park jihoon has never had an easy and simple life. it was full of challenges that sometimes seem a little impossible for him to cope with, but he made it possible eitherway.

afterall, being the only child of problematic parents was like a free pass to the potential of him getting into trouble; in which he never did, due to his smart way of thinking that had always enabled him to escape from danger in an instant.

however, he seemed to run out of luck when the year two thousand and seventeen unveiled by itself. there was an overwhelming increase of people who moved in to seoul, so all of his hideouts had either been rented or bought by those people. 

he could always find several part-time jobs and rent a small room somewhere, but it was too much of a risk; that would require him to enter pieces of information, and even if he lied about a thing or two, those people who were after his parents would be able to track him down.

he had remembered his parents' words; "you could live by the streetside or even in the trashbins, but you should never, ever think of renting or buying a place for yourself! we're only telling you this because we care for you!"

although those words sounded ironic to him, he thought it was better to be safe than sorry – but now that he's in a desperate situation, he doesn't really have an idea on what to do.

he heaved a sigh and slid down, back pressed against the wall before wrapping his arms around his legs to hug himself. "never thought i'd play pretend as a homeless here..." he muttered under his breath.

in all honesty, jihoon's parents were crazy wealthy but most of those money were used for nonsensical purposes. they gave an amount of $1000 every month as his pocket money; probably the only thing they've done right for him.

so now he's stuck with a suitcase; full of clothes with different yet equally hideous choice of colors, and dozens of dollars that were hidden securedly; in a tunnel full of homeless people. "i guess this will be my home for now..?" he whispered to herself.

it's been quite a hectic week and all he wanted to do was rest, so he hugged his suitcase in his arms protectively as he dozed off to dreamland.

–

lai guanlin was the youngest son of the family who owned a prestigious company in south korea, cube corporation, so it was only expected of him to be spoiled and bratty. 

however, despite his quite unpleasant personality, he always found himself walking along the tunnel near his neighborhood. along the way, he would always donate an amount of money to each of the individuals. he doesn't quite remember how this habit started, but he does have a faint memory of him walking through this tunnel with his brother when he was... four? five? unfortunately, he wasn't completely sure.

it was just another normal day as he strode his way home. today though, he seemed to notice an interestingly unfamiliar figure, embracing a fairly huge suitcase and fast asleep.

he kneeled down only slightly to take a good look of the person, and then he spotted a pair of long eyelashes and red cheeks. he could feel his heart skipping a beat at the sight of the beautiful face in front of him and quickly gulped afterwards.

it isn't usually his thing to talk to any of the homeless people, but before he could even form any coherent sentence, he tapped on the stranger's shoulder lightly.

the stranger was quite a light sleeper as he shot his eyes open due to the touch, only to let out a squeak afterwards, obviously startled by the unknown man who was currently kneeling in front of him.

"h- hi, sorry for disturbing but u- um, hey, how old are you?"

guanlin swore he had wanted to ask for his name, but then his mouth just had to fail him like that. he let out an internal sigh at his stupidity.

seemingly taken aback by the sudden question, he blinked his eyes rapidly as he stuttered out an answer. "i- i'm seventeen.."

guanlin's eyes widened at his answer; he had not expected the boy to be the same age as him, and it pained him to see someone so young living off the streets all by himself.

suddenly he remembered the cliché scenes from the romance movies he'd watched back at home, and before he knew it, words he thought he wouldn't have ever said slipped past his lips.

"do you.. wanna go home with me?"

jihoon shot up straight after the stranger belted out those words, eyes opened ever so widely.

'i couldn't have possibly heard that, right?' he thought.

guanlin coughed into his hand as he nodded. "you're thinking out loud, if you didn't know," jihoon's cheeks flushed at his words. "and yeah, you heard me. so what do you say?"

jihoon bit on her lower lip as he hesitantly glanced at the boy. "i mean, i don't even know who you are..." he responded, and then muttered under his breath, "you could be a creep, or a e, for all i know..."

those words didn't seem to go unnoticed by guanlin though. he arched his brows in disbelief – had he just been suspected as a, what, a creep?

he turned away for a split second and elicited a chuckle. jihoon could only stare at him, lips already red and on the verge of bleeding from biting on them too hard. he quickly averted his gaze when guanlin turned to face to him again.

"me? a creep, or what, a e? excuse you! i'm a very healthy and sane young man, heck i'm only turning seventeen this 23rd..."

jihoon could only bite back a chuckle as the boy started rambling. maybe he wasn't lying, but he couldn't be too sure yet, so he continued to listen to him.

"...and i have a lot of money! you know, my family is quite wealthy. we could go on for a lifetime with the money we have in store!"

"but that's what they all say..."

"what do you mean 'they all'? did you have an experience with creeps before?"

jihoon almost choked at the sudden assumption as he shook his head eagerly, eyebrows furrowed so hard it was almost as if they were connected.

"n- no, oh my god! it's just that i've been reading a lot of s- stuff!"

"well, that's what they all s-"

"don't you dare pull a smartass on me boy, or else i'll make sure i break your bones into pieces."

guanlin could only raise his arms up on the air as he took a step backwards. "whoa whoa there, boy. chill down,"

"..but my offer still stands, you know," he continued.

jihoon had almost forgotten about the offer, and he was suddenly starting to contemplate his decisions.

he could imagine his parents screaming at the back of his head to reject it, but then something about the stranger tempted him to decide otherwise.

"earth to, uhm, you, suitcase hugger?"

guanlin snapped his fingers in front of jihoon and he was brought back to life in an instant.

"what kind of nickname is suitcase hugger even, you're already the worst..."

"well you won't let me know your name so how else am i supposed to address you?" guanlin shot back.

