Hyper system [Part 1]

[reddaylight]

Hypersystem
JB | JR/Mark
For Jaebum, using science is the best way to solve his problems, no matter how up close and personal they may be.
(20K+)
Written for SHINeeExo14 for the got2015 fic exchange. Much thanks to B for offering to beta!

Translated to Russian by antanya here!


"Mmmphg- hello?"

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

Jaebum rubs his eyes blearily. His head is too foggy to figure out who he's talking to just by voice alone. "Who's ‘zis?"

"Jinyoung," answers Jinyoung. "Which you would know if you'd stop pressing your phone against your ear and actually look at the screen."

"Oh." Jaebum does as he's told. Jinyoung is grinning up at him. "International video calls are expensive."

Jinyoung's grin grows wider. "I'm sure they are. Which is why I'm calling you through Line. Internet video calls are practically free." Jaebum knows full well that Jinyoung is laughing at him inside. "You don't seem fully awake yet, your face looks so bloated. What time is it there anyway?"

He sounds chatty. This could be a long conversation. Jaebum sits up from bed and gracelessly stumbles to the floor, out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Coffee. Coffee sounds good. "If you can call me through the internet, you can definitely search for time zone converters or something."

"I could have, yes," Jinyoung concedes, "but I figured I'll give you the honor of telling me yourself."

"It's-" Jaebum checks his phone screen "-three in the morning. Closer to four, actually." He fills the electric kettle with water and plugs it in carefully.

Jinyoung's eyebrows furrow. "Why are you already in the kitchen when it's still so early? You could stay in bed."

"Youngjae and I are rooming together, I don't want to wake him up." Jaebum thinks about that some more. "Not that he'll wake up so easily but at least he gets to sleep in peace. It's lunch time there already, right? Shouldn't you be eating?"

"I already ate. Nobody had to remind me, either." Jinyoung has the unfortunate hobby of being too immersed in his dancing to remember basic life sustenance requirements. Good thing Mark's keeping an eye on him. "So how's Dublin?"

"Very wet," Jaebum admits. "And very windy. They said it's summer here but you wouldn't know it. Thanks to Youngjae for insisting that I pack thermal clothes. I have this foolish notion that summer is universally a season for shorts and sleeveless shirts. And it rains literally every day. Okay maybe not rains but it definitely drizzles at least."

"See? Going out of the country is an adventure!" Jinyoung sounds much more excited than Jaebum feels. Must be because he's not the one who has to deal with the weather.

Jaebum still has no idea why Jinyoung even called, but if he hasn't dropped off even after Jaebum told him the time then he must have something important in mind. They'll get to it. Eventually. "How's everything there?"

"Things are the same. My students are crazy. Their parents dote on them. The air is humid. Mark is still perfect. Jackson is still a threat to my eardrums." Jinyoung shrugs. "No major change since you left- oh about three days ago. I'm sorry if life here isn't as fast-paced as over there, Jaebum-sshi."

Jaebum snorts. The water's boiling. He puts coffee grounds in the press and adds hot water. "The pace here is actually much more relaxed than in Seoul. And it's a good thing I packed my own chili powder, mosts people's idea of spicy food here is abysmal." Jaebum squints at Jinyoung's background. "Are you at home?"

"It isn't obvious?"

"Don't you have a class in the afternoon?"

"I decided to take the day off." To Jinyoung's credit, his smile is slightly sheepish. "I needed a mental health day. Good thing the bosses said yes. Get me something to give them, will you? Now if only I have someone to eat lunch with…"

Jaebum frowns as he pours coffee into his mug. "I thought you already ate." He adds way too much sugar for anyone but himself to call a comfortable amount.

Jinyoung looks deep in thought. "Oh, that's right, I did. Skipped my mind. I guess I still feel kinda hungry."

They'd have gotten to the point of the call by now if Jinyoung had any but he doesn't look like he's gearing up for anything serious. Jaebum changes his approach. "Just to set my expectations here, is there anything in particular you want to talk about?"

Jinyoung fake-judges him so hard. The way he sets his jaw can be very expressive. "Can't I want to talk to my best friend of fifteen years without any ulterior agenda? I'm naturally friendly!"

"Clingy."

"That, too. But seriously, I just want to talk." Jinyoung gives him one of those rare, genuine smiles that cracks at the edges, an acknowledgment that it's not the best time for Jaebum. "I'd offer to let you go back to sleep but I see you're already drinking coffee."

Jaebum makes sure the camera catches him rolling his eyes. "So you woke me up before dawn just to… what, catch up on old times?"

"Because I know you miss me already. I'm so considerate, right?"

Jaebum snorts to himself. Jinyoung is still the same, he can't ever admit that he feels lonely. Still. That's the way they work. That's how they fit with each other, that's how it's been for fifteen years. Jaebum takes a careful sip of his coffee, settles on the couch and lets Jinyoung prattle on about how his out-of-town date with Mark went over the weekend while Jaebum's on the plane, where they stayed in Gyeonggi-do and Mark won him a stuffed rhinoceros in Everland that Jackson accidentally spilled curry sauce on as soon as they got home. Stories that could have waited until Jaebum got back, stories that weren't as important as getting a full night's sleep. But Jaebum listens to him anyway.

Jaebum has never learned how to say no. Not to Jinyoung.

"There aren't… as many people here as I was expecting." Youngjae self-consciously looks around them. "I can count the number of women here in my two hands."

Jaebum snorts quietly. Typical Youngjae. "Physics and engineering have always been male-dominated professions. I mean, how many girls are there in our team back home?"

"Just two out of eight."

Youngjae would know since he flirted with both of them way back when. And Jaebum would have reprimanded him for it, except that Youngjae's version of flirting was so shy and awkward that the girls found it adorable and they baby-brother-zoned him right on the spot. They never even knew what was really happening.

"Excuse me. You're from Korea?" That was said in English.

Jaebum turns around to see a shorter man reading his and Youngjae's nametags. "Um. Yes? Mr. … Khunpimook?"

The man grins. He switches immediately to flawless Korean. "Call me Bambam, that's easier for Koreans to pronounce. Sorry if I startled you, I didn't expect to see Koreans here and I missed speaking the language so I thought I'd say hi. I took my masters degree at Seoul National University."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Jaebum greets with a short bow. "You're…" he squints at the flag icon on Bambam's nametag, "from Thailand? And this is my teammate, Youngjae."

