Seoul was alive. Ticking. Breathing. Thriving. Like the heart of tiger it went on strong. Everyone in the city mindlessly going about their lives and never understanding just how important they were to make Seoul so great. And amongst those millions of people roaming about were events happening that most overlooked. Events people did not realize happen more often than naught.

As two feet thrummed against the sidewalks, rain poured from the heavens. In the opposite direction had been an unsuspecting bystander walking peacefully to his apartment. A grocery bag full of ramen and chips from the convenience store had been laden in his hand. The feet that ran had been clothed in a single decrepit sock and the other in a shoe one size too big and infested with holes. These feet belonged to a distressed child, a child no older than ten, frail and broken. The other man walking in leisure was much older, twenty-seven to be exact and a school teacher at that.

Now the meeting of these two individuals was something that never crossed either of their minds. It was untimely yet so important for everything else. For their sakes and for the rest of the world to know their story. And it was their meeting that started with a bang.

“Oof!” Both collided hard, an audible sound of discomfort hitting them as the child fell on his buttocks.

“Agh..” The man groaned as he watched his rice sandwiches and bagged items fall onto the wet ground. He squatted down and started to gather them. “Watch where you’re going kid. Geez.” He looked up when the boy hadn’t said anything. The boy just stared instead, his clothes soaked to the bone and hair so long that it touched the very tip of his nose. Only two glistens of light had shone through the strands of hair. Eyes of hunger, pain and suffering that had a burning passion of hope. “Hey kid…” The adult had immediately felt all kinds of guilt for having an attitude. The kid nearly looked the spitting image of death. It was heart wrenching. Yet something along the lines of horror flashed across the kid’s eyes and he quickly got up; but not before turning around and checking for something that wasn’t there. “Hey! Kid!” He yelled as the child ran off.

The man stayed crouched for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. However, he thought less of it and shrugged. What were the chances he would see that kid again? Very minimal. So he picked his food up and went on his way. It was not until later that he was hankering down in his apartment and heating up his dinner when he realized his favorite rice cake chips were missing.

“The little …” The adult smirked to himself.

The child had indeed taken the bag and ran off. He did not know what the contents of the bag would be, but it was a wonder he unsure if he loved or hated. It was food; he loved food. The spice was almost too much for him though, but the sweet tang at the end felt sinfully right. It was crunchy and tasty, but just too spicy for his unsuspecting mouth. He only wished he had a drink to wash down the temperature. However, he did appreciate the warmth his body was now generating from the spiciness. It was a particularly cold and rainy fall night. The wet and hard ground of an alley was no different from the child’s past, the only thing different was his own personal bag of food.

The same could be said for the adult; he had spent so many years in his warm cozy apartment, eating food he could afford. Especially, his favorite rice cake chips. But this would be his first night in a while without having his favorite bag of chips

✧^⊹✧   

A night later the adult had caught sight of a familiar looking boy and his worn out look. The kid had been snooping his nose through a trash outside the convenience store he often frequented. The kid looked beyond hungry. Famished, thin and frail. The teacher could hardly believe how skinny and homeless a child could look. Under the lighting from the street and store the adult could see the discoloration of the child’s skin. It broke his heart even more. Yes, he had a soft spot for kids, but he also hated their whiny-ness. Yes, he was a high school teacher but this kid looked so battered and lost that he almost felt responsible for the child. So when the child cowered as the businessmen walked by in their fancy suits the teacher walked into the convenience store and bought a little more than usual.

“Hey.” The teacher’s deep voice called out and scared the small thing to death. The child backed away into the alley fast. “Hey-rr-hey wait!” He tried following the kid but the child had disappeared.

The teacher sighed and placed his favorite bag of chips on the ground with a container of hot chicken soup and a roll of kimbap.

“Okayyy.” He sang. “I’m leaving now.” His voice was loud enough to sound down the alley. He did not move immediately but instead waited. As he jerked to move he thought he saw a flash of hair and waited just a second more. It was nothing though. So he garnered himself and walked on home.

Long after the adult had gone, the child poked his head out from a couple cans. As soon as his eyes spotted the food laid on the ground he made a mad dash for it. He fathered, then quickly and quietly ran back to the cans to hide. His chest was pumping with excitement and swelling in euphoria as soon as he popped open the bag of chips, smothering his face with a handful. In the midst of stuffing his face as fast as possible, tears began to tickle the tips of his cheeks. Uncontrollably leaving his eyes as he continued to eat. The boy had never had so much food before, this was nearly a feast. He had eaten it all in those very moment, not even thinking to save some for later. Warm and just barely full yet nevertheless happy.

