Chanyeol was eight years old when he started to help his grandpa sell ice cream in his ice cream truck. 
He doesn't like school, but his parents don't care. School is first, and games are after.

Chanyeol isn't a bad boy- in fact, he's a very kind and mannered boy, but he isn't the smartest boy in his class. Math is worse than Chinese for him, so when ten year old Chanyeol comes back from school, he's already done with homework. Of course, he could also be lying about doing them in class. 

Grandpa Park has been driving in his ice cream truck before Chanyeol was even born. It was only this year that Chanyeol began to have an interest in it.

Chanyeol opened the door, panting which startled his mother and made her jump back. "My goodness Chanyeol- you scared me!"

"S..orry" he breathed before running up the stairs to his room. He threw his backpack somewhere within the room, then changed into more comfortable clothes. His grandpa doesn't like it when he's playing with his school uniform still on. He said that the uniform should come off once the school day ends, so Chanyeol tries his best to change his outfit before he runs to his grandparent's house.

He wore a black t-shirt and ran back towards the front door-
"Wait!" his mother stopped him, motioning him to come closer "Have you finished your homework?"
He nodded "Mm. I did it in class."
"How was your day at school? Did you eat lunch? Did the teach-"
"It was fun and yes, I did eat. No, she didn't do anything to me. Now, bye mom~" he gave her a little hug, knowing she wouldn't let him go without a kiss or hug.

 

 

 

"Chanyeol, the park is full of kids today so I'll be busy. Please don't walk too far from the truck if you're planning to walk around." his grandpa looked at him, waiting for him to promise that he wouldn't walk around too far so, he promised. 
The park really was full with kids and their parents today. Chanyeol decided to help his grandpa inside the truck.

As he was handing vanilla ice cream to a mother with her baby, something interesting caught his eye.
"I'll be right back okay?" he told his grandfather who then briefly looked up and nodded. He hopped out of the truck and stood right beside the door, looking off in a direction. 

At the side of the park where no one usually goes to, there was a little boy sitting on the ground.
Chanyeol scanned the park, searching for a woman or man who looks like they may searching for their child, but he doesn't find any. Most of the people were buying ice cream and the others were just playing with their children.
He walked towards the kid and as he got closer, he heard the boy crying silently. His face was facing the floor and his little legs were stretched out.

"Hey," Chanyeol said, making the boy look up at him. "Are you lost?"

The boy turned his head to the ground again, still crying.
Bending down in front of the kid, Chanyeol tried to talk to him again. "What's your name?" 

Seeing how little the boy is, Chanyeol guessed that he was probably around five years old.

"Baekhyun." said the boy in a shaky voice. He looked at Chanyeol again, waiting for him to do or say something.

"My name is Chanyeol... wanna tell me why you're crying?"

"I ran away." he said. Chanyeol would laugh if it wasn't so serious because the boy was the cutest thing he's ever seen.
He has brown hair, cute puffy eyes, a runny nose, and he's so small! 
"You ran away? From your mommy?"

He shook his head "From the house of children." 

Chanyeol didn't understand what Baekhyun meant by "house of children" so he decided to stand up, lifting Baekhyun from the ground and into his arms.
"Do you want some ice cream?"

Baekhyun nodded shyly and sniffed.
Chanyeol smiled and ruffled his hair. He wished he could have a little brother like Baekhyun.

 

 

Grandpa was surprised to see Chanyeol with a five year old child in his arms, but Chanyeol explained what happened. His grandfather told him that Baekhyun probably means the orphanage when he says 'house of children'. Chanyeol suddenly felt sad and sat next to Baekhyun who his favorite ice cream happily.

 

He cleaned the smaller boy's face with a tissue and patted his head. "You're a good boy."

"Thank you." Baekhyun bowed and Chanyeol was surprised to find out that he could be cuter than he already is.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol will never forget how Baekhyun cried when they entered the orphanage that evening. He ran out of there and cried inside the truck. He can't see these teary eyes look at him like that.

Mr. Park came ten minutes later with a sad face and hugged Chanyeol, telling him they'll be able to see Baekhyun every day at the park.

 

That's what really happened for a year until Baekhyun got adopted. They never saw him again.

 

~

Chanyeol was fifteen when he stopped driving with his grandfather in the truck.
He helped him at home with Kyungsoo, his best friend who moved into Chanyeol's neighborhood at the beginning of the year. They both found themselves sitting together in class.
Although Kyungsoo was a quiet kid, which is the opposite of Chanyeol, he still wanted to sit with the boy.
Chanyeol loves sports, but he doesn't love all the kids on his team. So when Kyungsoo came and Chanyeol saw him sitting alone at the end of the class, he immediately asked him if he was a new student and if he wanted to sit next to him because the seat he was sitting at was already taken.

