part 4/5: the trick-or-treating

“Why’d you stop?”

“Who said anything about tr…nevermind,” Sehun says and resumes walking, sticking his hands in his coat pockets to save them from the biting cold.

“What, you don’t wanna do it?,” Jongin asks with a pout but quickly lightens up when he spots a lady walking her poodle ahead and Sehun has to tighten his hold around the crook of Jongin’s arm to restrain him. He doesn’t want a repeat of last time he forgot to hold Jongin back and Jongin not only scarred the poor dog owner for life but also ended up squeezing the dog way too hard (his excuse: it’s not my fault it was so fluffy!). He’s learned from that experience to always keep Jongin close to him whenever there’s a dog within a five foot radius.

“Tell me,” Sehun says as the lady and her dog walk past them, Jongin following the fluffy four-legged creature with his eyes until it’s out of view. “Hey,” Sehun says, rustling him a little bit to get him to tear his eyes away. “Tell me, where are you planning on trick-or-treating again?”

“What do you mean ’again’?,” Jongin says, still smiling from the dog encounter. “I didn’t even tell you once.”

“You know what I mean, silly,” Sehun retorts with a roll of his eyes. “Also, get rid of that smile before you end up splitting your damn face in half.”

“I was planning on going to a few neighbor’s houses as well as every house on Snake Road,” Jongin says and smiles even wider. “Think of all the candy we’ll get!”

At least he’s not thinking about the damn dog, Sehun thinks before his eyebrows furrow. “Every house? That’ll take all night!”

“Like I said, think of all the candy we’ll get!,” Jongin squeals and Sehun has to place a hand on his shoulder before he can jump up and down in excitement.

“You know,” Sehun says after a minute. “This wouldn’t be nor look as weird if you were a foot shorter and eight or so years old and in elementary school. Not to rain on your parade or anything.” He inwardly sighs when Jongin looks up at him with a confused expression. “What I meant was,” Sehun says, “I don’t know just how willing our neighbors are to give out candy to a 20 year old, six foot guy in high school. Just…keep that in mind, alright?”

Jongin shrugs, surprisingly unfazed by Sehun’s comment. “Meh,” he says. “I still look pretty young, I think they’ll mistake me for a 17 year old.”

“How many of your 17-year old friends trick or treat?,” Sehun asks under his breath so Jongin won’t hear. He does, though, much to Sehun’s annoyance, earning the latter a slap on the arm.

“Man, you’re boring,” Jongin says. “I should’ve stayed behind with that crazy chainsaw dude back in the haunted house. At least he made me happy.”

Sehun tenses. “What? Who?”

“You know,” Jongin says. “That weirdo monster dude who grabbed you.”

“I…don’t remember anyone with a chainsaw.”

“Of course not, silly,” Jongin says with a chuckle. “You took off down the hallway before you even got a chance to get a look at his face.”

“Well, yeah!,” Sehun splutters. “Hold on, what do you mean, ‘should’ve stayed behind’? You two talked? Why didn’t you get the hell out of there the second I did??”

Jongin shrugs nonchalantly. “He wasn’t wearing a shirt.”

Sehun nearly chokes on his own spit. “What?!”

“I’m kidding, you moron,” Jongin says with an all-too-loud laugh, erupting into a series of unattractive guffaws that earn him dirty looks from passerbyers. Sehun mutters a quiet 'sorry’ in their direction before Jongin speaks again. “Well, I’m half joking. It was a little dark but I could tell he was bare up there, you know? No but seriously, yeah, we kinda…talked. But not because he was half .”

“That last part surprises me,” Sehun says with a roll of his eyes. Jongin has a history of gawking (rather unsubtly) at random men’s torsos and sometimes even going as far as to striking up a conversation with them, sometimes even when Sehun’s around. It usually always ends in Sehun literally dragging Jongin away and mumbling a string of apologies to the confused stranger.

“What did you guys talk about? No wait, I don’t want to know. Anyway, so the plan is set for going home, changing into our costumes and then heading out?,” Sehun says as they round a corner and walk towards his car. Jongin nods ecstatically. “M hmm. Can I drive?”

“So you can crash my car into the Northern Bridge again? Sorry, not willing to risk it. Besides, if you do that there’ll be no candy collecting,” Sehun says before pulling out his keys, unlocking the car and getting inside. Jongin follows suite with a pout on his face.

—

8:43 PM

“Don’t you want something to eat first before you head out?,” Sehun asks Jongin who is in the midst of wetting his face with a cloth. It’s nearing nine o'clock and Sehun plans on heading out as soon as possible since he figures majority of people consider Halloween to be over after ten or so o'clock, and he really doesn’t want Jongin to be disappointed. “No,” Jongin says and coughs when a drop of water trickles down his face and lands in his mouth. “I’m not hungry.”

