It's the end of summer. The scorching heat is starting to calm down and little breezes occasionally blow weak leaves off their branches. A petite boy sits on a shaded bench, watching people go by living their day to day lives. He tries to divert his attention from each of their unique actions. Suddenly a man not too much younger than him, if younger at all, stumbles past and drops his exam books on the warm concrete. He stares at him with concern. He knows who that is. Byun Baekhyun. A college student who stops by the coffee shop every morning. He mumbles "Have a good day, Minseok." as he runs away. His heart nearly skips a beat. He can't see anything in his eyes.

There's always been something about Baekhyun that was odd. The glint in his eyes was idiosyncratic. Dull, distracted. It was something that made it so Minseok couldn't see. And when Minseok couldn't see, there was this panic in his chest. It sunk, and it sunk because it only happened on such rare occasion. It only happened when the numbers were being hidden.

People are binary—literally. They consist of numbers and emotions. The numbers tell everything, while the emotions try to hide them. Minseok is the only person who can see both. However, it takes a skill—one usually learned—to hide away the ticking clock inside the irises of other people around him. Minseok can't wrap his head around how Baekhyun is hiding his.

The alarm on his phone goes off and he gathers the books laying beside him. It's time for his afternoon class, and he's never one to be late. As he stands, he presses everything to his