 

They went through high school and college together. Kyungsoo's father insisted that they'll both work in his big company.
Kyungsoo will heir the company one day and Chanyeol will stand next to him.

Chanyeol is a good business man. He knows how to make things go his way.
When he works with Kyungsoo, they're unbreakable. Mr. Do is proud of them- that's an achievement because Mr. Do is the coldest man on the planet. "No wonder you're Mr. Do's son!" Chanyeol tells him that very often.

 

"So, how was your last meeting? Did you get something?" Chanyeol asked as he and Kyungsoo left the building, deciding to walk home.

"Another stupid date..." Chanyeol laughed. That made Kyungsoo kick his shin, muttering that it isn't funny.

"You love all these dates with him don't you?"

"I'm not even going to comment on that." the cold man said and Chanyeol pushed him aside slightly.

Kyungsoo's father wants to buy the hotel from the Kim's and somehow, Kyungsoo found himself sitting in front of Kim Jongin, a good looking man who doesn't want be there either. Their fathers thought it'd be a good idea.

Well, it's not.

 

They talked about the hotel and how it'll be a good move for their company until they reached Kyungsoo's apartment. Chanyeol continued walking alone to his own house.

Chanyeol walked through the park, seeing a few people walking with their dogs. Late night walk.
It's cold and there wasn't much light but, Chanyeol was too busy thinking to notice someone sitting on a bench. 

"Do you have a lighter?"

Chanyeol turned around and saw a boy, guessing he's a teenager by his small figure.
"You're underage." said Chanyeol, trying to get a better look at the boy. It was very dark so he couldn't see much. "Aren't you?"

"Do you have a lighter?" He asked again as if he didn't hear what Chanyeol had just said.

"I said you're underage."

"I heard you. I'm not deaf."
Chanyeol sighed and was about to turn him his back to go home. Teenagers can be so stupid and he doesn't want to hear that but then, he notice that the boy was wearing a t-shirt.

"It's cold here."

"Yeah, I bet it is." he said, playing with his unweighted cigarette.

Chanyeol stood there wondering what should he do or say. 
"What are you doing outside in the cold wearing short sleeves?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he hummed a song, crossing his legs on the bench, not paying attention to Chanyeol at all. Chanyeol wondered if this is a new teenager's thing, to act this way when people are talking to them.

"You lost your tongue or what?"

"I just want a lighter."

"I'll give you a lighter if you answer my question."

"I didn't lose my tongue." he looked up for the first time but Chanyeol still couldn't see his face.

"Why aren't you wearing a coat?"

"Don't have one here."

"Why don't you go home?" 

"Do I have to answer these questions? You're a stranger." Baekhyun wanted to give up on his cigarette, all of Chanyeol's questions were making him tired.

"Answer it. I'm not a bad person, trust me." Chanyeol knows he sounds weird because he has a deep voice but, he hopes the boy will think differently and share with him.

"I don't want to go home right now. Can you give me a lighter now?"

"Do you plan to spend the night here?"
Baekhyun huffed, clearly annoyed, and turned his back to Chanyeol, basically telling him to go away.

"How old are you?"

"I'm not answering your questions anymore, I don't need your lighter." he sounded like he's playing with something.

"Can you please answer this one question? You're going to die here in the cold."

"I'll answer you, I don't think I'm planning to go back home today."

He's going to spend the night here? Alone? With just a t-shirt on? Chanyeol doesn't know if he's being weird, but he can't just walk away knowing there's a kid sitting, freezing at the park.

"I don't know what to say." Chanyeol said sincerely.

"Go home."
Chanyeol stood in silence and the kid sat there, disappearing into the bench.

"I can offer you a room for the night."

"I won't take it." the kid yawned and looked over his shoulder "You can go home, I'm not going to die."

Chanyeol nodded and started walking to his house, fighting with himself all the way.
He feels something weird in his body, like it happened before.

 

Throwing his tie on his bed, he opened his closet and grabbed his warmest black coat and hot packs.

 

 

He saw a man walking through the park and it's just made him go faster to where the boy sat hoping he didn't ask for a lighter from weird people who might hurt him.

Luckily, he's still sitting on the bench, his head swinging, he's falling asleep.

"Hey, kid." Chanyeol spoke and the boy opened his eyes immediately. Before he said something, Chanyeol pushed the coat and the hot packs into his arms.

"Thanks?" he mumbled.
Chanyeol turned around and walked away.

 

He took a long shower and went to bed.

1:00am 2:00am....3:00am.
Chanyeol thought about the things that could happen to the boy in the park right now and felt guilt creeping inside of him.
No one should stay alone at night outside.. this isn't okay. It's not going to end well.

Chanyeol looked out of his window but the trees blocked his view on the park.

He took out the garbage and went to the park to check if something is wrong.

 

The boy was now sleeping with Chanyeol's coat layer out over all of him as he sat, cuddling in himself with his head resting on his knees.

