“She does that out of fear.” Kyungsoo whispered as soon as his mother left the dining room after they had finished dinner; which surprisingly—his mother told—was cooked by Kyungsoo himself. The curious question remained unasked.

            Yifan surely didn’t expect a call the next afternoon from Mrs. Do asking him if he had plans for the night. Kyungsoo wanted to thank the man who had fixed his walkman. He didn’t remember his name.

            “She doesn’t want me to forget.” The boy said with a heavy sigh. Yifan had noticed her touching Kyungsoo whenever she had the chance. A rub on the back, his hair, a pat on the shoulder, occasionally holding his hand, massaging the nape of his neck and so on. Before she left, she gave Kyungsoo a kiss on the cheek and caressed his jaw with her thumb.

            Somewhere along the way Yifan laughed at Kyungsoo’s frail attempt to stop her with, “Mom, we have a guest.” but he understood as soon as he saw her expression. It reminded him of something he’d felt the day before. Despair. He too, didn’t want to be forgotten.
            “How’s the walkman working?” Yifan asked when he sensed that Kyungsoo was embarrassed by it all. The boy’s mood changed in a faction of a second and he jumped up from his seat.

            “It works perfectly!” He beamed and pulled Yifan out of his chair. With Kyungsoo’s tiny hand only folded over two of his own fingers, he was dragged towards the staircase.

            “What are you doing?” He stopped before touching the first step and tugged the smaller boy back.
            “What’s wrong?” Kyungsoo was obviously taken back by the sudden halt, and let go of his grasp. Yifan eyed the staircase carefully and glanced upstairs. So far he hasn’t entered any other room than the one he walks in as soon as he’s let into the house. The living room connecting the kitchen and the dining room on the ground floor is the only area he was allowed to roam. And even so, he kept himself limited to the dining area every time he came.

            “Is it okay to…?” He knew Mrs. Do was somewhere upstairs right now, and he didn’t want to cause any problems by ignoring her instructions again. Although she didn’t give him any when he arrived today; instead he was pulled into a tiny hug and ushered towards Kyungsoo the second after for a handshake. 

            “I want to show you my room,” Kyungsoo pulled him out of his thoughts and stepped forward to grab his hand again. “And my music collection.”  Yifan had noticed that Kyungsoo wasn’t wearing his ring anymore. He sighed and let himself be pulled up the stairs. They passed a room where Yifan saw his mother buried deep in papers and files. His heart made a jump when Kyungsoo suddenly knocked on the open door twice when passing by.

            “Don’t make it too late honey.” His mother called after them without looking up. Yifan feared for his life. Kyungsoo must have noticed the stiffness in Yifan’s movements and giggled softly.

            “We won’t!” He shouted back and pulled him further down the hallway. “She knows you have better things to do than being here with me.” Yifan was surprised by Kyungsoo’s statement, but also thankful that he mentioned it. He could finally ease out the breath he was holding, knowing that Mrs. Do was aware he was entering rooms he wasn’t allowed to before.

“So your mother told me you cooked dinner tonight.” Yifan brought up when he was gently pushed down to sit on Kyungsoo’s bed, as the younger walked towards his closet. His room was nothing like the rest of the house; it was… almost empty. There were no loose objects lying around and very little furniture.

            “I did.” The boy answered shortly and disappeared from his view. Even though Yifan wondered of many questions about how he managed to do that, he remained quiet. The bed he was sitting on had a small desk on the opposite, which was connected to a large showcase. Beside that there was a walk in closet, in which Kyungsoo was rummaging through as it seemed. The curtains of the windows behind him were drawn closed and Kyungsoo didn’t bother turning on the lights. It took a while before Yifan got used to the dark and he could see Kyungsoo approach him with a box in his hands.

            “Here,” he chirped and pulled out a few music cassettes to show Yifan. “And I have more.” Kyungsoo pointed towards the showcase next to him. The elder just followed his gesture, squinting his eyes to depict something in the dark, but he didn’t have the heart to say anything. He stood up from the bedside and walked closer to the target.

            “Oh wait.” Kyungsoo moved towards the wall and there was a switch being flipped. The sudden light that hit Yifan in the eyes made him go blind for a few seconds. When his sight was regained, Kyungsoo was just centimeters away from him.

            “I’m sorry, I forgot you need light.”

            The amount cassettes Yifan saw in front of him amazed him to such an extent that he was convinced Kyungsoo had gathered all the cassettes of the world. Not only was the showcase full of them, but boxes on top of boxes were threatening to bulge out from the closet next to them too.

            “Holy Kyungsoo…” The boy chuckled and pulled Yifan back to sit down next to him as he picked out a cassette with transparent casing and shoved it into Yifan’s hand. Yifan noticed the carving in the plastic as he brushed his thumb over the case. It looked like some kind of handmade braille.

            “I was listening to this one when the walkman broke down.” He said as he reached into his pocket fishing out the object which was responsible for Yifan’s being here tonight.

