Jaejoong can’t remember how he ended up there. Jaejoong thought that place is the only place for living human. He had never knows that there are world outside of the building. He only realizes about that when he heard a nurse talked about how great it is to be able to go back to her hometown.

 

Jaejoong don’t know if he have hometown too. As far as he knows he was born there. But to think of it, Jaejoong had never met his mother in his 18 years of life. In fact, he also doesn’t know from what or where he comes from. As he can recall, he had been brought up by doctors and nurses. Frowns keep on forming on his beauty face.

 

“Hey, Jae. How are you today?” the voice of his doctor startled his thought. He turns around to find a very sweet smile decorating that person’s handsome face.

 

“Min, you scared me. Don’t you know it is rude to get into someone’s room before knocking and ask for permission?”

 

“Since when do I need to knock before going into practically my room? I sleep here almost every day, you know”

 

Jaejoong can only smile sheepishly to that remark.

 

Changmin just shook a bit of his head and head to the couch that already became his bed for a few nights in a week for almost 3 years. He lies down and opens his lab coat before he tosses it on the coffee table besides the couch. Changmin lay his head on the arm stand and put his arms on his forehead.

 

Suddenly, he can feel small hands massaging his temple, trying to drive the stress out of him.

 

“How is your day today? Is it tiring? What case do you attend to today?” as usual, Jaejoong will ask Changmin about his works and other things about the building and its patient as Changmin address them.

 

“It is always tiring when it comes to work and don’t ask me such question Jae. You know can’t answer you” the hand stop massaging Changmin’s temple as response. Changmin turn around to see Jaejoong’s pout and he realizes some glistening of water in the fragile one’s eyes.

 

Changmin quickly sits up and picks Jaejoong’s hand into his slightly wider hands.

 

“Hey, are you okay?”

 

“Yeah. It was nothing”

 

“You know that will never convince me, right? With all the trembled voice and tears in your eyes”

 

“It is just I’ve been thinking a lot today. Nothing much”
 

“Want to share with me?”

 

“It is okay. Just some silly thing that pop out in my mind”

 

”Okay then. But you do know I hate to see tears in your beautiful eyes right? Only smiles and laughter suits you”

 

“Eww.. Too cheesy Min. You sure hang out too much with that Yunho guy”

 

“Yah! I’m just being nice and you make fun of me! Fine, go scrunch yourself up and have wrinkles around your face soon!” Changmin buried his face onto the couch.

 

“Haha. Aww,, our Minnie is sulking. Don’t worry baby, Joongie will make that ugly little thing out of you” said Jaejoong with his hands tickling Changmin’s side.

 

“Yah!” Explosion of laughter can be heard short after that.

 

It is everyday occurrence. Every day, Changmin will come and sleeps in Jaejoong’s room. They will fight and tease each other constantly. Their relationship certainly not just doctor and patient’s relationship or even just friend but neither one of them really say anything about it or even just think about it. As long as they have each other, nothing else matters.

 

 Every few month, Changmin will come with a tube to take Jaejoong’s blood and sometimes with syringes and needles to take some tissue sample from Jaejoong.

 

Jaejoong never understands what it all for. He is not sick. He knows if he is sick, he can’t really move and will have to lie on the bed for the whole day.

 

Jaejoong have asked Changmin about the blood and sample thing but the only reply he gets is Jaejoong is special and he has to constantly check Jaejoong’s body.

 

That is all that Changmin can tell and he asked, more like demanded, Jaejoong not to ever ask such question ever again. They even made pinky promise about it. Changmin said, pinky promise seals promises and if someone broke it he will be struck by lightning. Jaejoong don’t want to be struck by lightning so he tries hard not to ask such question even though curiosity is killing him.

 

Or maybe he should try asks differently.

 

“Min, can I ask you something?” Jaejoong’s whisper breaks the silent atmosphere while his petite hand still work its magic, massaging Changmin’s temple, which now moving towards Changmin’s shoulder .

 

“What?”

 

“What is it like out there?”

 

“Huh? What do you mean by ‘out’”

 

“You know, ‘outside’. Outside from this building”

 

“Who tells you about that?”

 

“No one. I overheard it from some nurses that pass through my door”

 

“I swear I will…”

 

“Minnie, come on. Tell me how it is”

 

“No. I have to protect you. ‘Outside’ is not safe. It is dangerous.”

