Narrator's POV

"Ya, you mismatched your left and right shoes," Hwayoung exclaimed and helped remove both, interchanging them. Chanyeol just sat, comprehending what the difference was between the two shoes and why they could not be interchanged. The girl, after wearing his shoes properly on him, wore her own.

Snapping her fingers to catch his attention, "See those laces?" she asked and pointed to the loose laces. "We have to tie them together properly in a knot so we won't trip, arasseo?" The wide-eyed boy nodded, although not completely understanding everything, and held onto the laces with both hands just as she did so.

"Jalhanda." She patted his head. "Now tying shoelaces can be tricky, but since you're a quick learner, I don't think this will be a problem if you just watch closely," Hwayoung mumbled under her breath before starting to loop one over the other and pulling ends to make the knot tighter. Folding both into halves, she knotted them again together, creating a nicely tied shoe.

She watched him struggle, wondering which lace to loop over the other. "Just do as I had shown you," Hwayoung encouraged. When Chanyeol finished, the entire knot fell apart and nearly got tangled. "Aish, you tied them too loosely. Do it again," she instructed, and the boy obliged, imitating exactly how she did it.

"Do it again on your other shoe," the girl ordered, and Chanyeol did so without any difficulty. He looked over to where she was, seeking for approval. "Well done," she muttered and finished tying her own shoes. "It took me a lot of practices before to get it right and here you go just learning it in not even an hour..." she grumbled under her breath.

Chanyeol sat, wondering if he had done something wrong and immediately double-checked his shoes. When he was sure nothing was wrong with them, he glanced back at the girl, who praised him already but forgot something.

Actions speak louder than words, and so the boy bowed down, his head nearly resting on top of Hwayoung's lap. The girl stopped her mumblings and stared at the back of the Chanyeol's head. Her lips twitched threateningly as she saw the boy diligently waiting to be pet by her. Gently, she patted his head, ruffling his hair a bit before she stood up and urged the boy to follow her towards the door.

By then, she saw Mijeong about to walk out of the gates of their home. Immediately rushing towards her, “OMMA!” Hwayoung hollered effectively, earning her mother’s attention.

She panted while Chanyeol, who was by her side just that minute, didn’t feel the least bit tired as she was. “What is it, Hwayoung?” Mijeong asked, puzzled.

The girl lifted her head with a playful smile on her face. “Where are you going, omma?” 

“To the market," the woman responded. "Why, do you want to come?" she added, after seeing Chanyeol beside her daughter like they were stuck together with glue. Ever since the incident with Mr. Jeong, Hwayoung had kept the boy close to her sight, worried that Mr. Jeong could return and take him away. Her parents didn't mind, though, because they had always hoped for a sibling for their one and only Hwayoung.

The girl curtly nodded before disappearing back into their house, quickly taking Chanyeol's trench coat and hers from the coat rack. “Let’s go, omma!” she exclaimed a little too excitedly, fixing Chanyeol’s coat as they made their way to the market. Mijeong, on the other hand, kept throwing quick glances at Hwayoung and wondering if her daughter had woken up on the right side of the bed to feel this jumpy.

"If only Chanyeol had a tail, it would have already wagged endlessly," commented Mijeong with a chuckle. Maybe the boy had missed the outdoors after living with them for almost two weeks and just staying inside. As they walked to the marketplace, the boy found everything interesting – from the chirping birds and the sound of their fluttering wings to the seemingly endless stretch of horizon.

Arriving at the market moments after and pushing past the increasing crowd, Hwayoung made sure to keep an eye on Chanyeol. The boy, in return, gaped at what he saw like everything crammed into the busy streets was worthy of recognition. His eyes widened in pure amazement and his strong sense of smell didn’t fail him as he found himself standing in front of a fishcake stall minutes later.

“Do you think this will suit Chanyeol?” Mijeong took a brown colored pair of pants among the piles of clothes that were being sold, nudging Hwayoung for her opinion.

“Isn’t that too short for him omma?” the girl replied, eyeing the slacks which would surely reach only up to Chanyeol’s ankles. Carefully, she started sifting through the rack before she found a black pair of pants which was long enough for the said boy. "This one would fit him perfectly."

“Chanyeol, do you like this?” Hwayoung turned to him. She saw the next stall selling more clothes and the stall after that offering reasonable discounts. She saw a little girl hold onto her mother's hand tightly, afraid to get lost. She saw an old man pat his jeans pocket nervously, afraid to have his wallet stolen. She saw all of these, but no Chanyeol anywhere.

“Omma, did you see him?” The girl turned to her mother, panicking.

Alarmed, Mijeong scanned her surroundings before shrugging her shoulders at Hwayoung. Immediately, the girl ran, passing through the thick crowd. “Park Chanyeol, where are you? Yah! Park Chanyeol!” she frantically called out, hoping that the boy would recognize her voice and find his way back to her. Before she could possibly lose her mind, Hwayoung felt a tug on her wrist. The next thing she knew, her mother was leading her to the spot where there were a lot of food stalls.