"Hello." Youngjae seems interested. "If you're from Thailand, that means-"

Bambam grins proudly. "Yup. My team will be presenting today. And right on cue, my boss is just about to start." He leads them to some empty seats near the front.

There is a lot of math involved. Some of the terms fly right above Jaebum's head but the theoretical physicist in Youngjae is right in his alley.

One of the biggest breakthroughs in recent physics is the discovery of the hypersystem, a crystallized subnucleonic pattern of quantum information consistent throughout the known universe, which sent physics and engineering teams around the world scrambling to redefine their entire paradigms. Further exploration of the hypersystem is one of the leads being closely watched by the scientific community, one that could inspire the next long-awaited technological revolution.

It's Jaebum's field, but it's not his specialty. He writes code. He builds invisible technology in languages that machines can understand. He's the one who translates what his team of scientists need into the advanced instructions that a computer can execute. Namjoon and Yun (the team's engineers) can build the fastest computer in the world but it will remain useless until Jaebum writes something to operate it.

The people in this conference - and Jaebum is proud to have been invited - represent the handful of teams in the entire world capable of advancing the cutting edge of science and developing the necessary technology to take advantage of it. Hypersystem technology promises endless possibilities for innovation. It's like the discovery of magnetism all over again. Or electricity. Or the atom. It's impossible to say where science would be in fifty years once hypersystem technology evolves.

As it appears, Bambam's team is working on teleportation. Their lead is presenting their experimental model and Youngjae listens throughout the whole three hours in rapt attention.

"It took way more mathematics than I'm comfortable with," Bambam admits after the speech.

Lunch is a bit of vegetables, a lot of meat, and a whole lot of potatoes. Jaebum counts at least four different ways to cook potatoes on his plate and those are different from the potatoes added to the main dishes. None of them have any spice worth noting.

He looks around covertly and sprinkles chili powder all over his plate. Bambam watches him, amused. Youngjae is sitting at another table talking animatedly with Bambam's boss.

"He's our team's theoretical physicist," Jaebum explains. He takes a picture of his food and sends it to Jinyoung. "I'm his lead. My background is more on software engineering."

Bambam nods knowingly. "Ah. I can tell by how jaded you were about the whole talk earlier."

"Exactly. I leave all the math stuff to Youngjae, he's here to understand the theories. I'm here to translate it all to software."

"I'm guessing the business types weren't included in the budget?" Bambam smirks, Jaebum huffs in amusement, and if there were any other scientists at the table with them they would had the same expression of defeated acceptance. By now, everyone's recognized that business is the fastest way for science to grow. Corporate laboratories have more funding than those in universities. They didn't necessarily like it, but… well. Revolution comes in many forms.

"Haven't finished yet?" Youngjae sits down with them with a half-empty plate. Jaebum passes him the chili powder.

Jinyoung sends back a picture of him feeding Mark a slice of sashimi. Jaebum replies with one of him and Bambam captioned My new best friend~, Jinyoung responds with a picture of him fake crying.

There's a metro station behind the Convention Center that leads right to the heart of the city square. Youngjae proposes to get their souvenir shopping done right away.

"And the hosts said we have to drink a pint of Guinness at the first opportunity," Youngjae reminds Jaebum excitedly. "When I said we haven't tried it yet, they're reaction was ‘You flew in on the weekend and didn't go drinking? No wonder you seem so cold!' So yeah, that's a pretty strong endorsement, hyung."

They're wrapped up in clothes that they normally wear during autumn as they tread on actual cobblestone roads. Youngjae, who's much more susceptible to the cold, has his neck and half his face covered with Jaebum's scarf.

Jaebum buys way too many postcards, a ref magnet for Mark, rum-filled chocolates for Jackson, a bookmark with a Celtic design for Jinyoung, and a new wallet for himself. Then, after a bit of aegyo, a stitched snapback for Youngjae.

It's when they're settled in on a raised table in an authentic Irish pub on the other side of the river, warming up from the crisp Dublin evening wind, that Youngjae breaches one of his favorite conversation topics: Jaebum-hyung is getting old and he should settle down right away.

"It's not like I have a lot of opportunity, Youngjae," Jaebum says for what feels like the hundredth time. "I'm busy and things at work are only getting more exciting. I don't have much time to go out and meet new people. Besides, who'd want to be in a relationship with someone who works twelve hours a day in a lab, Saturdays included?"

"But you're not severely lacking in opportunities, either," Youngjae points out. They're waiting for the fizz in their beer to float to the surface. Apparently that's how you drink a double-poured stout. "Jia told me she set you up with her friends. And she said they all like you but you're the one who keeps deciding on friendship. The way I hear it, you're a viable catch, hyung."

Jaebum narrows his eyes at him. "I'm not going to date Suzy, don't worry. She's all yours." Jaebum conveniently doesn't mention that he's Suzy's boss and the company has very strict rules about that kind of dating. Suzy's crush on him, widely known thanks to Jia's drunken episode, is perfectly harmless.

Youngjae keeps his expression blank but Jaebum sees the faint blush on his cheeks even with the weak pub light. "Um. Not that I'm affected or anything." Youngjae frowns at his pint. It's almost ready. "I'm just saying. If you'd be as interested in other people as you are with Jinyoung-hyung, I think you can settle into a relationship pretty nicely."

Ah.

Jaebum opts out of answering. He's under no illusion that Youngjae doesn't know. It's not alarming. Youngjae is one of the most accepting people Jaebum has ever met, and to the best of his knowledge Youngjae is the only one who has ever figured it out. Jaebum intends to keep it that way.

He raises his mug for a toast, Youngjae sighs and accepts, and they both drink freely.

The rest of the conference proceeds as any other science conference does: there's a lot of discussion, a whole lot more arguments, and way too much awkward social interaction. Someone gives a talk on how the hypersystem model can be made profitable, someone uses his thesis to slap a detractor in the face, tempers rise and all in all things are normal.

Jaebum, Youngjae, and Bambam exchange email addresses and, to Youngjae's surprise, Naver accounts. ("Great, I have two more people to bug when I go back to Seoul," Bambam says with a conspiratorial grin). It's the third and last night so they celebrate by going for a pub crawl, which ends with Youngjae literally crawling into their hotel suite and Jaebum taking pity on him by carrying him to his bed.

