Baekhyun's P.O.V

It's been thirty minutes since we've left Chanyeol's house. The car was silent except for the quiet song playing softly on the radio. Having nothing to do, I concentrated on listening to the music.Chanyeol turned up the volume after seeing me crooking my neck near the speakers, which was at the bottom left side of the door. I gave a small smile and leaned back on my chair, which radiated warmth, comfortably.

“Aju jageun geosirado                               

neol himdeulge haji mothage           

hangsang jikigo sipeo I’m eternally love”       

(Even if it’s a small thing,

I want to protect you for always

So you won’t ever have to suffer, I’m eternally love)

My ears perked at the familiar lyrics. I immediately looked towards Chanyeol, who was smiling calmly. The only thing that I could focus on was the song and Chanyeol, all other surroundings completely ignored. Chanyeol kept his gaze forward while occasionally mouthing the lyrics of the song.

He remembers the song...  

Knowing that Chanyeol remembers the song that I had showed him years back made me feel warm and a smile etched itself across my face. Still too entranced with my own thoughts, I didn’t hear what Chanyeol said until I heard a loud honk. Shocked at the sudden noise disturbing the once peaceful ride, I jumped in my seat. “What happened?”

Chanyeol chuckled at my reaction, which made me glare at him for a second before it was replaced with wide eyes and an opened mouth. Finally looking outside, I saw many cars driving through, tall buildings that ran along the wide street, and many people who were walking around, some in their school uniforms, some in what looks like a million dollar brand dresses, and others in casual outfits.

Full of awe, my face was pressed against the window to get a better look at my surroundings. Everything was so new and captivating. Being kept within the forest limited my options to only my house and the lake, but now in a big, urban city, I was intrigued by even the smallest of details.

Too distracted with the new view, I didn’t notice the loving stare Chanyeol was giving me.

Chanyeol's P.O.V

Having a Byun Baekhyun with a cute, innocent look sitting next to me was a real struggle for me to not stare at him and focus on the busy street. It was as if Baekhyun never got tired of seeing the city until he finally turned to me, which made my heart beat faster now that his attention was averted to me.

“So what’s the place that you need to go to first?” the smaller asked.

“We’re almost there. You’ll see.”

We sat in silence with just the songs quietly playing in the background for the next five minutes. I parked the car in the extensive parking lot nearest to the entrance. I got out of the car and quickly went over to the passenger’s side to open the door for Baekhyun before he could open it. Baekhyun gave me a smile that seemed to radiate brighter than before. Probably just the sun, I thought, but we’re in a parking lot that’s underground....

I watched as Baekhyun got out of the car and stared at the building in front of us with wonderment. “What is this place?”

I chuckled at his cute reaction. He looked like a little kid entering an amusement park for the first time. “It’s called a mall,” I answered as I grabbed his wrist to lead him to the entrance.

“What’s inside a mall?” Baekhyun asked, tilting his head to the side looking like a confused puppy.

The question made me stop in my tracks, preventing Baekhyun from also moving any further. “You’ve never been inside a mall?” I asked surprised.

Baekhyun shook his head in reply, “I never came to the city before nor have I been given a proper education. I’ve lived in the forest my whole life.”

Seeing Baekhyun’s dejected face as he said that made my heart tighten. I gripped his hand tighter, “Let’s go inside. I’ll show you what’s inside a mall.”

Dragging Baekhyun through the automatic sliding door, which he also found fascinating, I showed him the many stores inside the mall. I stopped at one store that I went to regularly. Baekhyun came in with wide eyes wandering to every article of clothing. “Chanyeol… these look expensive,” Baekhyun observed, admiring a dark blue suit adorned with a black tie.

I came up from behind and took the suit off the racks. Baekhyun gasped, shaking his head and swiftly took the suit from my grasp. “I can never afford something like this. I didn’t even bring money,” he mumbled, carefully placing the suit back onto display.

I looked around the other racks hoping to see something eye catching. “Well, if you see something you like, then just let me know and I’ll buy it for you. Don’t worry about the money. After all, we came here to buy clothes for you to wear during our stay here.”

Baekhyun gaped, “Is that why we came here? To buy me clothes? You know we could’ve just drove over to my place and I could’ve packed my clothes instead of buying clothes this expensive.” He shoved a price tag of a black iron downed suit at my face to prove his point. “Besides, I can’t stay here for long. Soyeon will be back at the house any time now and she’ll know that I’m gone.”

I went towards Baekhyun and back hugged him tightly, causing him to squeal. “Baekhyun,” I said, squeezing him even tighter, “we came here for you to get away from stress, so quit worrying about Soyeon and enjoy your time spent with me.” I loosened my hold on him to turn him around so that we’re looking at each other straight in the eyes. “It’s been years since we’ve seen each other. Please, let me make up all those lost moments that we could’ve spent together,” I pleaded, wanting Baekhyun’s time spent with me to be memories of happiness and content, not anxious and worried all the time. All the years that I wasn’t able to be with Baekhyun made me feel regretful. It made me feel even worse when I couldn’t even recognize him.

Baekhyun didn’t say anything, but nodded shyly in reply. His gaze was concentrated on the dull white ground instead of addressing towards me.

He’s so cute when he’s shy.

I let out a big smile, relieved that Baekhyun agreed. “Come on.” I grabbed the suit from the rank. “Let’s go try this on.”

