I woke up the next morning shivering under my covers. God, when did it get so cold? I throw off my sheets and go to the kitchen to make some coffee. While the coffees brewing, I head towards the shower to warm up my body. After my shower, I pour some coffee and open my laptop scrolling through my blog while listening to some random songs on pandora. Thank god it's Saturday. Suddenly, I hear familiar words coming through my computer speakers. It took me a second to place the familiarity, but then I realized that this was the song that boy was singing yesterday on the street. I glance at my empty coffee mug and more thoughts of him invade my mind. Is he still on the streets? What did he eat for breakfast? Was he warm enough last night? Does he like coffee? That last one plays an important factor...coffee is the best drink in the world. Remembering what kind of state he was in last night made me shiver...was he okay? Aish, all this worrying is going to give me gray hair. Before I can overthink this, I grab go change into a pair of black jeans, a plain white shirt, and my leather jackets. I put on my combat boots and grab my satchel and I'm out the door. I wanted to see that boy again.

I head down the not so busy street towards the place I last saw him. As I past under a bridge, I heard a sneeze to my right. I looked towards the sound and my heart subconsciously did a flip in my chest. I quickly take in his surroundings....there isn't much. He's curled under a single pink blanket with his head resting on some kind of plush toy. I frown. Is this where he slept last night? Is that all he had to protect him from the cool October night? I walk over to him, careful not to startle him. His eyes are closed so I gently shake his shoulder. His eyes flutter open in confusion until they meet mine. I softly smile down at him because he looks so innocent and cute. Wait. Did I just call a guy cute? Gosh taekwoon what has gotten into you? 

"I remember you" a voice think with sleep says. Despite the cold air, I feel my cheeks getting warmer. 

"Did you sleep here all night?" I ask. His eyes meet mine again and he nods. "Are you hungry?" Now his eyes leave mine in an unspoken answer.  "Come with me" I say. I stand up and look down at him expectantly. He doesn't move. "Come on. I don't bite" I say jokingly. He stands up and folds his pink blanket and takes that along with his plush toy and walks over to the far side of the bridge where he hides the two in a too familiar kind of way. I frown. Why is this kid out here all alone? 

He comes back to my side. "I'm jaewhan" he says.

"I'm taekwoon". And with those short introductions, I lead him to a small café across the street. Nows the time to see if he likes coffee or not...

I open the door and he follows right behind me. Thankfully, only the early birds are here so the line isn't very long. I go up and order my regular: a slice of pumpkin bread (ya know, gotta keep it festive) and a caramel latte. For Jaehwan, I think he might need a little more so I order him a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese, an egg and turkey sandwich, and a pumpkin spice latte. While our food is being prepared, I look over to jaewhan and see him biting his lip. 

"What's the matter, Jaewhan?" I ask.

"I.....I don't have a lot of money..." He replies.

I chuckle. "Hey, don't even worry about it. This is my treat".

He looks at me and slightly smiles. If I'm not mistaken, I swear I saw a tint of pink on his pale cheeks. We get our food and head to a table in the corner of the shop. Before I have time to take off my jacket, he's digging into his egg and ham sandwich. My heart hurts at the sight of him devouring that so quickly. No one should ever be that hungry.... He looks up at me and he smiles. Not his usual shy smile either. This smile reaches his eyes. It's impossible to not smile back at him when he smiles that big. He looks so youthful when he smiles; like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning. I sip my coffee, letting the warmth spread through my body. I want to learn more about jaewhan so I decide to ask him about himself. 

"How old are you anyways, Jaewhan?" I ask.

"I'm 19" he replies. I choke on my coffee. He looks at me in worry.

"I'm fine" I reassure him. "That just surprised me. You're only a year younger than me". He looks so young it's hard to believe we're only a year apart. 

"Oh so that makes you my hyung! You're taekwoon hyung!" I blush. Only a few people have ever called my hyung before. Maybe if I had friends I would be their hyung but I'm just not very social. Before I know it, his sandwich is finished. He decides he's going to try the latte. He cutely blows on the drink so he doesn't burn his lips and when he pulls away, the same child like face comes back. His eyes brighten and he hums in approval. 

"Hyung!! This drink is so delicious!!" He says as he continues to sip away at the warm drink. He has passed the coffee test. I smile inwardly and take a bite of my pumpkin bread. Without even thinking about it, I take a piece off with my fingers and lean over towards him with my outstretched hand. Surprisingly, he opens his mouth and accepts the sweet treat. I pull away, stunned at my own actions. I have never in a million years thought I would do something like that. However, when he looks at me and smiles again with another him of approval, my past thoughts are gone. 

When we both finished our breakfast, I decide to walk around with him. As we walk, we talk...well I guess he talked. He sure loves to talk. Which is fine with me, I'm not much of a talker anyways. Plus, I like listening to his voice. It isn't very deep, and he speaks in a sing song sort of way. I learned a lot about him. His name is Lee Jaewhan he's 19 years old. He has only ever lived in this small city with his parents. However, when he was 8, his mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died shortly. So, he lived with his dad in their small apartment, but things were different with his dad ever since his mom died. He began drinking a lot and often times came home drunk. One night when Jaewhan was 10, his dad never came home. The next day, Jaewhan stayed at home waiting for his father to come home. A knock came that night and the police took Jaewhan downtown to the police station where they told him his father was in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Jaewhan went to the hospital, but he arrived too late. After that, Jaewhan was taken to foster homes where he was passed around to more than 9 homes. When he reached the age of 16, he had had enough and he ran away and never looked back. For 2 years he's been living in a ty apartment with the money from his parents' will. However, he soon failed to pay rent and they kicked him out. That was in April so he's been on the streets for 6 months. 

"I'm really sorry to hear that Jaewhan-ah. No one deserves to go through that, especially at the age you were" I say. 

He shrugs. "It hasn't been so bad. As you saw from yesterday I can get by with the money people give me when I sing. But, it's getting colder and I don't have the things I need to keep warm at night. I've been saving up money to get a cheap blanket from Walmart" he says. 

"You don't need to save up any more money,Jaewhan-ah. How would you feel about living with me in my apartment?" I ask. I suddenly start to get nervous. Would he think of this as something else? I don't want to scare him away..but God he's right it is getting colder and I don't want anything bad to happen to him.

He stops walking and grabs my sleeve. I look at him and I see his eyes shining with tears. Oh god, I upset him. 
" you're serious? I don't want to cause you an inconvenience, hyung. I don't want to get your way". 

I chuckle at him. "There's no way you could inconvenience me, Jaewhan. I just think the streets are dangerous this time of year and I don't want you to be out here". I blush. Wow I sound so lame. 

He blushes. "A..alright, hyung. I'll stay with you for a while. Just tell me when you're sick of me and then I'll be gone, I promise" he says.

I shake my head. God he worries too much. Suddenly, I see his shoulders shake. I don't know why I didn't see this before. It's freaking 50 degrees outside and all he has on is a red flannel shirt and jeans. 

"Come on" I say as I lead us into a clothing store.