He spent an hour looking around the park until he heard the birds. It wasn't so dark anymore so he decided it's okay to walk back home and try to have some sleep today.

Chanyeol woke up to his phone ringing and he took it from the night stand, reading the words from the screen. Kyungsoo.
He answered the call.
"You're late." 
"...I didn't sleep all night."
"Why?"
"It's a long story, I'll talk to you later."
Kyungsoo hung up. Chanyeol stumbled off his bed to get himself ready for work.

Today, he'll drive to work, not wanting to meet another lonely boy/girl on his way back.

They talked in the morning when Chanyeol came. He told him about what happened last night and Kyungsoo understood, not really angry about Chanyeol being late anymore.

Kyungsoo texted someone back and Chanyeol got curious. "Who's that?"

"Kim Jongin. He just messaged me that today, we have another date -which I already knew, because my father updated me about my dates- he said that we'll meet in a club. Seriously? He wants to give me a headache!"

"He wants to party. Your fathers want you guys to have another date. He connected the two and there, you're standing in a stuffy club, Kim Jongin will dance, you'll drink your boredom away and that's it!"

Kyungsoo sighed and closed his eyes. Chanyeol was happy his parents aren't making him go out with someone he doesn't want to- although it's not like that exactly.
Kyungsoo is doing it because he wants the hotel and he's going to get it in any way- it's not like he's using their son. He doesn't want to be there either. He's not even working in his dad's company!

"Well, good luck on your date. I need to get to the other side of the city for a meeting. Talk to you later~" Chanyeol waved and entered the elevator.

It was a long meeting but, Chanyeol got what he wanted in the end. Another cold night, Chanyeol thought as he lowered the closest window to him in his car, making it so that his hair became messy. He wondered how many kids were sitting in a dark park right now, with a cigarette, refusing to go home.

Maybe the kid fought with his parents and decided to run away for just a day. Even though he couldn't see the boy clearly, he could tell that he didn't live on the streets.

Chanyeol the radio, clearing his mind from those thoughts.

 

 

~
It's been two weeks since he last saw that boy in the park.

Chanyeol wore jeans with a plain, grey long sleeve shirt. He told Kyungsoo that he would come over to watch a movie another night.

He was about to close the door when he noticed his cigarette packet, the one that he hasn't smoked since second year of college and even then, he only smoked when he felt like he was going to explode.

He pushed the packet in the back pocket of his jeans.

Kids were playing in the park when the ice cream truck came with a song playing. Chanyeol smiled to himself as everyone ran to buy ice cream, remembering his grandparents and how much he loved to see the kids enjoying the ice cream.

" you!!" He heard someone screaming from the side of the park.
A boy sitting on the ground looking at the floor. Chanyeol felt again this strange feeling it happened before.

He changed direction and went towards the boy hearing him cursing quietly.
This is him. this is the lonely boy who fought with his parents and decided to spend the night in this cold dark park.

"What happened?" Chanyeol stood behind him and the boy looked over his shoulder.

"Who are you?!" The boy asked standing up and wincing in pain from his side.

"You asked for a lighter two weeks ago."
The kid sighed and turned away but Chanyeol caught him by the arm and pulled him closer -not too much just to take a look on his beaten up face-

"What the are you looking at?" He pushed Chanyeol's hand away from his face. Chanyeol chuckled to himself.

"Why did he beat you up?" 

"It's none of your business."

"You want a lighter?"

" you." the boy cursed at Chanyeol's teasing comment.

Chanyeol crossed his arms in disapproval. "You're cursing a lot. Talk with respect to people who are older than you."

"You started talking to me first so it's your problem. I'll talk however I want to. Now, let go of me before I call the police." 

Chanyeol took out his phone and texted Kyungsoo that he wouldn't come today.

"I thought I asked you why the other punk beat you up."

"I don't have to answer your stupid questions."

"Come." Chanyeol dragged the boy behind him while the boy cursed at him, telling him that he'll call the police but, of course, Chanyeol isn't scared of him. He's not even sure why he wanted to help the kid so much.

"Are you ing kidnapping me?!"

"Call it how you want to. I'm just giving you a plaster." They entered an elevator and Chanyeol pushed on the number twelve.

He's probably rich, thought the boy while looking at the fancy building.

 

"Feel comfortable." Chanyeol said and entered his bathroom, searching for the first aid kit.
"I don't want to." 

"You're stubborn."

"You're a kidnapper."

"Sit."

"I don't want to."

Chanyeol looked at him and they stared at each other, waiting for someone to give up.

"What's your problem?" Chanyeol asked.
The boy shrugged, giving him a diva look. Chanyeol felt like he was going to explode!

"Don't you know what will happen if you don't bandage your cuts?" Chanyeol didn't wait for an answer knowing the boy wouldn't bother to answer. "It'll get infected then, your face will be ugly as hell."

