"Hello, Lolaaaaaa."

"Hey there Viktor. What's shaking?"

"What is shakeeeng?" He sent him a confused look.

Baekhyun laughed. "How are you playing?"

Viktor chewed his cheek. He rubbed his wrinkled olive skinned fingers over his lips, taking the question far too seriously. "I have beaten every one."

"I knew you would," Baekhyun almost yelled. "You're the best!"

He shrugged off the compliment. "Zank you. You are very good girl."

Baekhyun was speaking loudly but he could see that Viktor was reading his lips and he was becoming tired. He sat patiently waiting for his next opponent to arrive that probably wouldn't come. He had his favourite chessboard set up and by its side sat his own personal mascot; an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure. He would have found it in someone's trash can and claimed it as his own. Baekhyun was fairly certain that it was Donatello. Viktor never played a game of chess without him by his side. Baekhyun probably would have joined him except he only had twenty cents in his pocket. Instead, he sat on the bench beside him, closed his eyes and tilted his head back.

He loved this park more than the house he was forced to say in with Steven and Tiffany. This was his favourite place in the world. Viktor was around the ninety year old age mark but he was his favourite person. And sure he thought his name was Lola but he didn't mind.

Who says I don't have a life? he thought to himself. He stretched his arms over his head and felt the fabric of his shirt lift over his belly button. The smell of hot food filled the air, a mix of roasted peanuts, hotdogs and toffee popcorn. He planned that one day he would arrive with more than just twenty cents and buy something huge to eat and wolf it down without taking a break to breathe. Suddenly a shadow fell over his face and he opened his eyes. A thirteen year old Spanish boy stood over him.

"Hi Alejandro, if you're looking for a game I'm no good," he greeted him. Alejandro was a self-claimed poet and Baekhyun's second-favourite person. He was such a chess whiz that he earned around two hundred dollars every week playing ers who underestimated him for his age and size. Today his usual confidence was gone and Baekhyun could sense it.

"You okay Al?" he asked him, sitting up. As he scanned his eyes around the park something caught his attention. A swastika. It was new, the white paint bright as freshly fallen snow. Baekhyun's stomach dropped to his . Was it a sign for him? Could someone know about his mother's family being destroyed by the Holocaust? No. He was absolutely being paranoid. No one knew about his Jewish background. What with his Asian features, it never crossed people's minds which annoyed Baekhyun. Everyone else around him seemed to be ignoring the swastika so he let it slip from his thoughts. He focused on Alejandro again. He wasn't as jumpy as usual or witty for that matter.

"You should go home Baekhyun," he said to his sneakers though it was meant for Baekhyun.

"What's going on Al?" he asked him.

"It'll get dark soon," he said flatly.

"I know Al, it usually does," he chuckled. He noticed that he was wearing a brand new jacket from a well-known label. It looked stiff and uncomfortable. "You should be watching out," Al continued.

"For what exactly?"

"It's just dangerous."

Baekhyun stood up and pushed his hair out of his face. Hee looked down at him with his arms folded and gave him a stern look. "Cut the bull Al. What's going on?"

"A girl got slashed in the park last night!" he blurted out. "It's all over the news! They had to sew her up from her eyebrow to her ear!"

"That's awful," Baekhyun said. "What kind of blade?"

"What?"

"What kind of blade was used? Was it a razor blade?"

"I guess, how am I supposed to know?" he asked giving him a confused look.

"Just wondering," he sighed.

"I was just concerned for you," Al said quietly, blushing as he said it. He walked away straightening up his shoulders to look bigger than he was. Baekhyun put his backpack on one shoulder and watched him walk away. He was worried about him. He was at that age where being unique wasn't good enough. Thirteen was the age that people lost their originality because of fear of being excluded. Fortunately that didn't happen to Baekhyun. He wanted to tell him to stop hanging around the park and go home but who was he to talk? While Al was concerned for him, he had no idea how idea how concerned he was for Al.

