AND THEN THERE WERE TWO.

THE NAM FAMILY WASN'T EXACTLY THRILLED ABOUT THE IDEA OF TWINS AT ONCE. WELL, THE PREGNANT WOMAN WHO CRIED FOR JOY SEEMED THRILLED ENOUGH. FATHER NAM WAS ANOTHER STORY AND WOULD STAY THAT WAY. AN ENGINEER WHO'D HAD TO FALL BACK ON WORKING IN CONSTRUCTION AS A PART TIME JOB JUST TO PREPARE HIS FAMILY FOR A CHILD, TWO CHILDREN WAS MORE THAN HE WAS READY TO HANDLE. ALWAYS HAD BEEN, ALWAYS WOULD BE. STILL, BOTH PARENTS LOVED THE TWO BABY BOYS THEY BROUGHT INTO THE WORLD TOGETHER ON FEBRUARY 8TH, 1991. BOUNCING BABY BOY NAM WOOHYUN AND HIS 76 SECOND OLDER BROTHER NAM BOOHYUN. ALWAYS A LITTLE SLOWER ON THE UPTAKE, WOOHYUN IS REMINDED REGULARLY BY BOTH PARENTS THAT HE CAME SECOND AND SLOWER THAN BOOHYUN EVEN NOW.

AS A CHILD, WOOHYUN WAS THE KIND TO ADVENTURE. BY THE AGE OF TWO HE'D ALREADY CLIMBED OUT OF HIS CRIB OFTEN ENOUGH THAT HIS PARENTS BEGAN TO TIE HIS ANKLE TO A BAR IN IT. BY THE AGE OF FOUR, HIS PARENTS HAD ALREADY COME INTO THE KITCHEN TO FIND HIM ATOP COUNTERS AND TABLES TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS UP ABOVE. THEY LIVED IN MODEST MEANS, A HOME THEY COULD AFFORD BUT A HOME ALL THE SAME TO THEM AND MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, WOOHYUN'S ADVENTUROUS WAYS LEFT THEM WORRIED THAT THERE WOULD BE A FINDING FOR HIM THAT WAS NOT RIGHT. A HOLE IN THE FLOORING, SOME KIND OF BLACK MOLD, BUGS; IF IT HAD EVER BEEN IN A HOME, WOOHYUN'S PARENTS BEGAN TO WONDER IF WOOHYUN WOULD FIND IT IN THEIRS AND BE HURT.

BOOHYUN WAS BETTER. THOSE 76 SECONDS, HIS PARENTS ALWAYS SAID, THEY REALLY SEEMED TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE. BOOHYUN WAS ALWAYS TUGGING WOOHYUN BACK FROM OUTLETS. EVEN BEFORE THEY COULD SPEAK HE SEEMED TO BE NAGGING AT WOOHYUN AS THEY CRAWLED ON THE FLOOR, GUIDING HIM THE SAFER WAY BACK TO THEIR ROOM OR THEIR MOTHER. AND JUST LIKE THAT THEY WERE WHAT THEY WOULD ALWAYS BE DESTINED TO BE. THE LITTLE TROUBLEMAKER AND THE BARELY OLDER LAW KEEPER. IT KEPT THINGS EASIER FOR THEIR PARENTS AS THE TWINS GREW OLDER, ALLOWING THEM TO BE ON THEIR OWN FOR SHORT BURSTS OF TIME BECAUSE THEY FIGURED BOOHYUN WOULD BE CAPABLE ENOUGH. BY SEVEN THEY WERE OUT ON THE FIELDS TOGETHER PLAYING SPORTS, WOOHYUN THE ONE TO RUN AROUND MAKING TOO MUCH NOISE AS BOOHYUN MOSTLY PLAYED GOAL KEEPER, BROTHERS WHO MANAGED TO WORK TOGETHER EVEN WHEN THEY WERE RUNNING THEMSELVES ON TOTALLY OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM.

