It started simply. He was just one of the two who asked more questions than usual.

Why do we follow traditions? What good is an education? Is education about knowledge or about skills?

If education is equal, why do we grade it?

And he was usually ignored, all those around him taking the mass of words as incessant rambling.

He was 12.

His mother smiled softly when she saw his report card, the teacher leaving a nice little comment at the bottom of the page. It told her she needs to pay more attention to the innocent boy playing with model cars in front of her right now, because he might grow rebellious as puberty nears.

What puberty? Kwangmin was always a dear. His questions, while offensive to some, are always asked with a straight face and eyes sparkling. This kid was just a constant box of curious, although it was hard for anyone else to understand that.

He made her question herself sometimes too, like that time when he asked what does it matter who is the older of the twins. Does six minutes change anything? Why can't they just be twins? Why must they introduce themselves as the older twin and the younger twin? Why couldn't they be born at the same time?

The mother paused at the last question, unable to go into the details of the delivery room that was a mess in her memories.

And this habit of questioning everything didn't stop, the questions only grew more intellectual with age. It was usually ignored, but Kwangmin was slowly finding his way to let himself be heard.

“You just have to speak slower.” His lookalike sighed one day, fed up with Kwangmin’s rants and fed up with the world all the same. “Put everything you want to ask into one question and make it impactful. People will stop to listen, think, and then they’ll want more.”

It was an awkward transition for him, so used to copying and pasting whatever was in his mind to his mouth.

“I…so, the-” Kwangmin winced, giving his best but knowing it wasn’t good enough yet. He continued trying, while his teacher already looked impatient. He did always “give her trouble” for his many questions. The expression on her face slowly stabbed at Kwangmin’s confidence, and he hurriedly bowed in apology. “I’m sorry, I’ll think before speaking the next time.”

Him stumbling over his words became more and more apparent, but Kwangmin could feel progress. People didn’t mind listening to him when he managed to get a sentence out anymore.

It took him three months to fix his rambling into one simple punch line.

“And then?” Kwangmin said, sensing all heads turned to him. He pressed his lips together, remembering what his twin told him. Resist.

“What do you mean and then?” A girl of his project group piped in.

“What do you intend to do after deciding on the theme? How do you intend to extend of it? Are you able to find solutions?” Kwangmin rambled on, seeing a few frowns as if saying they couldn't follow. “It's not possible, so we should look elsewhere.”

“Uh...” The same girl looked visibly cornered by Kwangmin's words. “Do you have any ideas then?”

“Stay rooted, ambitions come later.” Kwangmin started. Slow and steady, just like Youngmin said. “Solve the most basic problem instead of jumping for world peace.”

“We aren't going for world peace.” A guy interjected.

“...” Kwangmin bit his lower lip and tried a smile. “That was a figure of speech.”

He was 16.

Kwangmin had boasted of his achievement when he met his twin at home, the other offering him a thumbs-up.

“Anyway, if you're so good at asking questions, why don't you be an interrogator or something when you grow up.” Youngmin joked, pausing when he felt his twin take his words seriously. “Uh.”

“Maybe I should.” Kwangmin nodded thoughtfully. “What are you going to do when you grow up then?”

“Oh well, it's really up to you. I can't say you don't have the talent.” Youngmin shrugged, returning to his homework at hand. “Probably a 8-to-6 desk job with work parties filled with drunkards after.”

“Seriously.” Kwangmin shook his head, but didn't continue. He wasn't one to dictate what Youngmin should do, so.

It was the summer he turned 23 when it happened. He had pursued and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, and was thrown into his neighbourhood police department due to his satisfactory grades.

Youngmin got a Bachelor of Business with a major in Psychology. The younger twin did question why he would go for that combination, but Youngmin only shrugged that any job would probably want either of his qualifications. The older twin had pretty good grades and earned his place in a nice work cubicle he talked about when he was 16.

“First case! Can you believe it?” Kwangmin exclaimed when he reached home, the brothers still staying with their parents since they couldn't afford to move out yet. “Apparently I asked a lot of good questions and so they let me work under a veteran detective to investigate this case and gain experience.”

“Good for you.” Youngmin replied without much emotions, concentrating on the pile of files he brought back from the office. His superior told him he was doing all his work wrong, so he needs to reread all past transactions the office had to get a better idea of how a real life company works.

Youngmin made a face as he remembered the cranky superior's words.

(“You graduates think you guys are so great. You get good grades on paper but so what? Can't operate in a real firm. Tsk.”)

“No, are you listening? A real case!” Kwangmin exclaimed again, expecting his brother to give him a more enthusiastic response. “Not a neighbourhood case of stolen bicycles! A case of stolen artefacts!”

“Kwangmin.” Youngmin sighed, gesturing at the pile of files before him. “Good for you, go solve your cases while I solve these files.”

Kwangmin pouted slightly, deciding they really grew up into adults with responsibility.

But then again, ever since he kept his myriad of questions to himself, he pretty much is only left with his family to vent everything else out. While Youngmin struggled to find a balance between work and life (aka a rambling younger twin) for the next few weeks, Kwangmin kept his brother updated with details of the case he was working on.

(Confidentiality to be damned. They were twins, if not through words they'd probably find out through telepathy. Right?)

It was the week when Kwangmin started feeling the pressure of having to close the case soon. It had been dragged on for too long.

“So logically speaking, the thief is working alone and is pretty stupid. The artefacts stolen are of moderately high artistic value but can't fetch prices, not with the police following the case like that. They weren't very valuable before either.” Kwangmin rambled, while Youngmin pointed at his statistics and asked for Kwangmin's opinion. “There's too much focus on sales, the investment in fixed assets needs to go up. When was the last time the factory had their machines checked?”

“I'll ask.” Youngmin nodded. Kwangmin's always better at logical things, maybe he would have gotten a perfect grade in business. “I say you're looking at the case too logically. Not everything in this world is about money.”

“Then why would he steal?” Kwangmin frowned, not understanding.

“They. Maybe they are protesting.” Youngmin shrugged. “You only look at the prices, the locations, the physical details of the thefts, but if they were as invaluable as you state, maybe it's the message behind all the art works. Maybe there's a running theme, I don't know. Just a suggestion, try getting information about the artists and the messages.”

Kwangmin looked at his brother in awe. “Right, thanks!”

-

Two comments! Thank you, thank you ^^
Here's Kwangmin's introduction ^^