✧^⊹✧      

The teacher would stop by every night and buy an extra part of his meal to leave out for the homeless boy he had been watching. All he really wanted to do was talk to the boy. But the kid would scurry off or remain hidden. It was like that for five nights in a row. The teacher was not even sure if the kid was getting the food or if a passer-byer would throw it out. It was not until the sixth night that the man decided to wait out for the child to return. Just to talk to him and learn about his life. He had a day off the next day so he decided he would wait it out. It was only an hour, but it was an hour long enough for him to drift off against the wall of the alley. The boy watched the man as he did so, hoping he would leave sometime soon. But just as the boy thought he would sneak over and take the food waiting for him a couple droplets began to fall from the sky. The young boy did not mind the rain but the cold was unwelcomed—he thought the man would not like the rain, so he dragged over a cardboard box. The box opened up so that it covered the man perfectly, but the sound of the rain getting heavier against the material got louder and woke the man as the boy tried dragging over a heavy tarp. The teacher poked his curious head out of the box to see what was going on. There he saw the boy trying to pull out the crumbling tarp.

“Excuse me?” The man called out as he removed himself from the box.

The boy froze, not expecting anyone to talk to him. He turned his head slowly and found the adult staring at him. He let go of the tarp and faced the man with a stern face, not saying a word. It was a stare down one that made the teacher unsure of what to do. So he looked around—taking notice of his shelter and the new found rain.

“Did you do this?” He asked in a gentle voice. The resonance in the man’s voice had quite shocked the small boy.

“Yeah. What of it?” The boy answered in an odd accent. It startled the man to hear the boy’s voice. There really was never a sound quite like it. His heart started to soften upon the soft sound.

“Were you trying to keep me from the rain?”

“Yeah, so what? The boy’s cheeks looked rosy with pride.

“Thank you. That was very kind of you.” The man started to sit up and hurry his descent to get out of the rain.

The boy just stared, not expecting in the slightest to have been thanked.

“What’s your name?” The man asked again.

“Ki…” The boy started on instinct but was quick to stop himself. “Kai.”

“Kai?” The man raised a brow. “Just Kai?”

“Just Kai. Got it?” The kid threatened with a step forward. It hardly made the man flinch considering how small the boy was.

“Hey! You! Get out of there! I told you I’d call the police next time I saw you!” The overly loud voice of the convenience store owner started yelling down the alley. The boy scrambled and tried to run in the opposite direction. The man followed in suit as the owner chased them off with a broom.

The teacher thought he did not need to run so hard; it wasn’t until the owner yelled and could he feel him bearing down his neck did he sprint. He grabbed the small boy’s hand and ran. He had run so far and down so many side alleys that he was almost afraid he would be lost. When he thought they were far enough he held onto the boy’s hand and stood at a corner panting away. When he noticed the boy was not about to leave he let his hand go and knelt to breathe.

“Hey, come on in here. Let’s wait for the rain to settle down and dry up.” The man motioned for the boy to follow him into a cafe just next to them. He walked to the entrance of the cafe and waited for the boy to follow. He really hoped the boy would join. The boy simply stared, so unsure of what to do, yet his legs moved on their own and filed into the entryway. The man smiled, a victory placed without the use or bribe of food.

“Would you like something to eat?”

The boy nodded furiously.

“What do you want?” The man offered for the boy to look at the case full of desserts.

“They can also make other foods.” He pointed to the menu above and the child furrowed his brows.

“I-I can’t read.” The boy whispered. The man could feel his heart drop into the pit of his stomach.

“Okay, I’ll choose a sandwich then you choose a dessert for you and me.” The man smiled so kindly.

“Two of them?”

“Yup.”

They ordered with ease, the boy’s stomach growing in anticipation. He grabbed the largest looking dessert which had, in fact, been a whole cake rather than a slice. He was devastated when the woman behind the counter cut it into a relatively small piece. The adult chuckled to himself and asked for a slice of pie. They were thicker and piled high with whipped cream. Once they had ordered all they pleased the kind woman behind the counter had pulled out a stick with a round ball on the top. It was decorated to look like a cat. The teacher smiled at the kindness but the little boy had no idea of what to do. Should he grab it or not? Was it food? What did it do? So he looked to the man for his answer. The teacher nodded and furthered him to take it.

“What is it?” Kai asked as he inspected the item.

“A cake pop. You don’t know it?”

“A cake… Pop?”

“Yeah. It’s this,” He pointed to the cake slice on their tray as they walked to find a seat. “Mushed up into a ball and dipped in chocolate. Go ahead, take a bite.”

Kai sniffed it for the umpteenth time before shoving the whole ball in his mouth. The boy’s face turned sour but relaxed after a moment.

“It’s too sweet.” He bemoaned as they sat in a booth by a window.

“Then spit it out.” The teacher said as he distributed their food.

The boy looked at the adult as if he had five heads. What a preposterous thought. Kai quickly swallowed the food and started to dig into the piece of cake with his bare fingers.

“Hey, hey!” The teacher called out. “You don’t eat dessert first. Eat the sandwich. Also, use a spoon or fork. You can eat a sandwich with your hands.” He leaned over the table and started to unwrap the paper.

Kai picked up the sandwich without a seconds guess and took gaping bite after gaping bite. The teacher chuckled, “Really, you can slow down and savor it. Your food isn’t going anywhere.”