Sehun sighs in amusement. He has a pretty good idea why. “Okay, well don’t come crying to me later,” he says and is about to turn around and head to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich when Jongin speaks. “Can you come here and check to make sure it looks okay? I only got one of these.”

God, you’re so darn cute. “Sure,” Sehun says, walking over to Jongin who’s sitting on a chair and pressing the paper with the tattoo against his face. Sehun thinks he looks absolutely adorable sitting there with his eyes closed and almost laughs when another droplet of water trickles down the right side of Jongin’s face. He leans in and wipes it away with his thumb before proceeding to gently place his right hand against Jongin’s face. “Thanks,” Jongin says in a grateful tone, wiping his hand on his jeans. Sehun nods and gently moves his fingers in a slow dabbing motion to get the tattoo to stick.

“Not so hard,” Jongin whines. “You’ll poke my eye out.”

“I could be making a sandwich right now,” Sehun deadpans. “Stop complaining. Okay, I think this is good. Hold on.” He slowly sets the water-soaked cloth aside and proceeds to gently and slowly peel the paper off of Jongin’s face. He raises his eyebrows when he pulls the paper off completely because wow, it looks really good. “Open your eyes.”

Jongin slowly opens his eyes and hisses when the bright lights of the living room hits and stings his eyes. He blinks furiously, allowing his eyes to adjust before reaching up to touch his face. Sehun flies forward and grabs Jongin’s arm before the latter has a chance to do so. “Don’t touch it, moron, you’ll ruin it. Let it sit for a minute or so and then we’ll head out.”

“Does it look good?,” Jongin asks, pulling out his phone and opening the camera app. Sehun nods. “It came out looking way better than I expected,” he says. Jongin’s eyes widen when his camera starts up and he sees the bright red lightning bolt running down the middle of his face. Sehun was right, it ended up looking way better than Jongin expected. He runs his free hand through his brown hair and slightly tousles it for dramatic effect before putting his phone away and standing up. “Sehunnie,” he says as he enters the kitchen and sees Sehun leaning against the sink and eating a sandwich. “Can we leave?”

“Whatd'ya expect me to do,” Sehun starts, “Throw three fourths of my sandwich away? Calm down a bit, your tattoo still needs a minute or so, I can see it glistening all the way from here.”

Jongin pouts and slumps down on the nearest chair and taps his foot impatiently. He’s about to rest his head in his arms but stops himself in the last second given his tattoo still hasn’t dried. “Your suit looks really good on you,” Jongin says after a while. “You really picked the right size.”

“I did, didn’t I?,” Sehun says, stuffing the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth and wiping his hands together. “Just wait 'til I put on my glasses.”

Jongin’s jaw nearly hits the floor. “Glasses? You never said anything about glasses. Jesus, I wanna see you in them,” he says, mind filling with images and he shakes his head to rid himself of them. Don’t think ual Sehun thoughts, not right now.

Sehun shrugs and walks forward before resting his head on the top of Jongin’s head and wrapping his arms around his neck. “You will in a minute,” he says before planting a kiss on Jongin’s cheek, making sure to avoid the tattoo. “What’d you do to your hair, by the way? Do you need a comb?”

“I meant for it to look like this,” Jongin whines in mock hurt. “I think it’s fitting, don’t you?”

“It looks like a crow made a nest in your hair,” Sehun says with a shake of his head. He walks over to the sink and turns on the faucet, wetting the palm of his right hand before walking back to Jongin. “Here, let me,” he says before pressing his thumb on Jongin’s left temple and the rest of his fingers on Jongin’s right temple, swiftly running his hand down the latter’s head. “There.”

“What the hell’d you do?,” Jongin squawks when multiple water droplets fall from Sehun’s hand and land in his lap. He reaches up and touches his hair, eyes widening when he feels a certain wet slicked-back-ness atop his head. “You gave me a damn quiff?!”

“What, you look really good in it, now you’re bound to get a ton of candy,” Sehun says before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of thick, squared black glasses. He carefully places them on his face and pushes them up the bridge of his nose with his index finger. “Well, what do you think?”

Jongin’s eyes widen when he sees Sehun and for a second he nearly topples off his chair but saves himself just in time. “You look,” he starts but his words slowly die down when he continues to take in the sight of his boyfriend wearing glasses because holy wow, does he look handsome. “Great,” is all Jongin manages before he forces himself to look away, choosing to keep his gaze fixated on the stove instead. Sehun chuckles in response and pats Jongin’s shoulder. “So, shall we go?”

“We need something for our candy,” Jongin says and frantically looks around the room for an alternative. No luck.