ALWAYS TOGETHER, ALWAYS SAFE.

THINGS DIDN'T GET EASIER ABOUT IT AS THEY AGED. WOOHYUN BEGAN TO GET SICKLY WHILE BOOHYUN BEGAN TO WORRY, ALWAYS BRINGING HIS BROTHER TOYS AND GIFTS. LITTLE THINGS, TOKENS OF APPRECIATION. THE ILLNESS ALWAYS CAME TO PASS FAST SO NEITHER PARENT WORRIED MORE THAN FOR THE WEEKEND IT CAME OVER HIM; BY MONDAY MORNING, WOOHYUN WAS CHARGING OUT THE HOUSE AGAIN, INTO THE YARD OR A NEARBY PARK. BOOHYUN WAS ALWAYS RIGHT BEHIND HIM. THAT WAS JUST THE WAY LIFE WENT.

EVENTUALLY, THEY WERE GIVEN AFTERNOONS ALONE. BOOHYUN WOULD HANDLE THE COOKING AND WOOHYUN WOULD HANDLE BEING SECOND-IN-COMMAND -- A ROLE THAT MOSTLY DEMANDED HE PUT PLATES DOWN AND CLIMB AROUND LIKE HE WAS ALWAYS GOING TO DO, ANYWAY, TO GET WHAT THEY NEEDED FOR MEALS FOR THEMSELVES. BOOHYUN GOT TO CONTROL THE REMOTE AND VOLUME OF THE TELEVISION SET BUT WOOHYUN, ALL TOO OFTEN, CONTROLLED WHAT THEY ACTUALLY WATCHED. FRIENDS WOULD COME OVER AND THEY BOTH KNEW TO CLEAN FAST TOGETHER, GET THEM OUT BY 4:30PM SO THEIR PARENTS WOULD NEVER FIND OUT.

LIFE WAS EASY, THE TWO OF THEM KNOWING THEIR GOOD PLACES.

THOSE 76 SECONDS ENDED UP MATTERING ALL TOO MUCH, THOUGH. WHILE MAKING LUNCH AT THE STILL TENDER AGES OF 12 THE BOYS FOUND TROUBLE. A WIRE BURST IN THE WALL OF THEIR KITCHEN AND SENT A SURGE THROUGH THE HOUSE. THE FIRST FLICKER SEEMED HARMLESS, MEANINGLESS; WOOHYUN EVEN THOUGHT THEY PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE GONE TO CHECK WHAT WAS WRONG. INSTEAD THEY TRIED TO FINISH THEIR COOKING SAFELY SO THEY COULD GO TO RELAX. BOOHYUN SMELLED IT FIRST, THE BURNING, AND HE TRIED TO WARN WOOHYUN. THINGS, AFTER THAT, MOVED TOO FAST.

THE SPARK BURNED THROUGH WOOD AND PAPER FAST; IT SPARKED OUT THE BULBS OVERHEAD AND THAT, THEY TOLD WOOHYUN LATER, WAS WHAT HAD BROUGHT HIM DOWN. IT WAS A WEEK LATER BY THEN, WAKING IN A HOSPITAL BED WITH A WEAK VOICE AND A BODY WEIGHED DOWN BY MACHINES AND BANDAGES. POISONED, THEY SAID. TOO MUCH EXPOSURE TO LEAD AND MERCURY. HIS HEAD WAS IN A FRENZY, TRYING TO REMEMBER, CRYING AN APOLOGY ABOUT THE PLATE HE KNEW BROKE BECAUSE HE'D FALLEN -- HE'D FALLEN WHEN BOOHYUN HAD PUSHED HIM OUT OF THE WAY AND THAT WAS WHEN IT HIT HIM.

