Chapter 6

It was past midnight, and there was no one on the streets. Sehun trudged home, his entire body sore from standing the entire night and performing the bartending tricks he was known for. He his chapped lips, frowning at the aftertaste of long-gone lip balm and the staleness of his saliva. He hasn’t eaten in hours since he missed dinner in order to walk to his job, but it wasn’t like he could get food at this time of night anyway.

He reached a familiar turn of the street, and raised his head to face the apartment building he saw Elise enter. “She lives here, huh,” he thought. “Should I say hi?”

“Hey son, whatcha standin’ there for?” a gruff voice spoke up.

Sehun froze for a second at the sight of the security guard before resuming his stoic facial expression. He briefly shook his head. “Not much, sir.”

“Lookin’ for someone?”

The younger boy shrugged. “It’s nothing,” he murmured, and began to walk away.

“Wait, boy,” the guard called. Sehun turned around. “You lookin’ for the young lady who lives here?”

“Young lady?”

“The one who didn’t look so good earlier tonight…”

Sehun paused. “He knows?”

The guard smiled. “So I see you know her,” he started, and Sehun furrowed his brows. “Why don’t you go up and visit her?”

“…Me?”

“Who else?” the guard chuckled. “Just sayin’ though, I think she’d like some company.”

Sehun’s gaze fell to the ground as he questioned the guard’s suggestion. “How do you know, sir?”

The older man waved his hand. “Girl’s been livin’ here since years ago. I’ve watched her grow up, fight her way through life, and be so strong despite her loneliness. At this point, she would need someone to look after her, even just for a bit.”

The younger orphan nodded, glancing at the exterior of the worn down residential building. “…Can I go in then?” his voice filled with hesitant hope.

The guard chuckled. “’Course, boy! Room 206. If she asks, just tell her that Ed sent ya up.”

Just as Sehun passed the gate, he turned around to Ed and sent him a fleeting smile. “Thank you.”

Ed waved him away. “No need, kid. Just take care of yourself and her. She’s special, I’ll tell ya that.”

~~~~~~

After nursing her bloodied lip, bruised knee, and scratched up stomach, Elise winced as she placed the Q-tip dripping with hydrogen peroxide onto her arm wound. She fought the tears that threatened to leave her eyes as she watched the white bubbles form in the gash. “Just a little more…” she yelped as she gently rubbed another Q-tip on top of the wound and threw away the former bloodied Q-tip.

Just as she started wrapping a long, white bandage around her arm, the doorbell rang. Elise swiftly turned her head to the door, confused as to why anyone would ring her doorbell at this time of night.

“Don’t tell me Ed got knocked out,” she thought frantically as she tiptoed to the door while she tied the bandage on her arm in a tight knot. She slowly peaked into the hole in the door, and breathed out in relief at the young boy standing on the other side of the door.

She gently opened the door and gazed into Sehun’s tired eyes. “Sehun?”

He rubbed his neck in nervousness. “Elise…”

“How did you find me? Is there something… you need?”

Sehun swiftly shook his head. Elise tilted her head in confusion.  “I saw you enter the apartment…”

“What?”

The boy rubbed his hands together. “I work at the bar down the street. I was going to work when I saw you enter… and when I was walking back, I wanted to see how you were doing…”

She nodded. “Thanks. I’m fine.”

Sehun took a good look at her, and noticed the bandage on her arm, which was already turning slightly red. “Your arm…” "What did Lin do to her?!"

“Oh, this...”

He in a breath. “Does it hurt?”

“Yes,” Elise wanted to retort, but seeing the wide, innocent eyes staring at her, she couldn’t find the desire to be tough around him. “It’s okay, don’t worry. Sehun, why don’t you come in?”

Sehun shook his head. “But I don’t want to bother you.”

She patted his shoulder. “You’re not. Come in, or I’ll just leave you here.”

Elise made her way back into the hotel, leaving the door open for Sehun to enter. The said boy stood here for a few seconds, hesitant to enter the room. But after seeing that the tough young woman was even kind enough to leave her door wide open for him, he decided to let himself in.

Sehun swiftly took off his shoes and set his backpack next to his shoes before closing the door and entering the apartment. He took in the simplicity of everything. The setting was nearly all white, and there were no decorations. A lone, white couch stood by itself in the middle of the living room, and a small brown desk was placed next to the window. A TV sat next to the wall, but Sehun noticed the layer of dust that evenly coated the top. “What does she do here?”

He heard the clinking of cups and utensils, so Sehun made his way into the plain, white kitchen. He watched as Elise slowly poured hot water into a single cup and swirled the hot chocolate powder into the water with a small, wooden teaspoon. The said woman noticed Sehun staring at her, and nodded her head toward the small square table with four, white, wooden chairs. "You allergic to anything?" she asked.

Sehun scurried to take a seat, nervous being an understatement. "No."

Elise didn’t say anything for the next few minutes. After making sure that all the powder dissolved, she added a little bit of cream into the mix, gave it a final stir, and set the cup in front of Sehun. “Drink up.”

The boy looked with wonder at the warm drink, its vapors wafting a soothing, sweet aroma into his perception. "I haven't had this in so long... not since..." He looked up at Elise, as if asking for her permission.

Elise raised an eyebrow. “There’s no one else here to drink it, Sehun.”

Sehun nodded and looked back down at the cup, staring intently at his own reflection in the liquid. “Why…?”

Elise waited for him to drink the liquid, but then noticed a single teardrop escape from his eyes. She panicked, worried that she did something wrong, for the boy then pushed the cup a little bit away from himself and started shaking, as if to try and stop himself from crying.

She pulled out the chair next to him and sat down, gazing intently at him. “Sehun… did I do something wrong? I’m sorry…” she murmured quickly, not knowing what else to do.

The boy shook his head frantically. “No, it’s m-mm-me,” he started, trying to wipe away his tears with his sleeve. "You only know her for a day and you're crying. You're so weak, Sehun..."

Elise pulled out a tissue from her back pocket, and to both her own and Sehun’s surprise, proceeded to gently wipe away the salty liquid dripping from the young boy’s clear, naïve orbs. "If you want to talk..." she started. The young boy looked up to her . "...You can talk to me, 'kay?"

She gulped as she heard herself say those words. "You've never said those words to anyone..." 

"'Kay..." Sehun whispered, hiccupping in the process.

Elise simply shook the thoughts away from her head, and gave Sehun an encouraging nod as he sniffled and as she continued to wipe away the tears that fell from his eyes.

She then placed the tissue in his hands and wrapped his long, gangly fingers around it. Elise couldn’t find anything to say, and  could only keep him company as Sehun fought to keep his tears under control. She watched, as the boy eyed the hot chocolate, now not as hot as before.

Elise reached out and slowly pushed the hot chocolate towards Sehun. “Drink up. You’ve lost enough liquid for today.”

Sehun grasped the cup, as if to absorb the warmth it emitted. After lifting his red eyes and taking in Elise’s encouraging gaze, the boy eventually gave in to the tempting drink and took small sips. Elise couldn’t help but let out a chuckle when she observed his formerly saddened expression morph into one of happiness and glee.

Soon enough, Sehun finished the entire cup of hot chocolate, and let out a content sigh as he leaned back into the chair. He turned to face Elise, whose waning smile hasn’t faded away completely yet. “Thanks, Elise,” he spoke with a soft voice. "I think I can trust you..."

She nodded, her eyes sparkling in content. “You’re welcome, Sehun.” "You are always welcome here."