 

“But the nurse said ‘how great it is if she gets to go to her hometown’. How someone can miss some places if it is dangerous for her, right? Please Minnie. Tell me” Jaejoong is giving his full-blast puppy eyes. He knows Changmin will fall for that.

 

“Don’t give me that face. Fine” See? It works!

 

 Changmin tells Jaejoong how the sky is blue, how the sea is blue even though the water is actually clear, about the cities. Every night, before Jaejoong sleeps, he will ask Changmin to tell stories about the outside world. It became his bedtime stories.

 

Jaejoong always dreams to go to the ‘outside’. He wants to see it. It is such a loss if Jaejoong didn’t get the chance to see it by his own eyes. Sure Changmin had made it sounds beautiful but it must be much more beautiful if Jaejoong can see it by himself.

 

Jaejoong is determined that he will go ‘outside’ and explore it one day. He even made a list of place that he wants to visit when he is out of that building. There are Changmin’s house, Changmin’s family’s beach, Changmin’s ranch, and a lot more. But it is all basically Changmin’s place. How does he get to go there without Changmin’s knowing?

 

“Yah, Jae! You are spacing out again. You’re even frowns. Can you at least make it less obvious if you don’t want to listen to me? Tsk..” Changmin’s high pitched voice startles Jaejoong again.

 

“Sorry. What you said earlier?” Jaejoong smiles apologetically. His smiles widens when he sees pouts forming on Changmin’s chapped lips. Aigoo, so adorable.

 

“You know I hate to repeat things. I said tomorrow I will not be back. I have to go somewhere”

Says Changmin while pouting.

 

“Where? Your house? I want to follow you!” exclaimed Jaejoong. He starts to bounce up and down excitedly.

 

“No!” It startles Jaejoong. He immediately stops bouncing. Not that he is not accustomed to Changmin’s shouting but this time it is different. Somehow, Jaejoong feels like Changmin is actually hiding something from him. Something big.

 

“Oh, okay” Jaejoong answers sullenly. He fails to mask his disappointment.

 

“No, no. Jae, I’m sorry okay. It is just.. I’m not going to my house. It is somewhere else. Somewhere that is too dangerous for you. I won’t compromise your well-being” says Changmin with his eyes on the floor. Jaejoong knows Changmin is feeling guilty. He embraces Changmin and pats the taller ones back.

 

“It’s okay. But if it is dangerous, then don’t go”

 

“I have to, Jae. It is part of my work” Jaejoong just nod his head. He knows he must understand Changmin. It must be hard for him. ‘Poor him’

 

 

 

But the next day, Jaejoong totally forgot about his sympathy towards Changmin’s hardship. He can’t stand the curiosity anymore. Plus he sees this as the opportunity to be outside.

 

Jaejoong plans to follow Changmin. He hides in Changmin’s trolley, the one that he used to bring his instruments for his work.

 

Jaejoong can feel the excitement starts to eat him but he can’t risk letting Changmin know about his plan. Not when Changmin constantly don’t like it when he talks about the outside. But he think he did nothing wrong. He will quietly follow Changmin, see the ‘outside’ a bit and then, quietly follows Changmin back to the building to his room.

 

It is a miracle that Changmin doesn’t realize that Jaejoong is just under those clothes that supposed to cover the garbage from his lab. But he did wonders as to why his trolley is exceptionally extra heavy today. But he just shrugs it off and wants to quickly finish his work and go back to Jaejoong.

 

Changmin arrives at a gas chamber. He pushes a button besides the door and watches the door slides shut. Then, with a deep breath, Changmin wear his gas mask and push another button to open the door to the outside.

 

As Changmin steps to the outside, he looks around. Lots of thing had change. He still remembers when he was young, the sky was blue, the water was clear, and the air was freshening.

 

But after the world war III broke out, everything was ruined.

 

The sky is no longer blue. It is grayish green now, due to the smokes and the toxics that still there even the war had come to its end near 20 years already.

 

The water is blackish due to the toxics that flow with the water. The government has to spend millions in order to clean the water so that it is safe enough to drink.

 

The air is also changed. The air now is toxic. With just breathing in it for just 15 minutes, the airway will be depressed. The person will later die in a very painful way. It was like the air was out from his life.