"So you're saying I have pretty face? Thank you ert." he gave him a fake smile, throwing his invisible long hair behind his shoulders.

"Do I look like a kidnapper?"

"Are you saying there's a specific look to kidnappers?"

"If you're going to have sarcastic answers every time I ask you something, I'm really going to be kidnapper and tie you to that chair," Chanyeol pointed at one of the chairs at the dining table "and sellotape your mouth shut so you stop talking."

The boy chuckled. "You're very funny."

Chanyeol looked at him with a serious expression, and he looked back, not a tad bit intimidated.
"Your shoes," Chanyeol pointeed at his shoes, "fix your shoe laces."

The boys bend down to tie his shoes. Chanyeol took that chance to catch the boy and pull him to the couch, making him sit.
He yelled something Chanyeol couldn't understand because it came out muffled. 

"WHAT THE ?!" Chanyeol removed his hand from the teen's mouth. "YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL FOR UAL HARASSMENT!!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT I DIDN'T EVEN TOUCH YOU!!" Chanyeol yelled back.

"YOU TOUCHED MY MOUTH FOR MORE THAN TEN SECONDS AND YOU'RE CURRENTLY TOUCHING MY SHOULDERS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!!" 

Chanyeol shook his head, calming himself. 
He released one hand from the boy and opened the first aid kit.

Chanyeol spilled a little bit of iodine onto a pad and looked at him again "It's gonna burn a little."
" you-"
Chanyeol didn't think twice before he pushed it into the boys face, hearing him crying out in pain.

He felt bad looking at how it hurts the boy.

"How old are you?" He asked. The teen opened one eye observing Chanyeol before closing it again "Fifteen?"

He chuckled, "Do i really look fifteen to you?" the boy asked and the elder nodded to himself. People might think he's even younger then fifteen.

"I'm turning eighteen in a few months." 

"WHAT?! You look like a baby- I'm not gonna touch your lips again so you do it."

He opened his eyes chuckling and took the cotton wool from the elder and right as it touched his bottom lip he started bleeding again.
"You're bleeding." 

The blood got the boy's shirt dirty so he muffled something as Chanyeol put the cotton wool to the his lip.

"I think you need to take a shower before we put the ointment on your cuts."

"I'm not taking a shower in a ert's house, sorry." 
Chanyeol didn't bother to say anything back and he entered his room, grabbing a new towel, and clean clothes that he thinks will fit to the boy.

He doesn't even know my name, maybe he's a real ert. The soon to be eighteen year old watched the elder as he came back from what he assumed was his bedroom.

He said he'll wash his dirty shirt as he pushed him inside the bathroom, closing, and locking the door behind him.

At first, the boy banged on the door, yelling to Chanyeol that he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison but, after ten minutes or more, there was silence. Chanyeol sighed, hanging the boy's shirt.

He sat on the couch and decided to watch TV until the boy finished showering.

"I fell when I walked..." the boy stood in front of the TV, wearing just his t-shirt, which was way too big on him and covered his with Chanyeol's sweatpants in his arm. "Bring me back my jeans."

"They're in the washing machine."

The boy sighed, "You're such a ert"

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, "If I wanted to touch you, believe me I'd do that two weeks ago but, I'm not so-"

"Are you saying I'm not attractive?" 
"I didn't sa-"
"You did."
"I didn't."
"Yes yo-"
"Shut the up, I didn't say you're not attractive." Chanyeol snapped and the teen blank at him.

"Did you just curse me?"

Chanyeol sighed and buried his face in a pillow then looked up few seconds later.

"You're planning to spend the night in the park again? You fooled me when you said you ran away from home don't you?"

The boy faced the floor and sighed, "No, I do have a home with a room and everything but, I don't like it." Chanyeol looked confused and the teen thought he needed to explain more. "I didn't like it in the house of children either bu-"

Chanyeol looked at him with wide eyes feeling like something sharp just stabbed him and he felt like it totally happened before "Wait, what did you just say?" 

"I didn't like it in the house of children either bu-"

"Shut up." Chanyeol said, holding his head like it hurt. The boy stared at him weirdly, wondering what was wrong with the man.

Chanyeol felt like he was ten again, and he's bending in front of little five year old Baekhyun. He remembered looking at the three year old cutie face with the tears and snot. He remembered how bad he felt when he ran out of the "house of children" because he couldn't hear little Baekhyun crying the way he cried, it was heartbreaking.

Chanyeol looked up at him "What's your name?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you my name. You're a stranger and a ert." he gave him his fake smile and Chanyeol stared at his face. It's him. The same little body, and the same brown hair.
"I can't believe this is happening." he laughed and rubbed his forehead, "Want me to me to guess your name?"

The boy was totally confused now.

"Could your name possibly be..... Byun Baekhyun?"