I Am: NOT

2. I Am: A Runaway

"I told you, we're not discussing anything about that here." Changbin frowned when he saw a suspicious looking Chan entering the room.

"No, of course...not here." Chan replied. Changbin cocked his eyebrow when Chan continued, "We can head to the library."

"Huh? Why?"

"Uhhh," Chan smacked his lips, "Like you said, we are not talking about it here."

"You win," Changbin sighed, standing up. "Alright then, we will head there and you are going to answer my questions on the way. Just answer me yes or no. One, did you meet someone?"

"Yes."

"Okay...you found what you want to know."

"Not yet."

"He promised you to tell you what's going on if I head there."

"Yes."

"Done. Enough questions right now. Let's continue later." Changbin said, ending the conversation.

~

"So you are his friend?" Woojin held out his hand when he saw Changbin, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Woojin."

Changbin stared at his hand for 2 seconds before he finally returned the handshake. "Seo Changbin. I think I heard your name somewhere. Is this place safe?"

"Yeah. I am the only library assisstant here for today, and I broke the CCTV. No one's gonna come today because they said they're too busy to fix it."

"Good." Changbin nodded in approval. "Alright, about what Chan hyung wanted to say."

"Right." Woojin took out a thick book out from a shelf and gave it to Chan. "Can you multi-task?"

"Yeah, I think." Chan nodded.

"Good. This book is an encyclopedia from the outside. Take a look. And Changbin, what do you know about our society?"

"Trying to produce human robots. Trapping us within this shitty city, believing that they can fool all of us." Changbin chimed, "But apparently not."

"Hmm. Half correct." Woojin hummed, "There's more than that. Chan, do you see anything?"

"These...what are these "natural phenomena"?"

"These are also something that the society robbed away from us. We have everything we need - with the sacrifice of beautiful scenery and uncertainty."

"But wouldn't it be dangerous if there are uncertainties?"

Changbin shook his head solemnly, "You probably don't understand. You will never understand it either if you weren't curious about that piece of glass. Humans evolve because they learned to deal with the unknown and gained knowledge. Yes, they are damgerous, but they are extremely important."

Chan realized one thing - Changbin wasn't an introvert. He did not talk much because he was hiding such important secrets.

"So...what can we do about it?"

"Oh, Chan " Woojin smirked. Chan could see the playful but dangerous glimmer in his eyes, "There's a reason why they sometimes call us 'dirty runaways'."

"You mean..." Chan gasped, "We run away from here? How?"

"Only the three of us won't be enough. But I know some other people." Changbin said calmly. "Woojin hyung, do you perhaps have a secure communicating device? Any will do."