 

Changmin had experienced it once, when he was 10 year old which is like 15 years ago. He forgot to bring his mask together with him when he went out to pick his father’s newspaper. The result was excruciating. Changmin was later hospitalized for 3 months, just to clean the toxic from his lung. Since then, Changmin vowed not to forget his mask.

 

Changmin feels sorry that he has to lie to Jaejoong every night. But, he just couldn’t tell Jaejoong the truth. He can imagine how the fragile one will sob when he knows that those entire beautiful things in the world had ruined. The fragile one is too soft-hearted.

 

Realizing he had daydreaming for quite some time, Changmin rushes to his van. After putting the trolley inside his van, he goes to the driver sit and starts driving to his destination, the headquarters. He had to give report about Jaejoong and replenish his stocks for his lab.

 

Just when his van is on the road, he heard loud knocks and crashing sound from the back of his van. Changmin is shocked. He quickly pulls over to the roadside and quickly goes to check the van’s back.

 

When he opens the van’s door, he saw Jaejoong is panting hard and his hand grip hard to his left chest. The trolley that he brought earlier is already fall down and it fell on Jaejoong’s leg.

 

“Oh my god! Jaejoong what are you doing here?!” Changmin rush to the front and take his spare mask with him. Thank god, after his horrible experience, he always keeps an extra mask everywhere.

 

Changmin hurriedly put the mask on Jaejoong’s face. He pushes the trolley off Jaejoong’s leg and rush over to Jaejoong’s side. Changmin pick Jaejoong’s head and put it on his lap. He takes a syringe and a bottle of drug on the van’s floor.

 

Changmin is contemplating whether to use the drug or not. It was experimented on animals before but Changmin is not sure about its effect n human. If it fails, Jaejoong might die.

 

But seeing Jaejoong in pain made Changmin wants to take the risk. Changmin injects the colorless liquid into Jaejoong’s body and wait.

 

After a few minutes, Jaejoong calms down. He is already not panting hard and does not clutching to his left chest anymore. Changmin take a big breath and thought it is over.

 

But when he tried to stand up and clean the mess of his van, suddenly, Jaejoong have a seizure. Changmin hurried to find his other type of drug. He again injects the clear liquid into Jaejoong and wait for the seizure to subside.

 

Changmin bring now sleeping Jaejoong to the front sit and then drive to his secret hideout.

 

 

 

Jaejoong wakes up with vomiting to the bedside. After the vomiting stops, Jaejoong lay back on the bed.

 

Wait, bed? The last time he checked, he was on his mission to go outside. Was it failed? Jaejoong try to recall what happened after he managed to get on Changmin’s trolley. He remembers he had already being in a box-like machine that moved with Changmin’s control.

 

But then, when he was trying to enjoy the view outside of the van, suddenly, he can’t breathe properly and his head felt like it was going to explode. What happen after that, Jaejoong can’t remember. He frowned to think that he already being brought back to his room in the building.

 

Jaejoong take a closer look of the room he is currently in. he notice that it is not his room. Then, whose is it? Is it the punishment room?

 

He have heard before that any patient that are misbehave, they will be bring to another side of the building and being punished in the punishment room. Just like that Yoochun guy. He picked a fight with an attendant due to the attendant try to touch his boyfriend, name Junsu if he not mistaken, and being carried away with few doctors and nurses. And Jaejoong had never seen the guy ever again. There are some rumors said that the guy is dead and some said that he had become mad. Both are due to the punishment that he got. Even the Junsu guy is missing.

 

Jaejoong frowns. Will he be dead? He doesn’t want to. He wants to stay alive and have Changmin by his side. Suddenly, he feels guilty. He should never try to break the rules. Now, he will lose everything, his freedom, his sanity and also Changmin. Changmin will never forgive him. He already made it very clear that if Jaejoong try to do any stunts that will danger himself, Changmin will be furious and won’t ever meet him ever again.

 

The sound of door creaking open startles Jaejoong. He immediately shuts his eyes and prays that it is not the punisher.

 

“Jaejoong, I know you are awake. Get up now” Changmin’s voice makes Jaejoong feels relieved. Jaejoong opens his eyes and see Changmin is standing beside his bed with a tray of food on his arms.

 

But his face shows that he is angry. Really angry.

