Chanyeol despised the sound of sirens. The screeching wails paired together with flashing lights never failed to bring a straining headache alongside a wave of nausea and discomfort - sometimes even troubling memories, but that was uncommon. Nevertheless, Park Chanyeol hated sirens, and the alarm system that had been set off with no seeming switch to turn it off was beginning to irritate him beyond belief. The man was pissed, and this was not at all a good sign for the others that had accompanied him.

Despite this, he still had a task at hand, and that would need to be complete before he could escape the terror of the sirens. Somewhere, within the dingy facility he had infiltrated, laid his money - a lot of it - and he was not prepared to leave without it.

Park Chanyeol had come here firstly to blow the owner's brains out for refusing to pay him back. The money wasn't necessarily a massive dent in his assets but the fact that it was his would be a problem. He hated people taking what was his, not to mention borrowing what was his and having the nerve to not return it. And so the man was dead, along with most of his staff, and seemingly all that was left to do was to find the money. But that was proving difficult.

He paced, rubbing a hand down his face to try and erase some of the strain, before letting out a loud grunt at the familiar sound of clicking footsteps.

“Oh Sehun, I'm going to strangle if the only thing you've come to tell me is that you can't find my money.”

“What am I supposed to do? Magic up your money? Chanyeol, we've searched almost everywhere.”

A tick in his jaw warned the other.

“Keep. Searching.”

With that Sehun huffed, shoving a hand in his pocket before sauntering down a dimly lit hall, mumbling profanities under his breath to which Chanyeol scoffed at. The kid really was something.

All that Chanyeol could do was wait - and waiting was getting boring very quickly. He wasn't a man of patience, but then again, if rushing meant the money would be left unfound, Chanyeol would be forced to wait.

It felt like an eternity before a certain Oh Sehun returned, this time with a petite boy clutching his hand as if it were a lifeline. He looked like a child at first glance, but then his less child-like, more alluring features became apparent.

Chanyeol looked the two up and down, foot tapping impatiently as he waiting for the room to fill with answers.

Sehun opened his mouth to speak.

---

The boy had shoved a lazy hand into the pocket of his dress pants, cursing his boss under his breath out of retaliation. He found this whole thing tedious, and purely breathing inside of this facility made his skin itch in the most uncomfortable way.

But nevertheless his heels clicked one at a time on the tiled flooring, signalling his daunting presence in the newly discovered hallway. So far no doors had appeared to him, but it was only a matter of time before one did, and Sehun was quick to kick it open.

His gun slid easily from its holster; aimed at nothing in particular but ready to be fired if anything were to jump out. Nothing did, however.

Sehun lowered his guard, allowing his shoulders to relax slightly as he returned the gun to its rightful place. His breath caught at the sound of quiet sniffles and muffled sobs.

Anxious eyes scanned the room, before landing on a slightly darkened corner where a boy sat; knees pulled to his chin, with tears dripping down his cheeks and onto the filthy flooring. His inky black hair was a mess, and his nose was flushed red along with his eyes.

A crying kid set off no alarms in Sehun's head, unless of course he was a ploy. But the utterly broken sob that escaped the little one's lips moments after told him that it was okay to approach and attempt to communicate without fear of attack. At least, he hoped this was the case.

He walked up to the boy slowly, crouching down in front of his shaking figure and reaching out with a quiet ‘hey’.

The boy shook like a leaf, and retracted from the other's outstretched hand.

“Shh, shh, don't worry I won't hurt you. It's okay.”

He looked up with his tear stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes, breathing in out slowly in an attempt to calm himself. Sehun smiled gently to try and help with this.

Soon enough the boy stopped his tears and instead looked up at the other with bright, doe eyes. Sehun internally cooed at the sight.

“May I ask your name?”

The boy opened his mouth, hesitating slightly, before whispering a name that Sehun failed to catch.

A of his head was all it took for the boy to repeat himself.

“Byun Baekhyun. Baek. Bunny. They only called me Bunny.”

“Bunny? I’m assuming you’d prefer Baek, huh? It’s a pretty name-”

Baekhyun pouted as the other rambled on.

“Your name.”

A light chuckle escaped his lips at the childish display, before replying, much to Baekhyun's joy.

“Oh Sehun. Sehunnie. I don't get called Sehunnie often.”

The gentle smile that took place on Baekhyun's lips brought the brightest grin to Sehun.

“Nice to meet you, Sehunnie.”

“Nice to meet you too, Baek.”

-

Baekhyun found himself tucked into the taller’s side, hands fiddling with the boy’s sleeve as his other free hand ran through Baekhyun’s silky hair. It was calming, warm, and moreover safe. Maybe that’s why he found it easy to speak freely in front of the other - to let all his secrets spill to a complete stranger.