“How about a pillowcase?,” Sehun says and Jongin stares at him like he’s grown a second head. “What, they’re spacey and whatnot. It’s not like we have any fancy- pumpkin-shaped candy holders anywhere anyway.”

Jongin jumps out of his seat. “I’ll be right back,” he tells Sehun before speeding off into the bedroom, quickly removing their pillows from their respective cases and running back to Sehun whose jaw drops when Jongin enters the kitchen. “Is that my pillowcase?”

“What’d you plan to do, go out and buy new ones?!,” Jongin says with a roll of his eyes before chucking the blue pillowcase in Sehun’s direction. It flies through the air and hits the latter square in the face, much to Jongin’s amusement. “We’ll fit a ton in these,” the latter squeals. “Can we please leave now?”

“Alright,” Sehun says, removing the pillowcase from his face and re-adjusting his glasses. “I’ll go get the car keys.”

Jongin blinks. “Huh?”

“The car keys,” Sehun repeats and moves to walk past him. Jongin stops him before he can head out of the room. “Wait, what? The car? Why the car?,” Jongin asks in confusion.

“Of course we’re taking the car! How else do you think we’d get from house to house? What did you want to do,” Sehun retorts, “Flap your arms?”

“There’s this thing called walking,” Jongin says after a full minute of silence. “Jesus Sehun, is this your first ever Halloween or what?”

“No, but it’s my first time trick-or-treating with you,” Sehun says with a chuckle and moves aside in the nick of time to avoid being smacked in the face with Jongin’s pillowcase. “I’d hug you so tight if it wasn’t for that freaking tattoo.”

“Can we goooo?,” Jongin whines, not bothering to sound patient. “It’s almost twenty past.”

“We can indeed.” And with a swift hand movement, Sehun grabs his newly bought black umbrella and unlocks the front door. He waits until Jongin eagerly bounces out the door before closing it and locking it behind him. With their pillowcases in hand, they both head out onto the dark streets.

—

9:30 PM 

“Look at all the children, Sehunnie!”

“Stop staring at them and calm the hell down, you’ll scare them.”

“That one’s dressed as Batman, oh, that girl’s dressed as Rapunzel and - hey, she’s looking in our direction! Wave, Sehun, wave!”

“Cut it out, you moron!,” Sehun exclaims, grabbing Jongin’s hand. “Look, I know you’re excited and all but please, remember that this whole thing is meant for ch-”

“Sehun, come over here!,” Jongin calls from ten feet away. “They have a candy bowl shaped like a pumpkin!”

Sehun exhales. This isn’t gonna be easy. He jogs over to Jongin who’s standing on a porch belonging to a rather nice-looking house. He’s also, as Sehun later notices, standing amidst a group of children, young children, who are all in the midst of grabbing handfuls of candy out of the bowl. Jongin sticks out like a sore thumb, being nearly a foot and a half taller and all, and Sehun fights the urge to cackle. He walks up the three steps leading to the veranda and inspects the Halloween decorations lining the outside (and inside) of the house. Sehun decudes that whoever lives here must love Halloween as much as Jongin does, given that every decoration seems to have been put there with great care. Sehun’s favorite is the skeleton animatronic sitting on a chair out in the yard, repeating something over and over again to make the children laugh. He walks over to Jongin who’s busy stuffing his pillowcase with chocolate bars and lollipops and puts a hand on his arm when the bowl is nearly empty.

“Chill,” Sehun says with a stern look. “There are other children here who also want candy. Be nice and leave a little for them as well, hm?”

Jongin shrugs but stops himself, turning around and facing the children who all stare up at him with horrified expressions (Sehun can tell that they’re terrified despite majority of them covering their faces with masks). Jongin furrows his eyebrows. “What’s the matter?”

“Yo-you’re a giant!,” a little girl dressed as an angel shrieks.

“Hey, how old are you?,” a little boy dressed as the Joker asks, crossing his arms and eyeing Jongin with suspicion in his partially covered eyes. Sehun can tell Jongin is about to speak and he grabs his hand and quickly drags him down the stairs and off the lawn before he has a chance to scar the kids for life. Once they’re back on the streets and heading towards the next house, Sehun takes the time to listen to the sounds of children laughing and talking with their parents and friends. He hears the sounds coming from animatronics in all directions, distorted robotic voices and sees smoke in every color emerging from every lawn in sight. A minute later he sees another house come into view and he nearly drops his umbrella because damn, that’s a lot of candy. He looks at Jongin who looks like he’s about to explode from excitement and his lips curl upwards into a small smile.

“Remember,” Sehun says, pushing his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. “Let the children in front reach for candy first, alright?” When Jongin doesn’t answer Sehun whips his head around and feels a certain dread wash over him when he sees Jongin’s no longer next to him. He curses under his breath at Jongin’s impatience and jumps a little when he hears the latter call out to him again.

