“Are you sure he’s a nice guy?” Says the guy with the big, round eyes across the table before sipping on his warm cup of coffee with the mist coming out from the hot liquid, and the guy with the hair shaped like a mushroom rolls his eyes, “Of course, he’s a teenager for goodness’ sake.” He sighs exasperatedly.

“But you can’t be too sure…” The boy with the big eyes retorts, worrying about his friend’s safety as he finds this teenager a little… dangerous with his eyes that seem to pierce through his soul when he first made an eye contact with him.

“Kyungsoo… stop worrying. I’m twenty and the guy’s like… eighteen?” Baekhyun rolls his eyes again, a soft chuckle escaping his lips and then, a small smile spreads across his face. His friend is being too silly and too paranoid again, the same old Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo places down his cup of coffee, clattering against the ceramic saucer. He looks up at his friend with a soft concerned smile on his lips, “Whatever you say Byunbaek, anyways,” He pauses and pulls up his sleeve to check the time, “I need to go.” He continues then pushes himself up.

Baekhyun nods and stands up, “Alright, don’t want to be late huh?” He smirks and pats his friend on the back, he really appreciates Kyungsoo’s small visit but it seems like his friend is being too paranoid about his new roommate that he took in weeks ago.

When Kyungsoo is out of sight, Baekhyun heads to the table and gathers their cups, he places them down the sink and lets the cold water from the faucet run. As he thinks about it, he never really talked to Zitao before… except that one time when they discussed who will take the trash out, about cleaning the dishes and other protocols he lays down when he has a roommate.

Baekhyun turns off the faucet and leans against the counter, a frown spread across his lips. If they’re going to be roommates for a little while, they should as well become friends right? Baekhyun thinks and pushes himself away from the counter.

He walks to Zitao’s door, just a few feet away from his. He raises his fist and musters up all the courage to knock, Zitao’s eyes were pretty intimidating to be honest, Baekhyun can’t look directly at his dim eyes when they were talking. He knocks.

It took Zitao a few moments to open the door, but when he did, his hair was fluffy and down it’s definitely not like the first time they met when it was up in spikes. Baekhyun smiles, a soft warm smile and Zitao raises his brow up in reply.

“Zitao… would you like to go to the nearby theme park? I heard they have a huge ferris wheel!”

***

It did not take him time to persuade Zitao into coming because he just gave him a soft nod and closes his door, comes back minutes after, dressed in casual clothing but his hair is still as fluffy and soft as ever.

So here they are now, strolling in the theme park, enveloped in their own thick coats. It’ll probably snow soon, Baekhyun thinks and takes a deep breath. “Zitao, how old are you by the way? I didn’t get to ask you.” Baekhyun asks the lamest question, but it is the only question at the top of his head.

Zitao looks up from his shoes, “Sixteen.” He mutters in a low and soft voice, Baekhyun nods in return. Today he learned that Zitao is still very young. He wonders why he’s in Seoul.

“Ah, you’re so tall.” He chuckles but honestly, he hopes he isn’t making the atmosphere awkward, he hopes that he isn’t making Zitao awkward with his choice of topic and words. Zitao smiles and Baekhyun takes note of his smile, Zitao looks good when he smiles, he thinks.

“I’ve been told.” He simply replies but his eyes are fixated on the great carousel that stands in front of them. Baekhyun looks up at him, though Kyungsoo says that Zitao looks dangerous… at this moment, Zitao looks very harmless and innocent staring at the carousel.

Baekhyun takes a deep breath and his chapped lips, “Do you want to ride there?” He asks enthusiastically, a smile across his face.

“S-Sure…”

***

Baekhyun laughs and Zitao does too, hearing his laugh makes Baekhyun happy somehow, at least he isn’t the only one enjoying this. “Why do you keep on spinning the cup? I’m so dizzy!” Baekhyun says, still laughing but he’s still a little bit dizzy from what Zitao did so he grips the railings.

“But it’s more fun that way! Right?” Zitao says and tilts his head to the side. Baekhyun and Zitao rode the carousel and they sat on the cup like one and there was this wheel on the middle of it, when you spin it, the cup spins too.

Baekhyun shakes his head and when he’s sure he’s not dizzy anymore, he straightens up and fixes his scarf. “It is fun!” He agrees with his eyes up in beautiful crescents just like his lips.