Twenty-three hours later, spread across two flights and a stopover at Abu Dhabi where Jaebum considers buying an overpriced wire elephant, they're waiting in Incheon International Airport at ten in the evening for their rides home.

"Hey, how long until you get here?" Jaebum asks as soon as Jinyoung answers the call. "I mean, no rush but I was wondering if I have time for a snack or something."

Jinyoung sounds confused. "What? Wait, what are you talking about?"

Jaebum blinks to count his seconds of silence. "You're supposed to pick me up? At the airport? Like we agreed on last week?" Youngjae turns to look at him.

"Oh shit, that's today?" This time Jinyoung sounds flustered. "Jaebum, shit, I'm sorry, it completely slipped my mind-"

Jaebum sighs. Because that's pretty much the only thing he can do right then. His manager would be proud of how much he's worked on his anger management.

Jinyoung is still talking. "-I'll be there in half an hour, don't-"

"You can ride home with me, hyung," Youngjae says, pointing at a van that slows to a stop at the pickup area outside. "That's Jinhwan's car." Jinhwan being Youngjae's roommate and Jaebum's frequent contact whenever Youngjae can't hold his alcohol during company parties.

Jaebum nods, relieved; he just wants to go home, he's both tired and restless after sitting in a cramped space in a vibrating tube of metal with nothing but childish video games to entertain him. "Listen, Jinyoung- Jinyoung, listen to me, it's okay, you don't have to pick me up. Youngjae's ride just arrived-" they grab their luggage and head for the exit "-and he volunteered to drop me off."

"Dude, I'm so sorry-"

"Don't worry about it, it's not a big deal." It's hard to speak loudly over the crowd yet still sound calming. "Let's meet up for dinner this weekend? With the gang so I can distribute souvenirs."

"Sure, fuck, I'm sorry, I'll organize everything-"

Jaebum laughs lightly and bids goodbye after one last round of reassuring Jinyoung that it's fine. He climbs tiredly into the van. "Man, you guys are lifesavers, thank you."

"Don't sweat it, hyung." Jinhwan starts them on the last leg of their way home. Youngjae falls asleep in the passenger seat. The next thing Jaebum knows is Jinhwan waking him up in front of his apartment.

If asked while drunk and relaxed and convinced that he's talking to someone who won't share his secrets to anyone else, Jaebum will claim that there are three moments in life that he will never forget.

The first is when he learned to dance. It's a sad state of his life right now that in his team only Youngjae knows about his hobby, this flip side to their team lead who doesn't necessarily go to the lab on weekends but that doesn't mean he's not working. Although it makes him wonder what talents his team could be hiding. If only they aren't so busy every day.

The second is when he met Jinyoung in their last year of high school, and that's thanks to Jinyoung paying more attention to his phone than to the people in the hall and Jaebum is walking backward to wave at some friends walking the other way. A cracked phone and a flared temper later, Jinyoung realizes that Jaebum is the guy he spies on in the dance room, Jaebum challenges him to a showdown to reassert his ego, and Jinyoung humbly tries to worm his way out of it. Both of them are sweating in their undershirts an hour later, Jinyoung is congratulating Jaebum for moving more smoothly than he could hope to, while Jaebum is trying not to show that this is the hardest he's danced his whole life. Jinyoung has skills, and if Jaebum hasn't been so devoted to dancing in his spare time then he would definitely have lost. And from that, a rivalry developed. And in that rivalry, something happened - as everything happens in high school - and they became best friends. He expected them to part ways when Jinyoung chose to major in performance art while Jaebum followed his second love of software engineering under the pressure of his parents, but it wasn't the first time Jaebum was wrong about Jinyoung.

The third moment that Jaebum will never forget is when he realized that he has feelings for his best friend.

It wasn't easy to face the truth.

Jaebum was driving them home from a night downtown. Hongdae is ever famous for being the place to be for university students who want to make the most of their remaining time when someone else is still responsible for them. Jaebum's hands were steady on the wheel, Jinyoung was rowdy when he was tipsy and sang along to the radio at the top of his voice, he was flush and he stank of cheap soju and Jaebum was humoring him because it's the first night Jinyoung could afford to be completely relaxed, he didn't have a major performance for the next three weeks. Jaebum had a project due the next morning but he was still learning that he can't say no to Jinyoung.

And in a flash of reflected road light just as Jinyoung belted off tune to Yu Jaeha's high note, Jaebum sneaked a glance at his best friend and, for the first time, wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

And he never stopped wondering after that, never told anyone, never acted like anything changed. All Jaebum knew is that feelings grew somewhere along the way and now Jinyoung is camped out at the forefront of his mind and it's almost impossible to stop wanting to spend time with him.

But then, they were still kids at heart. Jaebum focused on his projects and soon things stopped getting worse even if they never got any better. They still danced whenever Jaebum could find the time, though it got rarer and rarer until Jaebum promised himself that he'd do something about it when they've both grown up and aren't dependent on their elders as much.

That last part didn't go as planned.

"I brought pizza and beer." Jinyoung sounds proud of his food choices. Jaebum rolls his eyes and lets him through the door followed by Mark who raises a box of fried chicken. Jaebum isn't a fan of western food but he can live with fried chicken. "Jackson's not here yet?"

Mark checks his watch. "He's probably on his way. His shift ended two hours ago and he normally naps for an hour before heading out."

"How long are his shifts this time?"

"Thirty-one hours."

Jaebum winces. He's glad he doesn't work in a hospital. Working for a psychiatric ward can be brutal. "I thought you'd be arriving later. I haven't cleaned up yet."

Jinyoung scoffs as expected. "Dude, your place is clean enough. I've never seen your flat get messed up, not even once."

"Whereas it'll be a miracle to see Jinyoung's flat to be half as clean as this," Mark teases. Jinyoung pouts at him, Mark placates him with a hand on his waist.

"Anyway, I thought I'd be having a late class. Remember that program the school launched? Those Sunday classes for adults who are suddenly interested in learning to dance?" Jinyoung tosses the paper plates to Mark. "Yeah, turns out it'll be starting next semester. As in a few months from now. So."

"Somehow it slipped his mind," Mark says, his tone decidedly neutral. "Despite the fact that he used to keep bugging us to sign up for it."

Jinyoung laughs. "I tend to forget things. More so lately."

"Good thing I have a sharp memory, then." Mark almost leans in for a kiss, but he remembers where they are and it's hard for them to keep their hands off each other once they get started.

