"Tell me something about you."

"Why?" Hyukjae kept his eyes closed, staying in his position leaning by the wall.

Donghae hummed. "If you tell me something about you, I'll also tell you something about me."

Hyukjae turned his head slightly to send a disinterested glance at the man sitting on the steps of the stairs. "I'm not really interested in listening to other people's stories." 

"Other?" He grinned, a teasing smile on his face. "After all we've been through, I'm just one of the others?"

With a subtle shake of his head, Hyukjae let out a sigh and moved to sit on the steps in front of Donghae and rubbed his eyes. "Can't we just get this over with?" He was exhausted.

The bright tone that contrasted everything Hyukjae felt answered him. "What's with all the rush? Why are you so excited?" Donghae moved down a step to sit directly beside Hyukjae, politely leaving just a couple of centimeters between them. He looked up at the view they had from the steps they sat on, his attention on a certain point in the distance. "We have time."

Hyukjae followed his line of vision and blinked twice before looking away. He picked at his nails and bit his lip to the point that he could almost feel the skin break. "What do you want?"

He felt Donghae turn to him again. "Tell me something about yourself! Something that you haven't told anyone."

Hyukjae thought about it. "I wanted to be a dancer."

"What?!" He turned to see Donghae looking excited. "Me too! Is this fate?"

He chuckled at the sudden turn of events. "I thought you wanted me to talk about myself. Why are you interrupting me?"

"Ah." Donghae paused and dramatically zipped his lips up and threw away the key. "Sorry. I liked dancing too. And soccer."

"Oh, I used to be in a soccer team." Hyukjae smiled softly when he remembered. "I joined in Neunggok when I was in 6th grade but I had to leave to help out at home."

"No way, I joined in Neunggok too!" Donghae laughed loudly and it was a welcome sound that echoed from where they sat. Hyukjae felt his heart skip a beat at how genuine it was. "I joined in 5th grade but I went back to Mokpo the next year. If I stayed one more year we could've met there..."

' Instead of here ' went unspoken. But both of them were thinking about it.

Is this fate?

Their eyes met and they both smiled before looking away again, ignoring every other sound they could hear. The silent ticking of the clock, the soft footsteps of heavy, black boots patrolling the area, and the clicking sound of marbles faded away into the background once more.

"Do you have any siblings?" Donghae asked after a moment of silence.

Hyukjae nodded. "An older sister. She's probably at work because she always has to go overtime so we can pay the hospital bills."

"For your mom? Or your dad?"

"Both." Hyukjae sighed. "They're not getting any better."

He suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder and found Donghae had leaned his head on him with his eyes closed. They must make a very interesting picture — a peaceful moment, a ticking time bomb.

"I haven't talked to my mom in years." Donghae said softly. "I haven't seen her and my brother for years. I wonder where they are once in a while, but I'm not really interested to know."

"Did you run away?" Hyukjae asked, leaning his head on Donghae's as well. It felt nice. Comfortable. 

"Hmm, no. Yes?" Donghae opened his eyes but remained where he was. "It's confusing. They tried to sell me out to someone."

"Oh."

"Tried. I ran away before they could, so technically I did run away. But I get it. I get why they did it." Hyukjae could hear the bitterness and the sadness in his tone. "I can't hate them for that."

A loud sound, closer than any of the others before, made them jump slightly. Their hands found each other instinctively and neither showed signs of wanting to let go.

A figure showed up by the archway near the stairs they sat at. A bright pink reminder of where they were. Of what is yet to happen.

Donghae moved away from him, looking at the distant point again. Hyukjae's eyes followed.

02:00<