Jungwon always felt different. With family, with friends, everywhere he went, he felt like something odd was going on with him. Nobody ever said his name or looked him in the eyes. He was only ever addressed as the blue haired guy over there, or 637. That was what he was called at home. 637. He never knew why he was called that, but one day he had come home to find that everyone silently had come to the agreement of calling him 637. As if the number was painted on his forehead in bright red. That was until his parents died in the ice war, now his brothers had started to call him JW. Not Jungwon. JW. As if they had sworn not to taste the word on their lips. But there was more to life that made him feel different and uncertain. He just didn’t know what it was. Just that it was something. Something was wrong with him. 

Just like he felt something was wrong right now, this chilly evening in spring, on his way home from his tutoring session. It was weird, he always felt overjoyed and happy after his tutor sessions with Jay. Not only because he liked being done with his studies. But because the walk home had the most beautiful view over the lake. The view of clouds tracing through the sky during blue hour, was his favorite part of the day. It was the only thing keeping him sane in this world, along with the raindrops pouring on his roof window, when that actually happened, water was a rare phenomenon these days. But today, no rain nor clouds were to be found. As if the sky had swallowed them in its blue. Yes, something was definitely wrong. A train rumbled beside him and woke his endless stream of thoughts. Jungwon looked at his watch, he couldn’t stay any longer. The last train marked the time. 17.53. The last train out of here. 7 minutes until the gates closed. As usual his habit of zoning out didn't do him well, if he were to be out after 18, he would most likely be killed in the sandstorms.

 With the fear of never being able to see the view again, he took one last peek at the sea, turned around on his heel and ran. Jungwon sprinted until he reached a small corridor, completely out of breath, if he had counted right in his head there were two minutes till the gates closed. He pushed himself through the corridor and arrived at his end destination. A peculiar looking house in the backyard of a great white mansion. It looked like 5 small houses were built on top of one another. Different colors and bricks were merged to one whole building. And if the house was peculiar, it’s surroundings were ever weirder. At one side tower-like mansions stood like a wall, stretching on both sides as far as the eye could reach. Everywhere else, a desert emerged the land, sand raging, forming mysterious shapes in the air. The door in the house was wide open, exposing the view of a tall, handsome boy with frizzy black hair and a deerlike face. The tall boy looked furious and scared at once and showed Jungwon in the door, shutting it the second he entered.
 
“JW… Please, how many times do I have to tell you? Be. Home. BEFORE 17.50.” The taller boy pulled his younger brother into a comforting hug. “You cannot keep running around like this, it’s not safe for you out there, you could have been killed, dead, who knows what could have happened to you…” Jungwon, staring into his brothers shoulder as the older brother was immensely taller, felt his brothers scared eyes wet his shirt and muttered shamedly, “this was the last time”, his eyes met his brother’s eyes briefly a second, before the older hurriedly turned away releasing his hug, “I promise, Heeseung.”

Silence broke, as subtle feet managed its ways down the wood engraved staircase. “JW Hyung!!” A cute childlike face with puffy cheeks and a wide smile, found its way to Jungwons arms. Even though the boy was already as tall as him, his cute smile made Jungwon want to protect him from all the harsh things in the world. “Stop it Sunoo, are you trying to choke me with that hug, yes, I missed you too, but please, let me come in and take my jacket off first,” Jungwon splurged out with a grin, trying to match the younger boy’s enthusiasm.  

That night Jungwon was too emerged in his thoughts to sense the thunder that roared right by his window. He didn’t notice the screams from the mansion only a hundred meters away, or the blooming fire that raised in there. That was his first mistake. That night Jungwon only heard the raindrops and . If mysterious views and meditational raindrops kept him sane, he thought. His two brothers were the reason he was even insane at the beginning. He couldn’t ever imagine a world without them. Such fainted nightmare was out of reach, or so he thought and continued to think. Way too late Jungwon came to realize that would be his second mistake.