'So what is this thought experiment about anyway?' drawled Jongdae, clearly bored to death after an entire day of Quantum Mechanics.

'It's a stupid paradox in which a cat manages to stay both dead and alive at the same time. Will you please let me take some rest now?!' snapped Baekhyun, rubbing his head in a futile attempt to ease the stress caused by the mere utterance of the infamous "thought experiment".

Their grey classroom seemed even greyer when Quantum Mechanics was taken in such depth. Jongdae never understood the purpose of giving so much importance to invisible particles and waves. Baekhyun, on the other hand, only wished to get into Statistical Mechanics to atleast be in the same room as his longtime crush Taeyeon (not that she'd notice him anyway). After six whole hours of Quantum Mechanics, the duo lay in a pool of self-pity and misery, feeling happy in each other's pathetic company. But of course, that was to pass as well. Because their dearest friend Do Kyungsoo just had to fill them up on unnecessary facts regarding their current concept— Schrödinger's Cat Experiment: The Most Illogical Idea To Ever Cross A Human's Mind. Then again, when has Quantum Physics ever not defied common sense?

'You make it sound stupid, Baekhyun. It defines quantum superpositioning and explains how it applies in daily life for us. Look Jongdae, you place a cat in a sealed box along with a radioactive substance and a flask filled with poisonous gas...' lectured Kyungsoo, ignoring the made-up snores from Baekhyun's side.

'Isn't that animal cruelty?'

'It's an imaginary situation so no worries. As I was saying, the chance of decay of the radioactive material is fifty-fifty. If the decay occurs, then the flask breaks and the cat dies. But it is equally probable for the cat to live as well. Hence there comes a state in this experiment where we have to assume that the cat is both half-dead and half-alive. So we'll never know whether the cat lives or dies unless... curiosity gets the better of us and we actually open the box.'

'You mean, curiosity may or may not have killed the cat?'

'If that was intended to be a joke, I'll smash your head against this infernal table!' snarled Baekhyun, his migraine seeming to have worsened by the second.

'Don't worry, pudding. I meant it purely for my own intellectual purpose...' retorted Jongdae waspishly, annoying Baekhyun even more.

'I don't see why you guys even care for that moron's stupid idea. Schrödinger was a womanising pig, for God's sake!' 

'That is not why I like him, Byun Baek,' clipped Kyungsoo sternly,'If there was ever a man who taught us that it's alright to defy the usual principles of Physics to have a breakthrough, it's Erwin Schrödinger.'

'Baek's just jealous that he can't comprehend the concept, Soo,' put in Jongdae slyly,'Or else he could've impressed Taeyeon by now...'

Before a red-faced Baekhyun could open his mouth to verbally abuse Jongdae, Kyungsoo leapt up and swept his books off the table. Without turning around, he asked them, 'I'm going to have some coffee. Shall I get you guys something?'

'Blueberry muffin!' yelled Baekhyun, momentarily letting go of his rage.

'I'll just have whatever you're having...' answered Jongdae.

Nodding his head, Kyungsoo stepped out of their classroom just moments after which a mighty uproar resounded from the room. Walking down the corridor that overlooked their vast campus, he sighed in relief that he'd escaped sooner than later. He wasn't going to let anything ruin his perfect day—

'KYUNGSOOOO!!! STOP IN THE NAME OF LUDWIG BOLTZMANN!!!'

— but unfortunately for him, a certain someone had to happen. All of his previous determination flowed straight down the drains, mixing into the dark, murky waters of the desolate gutters of his mind. He felt his head throbbing with pain as the arrhythmic sound of clumsy footsteps grew louder and closer to him. Without even having to second guess as to who the owner of that baritone voice was, Kyungsoo breathed,

'What is it this time, Chanyeol?'

Turning around, Kyungsoo drew his eyes from the broad chest in front of his view all the way up to the eager face of Park Chanyeol that glowed brightly with enthusiasm. If that same enthusiasm was ever personified, Kyungsoo wouldn't hesitate to plunge a knife into its pretty face.

'I got it! I FINALLY found the answer!' beamed Chanyeol, his mouth wide and eye twitching.

Even during such bizzare, only-God-knows-what-when-how-and-why joyful moments, Kyungsoo was never lacking in the sarcasm department. 'To what? The amazing mechanism behind the formation of a rainbow? Well then, good for you. Remind me to buy you a cookie later. So long!' 