~~~~~~

Joonmyun paced, about to rip the hair out of his scalp. His footsteps thundered around the apartment as the other boys looked at him warily. “Hyung,” Jongin started, “can you stop?”

“You’re making me dizzy,” Chanyeol groaned.

The shorter leader whirled around in anger. “YOU AREN’T CONCERNED FOR SOMEONE CLOSE TO YOU AS A BROTHER?!” he shouted at the younger boy.

Jongin stood up in anger. “I’M NOT CONCERNED?! JUST BECAUSE I’M NOT WEARING THE FLOOR AWAY AND I’M NOT PANTIN’ LIKE A MADMAN DOESN’T MEAN I DON’T CARE!” he screamed back.

“Enough!” Kris’s deep voice pierced the tense atmosphere. “Joonmyun, you’re tired, and you’ve done a lot today. Eat some ice cream, calm down, and go to bed. We’ll wait for him here. And don’t lose it again. Jongin, never scream back at your elders. Understood?” he eyed the two young men.

Both nodded, eyes gazed at the floor. Joonmyun sluggishly pulled himself into the kitchen to grab some sweets, and Jongin plopped himself back onto the couch. Yixing rubbed calming circles on his back, and the younger boy buried his head into his hands.  “Jongin,” Yixing murmured, “believe in Sehun, okay?”

“… What if somethin’ happened?” Jongin whispered, his eyes red.

Yixing shook his head, continuing to massage Jongin’s back. “I’m sure nothing did. My gut tells me so.”

The younger boy nodded, deciding to trust in his older friend. It was the only thing he could do at the moment.

On the other hand, Joonmyun gripped the counter, angry at his earlier outburst. Jongdae walked in at patted him on the back. “Joon, he’ll be fine.”

Joonmyun nodded. “I know. I’m just worried. I shouldn’t have yelled at Jongin either...”

“Jongin will understand. Just apologize later, and he’ll accept it for sure,” Jongdae smiled a wistful smile. “And, Sehun’s a clever kid. He can handle himself. Now take a rest, just sleep it off.”

