Baekhyun stood at the corner of a slate-gray building, rain water dripping off his hood, not succeeding in keeping the rain off his face. He had been scoping out the store across the street for an hour, trying to figure out the best time to steal. Living in a poor orphanage and quite literally living off the streets had turned Baekhyun hard and hungry. The simple smell of freshly-baked made him salivate. All he needed was the front clerk to turn for two seconds... now was his chance!

Baekhyun dashed across the street, his thin form easily making it through the crowded market. Each step brought him closer to easing the gnawing in his stomach. His hand reached out to grab the small loaf when a hand snatched at his wrist. The hand wretched painfully and Baekhyun gasped out. It felt like his bones were grinding together.

“You will not steal from me, boy,” The owner of the store sneered. “You street rats aren’t going to take one more penny from me.”

“It’s stale, you’re only going to—” Baekhyun was cut off as he grimaced at the pressure of the man’s hand.

“I’m going to teach you a lesson, you dirty, scrawny, piece of !” With that proclamation, the owner threw Baekhyun to the ground. Baekhyun felt both the water seep into his clothes and the kicks to his ribs, punctuated by the horrible adjectives. This was his life, in a nut shell.

“What’s going on here?” boomed a new voice.

The kicking mercifully stopped. “Just another thief, sir. Nothing you need to worry about.”

“If he stole, why not report him to the authorities? Do you really need to beat him?” questioned the voice.

Baekhyun slowly uncurled from the fetal position, still wary of the owner. He peeked up at his rescuer and was confused at what he found. A young man, probably around the same age as him, was holding an umbrella. His curly, auburn hair made him stick out, but his face contrasted with the deep voice.

The owner saw Baekhyun relax and brought a foot down on Baekhyun’s chest, pushing his air out. “If you don’t teach them respect, they’ll steal again.”

Both the owner and the rescuer were looking at Baekhyun with different expressions. The owner had pure distaste written all over his face while the rescuer was simply curious.

The rescuer made a suggestion that completely baffled Baekhyun and the owner: “I’ll take him to the authorities. You’re a busy business man, let me help you out.”

The owner had to remove his jaw from the floor. He turned from shocked to detached. He shrugged. “Do what you want with him.”

The guy watched the owner walk away and then focused on Baekhyun. “My name is Chanyeol, what’s yours?” Chanyeol offered a friendly hand up.

Baekhyun stared at the offered hand. He had learned early in life, no offers of help came free. He pushed the hand away and got himself up. He took inventory of his injuries; maybe a cracked rib, but for sure he was bleeding from several cuts.

Chanyeol grinned at Baekhyun regardless of the rudeness. “Do you need some help patching up? My place isn’t far from here. I was actually just shopping for diner...” Chanyeol shook the basket he was holding, with various vegetables sticking out.

“Aren’t you supposed to be taking me to the cops?” Baekhyun spit out.

“I just wanted him to stop hitting you.”

Baekhyun eyed Chanyeol suspiciously. No one was that friendly in the city. You didn’t just invite a stranger in your home, little lone a person who may or may not have just attempted to steal.

“Come on,” Chanyeol encouraged. “I’ve got a spare set of clothes and you can get warm. Can’t say no to that,” he chuckled with that deep voice.

Could he really say no to a dry place with a warm meal, Baekhyun wondered. “Lead the way,” he said coldly, motioning with his head.

Chanyeol whistled cheerfully, making sure Baekhyun was under his umbrella. Baekhyun thought it was pointless, having practically soaked up all the water from the street already, but let the nicety slide. Baekhyun was still blown away that this random person would intervene on his behalf.

“So... do you steal for thrills or because you have to?” Chanyeol asked.

“Believe me, if I didn’t have to steal to not be hungry, I wouldn’t,” Baekhyun revealed.

Chanyeol nodded, like they were having a normal conversation. He stopped at a door and pulled some keys out. They jingled as he unlocked the door. With a grunt, Chanyeol shouldered the door open and flicked on some lights. Baekhyun pulled his hood down and took a look around. It wasn’t a nice place. The ceiling was showing water damage and the walls were grimy but it was a home. Baekhyun didn’t know where to go, mindful of the water already pooling around him.

Chanyeol put his umbrella away, hung his jacket up and placed his basket on a small table that wobbled slightly. “The bedroom is the second door on the left. You should find some clean clothes. I’ll start on the food in the meantime.” Chanyeol said, already pulling out a knife to chop up the vegetables.

Baekhyun hesitantly pushed open the door. A single blub hung, flickering. Out of habit, Baekhyun checked for anything worth stealing, but it seemed like Chanyeol only had the necessities. He found some new clothes and gladly took his own wet and dirty clothes off. Now they had acquired some blood stains as well. Baekhyun threw his frustration with his clothes onto the floor.