Jaebum's phone beeps. "Do we feel like being nice? Because Jackson just texted that he's too exhausted to walk the four blocks from the bus stop."

Jinyoung exaggerates rolling his eyes at Mark. "Your best friend can be such a baby, go get him."

"Okay." Mark indulges Jinyoung way too easily. "Can I have your keys, please?"

"What?"

"Keys. To your car?"

Jinyoung blinks blankly. "Didn't you drive us here?" He pats at his pockets. Something jingles weakly. "Oh. Okay. Well, since I have the keys, I'll just go get him then. Back in five minutes, don't get started without me."

"He's really been more forgetful, huh," Jaebum says when he's alone with Mark.

Mark shrugs lightly. Jaebum sees worry there. Mark is naturally quiet but he's also so easy to read. "He told me he feels slightly sick. Or maybe he just has a lot on his mind."

Jaebum doesn't press any further.

Mark happened months after Jaebum's and Jinyoung's graduation from university. Jaebum had just gotten accepted to his first job to write code for statisticians, Jinyoung was signed up as a choreographer for a growing jazz label. Five minutes before Jinyoung was set to go on stage on the night of his first major dance showcase his costume ripped and he frantically asked the nearest volunteer organizer for help. It was love at first crisis. Mark solved the issue with the creative use of duct tape, Jinyoung roused the audience as expected. Jinyoung couldn't stop himself from asking Mark out, Mark couldn't stop himself from saying yes right away.

Three dates later Jaebum went to pick Jinyoung up for their weekly morning run. Mark answered the door, Jinyoung explained that they've just gotten serious, and Jaebum learned that all those songs about heartbreak were barely exaggerating.

But Jaebum has always been a good best friend. Years of telling himself to wait for the right time to tell Jinyoung gave him the experience to grin and bear it, to offer enthusiastic congratulations, to see that the way Jinyoung looked at him and Mark were so completely different.

(He spent the night drinking, woke up with a hangover, read his drunken scribbles and realized it made sense. He made a breakthrough and soon got promoted. All in all, it wasn't so bad.)

Jaebum spots the familiar slouching back down the aisle. "Park Jinyoung in a pharmacy?" he calls out with a pat on Jinyoung's shoulder. "What happened to your pride in natural health?"

Jinyoung grins and punches Jaebum's shoulder. "It got confronted by the reality that I'm getting old."

"Don't say that, I'm older than you!" By a few months anyway but then they're not kids anymore. It's getting harder and harder to wake up in the mornings (something that Jaebum's never been good at in the first place) and his endurance at the gym is noticeably shorter. "What are you getting?"

"Just some vitamins, no big deal." Jinyoung raises the plastic bottles to eye level. They rattle loudly. "I figure that treating my body right while I'm still relatively young will save a lot more trouble in the long run. Is that my favorite dongsaeng?" he asks when Youngjae approaches with an armful of scented toiletries. "What are those?"

"Imported shampoos and conditioners, basically." Jaebum's smile is teasing.

"Jaebum-hyung and I brought the hotel stuff home," Youngjae explains. "And when someone in the team smelled my hair she asked what brand it was and where she could get some."

Jinyoung catches on. Jaebum tells the story often enough. "And who might this inquisitive young lady be?"

Youngjae blushes quickly. "Suzy."

"As it turns out, our local brands don't smell close enough to sandalwood for Youngjae to feel comfortable offering a substitute." Jaebum pinches Youngjae's cheek, Youngjae squawks in protest. "So he's been testing every single European brand he can find and I've been dragged along as the scent tester. How many bottles of shampoo do you have in your bathroom by now?"

Youngjae blinks twice, sighs deeply. "I'll have to count first."

Jinyoung laughs unabashed. "They all smell the same to me, honestly."

"Jinhwan doesn't care too," Youngjae admits. "He doesn't have to buy shampoo for the next few years. Perfect roommate."

They pay for their purchases and bid goodbye outside the store. Jinyoung climbs into his car, Youngjae follows Jaebum to his. Jaebum watches Jinyoung's silhouette twist a bottle open and put something in his mouth. It's not abnormal behavior to want to take vitamins right away, but Jaebum wonders why someone as laid back as Jinyoung couldn't wait to get home first.

Seoul Technological Institute's main office is an unassuming white cube of a building sitting at the edge of civilization, not far enough away to escape the city's famous light pollution but comfortably distant enough that its employees can walk around the company's property and actually smell cleaner air. Gas prices being as they are, Jaebum is among the minority who can afford to take a car to and from work every day. The company provides shuttle services for those who can't.

Distance works great for isolation, and isolation is good for innovation.

On the other hand, it messes with cellphone reception, especially since Jaebum spends his time in one of the underground labs. Jackson sounds tinny over Jaebum's phone.

"-and I don't know what the fuck happened either," Jackson is saying with Jaebum only half listening, "because Mark isn't saying anything but they were giddy and fucking like newlyweds last week remember? But now he's crashed out on my couch-"

"Jackson-"

"-and blankly flipping through channels and anytime I mention J- your friend's name he either tenses up or locks himself up in the bathroom and I really don't think he's jacking off-"

"Jackson, dude, I'm in the middle of a meeting right now, I'll call you back in half an hour-"

"No, not me, call Jinyoung-" the name was said as a whisper "-and figure out why he fucking broke things off. I'll take care of Mark."

"Sure." Jaebum rewrites his plans for the night. "Let's regroup afterward, alright?"

"Will do." Jackson hangs up promptly. Jaebum steps back into the meeting room where Youngjae is discussing the outcome of his latest forays into the near impenetrable world of hypersystem research.

"All of this-" Youngjae gestures to the wall of formulas projected behind him "-basically shows that intelligence is a fundamental element in the universe. It's parallel with the fine structure. The speed of light. The Planck constant. If you break the universe down to the things that actually compose it, right down to the building blocks, you'll find yourself trying to decipher the math of the hypersystem."

Everyone in the room nods. They all know this. It's a summary of what the recent years of the scientific revolution is about.

Youngjae shakes his head. "Except that... that's not strictly correct."

Jaebum tilts his head. Youngjae has them there. But then, given all the buildup he gave since the start of the meeting they already figured out that he's leading up to something ground-breaking. By scientific research standards, anyway.