The boy froze and stared at the man before trying to chew his food slower. The poor boy did not even know he was eating so fast. He always ate like that. It was how he lived for the majority of his life.

“You never told me your name.” The boy muttered as he relaxed into his seat and ate his sandwich a little less intensely (not by much).

“Really? And you’ve been going along with me all this time?”

“It wouldn’t be my first…”

The teacher nodded. “Fair enough. You can call me Do.”

“Do? What kind of name is Do?”

The man shrugged. “It’s just my name.”

Kai seemed weary of that and scrunched his face. He then shrugged and decided not to think too much into it. He knew he wouldn’t like it if this man went around asking for his real name.

“Here.” The teacher pushed the other half of his sandwich to the kid. “Eat it.”

The boy wasted not a second and dug into the sandwich like a savage beast. The teacher smiled upon that thought.

“So how long have you been homeless?”

The boy shrugged.

“Okay… How long have you been in this area?”

The boy shrugged again. “Like a week?”

“Mhm.. Where did you come from?”

The boy just shrugged.

“You don’t know?”

The boy shook his head, not bothering to look the man in the eyes.

“You don’t know?” The man snickered. “Alright then, Mr. You Don’t Know. Then do you know where you’re staying for the night?”

The boy went to open his mouth but as soon as he realized he was chased away from the alley he remembered he had no idea of where he would stay.

“I-I don’t know.” This time the boy was quieter and more on the meek side.

The teacher watched the boy for a moment before digging around for a chip to eat. “I have an apartment you know.”

The boy’s ears piqued.

“I have a couch, a couple pillows and a blanket all under a roof. That would be a nice start for someone who needed a place to stay. That is of course. That someone hasn’t ran away from his parents.”

“I-I didn’t run away!” The kid snapped. Food had fallen out of the sandwich and into the wrappings and a bit of the table.

“Okay, okay.” The teacher held his hands up and feigned innocence. “Then why is a young boy like yourself, all alone, homeless and scrounging for food in the middle of Seoul?”

“I-I…” The small boy looked up at the teacher. His round eyes seemed so different than any other adult he had ever met. There was no harshness behind the man’s dark coffee eyes. It almost made the kid spill his whole life story. “I can’t tell you…” The boy muttered finally.

“Alright… Well, it’d be nice to know that I’m not harboring a fugitive, am I? Last thing I need is to go to jail for accommodating a criminal.”

The boy chose to be silent this time.

That was all it took for the mood to take a turn. The boy choose to sit in silence and scarf down the rest of his food. The feat was difficult seeming that a new emotion had been surging through his veins, one that the young boy had never known before. It was Guilt.

✧^⊹✧   

“Alright. This is it.” The teacher had said with a small smile on his lips as he opened his apartment door. “It’s small, but it can accommodate a grown man and a child. …That didn’t come out right…” The man grimaced and thought to himself for a moment, not even realizing as the boy had wandered into the house—eyes wide and full of curiosity.

He touched everything in sight, lamps and tissue boxes. Picture frames and decorative pieces. He had never seen a home quite like it. After so much time wandering the streets of Seoul he finally got to see what it was like in the tall buildings that lined the streets. The boy then climbed on the long rectangular item in the middle of one room.

“What is this?” The boy asked, bringing the man from his thoughts as he hung up his jacket and keys.

“That is the couch. We’re you can sleep.” The boy froze after bouncing his feet into its base. He seemed so shocked that he almost looked frightened. Like he had never had the opportunity to sleep on something so comfortable before.

The man could just barely see the child’s wide eyes through the thicket of hair. What he could see was the light tint of color in the boy’s hair. The lighting elsewhere made it impossible for the man to see, but the majority of child’s head had been splotched in a blondish looking color against dark brown.

“But before we do any of that. You need a bath.”

The boy froze again, this time out of actual fear.

“No…” The boy whispered.

“Oh yes. You’re not gonna stink up my place.”

“No!” The boy jumped off the couch and started to run, getting as far away as possible from the man.

“Hey!”

It was a game of cat and mouse, the teacher raced across the house in and out of rooms chasing after the nimble little boy. It was a solid ten minutes later when the teacher had the boy firmly under his arm and carrying him to the bathroom. The boy kicked and screamed his protests but the man would have none of it.

He placed the boy in the tub and turned the faucet on, waiting for the water to pool up.

“It’s cold!” The boy flinched as the initial cold water touched his toes.

“It’ll get warm don’t worry.”

The man had gathered shampoo, conditioner and body wash all for the child knowing full well he would need a heavy dose of all three.

“On a scale of one to ten, how awkward would you feel taking your clothes off?”

The boy chose silence, pouting his lower lip and trying his hardest to give a scowl.

“Brat.” The man said as he pushed the boy’s shoulder down and made him sit in the now warm water. He leaned over and flipped a switch, the boy flinched as soon as the water had changed from the faucet and rained from above. It was still warm which was a nice change in comparison to the freezing outside rain.

