"The public reacted well, Kris. We couldn't have asked for a better reaction from them. What else do you want?" Joonmyun asked exasperated.

 

"I want results, Joonmyun. I want the people to start asking about the process, I want the community as a whole to accept the idea of genetic matching for their children," Kris replied.

 

"But sir-" Chen, a scientist alongside Joonmyun interrupted.

 

"Enough!" Tao said. "That is quite enough. You two would do well to respect us- we are your superiors!"

 

"Fine! Fine. I'm just trying to say that so far, considering it's been only a day since we presented them, nothing has gone WRONG. That's better than we expected-" but Chen was cut off once again.

 

"Show me the proof, Chen! Show me numbers, graphs, something!" Tao demanded, his hands on his hips.

 

"Gladly!" Chen shot back, and Tao was surprised by this. He hadn't expected any statistics to be calculated yet.

 

"Based on the polls we took, and the interviews, and other information gathered by our sources," Joonmyun started.

 

"At least 90% of the population likes this idea. And 7% of the remaining ten, just don't know what to think yet," Chen added.

 

"That means only 3% of the population is against it, and it's mostly the elders in the community; because as we expected, they are stuck in their own ways, but 3% isn't enough to convince anyone else to turn against us. Not really. They won't be able to rally enough people to rebel, even if they want to," Joonmyun explained.

 

"The new age will begin. You'll have the control that you want so that there isn't another revolution. This IS going to work Kr- sir" Chen stuttered.

 

"We'll see. Statistics made this early aren't usually very accurate, correct?" Tao said.

 

"Well, yes. That true, but that's as good as we can do for right n-"

 

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting," a doctor, by the name of Yixing poked his head in through the doorway of Kris's office.

 

"No. Yixing, please come in. Chen and Joonmyun were just leaving," he looked pointedly at them,

 

"Oh! Yes," Chen said. They both bowed to Kris, Tao, and to Yixing on the way out.

 

"Dr. Zhang, what do you have for us?" Tao wondered aloud.

 

"Well, as you requested, I took some psychological tests, to see their mental states. All three of them seem perfectly fine. Content, excited to get to go out and live in the real world-"

 

"They're excited? Shouldn't they be terrified?" Tao asked, and Kris nodded, agreeing with him.

 

"No. Not if you think about it from their point of view. Not necessarily. They've been told exactly what to do and how to do it for their entire lives- except for Kyungsoo, of course, but as far as he knows... anyway, wouldn't you be excited to be able to think for yourself for once?"

 

"Yes. I suppose so," Kris allowed, "what about their physical tests?"

 

"Again, they seem fine. They are all fit, and they feel well. None of them are sick...I've found nothing out of balance in their bodies or minds."

 

"Good, that's good," Tao muttered to himself.

 

"You are dismissed, Dr. Zhang. Thank you," the Disciplinary stated. Zhang Yixing bit his lip nervously and Kris tilted his head to the side. "What is it that you would like to say?" He asked calmly.

 

Yixing bounced up and down on his toes, wondering how he could phrase so that his boss would not be offended.

 

"It's just...they're young, sir,"

 

"Nineteen. A year after the normal age a person would be on his own." Kris retorted, irritated. He wanted the doctor to get to the point.

 

"Yes...yes; but they are...different,"

 

"What exactly are you trying to tell me, Dr. Zhang?"

 

"I just... Sir I'm worried that they might not be ready for something like this-"

 

"But you just sad they were healthy all around. And you greed when I said they were old enough-"

 

"Yes! I did...but it's different-"

 

"Spit it out!" Tao demanded.

 

"There's so much room to make mistakes!" Yixing blurted, then covered his mouth automatically with his hands; but to his surprise, Kris wasn't angry.

 

"Go on," he said.

 

"Well...it's true they are old enough, but they've never...they haven't been 'on their own' at all," he said putting this in air quotes.

 

"I'm not following you," Kris said narrowing his eyes. Yixing his dry lips and swallowed his nervousness.

 

"As a normal teenager. Your parents...give you freedom, you learn to drive, you get a job. Right?" Yixing asked. Kris pondered the question.

