'Right, left, up, no wait...left, up, right, down...'
 

Kyungsoo drags his pencil back and forth trying not cross another black line, but to no avail. He ruffles his hair and lets out a distressed grunt. A series of wines and pleas follow as he once again crosses a thickened line. 'Amazes' are hard for a simple minded human such as himself. Too many lines blur and mix in his line of vision, making it close to impossible for him to even finish the puzzle, let alone complete it before a very intelligent mouse. Kyungsoo looks up at Dr. Kim with those big eyes of his.
 

"This is hard, can I stop?" He drops his pencil, palms pressing against each other in a desperate manor.
 

"No," Dr. Kim says sternly while he adjusts the next 'amaze'. He picks up the white mouse from the bigger 3D version of the papered 'amaze' in front of Kyungsoo and sets the small animal down in his pocket. "You do want to beat Dubu, don't you?" 
 

Kyungsoo nods, if he does well in this test maybe Dr. Kim will like him more. Although exhaustion and over thinking resulted with him being brain dead for the most part, the smaller picked up his fallen pencil and got ready. 
 

"Go."
 

He tries his best to beat the darned mouse while maintaining the correct path. Kyungsoo was able to finish only two out of the six attempts, all failures as he put it. This time around, he was able to finish the task, a couple of seconds after Dubu.

"I don't think I can beat him, Dr. Kim Jongin. He-he's too smart," Kyungsoo complains.
 

The other acts as if Kyungsoo has not uttered a word a proceeds to change the arrangement of the wooden walls of the bigger 'amaze'.
 

A few more runs and the click of a digital stopwatch later, Dr. Kim takes down the results of each test and returns Dubu to his cage. He places it in front of Kyungsoo and walks back to his desk a few feet in front of him. His back was to Kyungsoo's face, allowing him a solid minute of staring. It was often, these short period of silence; just the scientist and himself in a room while the other would be burring himself in a twenty paged document full of data tables. It would be a lie if Kyungsoo were to say he didn't find any interest in the young man. In last night's class, Ms. Luna informed him that the other was only a year younger than him. Dr. Kim was a child genius, starting college in the prime age of 16. His aura in general fascinated him. 

 

Knowing him and being acquainted was enough for Kyungsoo.

 

When boredom hits and the purple crayons could entertain him no more, Kyungsoo turns his attention toward Dubu. The small creature twitched its nose as its black orbs stared right back at him. His pale index finger shook slightly as he attempted to poke the mouse. When skin hits white fluffy fur, Kyungsoo giggles happily, grabbing the attention of the other man in the room. 

 

"Do you want to play with him?" Jongin asks softly.

 

Kyungsoo smiles, seeing it was the first time Dr. Kim used such a tone, and replies with an eager, "Yes, please."

The scientist makes his way to Kyungsoo and opens the cage door, retrieving Dubu.

“You know, he was the first successful one of his kind to last this long after the operation,” Jongin states, carefully handing it to him.

Slowly the critters head as it shivered slightly, Kyungsoo asks, “Does that mean I’ll be-I’ll be smart like Dubu after my operation?”

Dr. Kim cracks a small smile, “Maybe even smarter.”

Kyungsoo laughs hysterically, overwhelmed with happiness, “Hyung! I’m going to be smart!”

“H-hyung…I’m scared,” Kyungsoo mumbles as whiffs of anesthetics fill up his lungs.

It been a week since they confirmed the operation date and now Kyungsoo is fighting between conscious and unconscious to speak out his worries.

“It’s okay Kyungsoo,” Yixing reassures him in a gown and mask, “It’ll be over quickly.” He clutches the other man’s hand tightly and finishes, “You’ll be fine. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“O-okay…” we’re the last words that slipped out of his mouth before he fell into the depths of sleep.

Yixing was asked to leave shortly after as Dr. Kim takes over and begins the surgery.

Kyungsoo woke up to a shaven headand, a string of stiches, and a dull ache in his forehead. It was late at night as the sound of beeps and clicks fills his senses. He quickly realized that he was situated in a small hospital bed. The room was barely the size of the living room in his apartment and that was ridiculously small. Slowing moving his limbs to able him upright, Kyungsoo took in the dimly lit room and noticed Yixing was by his side, fast asleep. He rested his head on his arms, bent uncomfortablely on the wooden chair.

The first thought that came to his mind was whether he felt different. Is he now considered an intelligent adult? Is this how smart people feel, because he doesn’t feel any smarter? His eyebrows furrowed furiously, both his hands made its way to the top of his head; nothing was there. Smooth, hairless skin with bumps where the insision was made.

The anxiety was building up in his chest; thoughts of failure filled his empty head as Kyungsoo began repeatedly hitting it.

The shaking of the bed and sounds of mourning jolted Yixing from his slumber. He was met with a weeping boy, eyes beginning to swell from crying.

Yixing rushed to his side, tightly grasping both of Kyungsoo hands from further abusing his head. Forcing them into his lap, the elder shushed him, wiping away the overflowing tears.

“Shhh, it’s okay. Calm down, Kyungsoo. What’s wrong?” he ask worriedly, cupping the other’s pink tinted cheeks.

“Hyung…I’m sad,” he sniffles.

“Why are you sad, Kyungsoo?”

“I don’t-I don’t feel smart, hyung…I don’t feel smart,” Kyungsoo’s shaking hands meets the others as he continues to cry. Yixing grins, dimple showing, “Silly boy,” he holds him close, head tucked safely in between his shoulder and neck, “It takes time to learn. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

Yixing pats his head and waits for him to calm down.

After a few minutes, the sniffling stops and Kyungsoo sits upright, eyes wide open.

“So then, does that mean after…after some time I’ll become normal?”

Yixing disagrees with the choice of words but nods encouragingly anyways.

“Yeah.”

A/N: sorry for not updating this weekend ;~; blame the extra day off. laziness peaks then. So this weekend my dad's coming home from a really long vacation over seas so idk if I'll be able to update then. I'll try my best to update at least one a week, twice if I'm in the mood. LITTLE PRAYER CIRCLE FOR ME *do not procrastinate do not procrastinate...* Please comment/sub/upvote! Kangsamnida to eveyone that's commented and upvoted so far, you guys are the best^^ *hugs*

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