“Ugh, you’re filthy.” The man announced as he watched the little bit of water fill with particles of murky dirt. He took the child’s single shoe off and placed it beside the tub. “When was the last time you showered?” The man was quite repulsed by the sight of the dirty water.

The boy simply shrugged.

“Of course you don’t know.” The man rolled his eyes and began to remove his shirt.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t want to get wet.” The man paused for a moment. “Wait… Just to clear things up, I’m not a ert okay? I’m honestly doing this out of the goodness of my heart.”

The boy tilted his head. “What’s a ert?”

The man closed his eyes. “Never mind. Forget I said that. Just know that I’m not doing this to be weird. I don’t want my clothes to get soaking wet.”

The man then proceeded to lean over the tub and let his hands run through the boy’s thick and matted hair. It was a giant rat’s nest waiting to be demolished. He turned the faucet off and lathered the boy’s hair with a copious amount of shampoo.

“Keep your eyes closed. They’ll sting if you get shampoo in them.” The boy did as he was told and let his head tilt back.

The man could not help but admire the soft features the boy had; and very attractive he was underneath all the grime. Do was almost jealous of the kid, he wished he could have been that good looking when he was that age.

“Don’t fall asleep on me now, okay?” The man chuckled when he realized the child looked like he was in a state of euphoria.

“It feels good.”

“What? Washing your hair?”

The boy nodded.

“See, you should do it more often! Then you won’t be so stinky.”

“But it’s different when I do it. Also…” The boy caught his words, not daring to speak any further.

“Is there a reason you don’t like bathing?” The teacher turned the faucet back on and poured cups of water to remove the shampoo.

“Not really.. I never bathed much.”

“Oh, so you’re just a regular stinky little boy.”

“Hey! Jerk face!”

“Brat.”

“ head!”

“Loud mouth.”

“Shi—” The two paused as a loud chime rang through the apartment.

“That’s my phone. Here, get undressed and wash yourself okay? I’m going to go see whose calling.”

The boy watched as the man jogged away and looked around the small room for a moment before going ahead and taking off his clothes. As he did so, he could hear the faint sound of the man’s voice. The boy panicked and stopped removing his clothes. He thought that this would be it, this was the end. He had come so far and all for nothing.

“Hello? Oh Baekhyun! How are you? … Uh, tonight? ....Tonight’s not a good idea for me… Nah, I’m just tired. It was a long day at work… Yeah… Okay, then next time, definitely… Shut up you face. I will end you… Alright. Talk to you later.”

The boy waited for something to happen, for someone to go barging through the door.

“You’re awfully quiet—” The man announced as he turned around the door. But what he saw on the boy’s face resembled that of pure terror. What he noticed he chose not to acknowledge and bit back his tongue. “You didn’t undress? You were supposed to start cleaning yourself.” The man sighed and put on a show of distress.

“O-Oh, yeah.” The boy clumsily started to remove his clothes. “Where should I put them?”

“Uhh… Hold on a minute.” The man left for a moment and came back with a giant white bag. “Throw it in here.”

“But that’s trash…” The boy said as he looked into the bag.

“Yup. We’ll get you new clothes.”

It was hard to tell but through the boy’s matted locks, Mr. Do could see the kid’s knitted brows. He threw the single shoe away and tied the bag tight, it possessed a stench quite foul.

When the teacher turned back around he found the kid seated against the side of the tub, his back facing toward him. Along the kid’s shoulders had been scars, much too similar to that of whip marks. Some of them were red and irritated from lack of being taken care of. Other spots of the kid’s back had rashes, most of which was spread around his body.

Do was careful as he lathered the child, scrubbing hard enough to get the grime and smell off but gentle to not further irritate his skin. The boy complained and cursed under his childish voice as the man scrubbed everywhere. He was grumpy and very displeased with the situation he was left in. Conditioner was left to soak in the boy’s hair as the man scrubbed everything else. The not so easy part was trying to remove the knots from the kid’s hair. He had been ten minutes into removing the knots when he realize its futileness.

“Alright, that’s it, I’m just chopping it all off.”

The boy shot up in fear.

“No!”

“Wai—”

“No no no no no!” The boy was two seconds away from running off and causing another wild goose chase.

“You know what.” The teacher stood up and walked out of the bathroom.

Kai stood and listened out as the man opened and closed cabinets and his feet shuffled around the apartment. The man had returned with a bright red bag, one that made the child’s eyes widen and mouth water. Kai had been ready to reach out and grab it but the man snatched it right back.

“Not so fast.”

The boy slunk back with a rather grumpy expression.

“I’ll give you these, if you let me cut your hair.”

The boy’s mouth ran agape. He had been done in and swindled so hard he barely had any words to say. It was quite a tragic moment in his small life.

“Fine…” The boy mumbled and sat his in the dirty water.