“Sehunnie, come quick, they have candy corn! It’s almost gone so hurry!”

“I’m like ten feet away, you don’t have to shout,” Sehun says as he approaches the house and steps onto the (impressive) veranda. Again, there’s a large group of children huddled around a woman, Sehun assumes it’s the woman who owns the house, who’s dressed as a witch, warty nose and all, and handing out candy. She dumps an even amount into every person’s outstretched bag (or in their case, pillowcase) before showing them the empty bowl and shrugging sadly. “Sorry, children,” she says in a raspy voice. “The witch queen is all out!” There’s a sound of disappointed children whining that’s closely followed by a door closing and Sehun quickly located Jongin who’s smiling so wide Sehun worries his face might split in half.

“Well, Bowie,” Sehun says, eyeing Jongin’s pillowcase that, surprisingly, is starting to look pretty full already. “How’s the candy hunt going so far?”

“Great!,” Jongin replies with a bright smile. “She gave us so much, you should’ve seen how big her bowl was! I think she gave me a little extra since she noticed I was a tad bit older than the rest.”

Sehun coughs. “Jongin, I was standing like two feet away. And that’s nice - what’d you get this time?”

“Uh,” Jongin says, looking into his pillowcase. “A ton of candy corn, five lollipops shaped like ghosts and a gummy witch nose!”

Sehun wrinkles his own nose in distaste at the last one. “That doesn’t sound very appealing to me,” he says with a low chuckle.

“It even has a wart on it and everything,” Jongin says, reaching into his pillowcase. “Wanna see?”

“No,” Sehun exclaims, slapping Jongin’s hand away. “Save it for later.”

Jongin, seemingly unfazed by Sehun’s rejection, looks down and widens his eyes when he sees Sehun’s empty pillowcase that’s hanging halfway out of his suit pocket. “Wait, you didn’t get anything?,” he exclaims. “Why?”

Sehun shrugs. “I’m mainly out here for the thrill, and because I like to see you happy, of course,” he says. “And I figure you’ll collect enough for the both of us anyway, won’t you?,” he adds with a small wink.

“Yeah, but whether or not I choose to share it with you is a whole 'nother matter,” Jongin says. “And I’ll eat enough for the both of us, you’ll see.”

Sehun chuckles. “In your dreams. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out later that you’re unable to make it through a quarter of all that.”

“I’ll prove it,” Jongin says rather confidently and Sehun merely nods in disbelief before rubbing his back. He spots something in the corner of his eye and smirks.

“Hey, I heard they have caramel apples at that house over there,” he says and smirks even deeper when Jongin’s head instantly flies up at the mention of his favorite treat. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Sehun says. “In that house over there, the white one.” He points to a house about twenty feet away with a decorated veranda on which a doll-like pumpkin figure is sitting. “Wanna go take a look?”

“Sure,” Jongin says, already heading towards the house. There don’t seem to be any children nearby but he dismisses it as them having just left. He climbs the four or so steps to the veranda and raises a confused brow when he sees an empty bowl that’s sitting on the lap of a scarecrow with a large pumpkin head. “Hey,” he calls out to Sehun who’s five feet away and walking towards the house. “There’s nothing he-” Jongin’s sentence is abruptly cut off and ends in a ear-piercing scream when the pumpkin headed figure suddenly sits up straight in its chair. Jongin jumps ten feet in the air and almost trips over his own feet as well as his pillowcase trying to escape the veranda. He runs up to Sehun who’s doubled over in laughter, leaning onto his umbrella for support.

“What the hell’s wrong with you,” Jongin exclaims, chest heaving up and down. “Why’d you do that?! I nearly trampled my candy!”

Sehun shrugs. “I thought you’d seen that animatronic earlier. Guess you hadn’t. Sorry. Your reaction was on point though, I should’ve filmed it.”

“Well now I know for sure I won’t be sharing any of this with you,” Jongin mumbles and brushes past Sehun who only chuckles.

“Hey, I’m sorry, okay?,” Sehun says before grabbing Jongin’s arm. “Come on, let’s go to another house.”

Jongin nods. “I forgive you. Only because you look so handsome.”

Sehun nods. “Thanks. Can’t say the same for you though.”

“Hey, shut up!”

“Just saying! David Bowie isn’t really my style.”

“Shut up anyway!”

“Wha- hey, damn it, Jongin, get the hell back here!”

—

10:40 PM

Sehun really wishes he brought his coat.

