"Pick up the pencil. Try to pay attention." Kibum trying to will Jonghyun to pick up the yellow pencil covered in bitemarks. The two human boys were in school, in their respective classrooms and during lectures, there wasn't much room for moral guiding, really. Nothing happned in the classroom. Kibum usually tried to stop Jonghyun from pulling pranks on the teacher, but in more recent years, Jonghyun just didn't have the energy to put into that because he worked a few jobs now that he was older. The fifteen year old washed dishes, swept floors, sold roses, and sold miracle pills of his own so he could get money for real medicine and miracle pills for his sickly motherly figure. Block outs would come usually when Jonghyun was selling or buying the pills, so Kibum couldn't stop him no matter how hard he tried. 

Jonghyun picked up the pencil and twirled it between his fingers. Kibum celebrated this tiny feat of getting Jonghyun to pick up his pencil.

"Take notes, lazy boy." Kibum chuckled. Even though they had no idea what their soulmates looked like, Kibum and Jinki thought that their thoughts and the way their minds worked was pretty adorable. Jonghyun's mind always wandered between art and music and the future with no room for math in between and Minho thought about his mother and sports and both boys worried so much about each other, that there was hardly room for much else. 

"Ugh this is so boring. Why do I have to pay attention?" Jonghyun mumbled outloud in response to the voice in his head, still completely unaware of his  potential soulmate's guidance. 

"Mr. Kim, do you have something to share with the class?" The stern teacher said to Jonghyun while all eyes turned to look back at him. 

"No...teacher. I'm sorry." Jonghyun said formally, bowing in his seat, trying not to make eye contact with anyone around him. 

"Well in that case, if you have nothing to share now, please join the other boys and girls in the back there and share the joy of clapping erasers." The teacher quipped at the sullen looking boy. 

Kibum sighed in defeat. No matter what he did, Jonghyun seemed to get in trouble. He often punished by the teacher because Jonghyun usually slacked during school, not caring very much about subjects. Kibum knew why. Jonghyun vowed to get work after graduation and to take Minho and their mother with him to get away from the terrible area they lived in. He cared more about real life than school life, and in all honesty, neither of the consciences could blame either of the boys. Once they became human and they could communicate with the boys, it wouldn't matter. Everything, they hoped, would begin looking up. 

After school, after Jonghyun had finished clapping erasers instead of participating in physical education, the boys met up by Minho's locker. Unlike the other children, they didn't stay to study. Kibum and Jinki wished they would, but Jonghyun was determined to work, and Minho was determined to help his mother with everything. It was honorable, but dangerous and draining. The consciences sometimes felt themselves wanting to jump out of their glowing exteriors into their human forms and run all the way to find their soulmates. They couldn't of course, not when the paths connecting their minds weren't fully developed and not when Kibum and Jinki still had growing to do. 

The boys took the bus home, the atmosphere, as if crossing a concrete line, changed once they got into the area they lived in. It wasn't necessarily rough looking, the shops and buildings seemed fine at first glance, but it was the very real rumors and very real crime that made it a toxic place to live in. Jonghyun went to work when they arrived home after kissing Minho's mother on the cheek and hugging Minho goodbye. His backpack was left untouched. Minho watched as Jonghyun left, now knowing exactly what Jonghyun did. Jinki's not yet physical heart was sinking with Minho's as Kibum's began to pump, as a fully functioning human heart would. Jonghyun's did the very same thing while leaving the limited safety of the apartment. 

Days passed, and Kibum and Jinki found the boys in another uneventful day of school, not that they wanted anything to happen. They were content feeling calm with their soulmates and hearing their annoyed thoughts about how stupid school was. A while later, it was time for lunch and as usual. The boys used the time to sleep. This calm moment gave the consciences time to talk to each other. 