'No. No! NO! I need to show it to you!' cried the ever-perseverant Chanyeol, desperately latching onto the other's arm. 

'Why meeeee?!' whined Kyungsoo, unsuccessfully trying to wiggle himself out of the vice-like grip,'Go ask Junmyeon or someone. I heard he's good at General Relativity!'

'I don't need a Relativist. I'm in dire need of a Quantum Physicist to check the accuracy of my equation. Which is why I'm begging you!'

'Then promise me it won't be like that time we tried demonstrating your stupid angular momentum in outer space experiment which nearly cost Yixing an arm and his entire head!'

Chanyeol winced at the memory of that one particular disaster incident but was quick to defend his failed project. 'Not fair! He was the one who got distracted when Jongin "accidentally" flexed his arms! It isn't my fault Mr. Kim God-Almighty-Look-At-Those-Biceps Jongin is more attractive than my precious asteroid!'

'You mean that boulder you summoned from the deepest pit in Hades which you later presented to me, along with the unfortunate task of rolling it up a damn hill!'

'Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Can we please put that failure behind us and start afresh?' pleaded Chanyeol, crouching on his knees for forgiveness.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes in resignation. 'Whatever. It's not like I have a choice. Lead the way to my gallows, hombre.'

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The room Chanyeol occupied for his research had a musty smell to it. The smell of old books and dampness. A small dust-covered window managed to illuminate as much of the room as possible. Several derivations were scrawled onto the blackboard and the walls, resembling a lunatic's cell in an asylum. But what had Kyungsoo transfixed was a large, elongated chute right in the middle of the room. It was covered in some shiny material and had different wires going all around it. 

'Is this aluminium foil cylinder your mighty invention?' he asked at last.

'It's my wormhole tunnel,' came the crisp reply, 'A certain technical difficulty posed a severe hindrance to my work but I'm all done with that now.'

Kyungsoo swiftly covered up his snort with a little cough. Chanyeol seemed serious so that meant... he wasn't joking one bit.

'You do know a wormhole is a 2D circular hole connected to another one by a 3D tunnel in outer space, right?' questioned Kyungsoo, stressing each and every word.

'I detect the skepticism in your voice but trust me; I've set one up right here. You can check my equations and verify.'

Chanyeol pointed out to an underlined equation written on the wall and Kyungsoo read it thoroughly. He cross-checked with a few of the existing equations that linked different dimensions and he had to admit that he was impressed. Chanyeol assuredly wasn't as idiotic he appeared to be.

'It says here that the tunnel is 3D and so are the entries?'

'A 3D circle can be considered as a cylinder because we multiply height with the area of a circle. But it can also be a sphere, right? And we all know that the Earth is more or less a sphere,' explained Chanyeol but was quickly cut off by the next doubt shot at him.

'Are you telling me that if I walk through this contraption, I'll actually end up in another planet?'

'The physical meanings that we use here on Earth aren't significant when we take the entire Universe into regard, Kyungsoo. This is a totally different experience... like an alternate Universe we can't exactly reach but at the same time, we can actually see it and feel it.'

'I don't need the philosophy, Mr. Park. I need the facts so start explaining the different dimensions involved.'

'Kyungsoo, you know I'm really bad at stuff like that...' was the sheepish response.

'Then stop talking and let me think. Would it be similar to intruding upon the sets of a movie?' went on Kyungsoo like the erudite scholar that he is, not minding Chanyeol one bit, 'We stand still as the actors play out in front of us though we're all part of the same scene...'

'However, the relative time difference will be quite evident so that kind of makes it feel like—'

'—a lucid dream?'

'That's more like it!' beamed Chanyeol, swinging his hand to share a powerful high-five with the Quantum Physics expert.

A shiver of excitement broke out along Kyungsoo's spine as his skin met Chanyeol's during that fraction of a second. Withdrawing his hands to his side, he sent a silent prayer for help to God. But his thoughts still couldn't prevent him from letting his lips quirk into a smile for the first time since morning. Trust Park Chanyeol to get him all cheery about some hellish experiment. Calming his excited nerves back to ground state, Kyungsoo assumed his stoic demeanour once again and resumed his viva voce with Chanyeol. 

'How safe is it to enter this thing? It won't teleport me to some God-forsaken planet, will it?'