It’s starting to get even colder out and he clenches his jaw to prevent his teeth from chattering. His right hand hurts from carrying the umbrella around and using it as a cane and he rubs at his sore knuckles with a wince. It’s nearly 11 at night and his earlier guess seems to be proven right when he looks around and notices people removing their candy bowls from their verandas as well as turning off the animatronics in their lawns as well as their orange lights. He looks to his right just in time to see a window turn black and pushes his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose, sticking his free hand in the pocket of his suit pants in an attempt to preserve some body heat. The air reeks of candy, popcorn and sugar and Sehun almost feels dizzy when he inhales the scent of candy floss that’s sweet enough to make his eyes water. And people wonder why he doesn’t like sugary foods. There are far less children out on the streets now than when they went outside an hour or so ago, Sehun assumes they’ve been taken home by their parents to either sleep or eat, since he assumes majority of the trick-or-treaters out here haven’t eaten dinner yet, including himself (save for the sandwich he ate before they left) and Jongin. Sehun looks around for a house with the lights still on and a candy bowl or something like it sitting out on the porch with no success. He turns to Jongin, who’s busy snacking on a piece of candy in a candy necklace one of the neighbors gave him three or four houses ago, and puts a hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey,” Sehun says and retreats when Jongin flinches, not having expected the sudden contact. “It’s getting late and people are starting to head home. What do you say?”

Jongin looks at him with an innocent expression and with a lollipop sticking halfway out of his mouth. “Huh? But my pillowcase isn’t full yet.”

God damn it. “Well. It’s pretty full, isn’t it?,” Sehun says and sneaks a peek inside Jongin’s pillowcase that looks like it’s about to explode. Sehun thinks it looks like a pinata and he’s certain you’d be able to use it as one. “Jesus, it’s nearly full to the brim,” Sehun says once he sees the contents of Jongin’s pillowcase. “That’s definitely enough. You’re gonna get sick if you eat all that anyway so we’d better head ho-”

“Hey look, there’s a lady handing out candy over there!,” Jongin suddenly squeals and points to a house, the last house on the street. It’s a small one, Sehun thinks it closely resembles a cottage, but it’s cozy-looking. Sehun barely makes out a lady dressed in a black dress with a red and black cape draped over her back and shoulders. He hears children squealing excitedly in the distance as well as the sound of candy landing at the bottom of a bag and Jesus, his feet hurt from all the walking.

He quickly turns to face Jongin and grabs his arm to make sure he doesn’t escape. “Listen,” Sehun says. “I don’t want you running off like you did last time, alright? Stay by my side, will you?”

“Aw, is wittle Sehun lonely?,” Jongin coos, reaching into his pillowcase and pulling out a chocolate bar that’s bigger than his face. Sehun blinks in astonishment before nodding. “Yeah,” he says. “Well, that and because you send kids running in all directions when you come running towards them at full speed every time.”

Jongin rolls his eyes and taps his foot in impatience. “I’m not running towards them, you idiot, it’s the ca-”

“The candy, I know,” Sehun says. “I got it. But still, come on, show a bit of respect for the little ones, alright?”

“Fine,” Jongin huffs in annoyance and proceeds to hyper-walk towards said house the second Sehun lets go of his arm. He’s literally dragging his pillowcase behind him at this point and for a moment Sehun is legitimately worried as to whether or not it’ll rip open and spill its contents out all across the ground. He jogs to catch up with Jongin and prays to God when Jongin walks across the gravel-covered path leading to the house. Please, please, don’t break, Sehun chants in his head and exhales in relief when it doesn’t. Seriously, the last thing he wants right now is for the pillowcase to tear and thus spend forty minutes picking up Jongin’s candy and hear him whine about needing to throw some of it away. He’s far too tired for that at the moment.

He sprints up the step leading to the veranda and chooses to stand to left, as far away from the group of children he can manage. He leans against the railing and puts his umbrella down, massaging his knuckles as soon as he’s no longer holding onto it. He looks at the lady who’s in the midst of handing out candy and instantly notices somebody standing next to her, leaning against the opposite side of the veranda. Definitely not a child, in fact he (Sehun assumes it’s a he) looks to be as tall as Sehun is as well as extremely well built. Their eyes meet and the stranger slowly  walks over, carefully maneuvering himself through the sea of children before walking up to Sehun and giving him a nod. “Hey. You also not a fan?”

Sehun blinks. “A fan? You mean of trick-or-treating? Not really, no. I mean, I like it and all, I think it’s exciting but it’s not really my thing.”

The stranger nods. He seems to be no older than Sehun or Jongin. He’s got fake blood splattered across his neck but other than that he doesn’t seem to be all too dressed up. “I’m Tom, here with my sister,” he says, turning around and pointing at a little blonde girl with an angel’s halo hovering above her head as well as a pair of feathery, silver wings on her small back. Sehun thinks it looks rather beautiful. “Nice, she looks pretty.”

