungsoo remember to ask what he’s been thinking about since he saw Sunggyu record the dance.

“Hyung, can you send the video to me?”

Sunggyu looks at him curiously.

“I didn’t know you are interested in dance.”

He’s not. Not really. Myungsoo drinks the rest of his beer to stall before he answers. “Well, it’s just been a long time since I actually did anything fun besides work. I thought it’ll be a nice memory to have.”

Sunggyu nods like it’s a reasonable explanation and not something Myungsoo cooked up in a few seconds. “Well, it’s true that you’ve not played much. You should relax and worry less sometimes. Work is important but it’s not everything, you know.”

Myungsoo tilts his head slightly, neither an acknowledgement nor a refute. Sunggyu pats his back.

“Anyway, your steps seem lighter today. I guess it was a good idea I dragged you he