“He’s there, Hwayoung. Stop your needless panicking," her mother nearly scolded.

The boy was sniffing the fishcake meticulously and was about to grab one when the vendor slapped his hands away. “What do you think you’re doing, young man?” he reprimanded until Mijeong cleared .

“And what do you think you’re doing to my son?” she snapped back at him. The man lowered his gaze, clearly embarrassed, before giving out a too enthusiastic yet fake smile.

“Eh, your son is such a handsome lad and your daughter is pretty too. Would you like to have some?” he offered and Hwayoung scoffed.

“Yes, please. Give them one each and don’t worry I would pay,” the woman stated, emphasizing on the last word. The vendor giddily took two sticks of fishcakes and handed it to both Hwayoung and Chanyeol.

“Whoa, careful there, Chanyeol,” Hwayoung warned the lad who instantly munched on the newly cooked fishcake and burned his tongue. She then took a bite from her own fishcake, showing Chanyeol how he should blow on it first. But then the boy’s attention had already took off from the girl to the construction work that was being done on the bridge hovering above them.

He stared at the barrels on the edge of the bridge, his eyes scrutinizing the huge and sturdy stacks of metal which were closely supervised by the town's engineer. Chanyeol would occasionally chew on his fishcake until Hwayoung intertwined their hands together. “Let’s go," she ordered. “I can’t waste anymore of our time if ever you got lost again.”

She pulled his hand and there were shrieks of surprise and fear from around them. Hwayoung, looking down at their hands, wondered what was so wrong about holding hands in public when it was for the boy's own safety. Her mother also gasped and proceeded to cover with her hand. "What is it now, omma?" the girl nearly complained, until she noticed how her mother – and everyone else, for that matter – wasn't looking at her.

Their criticizing gazes were zeroed in on the first construction worker to let out a surprised yelp after one barrel rolled off the bridge. And the single barrel was followed by another and another, until the crowd went all over the place just trying to avoid getting dragged into the accident. If the wooden barrels weren't enough to cause a stampede, the falling lengths of metal did the trick.

Fortunately, the first one fell directly over a wheelbarrow. Hwayoung covered her ears while Chanyeol blankly stared at the commotion as he blew on his fishcake. With the loud impact, Mijeong clutched her chest and felt like fainting any moment. Just when she took a deep breath, thinking the worst had already come, another steel bar came tumbling down from the bridge. 

"Look out!" the engineer exclaimed in horror as the metal fell. Looking above, Hwayoung froze while the steel shielded her eyes from the sunlight. To her, the gravitational pull of danger took about an entire minute like in a slow motion movie. She swore she could have even touched the steel as it neared her head, but Chanyeol already pulled her into his arms, shielding her from the impact in a speed faster than a human’s ability.

If it was an entire minute to the girl, it only took half a heartbeat to the rest who had witnessed the exact scene. In utter shock, Mijeong collapsed on the ground just in time as the steel collided with Chanyeol's shoulder – the sound was like metal clashing metal or, in other words, inhuman. It was as if time froze on the entire marketplace. No one could say anything or even move an inch.

The once busy street soon snapped out of their surprised trance, with eyes all focused towards the girl who was yet to experience the pain of  feeling her body collide with metal. Increasing gasps and screams could be heard as the moment flashed by all too quickly in front of everybody’s eyes while the boy's hands remained clasped around Hwayoung.

She opened her eyes and felt the familiar warmth around her, with her fear disappearing as quickly as it came. “Chanyeol?” she spoke, her voice unsteady due to the shock. She was quivering and shaking under his towering arms and tilted her head to get a better view on the boy who might have just saved her life in expense of his own.

His tall stature hovered above her and the whole place was left like a silent sanctuary. Hwayoung's eyes widened as the realization struck her hard. She shrugged away from Chanyeol's grip. He, in turn, squinted his eyes, wondering why everyone seemed to be looking at him, and shrugged the metal off, letting it fall to the ground loudly. The people didn't need to look closely, as the dent on the steel was too obvious to ignore.

“Oh my gosh, you should bring him to the hospital," one of the staring passerby spoke while Mijeong was still in a state of shock..

Her face drained of blood, "Ch-chanyeol..." Hwayoung muttered softly.

The said boy, blinking back at the girl, reached up to his shoulder, as if making sure his limbs were still intact. In the end, Chanyeol shifted his attention back to his ignored fishcake. But it was still a tad too warm for his sensitive mouth. And so he blew on it.

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Co-Author's note:

Hello everyone, it's me again sapphire_22! I hope you enjoyed this update by min_neulmi and me. And I'll kind of do some shameless advertising..lol If you do have time, I hope you could check up on my story A Cup of Love, Music & Soul. By the way to all the subscribers and those who upvoted, thank you. =)