With that, the man drained the water and pulled out a pair of hair scissors and began to cut away the awfully matted pieces of hair. The boy sat in the tub eating the chips more contently than he ever imagined. In fact, he even started to doze off again with the tingling sensation that ran through his spine every time the teacher snipped a piece off. It was cute from Do’s point of view, he saw as the boy’s head bobbed back and forth with his hand trying to eat more of the chips. It was silly really.

Not half an hour later were the two finished and a young Kai had been dressed in a pair of briefs (tied off with a rubber band) and an oversized pajama shirt and hung loosely on his neck and shoulders. To top it off he had a cleanly shaven head, it was so short and foreign that he barely recognized himself when looking in the mirror; he could not remember the last time his hair was short. He was quite intrigued how different he could look, now nobody could recognize him.

As the night played on, Mr. Do had cornered himself to his work desk and put the television on for Kai to watch. He had been diligently grading papers, almost completely forgetting that he was not alone. By the time he had finished grading the papers it was already past midnight. Meaning it was past his bedtime. Sure it was the weekend, but his body had a schedule that it was used to. So he stretched his body in all kinds of directions and looked over to find Kai still wide awake. He was on the furthest side of the couch, scrunched in a ball and mouth agape as he watched the cartoons on the screen. The bright colors sure grasped his attention, even if he didn’t really know what was going on or why animals were talking so animatedly to one another. The sight gave a warm smile to the teacher’s lips as he maneuvered to the kitchen and started gathering a snack and two drinks. He carried two bottles of water and a bowl full of popcorn to snack on while they watched the television.

Mr. Do sat down on the opposite side of Kai, keeping as far as possible to give the kid space. He turned over and met the boy with a smile.

“Want one?” He gestured to the bottle.

The boy slowly nodded, the teacher took that as his opportunity to open the bottle and give it to the small boy. Kai had drank away at the water, taking down close to gulps.

“Hey, hey!”

The boy froze.

“Easy. Take little gulps every once in a while, okay? You’ll get a stomachache.”

The boy slowly brought the bottle down and swallowed the bit in his mouth before putting the cap sloppily back on.

“Are you done drinking it?”

The boy looked confused, like it was a trick question he was just asked to answer.

“N-No..?”

“You put the cap on.”

“I’m saving it for later.”

“Well, put it on the table. When you’re ready it’ll be there for you to grab.”

“But I want to keep it with me.”

“No, on the table. I don’t want the water spilling on the couch. It’ll stain the suede.”

The boy grimaced and leaned over, reluctantly putting the water bottle down on the table.

After that, the two had settled back, watching the television while the teacher munched on the popcorn.

He couldn’t help but notice how the small child would turn his head every once in a while to look at the bowl of popcorn. It was no secret that the boy wanted some.

“Would you like some?”

The boy nodded furiously.

“You just had to ask.” He held the bowl out and waited as the child crawled across the couch and reached a hand out to grab a handful. He swiped his hand back as soon as he had enough of the substance and scurried back to his side of the couch to eat. It was like that until the popcorn was gone.

“You know, you could have just sat beside me and ate. You didn’t have to go back and forth. We’re sharing after all.”

The boy stayed silent; choosing not to respond this time. He had his reasons why he ate the way he did and he did not so much as feel obligated to tell the man why.

“Someone’s sleepy.” Mr. Do announced as he watched the boy’s head doze off.

“I’m not tired.” He snapped his head up and looked around.

“Yes you are.” The man chuckled and got up to fetch a pillow and blanket for the kid. “A growing child needs all the sleep he can get. You should have been in bed hours ago.” He returned with the items and the boy was so excited to see that he could sleep with them that he nearly smiled.

The teacher set the couch up and tucked the child in, asking if he wanted the television on, a light or something else to drink. To that, the kid just shook his head and asked that a light be put on.

The man reiterated where the bathroom was and that his bedroom was down the hall if he needed anything. All the kid had to do was get comfortable and fall asleep.

Mr. Do woke the next morning with ease, the breath of morning flowing heavily through his nostrils as his arms stretched amongst the pillows. Laden in soft fabric and clean in scents of fresh linen. It was a good morning to wake up, no migraine nor the dull ache of lower back pains.

He stretched before getting up, letting his limbs click and settle back into their proper place. As he sat up he could not help but notice that his door was wide open. The sight unnerved him ever so slightly until he remembered the cause of it. There was a young boy sleeping on his couch.

The man’s phone read 7:43AM. A tad too early for him on his day off but it was necessary anyways. He gathered himself a moment to clean out his eyes before walking groggily down the small hall to the open living room. There, he had half expected a boy to be missing. What he saw was correct, there was no boy on the couch. Instead, a single pillow had been lonesome there. The man frowned and found himself a little more upset than anticipated. He checked the kitchen and his jacket for any stolen items, making sure that the boy had not run off with his money or anything of the sort. Most of which had all been in place, for what he could remember, there was nothing missing. What he did find, however, was the tail of a grey comforter poking out from just under the coffee table. Underneath of which he found the boy wrapped up and securely held fast asleep.