'Nope. Just another Earth. You can call it a parallel universe. I've set the electromagnetic fields accordingly.'

'And what about dark matter, exotic particles and the negative energy? If anyone goes through that, they'll die in a matter of seconds.'

'This isn't your average wormhole. It's made specifically for the positive energy to let us through. Besides, this entire tunnel is designed to be magnetically invisible. The only thing we can't evade is the dilation of time since we're meddling with geodesic mechanisms. I won't tell you more though. Being the niminy-piminy, orthodox Quantum Physicist that you are, you'll only continue interrogating me till I die.'

'Hey! You were the one who requested my guidance!' huffed Kyungsoo before noticing the cheeky grin on Chanyeol's face.

'Jeez! Can't you see that I just wanted to ask you out on this trip? This experiment is special to me so I felt like I needed the most special person in my life by my side.'

On hearing that statement, Kyungsoo tried his level best to ignore the fact that his heart casually missed a beat. He balled his fists into his shirt, nearly ripping it through the sides. Pretending to survey a complex equation, he angled his face away from Chanyeol's view to hide the obvious colouration of his cheeks. Either it was cherry red out of utter embarrassment or pale blue due to the sheer fact that he'd stopped breathing for a while.

'Why?' began Kyungsoo the moment he could string his thoughts together properly,'So we can die together?'

'Hey! Don't be a meanie!!! I thought it'd be nice to experience this with you since we've known each other for so long now,' said Chanyeol, suddenly looking very embarrassed (not that Kyungsoo found it adorable or anything; "Disgusted" would be the apt word Kyungsoo would use to dishonestly describe his state of mind then), 'Trust me this one time and I promise you it will be worthwhile.'

'I can't say I trust you but I will surely accompany you. Atleast we'll die together like true best friends.'

Chanyeol's smile seemed to drop a bit at that statement but Kyungsoo, being the ever-logical one, convinced himself that it was just an optical illusion. The room was barely lit which made it easy for him to put the blame on reason it out to be due to poor lighting.

'Yeah and you'll beat me up the moment we enter heaven,' joked Chanyeol in a mild voice.

'I think you mean hell.'

Chuckling at the shorter one's comment, Chanyeol turned around to switch on the power source to the tunnel. The whole room was instantly filled with the sound of a loud hum and the ceiling lights flickered and died out. Kyungsoo held onto Chanyeol's forearm, waiting for the whole thing to burst in their faces. But a few tumultuous moments later, everything went back to normal. The room was just as it had been before. Quiet and dim.

'Ready, partner?' asked Chanyeol, turning himself towards a reluctant Kyungsoo.

'After you, kind sir.'

'Soo!'

'Why don't we just send Baekhyun and Jongdae instead? If we're lucky, we might never have to see nor hear from them again...' 

'Wow... and to think we actually had a mutual bond built on trust.'

'Alriiiight! Stop complaining. We'll do it together!' grumbled Kyungsoo, mockingly rolling his eyes.

And simultaneously, they put their right feet forward into the transportation device. Once Chanyeol shut the entrance, it became terribly dark and quiet inside. Nudging a hesitant Kyungsoo's shoulder, Chanyeol led them forward, purely acting by the strength of his own hope that everything will turn out alright. The pressure differences exerted by the fields hurt their ears and finally, after what seemed to be a tiring journey of small, unsure steps through the tunnel, they bumped against a steel door. Gripping onto the safety lever on the door, the duo yanked it open and a sliver of light came through. Despite being Chanyeol's biggest critic, Kyungsoo was feeling quite giddy about this one particular experiment. They hurried out of the long passage in excitement and anticipation while also letting their eyes adjust to the sudden contrast in brightness. In the eagerness to know how his experiment turned out, Chanyeol nearly shoved Kyungsoo out of the wormhole. The space-time travellers tripped and fumbled over a few thick wires as they squinted hard to take a good look at their new destination. Only, the destination didn't seem so new.

It was the same quiet and dimly lit room. The only difference being that the whole thing was in a haze because of the relativistic time difference. Or perhaps, their own senses were playing tricks on them.

Despite the dizziness enveloping his mind, Kyungsoo's arm involuntarily rubbed circles onto Chanyeol's back in an effort to comfort him and also because he couldn't bear to see the look of total dejection on his friend's face. Facing harsh realities were always tough, especially for a dreamer like Chanyeol. Kyungsoo was about to console his friend with encouraging words when a nasal voice broke through the air:

'Kyungsoo! Chanyeol! What are you even doing here? It's time for Mathematical Physics and here you are... lazing around.'

