chapter 15

Kyungsoo led Sehun to a vegetable stall that was packed with people they hardly could see the goods it sold. A big sign with '50 percent off' written in bold letters seemed to be the centre of the attraction. Kyungsoo's eyes popped at seeing the sign. His lithe body trembled, chest heaving up sharply. "Pumpkins," he mumbled, staring longingly at the rack in front of the stall. "I can't believe they're selling them with 50 percents discount oh my God," the boy squeaked and stumbled a bit. He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Grandpa would love a pumpkin pie for dessert. The yummy crust, sweet and warm filling... A whole pie filled with pumpkin goodness," Kyungsoo said dreamily.

He nodded firmly. "Wait here, Sehun! I'm gonna go get some yummy pumpkins first!" the boy folded his sleeves, getting ready to dive into the crowd. He took off his straw hat and gave it to Sehun. "Hold this. I need to be in my best shape," Kyungsoo said in determination.

Sehun swept his gaze over the petite boy in his self-declared best shape. "I'm coming with you," he quickly said.

"No. It's too dangerous for you. You have no experience in this." Kyungsoo nudged his head toward the crowd.

People (mostly middle-aged women) were pushing each other, hands from all directions were grabbing onto the rack, trying to reach the half-priced pumpkins. The situation was a complete chaos. Apparently for commoners, grocery stalls are a battle field, Sehun thought.

Sehun stared at the wild crowd, his heart fell as he saw women with various shapes and ages yelling at each other. A few even fought over the same pumpkins. He gulped nervously. "Can't we just get the un-discounted ones?"

Kyungsoo gasped dramatically, clutching his pained heart. "That would make us get 50 percents less than we should have. Less pumpkin for the same price. Less pumpkin pies." Kyungsoo stared at Sehun with a hurtful gaze.

"I have to go now, otherwise we would lose the best ones. Wait here, okay?"

Sehun could not catch Kyungsoo's last words as the boy was already getting into the crowd. His ponytail bounced as he strutted among tons of middle-aged women. Kyungsoo infiltrated into the core of attraction fast using the advantage of his small features, slipping between people expertly. Once in a while the boy bounced backward, but he dove back into the crowd right away. In the blink of an eye Kyungsoo's petite body had vanished among the sea of people.

Sehun sighed. He put Kyungsoo's straw hat into the bag and made sure he had placed it safely inside. He sighed for the umpteenth time. Taking a deep breath, he plunged himself into the crowd as well. Sehun knew Kyungsoo and marketplaces were a bad combination.

Kyungsoo had successfully secured a few pumpkins he meticulously picked when he suddenly could not feel the ground under his feet. The boy squeaked. He hugged his pumpkins tightly in his arms to not drop any. His feet swayed wildly, dangling in the thin air. Someone was lifting him by the underarms and carrying him out of the crowd effortlessly.

"It's me," Sehun said calmly. "You have found what you need. It's time to get you out of this," he murmured as he walked out the dangerous zone.

Kyungsoo took a deep breath. He was so shocked he swore his heart was going to jump out of his ribcage. "You scared me," he cried. Now that he had known his carrier -or lifter, Kyungsoo stopped struggling and decided to let Sehun carrying him like a sack of potatoes. He had got the pumpkins anyway; plus, it mesmerized him to actually see the upper part of people's heads.

"Apparently we forgot to bring our tall, handsome, and strong young men to carry us, what a shame," a woman seemingly in her forties commented to her friend, who replied, "I never knew we would need one here, I'm saving mine for the half-priced meat event."

Sehun, overhearing their conversation, blushed madly. He quickened his steps, causing the boy's feet sway unsteadily one foot above the ground.

***

Sehun opted Kyungsoo to look for another vegetable stall, a non-life-threatening one. Kyungsoo agreed. He was content enough to have his delicious, half-priced pumpkins, he decided to go along with the preposition (demand) without question, besides, the vegetable stall did not have any more items with discounted price.

Sehun narrowed his eyes, scanning the new vegetable stall Kyungsoo led him to. He ran his gaze around fast to search for any crowd of people or sale signs. There wasn't any. He breathed a sigh of relief. For once he would not have to worry of getting killed. He followed Kyungsoo, who walked his way confidently through the racks of groceries.

"Aunty!" The boy chirped.

An old woman with a smile on her face coming from the front side. She greeted them as she approached forward energetically. Her gray hair was pulled back to the nape neatly, leaving no room for untidiness. Everything on her screamed efficiency. The old woman walked passed Sehun, slapping his bottom fast. Twice. Without slowing down or looking at him. Talking about being efficient.

"What can I do for you, pretty girl?" She smiled fondly at Kyungsoo, then averted her eyes toward Sehun. She winked. "My, my, what a fine young man. If only I were ten years younger," she said with a sigh.

"How old are you, aunty?" Kyungsoo giggled.

"Seventy-four years young," the vegetable stall owner told Kyungsoo with a playful wink, earning a chirping laugh from the boy.

Sehun's face fell. He managed to dodge any kind of life threatening situation, but apparently ual harassment did not come with the survival package.

"I would like some asparagus, zucchinis, white mushrooms, 400 grams each, and also bell peppers and green onions 200 grams each please," Sehun heard Kyungsoo read out his groceries list. He grumbled, rubbing his bottom.

"Right away, dear." The old woman took the vegetables, measured, and packed them fast with the same efficiency.

"Because you're a sweet, adorable girl I add some sweet corns for you as a bonus, dear," she cheerfully said. "And because you brought this fine, hot young man along with you, some more hot peppers for you." The vegetable stall owner purposely walked closer toward Sehun, who brought his palms immediately to cover his . The old woman laughed, giving Sehun another wink.