He’s glad that Zitao is starting to talk to him, at this moment, he feels proud of himself for asking Zitao to go to this theme park. “Where should we go next?” He asks and takes a deep breath, feeling the cold air fill his lungs. Baekhyun stuffs his hands inside the coat’s pocket and he’s glad that he chose this.

Zitao pulls up his sleeve, just like how Kyungsoo does and checks the time, “Oh… the sun’s almost setting.” He looks up the sky and Baekhyun copies his actions. It’s true though, the sky is orange, not neon orange, but soft and nice to the eyes. Baekhyun likes it, very much.

Baekhyun looks around for the ride that doesn’t have a long queue and there’s the ferris wheel, his most favourite thing about this theme park. Baekhyun tugs on Zitaos coat like a small child and once Zitao’s attention is on him, he points a finger on the ferris wheel.

“Ferris wheel,” Zitao says, it’s more of a declarative sentence rather than a question. Baekhyun nods and beams at the younger but taller guy, “That’s what I’m rooting for!” He takes out a hand from his pockets and pulls Zitao by the wrist. “Let’s go!”

Baekhyun can feel the coldness of Zitao’s hand when his thumb accidentally grazes the back of his hand. “Are you alright?” He asks with concern. He doesn’t really know if Zitao has a fright of heights and he isn’t sure if he’ll like the ride.

Zitao gulps and pushes his hair back with his other hand that isn’t gripped by Baekhyun. “Don’t mind me, let’s go!” Zitao’s voice is a little shaky but he pulls Baekhyun to the queue and somehow, just a little, Baekhyun feels guilty. He just hopes that this will go well.

Zitao trails behind Baekhyun who’s smiling and as cheerful as ever. The line moves forward and more people squeeze. Zitao is pushed forward, toppling over Baekhyun’s back and Baekhyun remains still. “Are you alright?” He turns to Zitao and holds him by his shoulders. Zitao gives a quick nod.

Baekhyun nods back too, he turns and now his back is facing Zitao. Zitao crosses his arms over his chest, tapping his foot against the ground to release the nervousness and anxiety that fill his chest. Though often times, people perceive Zitao as a tough person, he’s actually just a fragile boy that ran away from home because he wants to be a singer.

Then, it’s their turn to get on the cabin. Zitao stops for a while and Baekhyun looks at him with worry. “Are you alright?” He asks the younger guy, tilting his head to the side. Zitao gives a mere nod.

The ride is fun, especially when Baekhyun gapes at the sight when they are almost at the top and how Zitao laughs at his face, and Baekhyun really likes how Zitao is starting to ease up with him, he likes the comfortable aura that Zitao emits while they are together. “Look, we’re at the top!” Baekhyun basically yells and puts his face near the window and Zitao just laughs, and Baekhyun thinks it’s a smile that lights up his face.

“You know, you should smile more often.” Baekhyun spatters out with a soft, kind smile plastered in his lips. Zitao nods and bows his head.

Baekhyun gazes out of the cabin’s window, beaming at the sight and that’s when he spots the first snow trickling down so gracefully. “Zitao!” He squeals, pulling Zitao by the arm and he fervently points out of the window, amused by the amount of snow.

“It’s snowing! It’s the first fall of snow!” The older cheers happily, still clasping the younger’s arm. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Zitao gulps, this is his first time, for the past years of his life he watched the first fall of snow and he agrees, it’s probably one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. “It… it is.”

**

It had been fun, Baekhyun can tell by the way how Zitao keeps on recalling the moments they shared in the amusement park as they ride the taxi back to their house. Baekhyun can tell that even just for a few hours, he made Zitao happy.

“And then, the rollercoaster was the best part!” Zitao tells him and Baekhyun agrees, he remembers how he keeps on screaming, making his throat hurt and how Zitao screams, but not as much as Baekhyun did.

“It’s fun, right?” Baekhyun asks the most obvious question ever which makes Zitao furrow his brows in confusion. Zitao really enjoyed the day, and he isn’t sure if it’s not obvious in his face, in his smile and in his words.

“Of course it is.” He replies, simply and shortly. The silence reigns and Baekhyun laughs, “We should do this again soon!”

Zitao smiles, ever so softly and it makes Baekhyun feel like he needed to protect the younger lad. “I agree.”

From now on, Baekhyun decides that he’ll be the younger’s guardian no matter what.