anywayy bc this continues on from the last book, that means nothing much has changed from the boys, including the colors of their hair. so eunsang's still a redhead, daniel's a blondie, and no, minhee's not blonde ~

alright then, let's start!

01 — WHERE WAS I AGAIN?

your footsteps are easily written into history, so make sure to think it through before striking a move.

—

daniel never thought he'd get his own stage to explain all of this by himself.

he pauses and takes a deep breath. "so everything first began on the day of seungwoo-hyung's birth.."

~

2000

the woman rolled up the sleeves of her surgery coat, sighing softly as she sipped what's left of her second cup of coffee. the hospital had been fairly crowded by patients the past couple of days, and it made it harder for her to balance her position as the chief executive and a full-shift doctor at the same time. she was starting to wonder what would've happened if she didn't volunteer to become a doctor instead.

a lot of people suggested her to bail out of her medical agenda, saying that there's no reason for her to hold doctor appointments when she already had the whole medical institution for herself; all she had to do was to sit back and to watch the progress of her fellow doctors and nurses. but as it killed her not to do anything significant, she ended up volunteering herself for extra appointments with the patients. besides, that was the only way she could make use of her medical degree, and she's not going to waste the chance one bit.

"you're overworking yourself, sweetheart." a voice came from afar. "i don't think that's a good idea."

she sighed. "the only reason i'm here is because a certain someone didn't bother to finish any of the overloading paperwork when i'm clearly too busy to put my hands on them."

the man sighed as he leaned to kiss her forehead. "boah-yah.. you know that's it been really hectic for me too. the icu's been packed with a bunch of transferred patients—"

"yes, yes i understand." she smiled faintly at him. "you don't have to explain yourself, i was only joking. i know we're both busy, it's just.." she sighed restlessly. "at these times i start to regret choosing both jobs."

the man laughed as a response. though the woman knew his husband wasn't the most attractive man in the world, he does have an attractive laugh, one that she could listen to everyday of her life. "anyway, i saw the data of the newborn babies for yesterday, heard that there was a little error that quite shocked most of the nurses, t'was a hassle for the receptionist indeed."

"what error?"

"you didn't know?" junyoung passed her a file, his finger pointing at the thing he was referring to. "look at this one, patient number 127. miss han. just gave birth to her son, name still unspecified. chromosome: xyy." he sneered. "something must've been wrong with the system, i think an intern mistakenly written in an extra y or something."

boa pursed her lips. "it's not a mistake, though."

his smile automatically faded. "i'm sorry?"

"it's not a mistake, because i was the one who confirmed it. the baby didn't look any less different than an ordinary newborn though, and there were no irregular symptoms that were brought upon him." she looked up to him. "the xyy syndrome mostly happen in the west, so i'm quite surprised to get one of those in our hospital. i don't really make a huge deal out of it though, i told the mother that the baby's fine."

"but sweetheart, don't you remember the original title of your thesis back in university?" he asked in a low voice, hoping not to offend her in the process. "your attempt to analyze the behavior of the supermale syndrome, the xyy."

the woman sneered. "the one that resulted to me getting humiliated in front of everyone because the professor said my hypothesis was just 'a stupid myth from a fantasy book that couldn't be proved by science'?"

"yes, and the one that made me fall in love with you for the first time," he grinned widely. "yes, the idea itself was absurd, but it's not entirely impossible. i believed in you then, and now i know it's your chance to prove it."

the woman paused for a bit. "do you really think i can?"