"You have to come with me next time, Sehun-ah," Kyungsoo chimed as they walked out the vegetable stall. His arms hugged his precious vegetables (and pumpkins) in uber happiness.

"I can't believe you're willing to sacrifice me merely for some free hot peppers," Sehun grouched.

"Why? Do you think you can get us some free eggplants as well?"

***

Sehun felt an urge to cry after Kyungsoo finally said that he had got everything he needed. Their hands were kind of full anyway; they could not take more items with them.

"Wait here, let me call our chaffeur first. I cannot reach him here, I need to go somewhere with better reception. Don't go anywhere, I'll pick you up here. Don't talk to strangers, don't take anything offered to you. Do you understand?"

Kyungsoo laughed. "I'm not a child, okay? I'll wait you here."

Sehun fixed the boy's straw hat. "Wear your hat properly, it gets windy around here. Five minutes. Don't go anywhere."

Sehun pulled Kyungsoo toward a bench by the roadside and pushed him lightly to sit. He put all their groceries next to the boy, including the heavy straw bag Sehun had carried all along.

Kyungsoo hummed, swaying his feet slowly. The boy whined, massaging his sore calves. He didn't feel a thing before. Maybe his adrenaline rush had managed to overcome the soreness. Now that he was all contented and happy, the fatiqueness came back.

Kyungsoo walked around the bench to get him more relaxed. A shiny round thing on the ground grabbed his attention. He walked really slow, squinting his eyes to see it better. False alarm. It's a bottle cap, not a coin. Tough luck. Kyungsoo huffed, blowing air toward his tousled stray of hair. He could not wait to remove the hair extensions. Girls with long hair faced a serious hardship during summer.

The wind blew gently toward him. Kyungsoo grinned. He decided to untie his ponytail to let the wind blew through his hair. Suddenly a gust of wind was blown at him, ruffling his long hair. He squeaked, holding his wide-brim straw hat tight. He heard a loud popping sound from somewhere near the street, and then everything went silent.

Someone was looking at Kyungsoo from the other side of the road, gawking. He was holding an ice cream cone, with three different flavors of ice creams on top. The person kept staring at Kyungsoo, ignoring his ice cream that was beginning to melt. The topmost scoop, the hot fudge one, fell to the ground, leaving the other two melting in his hold.

What he thought to be an eternity moment vanished in a heartbeat. In a blink of an eye he fell from the sky, not literally.

The heavy traffic separated him and the love of his life, causing him to lose his line of sight toward soon-to-be his dearest one. His ice cream cone fell to the ground because his fragile heart could not take the loss.

"Young master, what are you doing here? I was looking for you," someone called him from behind, but he remained silent, his gaze fixed to the side across, eyes wide open to rediscover the girl luring him into the spell of love.

"I've found it, Sebastian..." His deep voice trailed off.

"With all due respect, young master, I'm the one who found it. Dried strip squid is not easy to be found this season, young master."

"No Sebastian..."

"Yes, young master. I literally had to fight for the last serving of dried strip squid with roasted peanuts you wish. A drunken man is not easy to handle, luckily I know some moves."

"The only moves you possibly know are jitterbug dance, Sebastian. I can't see how that can handle a drunkard, although I must admit, your somersaults’ moves, along with your twirls and splits are marvelous, maybe you could get the drunkard dizzy by your acrobatics maneuvers or something." He sighed, turning his gaze toward the male by the name Sebastian.

"But that's not what I'm talking about... I've found love, Sebastian." He smiled dreamily, his eyes crinkled and twitched in the outer corners.

"Young master, please. Where in between I-left-you-for-fifteen-minutes-to get-you-your-dried-strip-squid and now, could you possibly find the love of your life?"

"I saw this girl, Sebastian...," the young master sighed.

"I cannot explain my feeling, but when I saw this girl, I really could not find a way to put it into words, but everything she did got in slow motion, each step, and each breath. She was beautiful, Sebastian. An ethereal creature she was; her eyes were round and shiny like the most delectable choco balls, her lips were as red as those cherry popsicles, the marshmallow cheeks, oh lord, they looked so fluffy and and puffy and light. Do you think they would taste like ones too? And the cute button nose, I could kiss the tip all day. She captivated me, Sebastian. When the wind blew at her, caressing her long, beautiful hair, I could hear the popping sound of my Pandora box unlocked. I knew I have found my love," he sighed.

"There was nothing wrong with your explanation, young master. It was very clear, and beautiful, and passionate. You could almost see me blush. But please don't eat her, you describe her look as if she was a gourmet dinner. No, her cheeks won’t taste like marshmallow puffs, please don't eat her. Is it weird that I happened to hear the sound of your Pandora box unlocked too, young master?"

"Just look at her, Sebastian. Look at the girl who has made me see the sign of love."

Now that the traffic had been unraveled, Sebastian could see across the road. What he saw was a middle-aged woman wearing a cherry red headband and brighter than the sun leggings along with a matching shirt, wiggling her body to burn her excess(ive) fat.

***

"Kyungsoo, quick, get inside." Sehun hurried Kyungsoo as he helped the boy to get the groceries inside the limo.

"We could not stop for too long, it's prohibited. The traffic has reduced greatly, people will start honking at us."

"What caused the traffic anyway, Sehun-ah? It's really unusual to have traffic congestion here," Kyungsoo asked as he got into the limo.

"Someone blew a tire when he was driving, blocking the entire road."

"Ah, that explained the loud popping sound I heard."

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