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo whipped around to meet a neatly dressed, bespectacled Baekhyun. Kyungsoo observed how poised he looked for a person who just got into a tiff. And what's with the different outfit and combed hair? Baekhyun never once cared for his hair...

'Why are you guys just sitting there? Like seriously, stop ogling, you two! I mean, I've had enough of that with Taeyeon already so I don't need unnecessary attention from you as well.'

'Baek— what are you even saying?' cried Chanyeol, 'You would give your life to get Taeyeon to reciprocate your love. She hasn't actually spurned you for once, man.'

But Baekhyun just gaped at them with a strange look on his face. Putting his hands on his hips, he barked,

'That's blasphemy! Haven't you ever listened to anything I've said? I simply detest the fact that I have to share Statistical Mechanics classes with her and now you go about telling me that I pine for her love? Have you gone bonkers?!'

Before Chanyeol could argue with him anymore, Kyungsoo stepped forward and dusted off his pants. Chanyeol dreaded the tense bow gracing Kyungsoo's back and shoulders, his tiny form resembling a very angry Gollum. With a sharp look into Baekhyun's eyes, he snarled said,

'I hope you got that blueberry muffin you asked for.'

Baekhyun instantly yelped in indignation, 'Blueberry muffin? Buddy, you know I hate those things! I sent you to get me gingerbread cookies...,' but his tone softened mid-sentence, '...hey, are you alright? You look like you might burst into flames any second.'

Chanyeol gulped as he shut his eyes in fear while the seriousness of the situation ultimately sunk into his thick head. It was a Universal truth that:(a) Byun Baekhyun was in love with Taeyeon, who more or less rejected his advances every single time and that (b) Byun Baekhyun had a never-ending craving for blueberry muffins and pretty much despised anything with ginger in it, no less gingerbread cookies. Nothing could change that unless... the Universe itself had changed and the reason behind the specimen's mood change was quite overt now. Chanyeol could almost hear Kyungsoo's blood boiling through his veins and he mentally awaited a fatal blow to his head. The swifter, the better. But all Kyungsoo managed to say in reply was a monotonous, 'Kidding,' but his face didn't reflect any kind of humour whatsoever.

Baekhyun, being the oblivious one as always, laughed his infamous maniacal laughter and Chanyeol forced some out as well. But he certainly knew that he'd made a mistake by bringing Kyungsoo, someone so averse to change, to a place that felt so familiar and yet so distant. He never calculated the chance for the factor of anti-parallelism to creep into his equations and now he was stuck with finding the best way to put forward an apology and, by that process, save his neck .

'You know what, Baek. Go ahead. We need to discuss our upcoming project so we'll be a bit late,' resumed Kyungsoo curtly, pointing towards the large, accursed cylinder behind them, and Chanyeol could already feel the grip of Kyungsoo's fingers around his trachea, however much impossible that might be.

'Okay, but then I'm taking the seat beside the window.'

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol gave him a thumbs-up and a content Baekhyun strutted out of class, leaving them in peace. Immediately turning to his friend, Chanyeol curtly began with, 'Kyungsoo, I'm—' but Kyungsoo wasn't in the mood for his heartfelt sermon.

'We need to get out of here right now before the actual Chanyeol and Kyungsoo from this planet stumble upon us,' he retorted, trying to recollect the scarce happy moments in his life as he didn't want to viciously lash out on the poor fellow.

'Oh yeah. Quick thinking...'

'Let's go back home fast before I have a nervous breakdown here...'

'I know you don't like this situation but it might not end up as badly as you think.'

Not wanting to carry on about their predicament, Kyungsoo decided to change the subject. Pointing to an indecipherable line on the board, he asked, 'Have you noticed how this wormhole is not even fixed yet? It's like they can't move past that one equation.'

'Yeah but, unlike the Chanyeol here, I happen to have all the solutions.' Kyungsoo picked up on the boyish arrogance laced between those words.

'Then start solving the problem, Einstein, and I'll get down to fixing the wiring and fields.'

'But, Soo...' whispered Chanyeol, silently contemplating suicide,'... all my notes are back home.'