"as long as you have the guts, you can do anything." something about his intonation brewed the enthusiasm that was left in her. "your subject's just right there, all you have to do is to give the mother a call and just.. you know, do a little research on the baby boy or something."

boa knew it was a stupid idea that could risk her career, but the curiosity that had haunted her past was finally back to overwhelm her again, and she didn't know if she was able to shove the opportunity away just like that.

so after a night of contemplation, she decided to follow her husband's suggestion.

the next day, the daily inspection was definitely the best time for her to strike a move. supported by a completely clueless miss han, boa was able to grant a moment with this one of a kind baby even if it was just for a few minutes, and she wasn't bothered by it because it was enough. hell, it was more than enough.

all she needed was a clean syringe,

and the important formula she had kept for years.

the fluid entered the baby's pale body at ease, which brought relief upon her because she knew if she did one mistake here, it could lead to a bunch of other mistakes. rather than guilt, her preposterous action that clearly went against the hippocratic oath somehow made her feel a lot better than usual. maybe it's because she had finally done something for the sake of her ongoing curiosity that had bothered her since her youth.

she didn't hear much from the han family after they were released from the hospital, and that happened for roughly a few months. it slowly troubled her because she didn't believe for sure that the serum did nothing to the boy. she had done her research.. she had all the data summed up before she decided to forget everything about xyy and move on with her life.. so it really affected her pride to know that her many years of research didn't exactly produce anything significant.

that was until she encountered a familiar face a few months after.

"miss han?"

the middle-aged lady turned around, startled by the sudden reference to her. she smiled once she realized that it was from a person she knew quite well. "doctor kwon! boy, i'm glad to see you here."

"i'm not sure if i'll be able to say the same to you, because if you are here in the hospital that means you're sick and that's clearly a condition i don't want you to be in." she bowed to show her respect and flashed a grin. "so what's the special occasion, miss han? does your body start to develop any problems after childbirth?"

"ah, it's not that.." the brightened look on the lady's face slowly faded. "i'm here to visit a psychiatrist, actually. there's a lot of things i would like to discuss." 

"a psychiatrist?" boa always knew her as a very enthusiastic person, so it troubled her to know that turned out she had problems on her mental health instead. "alright then. have you booked an appointment?"

she shook her head. "i was hoping you could help me with that."

"i'll be honored. i'll tell one of my nurses to book an appointment for you, maybe while we wait we could perhaps grab a cup of coffee or two?"

the two ended up discussing about miss han's problems in a quiet coffee shop right across the hospital building. miss han was hesitant at first, but she slowly opened up after a few minutes of sweet talk.

"it's humiliating for me to explain this to you because as you are a very intelligent person, you may see my situation as absurd, but.." she took a deep breath. "i just couldn't take it anymore, and i need your help to overcome this situation.. this madness."

"please do explain."

"my child, seungwoo.. he's.. a weird folk, i think." she said in a lower tone. "i don't know if this is me slowly losing my mind or if it's just my self-conscience that's trying to creep me out, but sometimes when i'm not looking at him directly.. i could've swore that i saw sparks of fire appearing on parts of his body. let alone it'll be his hands, or ears, feet— like a scorch of massive heat set aflame, but once i try to tell anyone about it, it disappears. before i could get my hands on him, he returns back to normal. every single time i try to prove myself, the world always seem to go against it.. and it's getting on my nerves." she sighed. "how am i supposed to explain to the psychiatrist that i'm having hallucinations of my baby getting set on fire— wow, you really do look serious. why aren't you weirded out by my strange behavior?"

boa gazed at her apprehensively. "because that's all i've been waiting to hear."

"i'm sorry?"

"never mind. miss han, if you have anymore problems with seungwoo, please don't hesitate to contact me. i'll try my best to check his symptoms."

"so you believe in me?" the woman's eyes widen.

"i believe that things that aren't able to be proven are bound to happen anyway," she smiled faintly. "i'm always here if you need any help. set up an appointment for seungwoo if you have to, it's best to undergo treatment as soon as possible."

and just like that, doctor kwon was able to get ahold of the spectacular 'fire kid', han seungwoo. she watched the process as he got older, made sure that his powers don't get exposed by the people around him, and tried her best to make sure he controlled it well, because she felt responsible of kickstarting his powers and she didn't want to have him living a troubled life because of that. little did she know she created a unspoken bond with the kid because other than his parents, she was the one who took care of him during his years of growing up. he visited the hospital twice a week just to meet her, he received candies and sweets by the kind doctor, and in return boa was able to obtain certain information about him and his powers.

