Keeping to alleyways proved more difficult than Youngjae thought as most ended up twisting in directions away from the van or a dead end. In the twenty minutes they'd been maneuvering through the alleys, the sun had slipped past the buildings. The shadows grew, and Youngjae felt his palms grow sweaty with anxiety. It won't be long before the Republic robots came out.
 
"I think we can go back to the main road," Daehyun said, but his voice carried an urgent tone. "It should be dark enough now... Take off those sunglasses. Here, use my hat."
 
Daehyun removed his hat and placed it atop Youngjae's head, and took the sunglasses out of Youngjae's hands.
 
"What about you?" Youngjae asked, pulling the cap lower over his eyes.
 
"The public knows you now, Youngjae. You're a face they'll recognize," Daehyun replied, pulling his hood up above his head. "I may be wanted, too, but I've been forgotten."
 
Youngjae mindlessly followed Daehyun, the rim of the cap bouncing up and down in his peripherals with each step. He'd always dreamed of being on the news, being famous, but for vastly different reasons than now. He imagined himself as a world-renowned cybernetics engineer or maybe a physicist, but being known as a criminal... That wasn't even on the list. What would his colleagues think? Jieun? His professors? His parents?
 
Youngjae thought of his parents in District 4, living peacefully in an apartment, and then being notified of his disappearance and possible criminal involvement. He imagined his mother breaking down in the bedroom, vehemently denying the claims between sobs. He imagined his father silent beside her as he processed the information.
 
"You're pale," Daehyun stated, tugging Youngjae back to reality. "What's wrong?"
 
Youngjae shook his head. "Nothing."
 
As Daehyun and Youngjae emerged out of the alleys, they saw a squad of Legion patrol cars down the street. Daehyun shoved Youngjae back into the alley just as they rolled past, the pearl white bodies of the cars reflecting the light from the streetlamp.
 
"Do you think..." Youngjae found himself unable to finish.
 
"We just have to take another detour," Daehyun said, briskly turning around. He stopped in his tracks, eyes wide, and Youngjae felt panic coming off waves from the other. He leaned close to Youngjae's ear and whispered, "Whatever you do, don't turn around."
 
Youngjae held his breath. "Is it—"
 
"Shh. It hasn't seen us yet," Daehyun muttered. He inched backward out the alleyway again, bringing Youngjae with him.
 
The entrance was just a couple large steps out of their reach, but with the pace they went, it seemed to take them an eternity.
 
Daehyun suddenly jerked, his hair brushing against Youngjae's cheeks as he turned around. Then, he grabbed Youngjae's wrist, and sprinted down the street, muttering curses with every frantic step. Everything passed by in a blur as they barreled through whatever got in their way. Youngjae hoped they wouldn't be noticed, but that was a vain wish. Legion soldiers were patrolling the streets, Republic bots floated around like sentries. At this rate, they weren't going to reach the van at the time they'd estimated.

All because Daehyun needed to use the bathroom.

//

Somehow, Daehyun and Youngjae managed to find a decent hideout for the night.
 
Decent, however, was stretching it. The pair literally sat behind a dumpster, and draped Daehyun's coat over their shoulders to fend off the frigid night air.
 
Daehyun's phone was pressed close to his ear as he spoke to Yongguk, his voice low and annoyed. "Look, Yongguk, it happened, but we're okay. It could have been worse. We could have died—"
 
A muffled yell that sounded vaguely like "That's why I'm ing angry!" erupted from the phone, and Daehyun flinched, holding it away from his ear.
 
"Okay, I get it," Daehyun said in an attempt to calm Yongguk. "We'll head out again tomorrow. Bye."
 
Daehyun pocketed his phone and let out a sigh, leaning against the wall behind them.
 
"Yongguk, uh, sounded pretty angry," Youngjae commented cautiously.
 
"No, that was nothing. He can get angrier," Daehyun replied.
 
Youngjae stared at Daehyun in shock, suddenly afraid of what the leader was capable of. But then again, with the lives they led... That was what made a good leader, right?
 
