“Are you okay?”

Baekhyun looked up, teary-eyed, at the boy standing in front of him with a cupcake in hand. He lifted one of his arms and pointed over at the group of boys standing by the swings. “They…hic…won’t play with me…”

“Why?”

“They said…hic…my parents didn’t…hic….want me so they don’t want me either. That’s why I’m living with…hic… grandma.”

“I’ll play with you!”

Baekhyun looked up at the boy in front of him in astonishment. “Really?”

“Mmm-hmmm,” the raven-haired boy replied, grinning widely. “I’m Jongdae! Kim Jongdae.”

“I-I’m… Byun Baekhyun…”

“Byun? Your grandmother makes the best cheese bread in town!” Jongdae exclaimed, his face brightening even more. He cranked his neck to look at the group of boys staring over at them. “It’s their own loss for not wanting to be friends with you…”

Baekhyun brought his sleeve up to his face and wiped the tears from his cheeks. “Why are you being so nice to me?” the six-year-old boy asked skeptically.

“I like you!” Jongdae replied, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. He reached out his hand, grabbed onto Baekhyun’s, and pulled the brunet up. “Want to share my cupcake?” he offered, shoving the pastry in front of Baekhyun’s face.

Baekhyun sniffed, then smiled. “Okay!”

Jongdae split the cupcake in two, gave half to his new friend, and then swung one arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’re my friend now! I’ll take care of you!”

“Byun Baekhyun! I’m going to leave if you don’t hurry up!” Jongdae yelled from the front yard, tapping his foot impatiently.

“I’m coming!” Baekhyun’s voice carried out the window of the second floor of the house. Jongdae huffed, and moments later, Baekhyun opened the front door with his backpack hanging on one shoulder, and greeted him with a bright smile. “Geez, you’re so impatient.”

Jongdae scoffed, and playfully shoved his neighbor as the two boys continued down the path towards school. “I’m the one working the part-time job at night,” Jongdae says. “How come you’re the one that’s always late in the morning?”

“I need to get my beauty sleep,” Baekhyun replied, smirking at his friend. “Here,” the brunet said, shoving a paper bag in his friend’s face. “I snuck some of grandma’s bread out for you.”

“Really?!” Jongdae exclaimed, snatching the bag eagerly. He opened the brown paper bag and peeked inside, sticking his nose in to take a whiff of the delicious aroma that was Grandma Byun’s cheese bread, and groaned. “You’re forgiven.”

Baekhyun scoffed as he watched Jongdae pull out the still-warm pastry from the bag. “Baekkie,” Jongdae said around a mouth full of bread. “When am I going to be able to try your cheese bread?”

“I don’t think you’d want to try it…” Baekhyun mumbled, kicking the ground. “I don’t know how she does it!” the brunet whined, throwing his hands in the air dramatically. Jongdae chuckled as he continued to shovel warm bread into his mouth.

“You’ll get the hang of it eventually, Baekkie,” Jongdae encouraged, swinging an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder. “I’ll be your taste tester!”

Baekhyun grinned, glancing over at his friend. “Why are you so nice to me?”

“Because I like you.”

Baekhyun groaned as the foot connected to his abdomen. “ing !” Joon yelled, grabbing the brunet’s collar and pulling him up to his feet. Baekhyun scrunched his eyes shut, anticipating the pain from the punch…which never came. He opened his eyes tentatively, and sagged in relief when he saw Jongdae standing next to the bully, grabbing hold of his wrist.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jongdae seethed dangerously, his eyes darkening as he took in Baekhyun’s split lip and bruised cheek.

“YAH! It’s none of your ing business!” Joon replied, pushing Jongdae off, and gearing up for the swing once again. Baekhyun winced as the force of Jongdae’s punch caused the bully to fall back, bringing Baekhyun along with him by the collar.

“DON’T.” Punch. “YOU DARE.” Punch. “TOUCH HIM AGAIN!” Jongdae threw one last punch before Baekhyun dragged himself over to his livid friend and took Jongdae’s hand in both of his. Jongdae turned and looked up, taking in Baekhyun’s pained expression, and the shake of his head.

“Let it go, Jongdae…” Baekhyun whispered, gently tugging on the other boy. Jongdae reluctantly got off the beaten bully, sending the boy on the ground a death glare.

“Touch him again, and I’ll kill you,” the raven-haired boy seethed, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun protectively. “Are you okay?” he asked, turning to his friend, his voice much more gentle. “Let’s go. I'll bring you to the nurse.”

Baekhyun shook his head. “No, I’m fine,” he smiled, trying to reassure the other boy. “Let’s just go home.”

Jongdae’s lips became a thin line as he studied the brunet in front of him. He glanced over at Joon, still whimpering on the ground, and for a second, Baekhyun thought he would run over and start beating the bully again. Instead, he turned and knelt, giving his back to Baekhyun. “Get on, I’ll carry you home.”

Baekhyun winced as he climbed onto his friend’s back, wrapping his arms around Jongdae’s neck as the other boy grabbed both his and Baekhyun’s backpack. “Thank you, Jongdae…” Baekhyun whispered, leaning his head on Jongdae’s shoulder. “Thanks for being there.”

“I’m your friend, Baek. I’ll always be there.”

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