 

“Sit” Changmin commands. Jaejoong quickly sits and watch how Changmin checking him.

 

Changmin hisses when he sees the vomits besides the bed.

 

“I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up later”

 

“Shut up” Changmin gets up and go get some clothes to clean the mess. Jaejoong can only watch weakly from the bed.

 

“Changmin, are you mad at me? I’m sorry”

 

“Please. Just shut up”

 

“Minnie, I’m sorry”

 

“Shut up Jae” Changmin’s voice is dangerously low. He is close to growling.

 

“I’m sorry. I should never have done that. I might be big burden to you now”

 

“Damn it, Jae! If you know that might happen, why would you still do it?!”

 

“I’m sorry. I just really want to see how the outside looks like”

 

“I’ve told you everything! Why won’t you be grateful and accept it as how it is?!”

 

“I’m sorry” Jaejoong can feel his eyes are heavy with the tears and looks down.

 

Changmin releases a big sigh.”Just eat this. We talk later” with that, Changmin leave Jaejoong in the room alone.

 

 

 

Jaejoong lives with Changmin in his house for 3 days already. But they don’t really talk. In fact, they only communicate when Changmin come to check Jaejoong’s body and give him medicines. This saddens Jaejoong. He wants everything come back to normal.

 

Jaejoong can only stay in the room he currently stays in, Changmin’s as he acknowledged it by the photos and certificates hanging on the room’s wall. There is only one window and it always shuts off. The handle looks rusty, as if no one had opens it for a very long time.

 

Jaejoong can only watch the outside from the window. He realizes that the outside is different from what Changmin told him before.

 

The sound of door opening stops Jaejoong from his dream. He sees Changmin had come to do his routine check up on his body.

 

Changmin is commanding him to lie on his bed. Jaejoong stares at the taller one’s serious face while hearing his heartbeats. Jaejoong can feel it fastens a bit.

 

“Do you feel unwell? Your heart rate is quite increased” enquires Changmin. Jaejoong shakes his head ‘no’.

 

Jaejoong feel the urge to ask Changmin the question that has been in his head for few days already.

 

“Min, why does the outside is not the same as what you told me, Min? Were you lying?”

 

“No! I won’t lie to you. There were just things that happened that make it change”

 

“Will you tell me what is it?”

 

Changmin sighs.

 

“Maybe. But not now” with that, Changmin leave Jaejoong alone again for the nth time. Jaejoong can feel tears start to swell in his eyes. God, he really regretted his action and now, he really hate himself.

 

 

 

Changmin didn’t give Jaejoong the routine visit the day after that. Jaejoong cannot handle the worries that keep on build up in his chest. Plus, his stomach keeps on grumbling asking for foods.

 

Jaejoong never wonders around the house even it has been a week he lives there. Not that he can’t but he just feels guilty to do it. He is afraid that any thoughtless action he did will burden Changmin more.

 

But today, Jaejoong will take that risk. What if Changmin is actually sick and needs his help? With the new determination, Jaejoong opens the room’s door and take a peak outside.

 

He is greeted by a very dusty hallway, not to mention how creepy it looked. Across his room, there is a room but it is locked by rusty chains and padlock. Jaejoong wonders what is in the room.

 

Jaejoong take a deep breath and carefully tiptoe along the hallway. He is then greeted by yet another rusty and creepy looking stairs. There are even few steps that are broken and the others seems not being able to take any weight anymore.

 

Jaejoong brave himself and go downstairs.

 

The downstairs is totally different from what Jaejoong saw for the upstairs. It is far tidier, fresher and brighter. Jaejoong looks around and try to find Changmin’s silhouette. But it is all in vain.

 

Jaejoong can see the dried coffee in unwashed mug on what it seems like Changmin’s work table. He guesses that Changmin has gone since after he visited Jaejoong yesterday. 

 

Jaejoong decided that he should find some foods first before he continues his search for Changmin. Jaejoong enters the kitchen and find the food is actually had been prepared on the stove. There is a note on the lid of the pot.

 

‘I know you will eventually come down for food. Heat it and eat up. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Please wait for me in your room and if someone comes, you must hide. You must not let anyone found you.-Changmin’

 

Jaejoong frowns. It is not weird to have Changmin commanding him but the command itself is confusing. Decided to think about it later, Jaejoong eats his food.

