Chapter 2

“No, Won, I won’t touch that.” Wim was leaning away from his older brother’s open hand. “Come on, its adorable!” Won gave the little mouse he’d found a squeeze, which made it let out a squeak. “Set it free, it will die soon anyway.” Won gave his brother a betrayed look before gently placing the rodent into his shirt pocket It wriggled out and dashed off into the forest. “Why are you always so mean?” “I’m not. I’m just being realistic.” “Mean.” Wim ignored him went back to reading his book. “Is Jina coming over today or tomorrow?” “I don’t know.” Wim was pushing his book up with his knees. “You know Wim, stop lying.” “Tomorrow, because it’s her birthday.” “I knew you remembered her birthday! You even managed to forget mine, how did you even do that?” Won knocked his brother’s book out of his hands. “You like her!” “No I don’t!” Wim turned red and looked down at the book on the floor. “And even if I did, she wouldn’t like me back, so why should I bother remembering her birthday on purpose? I just didn’t forget it for once.” Won frowned a little as he watched his brother pick the book off the grass and dust it off. “Why do you always assume people hate you?” “Because they do.” “Why would anyone hate someone with a face as handsome as my brother’s?” Wim looked at his brother, who, if you ignored the wide smile, looked identical to him. “Are you complimenting me or yourself?” “Why not both?” Won pinched his brother’s cheek before he could dodge. “We’re adorable. And seriously, I don’t think anyone could genuinely hate you, no matter how much you wish death on my emergency pocket mice.” “Your what?” “They’re for emotional support.” Wim nodded, and they looked over toward a clock tower in the distance as it donged 9 times. “Should we go in now?” Wim closed the book. “Yeah.” Won clapped him on the back cheerfully as he got up. Won waited for his little brother to get up, then grabbed him by the hand, pulling him to the house on the hill where they lived. “I think I have one of your shirts in my room.” Wim said after a moment of silence as they walked past his room. Won waved his hand at Wim dismissively. “Keep it, we wear the same size anyway.” “No, thank you. You’re still wearing the same pair of trousers you’ve been wearing for 3 weeks. And I don’t like pink.” “How dare you! And if it’s pink I want it back anyway.” Wim hurried into the room and came back out a second later with a neatly folded shirt in his hand. Won immediately crumpled it by tucking it under his arm. “Good night!” Won said cheerily. Wim gave a small wave in response as Won skipped down the hall to his own room. He entered the room, still full of boxes from when he’d moved in. The shirt was clean and clearly one of his newer ones, without any big holes or mysterious stains. He could see a small rip his brother had repaired and smiled. Wim might have had a point about changing clothes more often, Won thought as he looked down at his trousers, which were absolutely slathered in mud. He tossed the new shirt onto the floor next to his bed, then discarded his dirty clothes into an empty box, before switching off the light and rolling onto his bed. He stared into the dark room, where he could still make out the dark shapes of his mess, and the shirt lying on the floor on what had previously empty space the sea of objects. Listening to the sounds the house made, Won drifted off to sleep.