"Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh?"  Still kneeling on the pavement, still struggling to process what had just happened and the pain throbbing in your knees, you turned around to see a boy about your age standing there with a genuinely concerned expression washed over his pale, but healthy face.  

"I asked if you were okay.", he answered, without the concerned expression dissapating. "...but...now that I'm closer...it doesn't look like it...", he stated softly as he tilted his head, looking at the scrapes on your knees and the blood spilled on the concrete.

"Oh...um, well, thanks for your concern, but...uh...i don't need to go to the hospital or anything, so I um...uh...you don't have to use up your time being too worried because I'm sure you have things to do.  Not that you were going to do that or like be...too worried because... You were just asking if I was okay which everyone does...but I mean, I just mean that...like...  Um you can go now, I'm not really hurt much.  Not to be rude...or anything!  I just-"

"Um, sorry to interrupt but you are bleeding out a lot, and if you bleed out too much you could actually have to go to the hospital, which it seems you don't want to do.  I don't actually have anything important to do so...can I at least put on some bandages for you?  I don't have any with me, but my house is not too far from here, and I some there.  Those cuts you got are pretty bad..."

"...Are you- Are you sure?..."

"Yes!", he laughed.

"hmm I guess...if it's not too much trouble."

Alright!  Then let's go!  For the meantime, you're gonna to have to have a temporary bandage to slow the bleeding a bit."

He paused and then proceeded to remove the white bandana he had been wearing and used it to soak up the blood on both knees and wrap it around the leg with the worse bleeding.  He thought for a minute on what to put on the other leg.  You watched in disbelief as he took off his shoe and used his sock.  

"Are you sure you can just ruin your own things for this.", you blurted.

"Of course!  What else would I do!"

"You're crazy."

"Thank you~", he sang while making a derp face that made you laugh, even while you were in so much pain.

He helped you up so you could start your short quest down the block.  You stumbled a bit but you balanced yourself before the possibility of crashing into him, which could be a bit awkward.  He smiled and the two of you began walking.  You couldn't completely believe that this guy was actually helping you.  You hadn't exactly met your share of friendly, generous people in your lifetime.  You didn't totally trust him, but yet here you were, following him to his own residence.  You didn't even know his name, or anything about him for that matter.  Come to think of it, it was strange that you hadn't seen him before considering how small the town is.  You were lost in your thoughts when suddenly he yelled out "Oh! By the way, my name is Baekhyun!"  Well, at least now you knew his name, you thought.  Wait...Baekhyun?...that sounded so familiar...have I met him before?, you wondered.

"Oh, nice name!  I'm (y/n)!  Nice meeting you?  It's funny, that we are only now introducing ourselves."

"Yeah, haha...but then again it was kind of an urgent situation..."

"Yeah, I suppose..." Your words trailed off.

You had walked down nearly all the streets in this little town, whether it be picking up groceries, going to school when you missed the bus, or simply just taking a walk to escape from your chaotic household.  You've lived here your whole life.  Sometimes you can't decide if the scenery is boring or nostalgic.  You looked over at the lake that was overcrowded with geese on the left side.  It was called a lake, but really it was just a pond.  It wasn't one you could ever swim in, though.  It was always green, full of bacteria, and full of geese that you swore were on a mission to kill.  When you were done watching the geese swim around and peck at each other, you looked over at this 'Baekhyun' boy that you had just met and was for some reason helping you.  He was looking around, seeming star struck by the scenery you seen every single day and were used to and bored of.  He had great skin and eyes like a puppy.  He had great features and you'd be lying if you said he wasn't attractive, but that was besides the point.  You definitely didn't recognize him, but why was his name so familiar?  Had you met someone else by that name?  

"Hmm weird.", you mumbled, not realizing you had said it aloud.

"What's weird?, Baekhyun perkily said.

"Wait, did I say that out loud?!  Heh, sorry, it was nothing..."

"Haha, yes. But are you sure?"

"Ah, I don't know, I just thought it was strange that I've never seen you before in such a small town."