 

 

 

It has been another 3 days. Not a single day Changmin came home. Jaejoong had grown worried and scared. But there is nothing he can do. This time, he will obey Changmin.

 

Suddenly, a sound of car stops in front of Changmin’s house can be heard. Jaejoong rushed to the front door. But before he be able to open the door, Jaejoong hears another voice, which is not Changmin’s, from the outside.

 

“Damn that kid. He causes us to work extra hour just to find that piece of junk. Why would boss want us to find it anyway? He has hundreds of such thing anyway”

 

“Don’t you know how much it cost? Every organ costs millions. If it was me, of course I will search for it until in the wormhole”

 

“ it. Not that we will be given extra money for searching that thing”

 

“Just shut up. Now, give me the key”

 

The sound of the door unlocked alerts Jaejoong. He hurries goes upstairs and hide at the ceiling of the house inside Changmin’s bed. Thank god, he had discovered it yesterday when he inspects the house out of boredom. His injured leg makes it hard for him to climb to the ceiling but Jaejoong manage to climb anyway.

 

The ceiling is shut by a piece of plywood that had been painted by the same color as the other ceiling. Jaejoong crouch on a wood that he thinks can hold his weight. The smell of rats poops overwhelming the fragile one’s senses, but he tries to bear with it.

 

Jaejoong opens a bit the plywood and take a peek. He can hears things being crashed as the house being search thoroughly.

 

The sounds of the two guys’ steps are coming closer to the room. Jaejoong feels like his heart is going to jump out of his body and prays those guys don’t hear his heartbeat.

 

The two guys open the room door with a loud bang. Jaejoong can see them from the slight opening of the ceiling. One of them has a long hair, tied into a ponytail while the other one have a huge scar across his face. Both look like in mid twenties.

 

Suddenly, Jaejoong feels movement over his injured leg. When he turns and squints his eyes to look at his leg, Jaejoong saw a big, fat rat on his leg. It might be attracted to the blood on Jaejoong’s bandage, a result from his climb earlier.’Oh god, why do this thing appear right now?’

 

Jaejoong tries to shake his leg, trying to shake the rat away, while he still focusing on observing the two guys, but it is useless. The rat holds on Jaejoong’s bandage tightly.

 

All of sudden, the rat bite on Jaejoong’s leg, directly on top of his wound. Jaejoong can’t stops himself from yelping. He immediately covers his mouth and pray those guys don’t hear that. But, of course they heard it.

 

“Do you hear that?” asks the scar-on-face guy.

 

“What?” grumble the other one.

 

“There was a voice. I think it comes from the ceiling”

 

“Maybe just rats. You see how old this house looks. Maybe there are generations of rats in this house”

 

“But I swear it is not rat. Maybe we should take a look at the ceiling”

 

“Eww. I won’t do that. I can imagine the smells and the rat poops up there”

 

“I you don’t want to do it, then I would” the scar-on-face guy starts to look around, trying to find opening of the ceiling. He sees the slight opening of plywood that Jaejoong remove earlier for him to observe the two guys. Jaejoong instantly regretting his action removed the plywood. Now, how is he going to escape?

 

The guy takes a chair and climb on it. But before he manages to push the plywood, his phone rings.

 

“Hello. Yes, boss. Really? Then we shall go there now. Okay boss”

 

“Boss?” asked the ponytail-hair guy.

 

“Duh, . He said there is signal of that thing 10 kilometers from here. He asked us to go take a look”

 

“Great. More overtime work for us” said the ponytail-haired guy sarcastically.

 

“Just get over it, you fool. Oh, and he asked us to just kill that thing when we found it. Maybe that thing had lost his price”

 

“Let’s just go. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we got the money and time for rest”

 

“That is all you can think, you lazy . Now, come”

 

The voices of the 2 guys disappear after that. Jaejoong can hear the sound of their car fade away.

 

But even after that, Jaejoong don’t have the guts to get down. He is afraid that those guys will come back.

 

After a few hours, Jaejoong can hear another sound of car stopping in front of Changmin’s house. Jaejoong whimpers. He doesn’t think he can take it anymore. His body feels numb and he can’t breathe properly with all the dust and smell of rat poops around him. His injured leg is also badly bleeding.

 

But Jaejoong strengthens himself. ‘For Changmin’s sake... For Changmin’s sake... .’ He keeps on chanting it in his mind.