2001

she certainly hadn't ran out of luck the next year. blessed by the birth of two more xxys in the hospital — cho seungyoun and kim wooseok — she made sure to keep an eye of the both of them just like how she had taken care of seungwoo. the major difference was that she did not to inject the serum as quickly as before because she decided to wait until they grow older instead (another fire baby scenario isn't something she'd like to encounter again). besides, there was something else that kept her busy, something way more important than the xyy individuals themselves: it was her and her own child.

she gave birth to ahn euigeon late december that year, and it also birthed joy for her and her husband. the happiness quickly deteriorated however, once her husband realized that the baby's birth resulted a very fatal mistake that could lead to the fallout of his wife's immune system.

his wife had a huge risk of dying, and the baby was the reason behind it.

euigeon didn't have the xyy chromosome, but boa didn't mind. his appearance to her world granted her happiness of a lifetime, and nothing else really did matter, not even the fact that she could die any moment just because she gave birth to him.

if she had to die everyday just to make sure that he could live, she would.

this wasn't good news for her husband, though. in fact, junyoung was so furious by the fact that his wife had risked her own health just to give birth to his baby, he despised the child in many ways. there was a moment when he tried to sneak in at night when his wife was still asleep.. he held the syringe filled with his wife's xyy serum.. his gaze lowered upon the innocent, sleeping child. before he could even lay a finger on him, the voice of his wife stormed off right across the room.

"what do you think you're doing?!" she yelled furiously. she grabbed the syringe without hesitation, with her whole heart beating as if it was about to fall off her chest. "the boy doesn't have an extra y chromosome, this thing could kill him! are you out of your mind?!"

"i wanted to test out what happened if you inject it to someone who's not an xyy.." he stuttered in humiliation. "maybe if it works on him, it could work on you too.. it could guarantee your survival.."

"you want to check whether my formula works or not by sacrificing our child?" she sneered. "why don't you try injecting it on yourself and see what happens!"

boa and junyoung's relationship started to deteriorate after that incident, and of course the guilt started to discomfort her because she knew he did all of those nasty things just to make sure that she survives... but as his ways were violent and crude, boa made sure that he didn't have the power to do those crazy things anymore.

the results of the xyy boys were kept secret from him the next couple of years, including the plentiful amount of xxy individuals born in 2003 that were too much to get ahold of. boa made sure that they all were still on her radar, made sure that they were given the best accommodations as possible (she personally asked her sister to adopt hangyul, the poor xyy boy who got abandoned by her mother the moment he was born), and made sure that they weren't anywhere near from his husband's radar. junyoung, fighting off the ongoing curiosity he had of his wife, decided to keep himself busy by creating a whole medical institution for himself that is now known as imnet — institution of modernized neuroscience and evolutionary technology — and its purpose was none other than to discover of the world's strangest abnormalities.

her sister gave birth to nam dohyon a year after, and after boa discovered that he was nonetheless an xyy just like his adopted brother, she decided that korea was just not safe for them anymore and she sent them all overseas, far from the grip of her ambitious husband.

2005

it was wooseok's 4th birthday the time he and seungyoun visited the hospital again, and the purpose of their visit there was obvious: boa decided that they were old enough to discover their own powers. so as she called their parents back to the hospital, she had already prepared the xyy serum, expecting more regular meetings with the both of them in the future now they were aware of how extraordinary their bodies hold potential.

just as she expected, seungyoun came to the hospital by himself. she already knew that his extremely rich family never really cared about him, it was to the point the boy hung out with the doctor more often than the time he had with each of his parents combined. he had grown used to the concept of being alone that it didn't really bothered him anymore.

wooseok, on the other hand, was accompanied by his mother as usual. he was a lot more quiet than seungyoun, but boa enjoyed his presence as much as he enjoyed seungyoun's. though boa had always interacted with the each of them separately because they each had different appointments, it wasn't hard to notice that the both of them had strikingly different personalities.

"it's injection day, isn't it?" junyoung asked her with a tint of curiosity.

boa nodded lightly. deep down she didn't like the fact that her husband was trying to butt into her xyy research again.