BOOHYUN HAD ALWAYS BEEN FASTER THAN WOOHYUN AND WOOHYUN HAD ALWAYS BEEN SAFER BECAUSE OF IT. SO WHEN THE BULB BLEW AND THE FIRE COLLAPSED, BOOHYUN HAD PUSHED WOOHYUN OUT OF THE WAY TO SAVE HIM. HE BEGGED. HE PUSHED, TUBES UNDONE FROM HIS VEINS, AS HE TRIED TO ASK WHERE HIS BROTHER WAS. THEY TRIED TO BREAK IT EASILY, TRIED TO HOLD HIM STILL AND IT WASN'T UNTIL HIS FATHER DID IT, ONE HAND ON WOOHYUN'S INJURED CHEST AND THE OTHER MOVING TO LIFT HIS SON UP, THAT WOOHYUN KNEW.

THERE WAS ONLY ONE NOW.

THAT NIGHT WAS THE NIGHT, THE VERY FIRST NIGHT WOOHYUN'S GIFTS KICKED IN. HIS STOMACH ACHED AND HIS HEAD FELT DIZZY LIKE THE WHOLE HOSPITAL WAS BEING TAKEN TO THE MOON. THEY WERE FORCING FOOD INTO HIM HOWEVER THEY COULD, TRYING TO KEEP HIM AWAKE, AND HIS BODY HATED EVEN THAT. AS HE LAID IN BED CLUTCHING TO HIMSELF AS BEST HE COULD HE HEAR BOOHYUN'S VOICE SUCKING TEETH IN THE CORNER. THEN THE HANDS, GENTLE HANDS HE KNEW SO WELL, SOOTHING AT HIS BACK AS IT HELPED UNDO THE WORST OF WHAT HELD HIM.

NO MATTER WHAT, BOOHYUN WAS DEAD, WOOHYUN KNEW THAT. BUT THERE HE STOOD, TOO, TALKING IN HIS TELL TALE VOICE AND TELLING WOOHYUN HOW OKAY THIS WAS NOW. HOW HE HAD TO JUST STOP FIGHTING IT, HAD TO BE BETTER. BECAUSE BOOHYUN WOULD BE WATCHING. BECAUSE HE WAS GONE, YEAH, BUT HE'D BE BACK. HE'D BE BACK ANY TIME WOOHYUN NEEDED IT -- REALLY, REALLY NEEDED IT. WHEN THE NURSE CAME IN AND FOUND THEM, BOOHYUN VANISHED. WOOHYUN FELT HIS BODY FINALLY CAVE INTO ITS ILLNESS AS HIS STOMACH PURIFIED ITSELF AND THE NURSE COLLAPSED. WHEN SHE WOKE, IT FELT LIKE A BAD TRIP, CHALKED UP TO A TIRED DAY.

AND THAT WAS HOW THINGS WENT, FOR A LONG TIME. IF SOMEONE SAW BOOHYUN WITH WOOHYUN THEY WERE SICK FOR A LITTLE BIT AND FIGURED THEY HAD IMAGINED IT. SAW DOUBLES, BECAUSE OF HOW DIZZY THEY FELT. BOOHYUN TRIED TO EXPLAIN WHAT HE COULD AND WOOHYUN -- HE FIGURED OUT THE REST, WHEN HE HAD TO. IT WASN'T EVEN THREE MONTHS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL, THOUGH, WITH HIS LEG AND ARM STILL WRAPPED AND THE EASIEST OF THE SCARS ALREADY HEALED AWAY THAT THE FIRST COUPLE IN SUITS CAME TO VISIT THE NAM HOUSEHOLD. A SMALLER PLACE BY FAR, RUN DOWN AND FILLED WITH WHAT BITS COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED FROM THE ORIGINAL FIRE. COMFORTABLE, THOUGH. TOO COMFORTABLE FOR THE CONVERSATIONS THEY GAVE.