(Jaebum makes a note to congratulate Youngjae on improving his showmanship skills. Everyone in Jaebum's team - meaning everyone in this room - can follow him effortlessly even if he doesn't slow down like this, but Jaebum is grooming Youngjae to be able to sell his ideas even to non-scientists and the team agreed to be his practice dummies.)

"The theory ends before discussing the actual, crucial nature of the hypersystem." Youngjae presses a button on his remote and the projection behind him changes, replacing the dense clutter of formulae with one that's almost universally known. "E=MC2. Einstein's famous Mass-Energy conversion formula, possibly the most advertised physics formula in popular science. It talks about the relationship between energy," the symbol E moves to the lower left of the screen, the equal sign fades away, "mass," the symbol M moves to the lower right, "and the speed of light," the symbol C2 moves to the top center.

"We've always looked at this formula to mean that mass and energy are two forms of the same thing, that in the right circumstances (and the circumstance here is at the speed of light) mass can turn into energy and energy can turn into mass. Mass and energy are the building blocks of the universe." A double-headed arrow connects the E and M symbols. "The problem with this perspective is that we're looking too closely at energy and mass while giving the speed of light secondary importance. The hypersystem changes that perspective."

On screen, the C2 symbol is replaced by [I]. The double-headed arrow fades. "Hypersystem research tells us that the speed of light is only one variable from a third building block: information. The universe is built on the combination of mass, energy, and information. Meaning in the right circumstances, information becomes substance."

The room responds with resounding silence. Suzy starts scribbling fiercely on her notepad, Hanbin absently adjusts his beenie. Jia looks at Jaebum as if to ask whether he's buying into this development. Jaebum watches the rest of the team.

"This is just a hypothesis, right?" Yun asks from his place furthest from the screen. "Despite all its implications? Or maybe because of the implications, that's why we have to approach it carefully."

"Of course," Youngjae says even if they all know the answer. "This is a mathematical interpretation of the universe. On a fundamental scale."

"So how do we test it?" Jaebum asks. Everyone turns to look at Taehyun, the only applied physicist on the team. Hypotheses aren't worth anything if they couldn't be tested.

"I'll need to see the math. Youngjae? Suzy?" The theoretical physicists both nod at Taehyun's request. "Then we can start talking about building experimental setups."

Jaebum opens the calendar app on his laptop. "Namjoon and Yun, you guys are the engineers. Send me updates about your projects. Will either of you have any free cycles to work on this?"

"I will after the Vasini contract closes next week." That's Namjoon's biggest project, meaning he's about to have a lot of time to work on Youngjae's ideas.

Jaebum bites his lips deep in thought. "Once we have more to work on, I can ask the other teams to review." He looks at Youngjae and tries to hide the pride in his chest, the excitement in his eyes. "Too early for congratulations, right?"

Youngjae laughs. Jaebum catches the tiny glance he throws at Suzy. "Prove me right then congratulate me, boss. We've never released incomplete technology yet. Why start now, right?"

"Of course." Jaebum looks around him. "For those of us who actually feel like going home, the next shuttle leaves in fifteen minutes. But if I know you guys correctly you're going to want to stay and pick apart Youngjae's notes. Which means-"

"Three hours until the last shuttle, we got it." Jia is Jaebum's second in command. She's in charge of making sure that everyone doesn't work too hard. "You going home?"

"Yeah, something came up and I need to be there." Jaebum sighs deeply and glances at his phone. Not a single call or message from anyone, which means no emergencies. Looks like Jackson doesn't need help with Mark.

If only he can figure out what happened to Jinyoung.

Nobody knows it, but some nights Jaebum goes to a hill that overlooks the landscape's mask of city lights.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

Jaebum has been directly involved in developing seven smartphone apps that help improve digital communication, but even he has to admit that nothing beats an old fashioned phone call.

"I heard about what happened." The hill isn't a steep climb, the path is paved but cracked and empty stone benches wait unlit for tomorrow's set of morning joggers.

"Word gets around fast."

"Jackson's concerned about you. You're also friends, right?"

"I don't know anymore."

"I'm telling you. He called me to make sure you're okay. Although once I tell him you're okay then he'll get pissed at you. But that's what friends do." Jaebum could count on one hand the number of times Jinyoung sounded this tired. The worst was when he lost the lead role for a dance musical, something he's been rehearsing for tirelessly for weeks, due to a sprained ankle. But how he sounds tonight is a close second. "Can your favorite person in the world ask why?"

Jinyoung is silent long enough for Jaebum to wonder if the connection broke. But no, he's still there, Jaebum can picture him lining up his words in his head before letting them out to the world. "I guess I just realized that I'm not in the right place for a relationship right now."

"I'm pretty sure you loved Mark."

"I did."

"And I'm pretty sure you still do."

"Hmmm."

Jaebum walks on until the slope curves gently to a flat hilltop where, sitting on the solitary park bench to watch the city slowly light up under its own colors, his best friend is waiting for him. Right where Jaebum knows he would be. Wherever Jinyoung goes, Jaebum will always find him. "Aren't you the guy who adamantly believes that as long as you love each other you can work through anything?"

Jinyoung keeps quiet until Jaebum sits beside him, ends the call but doesn't even turn to look. "Maybe love isn't enough these days." Jinyoung breathes in deep. He rests his head against Jaebum's shoulder. Jaebum feels warm when Jinyoung exhales against him.

"Coming from a hopeless romantic, that's actually startling."

It's as if Jaebum never said a thing. "Will you indulge me if I say I don't want to talk about it?"

Jaebum nods. He's never learned how to say no to Jinyoung. "Do you need anything? To help you get through this."

"I just need my best friend. But I know you'll always be there for me. That's why I know I'm going to be okay."

This is dangerous. Jaebum is used to all this proximity thanks to decades of being best friends with the clingiest person in the world. But Jaebum hasn't lived on the edge ever since Jinyoung met Mark. Jaebum is being reacquainted with the worry of losing control.

"I'm just not in the right headspace for a relationship right now." Jinyoung repeats. He's good at giving non-explanations. He kisses Jaebum's neck chastely and sits back up straight. "Come on, it's getting late and we haven't had dinner. Can I ride with you? I'm too tired to jog back."

Not that he has to ask. Jaebum's glad that Jinyoung has already let go when his heart started pounding too madly to be contained.

But all in all, the calm that Jinyoung carries holds him through.

