As soon as Chansung's extremely well shaped behind hit the car seat, he opened the first pack of muffins. It disappeared in under a minute. “Chansung-ah, can I ask you one thing?” Nichkhun started the car. “Mmm.” Chansung barely managed to utter a muffled response, he had stuffed a whole muffin in his mouth. “Be careful not to choke! And too many of those will give you a tummy ache, pace yourself okay?” Nichkhun said concerned. “That's not a question.” Chansung mumbled playfully after swallowing half the muffin. “Before.. on the ride over here.. you said they.. when they brought you here... Who are 'they'? And the thing with the tiger.. how does it work? Did you have some kind of radioactive accident or some failed experiment, this being the side effect? You weren't kidnapped by some evil scientists, were you? Did they do experiments on you and then just abandon you in the mountains, leaving you to fend for yourself?!” Nichkhun was getting worked up imagining those evil men throwing Chansung out of a moving vehicle, leaving him out there to rot. “I can help you find them and bring them to justice! Make them pay! I don't know exactly how yet, but we'll think of something!” Nichkhun's face grew crimson, he was getting mad. How could there be people like that?

“That was more than one thing.” Chansung chuckled. “Can't we first just enjoy the ride? It's not often that I get a chance to ride in a car like this, I'd kind of like to make the most of it.” Chansung smiled earnestly. “Can you take off the roof?” Chansung looked up, squinting his eyes. “Oh you mean like on a convertible? Yeah no, that's not possible.” Nichkhun answered patiently. “Hmm, can we then roll down all the windows?” Chansung asked hopefully. “All of them? Isn't one plenty?” Nichkhun was skeptical. “No. All of them is better.” Chansung replied stubbornly. “But if we roll down all of them, it'll be way too windy in here.” Nichkhun was not convinced. “Exactly!” Chansung exclaimed excited, “The wind is the best. It feels so refreshing on your skin, you can really feel you're alive. It gets the blood pumping and blows all the bad things away. Have you ever stopped to let the wind recharge your body?”. “No, not really..” Nichkhun gave up and opened all the windows of the car.

The hefty breeze felt wonderful, the cold fresh air playing with Nichkhun's skin. “I'll hold the wheel, try sticking your head out there!” Chansung's voice was bright with excitement. “Naah, that's too dangerous.” Nichkhun didn't really care for recklessness. “Come on, live a little! You are one of those types that always follows the rules, right?” Chansung said with an expression that clearly condemned the practice of rule-following. “Well, yeah, but the rules are there for a reason.” Nichkhun reminded Chansung. “Trust me.” Chansung smiled his brightest smile. Nichkhun could feel his defenses crumbling, being torn down by that playful cuteness of Chansung's. Normally Nichkhun would never even consider doing anything like this, but something was different this time. He was possessed by some little rule-breaking demon that was helping Chansung's cause. Maybe it was all that fresh air going to his head. Maybe it was this magical boy beside him, who he still wasn't absolutely convinced was real. Or maybe he had finally completely lost it after running out of his own engagement party. Who did that? There had to be something seriously wrong with him. What had he been thinking? How was he going to face his family again?

Chansung took the wheel, “I've got it!”. Nichkhun took off his seatbelt and stuck his head out the window before he had the time to chicken out. The force of the wind doubled, no tripled. The trees rushed by at super speed, becoming one big green blurr. Chansung was right, the wind was blowing his worries away. He could feel it. It blew them down the mountain, hopefully never to be heard from again. Good riddance! Nichkhun felt lighter than he had felt in months, years even. “YAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!” Nichkhun screamed at the top of his lungs, just because he could. He felt free for the first time in his guarded little life. Free from society, free from his family, but most importantly, free from himself. He felt strong, like he could do anything. He could take on the world!