Baekhyun looked around and saw Mr. Hesbani, a Pakastani cab driver, playing a game of chess against a fifteen year old black boy named Kyle. It amazed him that two people from completely different backgrounds could come together and forget their differences to play a game of chess. This was where he could get a break from the high school hierarchy and be with people he belonged with. He loved that there weren't people like...well, people like...him.

He was walking slowly with a confident almost smug look on his face. His hair was a dark brown colour that shined almost auburn with the sunlight and was falling down into his eyes and from a distance he seemed almost two metres tall. His black skinny jeans were met by large chunky designer running shoes that looked filthy and he wore an oversized sweater similar to the type seen on hipsters who hung around soho looking for good instagram pictures. Baekhyun felt his stomach drop. Well, not quite drop but it felt different. He felt queasy yet alert.

Most people didn't look like that...by that he meant absolutely gorgeous. His 'type' drank coffee at Starbucks and posed for Abercrombie and Fitch. They even belonged on Gossip Girl where every single character was good looking despite the genuine high school ratio of good looking to bad looking being extremely mismatched.

So why the hell was he in the park lingering around the chess boards with people who belonged in the cast of The Inbetweeners? Baekhyun wanted to tell him to piss off. This was his favourite place in the city where he didn't have to think about things he would never be and he didn't need this guy reminding him of that.

•

•

"Thank you Joey, you're so sweet."

Joey nodded at her. He tilted his head so she couldn't see how broken his nose really was. "No problem," he muttered trying to keep his voice low and manly. She must think that he's like twenty five or something. She took a swig from the bottle of Coke he had given to her then she crossed her legs exposing even more of her thigh due to the short length of her miniskirt. He looked away but maybe she wanted him to stare. He almost stopped breathing when she his upper arm. "What happened?"

He glanced at the bruise she was touching. "Oh nothing. I just got jumped by three huge guys who had like, black belts in karate. Thought they were real tough," he explained trying to prevent his voice from squeaking. Her eyes widened just like he'd hoped they would. "Did you call the police?"

"No, that's not how we do things," he chuckled trying to sound cocky. "Me and my buddies will get them if they show their faces again." He kept talking but he wasn't even paying attention to what he was saying, he just loved the way she looked at him when he spoke. She was gorgeous. She was older than him, twenty something, but she was y. She was like a goddess with her long straight red hair and green eyes. Her body was flawless, he couldn't look away.

The first time he'd noticed her was at the beginning of the summer. Everyone had noticed her. She walked by the fountain almost every afternoon. A lot of people turned up for the show everyday. Lately, he had noticed her returning his look and then her eyes lingered for longer. Last week she'd introduced herself and he'd almost himself. Today she'd been late so most people had left before she got there but something had made her stay. He stopped looking at her s for a second to see if anyone he knew was around. He'd love someone to see him with her.

Then she touched his collarbone with her index finger on the pendant he wore. He felt electricity when she touched him. "What's this?" she asked almost whispering. "I've seen it before."

"It's a hieroglyph, like in Egypt. It's the symbol for power."

"Where have I seen it before?"

"I don't know. Maybe you saw one of the other guys wearing it or maybe some of them have it tattooed. It's a kind of...it's like a...a sort of..."

"A mark?" she offered the word to him. "Like identification?"

"Yeah, something like that," he replied.

"So are you part of -"

He cut her off with a sharp intake of breath. He'd heard about stuff like this before, like cops asking questions after earning your trust. Now she was asking difficult questions and it wasn't cool anymore. "I've got to go. It's getting late-"

"Joey, don't be afraid of me," she whispered grabbing his arm. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. I'm just interested...interested in you."

All of his blood flowed to his head and he felt dizzy. "You're not a cop are you?" He thought cops had to tell you if they were if you asked them.

"No absolutely not," she giggled, raising her eyebrow seductively. "Definitely not."

•

•

Baekhyun smacked the side of the cheap radio again. "Piece of crap," he muttered to himself. He'd picked it up at a second hand stor