"You should get some sleep. I'll keep watch," Daehyun suddenly said.
 
"Are you sure?" Youngjae pulled his legs up to his chest. Daehyun's coat shifted on his shoulders and the fur lining on the hood tickled his neck.
 
"You look like you're about to fall asleep anyway." Daehyun patted his shoulder with a smile. "You can lean on me if you'd like."
 
Youngjae curled into a tighter ball, and, despite knowing his neck would hurt later, rested his forehead between his knees.
 
"Nice to know I'm appreciated."
 
Youngjae let out a muffled grunt in response.
 
//
 
At dawn, the city was just barely awake, dregs of sleep still clinging on like sticky cobwebs. The sky was gray as the sun began to creep up the horizon, chasing away the shadows from the night.
 
Daehyun and Youngjae emerged from an alleyway, their footsteps quietly synchronized. Not a sound was heard except for the tapping of their footsteps. Youngjae had a pair of sunglasses over his eyes and cap on his head, covering most of the upper half of his face. Daehyun had a hood pulled atop his head, bathing his face in shadows.
 
"Hey, I'm hungry," Daehyun whispered, nudging Youngjae's side. "Do you think any shops are open?"
 
Youngjae let out a disbelieving snort. "It's barely light out. I don't think anything is open."
 
The pair passed a bakery—bread and pastries lined the display cases—and Daehyun turned to Youngjae, his eyes shining.
 
"No," Youngjae said as sternly as he could. "We're not breaking into a bakery."
 
"But I'm hungry," Daehyun whined, and Youngjae was reminded of Junhong for a moment. "Youngjae, come on, I know you are, too."
 
Youngjae sighed. "Yeah, okay, I am, but that—"
 
"All the more reason to go," Daehyun announced, darting into an alleyway. "We'll go through the back."
 
Youngjae let out a couple incoherent stutters before following Daehyun. It'd be nearly impossible for them to break in, anyway. All business locks were programmed to open with the owner's transceiver watch. Daehyun and Youngjae didn't own the bakery nor did they own transceiver watches, let alone the right one. Their attempts would be in vain.
 
"Would you look at that," Daehyun said in amazement as they reached the bakery's back door. "It's an Old World lock. I haven't seen these in ages."
 
Youngjae stared at the lock with Daehyun, his amazement mirroring Daehyun's. It opened with a key, not a watch.
 
"Why?" Youngjae asked, his eyes wide as he examined the lock. That was either very lucky or very suspicious.
 
"Lucky for us," Daehyun said, seemingly ignoring Youngjae's question, and pulled out his multi-tool. "I know how to pick locks like this."
 
Youngjae stepped out of the way as Daehyun began working to open the lock. "Wait, Daehyun, should we really be doing this?"
 
"Come on, Youngjae, all we're going to do is take a couple loaves of bread, pastries, maybe some drinks if they have some," Daehyun insisted. "I'm pretty sure Yongguk would be annoyed that we did this and didn't get something for him."
 
Sighing in resignation, Youngjae stood as Daehyun crouched in front of the lock. This is wrong, Youngjae thought. They were stealing from a business. They were going to get caught. But... Breakfast.
 
"Hurry up," Youngjae urged, throwing paranoid glances in every direction.
 
Daehyun paused, and looked at Youngjae. "I thought you didn't want to do this."
 
Youngjae let out an exasperated breath, and Daehyun continued with a quiet laugh. Within minutes, they were inside and walking through the dark kitchen. Daehyun flipped on a light switch, and Youngjae blinked away the spots flashing in his sight.
 
"So how are we going to do this?" Youngjae asked he and Daehyun rummaged through the kitchen for food. "I mean, we don't have any bags to hold whatever we're getting."
 
Daehyun didn't respond, and Youngjae looked around, but the other was nowhere in sight. After realizing that, Youngjae began to panic. He circled the room in terrified confusion.
 
Daehyun got caught by something.
 
I'm next.
 