HIS PARENTS HAD EXPECTED IT, OF COURSE THE HOSPITAL HAD WARNED THEM. SOMETHING HAPPENED. SOMETHING CHANGED. WOOHYUN SHOULD HAVE DIED FROM HIS POISONS BUT INSTEAD, HIS BODY WAS RECOVERED. NOT THE PEAK OF HEALTH BUT HE'D SURVIVE WITH THE BARE MINIMUM OF PROBLEMS. A SLIGHT ATTENTION ISSUE BUT THAT WAS NO DIFFERENT. SO THEY KNEW, BOTH HIS PARENTS, THAT THE BOY WAS DIFFERENT NOW. OF COURSE THE BOY DIDN'T LIKE IT MUCH. THE THOUGHT OF IT, OF BEING ABLE TO CONTROL BOOHYUN, IT MADE NO SENSE TO HIM. BUT HE LISTENED TO WHAT HE COULD, WHEN THEY WERE ABLE TO GET HIM INTO CONTROL. EVENTUALLY, IT STOPPED BEING A BAD THING; BOOHYUN WASN'T LEAVING PEOPLE DIZZY AND CONFUSED ANYMORE AND WOOHYUN WAS ABLE TO BALANCE SOME KIND OF CONTROL WITH WHAT HE MADE COME AND GO. THE WILL BECAME LESS AND LESS PROMINENT SO MUCH AS THE THOUGHT OF IT. THE NEED FOR IT. AND WITH THAT, WOOHYUN FIGURED HE WAS GOOD. HIS PARENTS FELT OTHERWISE, THOUGH. THEY DIDN'T NEED MORE OF THE TROUBLE, THE STRESS.

SO WOOHYUN LIVED IN PYEONGCHANG FROM THIRTEEN ONWARD. IT KEPT HIM REGULATED, KEPT HIM GROWING. NOT WELL, NOT AT INCREDIBLE PACES, BUT WELL ENOUGH. AND IT GREW IN HIM THE NATURE OF PERFORMANCE THAT HE WOULD COME TO RELY ON WHEN HE FINALLY CAME INTO HIS OWN. BECAUSE WOOHYUN JOINED EVERY CLUB, SQUAD AND TEAM HE COULD IMAGINE. STUDENT BODY VICE PRESIDENT, STAR KICKER ON THE SOCCER TEAM IN HIGH SCHOOL, PRESIDENT OF THE COMIC CLUB. IF IT WAS OUT THERE, WOOHYUN WAS IN IT, WORKING HIS WAY TOWARD SOMETHING NO ONE EVER REALLY COULD FIGURE OUT. COMPETITIONS BECAME SIMPLE AND BALANCING CLASS WORK WAS ODD, BUT ASSURED.

EVEN IF EVERYONE IS STILL DAMN SURE HE ONLY GRADUATED WITH SUCH GOOD GRADES BECAUSE HE HAD CHARM AND SEDUCED MOST OF HIS TEACHERS.

LIFE AFTER THAT CAME FAST AND QUICK. WOOHYUN BEGAN WORKING WHATEVER STATION WORK HE COULD GET; HE BECAME A DJ HOSTING FROM VARIOUS CLUBS, EVEN A FEW STRIP CLUBS OR UNDERGROUND PARTIES, WORKING AS AN EMCEE WHEREVER HE HAD TO JUST TO GET HIS FOOT IN THE DOOR. IT BEGAN TO WORK, HIS FIRST JOB BECOMING A STEADY POSITION AIMED AT ENGLISH SPEAKING AUDIENCES. IT GOT HIM TRACTION, BIG ENOUGH TO END UP WITH NEARLY THREE MILLION LISTENERS A DAY. THAT, THAT WAS THE START OF IT ALL, AN UPHILL RUN THAT LEFT HIM BREATHLESS. AND A RUN IN WITH SOMEONE ELSE WHOSE CAREER WAS ON THE UP AND UP AT A YOUNG AGE WITH HIM WHO EASILY BECAME THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN HIS LIFE. AN EASY UNDERSTANDING OF ONE ANOTHER LEAD TO THEM BECOMING LOVERS BEFORE LONG AND FROM THERE, WELL.

