Jongin thought back on his life. He thought of all the bad things he might have done, all the people he might have offended and all the sugar-glazed donuts he might have consumed (he was hungry, okay?) in his eighteen years of existence but he couldn't think of anything that would have landed him where he was right now--in the passenger seat of a cramped vehicle, blindfolded and tied up.

All the signs say he was being kidnapped (bound hands and legs, hello) but his brain couldn't seem to fully grasp the idea particularly because his kidnapper doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get away from the scene of the crime. He didn't think thirty miles an hour was how kidnappers roll.

He should be thankful perhaps that he wasn't gagged as he would've absolutely hated that. He doesn't really know why he doesn't call for help, though. Jongin thought he should at least feel a little nervous, after all he had no idea where he was being taken and why he was being taken. Maybe he should feel angry since his kidnapper wasn't exactly gentle when he suddenly wrapped the blindfold around him and kneed him behind the knees, getting him out of balance before tying his hands and feet and dragging him towards the car. He even hit his head as the person pushed him inside. Or he really should be worried since he was missing his English quiz right now and Mr. Byun was not known for giving make-up quizzes. But nope, he wasn't feeling any of those things. He was actually quite relaxed.

After some turns and half an hour later, Jongin felt the car stop and the engine turned off. He heard his kidnapper muttering to himself before the person cleared his throat. "I've planned this for so long and finally I've got you in my hands."

Jongin thought that if the guy wanted to scare him he was doing a really poor job of it because his voice wasn't exactly intimidating. He actually sounded young and... familiar?

"Y-you can't escape so don't even try."

"What do you even want from me?" Jongin suddenly asked. He heard a squeak and holy, did he just spook his kidnapper?

"Ah, you'll know soon enough."

The guy sounded nervous. Jongin decided to get some answers. "Where are we going?"

"Um," was all he got.

"Who are you?"

More mumbling.

"Well, could you at least take off this blindfold? It's itchy and it burns."

The guy squeaked again. Did he just say he was sorry? "Oh, gosh, I didn't know."

Jongin felt cool hands against his temple as the blindfold was lowered. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the brightness. He blinked several times and the first thing he saw was a small pink heart plushy hanging from the rearview mirror. Jongin turned his head towards the driver seat and really, he was expecting anything but this. "Kyungsoo?"


_______


Jongin was on his way home from school, cutting his way through the park, when he stepped on an object which promptly cracked under his foot. He was about to pick it up when he heard an ack! after which he found himself being pushed back as a boy crouched down in front of him, picking up the object himself.

"Wah, what did you do?" the boy wailed as he looked up at him.

Jongin saw it was their neighbor's son, the one they call Crazy Kyungsoo. "I didn't do anything."

The smaller boy stood up, his thick-rimmed glasses askew and his shoulder slumped. "It's broken." Kyungsoo said as he showed Jongin a cone shaped thing, almost split in half. "What do I do?"

Feeling guilty, Jongin rubbed the back of his neck and asked, "What's it for anyway?"

Kyungsoo grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the path towards an old tree where he found more weird stuff on top of an oversized root. The boy picked up a rectangular object which looked like an old radio and held it out for Jongin to see. "This piece is a receiver. It goes here on my communication device."

"Communication device? Like a phone?"

"Yes!" Kyungsoo nodded enthusiastically. "But much better. The thing you broke is used to collect incoming signal from outer space. With this you can contact our brothers from galaxies millions of light-years away."

Jongin thought this was probably the reason the neighborhood kids called him Crazy Kyungsoo. "Uh, okay. That's, um, great."

"But now it's broken. What if they decided to answer my call? How can I even--?"

Ah, . The boy wasn't gonna cry, was he? "Uh, maybe I can fix it." Jongin took the cone shaped-thing from Kyungsoo.

He rummaged through his backpack and took out his binder. He doesn't have any tape but he does have his batman stickers. Well, goodbye, he thought as he peeled two of them and used it to put Kyungsoo's ‘receiver’ back together. "Here," he said as he handed it back. The boy's already wide eyes widened even more and then promptly disappeared into half-moons as he threw Jongin a heart-shaped smile.

"Oh. It's fixed. Thanks, Jongin-ah."

He was back on his way home when he realized it was the first time they've spoken but the boy knew his name.


_______


"Can I have that again?" Jongin asked because he thought he just heard Kyungsoo say that tomorrow is the end of the world.

"Tomorrow is the end of the world."

He did hear correctly. "So you're saying, you think the world will end tomorrow? May I ask why?"

Kyungsoo sighed as if he already went through this explanation a number of times before and had gotten the same reaction. "I calculated it, thousands of times and the planets' alignments are spot on. December 12, 2012. It was even prophesied. 12-12-12. I even consulted--"

"Your brothers from outer space?"

"Yes."

"They answered?"

"Well, no. But I'm sure the world would end tomorrow," Kyungsoo said earnestly.

"O-kay. Does my abduction have anything to do with your theory, though? I mean, can kidnapping me stop the apocalypse?" Jongin could see a blush spreading along Kyungsoo's cheeks. The smaller boy pushed his glasses up his nose before scratching on its tip.