He and Mark don't meet but he does ask Jaebum to ask Jackson if Mark is doing okay. Jackson doesn't charge Jinyoung down with an epee in his hands so Jaebum assumes that Mark must be whole if still somewhat hurting. If the four of them miss hanging out as a group, nobody says a word.

In the meantime, there's work to be done, experiments to set up, code to be written, reports to be finished. Youngjae keeps looking more and more harassed, Jaebum takes pity on him and delegates some of his workload to Suzy, Jia figures out what Jaebum's doing all too quickly.

"You're not really set to be a matchmaker, you're too obvious," she tells him on their way to get coffee on the second floor micro-canteen. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Suzy finds him adorable the same way you do."

"That settles it, then. We don't have policies about dating within the team, right?"

"How do you see Youngjae, exactly?"

"I would totally date him if I were a girl." In its infinite wisdom the company knew better than to provide coffee vending machines if they didn't want grumpy science guys all over the place. What they have instead are actual espresso machines and very detailed step by step guides on how to use them. Jaebum readies two shots, Jia steams the milk.

"You're just saying that. You have been nothing but brotherly to Youngjae. A very sweet, very caring brother, yes, but still a brother nonetheless." Jia pours their milk into tumblers, Jaebum tops it off with espresso and generously adds honey to his. "Although he kept following you around back then. During his first few months? At one point I thought you two were dating."

"And why would we date?" He looks steadily into her eyes and takes a sip of his latte. "We're both guys."

Jaebum knows how Jia fishes for information.

Jia looks away first. "But it turned out to be a case of hero worship. The kid really looks up to you. Like you're a legendary older brother or something. And I guess that's what's unfortunate about Youngjae. He can get past the friend-zone easily only to be brother-zoned just as quickly."

Jaebum winces. "That can't be fun."

"To be fair to Suzy, I don't think she realizes that Youngjae wants to date her. He's too adorable for anyone to see him like that." Jia adds sugar to Jaebum's mug and they make their way back to the lab. "Hey, he listens to you about everything. Why don't you teach him to be manly?"

"I've been single since I was born. I don't think I'm qualified to teach anyone anything about that."

Jia's knowing look used to put Jaebum on guard. But Jia stopped setting him up with her friends a year ago. Jaebum figures that his secret is lost but Jia is keeping it for him still. He wonders how long he'll stay safe.

"What's this?"

Jinyoung glances over to what Jaebum has picked up in his hands. "Oh, that. That's nothing, don't worry about it."

Jaebum frowns at him. "It's a sealed envelope addressed to you from the hospital. It's kind of worrisome by itself."

"General checkup," Jinyoung explains. He snatches the paper from Jaebum and crams it inside a magazine on his coffee table.

"Are you sick?" Jaebum asks. "Were you actually picking up medicine from the pharmacy?"

Jinyoung's smiles disarmingly. Jaebum has a feeling that it's been practiced a lot. "I said it's nothing, dude, I've just been feeling groggy lately. Ready to go?"

Jaebum pushes the envelope - and Jinyoung's evasiveness - out of his mind. "That's my line. You ready to see him again? It's only been a month or so."

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. But right now I'm just looking forward to having fun."

The first time Jinyoung and Mark see each other again is on Jackson's birthday party, which is basically Jackson's excuse for inviting everyone he knows over to his apartment where barely half of them fit to munch on pizza and beer and lounge in the hallway and try to figure out how Jackson got to meet all these people anyway. Jaebum's pretty sure that there'd be complaints from the neighbors had it been anyone else's party, but for some reason Jackson can get away with anything. Jaebum reaches this conclusion when he sees the landlady nursing a half-empty bottle of soju in her hands while leading an animated discussion on what to do with rowdy tenants, complete with violent gestures that suggest strangulation.

Call it Jackson's superpower.

Jaebum doesn't feel like socializing tonight.

Jinyoung finds him like an expert. "Well. That was a lot less awkward than I thought it would be."

"You have a bottle of beer in your hands but you speak like you haven't been drinking."

"I figure you'd need a sober driver." Which is sensible; Jackson's parties tend to last too long for cabs and sobriety and Jinyoung isn't known for his alcohol tolerance. "Jackson still kind of hates me, I can tell, but he'd be furious if he saw me not indulging his party. Besides, this is for you. It'll be hard to go for another round after you decided to hole yourself up here in the rooftop."

Jaebum grins lightly at him. "Just too tired to deal with crowds, I guess."

And that's partially true, you'd think they were in a club in Gangnam for all the smoke and noise whenever Jackson holds a social event. Jaebum has much less energy than he expects after one of his end of day meetings ran twice as long.

Seoul is famous for its starless nights.

"Do you know Yun? From my team?" Jaebum is staring up at the familiar purple-gray sky. Jinyoung called it depressing during his first month in the metropolitan. "He's working on schematics for a new model of gamma ray sensors that-"

"I'm a dance teacher," Jinyoung reminds him. "I understand what you've said so far but I have a feeling that you're about to dive off the deep end of physics again."

Jaebum laughs and downs another mouthful of beer. "Layman's terms? Give me a minute to calibrate." One of the most dangerous things about Jinyoung is that he's always so interested in what Jaebum has to say even if he has to ask Jaebum to speak casually. It always makes Jaebum feel… important. To Jinyoung. "Suzy - you know Suzy, right?"

"Of course, Youngjae's dream girl."

"Yeah, her. She's exploring the possibility that there are regions in deep space built completely of antimatter. But no one in the world has the kind of equipment needed to prove or disprove that possibility. So Yun's designing one."

"Normally I'd indulge you." Jinyoung takes one of Jaebum's hands and plays with his fingers. Jinyoung likes to keep his hands busy. Jinyoung has no idea of his effect on Jaebum. "But why are you thinking about work when you're supposed to be getting wasted?"

"A few breakthrough ideas that shaped the modern world were discovered when physicists got completely shitfaced."

"You're a programmer."

"I'm just saying."

"You've been so detached from everything lately, I'm pretty sure there's something you're trying to stop yourself from saying."

Jaebum, surprised, glances at Jinyoung, who's amusing himself by counting the wrinkles on Jaebum's fingers. "How's Mark?"

"He's still the same Mark. Quiet. Accommodating. Smiles as blinding as a hundred-megawatt spotlight. He was looking for you, actually, I said maybe you were stuck in the hallway."

"The two of you were together for so long."

Jinyoung grins proudly at him. "The only one who's known me longer is you."