Kyungsoo's eyes glinted with rage as he grabbed the lanky scientist's arm and began twisting it, screaming, 'YOU. HALFWIT. LUMP. OF. A. WOODEN-HEADED. CLOD!'

Chanyeol really wanted to highlight Kyungsoo's exceptional vocabulary when it comes to calling him a variety of colourful names that all mean the same thing but the pain shooting up his arm told him otherwise. Just when he thought his ulna and radius were about to swap positions, the torture surprisingly ended. He blinked back his hot tears and observed how Kyungsoo's eyebrows were knit together, a sure sign that he was deeply thinking of something. Rubbing his forearm, Chanyeol queried,

'Penny for your thoughts?' 

Releasing his bottom lip from his teeth, Kyungsoo spoke,'What if we get the notes from your home here? I mean, there's not much of a difference between both zones. You can simply finish that problematic equation for Park Chanyeol Version 2.0.'

'But what if he hasn't written any of the relevant notes?'

'Unless you have a better plan, which I doubt you do, I suggest you follow my instructions, okay?'

'I admit defeat! Now stop being a pompous little tyrant. It's not like you'd listen to my suggestions anyway.'

'Did you have to add the prefix of "little"?'

Chanyeol giggled, clearly delighted at having struck a nerve. 'What's next, Captain Compact?'

'Heck, I don't know!' snapped Kyungsoo, wanting to sock Chanyeol in the face and knock out those precious pearly whites.

'But you do know how to go about this, right?' 

Meeting Chanyeol's worried eyes, Kyungsoo managed to give him a tender smile. He didn't like this new place one bit but he had to stay strong for Chanyeol because deep down, as much as he hates to say it and likes to deny it, he loved that dork. Sure, they mostly bickered and argued and fought like old friends but somewhere along the three years they spent discussing muons and white holes, Chanyeol had managed to endear himself onto Kyungsoo's heart. Everything about Chanyeol which Kyungsoo initially found annoying soon became indispensable. His voice and quirky mannerisms crept into Kyungsoo's mind as long as he wasn't thinking about waves and particles but as per recent times, almost eight months ago to be specific, certain changes took place that rendered all of Kyungsoo's postulates false. Chanyeol became a constant distraction and once, Kyungsoo nearly wrote "Park Chanyeol" in place of "Max Planck" in the introduction of his latest research paper. Baekhyun and Jongdae pretty much inferred where his true feelings lay by analysing his half-attentive moods and glazed-over eyes but they were too afraid to say anything lest they invoke his fury. Moreover, it's not as though Kyungsoo would readily divulge his true emotions anytime soon. How silly would it be for a man of brains to listen to his heart, something so comparatively mundane? 

'We're scientists, Yeol; we'll come up with ideas along the way.'

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Sneaking out through the side gates of their campus, the duo skipped out into familiar streets. Chanyeol wanted to stop for some food but one withering look from Kyungsoo ceased all whining. After walking for an hour or so in step, with a cloud of silence looming over them, Chanyeol finally decided to cheer his friend up. 

'Hey, wanna hear a Quantum joke?' he began, completely unaware of the crease indenting Kyungsoo's forehead, 'A neutron walks into a bar. The bartender says: "For you, no charge".'

'Well, atleast it's not as bad as that stupid Relativity fact you imparted on my Christmas card,' retorted Kyungsoo, as stone faced as ever.

'Oh, I know! The "moving midgets are shortened" one, right?' taunted Chanyeol, as he gleefully observed his friend's face contort into a grimace.

'Exactly that. I don't even see what's so funny about it.'

Chanyeol's tone immediately shifted to teasing. 'Of course you can't see it, Kyungsoo. As per the Theory of Relativity, the frame of reference is different for the both of us. Grow a few more inches and then you'll see.'

'I swear I've had enough of you mocking my height with your seemingly innocent Relativity jokes!'

'Einstein must be proud of me.'

'Sorry to burst your bubble but your precious idol was as short as me,' spat Kyungsoo, as they walked into the front gate of Chanyeol's house, 'Besides, we'll see how the frame of reference changes when I stab you in the gut while you pleasantly socialise with your vain fellow-giants.'

'Now, now... don't be so cross, Dwarfy. We've reached home so kindly put on a pleasant face.'

Walking up the steps that led to the front door, Kyungsoo mustered up his best smile and made sure it stayed that way. Chanyeol rang the bell and swiftly turned to Kyungsoo for a final word:

'You distract Mom and Yura and I'll quickly get those notes.'

