Luhan frowned at his cell phone. “What do you mean another thirty minutes? Baekhyun, we’re definitely going to miss the lunch rush then...” he scrunched his nose unhappily.

Baekhyun had dropped off Luhan and Sehun to pass out flyers for the restaurant a couple blocks away, but now the younger boy had called to tell him an apparent car crash on the road was blocking traffic coming in from all directions, leaving Luhan stranded outside the parking garage of a car repair shop, while Sehun was finishing off the last of his flyers across the street.

“Fine, fine. I know it’s not your fault, so don’t get so stressed out about it,” Luhan laughed, hearing Baekhyun complaints. With a grin, he added, “But don’t blame me when my uncle gets mad at us.”

“Hey! I told you, it’s not my f–”

Luhan hung up before his friend could finish his sentence, chuckling softly. They weren’t going to get into any real trouble, he was sure. But it was amusing to scare Baekhyun into thinking they would. With a small sigh, Luhan leaned against the wall of the repair shop, waiting patiently. Sehun would text him when he was done passing out his flyers.

How much longer...?

“You’re not allowed to loiter around here,” a man’s stern voice suddenly jerked Luhan out of his thoughts.

Turning quickly to face the person who had spoken, Luhan’s eyes widened as he met the cold gaze of the stranger standing behind him. Hesitating, Luhan stammered, “I-I...” not wanting to get into any trouble. He was only waiting here for Baekhyun to come pick him up. Was he doing something wrong? Was he going to get arrested for trespassing? Who was this man? Not knowing what to say, Luhan blurted out a soft “I-I’m sorry...”

The man glared at him for a few seconds longer, before suddenly curving his lips upward into a mischievous grin. “Don’t worry! I’m just joking, you don’t have to be scared!” He laughed gently. “I’m just here waiting for a ride, like you, I guess?” he asked, his tone turning friendly.

“Yeah...” Luhan tried to smile back, but he was still a little fazed by what had just happened. He breathed out a sigh of relief; at least this man didn’t seem to want to hurt him. And now that the man was smiling, Luhan could see that the stranger actually wasn’t much older than himself. In fact, he was probably around the same age as Luhan, if not younger.

“Sorry about scaring you,” the boy laughed again, shrugging sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” Luhan mumbled.

“I’m Yixing, by the way,” the boy said, extending a hand for Luhan to shake.

“I’m Luhan,” he replied, a little more confidently this time. With an acknowledging nod and another brief exchange of smiles, Luhan turned his attention back to the street, wondering when either of their rides would be coming. It still didn’t seem like any cars were driving in this direction. But hopefully it wouldn’t take much longer.

“It doesn’t seem like there are many people around here today...” Yixing commented casually.

“Yeah...” Luhan agreed. He paused a bit, taking note of the cloud-covered sky hanging above their heads. I didn’t bring an umbrella... I wonder if it’s about to rain... maybe Yixing knows.

“Hey, Yixing?” He asked, before stopping himself, not really sure if he should talk so much to someone he had just met. Baekhyun had always warned him about being too carelessly unguarded around strangers, which was why Luhan’s uncharacteristic shyness around Sehun had come as a surprise to even Luhan himself.

With a frown, Luhan realized he was being careless again.

Yixing looked to him curiously. “Hmm?” he asked, the gentle smile returning to his lips.

But it feels like... like I can trust him...

But...

“Never mind,” Luhan quickly changed his mind, looking to his cell phone in vain hopes of any news from Sehun or Baekhyun.

“What were you going to say, Luhan?” Yixing asked, leaning a little closer, his eyes lit with intrigue, his smile unwavering.

Luhan shrugged, trying his best to ignore how Yixing was slowly closing the distance between them with each passing second. He looked downward, directing his eyes at this cell phone, so that he wouldn’t have to look into Yixing’s glinting eyes.

“Tell me,” he pressed on, lowering his face to meet Luhan’s gaze.

“Never mind,” Luhan repeated, shaking his head, as he turned away from Yixing. The boy was getting a little too pushy.

“What did you want to say?” Yixing asked, the words forming slowly from his lips. “You don’t have to be afraid. Tell me. We seem to be quite alone here, as you can see.”

Luhan could hear Yixing’s voice getting stronger, his tone harsher, almost a little menacing. “N-Nothing, it’s no big deal,” he insisted, his back pressed against the wall, shrinking away from the stranger’s curious eyes.

“You’re not going to tell me?”

“I-I...”

Alarms were going off in Luhan’s brain, sirens, warning bells, alerting him that something was off, something was going terribly wrong. He felt uncomfortable, vulnerable, scared. He wanted to get away, but he didn’t know what to do or where he could run to. He could only hope Yixing wouldn’t come any closer.

If only Baekhyun was here...

If only Sehun was here...

“Hmm?” Another mischievous smile, and their faces were only inches apart. Yixing’s gaze was fixated on Luhan’s eyes, which were now wide with fear. He placed his hands on the wall on either side of Luhan’s head, preventing him from escape. The stranger’s body towered over him, pressing down on him.

“I’m asking you so nicely right now,” Yixing continued, his voice lowered to a murmured whisper in Luhan’s ear. “You wouldn’t want me to have to resort to any other methods to get you to talk, would you?” A cold hand reached down to Luhan’s cheek. Luhan shivered.

“N-No...”

Sehun...

Save me...

“P-Please, get off of m–”

“Luhan!”

Luhan’s breath hitched, hearing an unfamiliar voice calling his name.

Who’s there? It can’t be–

“Sehun?” Luhan’s breath slipped form his lips in a stunned whisper as he watched the chocolate bubble tea boy’s hands grab onto Yixing’s shoulders and push him to the ground, freeing Luhan from under his weight.

“S-Sehun,” Luhan could only repeat, almost unwilling to believe his eyes, and his ears, hearing Sehun say his name.

Reality became a film of which Luhan was merely a witness. His vision blurred, he had lost control, and now he could only watch as Sehun reached out to him, and grasped onto his hand, his grip strong and reassuring, as he pulled him away, farther away than Luhan imagined his shaking legs could carry him.

He said my name...

The words echoed from his clouded thoughts to his trembling lips.

“You said my name,” Luhan whispered, his voice laced with remaining fear, surprise, a