Joonmyun had so many questions still. Even though his father and uncle had told them everything. Or seemingly everything. He wanted to understand the little things. Like why they were still alive. Or why they had been given so many masters but not one of them had taught them to read. Or how they were supposed to get together with the others. 

 

In fact, everything that had to do with their future had been left unanswered. Since the two of them knew very little themselves. Only that they would be able to do something when the planets aligned. Which they didn't know the date of. It could be months or even years until it happened. But reassuringly, Philip and Nicolas knew it hadn't happened yet. Or was going to happen in the next few days. 

 

What was helpful was that his uncle was helping him read now, and since he was a very fast learner, he was mastering the old language very quickly. And he taught everything he knew to Baekhyun daily. He wanted to do the same and communicate with Minseok, the boy from the mirror, often. All about what he learned, since it seemed the other guy was learning how to read the ancient language too. But he didn't want to put either of their families in danger. 

 

So, they would send messages quickly and infrequently. Words in both ancient and common script, use the picture feature on the monitor, and only contact when it was urgent. 

 

Once in a while the messages were silly or amusing, causing Joonmyun to walk around with a smile on his face as soon as he read it. 

 

"What's so funny?" Baekhyun stepped close behind his cousin to try and read the paper but Joonmyun hid the front of the paper against his chest. 

 

"Nothing." He lied. Then wrinkling his nose, he changed the subject. "Woah, you smell."

 

"Okay, you try combat training all morning and see if you don't sweat like a pig afterward." He wrapped his arms around Joonmyun and tried to lean forward for a kiss. Joonmyun wiggled away. "What? They said we could now."

 

"They said they knew. Not that it was okay to keep doing it." Joonmyun pointed out. And the reason wasn't that. Or the fact that his cousin was a stinky mess. He didn't want to admit the real reason, but he knew he might later in his head. 

 

"Same difference." Baekhyun shrugged. "Anyway, I'm going to take a shower and you can teach me to read later?" He kissed Joonmyun quickly before he had a chance to protest and hurried off down the hallway. 

 

Joonmyun was going to be the brains. And Baekhyun the brawn. Like Arthur and Kenneth had been. But Baekhyun wasn't very brawny, and he was not about to follow in the two men's wicked footsteps. It made him wonder, though. Who were the brains and brawn duo on the other side?