As Baekhyun and Sehun walked back to Baekhyun’splace, Baekhyun asked what Sehunthought of Kyungsoo.

“He seems like a nice guy,” Sehun said quietly. Baekhyun was getting oddly fond of Sehun’slisp. He found it very cute and characteristic about Sehun.

“Yeah, he is. Well, tomorrow’s Monday, and we have to go to school. Will it be okay if you stay home alone?” Baekhyun struggled with the door as he tried to pull the key out of the lock. He kept forgetting to get that changed. He grunted as he managed to open the door and get back inside. “Darn door,” he said under his breath.

“I’ll be okay.” Sehun nodded and walked off to the bathroom. Baekhyun fixed the couch to make it more comfortable for the other man. The sound of the water running was relaxing. It had been a long time since he had someone else in the house.

The only people he remembered bringing over, other than Kyungsoo, were Kai, Luhan, and Chanyeol, his ex boyfriend. And that was already years ago.

Sehun brought Baekhyun out of his thoughts when Sehun asked for something to change into. “I forgot to bring some clothes from home. Sorry.”

“It’s fine! Don’t worry about it.” Baekhyun rummaged through his messy closet and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a thin long-sleeved shirt. “Sorry about the clothes being crinkled.” Baekhyun scratched the back of his neck out of embarrassment.

Sehun took it and went back to the bathroom to change, and Baekhyun was alone with his memories once again.

It was odd, the feelings he was feeling.Chanyeol was the only boyfriend he had, and Baekhyun wasn't sure if he would meet anyone like him again. Sure,Sehun and Chanyeol were the exact opposite-like night and day- but they both gave off this vibe, and it was a comforting vibe to Baekhyun.

He couldn't say for sure he had feelings for this man, though. They had met maybe a day ago, and Baekhyun knew nothing about him other than he's name is Oh Sehun and he almost killed himself. Twice at that. But from the way he got all giddy whenever Sehun showed interest, Baekhyun couldn't be sure he wasn't slowly falling for Sehun already.

---//---

Sehun woke up to the sound of plates crashing to the floor and Baekhyun's yelp of surprise.

"Are you hurt?" Sehun asked. He surprised Baekhyun at how worried he sounded and looked.

"I'm fine. No, don't come near here! You'll get hurt." Baekhyun was cleaning up the mess, and Sehun could only watch, hoping Baekhyun would be careful.

Finally, he finished cleaning and vacuuming up the place and continued making breakfast. When Baekhyun looked at a sleepy Sehun at the table, he tried to stifle his laughter but failed terribly to do so.

"What's so funny?" Sehun tried to hide his yawn behind his hands.

"Nothing. Just go wash up." Baekhyun couldn't help but laugh when he heard the bathroom door close. "Cute kid."

On the other hand, Sehun was writhing in embarrassment when he saw his reflection. Sections of his hair stuck out in random places, and even when he tried to comb his hair out with his fingers, it would pop right back into the position it was in before.

"The hair brush is in the right drawer." He heard Baekhyun which made him blush even more.

After getting his hair to cooperate (and trying to get over the embarrassment), Sehun managed to get himself out of the comforts of the bathroom.

"I ate while you were in the bathroom. Sorry for waking you up so early, but I am late for work. If you need anything to eat there's some food in the fridge, but if that still isn't enough my friend, Jongin, runs a Chinese restaurant down the street. It's the only one around here, so it's hard to miss. Oh, and here's my number. You can always wear any of my clothes. You know where my closet is right?" Baekhyun was voicing his monologue as he continued to get ready to go to work. He passed Sehun a business card of Jongin's restaurant and his own number. Right as he was leaving the apartment, Baekhyun pulled out some money and stuffed it into Sehun's hands. "Just in case. Oh, and you know where the spare key is right?" Baekhyun pointed to the pot, which used to hold a living plant, and held up his fingers in the form of an "ok." 

Sehun waved him off as he ran down the hall where Kyungsoo was already waiting for him.

"Good morning, Sehun! Bye, Sehun!" Kyungsoo called out as Baekhyun dragged him into the elevator. Kyungsoo never failed to amuse Sehun, and the echoes of his voice remained long after the two were gone.