 

"I suppose, continue,"

 

"Well..they've never had anything like that. Nothing that big of a responsibility. They don't know how to think for themselves or make rational decisions...I'm just worried about the factor of... Other people."

 

"Other people," Kris repeated.

 

"Yes sir, other people. The way these boys will be affected by others...and each other, when we are not around."

 

"Uh huh...I don't understand. Exactly what you are saying." Yixing lowered his head and blew a strand of hair out of his eyes.

 

"I am saying. That they will encounter many things, and have many experiences that they haven't previously. This could affect their attitude, their mood, they way they speak and think and make decisions. It will affect what they sat and when they say it, and the how they rect to things that others say-"

 

"Yixing!"

 

"I'm...I'm sorry. What I am trying to say is that the three of them. In a house. Alone. When Kyungsoo just happens to be a good back up for Luhan if something goes wrong... It's too perfect a set up. It's too easy for a mistake to be made by one of the, and all of it come crashing down around us like the sky is falling-"

 

"Enough with the metaphors. Thank you. You are dismissed," Tao said.

 

"But-"

 

"We understand your concerns. And you are dismissed," he repeated mor e forcefully this time,which made Yixing flinch. 

 

"Yes, yes, I'll be going. Thank you for seeing me," he bowed.

 

"Of course."

 

Then Yixing left the room in a hurry to get away from his terrifying superiors.

 

"How do you want to play this, Kris? We could go a lot of ways with this experiment. These boys...they're smart; but they're still human. Things happen,"

 

"Tao. What exactly are you suggesting?" Kris interrogated.

 

"I'm suggesting that the heart wants what the heart wants, you know that. And having the three of them. Alone. In a big house...  Yixing was right. It's risky. And the fact that Kyungsoo turned out to be the perfect back up for Jongin if anything were to have happened to Luhan...I just think it's a little too easy for us to make a mistake here, again Yixing was correct. And at this point in the process-" Kris shut him up with a kiss.

 

"You really talk too much, Tao."

 

*****

 

Luhan sat, fiddling with his Rubik's cube, and wondering what was going to happen to them. It had been a whole twenty-four hours since their public presentation, and the only person who came to see them was Dr.Zhang, who just did a bunch of tests and asked weird questions.

 

Jongin watched Luhan lovingly, and tried to guess what Luhan was thinking about. He smiled when Luhan completed the Rubik's cube for the fifth time in the past nine minutes, and handed it to him to be mixed up again. Jongin took the cube and mixed it up as well as he could; but Luhan had it done in a matter of minutes again. The Rubik's cube was a stark contrast with everything else in the room. It had squares of bright red, green, yellow, blue, white, and orange; while the room was completely white and grey. Maybe this was part of the reason Luhan loved the Rubik's cube so much.

 

Kyungsoo lurked in a corner, watching the perfect pair. Jealousy bubbled up inside him, but he shoved it back into the recesses of his mind. He wished that it could be him and Jongin like that. Or at least him and his supposed perfect match who he didn't even remember; but he didn't understand that there could be anyone more perfect for him than Jongin. Jongin seemed to fill all the holes in his heart, and his soul- but he knew that he didn't do the same for the other.

 

"Boys?" A voice boomed from the speakers that the room contained. They all looked up at the large screen which was descending from the ceiling. Kris and Tao, the Oresident and Vice President were standing there in what looked like an office. "I would like to tell you what's going to happen now," Kris said.

 

The boys furrowed their eyebrows in confusion. 

 

"The next step in the process, I guess you could say," Tao explained, and the three boys nodded. "We have found a house for you. And you're all going to live there from now on. We won't be there all the time, and you'll need to take care of yourselves as we've taught you. We will be monitoring you, and will call you on the phone every now and again if we have concerns, but you will mostly be on your own."

 

"Are you ready for that?" Kris asked them. An honest question, but even if they weren't ready it wouldn't have mattered. The boys nodded eagerly. Then the screen ascended into the ceiling again and the door to their room made a clicking noise. It was unlocked. They rushed toward the door, leaving all of their belongings behind.

 

Even Luhan's Rubik's cube was left on the couch where he previously sat.