A smile had crept its way on the teacher’s features.

✧^⊹✧

The boy woke with a jolt as the sound of a wooden spoon scraped against a pot. The smell of something cooking deliciously burned at his stomach. The boy shot his head up, hitting it rather hard against the table he slept under. After rubbing it better for a quick moment he snuck out from under the makeshift bed and kept the blanket wrapped around his body. He was careful in his movements, trying to see where the sounds had been coming from. As he poked a head around the couch he saw a tall man standing on the other side of the room, his back facing away and arms moving. Steam rose as the man’s arms wished around. The boy paused, sniffing the air once more and enjoying it thoroughly.

“Good morning.” The man said without so much as looking back at the child.

Kai jumped again, watching the man in shock. He said nothing in return.

“What are you making?” The boy asked as he sauntered over, careful for any sudden movements.

“Omurice.”

“Omu..rice?”

“Stir fried rice and kimchi all wrapped up in an omelet… Take a seat, this is almost ready.”

The boy looked around for a table, assuming he should sit at the table, and climbed to the best of his ability to the top of the chair. Not a moments later did the teacher turn around with a piping hot pan in hand and a wonderfully pink apron on. He then let a giant yellow object fall onto a rather large platter in the center of the table, the sides spilling ever so slightly out. It was easily just an ordinarily made omurice; nothing terribly too special. But to the child it seemed to be the most perfect and beautiful thing there ever was.

“One more thing.” The man’s deep voice sounded as he held up a finger and turned to the large rectangular metal door. A second later and there had been red scribbles drizzled onto the yellow looking football. “Now it’s ready.”

“How d’you eat it?” Kai asked with curiosity oozing from his fingertips, he could not wait to dig in.

“Like this,” The man pulled a chair close to the boy and held a spoon to him. The boy took it gingerly and watched closely for what the man would do next. To that, the man took his spoon and dug into the omelet.

“That easy?” The boy asked almost breathlessly.

“Yup.” The teacher smiled and watched as the boy held the spoon as if his life depended on it and shoveled it into his mouth.

Mr. Do could not help himself and laughed as he watched the boy eat away.

By the time breakfast had just about been finished the teacher decided he would ask the boy a few questions.

“Sooooo… Kai.” The boy ignored the man and kept to picking every last grain of rice from the plate. “Where are you headed?”

The boy froze, his hollow cheeks sinking in slightly deeper and face paling out.

“Well…?”

“Um…”

“I mean it seems as if you ran away from home. So where are you headed?”

“...I’m here.”

“What do you mean?” The teacher asked as he leaned in a bit further on his arm.

“I mean, I got to where I was going…” The boy made no attempt for eye contact.

“Okay… Soooo… No one home is missing you right? Mom? Dad? Brother, sister? Aunt? Some sort of guardian?”

The boy shook his head slowly.

“I don’t have a mom or dad… I had..” The boy quickly shut his mouth up.

“You had…?”

The boy shook his head, biting his lip to keep from quivering. He looked as if he were about to cry.

“Okay, okay! That’s alright. You don’t have to tell me. It’s fine.” The man held out a hand and rested it upon the boy’s arm. A soothing touch to make all the pain disappear. “Can you at least tell me if you were looking for someone?”

The boy shook his head again, this time looking up at the man with eyes ready to spill everything. The child looked beyond broken and despair. As if something in him would never truly be fixed, something that would never be quite right no matter how much nurturing he would receive from that point on.

The teacher had never been so heartbroken before.

This boy was the epitome of a shell. Desperate to be filled with love.

The teacher leaned over and grabbed the boy, pulling him close and holding him fast by his shivering shoulders. The blanket had coddled the boy as he bellowed into the man’s chest. He grasped at the man’s pajama shirt and cried, cried everything he had kept locked away for the last ten years of his mundane pathetic thing called an existence. The man did not even know the slightest clue as to why the boy was crying but he did know that it was needed. It earned a few tears of his own as he rocked the child back and forth in the chair, shushing him to calm the hiccups and hyperventilating.

They spent a good long while like that; the teacher let the boy cry his heart’s content out and only spoke soft words of comfort until he was calm.

“Better?” Do whispered into the boy’s hair.

The boy could only nod and sniffle, not daring to look the man in the eyes.

“Well… I have a few errands to run today, would you be up to joining me if you didn’t have anywhere else in particular to go?”

“Errands?”

“I have some stuff to do today.” The man smiled as the boy pulled away and crawled out of the man’s lap and back to his own chair.

The man stood up and gave not even a glance to the tear and snot stains the boy left on his shirt.

“What kind of stuff?”

“Well, I adopted a kitten the other day. I’m picking her up from the breeder. I figured we could go shopping for clothes for you before then.”

“Y-You mean like… More than one pair of clothes?”

“If you mean more than one outfit, then yes.” The man began to walk away, an unfaltering smile on his lips as he did so.

“But..”

The man simply walked away into his room to get changed.