"It won't stop anything."

"Then why?" Jongin was really confused now.

"Because it's the end of the world," Kyungsoo muttered.

"And?"

"We're all going to die tomorrow."

"So?"

"I want to spend the last day with you."

"That's--" That's crazy. But he really shouldn't be surprised. Crazy Kyungsoo, why me?

Kyungsoo turned away and Jongin used that opportunity to study him. He looked almost the same as he did that time long ago when Jongin surrendered Batman to Kyungsoo's receiver. His short black hair was a little messy, as if his hand has run through it a lot of times. He was wearing a cotton-padded vest in bright green, no less, and a red plaid shirt. Jongin vaguely thought that a star on top of Kyungsoo's head was the only thing missing and he'd be a Christmas tree.

He felt a smile tug at his lips and he wasn't even sure if it's because of the other boy's flustered expression or the pin on his vest which says Fish Are Friends Not Food.

Kyungsoo took a deep breath. "Don't worry. Just... just do whatever I say and nobody gets hurt."

Jongin wanted to laugh at the reminder that, yes, he was actually kidnapped. "Are you threatening me?"

There was a horrified look on Kyungsoo's face as he clutched on Jongin's arm. "Oh, no! I meant just follow my lead so you know, so nothing bad happens because I already planned what we're going to do all day today and it's... and so why would you ever... of course, no."

"Alright. But just to get it straight. Tomorrow is the end of the world, you want to spend the last day with me and I have to follow everything you say," Jongin said to which Kyungsoo nodded. Craziness must be contagious. "Then okay."

"Okay?"

To hell with the English quiz. "Okay. What do we do first?"


______


"A picnic. In this freezing weather. Sure. Why not?" Jongin muttered to himself as they walked towards what was supposed to be a grassy patch of land but was now a wet, muddy spot near an almost frozen lake. "Hey, Kyungsoo. Was it summer when you made your to-do-before-the-end-of-the-world list?"

Kyungsoo was carefully balancing himself so he didn't see Jongin's grin as he watched the smaller boy walk through the slippery path. "Uh, yes."

"Figures." Jongin was almost to their destination when he heard a squeak behind him. He turned to see Kyungsoo slipping and landing on his but miraculously still holding the wicker picnic basket upright.

"You should be careful," Jongin said as he took the basket from Kyungsoo and offered his hand. He pulled him up and didn't let go so that the shorter boy wouldn't slip again. And besides, Kyungsoo's hand was warm.


______


"You want to feed me and you want me to feed you?" Jongin's asked with a raised eyebrow.  "That's part of your list?"

"Well, yes." Kyungsoo shrugged. "I did research on this."

Jongin realized that when he said yes to this plan that he would have to do crazy stuff so this was actually pretty normal. For Kyungsoo, that is. "Okay."

The food was good and he felt full and sleepy when he saw Kyungsoo take out a folded piece of paper and put marks on it. "Is that it? Your things to do?"

Kyungsoo smiled and nodded. Jongin thought he was kind of cute. In a crazy sort of way, he added.

"Can I see it?"

Kyungsoo bit his lower lip which Jongin understood as a no. "If I can't, may I at least know how many things we have to do today?"

"There's only ten and we already covered three ahead of schedule." Jongin couldn't help but smile at Kyungsoo's proud tone. "First, I got you to come with me."

"Through kidnapping, yes."

Kyungsoo grinned sheepishly at him. "Then, this picnic where we fed each other."

Jongin was trying to think of what other task they completed but came up short. "That's just two."

"Well, you already held my hand." Kyungsoo said before quickly standing up and gathering their things. "Let's go." He walked away before Jongin had a chance to reply.


______


"I was meaning to ask," Jongin started once they were back inside the car. "Is this your car?"

"Um, no, it isn't. It's my sister's."

That explained why it was a bright pink beetle, then. Jongin somehow felt relieved with Kyungsoo's answer. He thought Kyungsoo had really bad taste in cars. Not that he cares, he told himself.

Kyungsoo the radio. "Jongin-ssi, would you choose a song, please?"

Jongin leaned in to fiddle with the radio dial. He stopped when he recognized a song he liked.

"Oh, I know that song," Kyungsoo hummed to the song as he drove. Jongin thought he had a nice profile.

After a while, he found himself humming along, too. Kyungsoo gave him a wide smile before his eyes re the road. "Six more to go."


______


Jongin was looking out the window, watching the passing scenery with a grin. It was after a walk on a small beach (in winter) and an impromptu poem session earlier when Jongin figures out that there was a pattern to the list. It was confirmed later on when Kyungsoo dragged him to a small clothing store and got them couple shirts which read Is that the sun coming up... or is that just you lighting up my world?


______


The car (should it be really called that?) was parked on a small cliff overlooking the city. They were leaning on the beetle's hood and both were holding a bottle of soda because for all his talk of this being their last day on Earth, Kyungsoo still wouldn't drink.

"So I guess, watching the sunset's on the list, huh?" Jongins asked.

"Yes. It's the last sunset we'll ever see." There was a hint of sadness there.