"What does Jonghyun look like?" Kibum asked Jinki, curiously. Jinki turned a slight pinkish color because he was annoyed. Kibum asked him everyday what Jonghyun looked like. Consciences could see the people around, but could not see the person they were guiding. Since Minho and Jonghyun were always together, Jinki of course knew what Jonghyun looked like. Jinki understood why Kibum wanted to know, he himself wanted to know what Minho looked like, but they about two years away from becomming human and Jinki wanted it all to be a surprise. 

"I don't think I'm supposed to tell you." Jinki mumbled back. 

"Come on! We're the only ones in the castle whose soulmates are together all the time! There's no rule against telling me what Jonghyun looks like!" Kibum begged his now very pink colored hyung. Kibum was turning a bright yellow in excitement, knowing that Jinki was going to crack soon. 

"Hyung! Can you please not shine so brightly?! You're giving the keeper a headache!" Yelled a tiny voice from across the room. It was Taemin, a light a few years younger than Jinki and Kibum. He was similar to Kibum in the fact that sometimes, even being a conscience, his morals were a bit fuzzy. The Guardian said that it was their human side coming through already. Taemin liked to have fun and often had trouble with the concept that he had a long time before becomming human and meeting Kai, his soulmate. Taemin scolded his hyung because the keeper of the room couldn't take how bright Kibum was at the moment. 

"Sorry! Didn't mean to cause you pain!" Kibum called to the keeper, who just nodded his head wearily. 

"You wanna know what Jonghyun looks like that badly?" Jinki asked. 

"Yes please!" Kibum begged. 

"He's, well, human. He has brown hair and glasses and you said he often grumbles in his mind about being short, so I assume he is short..." Jinki began. Kibum turned a calm aquamarine color, enchanted by the description already.

"I sort of have this picture of him in my head, you know? I mean he'll look different in two years. I imagine him with big warm eyes. The kind of eyes that are mysterious looking, but still warm and inviting to look at. I think he'll be the absolute perfect height and wear big black glasses. Oh! And he'll have a strong body and a pretty smile." Kibum said, dreamily. 

"You'll know what he looks like soon." Jinki assured him. 

"You don't want to know what Minho looks like? He's a handsome one." Kibum laughed. 

"I want it to be a surprise. Soulmates aren't based on looks. It's all based on an emotional connection, right Taemin?" Jinki said, addressing the glowing light bouncing all around the room. 

"Yep!" Taemin yelled happily. 

"Yah! What are you doing bouncing around like that? You'll disturb others!" Kibum chided the younger conscience. 

"Kai is dancing so I have to dance with him!" Taemin laughed, making others laugh with him at his silliness. 

"Pabo, we can't dance." Kibum said, laughing along quietly. 

"You can dream, you know. I dream of playing soccer with Minho sometimes and I pretend that I am." Jinki admitted to Kibum, hoping the other wouldn't find it silly. 

"Really? But doesn't it make you sad when you realize you still have so long until you really can?" Kibum asked the older. 

"No. Because I know they will find us and it really isn't that long. I would wait forever. They're our one and onlies, really. It actually helps them, pretending we are doing an activity with them. They feel calmer. If Jonghyun has restless dreams tonight, try it. Pretend you are singing with him or playing guitar with him. Do something and he will feel better." Jinki explained drawing on his experiences. 

"Even if it's not real, yet. The key word is yet. I will do anything for Minho. And you are the same." Jinki added, making Kibum think. 

After Jonghyun got home late with a bag of white pills and a bit of leftover money, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. That night, Jonghyun tossed and turned and shed tears, until Kibum, nervously pretended, with all of his might, to sing with Jonghyun and there, in their connected dream, they sang together. They both found their minds wandering while singing, to a field of soft green grass, with the white heads of dandelions swaying back and forth with the wind and both calmed down immediately. 

A/N: not much happened but this is actually the last chapter of intro, next chapter STUFF WILL HAPPEN. also there was a three year time jump in case that was confusing. Hope you enjoy! ALSO DANDELIONS KEEP THAT IN MIND THEY WILL COME BACK