Baekhyun carefully made his way through the window. The broken glass was dispersed all around the wooden floor. Chanyeol had broken a window of one of the old stores that used to belong to the city. It was no longer anything like it used to be. Rather than luxurious chandeliers and benches there was loneliness all over. The place was completely abandoned. He looked up and saw the incredibly big building. It had extremely tall walls and ceilings and Baekhyun could hear the echoes of his footsteps throughout the entire place. “Wow…” He awed. He had never been in a place this big because his father would never let him go anywhere. His father. Baekhyun had been thinking about him since he had escaped. His father had shown how much he loved him until he no longer did. The minute Baekhyun revealed his powers his mother had begged him to never do it again. She knew that his father would never accept him like that but Baekhyun had been an idiot for believing that his father valued him more over the power that he held. He shook his head trying to get those thoughts away from him. His father wasn’t there anymore and he couldn’t waste any time thinking about him anymore. Now he had to figure out a way to survive. 

“This used to be a mall.” He heard the taller say. Chanyeol. Chanyeol was being so nice to him and he couldn’t help but question why. He had absolutely no reason to help him at all yet here they were, hunting for some clothes to get him more comfortable. “That is of course before they took over.” 

Baekhyun simply nodded and began to look around again. There were non-functional electric stairs that led to the 2nd floor where he assumed there were more clothing stores. They were on the first floor and most of the stores had been wiped clean, Baekhyun assumed that by others like him. There were puddles of water all over the floor and the walls had begun to deteriorate as vines made their way through the cracks. Baekhyun looked up as Chanyeol called for him from the 2nd floor. He hadn’t even noticed when the taller had gone upstairs. He walked through the empty spacious lobby and began to make his way upstairs. Baekhyun winced a little, his feet were in pain because they had walked a day and a half to get to this mall. He couldn’t even imagine having to walk all of those days to get to that rebel base. 

He was amazed by how many stores there were up there. He didn’t even think there were this many in the capital itself. It was times like these where he missed being able to venture outside those walls the city was surrounded by. Before they took over, there were no walls and the city was bustling with businesses from the surrounding towns. 

“Over here” Chanyeol softly screamed to him. “There’s still a couple of clothes hanging here.” And so Baekhyun made his way to him and peaked inside the store. At the moment he was only wearing a thin long sleeve white t-shirt and black jeans. He hadn’t gotten the chance to grab anything else before trying to escape. He was wearing basic black sneakers that had been ripped when he was running from the soldiers. 

He looked around and found a black backpack, he was thankful for it because he could carry more stuff with him now. He went over and looked around the small mens clothing store and grabbed a couple of t-shirts. Most of them were too big for him but he was thankful for anything at this point. Then he hit the jackpot when he found a thick coat. It was a dark green color and it had a black insulated inside. He grabbed it and tried it on. It was a bit on the bigger side but that was perfect because he could layer on more. He knew that winter was brutal and he would need all the layers he could get. Although now he had Chanyeol who could easily make a fire for him. However, the Taller had warned him about how he had to be careful where he started fires because they could grab too much attention from those that wanted to hurt them.

“That one looks good.” Chanyeol told him. Baekhyun gave a half twirl and thanked him.

“Are you gonna grab anything?”

“Yeah, I found some food cans over there.” He pointed down the hall. “And I think there’s also some more stores over there that have some clothes we can go take a look at. It wouldn’t be so bad to stock up on some stuff. Be on the lookout for flashlights and-” Baekhyun could see how the realization suddenly hit Chanyeol for he was a literal walking flashlight. Baekhyun laughed. 

“Don’t worry, it takes some getting used to seeing a human flashlight just walking by.” He joked as he started to make his way over to where Chanyeol had previously mentioned. For some reason, Baekhyun felt like he could trust Chanyeol. There was something about him that was different from others that he had interacted with. “Here?” He asked Chanyeol. He nodded back at him. 

They both rummaged for some food, anything they could find. Baekhyun successfully found a couple of canned foods and some bags of chips. He told Chanyeol and the taller told him to stash them in his newfound backpack and so he did. Afterall, he was planning to share with him anyway. Then, he spotted a little empty jar and quickly grabbed it. This could come in handy. 

Chanyeol walked over to him and handed him a pocket knife. “Never know when you’re gonna need it.” He told him. “Probably more than you’d like.” Baekhyun nodded.

They both made their way to the next store where they found some more winter clothes. Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol grabbed a couple of hoodies and placed them inside his backpack. He also motioned for Baekhyun to do the same and so he did. Baekhyun also took the opportunity to grab a new pair of shoes for his current ones weren’t doing him any favors any more. Then they heard a clatter on the floor below them. Baekhyun immediately looked up at Chanyeol who had panicked written all over his face. He signaled for him to quietly follow him. They lightly made their way out of the shop’s room and Chanyeol quietly told Baekhyun to wait for him there. He went to the end of the hall and Baekhyun watched as he peaked over his shoulder. Baekhyun stood there for what felt like forever, his heart racing so loudly that he was sure Chanyeol could hear it all the way where he was standing. Then, his heart raced even louder when Chanyeol quickly turned to face him and frantically signaled him to hide as he ran towards him. 

Bekhyun didn’t know where to hide. He quickly went back inside the shop where they had previously been and tried to look around. The shop mostly had no places to hide. It had an open concept with some tables on the sides that had a couple of clothing items on top. To his right, there was a tall rack with some long dresses hanging but it was too small for him to hide in the middle. Chanyeol was next to him the next instant and barely whispered, “Hide, don’t let them see you.” Then, Baekhyun felt his hand being grabbed. He assumed it was because he had frozen and hadn’t budged. He was being dragged by Chanyeol to a backdoor that was visible just past the dressing room. He assumed it used to be for employees only. Chanyeol quietly opened the door that had a little eyepiece opening in the middle. 

It was cramped in there to say the least. There were boxes stacked on top of each other and Chanyeol quickly moved some that were behind the door so that they could behind them. The voices were getting closer and Baekhyun was getting tenser by the moment. Chanyeol placed some empty boxes that could be seen as soon as the door was opened. Then he motioned for Baekhyun to hide behind the boxes that were behind the door. He did just that, his hands sweating from the nerves he was feeling. He was sure Chanyeol had felt how nervous he was. Then the voices were there. Baekhyun held his breath.

“Man did you see that light from 2 days ago? It was so bright. I heard that the boss thinks it was him.”

“Well then we better be the first ones to find him before anyone else. Imagine how he’ll reward us if we find him.” 

Baekhyun gulped. Somehow he knew they were talking about him. He saw Chanyeol glance at him, confusion written all over his face. But, Baekhyun himself was confused. For starters, he didn’t know who their so-called boss was and second, he didn’t know why he would be looking for him. Sweat trickled d