“You should tell her that, I’m sure she’d appreciate it,” Tom says with a laugh before turning to Sehun, who turns around so they’re facing each other. “Anyway, who’re you here with? You here with your little sister, perhaps?”

Sehun shakes his head. “No.”

“Little bro?”

Sehun shakes his head. He’s got a brother but he’s older than Sehun is and definitely not the type to waste his time trick-or-treating. For sure. “Nope.”

Tom raises an eyebrow in confusion. “Oh? Then who’re you with, mate? You out here collecting candy all on your own? Hold on, you said you didn’t like trick-or-treating; wait, then why’re you all dressed up and everything?”

“I’m here with my boyfriend,” Sehun says and shoves his hands in his pockets when a slight breeze passes by. Tom blinks before nodding in understanding. “Ah, so he’s the one trick-or-treating then?,” he asks. He has a friendly vibe and Sehun genuinely finds him entertaining to talk to, unlike the guys dressed as crappy pirates who tried to strike up a conversation with him while he was waiting out in the yard for Jongin half an hour ago. “Yup,” Sehun says after a while. “He is.”

“Sounds fun, for him,” Tom says with a laugh before he slowly shakes his head apologetically. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to intrude or anything but,” he looks at Sehun. “How old are you?”

Sehun blinks. “Uh, twenty three.”

“Hm. So I’m assuming he’s…around your age then?,” Tom asks but he quickly closes his mouth and lets out an awkward cough, averting his gaze. “Nevermind, sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Sehun reassures him. “You’re like the sixth person to ask me that, though.”

Tom raises an eyebrow. “Really? The sixth?”

Sehun nods. “I don’t blame them though. I would react the same way they did.”

“I understand that,” Tom says before looking around the neighborhood. “It’s getting dark out fast, everyone’s practically sleeping at this point.”

“Of course they are. Honestly, I was surprised when I saw a house that was still handing out candy,” Sehun chuckles. 

Tom nods in agreement. “Your boyfriend’s a brave soul, though. I know very few twenty-something year olds who still have it in them to head out on Halloween and ask for candy. Seriously, that takes guts.”

“True. He can get a little bit carried away though, sometimes. You know, when it comes to things he likes.”

“Aren’t we all like that, though?,” Tom asks, leaning against the railing next to Sehun. “Man, growing up really .”

“We all have to someday,” Sehun says and is about to open his mouth to speak again when he hears light, hurried footsteps coming towards them. He turns his head and is met with the sight of a young girl with long, blonde hair in neat curls going down to her middle of her back. A fuzzy halo hangs above her head and she’s wearing a silver gown with matching silver shoes on her tiny feet. Silver-lined angel wings rest atop of her back, stiffly spread out and bouncing with every step she takes. Sehun thinks she looks absolutely gorgeous, especially the way her long locks blow in the wind when she runs. She stops when she reaches them and proudly holds out a pumpkin-shaped trick-or-treating bucket that’s absolutely filled to the brim with candy. “Look, Tommy,” she squeals, jumping up and down. “Look what the nice lady gave me!”

Tom raises his eyebrows in surprise and smiles down at her. Sehun thinks she has a beautiful smile. “Don’t jump like that,” Tom says softly. “You’ll damage your wings and even worse, your candy might fall out and onto the ground.” 

“Who’s he?,” she asks when she spots Sehun who’s smiling down at her with a certain warmth in his eyes. “Is he your friend?”

“We just met,” Tom says and bends down to pick her up, hoisting her up so he’s holding her on his hip. He suddenly looks at Sehun in surprise. “I actually don’t know, I never got your name.”

Sehun blinks. Wow, I’m an idiot. “My name is Sehun,” Sehun says, reaching out and patting her head, careful not to mess up her locks. “And your name is?” 

“Ciara!,” the girl says happily. “It’s nice to meet you, Sehun, I like your glasses!”

“Thank you,” Sehun says, adjusting them on his face. “I love your outfit as well, you look like a beautiful fairy princess. Like the ones from the storybooks.”

“I’ve read a lot of those!,” Ciara chirps.

“Well, Ciara,” Tom starts. “How about we go home and turn on a mov-”

“Sorry that took so long!”

All three heads whip around to look at Jongin who’s walking towards them with a wide smile. He’s dragging the pillowcase behind him and Sehun blinks in amazement when he realizes it’s almost overflowing with candy. Jesus, he’ll have such a stomach ache, Sehun thinks. Jongin stops when he spots the people standing next to Sehun and smiles shyly. “Hi.”

“Hi!,” Ciara chirps, ignoring her brother’s ’shh!’ before squirming to get out of his grip. He gently puts her down and she runs over to Jongin who smiles down at her. “Hi, I’m Ciara, what’s your name?”