Before I could bring the smaller to the changing room, Baekhyun pulled me back. “Don’t you think a suit is a bit too much? Especially since all we’re going to do is walk around the city. It’s not like I’m going to some business meeting,” Baekhyun stated.

I looked at the outfit and back to Baekhyun, who stared back at me unwaveringly. I mentally slapped myself. We came to buy casual clothes, not some fancy suit, I facepalmed. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Guess I was just too excited,” I let out an embarrassed smile. “All right. Let’s go to a different store then. After all, this is a mall, so there’s a lot more stores to go through.”

Despite being embarrassed a second ago, I was excited to spend time at the city, the place where I spent most of my life at, with Baekhyun. Of course, I went to the mansion occasionally, but I only went there over breaks. Not realizing where we were going because I was too distracted and Baekhyun, who was following me closely, didn’t even know the place, we walked into a random store. When I realized where we were after feeling a small tug on my sleeves, I wanted to slap myself for the second time today.

“What are we doing in a stuffed toy store?” Baekhyun asked, confused.

Not wanting Baekhyun to think that I don’t know what I’m doing, I responded, “Uh… Well, I wanted to buy my friends something, so I don’t go crashing their place empty handed.” Good one Chanyeol, I praised myself.

Baekhyun must’ve believed me because he nodded his head and looked around the store, captivated by all the plushies. I let out a breath I unconsciously held. Well, now that I told Baekhyun that lie, looks like I’m going to have to buy Luhan and Sehun something. I looked around the store, seeing nothing that stood out. There were arrays of stuffed animals on tall shelves. Dogs, cats, deers, dragons, unicorns, it was as if they had a plushie for every animal. Too many to choose from, I decided to buy them a bambi plushie and a boba plushie. I’m sure they’ll like these.

I went to wait in line to play for the two stuffed toys. The long wait made me remember Baekhyun. I was too distracted with finding something for the Hunhan couple that I lost track of the smaller.

Shoot.

Since it was almost my turn in line to pay, I couldn’t get out of line and have to wait again in the surprisingly long line. I didn’t know plushies were this popular. Each second going by had me more worried. I tried using my height to my advantage to hopefully spot the brunette in the crowded store, but to my avail. The tall shelves were preventing me from seeing the whole store.

Just when I was about to get out of line to find Baekhyun, I heard the cashier call for the next person in line, who was me. “Did you find everything all right?” the cashier routinely asked.

Too busy peeking over the shelves, hoping to see a certain button nose brunette, I just grunted in reply. I glanced around the store, but only had a limited view of the store from this angle.

“Seeing as how you keep looking around, I’m guessing you didn’t find everything all right,” the girl behind the counter suggested, “You know, I’m always here to help you until you’re content.” I didn’t bother listening to her flirtatious remarks because anxiety was creeping up into my systems.

Where are you Baekhyun?

I stopped craning my head and faced the cashier, who suddenly grabbed my hand on the counter. After finally getting my attention, she giggled seductively, “Let me help-”

“Can you just hurry up? If you want to help me, then hurry up and scan the toy already,” I growled, annoyed that I was losing time to search for Baekhyun. Shocked, the cashier hastily but messily scanned the price tag and dropped it in a small paper bag.

I was getting more and more stressed worrying about Baekhyun. “Baekhyun, where the fu- Oh hi Baekhyun.” The said boy was casually walking towards me, unaware of the stress he put me through. I awkwardly waved at him, relieved that I had stopped myself in time.

I can’t taint Baekhyun’s innocent mind with my language.

“Hey Chanyeol, were you looking for me?” Baekhyun obviously asked.

“Yeah I was.Where were you?”

Baekhyun’s head was down, “I’m sorry.”

I signed, not liking the image of a sad Baekhyun. “It’s okay. But next time, tell me where you’re going okay?” The smaller nodded, but kept his gaze away from mine. “Baekhyun, look at me,” I said with a soothing and calm tone.

The said boy hesitantly looked up and our eyes locked immediately. As much as I wanted to squeeze Baekhyun into a tight hug, I maintained myself for the sake of the situation. “I’m not mad.”

Baekhyun didn’t reply; our eyes still staring straight at the other’s. I stared at him, unable to read the other’s thoughts. Impulsively, I leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on the corner of his tempting lips.

“I’m really not mad, so smile. You’re beautiful when you do,” I whispered in his ears. Baekhyun’s face flushed and he broke the gaze to look somewhere else. I was worried that kissing the smaller was a bad idea, but then Baekhyun turned back to face me and let out the brightest smile I’ve ever seen.

He really is beautiful.

I smiled just as big and was about to kiss him again when we were interrupted by the cashier from earlier. “Um… that would be $6.35 sir,” she said awkwardly.

I got out my wallet to hand her the money, but Baekhyun suddenly slapped my hand away. “Sorry, but can I get this?” He showed me a Rilakkuma plushie dressed as a bumble bee.

I took the plushie from Baekhyun's grasp and examined it. “You want this?” I asked, amused at Baekhyun’s choice in plushies. Baekhyun nodded ecstatically, making me chuckle at his cuteness.

“All right then. Please add this on to the purchase,” I said, handing the doll to the cashier, who was surprisingly quiet compared to before. We left the store after paying for Baekhyun’s and Hunhan’s plushies. Baekhyun hugged the Rilakkuma plushie tightly against his chest.

How can he be so cute?

I was too focused on Baekhyun that I didn’t realize the stare the cashier was giving us. “What the hell just happened?” she asked herself.