As Luhan put on his apron, he pretended to nonchalantly look out the window to see if the little boy was eating the chips he had given him. What he saw made him smile. As he had hoped, the little boy was eating the chips, and he seemed to be really enjoying them, too. The little boy turned his head and Luhan quickly looked away before he got caught staring.

His parents had nagged at him for waking up late today, but if they hadn’t arrived to the store late, Luhan wouldn’t have seen the little boy sitting on the sidewalk and asking the little girl for another chip, with hope and desperation in his voice. The way the little boy had eaten the first chip had already pulled at Luhan’s heartstrings. True, the little boy had stolen from the store, but that was weeks ago and after realizing how pitiful he was, Luhan didn’t want to hold that crime against him anymore.

Luhan took another glance out the window and saw that the little boy had finished eating the chips and was tossing the bag away. Now he was about to go into the store. Luhan immediately turned around and pretended to be busy behind the counter.

Sehun had really enjoyed the chips the boy had given him. He’d smiled while eating them—it was his first bag of chips, ever—but had felt a little sad when he had eaten them all. He had even the crumbs that were stuck on the very bottom of the bag. He threw the bag away before he would be tempted to use his aunt’s money to buy a bag or two. If she didn’t get the correct change he would be in trouble.

Now he had to go into the store to buy dog food. Sehun took a deep breath and pulled open the door. He entered and approached the counter that the boy was standing behind with his back to him. He hadn’t thanked him yet so Sehun wanted to thank the boy now before he forgot.

“Um, hi,” Sehun began nervously, and the boy slowly turned around. Once again, the look on his face was indescribable. Sehun couldn’t tell if he was annoyed, didn’t like Sehun, or was just indifferent to everything. But he had given Sehun a bag of chips so maybe he didn’t hate him. When the boy didn’t respond, Sehun tried to lighten the mood by smiling, and continued awkwardly, “Thank you for the bag of chips. That was really nice of you.” The boy simply stared back at him. Thinking the boy wasn’t satisfied, Sehun quickly added, “I’ll pay you back someday.”

To Sehun’s surprise, the boy waved a hand to dismiss the notion. “It’s okay. You don’t have to.” He glanced around the store and returned his gaze to Sehun. “Would you like me to help you with anything?” he asked with a gentle smile.

Sehun couldn’t understand the boy. He was nice enough to him, but one moment he would seem to be annoyed by him and the next moment he would be kind to him. This was confusing to Sehun but he pushed aside the thoughts for now. He had to buy dog food and go home. Sehun shook his head. “Nah, I think I got it.” He turned and headed to the aisle where pet food was located. He grabbed a bag with a dog on it and carried it to the cash register.

“This it?” the boy questioned before ringing him up.

Sehun nodded, and as the boy stated the total, Sehun put his hand into his pocket to get the money his aunt had given him. His fingers grazed something else in his pocket, and he pulled it out along with the money to discover that it was the piece of toffee he had stolen weeks ago from this store. After he had gotten hit by his aunt, he’d completely forgotten about the candy. The pair of shorts he was wearing must have never been washed, either, for some odd reason.

He placed both the money and the candy on the counter, and bravely looked up at the boy. He needed to apologize…his apology was long overdue. “I-I’m sorry for stealing,” he said in a rush, and before the boy could say anything, Sehun grabbed the change from the boy’s hand, and with the dog food in his other grasp, he hurried out of the store.

Luhan couldn’t let the little boy leave like that without saying anything. He didn’t want to admit it, but he already started feeling attached to the little boy. There was just this urge to protect him, an urge he had never felt before. Being an only child, he had been pretty lonely growing up, and it didn’t help that he had been homeschooled; he didn’t interact with other kids to be able to have friends. Something about the little boy made Luhan want to become friends with him.

He ran to the door, pushed it open, and poked his head out. The little boy wasn’t too far away yet. “Come back soon!” he shouted, then when the little boy turned his head around, Luhan smiled and waved his arm.

“Who are you talking to, son?”

Luhan jumped. His mother had appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh, no one important, Mother,” he replied. “Just another kid.”

His mother shrugged and went back into the store.

Scratching his head, Luhan headed back in as well and wondered what had happened to him.

--

I've finally updated! Sorry for the long wait, everyone~ I hope you are still reading and that you enjoy this part. (Yay for more Luhan/Sehun interaction!)