"Suzy thinks," Jaebum continues as if there hadn't been any interruption, "that the only reason why those regions of antimatter haven't been discovered is because we haven't touched them yet."

"I knew touch is important." Jinyoung raises both their hands. "See?"

"And it just got me thinking. Touching- interactions, basically. You can discover a lot of things by interacting with something the right way." Jaebum closes his hand around Jinyoung's. "Like this. You touch something, and you learn what's important."

"I know I'm important to you, Jae."

"I'm in love with you." Jaebum just lost this fight. "I've been in love with you for so long."

Jinyoung doesn't lose his smile, doesn't freeze up, doesn't chase the words away so easily. Jaebum holds his breath until Jinyoung speaks again. "I… had an idea. When I realized you look at me so differently. But that was years ago. Before Mark and I- ah. Even now? Still?"

"Even now, yeah." Jaebum stops himself from pulling Jinyoung into his arms. "I kind of tried not to be. But it didn't work."

Jinyoung still hasn't let go of his hand. "You're one of the most important people to me, Jae."

Jaebum closes his eyes. This, he thinks, is pretty much how he expected things to go.

"And if things were different, I'd say something about maybe learning to love you the same way." Jinyoung grips Jaebum's hand tighter. Like he's stopping Jaebum from withdrawing into himself further. "You're one of the greatest guys I know. But. I can't handle that kind of relationship right now. I'm not in the right space."

"I figured as much," Jaebum admits. "And this isn't me putting myself down, this is just observation. That if you are in the right space for a relationship… well, you wouldn't have broken things off with Mark in the first place."

Jinyoung nods. There's a touch of sadness there. "Yeah. But that doesn't mean I don't love you."

"Hey, love is love. As long as you're still my best friend-"

"I'll always be your best friend, you're not losing me so easily."

"Then I guess I'll be okay."

Jaebum realizes he's lost track of his drinking when he raises his bottle and finds it empty.

Jinyoung hands him the extra beer. "Is this what's been bothering you lately?"

"It's not that I started hoping or anything," Jaebum clarifies. "After you and Mark broke up, I just started wondering again. About what if I'd told you before you met Mark. Would we have ended up being together."

Jinyoung is silent for a while. It's a habit he learned from Mark, not speaking until he knows what he wants to say. "I don't know either. I guess that'll be one of our bigger personal mysteries."

"Some things just weren't meant to be solved so easily."

They head back downstairs where Jackson squeezes them into a couch and forbids them from disappearing for the rest of the night. Jinyoung almost starts drinking, Mark reminds him he's supposed to drive Jaebum home, and Jaebum lets himself relax just this once.

"Have you had your coffee?"

"Bzuh?" Jaebum blinks blearily at his laptop.

Youngjae laughs on screen. "I guess that's a no." Jaebum can tell Youngjae hasn't slept yet despite the tousled hair and the peek of ratty pajamas.

"It's a weekend," Jaebum says when he remembers that it's Saturday. "Why are you holding a video conference on a weekend? And so early, too."

"When have weekends ever stopped me from working?"

"When Hanbin got him drunk that one Saturday," Jia butts in as her userprofile pops into the conference. Youngjae squawks in protest.

Jaebum squints at Jia's video feed. "Why are you in the office meeting room?"

Jia shrugs and takes her seat at the head of the conference table. "Because I didn't want to take this call from the lounge room."

"Jia."

"Boss."

"You're not being a good example to our team by being in the office during weekends."

"Jaebum's scolding someone for working on weekends?" Suzy says as she and Yun join Jia in the meeting room carrying paper cups. "Isn't that double standard or something?"

Youngjae grins evilly. "I know, right?"

Namjoon's userprofile joins the call. He, at least, looks like he just woke up too. "So the people who have no lives have convened. Again."

"Have you had coffee?" Youngjae asks. Namjoon shows his mug to the camera.

"I guess that leaves Jaebum," Jia says. "Go get your coffee, boss, we don't want to deal with a half-sleeping zombie. We'll wait for you."

By the time Jaebum sits back in front of his laptop with a steaming mug of tea in his hands Hanbin has joined Jia, Suzy and Yun in the meeting room, Jaebum has accepted the fact that birds of a feather flock together even through their rest days, and he can pin his hopes for having a normal life on Taehyun because he's nowhere to be found.

Youngjae gets into the swing of things. "I thought I'd tell you guys now so that the idea has time to percolate over the weekend."

"Or what's left of it," Namjoon mutters to the side.

Youngjae grins and lets that go. "Remember that presentation of mine a few weeks ago? About how information can be modeled as the third fundamental substance under the right conditions?"

Hanbin groans loudly. "You've talked about little else. I can't focus on my statistics whenever you're around."

"It is a pretty cool hypothesis," Suzy concedes.

"If we can actually prove it. And that's a pretty big if." Namjoon isn't the most supportive teammate when he's just woken up.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, hyung," Youngjae says. His screen changes to a powerpoint slide filled with dense mathematics. Jaebum doesn't even bother to try and understand it. This is more for Youngjae and Suzy, and Taehyun would have found it interesting if only to call out how unrealistic it is as his first reaction.

Jia stands from her seat and moves closer to the camera. "Phase changes?"

Yun's userprofile pops into the video conference. Jaebum watches him squint into his laptop screen. "What are all these symbols? I haven't seen them before. I mean, I know they're Greek letters but I haven't seen them used this way."

"They're not standard convention," Youngjae explains. "I ran out of the standard variables so I just popped them in as placeholders."

Namjoon narrows his eyes. "You mean you're inventing a new type of math?"

"It's surprisingly easy," says Youngjae. "I basically reworked a lot of physics formulas to figure out how the hypersystem fits into them. That's how I stumbled on this."

"What are we looking at, exactly?" Jaebum feels compelled to ask. Everyone tends to forget that he's not as immersed in mathematics as the rest of them. He gets ignored. Which is a good thing in the sense that Youngjae's managed to rope everyone in, but also bad because Jaebum forgets things that he doesn't understand.

Jia shakes her head. Reproachful. Cautioning. "Youngjae, this is a lot riskier than your previous press release. Where did you base these findings on? What constants did you use?"

Suzy raises her hand and Jia quiets down. "His math checks out, by the way. Or at least I studied his equations and I agree with his conclusions."

"That seals it, then." Hanbin starts typing. His concentration is intense.

