“This is the living room,” Baekhyun says, gesturing to the small couch and analog TV set. “And in here,” he leads Sehun into a narrow hallway, “is the room you’ll be staying in.”

Sehun cringes at the flowery bed set, the lacy curtains, and the teddy bears lined uop on the windowsill.

The small motion doesn’t escape Baekhyun’s observant eyes. “We can work on interior decorating later,” he says, defensive. “It was a last minute decision to take you on, so I didn’t get a chance to... get rid of this.”

“Did someone else use this room before?” Sehun asks, equally as sharp as the detective.

“Okay, next room!” Baekhyun exclaims loudly. He’s hiding something. A past relationship? A sister? Sehun runs scenarios through his mind. “This is my room. And next door, my study. Do not come in here without knocking. Ever. You understand?”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” Sehun glances at the door handle of Baekhyun’s room and realizes there’s no lock. Score. But there’s a lock on the study door. It’s flimsy though, old and rusty like the rest of the house, and with a hairpin or two, it will be no match for Sehun.

“So you really have no stuff with you,” Baekhyun says with disbelief.

“No. I had to leave everything behind.”

“Why don’t we go shopping then? You’re starting school tomorrow, so we better get you settled beforehand.”

They drive to the mall in Baekhyun’s old dark blue Toyota Camry, Sehun staring out at the residential neighborhoods flying by. He’s lived in this town his whole life, but only the dark alleyways are familiar to him, so the picturesque suburb feels like a completely new place.

Sehun is thrown against the window as the car swerves to the side. Baekhyun brakes suddenly, and Sehun cradles his neck from the whiplash.

“What’s going on?” Sehun asks, panicking.

Baekhyun looks back at the teenage boy in his rearview mirror. “What do you mean?”

“Do you always drive like this?”

"Like what?" Baekhyun really has no idea.

“Never mind,” Sehun sighs, “Just don’t make any sudden turns. I’m getting car sick.”

“Hang in there, we’re almost to the mall. I just got the car cleaned so don’t get any barf on the seats.”

“Good to know you care.” Sehun can’t really tell whether he’s joking around with his new guardian or insulting him. He decides it’s a mixture of the two. On second thought, Sehun realizes it might be a good idea to get Baekhyun to trust him. It would be so much easier to go through his stuff, wouldn’t it? But Sehun can’t make it obvious. He needs to let the friendship develop naturally. Standoffish it is. In the beginning, at least.

“So, what exactly do we need to get you?” Baekhyun scrutinizes the map of the mall, pointing out cheap clothing boutiques and a drug store the size of a department store. “You’re going to a public school with uniforms. They sent me yours yesterday, but you still need some shirts and pants for the weekends. And pajamas. And you need a toothbrush, but I have toothpaste you can use at home. What else?” Sehun shrugs, so Baekhyun takes the lead and drags the boy through the throngs of shoppers.

“Here’s one,” Baekhyun says, pointing at a store.

“How old do you think I am?” Sehun protests, pointing out the toddler-size footie pajamas in the display case.

“Uhh, this one?”

“This is a women’s lingerie store!”

“How about this one?”

“Are you really going to buy me a 300 dollar dress shirt?”

“Fine, you look for stores!” Baekhyun gives a frustrated whine, and Sehun is taken aback. When he’s off duty, the detective has an almost... cute side to him, Sehun realizes with surprise. Luna did say he was only 22.

“Why didn’t you ask earlier?” Sehun takes the map and immediately finds a men’s store with reasonable prices. But he stops in front of the brand-new clothes, realizing he doesn’t really know how to shop. He doesn’t even know where all of his old clothes came from.
Baekhyun starts rummaging through the racks, piling more and more clothes on his arm.

“What are you waiting for, Oh Sehun?” Baekhyun looks over his shoulder at the frozen boy.

“Can I just take these off the rack if I like them?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve never gone shopping before!” At Sehun’s blank stare, Baekhyun lets out an exaggerated sigh. “It’s like you’ve been living with wolves your whole life!” He loads his armful of clothes onto Sehun and points him towards the dressing room. “You can try them on there. Come out when you’ve put something on so I can see how it looks.”

Sehun closes the door and pulls on a fitted long sleeve shirt. “Wow.” Without his old clothes, he doesn’t look homeless anymore. The years of hard street life have given him a wiry physique, which the slim-fitting shirt emphasizes.

“Hello? Did you try a shirt on yet?” Baekhyun’s voice sounds muffled through the wooden door. Sehun steps out obediently and Baekhyun gasps. “You look like a model! Wait, try these on.” He runs around the store, ransacking the shelves. Sehun tries on outfit after outfit, and suddenly the quick mall trip has turned into a fashion show. Baekhyun is like an excited puppy, supplying mountains of clothes and throwing out comments like an announcer. Sehun feels himself getting lightheaded from the dizzying speed of the clothes being thrown at him.

“Excuse me, sirs, I was just wondering if you were going to be done any time soon,” a store employee finally approaches the dressing room, which looks like it’s suffered a direct hit from a tornado.

“Give us just a few minutes to make up our minds,” Baekhyun says, slipping into his professional voice. Sehun throws him a glance that says, “really?” and Baekhyun winks in reply.

“Come on, Sehun, make a choice already!” the detective says, putting on a show for the employee.

“Okay, but please be done in five minutes.” The employee returns to the cash register and Baekhyun gathers all the clothes into a pile.

“I think you should get this, and this, and- oh! You need to get that!”

“Do what you want,” Sehun says, having already given up ten minutes ago.

They leave the store with several large bags, Baekhyun humming happily and Sehun barely standing. “What store should we check out next?”

“I think this is plenty for now,” Sehun says, not very eager to repeat the same experience again.

“Suit yourself.”

They visit the drug store for a toothbrush and some soap. Sehun quietly slips a pack of hairpins into the shopping basket, remembering the lock on the study door.

The two head back to Baekhyun’s house. When they pull into the driveway, a man is standing at the entrance, digging through the mailbox. “Hey, detective,” Sehun says, “better go arrest that suspicious man before he steals all your bills.” Baekhyun looks up in confusion, then bursts out laughing when he sees the man.

“That’s just Chanyeol. I forgot to tell you, my house is actually a condo. His entrance is on the side of the house, so it’s hidden by all the trees and bushes.” The detective opens the car door and steps onto the driveway. “Hey, Chanyeol! I need to introduce you to the kid I said I was taking care of for a while.”

Sehun realizes Chanyeol is extremely tall when he stands up straight. He has a mischievous glint in his eyes and a big mane of hair that frames his young face. Sehun guesses he’s about Baekhyun’s age.

“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Chanyeol.” Sehun’s eyes widen in surprise. Chanyeol laughs good-naturedly. “I know. It’s the voice, right?” Even Chanyeol’s laugh is in a deep bass. Sehun shakes the tall man’s hand, a little intimidated.

“Chanyeol’s a policeman,” Baekhyun reveals. “We’re collaborating on the same case, so if you really don’t trust me, don’t be afraid to talk to him.” Yeah, right. Sehun doesn’t plan on telling them anything, now or later.

“It was good meeting you,” Chanyeol says, and walks to his door, brushing away several branches to get to it.

“See you later, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun waves.
 

Unlocking his own door, the detective immediately shuts himself in his study. Sehun sits down in his room, getting a pair of scissors and cutting the tags off of all of his new clothes. He hears frantic typing from across the hallway and the shuffling of papers. Getting the hairpins out of the plastic bag from the drugstore, Sehun pulls one off of the packaging and weighs it in his hand.

Watch out, detective. I’m armed now.