“Don’t play too much without me!”

Jiwon remembers Hanbin’s reminder before he left for work, but clearly it was directed at him more than Jinhwan.

He has never thought that Hanbin could have a childish side to him. It’s a surprise since he’s got this permanent scowl on his face this whole time and he’s been so serious, much like an actual adult when in reality Jiwon is smarter than he is.

Nowadays though, Hanbin is acting like a kid claiming his territory. Jiwon winces at his analogy because it reflects the reality too much, but he relaxes his clenched fist because he can’t do anything about the fact that Jinhwan is locked in here. He can sneak Jinhwan out but he knows that Hanbin has eyes everywhere around the house and he really doesn’t want to face the consequences especially if that means he gets kicked out. He doesn’t want to leave Jinhwan, if possible.

He settles for watching Jinhwan as the latter washes the dishes with a smile on his face. He should be contented at the proximity; most people aren’t as fortunate enough to observe a sight such as this.

Jiwon thinks he can hear the birds chirping at the sight of Jinhwan’s bright smile, which is weird because the chirping of birds is something he’s never encountered before but is in his memory bank. It feels like there’s a background music to everything that Jinhwan does. He carries with him a warmth that Jiwon believes Jinhwan doesn’t realize is there. Naturally, Jiwon is drawn to him like a moth to a lit candle.

Jinhwan claps his hands together once he’s done putting away his plates.

“I want to show you something!” he tells Jiwon and the latter is helpless against the urge to smile, not when Jinhwan looks so excited.

“Come!” Jinhwan beckons Jiwon with a hand as he makes a beeline for his room.

Jinhwan welcomes Jiwon to his room, and there, Jiwon finds the beautiful wall of computer memory, looking like a map of some sort, or a miniature world if you will. He finds Jinhwan’s collection of broken wristwatches and clocks and he can’t help himself when he blurts out: “So this is where your time lies, no pun intended.”

Jinhwan looks at him blankly, tilts his head and asks, “What was that?”

Jiwon shakes his head instead of explaining, coming to the conclusion that Jinhwan is bad at language as well. He wonders just why Hanbin has kept Jinhwan locked up in there when it wasn’t in his plan to nurture him fully.

“Nevermind that. What is it that you wanted to show me?” Jiwon asks dumbly, even though he can see just what Jinhwan brought him there for. Still, the joy in Jinhwan’s face as he spins and motions towards everything is priceless.

“This!”

Jiwon smiles back at him.

“Hanbin fixes people while I tinker with clocks and computers.”

“Why do you do it, though?”

Jinhwan closes his eyes in thought, and smiles at Jiwon when he finds the answer. “I find comfort in knowing what completes a whole.”

He walks up to the memory map, inviting Jiwon to come with. “What if there’s something here? Something alive?” He fingers one of the little bits of the map. “Hanbin used to always tell me that we have a similar makeup as the universe—atoms. And then he’d ask, ‘What if there are universes inside of us?’ or ‘What if we’re just a speck of dust in someone else’s body?’”

“Sounds like something he picked up off a Disney film.”

“What’s that?” Jinhwan asked.

“Nothing.”

Jinhwan looks disappointed that Jiwon doesn’t tell him.

“Hey, Jinhwan,” Jiwon calls on