 

Suddenly, rushing footsteps is nearing the room. The door is opened forcefully.

 

“Jaejoong!” Changmin’s voice can be heard. Changmin pace around the room and try to find Jaejoong. The taller one is afraid that he is too late and Jaejoong already being caught.

.

Jaejoong feels himself breaks down when he hears Changmin’s voice. Relief and love surges through him. He can’t stops himself from sobbing.

 

Changmin hears small sobbing sound from the ceiling. He immediately takes a ladder and found a dirty and sweaty Jaejoong with tears all over his face.

 

“Oh Jaejoong.” Changmin embraces Jaejoong and let the latter cry on his chest.

 

“Where have you been? I’m worried about you. I missed you” cries Jaejoong.

 

“Shhh.. I’m sorry” coaxes Changmin. He keeps on kissing Jaejoong all over his face while his fingers drawing circles of comfort on the latter’s back. 

 

It takes several minutes for Jaejoong to stop crying and another several minutes for Changmin to bring him down.

 

 

 

“I worked with a company name ‘X’. That company actually culture clones. After the war breaks, lots of human suffer of organ damage and deteriorate. The clones that we cultured will later be used for organ transplant. The clones have devices install in them that make the company can track them.” Changmin said while his hand works on Jaejoong’s injured leg.

 

They are now in Changmin’s kitchen with a mug of hot chocolate on Jaejoong’s hands. Changmin’s coffee is untouched on the table in the middle of the kitchen.

 

“Then, what I am?” asked Jaejoong timidly. His body is no longer in pain as before but Changmin’s explanations are kind of hard to digest.

 

“You are actually a clone that I used for my research. I do research on finding antidotes for reversing the effect of polluted air that we have right now. That is the antidote that I used to save you earlier” explained Changmin calmly.

 

When he sees that the fragile one doesn’t react, he continues “But since you are contaminated already, I can’t bring you back to the building. They will immediately kill you. Especially if they know that your body is already contaminated by drugs. Your organs are not suitable for transplant anymore. I’ve been missing for few days because they kept me in their prison. They accuse me for kidnapping you. But I manage to change your signal before and now, they will be chasing shadow”

 

“And I can’t go back to that place either. With you are gone, my work there is also done. But I have already finished my research anyway. They won’t stop me if I said I want to stop working. My research will be enough to shut them up”

 

“Why did you save me?” Jaejoong whispers is barely audible but still be able to catch what he said.

 

“I’ve been thinking the same question the whole time I was in the prison. Why should I care? You are not the only patient, or experiment I must say, that I have. But I guess I have developed some kind of feeling of care towards you. I think I love you” confessed Changmin. Jaejoong widens his big doe-like eyes when he heard that confession. He can feel the butterfly in his stomach but there are things that he still wants to ask.

 

“So, I’m not a human?” asked Jaejoong.

 

“Technically, you are a human. You are just being genetically modified following the DNA of some people”

 

Jaejoong can’t say anything. There are a lot of things that he has to understand now, the company, his being as a clone, Changmin’s confession and his own heart desire. He is just speechless.

 

Seeing Jaejoong’s reaction, Changmin gather him into his arms. He knows that Jaejoong must be in shock. Everything that the latter knew was actually lies. Changmin tightens his embrace and kiss Jaejoong’s forehead.

 

Changmin’s action make Jaejoong feels safe. Yes, he is shock and all but with Changmin’s presence everything looks a lot better. Jaejoong can’t stop himself from sobbing some more. He just feels relieved.  

 

Changmin rocks the fragile one back and forth. He whispers words of comfort to the other one’s ears.

 

“You know, we can live together now. In ‘the outside’, just like how you want it” whispers Changmin. It makes Jaejoong smile. Somehow, even though he don’t know what will happen next, the thought of living together with Changmin outside of the building, far from the company’s reach makes him feels giddy.

 

“Do the blue sky, clear water and fresh air still exist, Min?”

 

“I don’t know. But I would like to find that out. With you..” with that, Changmin kiss Jaejoong’s pouty lips. The fragile one shyly responding to the kiss.

 

“I love you, Jae”

 

“I love you too, Min”

 

 

 

 

 

 

p/s: maybe i should stick to fluffs and drabbles..