Kyungsoo clutched his stomach, biting his lip as the sound it made rumbled throughout the alleyway. He peeked at the sky, trying to determine what time it was. The grayish hue didn't help him anyhow, and so Kyungsoo decided to just get over his embarrassment and look for some food before he starved to death. He gulped as his bare feet touched the gravel of the sidewalk. 

Now, Kyungsoo. Just get out there and look for something. Anything! There's a pizza parlor to your left and a burger joint to your right, across the street. Pick whichever looks less busy and--

He was halfway to the burger joint, blending into the crowd of high schoolers that passed his alley. Of course, there was the fact that he didn't have shoes or a decent pair of clothes (hey, rags were better than going !), but he hoped his face would distract them from noticing. Well, at least until he got to the restaurant. 

He ducked behind a street sign, then skidded to the employees' parking lot, slipping past the back doors unseen. As Kyungsoo reached for the lid of the dumpster, the back door swiveled open, revealing a tall, scrawny teenager with orange hair. Kyungsoo quickly crouched down and crawled to the side of the garbage can, back against the wall. He tried to even out his breaths, despite his heart beating rapidly against his ribcage. 

The teen was being scolded, apparently for adding pickles to the burger, Kyungsoo strained to hear. The chef had a hoarse voice, bellowing across the parking lot, screaming at the kid to listen properly next time and to throw out the messed up 'junk'. Kyungsoo's heart leaped out of his chest in joy. Food! it cried. He clasped his hands together, silently sending God his thanks. 

Footsteps coming closer made his eyes widen midway. The footsteps stopped, but Kyungsoo didn't hear the dumpster opening. Did the employee see him? Was he caught? The footsteps resumed, only to sound closer to where Kyungsoo was hiding. The homeless male pressed himself closer to the dumpster, eyes squeezed shut. Then the footsteps paused, and Kyungsoo heard, "Hey." 

Slowly opening his eyes, Kyungsoo peered up at the employee. He felt himself tear up, shame and embarrassment gnawing at his insides. This is why he hated eating... It meant he had to rummage through trash cans and beg for food. It tore up the last shreds of his pride and dignity. And people sympathized him, gave him those sad, sad eyes as if they wished they could do something, but couldn't. 

But instead of giving him a weird look or cursing at him like most did, the teenager got down on one knee and extended his arm with the 'diseased' burger. "Here, have this. We were going to throw it out anyways." He seemed to realize that that didn't sound so appetizing and tried to cover it up. "But it's okay! There's nothing wrong with it! It's not spoiled, I swear. Just has pickles. Do you like pickles?" He added the last question with a smile.

Kyungsoo remained silent, frozen with fear. Why was he so nice? Wasn't he going to tell his boss and have him kicked out? While Kyungsoo was debating with himself, another employee stepped outside. 

"Chanyeol! I'm so sorry! I forget to tell you no pickles... I got you in trouble..." Chanyeol, who was supposedly the one trying to offer Kyungsoo the burger, turned to his friend and shh-ed him. "Baek, look," he simply said, turning back to Kyungsoo. Baek, or so Kyungsoo later learned, Baekhyun, raised and eyebrow, but did so anyways, muttering something along the lines of, "Chanyeol, you are so weird for looking behind the dumpster." 

"Oh," Baekhyun gaped. He took a few steps closer, freezing when Kyungsoo flinched. "Hey, my name is Baekhyun. And this is Chanyeol. We're not going to hurt you, we're just workers." Baekhyun explained. "We want to give you some food, too. Is that alright?" 

Kyungsoo looked back and forth between Baekhyun and Chanyeol before nodding. His stomach felt hollow and if he didn't get any food in there now, he'd probably pass out soon. Baekhyun nudged Chanyeol, who scooted forward and placed the box on the floor. Kyungsoo timidly reached for it, and then quickly snatched it off the ground, hugging it to his chest. 

He made a move to stand up and run, but Baekhyun forced him to sit back down. "Woah, woah, calm down. Sit down and eat, there's no rush." Kyungsoo obeyed, not because he was afraid, but because Baekhyun's voice was anything but demanding. It was hushed, motherly. He decided to stay a little longer, decided to listen to that soothening voice for just a few more minutes. 

It made him feel not so alone. 

With shaky fingers, Kyungsoo opened the box. He his lips as he brought the burger to his mouth, his stomach growling. And then he dove in. Throughout his munching and swallowing, Baekhyun whispered something to Chanyeol, who left, then tried to start a conversation.