The leader turned to his younger friend. “You guys won’t?”

“We’re all a little restless, but you’re completely sleep deprived compared to the rest of us,” Jongdae shrugged. “Besides, we can practice saying the alphabet too.”

“Okay,” Joonmyun sighed. “Take care then. If Sehun doesn’t come back tonight, I want you to wake me up, no matter what. Got it?”

Jongdae saluted. “Will do!”

~~~~~~

After about two hours of feeding Sehun the dinner he didn’t have, Elise tucked the boy into her bed, since he fell asleep on the dinner table. The fact that she could lift him up with no effort was rather worrying, and she resolved that she would have the boys eat more than they usually do, even if she needed to bring them food herself. She was going to make them, or bring them, wonderful food. Even her taste buds were craving that.

Elise could remember the gasps of elatedness when Sehun practically inhaled the stir-fried noodles she cooked. Several times she reminded him to slow down, but eventually she stopped when she noticed the way his eyes twinkled in delight, and just decided to let him wolf down his rather large dinner. Elise let out another small chuckle as she reminisced the heartwarming scene. If only she could see that happiness for longer.

“What am I thinking? Am I warming up to him?” Elise started to realize that she actually enjoyed witnessing Sehun's happiness. She wondered why, for she didn’t see the point of why others could be so happy. Genuine happiness seemed pointless since there were too many dark things in this world. But, all she knew at the moment was that she felt great that she could make someone’s face pull into a true grin. “Oh, what to do with you, Sehun…”

She then realized she had work the next morning. She sat on the living room couch, staring into space and deciding whether or not she should just stay awake the entire night, when a phone began to buzz from Sehun’s backpack. Walking over to the bag, she carefully fished out the phone, and noticed that there were 24 missed calls on it.

“It must be the guys. Should I call them?” she held the phone in front of her and tried to make a decision. Elise was shaken out of her reverie when the phone’s screen flashed once more, with “Home” flashing on and off.

Elise decided to take the call anyway, since she knew they were probably worried about the young boy. “Hello?” she quietly spoke as she flipped the phone on.

“Hello?”

“Kris?”

There was a pause on the other side. “Yes?”

“It’s Elise,” she replied.

“Ah, Elise?," she heard Kris breathe out in relief, "Is Sehun with you?”

She nodded, but then realized they couldn’t see her. “He’s sleeping in my room now.”

“How’d he get there?”

“He found out where I lived when he was going to work, and just decided to pop by.”

Kris hummed on the other end. “Elise, thank you.”

She tilted her head as she held the phone to her ear. “Why?” she whispered.

Kris chuckled. “You helped him outside of your hours. And, I know you made Sehun happy, and it’s something we rarely get to see.”

Elise bit her lips in embarrassment. “I… didn’t… it’s nothing, really,” she replied in a soft voice.

His deep laughter rumbled through the phone. “Ah, don’t deny it, Elise, I know you did. The fact that he just fell asleep at your place is saying something.”

Elise gripped the phone a little tighter, and her ears turned a nice shade of pink. “I guess,” she muttered.

“Well,” Kris continued, “we could pick him up from your place?”

“It’s okay, Kris. I can take him back in the morning.”

“Sure?”

“Mm. Besides, I have something for you guys, but I want Sehun to be there with you when I show you all.”

“Aww, you didn't have to sweetie-"

"Don't call me that."

Kris let out another laugh, and Emily didn't have the heart to be annoyed at him. "Alright, alright. Anyway, that sounds good to me. So, see you in a few hours?”

“Mm.”

“Bye!”

“…Bye,” she murmured before taking the phone off her ear and flipping it shut.

~~~~~~

Kris slid the phone back to its place on the wall. “He’s fine.”

“Who’s he with?” Jongin, who forced himself to wake up when Kris talked on the phone, wearily asked. All the others either slid back into bed, not able to keep their consciousness into the night, or decided to crash in the living room.

Kris turned to Jongin. “Elise.”

“Elise?” The taller boy nodded. “Why?”

Kris shrugged. “He somehow found out where she lived. I don’t know half the things that go on in that guy’s head.”

“Not like any of us do,” Jongin smirked before taking a large yawn.

“Jong, go to bed. We know he’s safe now.”

“How do we know he’s safe?” Jongin messed with Kris.

The older boy playfully shoved the younger before wrapping a long, gangly arm around Jongin’s shoulders. “Ah don’t mess with me, kid. Elise is sincere.”

“For real?”

“For real.” “Thank you, Elise. I think you’re going to change all of us. I’m waiting for it.”

Hey guys! Next chapter is up :) Hope you all are enjoying it so far! Elise is warming up just a bit, isn't she? Hopefully we'll see her talk a little more as time goes by.

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xoxo shadowonsapphire