“w…what…?” I whispered, feeliing my voice gradually fading away, the knot formed in my throat and I felt the tears burning the sides of my eyes. My brother disappeared when I came, we exchanged places and I didn’t find him.

“Where is he?” Wonho asked abruptly. But not because he was angry, he was somewhat desperate, he probably had some sort of affection towards my brother and I could see the reflection of my own feeling sprawled in his eyes. He had that same desperate look of someone who just lost part of his family I could related to.

“I … I don’t know” I grabbed my own hair and pulled it back, guilt feeling up my senses. I wanted to cry but I felt to overwhelmed to even do such thing. But he didn’t seem to understand that and came even closer, being only stopped by Kihyun who pulled him by the arm.

“Hyung...” He called with an oddly sad look in his eyes. I took a deep breath and started thinking of what could have happened, out of a billion chances the only that seems justifiable was that we ended up…

“Exchanging places…” I whispered to myself letting my hands fall down to my lap and grabbing the warm bowl again. Somehow, he found his way back right when I travelled here, how much of that could be a coincidence?

“What?” The two boys asked in unison looking down at me in surprise. But the obvious answer was building itself up in my thoughts deeply embroiling through conclusions. I quickly threw my legs out of the sofa and put the bowl back on the tray. I was up in less than a second, not able to let myself down over dizziness again. The two looked more surprised, and ready to stop me once more.

“Where is it?” I asked looking at them and then to the door of the room I came out from earlier.  Kihyun and Wonho intertwined stares, both confused by the sudden inquire and I let out a sigh of frustration. “The watch! The watch travels with the traveler, where is my watch?” I asked letting out my voice come out louder than expected. The sore feeling seemed like I had a mad cat inside my throat scratching it down.

“Why do you want that?” Wonho asked suspicious and hiding his wrist. He certainly had it.

“I need that!” I pointed immediately to his arm slightly going behind his back in a useless effort of not letting me know the object was in there. “That’s dangerous, please give it back to me” I demanded trying to approach him and grab his arm but he stepped back almost at the same time with a mix of surprise and anger.

“Wow there, not a chance.” He raised his hands almost in defense and I could see the brown leather around his wrist with the golden details. “If this is dangerous why did you bring it here?” He asked now covering it with his other hand and slightly turning away, like a small child defending his favorite toy.

“Because that’s what made me come here!” I tried to get a grasp on it, but in vain. The other boy also advised me to calm down and softly put his hand on my arm to fall back.

“This? How did this made you come here? Come from where? Daniel had this watch! This is the only thing he left behind!” Wonho kept explaining also with his voice raised and still covering the watch childishly. I gasped in surprise, even though it wasn’t unexpected.

“My brother had one of those?” I pointed in the direction of the watch and both of them nodded. A sigh left my mouth again and I pushed my hair back again, like it would somehow open space for my explanation to get through to them. “Listen, that watch is how both of us could come here. It’s dangerous if you don’t know how to use it. Please give it back, I want to find my brother” I pleaded again.

“Why would I even trust you? You just glittered yourself into our house!” He squeaked, receiving a small sighed in return, not from me, but from the boy next to me.

“Can you both please calm down? You’re putting me on my nerves.” He protested coming closer until he stopped his tracks to stand in the middle of us. We both took our sights to him, waiting for some development. “Alice, please understand we have many questions and we need them answered before giving you something you actually qualified as dangerous.” Kihyun spoke gently and with a soft smile I could swore Wonho was getting annoyed of.

“You guys don’t understand I-“

“Of course we don’t, that’s why you’re going to explain us.” He cut me off again, still with his smile which I sensed had become more and more forced by the second. I didn’t want to lose the bit of trust I could have from him, so I eventually gave up and took a couple of steps back, coming back to a dizzy and sickness feeling adrenaline usually was good at hiding.

“Look, as you have noticed, neither me nor my brother are from… around…” I qualified as the subtlest way I could. Surely I couldn’t directly tell them where exactly I was from in order to avoid any more damage. “and this clock is the only way we have to travel back home. That’s why it’s dangerous, if you don’t know how to control it you can get … lost…” I stuttered again for the lack of better dictionary in order to explain as clear as I could. The purple haired one raised an eyebrow but then looked attentively at my face, like he would find all his answers to his own questions splashed around it.

“How do you want us to believe you?” He almost pouted like a baby and I heard a sigh from Kihyun, while he ran his hand over his hair.

“Are you serious?” I asked without believing his question. “I dead appeared in your house out of a light and my brother vanished in my place.”

“That doesn’t mean this is a way of … travelling…” He stuttered as well. I guess it was hard for anyone to explain exactly what was happening.

“If you don’t let me prove it, how will you know?” I raised my hand towards him, asking for the clock again and he hide it again with his hand, like he was scared I was going to rip it off his hands. “Please” I asked again, less anger in my tone, more desperation coming through. I deeply wished he could have a way through my eyes for some honesty.

