Dongwoon tested the microphone one more time, humming softly into the instrument. A loud sound resonated through the empty room and he grinned, pleased with the result. He flashed a thumbs up sign to the staff member helping him with the Raffle preparations. The worker nodded, going off to do something in another section of the staging area.

Jumping down from the black platform, Dongwoon caught sight of a handsome young man walking towards him. He was clad in black, lips turned up in a smile.

“Ah, Joon-hyung,” Dongwoon greeted bowing to the older male.

Joon stopped in front of the third year, patting his shoulder. “Good afternoon,” he replied, sharp features oddly warm, “how are things going for today’s event?”

“Fine,” Dongwoon answered, smiling, “we’re pretty much done. Now we just need to wait for the raffle drawing. I think Sungmin is out collecting all of the participants’ slips right now.”

“Oh, so does that mean you have some free time?” The tone of his voice caught Dongwoon’s attention. His eyes flickered with questions. Joon chuckled, saying, “It’s really nothing bad. I just wanted to talk to you…after seeing how close you are to Mir. It was really surprising.”

The younger male nodded slightly, carefully. “You’re really worried about him, huh?”

Joon sighed tiredly yet his gaze was fond. “Can you step away from this area or no?” His eyes moved around the vast Dining Hall.

“Yeah, I can,” Dongwoon affirmed, grabbing his jacket and following his hyung towards the exit.

They stepped into the cold, sunlit afternoon. It was strangely thrilling to feel the warm sun beating down while icy winds wrapped them. Dongwoon offered a small smile to the chill, snuggling deeper into his high collared coat, faux fur brushing against his skin tenderly.

Without speaking, Joon led them towards the park. All the while Dongwoon was studying the man, wondering what had prompted their current situation. If it had something to do with Mir then why wasn’t Joon talking to Taemin or well, Mir himself? It made no sense. Furthermore, Dongwoon had only known the person of interest for a year or so. Even Taemin knew him better.

So…what was going on?

“When did you get close to Mir?” Joon prompted casually, slowing his steps as they reached a portion of the man-made park that was empty.

Some benches floated around, along with trash bins and lamp posts. Dongwoon looked up, meeting the deep-colored eyes peering at him. “I’m not really sure. We just got along when we met last year,” he explained.

Joon nodded understandingly, “That’s no surprise. You two were really natural together. I’ve never seen Mir get along with someone so quickly.”

“Really? He’s close to Ryeowook and Sungmin as well. Plus he has a boyfriend. I doubt he’s incapable of getting along with others,” the fair haired boy remarked, astounded by the defensiveness of his tone. It hadn’t been purposeful…

A chuckle fell from the older male’s lips. “Yes, that’s true. But I was shocked to find out you weren’t the ‘boyfriend’.” Joon registered the confusion on Dongwoon’s face but continued explaining at his own pace nonetheless, “It just…looked like you two were together. Or at least, something is going on between you two right?”

Dongwoon’s eyes widened. “What?” he replied a bit too quickly, sharply, “Nothing is going on as far as Mir is concerned. He doesn’t see anyone except for Taemin.” And damn it all if Dongwoon didn’t loathe that fact.

“Well I don’t think it’s quite like that,” the darkly clothed man said carefully, each word articulated, “Mir and Taemin are just similar.”

The young boy smothered a scoff. Clearing his throat, Dongwoon replied, “Are you sure you met Taemin, hyung? Him and Mir…they’re absolutely nothing alike.”

Joon frowned, shaking his head. “No, no I’m positive they’re similar. They both have trust issues, relationship turmoil, and the inability to speak their mind clearly.” He turned around slightly, eyeing Dongwoon. “Really, it’s like having two of Mir around when I see them together.”

“Trust issues?” Apparently everything else had been tuned out. He knew Mir lacked social skills but hearing that he was all of those things…just put everything into perspective.

“Yeah, you know how he’s really awkward and gangly, sort of like he doesn’t fit in his own body?” Dongwoon nodded and Joon went on, “Well it’s not because he was born that way.” He sat down on the frozen fountain’s ledge, waiting for the younger boy to sit down beside him.

Joon released a heavy breath, eyelids falling a bit. “You know how all of us foster kids have a sob story?”

“Mmhmm…,” Dongwoon mumbled, dread sinking into the pit of his stomach to drench the already tight, poisonous knot. Did he really want to hear the rest of the story? Rather, why did Joon trust him with such information? It couldn’t only be because him and Mir looked like they were lovers. That was no reason to tell someone else’s life story to a possible stranger.

Then again, if Dongwoon actually had protests he may have said something. But what could he do? This was a chance to learn more about Mir. He wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity.

“Mir can’t remember anything before he was eleven.”

Dongwoon jolted, head whipping to clearly look at his hyung.

A stiff little nod from Joon, “Unlike some of the orphans around this school, Mir got put into foster care because his parents were mistreating him,” the man’s already dark eyes darkened further, “I overheard some adults speaking back then about Mir’s file and found out that his parents got a bit too rough one night and shoved their own son down a flight of stairs. Mir got a concussion from that which I guess led to enough brain damage for memory loss.”

“How…or what…,” Dongwoon closed his mouth, unable to form a coherent sentence. That was probably the first time in his life that words weren’t coming easily.

“While Mir was in the hospital, the doctors found severe bruising or something that is most often linked with child abuse so they took him away from his parents,” Joon explained, stretching his legs out in what appeared to be forced ease. “He really formed a…complex, you could say. People tried to explain to him what his life was like before the concussion but he just can’t absorb it. That’s one of the big reasons he studies so hard, I suppose. Being knowledgeable about everything but your own life…it’s sort of like compensating.”

Dongwoon was quiet for a long moment, feeling a pang of guilt for always being jealous of kids who had, had parents. Perhaps having no parents was better than having parents that didn’t love you – or in this case, parents that didn’t love you and that you couldn’t even remember.

“Why are you telling me so much?” he finally asked, glancing at Joon warily.

The latter fiddled with his gloved hands. “I want someone near Mir who knows about all of this. More importantly, at least someone aside from me can see why Taemin and Mir just don’t work. Do you see it?” Dongwoon shook his head very slowly and Joon smiled faintly. “They’re too similar. I’m guessing Mir sees himself in Taemin’s lonely, guarded personality. Mir will always be there to comfort him but that’s not what either of them needs.”

“You really care a lot about Mir don’t you, Joon-hyung?” Dongwoon remarked.

“I was the one who took care of him when he first arrived at the house,” the other man murmured, “so I’m prone to worrying about his decisions.”

“So why is taking care of one another bad?” he mumbled, “Taemin and Mir-wise I mean.”

Joon got up, stretching out. “They’ll drag each other down. They’ll dwell on the past and be trapped. I want Mir to move forward – both of them, actually.”

“Is there a reason you know so much about ‘love’?” Dongwoon inquired, hoping to lighten up the atmosphere. He was struggling to bear all of the information dumped on him and if doing that meant plastering a smile to look comfortable he would do it.

“Mm…yeah, come to my lecture tomorrow and you’ll understand,” he stated off-handedly, walking back towards the campus, “I’ll be going first then. I hope…,” Joon glanced back at Dongwoon’s stiff figure, “…that you can take to heart what I said today.”

He didn’t reply because the older man was walking away too quickly but there was only one thought running through his mind. And that was how could he help the situation?