"Daehyun?" Youngjae weakly called out. His muscles were tense. He was going to run if he needed to. No use fighting if Daehyun was caught; Youngjae wouldn't have stood a chance.
 
Daehyun's head popped up from behind one of the counters, a wide grin on his face. "I've hit the motherlode."
 
Youngjae stared at Daehyun, a mix of relief and embarrassment and shock running through his mind. "I— You— What?"
 
Daehyun straightened up, holding up a pan full of rolls of bread. "Motherlode."
 
"No, wait, we're not—"
 
"We are," Daehyun interrupted, something similar to a victorious twinkle igniting in his eyes.
 
"How are we going to carry that—" Youngjae pointed at the pan. "—inconspicuously?"
 
Daehyun placed the pan on the counter in front of him, and began shoving the rolls into his coat pockets. "Problem solved."
 
Youngjae stared at Daehyun with his mouth wide open. "Are you kidding me right now?"
 
"Hey, see if you can put some in yours," Daehyun said, throwing a couple rolls at Youngjae, but he didn't catch them. Daehyun made a disappointed noise, but returned to stuffing the rest of the bread into his pockets.
 
But it was just bread. Why was Daehyun trying to get all that he could? They only needed a little bit for themselves and Yongguk. Besides, wasn't there food back in the van?
 
"I think we're good," Daehyun announced, giving the kitchen one last look. He turned Youngjae, a triumphant grin on his face. "Let's go."
 
Youngjae followed Daehyun out the kitchen, out the bakery, and back onto the main street. His coat pockets were bulging with bread, and he even held a few in his hands, one of which he began to eat.
 
"Don't we...uh, have food back at the van?" Youngjae asked, eyeing the bread.
 
Daehyun glanced at Youngjae, his cheek slightly swollen with bread. He swallowed his food before replying. "Have you ever been hungry? Not like 'haven't eaten for a few hours' hungry, more like 'haven't eaten in days' hungry."
 
Youngjae kept silent, unable to think of an answer. What was Daehyun getting at?
 
Daehyun was silent, and Youngjae glanced at him. His eyebrows were drawn together as if he was thinking about something. "We've led different lives before we met, Youngjae. Before Guernica, I did a lot of ty things. Got into fights. Stole some things. Even though it seems like they do, the Republic doesn't care about the lower social classes, just the wealthy people who are nothing but egotistical bull."
 
Youngjae gulped, waiting for Daehyun to continue.
 
Daehyun took a deep breath. "Um, what I'm trying to get at is... When you find food, especially in large quantities like earlier, and you know you won't get caught, you take it and run. You don't know when you're gonna get your next meal or the next time somebody's gonna be nice to you, because, I don't know, I've realized it's better to have extra instead of nothing at all."

Youngjae was speechless. He didn't think of the situation like that before; he'd been given nearly everything to him his entire life. He remembered Daehyun mentioning something about joining Guernica when he was fifteen. Taking that into account, Youngjae figured that Daehyun must have spent most of his childhood on the streets.
 
"I think we're almost to the van," Daehyun said, his tone now more chipper than before, but behind it was still a hint of something sadder.
 
"Uh huh," Youngjae replied, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Daehyun lived on the streets while Youngjae studied.
 
Daehyun looked at Youngjae for a moment before saying, "You should eat."
 
Youngjae snapped out of his reverie just as Daehyun began poking his cheek with a roll of bread.
 
"Alright, alright!" Youngjae exclaimed, swatting Daehyun's hands away but keeping the roll.
 
The sun peeked through the buildings now, and the city was finally beginning to shake the last bits of sleep away. A few people walked past, and traffic had begun to build up. Youngjae kept his head down, and Daehyun pulled his hood up. Youngjae nibbled on the bread Daehyun gave him, but he didn't really have an appetite anymore.

A/N: Yes hi hello long time no update. I totally wasn't procrastinating. Pfft. What are you talking about? Anyway, hope you enjoyed my attempt at exploring Dae's backstory.

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