Just as Kyungsoo nodded in approval, the door opened to reveal Chanyeol's petite mother, who seemed oddly surprised at their arrival. Taking a moment to gather herself, she asked, 'What are the both of you doing here? I thought you had plans after classes.'

'I forgot to take something,' muttered Chanyeol but before he could excuse himself, Yura stepped out with a notepad and pen in her hands, probably busy with a new article for the papers. She looked unkempt which was never the case back in their world where Yura always managed to look ramp-ready at any given circumstance.

'Oh my God!!! Did he ruin your date already?! Aww you poor thing!' she cooed, embracing a stumped Kyungsoo,''Why do I even bother giving you dating tips, Yeol?'

'Stop wasting your time and go find whatever it is that you were searching for. You were going on and on about how much you adored Kyungsoo and how you felt guilty about not taking him out and now here you are, standing around like a bumbling fool!' scolded Chanyeol's mother, her gaze boring into her son's face.

'Five years as a couple and he still hasn't learnt a thing, eh?' teased Yura, nudging Kyungsoo in the ribs.

And like that, a photon of realisation flashed through their foggy minds. For a moment, they felt as though the Universe had stabbed them in their backs, rendering them incapacitated. A beet red blush crawled up their heated faces as they swiftly averted their gazes. Kyungsoo felt tides rising and falling in his abdomen as he stared straight into the rug on the floor, trying to convince himself that there was some sort of treasure trove hidden between the frayed fibres. From the corner of his eye, he saw Chanyeol's skinny legs rush up the stairs, probably out of the unbearable embarrassment.

Once inside his room, Chanyeol backed up against the door and placed a hand on his chest in some sort of attempt to soothe his racing heart. What kind of game were the Gods of space-time playing on him? Under normal conditions, Chanyeol would've rejoiced at the prospect of going out with Kyungsoo, maybe for some ice cream or something, gazing at the constellations followed by a sweet kiss on the lips and— 

Focus, Chanyeol, focus! he chided himself, as his eyes darted all over the room, That's enough of dreaming for now. Get your notes. You always keep them in your shelf. Then go back and help Kyungs— sorry, him. He walked up and found his notes, which were left exactly where he'd predicted. The solutions to the equations were half-done, thus confirming Kyungsoo's doubts, so Chanyeol quickly worked it out on another sheet while also keeping an eye on the time. He couldn't dilly-dally or else there would be consequences and he didn't need any more reason to complicate the already messed-up air between him and Kyungsoo. Extracting as many solutions as he could, Chanyeol grabbed the paper and rushed down but only after he jotted down the hints for his counterpart to follow (Yeah, he's a teddy bear like that...)

Kyungsoo, on the other hand, pondered over the strange ways of the Universe. Him and Chanyeol as lovers in an antiparallel Universe meant that... they were supposed to be enemies back in their Universe? Or was he supposed to suppress all his feelings and establish the fact that they were "just friends"? Should he be willing to rip out his heart and make the ultimate sacrifice so as to maintain the balance of the Universe? Even his research paper on Mathematical Probability couldn't explain what the Universe had in store for him. And that sinking feeling caused by the what-ifs was draining his energy. The what-ifs that would never happen only because another Universe stole the chance from him. All his dreams were now turned to mere what-ifs. All those times when Baekhyun and Jongdae slyly hinted to Kyungsoo about confessing his feelings will now return as nightmares of remorse and regret.

Spiralling into a state of insanity, he desperately needed some answers to reassure him that everything was fine.

Some hope.

Some truth.

Some reality.

Something.

Anything.

'Okay, we'll be leaving now!' shouted Chanyeol as he skipped over to the front door, trying not to look at Kyungsoo as much as he possibly could.

'Go on then, Kyungsoo. If he ruins the date again, please do inform me and I'll gladly break his neck for you!' joked Yura, nevertheless shooting her brother a dark look. Following Chanyeol's lead in an abstracted manner, Kyungsoo silently stepped out, a million questions gnawing at his heart. He was unaware of the awkwardness that hung in the air between him and Chanyeol, who was making sure to stay as far as possible from Kyungsoo. A kind of silence that would drive anybody mad enveloped them and soon, Chanyeol's form sped faster and faster while Kyungsoo gradually came to a halt.