“I hope you like soup because it’s my specialty.”Chanyeol yelled from the kitchen. “Well, it’s the only thing I know how to make,” he laughed at his own silliness.

“Any food is food to me,” Baekhyun mumbled to himself.

Chanyeol’s clothes immediately too big but who was he to complain? They even smelled clean which was a luxury to Baekhyun. He shook his head. He hadn’t cared what he looked like in years, why would it matter now?

Baekhyun found Chanyeol blowing at a spoon over a boiling pot. He offered it to Baekhyun. “Taste test?” Chanyeol watched Baekhyun as he took the hot spoon in his mouth. Baekhyun’s eyes widened at the explosion of flavor on his tongue. Chanyeol broke into another wide grin. “I’ll take that as Oh my god, that’s delicious.”

Chanyeol turned the burner down and moved to the bedroom. “I’ll clean these for you,” he said. When Chanyeol came out of his room, his nose was wrinkled up. “Maybe I’ll wash it more than once.”

Shame and anger flashed through Baekhyun. He didn’t need a complete stranger looking down on him. He reached for the offending clothing. “Never mind! I’ll just leave, if it’s that disgusting.”

“What? No! I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to insult you!” Chanyeol burst out. To Baekhyun, it seemed like Chanyeol was worried he’d leave.

Baekhyun’s anger cooled slightly but not enough to remove the snap in his voice. “Why are you helping me anyways?”

Chanyeol colored. “I’m from a small town. You always help a person in need there. It’s always stuck with me, I guess.”

The two of them ate in silence once the soup was done. Baekhyun ate three servings to Chanyeol’s one. He didn’t even care that he burnt his tongue; the sensation of food in this stomach was his primary goal.

Chanyeol cleaned up and then brought a first aid kit from above the fridge. “I should take a look at your ribs, they’re probably—”

 Baekhyun slapped Chanyeol’s fingers away, before they pulled up his shirt. Baekhyun could feel his face getting warm. Why was he reacting this way? They were both men, after all. Baekhyun removed his own shirt instead, realizing he may have worse injuries then he thought, from the amount of pain vibrating through his body.

Chanyeol clucked his tongue at the beginnings of bruises and oozing cuts. “That guy really had it in for you, huh?” Chanyeol reached into the first aid kit and took out some bottles and bandages. For some reason, Baekhyun couldn’t understand himself, he let Chanyeol administer the cleaning and wrapping up. Baekhyun studied his rescuer some more. There was a curl that just kept falling into Chanyeol’s eye, making it twitch. Baekhyun had the strong urge to brush it out of the way—

“All done!” announced Chanyeol, happy to have been of more help.

Baekhyun whipped his hand back, suddenly conscious of his actions. What had he been thinking? He had to get out of here as soon as possible. Chanyeol was... making him do weird things.

Chanyeol fussed with the wrapping around Baekhyun’s ribs. “I think that will hold up to water, did you want to take a shower?”

“A shower would be—” In all honesty, Baekhyun couldn’t remember the last time he was fully immersed in water. “I... it could get really dirty...”

Baekhyun felt blinded by the happy grin that appeared on Chanyeol’s face again. This guy was all sunshine and rainbows, to a fault. It was opposite to Baekhyun’s developed pessimistic attitude. It was... different? Baekhyun didn’t know how to describe it, but it was like Chanyeol’s happy-go-lucky attitude gave him a kernel of hope, that things in the future might work out.

Baekhyun cocked his head and actually smiled to Chanyeol. Chanyeol froze from getting up. Baekhyun offered his hand and said “Chanyeol, it’s nice to finally meet someone who would stop and help me. My name is Baekhyun.”

Chanyeol wrapped his hand around Baekhyun’s and squeezed gently. “I’m glad I could help. Now hurry and get a shower! I don’t want to sleep beside someone unless they smell squeaky clean.”

“Sle-sleep beside you...” Baekhyun squirmed uncomfortably.

Chanyeol took his hand back and scratched the back of his head. “I mean, you look like you need a place to stay. If you want to, that is.”

Baekhyun just couldn’t believe it. This was exactly what he needed to get on his feet and more towards a better life. “Chanyeol, I’d love to sleep with you! I mean—sleep here. Thank you.”

“Go then. Get clean and I’ll be right here, waiting for you.”

Chanyeol’s words knocked the wind from Baekhyun. To have someone to depend on, after living twenty odd years alone, was so unfamiliar to him. But that simple promise rocked his world. As Baekhyun stripped and the hot water hit his body, he found himself thinking, I hope you’ll always be there.