“Wow.” Nichkhun slid his head back inside the car, his hair stood on end, like he had just been electrocuted. “You were totally right.” Nichkhun admitted. Chansung's face erupted with an even bigger smile. “See!” he said, chuckling. “Can we listen to some music?” Chansung requested. Nichkhun the radio, 'No love, No more' was playing. It was a bit gloomy in light of everything, so he switch stations. “No! Go back! It's JYP!!” Chansung pleaded. “You know who JYP is?” Nichkhun put the song back on, surprised. Chansung tapped his feet to the song, wiggling his body as much as he could, challenging the restrictions of the car's cramped space. All in all, Nichkhun thought this was probably the nicest car ride he'd ever been on, he didn't want it ever to end.

Nichkhun was in awe of Chansung's strength. He was carrying almost all the groceries in one go, the pile in his arms so high that he couldn't even see where he was going. As a result, he miscalculated a bit, missing the door and heading for the door post instead. Nichkhun ran over to him, swiftly grabbing his arm and guiding him inside. His skin was smooth as silk, contrasting with the hard muscle underneath. Nichkhun's stomach tickled slightly, maybe he was just hungry. He hadn't eaten a thing all morning.

Chansung watched the mount Fooderest he had created on the kitchen table, beaming. “Okay, you put the groceries away while I start the cooking, deal?” Nichkhun picked out some bacon, eggs, cheese and beans from the pile. “Deal.” Chansung agreed, opening a random cupboard and starting to stuff everything in there, without discrimination. “No wait! What on Earth are you doing?! It has to be a little bit more organized than that, you know. Each item in its proper place.” Nichkhun complained. “It is organized. If you need food, you open this cupboard and taDA! Food!” Chansung bathed out his hands for effect, trying to sell the idea. It was too adorable. Nichkhun couldn't help but laugh with all his heart. “But some things have to go into the refrigerator at least..” Nichkhun was watching skeptically as Chansung continued to stuff everything on the same shelf. “Nahh, we'll already have eaten it before it goes bad!” Chansung had the perfect answer for everything. Nichkhun decided to let it go and just fix it himself later, when Chansung wasn't looking.

As Nichkhun started cooking, Chansung planted himself at the kitchen table, munching on a muffin. “You think you'll have room for some bacon after all those muffins?” Nichkhun pointed out. “Of course! This is just an appetizer.” Chansung looked really content as he chowed the muffin down. “What is it with you and muffins?” Nichkhun asked affectionately. Chansung shrugged giggling, “They just taste really good.”. When Chansung had finished the muffin, he looked straight at Nichkhun, like he was sizing him up. Nichkhun stared down at the bacon-filled pan, pretending to be really busy with what he was doing. He didn't know why, but he was afraid to meet Chansung's inquisitive eyes. Nichkhun got the feeling he could see past his shield and all the crap on the surface, exposing his vulnerable core that had never seen the light of day.

“Are you sad?” Chansung asked out of the blue, pensive. “Uhm, why do you ask?” Nichkhun was a bit thrown by such an honest observation. “Just.. you're eyes are sad.” Chansung remarked, immersed deep in his own thoughts. “Yeah.. you are probably right.” Nichkhun gave up holding up some kind of a pretense, Chansung saw right through it. “Did something bad happen?” Chansung prodded, but in a nice way. He sounded concerned. “You could say that..”. It was as if a damn had broken inside of Nichkhun, he started pouring his heart out to Chansung without even meaning to. Before Nichkhun knew what had hit him, he had told Chansung his life story, including his escape from his engagement party. He didn't really know why he was telling him this, he told him stuff he had never told anyone, thoughts he hardly knew he had himself. Maybe it was easier to spill his guts to Chansung because he was a stranger. He was a blank canvas, with no preexisting ideas of how Nichkhun was supposed to live his life, no ulterior motives or personal involvement. Besides, he was a really good listener. Nichkhun felt he was heard. Not just heard in the sense that Chansung simply heard what he was saying, but really truly heard. Chansung even asked him for details and explanations along the way, showing genuine interest. He made Nichkhun feel special, like he mattered. It was not a familiar feeling to Nichkhun, but he cherished it with all his heart.