“Jongin,” Jongin says before his gaze lands on the candy bucket in her hands. “Hey, that’s a lot of candy, did you collect that all by yourself?”

“Yeah! Wanna see?,” Ciara says enthusiastically, not giving Jongin a chance to say yes or no before carefully setting the bucket down and scooping up a handful of candy. “Look, I got these from the lady who lives here!”

Jongin moves into a squatting position and looks at the treats in her hands; a chocolate bar, a lollipop shaped like a pumpkin and a big bag of- 

“Gummy bears!,” Jongin exclaims. “I didn’t get any of those.”

“She didn’t give you any?,” Ciara asks and looks up at Jongin with worried eyes. “What a mean lady. Mean, mean!”

Jongin nods before an idea pops into his head. “Hey, Ciara,” he says and the latter immediately lightens up at the mention of her name. “This is what I got.” He reaches into his pillowcase and digs around for a bit before retrieving a pumpkin-shaped lollipop, a generic chocolate bar and- 

“Jellybeans! I love jellybeans!,” Ciara suddenly says, words laced with envy. 

Jongin nods again. “Good! See, I was wondering if you’d like to swap your gummy bears for my je-” he doesn’t get to finish his sentence before he feels a small hand in the palm of his own and before he knows it, the jellybeans have been replaced by the bag of colorful gummybears and he beams. 

“Ciara!,” Tom scolds. “Be gentle!”

“Sorry,” Ciara says. Jongin doesn’t think she sounds apologetic in the slightest. He watches as she takes the jellybeans and stuffs them in her bucket. Jongin’s eyebrows furrow. “At the bottom?,” he asks. “Won’t the jellybeans get crushed?”

“Maybe they will,” Ciara says with a shrug. “But they’re my favorite and I don’t want to put them at the top since they’ll fall out and I’ll have nothing.” Jongin nods in understanding. Smart kid. He flinches when Ciara suddenly reaches out and pokes his eye. “What’s this? Is it a tattoo?,” she asks and ignores her brother’s protests. “It looks so cool! I love lightning! We’re studying weather in Science class right now and it’s so much fun! I have a quiz tomorrow about rain.”

“Oh really?,” Jongin says, blinking to rid himself of the pain in his eye. Damn, kids can be awfully heavy-handed. “That’s nice! My lightning bolt isn’t just any lightning bolt, it’s one of the most iconic looks on David Bowie.”

Ciara blinks. “Is that an American president?”

Jongin snorts. It might as well be. “No, he’s a really famous singer. He died in January, though. I’m a big fan so that’s why I chose to dress up as him tonight.”

“That’s sad,” Ciara says and pouts. “Hopefully he’s making lots of music up here in Heaven.” Jongin nods in agreement before she speaks again. “It looks really nice! Kids at my school always have tattoos and it looks really bad but yours looks nice! You could be a makeup artist!,” she squeals.

“That’s tattoo artist,” Jongin corrects her with a chuckle. “And I’m not very good, unfortunately. I had help putting it on.”

“Really? Who helped you? He must be the best makeup artist in the world!”

“Sehun helped me,” Jongin says and looks up at Sehun who only nods in response, a smile on his face. “He’s very good at helping others.”

“Are you brothers?,” Ciara asks. “I don’t like having a brother since he smells bad so hopefully your brother doesn’t smell bad like mine!”

“Ciara! Don’t be rude!,” Tom exclaims, much to Sehun and Jongin’s (and Ciara’s) amusement.

“That’s not a nice thing to say about your brother, is it?,” Jongin asks. “Especially since he helped you get all this candy. And no, Sehun most certainly does not smell bad, in fact, he smells really good. And he’s not my brother.”

“Really? Are you best friends?,” she asks and gasps. “Do you go to school together?”

“Well, yes and yes,” Jongin says and chuckles before looking at her. “You see, Sehun is my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? Like, you’re together?,” she asks with wide eyes, gaze switching between Sehun and Jongin, the latter nodding. “My mommy and daddy have been together for 23 years, how long have you been together?”

“A year and a half,” Sehun says and instinctively smiles. 

“You have a long time until 23 years,” Ciara says in frustration. “My mommy and daddy are going to this nice place to eat to celebrate, are you going to do that too?”

“Maybe,” Jongin says. “Maybe.”

“Do you love him?,” Ciara asks, turning to Jongin who nods. “Good. Your boyfriend looks a little scary so you should probably love him with all you’ve got, okay?”

Jongin bursts into laughter, Ciara following suite. “I will, trust me. I will. And he’s not scary, just…weird sometimes. He didn’t collect any candy because he thinks trick-or-treating is only for children.” He leans in and whispers loud enough for Sehun to hear. “Tell me, Ciara, do you think trick-or-treating is only for children?”