"What's your name?" 

Kyungsoo blinked, shifting to get into a more comfortable position on the ground. "D-D.O.," he stuttered. He didn't trust these strangers enough to give him his real name. Baekhyun seemed to understand, backing away from personal subjects.

"So D.O., are you... are you by yourself?" 

Kyungsoo nodded, finishing the burger in one bite. 

"Where... How long..." The male struggled to speak, not wanting to scare Kyungsoo off or offend him in any way. He wanted to help, Kyungsoo understood that much. But....

"It's better if you don't know, Baekhyun-ssi," Kyungsoo warned. Baekhyun frowned. He opened his mouth to say something when Chanyeol returned with a bag. The former sighed and shook his head, choosing not to ask why. 

"We wanted to give you this," Chanyeol said, placing the bag on the floor. Kyungsoo nodded, his thanks disappearing in the wisps of the night air. It was getting darker. He needed to get back to his alley now. 

"I don't know how I could ever repay you..." 

"Stay," Baekhyun suggested. "It's supposed to be really cold tonight, it might even rain! Stay with us for a night, please? We can find some living arrangements for you tomorrow, if you'd like. We just don't..." He looked to Chanyeol for help. "We don't want you out there by yourself." 

Kyungsoo felt his heart swarm with Baekhyun's words. It sounded perfect, a spotless plan. But how could Kyungsoo trouble these nice people? He shook his head, thanking the two men again. Before Baekhyun could get any more words out, he grabbed the bag and ran off. 

"D.O.!" 

D.O.!

D.O.!

Kyungsoo!

He couldn't hear anything over his breathing, not even his feet slapping against the pavement. It hurt. He could feel little rocks stabbing his heels, tearing at the dirtied skin. He felt something wet on his cheek, then his arm and the back of his neck. It's raining. But he didn't stop until he reached his alley, couldn't stop. 

After he crossed the street, something black caught his eye. He slowed down, squinting past the bright shop lights. Through the sprinkles of rain, Kyungsoo spotted what had caught his attention. A puppy. He was about to leave, he needed to if he wanted to make it in time, but his heart wouldn't let his feet move. 

Run, kid! his brain screamed.

Don't leave the puppy, his heart wailed. 

Cursing in the night air, Kyungsoo squatted and whistled, trying to attract the puppy's attention. The puppy looked up at his first whistle. "Come here," Kyungsoo urged, clicking his tongue. He clapped his hands as well, gesturing to the puppy to come closer. "Come here, cutie. Come to me! It's cold, isn't it? I'll find a warm place for you. Come here!" 

The puppy trotted to him on little tiny baby legs, slipping a few times. Kyungsoo laughed and scooped the pup into his arms. It was too cute! He searched for a collar, or any sign that it belonged to someone, but found nothing. Was this pup a stray? He held the pup in front of him, scanning the pup's face for any scars. The pup stared right back at him, big eyes darting and floppy ears too adorable. 

He's just like me. A stray. 

Kyungsoo grinned and rubbed their noses together. "Come on, little one. Let's find some place warm. We're going to get sick if we stay out in the rain." He jogged the rest of the way to his alley, eyes open to make sure he was on time. The streets were mostly empty, the street lights not on yet, but flickering. Relief gushed through his chest, and he relaxed. He made it on time.

Ducking under pieces of wood and clambering over baskets and trash cans, Kyungsoo managed to crawl inside his box house. It was dry (thanks to the sheets of wire, plastic, and metal) and not too small. Big enough to fit Kyungsoo and the puppy. Grabbing the sheets in the corner, Kyungsoo created a dog bed and placed the puppy in the middle, wrapping it up tightly. 

The puppy snuggled, closing its eyes. And then it got up and for the first barked at him. Kyungsoo backed away in surprise, eyes widening and hands thrown in the air. He had never had a puppy bark at him. What did it want? Did he do something wrong? The pup nudged the sheets closer to him with its nose, looking back at him with equally big eyes and barked once again. 

Kyungsoo broke into a fit of giggles. "Oh, you are too kind! Thank you!" He covered himself with a small portion of the blanket, grinning. "Happy now? Let's sleep, puppy. You don't want to be awake when the moon is out." 

As if the puppy could understand, it laid down, closing its eyes. Kyungsoo did the same, a small smile on his lips.