'Chanyeol?' arose his feeble yet unwavering voice, finally cutting through the heavy atmosphere, almost at once triggering an alarm in the addressee's mind.

Chanyeol responded with an uneasy glance over his shoulders and he was surprised to see how far behind Kyungsoo was. He couldn't remember ever seeing his friend look this fragile, standing there like a lone flower in the fields, about to break away with the wind. Instinctively, he rushed to Kyungsoo's side and wrapped his large hands around those supple arms. Rough over smooth.

'What's wrong? Are you ill? You look very pale...' blabbered Chanyeol, his heart pouring out a kind of care that he never knew existed within him.

Kyungsoo merely stared at him with large, unblinking eyes. 'Do you believe in destiny or is everything just a sum of probabilities?'

'Umm... I guess it depends— if it's meant to be then Math doesn't get to have a say in it,' answered Chanyeol incompetently, taken aback by the absurdity of the question.

'Okay, here's a hypothesis: Probability of a certain event turns out to be zero, meaning that it's impossible. But what if someone makes it happen? What then?'

Chanyeol laughed mildly. 'It shows that you should never take people who study Probability seriously. I mean, have you even heard the kind of stuff Yixing comes up with? According to the calculations he made two months ago, he concluded that if the Earth developed its own gravity by moving faster and increasing its mass, the Sun would eventually have to revolve around the Earth. And the funny thing is, it sort of makes sense. Atleast he thinks so. It counts only as long as you believe in it.'

'So Physics can't rule over things like hope and love?'

'...And space-time singularities.'

For once, Do Kyungsoo actually listened to Park Chanyeol. No interrupting. No sarcastic comments. No name-calling. Just attention. With every word Chanyeol spoke, Kyungsoo had to acknowledge the truth behind them. It felt good to know that he was held by someone who cared for him enough to try and piece his life together. Deducing from the increase in the warmth of their mingling breaths on his face, Kyungsoo was suddenly aware of how close their bodies were, still firmly held together by Chanyeol. He also mentally noted to himself that Chanyeol's eyes were a chocolate brown and not an inky black as he always thought they were. And at that precise moment, in between the searching gazes and the grazing touches, the Universe finally decided to open Do Kyungsoo's eyes. It seemed clearer to Kyungsoo than ever before. He realised what his life emulated— the same thought experiment nobody could get their heads around. And he was currently stuck in the bloody paradox. He was the Cat. The Universe was Schrödinger. And his heart was the Box.

The mind-boggling paradox: Did he like Chanyeol or did he hate him? At that moment, he still assumed that he was in a state where he both loved and hated Chanyeol. And the only way he could know what his actual state was if he let himself get curious.

Time to open the Box... Sorry, Mr. Schrödinger.

To Kyungsoo's surprise, his feet involuntarily began to propel him forward so fast that his lips came crashing into an equally flabbergasted Chanyeol. Kyungsoo fearfully and patiently waited for a response and after taking a moment to collect himself, Chanyeol lightly pressed back. That one slight effort from Chanyeol sent Kyungsoo floating over cloud nine as he slid his fingers over the other's chest. Pushing himself up a bit more to ease the burning desire, he felt Chanyeol's lips moulding into a happy smile, gangly arms settling around his waist.

Voices that belonged to Stephen Hawking and Richard Feynman kept reminding Kyungsoo that Quantum Physics didn't need a Singularity to explain the beginning of time. But Kyungsoo would have none of that now. Not with Chanyeol nibbling gently on his lower lip. 

Space.

Time.

Space-time.

What did it matter? None of it is defined when it comes to a space-time singularity. The edge of space-time that breaks all the rules of physics. It's either your future or your past and you'll never see it coming until it rams into you, knocking you off your safe, cosy cocoon filled with ideas made of common sense. But it is only after the fateful incident that you realise how much more stable an infinity is compared to all the other numbers out there in the intergalactic, symmetric, expanding mess we call the Universe.

Kyungsoo was a man of Probability. Chanyeol was a man of Geodesics. But somewhere beyond the event horizon, where the Geodesics merge into incomplete infinity, lies that infinitely small space containing infinitely dense material. The space-time singularity.

Beyond what everyone could see, Kyungsoo had that miniscule spot reserved in his heart for his never ending love for Chanyeol. 

His own Singularity.