“Where are you from?” The youngest one asked and I cringed. Are they serious?

“I can’t tell you that.” I shortly answered, frustrated. They wouldn’t give me the clock any time soon and I just wanted to scream at them how wrong that was.

“Why not?” The elder inquired, eyebrows coming together, suspicious painted all over his expression.

“Because I’m not allowed to.”

“Are you a soldier now?”

“No” Anger was popping up my full body and I clenched my wrists, counting several times until ten, avoiding my will to punch his annoying face.

“What does the clock do?” kihyun briefly interviened again, curious. I sighed, exasperated.

“I already told you, it’s our way of travelling.”

“why did you come here in the first place if you want to leave so soon?” Wonho spit out, still with that suspicious look in his face, which made me even angrier.

“I came looking for my brother, as I already told you.” I answered clenching all my anger.

“Why did your brother came here? Maybe he was running away from you!” He pointed out, with his index finger almost touching my nose. I hit his hand harder than I intended to, making the cracking sound echoing through the room. He didn’t seem pleased by my sudden attitude and shook his hand that should have burning skin. But I didn’t like his index directly pointing at my face either so I had no intentions of apologizing,

“My brother wouldn’t run away from me. And even less to this place” I pointed around.

“What’s wrong with this place?” He grunted angrily, coming closer to me. The burning flame behind his dark eyes was noticeable from miles away but I couldn’t care less, since I had my own flame to deal with.

“Hey, hey, hey” Kihyun came in between both of us again, pulling us away from each other, him by his chest and me by the shoulder. “Can you guys please not?” He asked a bit angry himself, but I felt he was more frustrated at the situation than towards myself. “Stop being an ,” he asked the elder and I smirked. “and you stop expecting us to believe you so easily.” He than looked at me and I huffed at Wonho’s new smirk.

“Whatever.” We said at the same time, not pleased with the simultaneity.

“Give us a few time to figure this out. If you’re telling us the truth, you won’t mind us figuring our heads first, I believe.” He kept talking to me and I crossed my arms under my chest.

“Don’t you see? The longer I’m here the more dangerous it becomes. Please let me go back home!”

“How dangerous is dangerous?” He pointed out with a raised eyebrow and I sighed again. “right, you can’t tell us that either.” Kihyun figured himself and I just nodded.

“Well, if you can’t tell us, you can’t have this either. I’ll give it to you, once you’re ready to tell us or prove us anything.” It was Wonho’s turn to cross his arms and turning around, like a pouty child and I almost grunted at this nonsense.

“Even though I disagree at his childish attitude, I’m with Wonho. You need to give us something to believe you before we can return that watch to you.” I sighed again, feeling small tears forming in my eyes. I stepped back a while, trying to digest the reality and facing the fact that I probably would never go back home, I would never see my friends again, I was stuck in that time forever thanks to these two idiots. How was I supposed to prove something I can’t even tell them in the first place?

I left myself seat back on the couch with an uneven breathing and I big amount of tears being hold back. I was stuck in there.

“How am I supposed to prove you anything…?” The exchanged looks, also not knowing the answer to that question. They weren’t even sure of what I had to prove in the first place.

“How about letting us know you better? I guess you don’t have a place to stay, do you?” The youngest one asked with a simple smile and seat again in front of me. “You can stay with us for now, we just need to talk with the others and-“

“Wait, others?” I asked, panicked. “There are others? Others like him?” I pointed to the one still standing and Kihyun chuckled at my desperation.

“What’s wrong with me?” Wonho asked offended and crossing his arms again.

“Not exactly like him… just as dumb as him, I guess.” The youngest answered with a shrug and I raised an eyebrow. “Hey, you can go live in the streets if you wish so.” He pointed to somewhere and I guessed that was the doors direction. The offer seemed pretty tempting, considering the fact that staying with them would mean living along with this Wonho guy. But I knew how Korean’s winter was and I didn’t want to experience It in the streets.

“How… many?” I asked shyly. What if there was only boys?

Kihyun was about to answer my question when we heard small beeps and the door of the house being open, from somewhere behind me. I felt some panic rushing through my veins. One of them was entering that door and I didn’t know how to he would react to a complete stranger in the place of my brother they all apparently praised very much.

“Kihyun-ah, Wonho hyung, I’m back!” The hoarse and soft voice yelled from the entrance and I couldn’t help myself to turn and face a tall, very thing guys coming in with a couple of travelling bags in his hands. He had dark hair, pushed down his forehead, just like the other two. His contagious smile vanished once he saw me and I couldn’t help but feel my heart skip a bit at his piercing and confused gaze looking at me.

“Oh, you’re awake…” he stuttered stopping on his tracks. So he knows I exist.

-:-:-:-:-