THE REST WAS HISTORY.

A THREE YEAR WHIRLWIND ROMANCE TOGETHER AS KIBUM'S BLOGGING LEAD HIM INTO EVERYTHING. THE FASHION WORLD WAS DIFFERENT FROM WOOHYUN'S OWN UNDERSTANDING BUT THEY MET ONE ANOTHER WHERE THEY COULD; FEATURING ON RANDOM VLOGS OR TALK EPISODES OF WOOHYUN'S SHOW TOGETHER, EVEN WORKING TOGETHER AT RANDOM CONCERTS THROUGH THE YEAR WHO NEEDED MORE IN TOUCH AND TUNE MEDIA CONNECTIONS. THINGS WERE, WELL, AMAZING. AMAZING ENOUGH FOR WOOHYUN TO EXPLAIN HIS LIFE AND CHILDHOOD, EXPLAIN HIS CLONES AND HIS TROUBLES. EVERYTHING WAS WELCOME THERE, EVERYTHING WENT WITH THEIR RELATIONSHIP. IT WAS, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, THE KIND OF HEALING WOOHYUN NEEDED TO TRY AND TRAIN AGAIN. TO GROW HIS GIFTS. TO CONTROL THEM. THREE YEARS OF WORKING WHERE HE COULD, OF TAKING A FEW HOURS A WEEK TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHAT HE COULD REALLY MANAGE NOT JUST IMAGINE.

AND IT WORKED, FOR A WHILE. BOOHYUN WASN'T A FEAR FOR A WHILE. WOOHYUN BEGAN TO REPLICATE MORE: CLOTHES, TABLES, EVEN A CAR ONCE BEFORE HE RAN INTO THE BATHROOM TO HURL BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH POISON FLOODED HIS SYSTEM FROM THE EFFORT. IT WAS WELL WORTH IT, THOUGH, TO GO HOME AND SEE HIS LOVER'S FACE ALL LIT UP WITH LAUGHTER WHEN HE COULD DO SOMETHING SUDDENLY SIMPLE TO HIS NATURE. THEN, THINGS GOT BUSY. WOOHYUN WAS STUCK WORKING FOR LARGER NETWORKS IN KOREA AND KIBUM WAS BEING INVITED AROUND THE WORLD. THERE WAS WORRY, THERE WAS STRIFE. AND THEN THERE WAS THE END BECAUSE HOW CAN ANYONE DEAL WITH THIS, WOOHYUN? YOU'RE JUST TOO MUCH. THERE WAS HARDLY EVEN TIME FOR THE HUGE HOUSE THEY OWNED TO CLEAR OUT BEFORE WOOHYUN WAS FIGURING OUT HIS NEXT STEP. HE FIGURED HIS BEST BET WAS TO JUST KEEP GOING, KEEPING HIS INVESTMENTS BUSTLING AND HIS HOME FEELING SOMEWHAT LIKE A HOME.

AND THAT'S BEEN THE NATURE OF IT, SINCE THEN. EVEN WHEN WOOHYUN FOUND HIMSELF AN AWARD WINNING DJ, AN OWNER OF MULTIPLE RESTAURANTS AND PROPERTIES, WHEN HE FOUND HIMSELF MAKING MORE MONEY THAN HE EVER IMAGINED BEFORE, THINGS WERE JUST HABIT. NECESSITY. BECAUSE IF PARENTS AND LOVERS AND BROTHERS ALL WENT AWAY, WHAT WAS THERE LEFT TO THINK HE COULD DO BUT TRY TO SURVIVE? HE COULD BE THERE FOR OTHERS, COULD TRY AND GIVE ODD HOPE, BECAUSE HIS OWN LIFE WAS OBVIOUSLY MEANT FOR ANYTHING BUT THAT RETURNED UNTO HIM PROPERLY.