That threatened to either burst forth like the Big Bang or pull Kyungsoo into a never-ending black hole. Well, if Chanyeol was by his side, then he wouldn't mind the latter option at all and would much rather watch his heart collapse and be replaced by a black hole that would lead the both of them into a dark, eternal abyss here time is dilated to the extent of making them float in space forever.

'So...' drawled Chanyeol, the moment they pulled apart for some desperately needed air, '...what does this make us?'

'You tell me, genius,' shot back Kyungsoo, letting his fingers trace the taller one's jawline.

'I can safely say we're more than friends now, though it pains me to know that I didn't make the first move...'

'How long will it take for you to muster up some courage in that scrawny body of yours?'

'Considering it's you, the fear of rejection manifests itself into mental images of death and sorrow.'

Kyungsoo shot him an amused smirk. 'If that's the case, let me help you out considering what a wimp you are— Park Chanyeol, I love you.'

Chanyeol's jaw slackened as he slowly took in those words. Do Kyungsoo actually confessed to him? Was this even real? Did his equations ever consider the possibility of fantasies playing tricks on his mind? Maybe the excessive dilation of time was muddling his thought processes—

'Hello?! Cat got your tongue?' demanded Kyungsoo, playfully punching the taller one's chest, thus bringing him back once and for all to reality.

'No, I— God, Kyungsoo! I swear— I love you too! I really do!' gushed Chanyeol, going bug-eyed as he cupped Kyungsoo's face, lips grazing each other.

'Then I request you to kindly show me,' was the last thing Kyungsoo whispered into Chanyeol's ears before letting himself get pulled into another kiss, this time a lot more passionate than before.

                                                                     ♦                       ♦                        ♦                     ♦                                     

'Kyungsoo, I'm scared. What if I've led you into another Universe? A Universe where we end up dying?' cried Chanyeol, looking around the familiar room, damp and dim. He wrung his hands in anticipation as he waited for his little boyfriend to emerge out of the space-time portal. 

'Or worse, expelled,' mocked Kyungsoo, trying to wrench his leg free from a bunch of entwined wires, 'I'm pretty sure we're back home since I helped mend the wiring.

'How very modest of you. And that Hermione Granger reference isn't helping me calm down.' But despite all the tension, Chanyeol discretely took Kyungsoo's hand in his as soon as the latter escaped his bonds.

'You owe me some praise after all that drama I had to go through. Now if your blood pressure is back to normal, can we get back to class and inform Baekhyun—'

'Inform me about what?' chirped a nonchalant voice that sent an odd sense of déjà vu and slight nausea through them like a wave. To nobody's surprise, Byun Baekhyun lay stretched over the table like a feline by the side of the room, his face tired yet canny.

'Why the hell is he always the one to greet us?' mumbled Chanyeol, making sure only Kyungsoo heard it, before turning fully to the one person who could provide him with the answers needed to validate his experiment, 'How long were we gone?'

'Jongdae and I went searching for you about two hours ago,' answered Baekhyun unsuspectingly, picking lint off his dress, only to continue with his ramble. 'He's at the other wing, probably flirting with Sunyoung. On the other hand, I happened to find this cosy room, decided to have myself a nice siesta and then, after about another three hours or so, out came the both of you, clearly upto some hanky-panky within that tube. Soo, I can now gladly say I understand why exactly you admire Schrödinger...' and this statement was followed by a suggestive waggle of the eyebrows.

Kyungsoo's expression, however, was nothing short of grim. 'Please stop doing that God-awful thing with your eyebrows. You look like an old sicko, for Pete's sake!'

'Say, Baekhyun, how about we go get something to eat? I'm sure we're all famished,' suggested Chanyeol with a grin,'I'll treat you guys to anything you want.'

'Then be prepared to waste your money on a whole crate of freshly baked blueberry cupcakes, man!'— and Kyungsoo's face visibly relaxed—'Anyway, what was that thing you wanted to tell me about? Did you, perhaps, overhear my beloved Taeyeon confessing her never-ending love for me?' 

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo shared a knowing look that seemed to take care of all their worries. The worries that ceased to exist after one utter mishap of a journey. Wrapping an arm around each other for a sidewise peck on the lips, they broke eye contact only to gaze into Byun Baekhyun's thunderstruck face and after taking a moment to relish in the hobgoblin's speechlessness, the new couple beamed together,

'You won't bloody believe what happened!'