"would you mind if i join?"

yes, definitely i would mind, but boa didn't really have the choice to decline. with her relationship with her husband slowly drifting apart, it wouldn't hurt to at least include him in on one of her personal events, even if it's just one.

seungyoun was the first one to get the shot. he entered the room with the usual giddy smile he had on his face, the smile that could definitely brighten everyone's day. he immediately noticed junyoung's presence at the other side of the room, but he didn't elaborate. he chose to make his way towards boa instead. "doctor kwon! what are we going to do for today? are we going to play puzzles? games? is euigeon here too?"

seungyoun was awfully close with her son euigeon, and maybe it was because they're the same age. seungyoun's dad was apparently business partners with junyoung, and because of that both families usually hold business dinners together, resulting to the union of no other else but euigeon and seungyoun. nothing could really separate them, those two; it's fair enough to say that they were the best of friends.

"seungyoun-ah, we're going to do something different today." boa swiftly grabbed a syringe from her bag. "are you aware of the term, 'immunization'?"

"is it the thing where you get shots so you won't get sick?" seungyoun asked softly. "yes i know that, i read a bit about those earlier this week. i've prepared myself for it you know, because i know these are the best years for me take them."

"good boy." boa was glad that she didn't have to explain it all again for him. "i'm going to inject this little needle here against your skin, it might sting a little bit so please don't move okay?"

push. the serum entered the boy's body, and it actually quite startled him for a bit. with no other visual symptoms the boy fluttered her eyes open, letting his eyes and ears do the work. "doctor.."

"are you feeling okay? did it hurt?"

seungyoun didn't answer. instead his gaze shifted to junyoung who was casually sitting on the couch, and his eyes immediately widened. he screamed out loud. "doctor, doctor! help me, i'm scared!"

he hid himself underneath boa's surgery coat, trembling tremendously. boa gave him a hug and patted his head, trying to comfort him. "hey, are you alright? why are you scared?"

he pointed a finger at junyoung. "he's bad guy! he's a really really bad guy! he's going to hurt seungyoun, he wants to hurt seungyoun real bad, he also wants to hurt euigeon, i'm sure of it! please doctor, save me, please.."

boa glared at her husband. "you monster."

"the kid's just spewing nonsense!" junyoung got up from his seat to explain himself, but that just made seungyoun more hysterical.

"get away from me! leave me alone!" utterly scared, the boy quickly jumped off the bed and ran towards the door to escape.

boa yelled at him. "seungyoun-ah!"

but as if his fear was a never ending fuel, the boy ran away from the grip of the both of them as quickly as possible. boa tried to follow him, but her decreasing health had forcibly stopped her from doing so. junyoung on the other hand was too shocked of what had happened that his body didn't move one bit.

wooseok didn't receive the serum that day, just for the sake of his safety. boa gave his mother the serum, telling her to inject it to wooseok 'when the moment's right'. she didn't get any news from the escaped seungyoun earlier on, because it didn't seem like he ran back off to his home either. it seemed like he went over to someone else's.

"ahjussi.. nice lee-ahjussi.."

mr lee was quite surprised to see the child of his boss running towards him, begging on his knees for attention. "seungyoun-ah, what are you doing here? your parents will be worried sick!"

"lee-ahjussi.. protect me please.." seungyoun cried into his arms. the man was his father's regular driver and that out of all the staff members, he was the one he interacted with a lot. "i don't want to go back anymore, i don't want to go back. he's too scary for me to even look at."

"who is scary?" the man tried to pry more information out of the boy, but the boy was crying so hard that he wasn't able to form any audible words anymore. hopeless, he had made up his mind that this was the work of the boy's terrible father, and that helping him to escape from his evilness was the least he could do. while holding the little boy by his hand, he grabbed his phone with his other hand to make a call. "sweetheart? i don't think i'll be able to pick up eunsang from the daycare today. yes, there's been problems at work.. uh, i think we'll be needing an extra bed for a toddler too."

—

this is the longest chapter i've ever done, the amount of words here is actually worth 2 chapters HAHAHAHA

alrighty, let's check if you're all already here, 200 votes for next chapter~