Kai turned back around in his chair and grabbed fast at his chest. It swelled with all kinds of unfamiliar feelings. It hurt him physically to feel so much. Even though his little body could not understand the feelings, he did know that one feeling was for sure. It was Trust. Something he never thought as possible, not until he found himself crying in the arms of another stranger.

✧^⊹✧

Mr. Do took the child to a hand-me-down store, that way he could buy the child a bulk of clothes for a relatively cheap price. A pair of sneakers and slippers to use in the house. The boy questioned this and the teacher answered back with, “Well I’m not letting you live back in the streets if that’s what you’re complaining about.” The boy didn’t mind that the man was snarky in his tone that time.

They had arrived at the breeder’s apartment after they had gone shopping. A beautiful calico kitten had been waiting for her owner. The breeder asked the teacher why he had someone else with him, she thought he had lived alone. To that he told the breeder that he did live alone and that he was watching his sister’s son for a few days.

The kitten warmed up to the two faster than anyone anticipated. It took an immediate liking to Kai, even if he was a bit apprehensive at first about the creature. After bidding the breeder farewell, though, the two were off to the pet store to pick up the supplies they needed.

Kai had asked why Mr. Do bought a cat for a pet, and to that he answered: “Because I was getting lonely living home alone.”

Kai asked a lot of questions after that. He was unafraid of questioning what the world had to offer, mainly because the elder always had an answer.

Originally, Kai planned on leaving the man’s apartment the very same night the two picked up the kitten. But before he knew it, a week had gone by and he was terribly busy watching over the kitten while Mr. Do was away. He would leave early and arrive home rather late in the evening; sometimes he would return so late that the sun had set behind the other high rise buildings. But he always made breakfast, lunch and dinner. Save that lunch was prepared the night before or morning earlier. On late-late nights he would order food or pick up from the convenience store, but there was always food. Three times a day. Kai would easily argue that the reason he stayed was because he was fed so well.

By week two, Mr. Do had forced the child to see a doctor. To make sure he had his shots, vitamins, blood work and medicine to help the rash on his body. He had tried his best to clean the rash up himself but there was only so much over the counter creams could do. So he found him a doctor that would help without needing too much information about the child. After all, the teacher had next to nothing about the child’s life. In that same week, Mr. Do had also left assignments for the child to do while he was away at work. They were assignments to help the child read and write as the teacher would spend the little time he had free after work to help the younger. It was painfully arduous, but the kid was slowly coming along.

Before either Mr. Do or Kai knew it, a month had flown by. Kai could officially write his and Mr. Do’s name. The kitten was larger and knew that home meant both the teacher and Kai. Kai had grown accustomed to calling Mr. Do by his first name, Kyungsoo. He also slept on the couch instead of the coffee table with the cat. Just about any thought of leaving had long since left the boy’s mind. He was happy where he was in Kyungsoo’s apartment. Having met the elder’s friends and younger sister who was actually just a college students.

It was on the sixth month of the two living together that made Kai panic.

A letter had arrived at the residence. It was addressed to Do Kyungsoo from the Republic of Korea Internal Affairs Office. Kai had hid the letter. He could barely read it, but what he could gather from it was enough to know that he was being looked for—investigated at the least. Kyungsoo could not know about the letter, so he stuffed it into the couch and hoped the man would never find it there.

Kai been on edge since that day, Kyungsoo could easily tell the boy was restless. Always jumping at little noises and hiding whenever someone rang the doorbell.

✧^⊹✧

“Kyungsoo?” The boy whispered into the dark room. “Kyungsoo?” He whispered a little louder.

The man shot his head; riddled with sleep, he could have sworn he heard the boy’s voice.

“Kai?”

The boy had not said a word, instead he crawled on the bed and made his way through the queen sized bed sheets.

“Goodness, Kai? Is that you? Do you know what time it is?” Kyungsoo groaned as the boy’s small frame found place by the teacher’s side.

“Don’t let them take me.” The boy whispered.

There was a pregnant silence in room, save for the kitten that padded its way onto the bed, too.

“No, no one’s going to take you.” Kyungsoo whispered and pulled the sheets down to let the boy in and hug him close. “You’re not going anywhere.” He said with such a confidence that Kai could not help but shut his eyes tight and curl right into the warmth of the older man.

A knock rapped at the front door.

It was loud enough to reverberate throughout the apartment. Menacing and unforgiving to wake the two from their slumber.

They had been wide awake to the sound of the persistent knocking. Both of them in the same position they had fallen asleep in. Kai dug even closer to Kyungsoo, not daring to face reality and hoping to stay where they were forever.

Kyungsoo went to get up and check the door but it nearly made Kai yell out and cry.

“Kai, Kai!” Kyungsoo soothed the boy’s hair back and tried his best to coo him out of his hysteria. “I’m just going to go see who it is. Okay? That’s all. As soon as I know who it is I’ll tell you right away.”

Tears fell from the boy’s eyes silently. It hurt the man so much to see the boy so scared.