Ciara pulls away like she’s been burned, a shocked expression on her face. “No! Never!”

Jongin smiles. “And why is that?”

“Because Halloween is fun, trick-or-treating is meant to be fun! How old you are is not important as long as you’re having fun,” she says as a matter-of-factly before turning to face Sehun who looks at her with a dramatic look on her face. “You’re wrong, Sehun, trick-or-treating is for everyone!”

Jongin chuckles and chimes in. “Yeah, Sehun, you hear that?”

Sehun puts his hands up in defense before nodding. “Sorry, I’ll make sure to be less mean next year.”

“Give him some of your candy and you’ll make him happy,” Ciara says, turning back to Jongin. “Tommy said he’d be very happy if I shared my candy with him.”

Jongin gasps in false hurt and puts a hand on his chest for dramatic effect. “Why should I give him of my hard-earned candy?”

“Because you love him,” Ciara says simply before twirling around like a ballerina on one toe, stumbling slightly. “People who love each share their candy with each other.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Jongin says before reaching out and smoothing her dress. “I love your dress, by the way,” he says, changing the subject. “You’re the prettiest angel I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m the second most pretty angel you’ve ever seen,” Ciara says and twirls again, tripping and nearly falling flat on her face. Jongin catches her before she does. “The second?,” the latter echoes in confusion. “Who’s the first?”

Ciara points to Sehun and Jongin quickly mutters a quick ’oh’ before blushing slightly and looking away. He lets go of her dress and stands up before stretching his upper body. Jesus, he’s gotten stiff. He looks down at her with a sad smile on his face when he sees Tom clap his hands together in his peripheral vision, signaling that it’s time to go home. Ciara is looking up at Jongin with an equally crestfallen expression. 

“Please, can I stay and talk to Jongin a bit more?,” she begs. Tom shakes his head with a small smile before reaching down and grabbing her free hand. “Come on, princess,” he says. “Time to head home and eat dinner. Mommy and Daddy are waiting.”

“I’ll eat my candy for dinner!”

“You’ll get a big stomach ache,” Tom warns her and she merely shrugs. Jongin chuckles before grabbing his pillowcase and walking towards Sehun who grabs his umbrella and envelopes Jongin in a hug. “Aren’t you cold?,” Sehun whispers in Jongin’s ear. The latter shakes his head and pulls away from Sehun when Tom and Ciara turn around and wave at them. 

“Bye!,” Ciara says in an enthusiastic tone, frantically waving a small hand in the air. “It was nice to meet you! Jongin, remember to share your candy!” 

Jongin nods and smiles. “I will, don’t worry. Lovely talking to you, Ciara.”

Tom nods at them both. “It was nice talking to you, Sehun. Let’s hope we meet again sometime,” he says. With a wave of his hand, he and Ciara skip down the step to the veranda and walk off into the night. 

Sehun and Jongin stand on the front porch for what feels like ages before Sehun speaks up. “Let’s get off this lady’s porch before she calls the cops, we’ve been here for God knows how long. Hey, are you crying?”

Jongin quickly wipes at his eye. “No.”

“I understand, she was goddamn pure and loveable as hell,” Sehun says as they step off the veranda and walk off. “Jesus, kids like that are hard to find these days. Tom’s lucky to have a sister like her.”

“I wonder why she came to me and was so eager to talk,” Jongin says, wincing when he feels a certain pain surge through his right bicep. 

“I don’t know, kids are like that. They gravitate towards the happiest and most kind-hearted people,” Sehun says simply before blowing into the palms of his hands to warm them up.

“Are…you saying you’re stone-hearted?,” Jongin asks, looking at Sehun. It’s gotten so dark Jongin can barely see him, the only thing visible being the whites of Sehun’s eyes that seem to glow in the dark. Well, that and the blondness of his hair.

“No, but I’m more than willing to admit that you’re the type kids love,” Sehun says before smirking. “You just have this...aura. Either that, or she only talked to you because she noticed you had jellybeans- ow!”

“She liked me,” Jongin says as they turn a corner, walking down the street leading to their house. “Gee, I’d love to have a kid like that of my own someday.”

“You mean you want kids?” Sehun asks. 

Jongin shrugs. “Yeah. Someday.”

Sehun suddenly stops in his tracks, much to Jongin’s confusion. “Well, actually,” Sehun starts, avoiding Jongin’s gaze. “That isn’t a good idea. At all.”

Something painful tugs at Jongin’s heart and he blinks. “Wait what? Why?”

“Because,” Sehun starts, letting out a deep sigh before looking Jongin in the eye. “It’s illegal for kids to have kids.”

Jongin blinks before running over and smacking Sehun with his pillowcase.