"Oh! That's probably because I just moved here!  My eomma got a new job around here, so we got a house in the area.  We're almost done packing, we just have to finish the living room and the spare room.  Today, I was kind of avoiding doing that and was going for a walk, haha.  When we finish the packing and all the crap my eomma and I have to do, I will start going to the high school around here, which should be interesting."

That's why his name is familiar, you thought.  He's the new guy those girls were talking about at the bus stop this morning!  Who apparently has a cute ...which is a strange thing to say...those girls are always so weird and annoying.  But that explains why you haven't seen him around here.  He must live in that house that's pretty close to mine that was for sale not too long ago...nice house.  Better than mine anyways, but that doesn't say much.  "That's cool!  Hey, I go to that high school you're talking about!  Maybe we'll be classmates!"

"That would be cool!  Oh hey, we're here!  Come quickly, your temporary bandages are soaked through."

You looked down at your knees.  The 'bandages' were indeed soaked through!  If it wasn't for the stinging sensation from the cuts being open, you would've forgotten all about your little injuries.  Ah, why is Haeng Ri gotta be so mean.  And why me?  What did I ever do to her!  Well, if this painful situation had never happened, I wouldn't have met Baekhyun.  It must be a good thing, right?  Maybe everything does happen for a reason...or maybe this isn't a good thing and he's secretly a murderer that plans to kill me as soon as I enter his house.  Because who knows!  I'm literally walking right into his house and I haven't even known him for an hour.  I must be crazy.   Well, he seems like a nice person.  You looked up at the house.  It was the color of coffee after you add creamer and the windows were spotless.  The driveway wasn't rough blacktop like yours was, it was smooth and similar to the sidewalk.  There were lilacs next to the small set of steps that led to the porch that wasn't falling apart like yours was, but then again it had only been built months ago, and everything was new.  Baekhyun looked back at you as he held open the door and motioned you to enter.  You followed and stepped into the kitchen of the newly built house.  There were groceries on the counter, a fancy fridge with a water and ice dispenser on the freezer.  There was ash gray tile flooring and a mini chandelier on the smooth, white ceiling.  "Nice house.", you said as you glanced around at the unnecessary details of the house that made it look so expensive, even though it probably wasn't, but definitely a bit more money than yours.  

"Yeah, it's nicer than our old one, I'd say.  Okay!  Let's go get those bandages!  Come on, the bathroom is down the hall, there's a first-aid kit in there."  He led you down the hall and into the blue-tiled bathroom.  The room wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small either.  Again: bigger and better than yours.  Not that you minded.  It had one of those showers that was a bath as well.  It had a glass sliding door with a towel rack on it, instead of a shower curtain like you had.  The walls were covered in tiny blue translucent tiles that were close enough together that it looked like there wasn't any calk in between.  There wasn't a single scratch on each individual tile.  There was a cabinet on the wall that probably held the basic bathroom supplies that everyone has in there bathroom cabinet.  You were shocked when Baekhyun suddenly lifted you up and set you on the marble counter where the sink was.  "Hey!  Wh- What are you doing?!", you burst out.

"I was going to put some bandages on your cuts, remember?  That was the whole reason we're here.  You seem to be very interested in my bathroom.", he said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah...and, hey, I'm just being observant, okay!  It's just my nature."

"It's just a joke, (y/n)!  And that makes sense since whenever I try to talk to you you're gazing off into the distance and seem very focused on whatever it is you're looking at!"

"I'm sorry!  And I'm not always doing that."

"Whatever!", he said, obviously not agreeing as he rummaged through the cabinets above the mirror in search of the first-aid kit.  "By the way my mom and hyung are out picking up a few things from the old house, so that's why they aren't here right now."

"You have a brother?", you asked.

"Yeah, but he graduated, so he won't be going to school with us.  Since we moved into a house closer to his college, he will be living with us, instead of a dorm this year.  I swear, he just moved out and I didn't have to deal with him anymore, and in a new house too, but now I got to deal with living with him, again.  How nice.  I'm glad I don't have to go to schw It's him anymore, though, since I was basically known as a less manly version of him.  We look very similar otherwise."