"But, Kyungsoo, how can you be so sure? How do you really know that the world will end when midnight strikes?" Because really, how does one know? There was nothing different today. The sky was still blue. The air was still chilly. As far as he knew, Mrs. Cho's dogs still peed on Mr. Lee's rose bushes this morning.

"I told you, I'm sure. I've read and read and read hundreds of books and journals. I've done my own calculations, too. Every day for the past six years. The planets and everything out there, they're where they're supposed to be. There's no doubt. The world would end. 12-12-12."

Jongin realized that Kyungsoo might be correct. If he had spent almost half his life the same way Kyungsoo did--burying himself in books and journals and watching the movement of the planets--maybe he might come to the same conclusion, too. He thought of what he did for the past six years. He had too many friends and he was having too much fun that he couldn't have done what Kyungsoo did, even if he wanted to.

There was a pinch in his chest as he watched Kyungsoo walk near the edge of the cliff. All that time you spent on your research... Crazy Kyungsoo, you were lonely, weren't you?

"Uh, Jongin-ssi, it's almost sunset."

Jongin went closer. "Okay, so do I just stand here?"

Kyungsoo nodded. He was a little surprised, though, when the boy walked behind him.

"Uh, I just have to--" He felt Kyungsoo's warmth as he stepped closer and placed his chin against Jongin's shoulder. Jongin was a little confused with himself for, as they watched the sunset, he was thinking that Kyungsoo fits just perfectly right there.


______


"This is quite enjoyable," Jongin said as he and Kyungsoo lie on their backs on the spread blanket. He didn't know that stargazing could be fun.  Jongin still doesn't get how the Capricorn became a goat because it just looked like underpants to him but it was nice listening to Kyungsoo's voice as he told the story behind each constellation.

"I'm sorry, though, Jongin-ah," Kyungsoo said after a lull in the conversation.

"For what?"

"For kidnapping you and taking you away. Since it's the end of the world tomorrow, I'm sure you would have wanted to spend it with the people important to you."

"It's alright. I mean, I could have said no. I don't believe for a second that you'd have stopped me if I wanted to go."

"Oh," was Kyungsoo's short answer.

"If you're really sorry, maybe you could at least tell me why you chose me? We barely even talk and well... yeah."

There was a soft laugh and Jongin turned his head to look at Kyungsoo. "You fixed my receiver with your Batman sticker. I told you about my communication device. I kidnapped you and forced you to do things that, well, only couples do. You realized what my list was about back when we were walking at the beach and yet you're still here with me."

"You probably think I'm crazy because really, I am, but you never, ever, did call me that. Crazy Kyungsoo, they would say it to my face or laugh behind my back. Crazy Kyungsoo with his books, his experiments, and his awkward glasses. Crazy Kyungsoo with his brothers from outer space."

Their eyes meet as Kyungsoo turned his head towards him and Jongin could see something wonderful there.

"I like you, Jongin-ah. And so... one more to go."


______


The air was colder as Kyungsoo drove the pink beetle through Jongin's street. Jongin was strangely reluctant to find out what the last thing on Kyungsoo's list was because it was, well, the last. There was silence as Kyungsoo parked the car in front of Jongin's house.

"Um, it's near midnight, so... the last thing." Kyungsoo was looking down at his lap. "By twelve can you... can you kiss me?"

Jongin felt his heart slam in his ribs. "Kiss you?"

"Yes. I'm really sorry... it's... to be honest I just got this list from an online dating site and I know it's really stupid but well, it's the end of the world and maybe it's--"

"Okay." Jongin leaned close.

"Okay?" Kyungsoo's eyes rounded as he looked at Jongin. "Are you sure?"

Jongin rolled his eyes at him. This was a piece of cake. He leaned closer still, took of Kyungsoo’s glasses and cupped his hand against the back of Kyungsoo's head. "Is it time?"

Kyungsoo's eyes darted towards his watch. "Y-yes."

Jongin could hear the faint tremor in his voice and he wanted to laugh at Kyungsoo's nervousness but he noticed he was shaking a little, too. "Okay."

He leaned close and then their lips touched. And... and it was crazy. The heart thumping, head spinning, skin prickling and rainbow-behind-eyelids sort of crazy. A beautiful crazy.

Their lips clung and slid against each other as the kiss lasted for more than a few seconds, more than a few minutes. And when they part to come up for air it was past midnight.

Kyungsoo looked dazed. "But... you... me... the world--"

Jongin laughed hoarsely. Kyungsoo sounded like a Shakespearean play. "We're alive."

The shorter boy frowned in confusion. "Yes. But how? I checked and checked. The books and the scientific journals said--"

Jongin cut him off with another kiss. And hopefully, this one would shut Kyungsoo up.

Hooray for Jongin, it did.

As he looked at Kyungsoo he realized he was wrong. Today was different. "I like you, too."

Kyungsoo looked surprised and then a slow smile spread across his beautiful face. He would have no need to look for brothers from outer space just to have someone to talk to.

"Let's spend the end of the world together every day. Okay?"

"Okay."