He wondered to himself how he had only met such kind-hearted strangers after 24 years.

---//---

He spent the rest of his morning idly at Baekhyun's place. (Was it okay to call it their place yet?) By lunch time, he decided to go to his grandmother's (Was that his home too?) home and get some of his clothes.

Sehun changed into some of Baekhyun’s casual clothes and stuffed the business card, Baekhyun's number, and the money into his pocket. He made sure the spare key was where it was supposed to be and locked up the place before walking out. He never liked walking outside, and especially not in daylight. He liked staying in his room, away from the world. Away from humanity.

But in the span of a few hours, which totaled up to be less than 1% of his whole life, he had changed. Sehun hated to acknowledge it, but Baekhyun had easily crumbled up a lifetime of hatred and desperation. He wasn't even sure if Baekhyun was aware of it. Sehun was almost a different person, all thanks to Byun Baekhyun, and for that he believed he would be forever indebted to Baekhyun.

And maybe that's why he couldn't leave Baekhyun's side. He could just go back to his grandmother and take care of her. It wouldn't take much effort, but he wanted to repay Baekhyun somehow before he left his side. As much as he loved his grandmother, he found another reason to live. And-honestly-it felt great.

---//---

It didn't take long for Sehun to pack up some of his clothes and leave yet another letter for his grandmother. He also jotted down Baekhyun's number in case she needed anything, since he didn't have a cellphone of his own.

He realized he was very hungry, and remembered Baekhyun's friend's restaurant and headed off into that direction. When he got there, he was seated and ordered some chow mein.

Sehun looked around while waiting for his food and spotted a man around his age casually talking to one of the waitresses. He had his hands tucked in his front pockets and was leaning against the wall slightly. Sehun didn't mean to but he stared at the man long enough for him to feel his gaze and turn around.

Sehun didn't know how to react when the other man started walking towards him.

"Mind if I take a seat?" But he had already taken a seat across the table from him before he could pull himself back together.

Sehun couldn't get himself to look into the other's eyes and instead stole periodic glances. The other man had large, childish eyes, a mouth slightly pulled up on one side in a smirk, and dark, appealing skin. His hair fell delicately over his forehead, and he had an air of confidence Sehun could never achieve.

"I knew you'd come. I was waiting for you."

Sehun wondered if he was some kind of psychic.

"You're Sehun right? Oh Sehun."

Definitely psychic.

"Did you order already?" Sehun nodded. "Good because everything's on me today!"

Maybe he was a psychic hitting on him..

"I want to say that I've heard a lot about you, but Baekhyun didn't say much."

Baekhyun? Oh. Oh.

"Jongin?"

"That's me." Jongin stuck out a hand, and Sehun shook it. "Baekhyun called me earlier to look out for a good-looking guy, and I knew it was you just as I saw you."

Sehun couldn't tell if he was being flirty or if he was like that with everyone. He shuddered slightly when Jongin winked at him.

"Man, you are quiet."

Sehun was rescued from Jongin, momentarily, when the food came out. He was about to take the first bite when Jongin suddenly yelled.

"Wait!"

Sehun sat frozen with his chopsticks hanging with food halfway to his mouth that was hanging open. Out of nowhere Jongin pulled out his phone and snapped a picture.

"Perfect. Well, enjoy your meal." And with that Jongin got up and disappeared behind the counter. Sehun was starting to think Baekhyun's friends as well as Baekhyun himself were just all weird. He hoped the other friend, the deer specialist--Muhan? Luhen?--was somewhat normal.

He was able to finish his meal without being too bothered by Jongin, who came by every now and then to ask how the food was. One of the waitresses had apologized on behalf of her boss's behavior. ("Even though he's my boss, he can be very embarrassing.." she had whispered.)

"Thanks for the meal, Jongin. I'll see you around, I guess." Sehun was rushing out the door with his bag of clothes in his arms rather than on his back. He was too much in a hurry to get away from this guy to put his bag on properly.

"Bye, Sehun! Come again soon!" Jongin ran out the door to yell his salutation at Sehun. People stared, and Sehun tried to hide his face behind his bag, but it didn’t help that Jongin kept screaming his name and jumping up and down, waving with such zeal.

Sehun practically ran back to Baekhyun’s place after that.