Yun lays a hand on Hanbin's lap. "Not yet. We still need Taehyun for this. Two theoretical physicists agreeing on something doesn't actually mean anything." He winks at Suzy.

"Spoken like a true engineer."

Youngjae's math disappears from the screen to be replaced by an extreme close up of Youngjae's nose. "You guys are taking this a lot more excitedly than I expected. But for once I have to slow everyone down. This is just hypothesis. Even less. What's lower than a hypothesis in the scientific ladder?"

"A postulate."

"What's even lower than that?"

"A rumor," Jia answers.

"An unproved rumor," Yun clarifies.

"And a dangerous one," Namjoon adds.

Jaebum clears his throat loudly. "Ahem, what is happening, please?" He watches everyone blink slowly. He can practically hear them lower their gears.

Yun raises his hand. "Basically, boss, he's saying that there's intelligent life out there somewhere."

"What-"

"But not in this universe," Youngjae interrupts hastily. "Or reality, even. We need to invent new vocabulary for this. We're extremophiles, hyung, like those weird bacteria that survive deep in arctic ice. We live in a paltry 3+1 dimensions. The reason why our astrophysicists can't find intelligent life out in space is because we have too few dimensions to actually support intelligence. Humanity is a fluke. We shouldn't even have happened. But if my extrapolations from the hypersystem are correct, the more dimensions we add to the model the higher the chances for intelligent life to prosper."

More intelligence in higher dimensions. Dimensions that are connected to this universe because it follows the same hypersystem. Higher levels of intelligence. Now Jaebum gets what got everyone else excited. "Youngjae. Are you saying that-"

"I'm not saying anything," Youngjae quickly cuts in. "Suzy and I are the only data points right now. Which makes this much less than a postulate. That's the reason why I had to talk about it with everyone. This is too fantastic even for me."

"Imagine." It's Yun's soft tone more than anything else that catches all their attention. "Intelligent life. That evolved completely differently from ours. Imagine how our life could be if we can be decompressed, if we're in an environment that can support intelligent life right away."

"I wouldn't even call it life," Suzy says. "Just… intelligence."

"Exactly." Youngjae looks troubled. Jaebum isn't expecting it, it's so different from his earlier excitement. As if a new thought just occurred to him. "And those dimensions are fundamentally connected to ours. We just have to find a way to get there. Find a way to… ascend."

Hanbin's eyebrows are raised. "I don't trust it."

"Youngjae's math?"

"No, this whole thing. It's ridiculous. Intelligence embedded into the fabric of space-time? A universe where intelligence is abundant? A mathematical model where it turns out we're living in the lowest rung of the spectrum and where we're discrete manifestations of intelligence? Where our minds are compressed and we can ascend to higher, connected dimensions? What's next? That we have souls?"

Jia and Yun look uncomfortably at Hanbin; it's Namjoon who sheds light on the cynicism. "Looks like Youngjae's math is rubbing Hanbin's non-religiousness the wrong way."

"Heaven and earth," says Yun with dawning comprehension. "Heaven where-"

Hanbin growls at him from across the table. Youngjae wisely cuts in. "I'm not saying anything about minds or souls, all I showed here is my math and it's still open to interpretation. I appreciate that everyone dived into this so readily. But right now the best thing to do is to wait for Taehyun to check my results. He's the applied physicist, he's the best person to advise us on how to approach this."

Everyone nods. It's a weak call for calm but they accept it nonetheless.

"I'm not saying it's heaven," Youngjae continues, "but I'm also not saying that it's not."

And that seems to be that. Suzy frowns in concentration at what Yun is showing her. Jia yawns, Namjoon drops off the call, Hanbin leaves the room while muttering something about "more coffee", and Jaebum does his best thinking in the shower.

The only people who ever call Jaebum on Sundays are Jinyoung, when Mark is busy and he needs to bother someone, and Youngjae, who's the only one in the office with the hard-earned right to bother him on his mandatory time off. It's actually become office policy and everyone in the team knows it by heart: Do Not Call Im Jaebum On Sundays Unless It's An Emergency.

Granted, there's a long list of qualifiers about what constitutes an emergency so anyone can still reach out to him if needed, but it's the thought that counts. Everyone wants him to take a break. And there's really nothing stopping him from calling them about work on Sundays so it's generally a good idea to not remind Jaebum of their existence until the day after.

So when an unknown number calls him on a Sunday afternoon, he knows it doesn't bode well.

Like his whole team, Jaebum is cautious about what he believes in. Science and belief can go well with each other only if held in careful balance which makes the whole industry is wary of belief working its way into things.

Jaebum knows that he and Jinyoung are best friends. He knows this because he's seen the evidence over and over again and nothing has challenged it yet.

Jaebum believes that wherever Jinyoung goes, Jaebum will be able to find him. He believes in this more than he believes in anything else.

"Jinyoung?" Jaebum approaches the familiar slouched figure sitting on their spot on top of the hill facing the city skyline. The man doesn't look at him. Jaebum isn't deterred. "Yugyeom's looking for you. He said you didn't show up at the school today. And you haven't been answering your phone. Don't you have that class about rediscovering dance? The one that you've been looking forward to for months?"

Jinyoung ignores him. He just keeps watching the horizon even when Jaebum sits beside him.

"What's wrong?" Jaebum prods. Jinyoung doesn't answer. "Jinyoung, hey, what's wrong? Answer me."

"Jinyoung?" Jinyoung asks. He turns slowly. Jaebum doesn't recognize the expression on a face so familiar. "Is that my name?"

Jaebum ignores the chill that climbs up his neck. "What do you mean?"

"Is that my name?" Jinyoung repeats. His expression melts from unfamiliarity to something close to desperation. "Do you know me? Do you know who I am?"

The important thing is to remain calm. Jaebum doesn't expect the cool mindset he uses in the lab to save him now. But strength comes from the strangest sources. Like his training taught him, Jaebum assesses the facts instead of fighting them. "You're my best friend. If you don't remember, that's okay, I'll help you remember. Please don't panic."

"I'm not panicking." The tension leaves Jinyoung's face. "I believe you."

Jaebum pauses. "Do you remember me?"

Jinyoung shakes his head. "No."

"But you said you believe me... Why?"

"I don't know. I just feel that I trust you. I can feel it as deeply as I don't remember anything."

Jaebum nods. "Come on, let's get you home."

[Part 2]