The first thing that Yifan noticed was his ring attached to a cord on the walkman. Before handing the instrument to him, Kyungsoo took the tiny object between his thumb and index finger and smiled at it. 

            “Remember, twenty two, hope, open.”

            “You changed the riddle?” Yifan asked as he pulled Kyungsoo’s hand closer to watch the ring between his fingers. The piece of jewelry he gave the boy was for the sole reason that he wouldn’t forget him; but apparently it didn’t work at all.

            “It’s mine now. I tend to change my thoughts on the objects around me, so they go along with my new found memories.” Kyungsoo was aware that the working walkman wouldn’t allow him to remember that it was broken once; so in order to keep that memory he needed a reminder. The ring attached to it would always remind him that someone was here to fix it; therefore he’d know his walkman was broken. He had given it a new purpose, a new scenario. Yifan realized that he made a mistake when he told Kyungsoo that he could keep the ring; he should have told him that he’d come back to get it one day.

The reason Kyungsoo’s room was empty, was because he wanted silence. He explained he didn’t want to be bothered by any thoughts or sudden memories when he was resting in his own little space. He kept his room clear of any kind of unnecessary objects.

            “In here, it’s just me and my music.” He told as they both lay half on the bed sharing one earplug each. To Yifan’s surprise, the cassette was just piano pieces. Kyungsoo was humming along with the soft sound next to him and the very first riddle he had heard made perfect sense now. It was comforting and he could imagine Kyungsoo falling asleep listening to this every night.

            “Did you ever…” Yifan doubted whether it was the right question to ask. He leaned to his side and saw Kyungsoo’s eyes staring at the ceiling as he was dangling his legs over the bedside. His feet were moving on the rhythm of the music and he never let go of the smile on his lips. He felt kind of guilty for bothering the younger with his questions. But he remembered Kyungsoo telling him to speak his mind, since he wasn’t able to read his face expressions.

 “… did you ever forget who you are?” Kyungsoo’s smile faltered and he turned his head in Yifan’s direction.

He found himself listening to Kyungsoo’s voice more than he was paying attention to what kind of music the younger was playing in his walkman. The curiosity didn’t seem to subside and he wasn’t able to keep the questions unasked. He wanted to know everything. When it all started, how it happened, why?

            He was amazed by every word the boy had to tell, even till the tiniest details, from his ability to speak and to his mother home schooling him, Kyungsoo answered as accurately as he could. Trying to make it sound as clear as it was in his own head. Yifan would fill in the silent moments with his own stories which seemed boring compared to how Kyungsoo has lived throughout his life. But the younger seemed more interested in the things he had to tell than anything else. Constantly urging him to describe everything in full detail and explain him how it looked like.

            The clock was still ticking meanwhile and the time flew by before Yifan realized.

“Yifan… I need to shake your hand… before I forget why you’re here.” The younger suddenly started tracing the space between them in search of his hand. Yifan was curious to know if it was really possible for Kyungsoo to forget him while he was just inches away from him; his body acted upon the thought as he retrieved his hand to his chest instead of reaching out to the younger.

            “Yifan please…” He could see the worry in the other’s face as he sat up straight in the process. “How much… will you forget?” He asked as he backed away from him until his spine touched the headboard of the bed. There was a silence in which Kyungsoo turned off the walkman and stuffed it back into his pocket, but keeping the cord with the ring dangle outside. He lifted himself up from the mattress and closed his eyes as he clasped his hands together, knuckles turning white with tenseness.

            “Your name…” He whispered. The sound of your voice, your accent. He sighed before continuing with one breath. “I’ll forget that you fixed my walkman and gave me your ring; how you ask me questions and listen to me intently when I answer.” How big and rough your hand feels when we shake hands. “Everything… you.”

            Yifan stayed put for a while thinking about how Kyungsoo’s eyes would widen even more than normal and how the situation would unfold when he found out that there was a stranger in his room. It awakened a feeling of fear in Yifan imagining how he could become a stranger in mere minutes. He felt sympathy towards Mrs. Do, now being aware of how she has to deal with this every single day.

            Yifan slowly inched closer and slid one of his hands through Kyungsoo’s pitch black hair, resting his fingers on the nape of his neck and lightly squeezing the skin beneath. The boy didn’t flinch but heaved out another sigh.

“Do you have a riddle on me?”

“It’s… different with people.”

“You will never remember me, will you?”

 “… I’m sorry.”

Yifan didn’t know what had gotten into him when he left the house with another piece of jewelry less on him. He picked at his wrist where his bracelet was missing.

            “I’ll come back for this.” He’d draped the chain around Kyungsoo’s wrist while the younger was listening to his music again. “Waiting, twenty four, exciting, open… open okay?” Yifan recited the words from the day before and patted the other’s hand. Little did he know that Kyungsoo had another riddle for him. 

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Tell me what you think, feedback is always appreciated, thankyou~! ^^

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