"Well that seems like quite a situation you got there", you giggled.

"Yeah, yeah...Here's the first-aid kit!"  Baekhyun quickly zipped open the red case to reveal a bunch of medical stuff, band aids, bandages, ointment, a thermometer, medicine, and other stuff you didn't know the name of.  He examined each of the tubes of ointment and chose the correct one.  He set it on the counter next to you and carefully began to remove the bandana from one of your legs to reveal the deep cuts that still had drips of blood dripping out.

"Wow, you got hurt pretty bad.  Those girls...Did they- did they trip you?  Like...on purpose?"

"Oh...um...well- well uh...", you stuttered, holding back tears as you recalled the laughing faces of those awful girls, but most of all Haeng Ri.

"Don't want to talk about it right now?", he asked with that look of concern from when you first seen him back on his face.

"No.", you answered after having successfully prevented the tears from falling from your eyes.

Baekhyun sighed and grappled some wipes to sterilize the torn skin on your knees. "Now, this might sting a little.", he warned you, looking straight into your eyes.  He proceeded to carefully clean the cuts with the wipes he got from the kit.

"Ow!", you yelped.  "A little? More like a lot!", you said louder than you meant to.

"miane", he apologized quickly and continued on the other knee.

You clenched your fists as he finished up.  Baekhyun threw away the wipes and grabbed the ointment he set on the table earlier.  He took off the cap and put some of the gel on your cuts.  You expected it to sting more, but it hurt way less than the sterilization process.  When he finished putting the ointment on both of your knees, he grabbed the bandage roll and began to unwrap it.  

"How do you know how to do this so well?", you asked curiously.

"I was pretty rambunctious as a child.  I'd run around and trip and fall all the time, so my mom had to do this a lot.  After seeing her do it so many times, I eventually figured out how to do it myself.", he explained as he wrapped the bandage around your knee, still completely focused.

"Oh.  Well, that's good you kmow how, I guess."

"Well, it's coming in handy, now, isn't it!?", he happily exclaimed as he finished up the last bandage.

"Yeah!", you smiled, jumping down from the counter.  "Thank you so much!"

"Hey, no problem! it was the least I could do!"

You looked down at your gudetama watch and seen how late it was.  "Oh my god, I should probably go home, now!  I should have been home over an hour ago!  I hope my brother told my mom I missed the bus.  It's already bad enough!", you said.

"Oh, can I walk you home, then?", he offered as he followed you back to the front door where you came in.

"That's really nice of you, but you've already done so much and I only live down the road, so I can manage.  Thank you, though!  And since you live so close I'll probably see you around! And at school too when you start!"

"Okay, if you insist.  And yeah, see you around, (y/n)!  Be careful! And here's some more bandages for when you need to change them!  Stay safe and have a good evening! Bye~", he yelled as you walked down the driveway onto the sidewalk.

"Bye, Baekhyun!", you shouted back with a smile.  You hadn't genuinely smiled in years.  You couldn't believe that someone could be so nice.  Was this normal?, you wondered as you made your way down the sidewalk.  The sky was an array of oranges, pinks, and purple.  It was beautiful.  

As you approached your door with your spare key in hand you looked down at your watch and seen how late you were.  You unlocked the door you noticed through the window beside it that the living room light was on.  Your mind was filled with worry.  "Oh no...what does eomma have to yell at me now?"

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Hello readers!  I hope you enjoyed this chapter~.  It is a little bit longer than the first, but I'll try to be more consistent from now on!  Also I'd love to here your feedback, so please comment!  Sorry if I made any mistakes, if I notice any ill be sure to correct them.  I'll try to update as soon as I can, but I can be a bit busy at times, especially since school is coming up, so please try to understand if I fall behind a little.  But like I said, I'll try my best to update!  Kamsamnida~  =^ㅅ^=

                                                                                                                                                -Alexis author-nim