What Sehun found was that Baekhyun was a test subject, but at the same time a pet, hence the name ‘bunny’ to avoid giving him any real human name. The boy didn’t recall much from before the facility, just that he was very little and very scared in the darkest of places before his ‘Papa’ gave him light - that and his birth given name of Byun Baekhyun. Sehun didn’t understand, but he didn’t push the topic, seeing how Baekhyun’s eyes darkened at the thought of his ‘Papa’ and the ‘light’.

This ‘Papa’ he spoke of quickly became apparent, and Sehun couldn’t decide if he felt relieved that they had killed him, or worried out of fear of Baekhyun finding out and thus hating him. But upon further thought, he thought such a thing was for the best. Baekhyun was free now.

The term ‘test subject’ still lingered on his mind. It couldn’t be ignored. But more questions could come later, seeing as the boy had become less vocal over time; presumably as he grew more fatigued.

“Baek, come on, we should be going now.”

He paused, slowly letting go of Sehun’s sleeve as his mouth opened to reply.

“Going where?”

“To the others. I told you I wasn’t here alone, didn’t I?”

Baekhyun’s breath hitched, fingers curling into his palms as he let out a long breath. Indeed, Sehun had mentioned being here with other people - members of his ‘group’ he called it - 10 others of them, and Baekhyun assumed this was a way of lying subtly. After all, there was only one type of ‘group’ that came to mind when he thought of gunshots, slaughter, and money.

A mafia.

But he wouldn’t outright let the other know that he knew of this. Mafias were dangerous, and he didn’t like the idea of ending up like the others within the facility.

Instead, he allowed Sehun to pull him up until he was standing on shaky legs, and the height difference between the two became all the more apparent. His hand slipped into the other’s easily; fingers interlocking comfortably before they began their trek through the dimly lit hall; back to where many others remained.

As soon as the light intensity got brighter, Baekhyun’s anxiety spiked, but it was only when he laid eyes upon a certain man that he felt his breath hitch and his heartbeat at an insane rate.

Fear. Instant fear.

Byun Baekhyun was petrified of Park Chanyeol.

---

“This is Baekhyun. Found him, and we’re keeping him.”

“Sehun, since ing when do you make decisions around here? Why is the kid not dead?”

Sehun winced, casting a glance at Baekhyun and watching how his eyes seemed cloudy, as though he wasn’t currently there. He hoped the boy didn’t pay attention to the other’s harsh words. That wouldn’t help at all.

“I don’t kill innocent kids- We don’t kill innocent kids.” He shot a warning glare at the other. Maybe later Chanyeol would punish him for acting out more than usual, but he didn’t care all too much in the moment.

“Plus, he could be useful, think he might know something about that money you’re stressing about.”

“Then why haven’t you asked him yet.” The reply came, with Chanyeol raising a brow.

“I’m getting to that, if you could have an ounce of patience, your majesty.”

The tips of Chanyeol’s ears went red as he coughed in an attempt to hide his sudden reaction. Sehun grinned, sticking his tongue out teasingly at the other, before leading the boy attached to him to a quieter section of the room, away from the slightly cooled down hot head by the name of Park Chanyeol.

-

“You okay?”

Baekhyun nodded slowly, finding his voice after snapping out of his trance.

“Don’t like him.”

“Yeah, but he grows on you. He’s just a big baby when you get to know him- reckon he’s pretty stressed about his money right now.”

The boy looked down, to the side, to the ceiling: everywhere except Sehun. He thought for a long minute, deciding on his words finally.

“I might know where it is.”

“Can you please tell me? Pretty please?”

“You won’t get rid of me after?”

Sehun curled his fingers to his palm, leaving only his pinkie out. Baekhyun smiled, copying the action and hooking his pinkie to the other’s waiting one.

“Promise.”

He sighed out of relief, glancing up at Sehun before pointing timidly at the ceiling. Sehun furrowed his brows, looking up in confusion.

“The ceiling?”

Baekhyun shook his head quickly, and Sehun finally noticed him pointing at a specific area of the ceiling where a complicated looking chandelier was placed.

“Chan- chande- Light. The light.”

“Chan-del-ier. Baek, repeat.”

“Chan-del-ier.” He looked to Sehun, continuing after a short nod, “It’s in the chandelier.”

Sehun smiled gleefully at the boy, ruffling his hair, before moving to leave. He paused at the sight of Baekhyun’s crestfallen face, placing a chaste kiss on the boy’s cheek before hurrying off to relay the information to the others. A warm hue decorated Baekhyun’s cheeks.

He felt important; useful. And the thought of Sehun leaving him alone didn’t feel so daunting after the small display of affection. Baekhyun lifted two fingers to his cheek, brushing the area slowly before allowing his hand to fall back down; cheeks lifting as his lips curled into a smile.

The warm feeling in his chest that came with this was oddly lulling, and slowly Baekhyun’s eyes closed, allowing him to slip into the realm of sleep. He paid no mind to the setting, and instead trusted Sehun would come back for him, to take him to a new life outside of the facility.

Baekhyun couldn’t wait.