"i don't know, maybe you could call me baby boy-"

little did jihoon know the small smirk that was adorning guanlin's lips. "alright, baby boy," he whispered lowly, and jihoon could feel shivers running down his spine. guanlin leaned in closer to him and he moved backwards until his back was pressed flat against the wall.

"so will you come home with me, darling?"

jihoon felt like he had no other choice, and thus he nodded; that was when the corner of guanlin's lips tugged upwards into a satisfied smile. he took the boy's hand into his and picked up his suitcase in his stead.

"let's go home, baby boy."

jihoon will definitely have to deal with the fact the fact that he lied about his age sometime later, he mentally noted.

—

jihoon's jaw almost fell to the floor as his sight fell upon the almighty structure of the mansion in front of his very eyes right now.

"whoa..."

guanlin chuckled and poked at the boy's cheek before stuffing his hand in his pocket afterwards. "close your mouth, you're gonna get a fly in it,"

jihoon jut his lower lip out into a pout as he smacked them together lightly. "tch, let me appreciate this sight in peace,"

"you have all the time to appreciate it, baby boy. let's just clean up the mess that comes in the form of you first, okay?"

jihoon scoffed. "and you oh-so-willingly took home this human form of mess, okay! i demand no complaints!"

"sure, anything for the baby boy as long as it makes him happy," guanlin did a little sing-song as he walked into the house. crimson red started to spread across jihoon's cheeks once again and he followed suit, stomping his feet at the meantime in an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart.

he wasn't supposed to have his heart beat so quickly because of a literal child!

"i'm not a child, thank you very much."

jihoon jumped slightly as he realized that he was once again thinking out loud. he couldn't seem to get rid of that habit and it quite frustrated him.

–

after jihoon got washed up, he got dressed into his pajamas that consisted of five different striking colors – yellow, bright green, purple, hot pink and light blue.

to say that guanlin was taken aback by the interesting choice of colors was an understatement; he was beyond fascinated, and also quite terrified. the fact that he could actually pull it off well – heck, he thought he looked cute even – almost left him in a daze.

"you look like a maniac." he blurted out, contrary to his initial thoughts.

"hey, that's not a nice thing to say!" jihoon groaned as he slowly sat on the sofa in a hesitant manner.

"uhm, yeah, i'm sorry," he apologized hastily. "do make yourself at home, baby boy."

"i'm gonna need to know a thing or two about you before i make sure i don't have to bail outta here," he huffed, arms folded against his chest.

"what do you wanna know, baby boy?"

"stop calling me baby boy, hmph. and tell me everything! like, your name, age, parents' names, their occupations, your siblings' names, your ual orientation, your-"

"no can do, baby boy- and geez, i get it." guanlin cut him off before he could even finish whatever else he was about to say.

"i'm lai guanlin, and i think i've already told you my age," he propped his chin in the palm of his hand, quietly chuckling at the boy who mouthed an 'oh, right'.

"you don't need to know my parents' names, but i'll have to let you know that my birth mother isn't alive anymore,"

"oh i'm sorry-"

"no, don't be. i hate it the most when people pity me, thanks." he clicked his tongue before proceeding,

"i have a brother. a step-brother, to be exact. i talk about him to my friends at school all the time, that's how much i adore him. when i was a little child, he was already in middle school, i think? we're 10 years apart if i remember correctly," a small smile crept up his lips as he reminisced the old days.

"i think he was the unhappiest when our parents got married. despite that, he treated me so nicely! honestly, those times with him were short-lived but those were the memories that i cherish the most, up until now,"

his eyes practically sparkled throughout his story, and jihoon couldn't help but to stare. he seemed like a nonchalant boy at first sight, but as soon as he brought up his step-brother, his eyes sparked with excitement; he sounded like he's already said those words over and over again, but his passion never grew weaker. it made him wonder; how nice would it be to have a sibling?

"he only stayed with us for two years and a half. but trust me, those two years were possibly the happiest i've ever spent in my whole life. even though i can't recall what exactly we did together, i can still clearly remember the happiness and exuberance that i experienced when he was still by my side,"

happiness, and exuberance. jihoon pursed his lips into a grin and hummed quietly.

"i think we used to take walks together pass that tunnel? i swear, he's the nicest person i've ever met! he loved to give out money or food to the homeless people there. i sort of picked up this habit from him and i still do it everyday,"

jihoon could feel his heart twist strangely at guanlin's words. it sounded so familiar, and he was silently hoping that the twisting feeling meant nothing.

"...and i guess good habits always lead us to fortunate events, mm? for instance, i got to meet a cute baby boy like you."

guanlin attempted to wink at jihoon and he dismissed it with mock disgustion and a fake gag. "i can't believe you still remembered to be smooth when you were in the middle of a meaningful talk,"

"it ain't lai guanlin if there ain't no wit."

"pft, whatever..." jihoon scoffed once again. "how will your parents react if they knew i'm here though?"

"oh, don't worry about that! this block is mainly for me, my parents live at the other side of the land. they probably won't bother about whatever i do, so..."

jihoon was flustered; he didn't know whether he should be amazed by the fact that they've got a huge a*s piece of land, or pity him for the lack of attention from his parents. he could highly relate to that one, he thought.

"what about you? i don't even know your name yet, suitcase hugger."

out of all existing nicknames there, it irked (not really) jihoon that guanlin had to pick that particular one for him.

"quit with your lame nicknames, will you?"

"alright, baby boy. just let me know your name already."

jihoon gulped. "i, uhm... i'm, uh, baek jihoon..."

———

the lying ensues dun dun dun

guys i rly did this in a rush so im terribly sorry if this seems cluttered and messy as hecc, i'll try to write more before the 14th ends :')

thx for reading xxx