“No one’s going to take you away.”

Kyungsoo had gotten up and moved on to find the front door. As soon as elder was out of sight Kai shot out of the bed and ran for the closet, hiding himself in the laundry basket that rested there.

As Kyungsoo neared the pounding door, his heart thrashed against his chest. He was nervous for what might lay on the other side of his door. He waited a moment before pressing the button on his intercom, waiting to see if the person would go away. But another set of knocks scared him into pressing it.

The camera view had been forgiving. In fact, it made him roll his eyes.

“Kai! It’s just Baekhyun!” He yelled back toward the kid and opened the door immediately.

“Geez, were you sleeping in this late? Do you have any idea of how long you kept me waiting?!”

Kai had come running through the house and to the front door to greet Baekhyun with a smashing hug.

“Well hello to you too.” Baekhyun held his arms up, utterly confused at the sudden attack. He looked to Kyungsoo for an answer.

“Let’s just say he’s glad it’s you.”

“Right.. Well, I brought breakfast for you and the brat. So, let’s eat. I’m starving. You owe me hot chocolate for how long you kept me waiting.”

✧^⊹✧

Despite that morning being a false alarm, it still did not settle the child’s heart. He was still on edge and found himself in Kyungsoo’s bed more often than naught. He was afraid any moment could be his last with the man who so graciously housed and fed him.

It was safe for him to say that he did not want to leave.

A few days later and another letter arrived. A different kind of letter but still addressed to Kyungsoo and still an official looking one.

“Open it.” Kyungsoo instigated. The two had been gathered at the dinner table, eating as they always did as Kyungsoo sorted through his mail.

“W-What is it?”

“Just open it.” The teacher waved the child off and proceeded to eat his dinner.

Kai opened it, not sure what to expect.

He pulled out a letter, unfolding it and reading it to the best of his ability.

“Dear Citizen, we have re-cogniz-ed your a-attempts to make Kim Kai a legal citizen of the Republic of Korea.” The boy’s words were slow, his eyebrows knit as he tried his hardest to read the paper. “We have approved of this and the p-aper-work you have s-sent in. You may finish ou-t the pro-cess… By comple… Compl.. Completing. The remain-ing p-paperwork at the nearest town-hall. Thank you.”

Below the ‘thank you’ had been scribbled a name the boy could not understand.

“W-Wait… What does this… What does this mean?”

“It means… You’re this close to being a South Korean citizen.”

The boy shot his head up.

“Just waiting on a birth certificate. That might take another six months though. But everything else we can fill out at town hall. And I can be your official guardian. I mean, if you would have me that is of course.” Kyungsoo’s voice lowered for a moment, unsure of what the boy would want made him apprehensive.

The boy could find no words to say. Instead, he threw himself at the man and caused the two of them to go flying off the chair and toppling onto the floor. Their kitten had flinched at the action and watched from her food bowl as the two laid there.

Kai had been latched so tightly to the man, not wanting to ever let go. “Of course I want you to be my guardian. You already are.”

The teacher could feel a few wet tears line his shoulder as he sat up and hugged the boy back.

“How did you know?” The boy whispered into the man’s neck, his feet now tightly wrapped around the man too.

“I think I knew from the moment I first met you. That and from your love of food. Your people tend to have a need for food so powerful it will overcome anything.” He had placed a hand on the boy’s head and it gently, hoping to sooth the boy as he silently wept.

“If you knew… Then why didn’t you turn me in?”

“I couldn’t just turn a child in! You escaped and that’s a miracle in itself. Anyone who would take that away from you is just a monster.”

“...You don’t hate me?”

“I could never.”

“So… Then… It’s okay for me to stay?” The boy’s voice was so soft, so barely audible.

“Of course it is. North Korean and all.”

The boy whimpered and allowed himself to be held so closely by the man. Even if it was just a little, Kai thought he knew what this new feeling had been. It was what he thought Love might have been. Because it was sure a nice feeling.

a/n: sorry this took a little longer to get up than anticipated. lol, procrastinated in editing it. (i can't speak for myself tho, i have other fics i haven't even updated in ages) but yeah, this was a little rushed, i really just needed to finish this idea up before it got too long of a time period and i got tired of it... that happens often.. i actually started writing this in very small font in my sociology notebook for class. I really hated the class so i spent half the semester writing this fic in class. then i completely forgot about it until the school year ended and started transfering it to a google doc!

This also didn’t go quite as planned. I think i initially intended more scenes of the two’s budding friendship but got lazy and settled for this. I also had the potential to get a little more symbolic with the cat and get more detailed about kai’s life but that’s symbolic of itself in the sense north korea’s pretty secretive and that kai really just didn’t want his past unturned. It was too soon for anything to be known about his past.

But I do hope you enjoyed this quick thing, I tried making the ending a surprise with nini being north Korean but I think the majority of you got the hint half way through.

Thank you for reading! I really do appreciate it. I don’t think many people even go on aff anymore hahaha