A small keychain twirled on his finger, the attached white rabbit’s foot swinging haphazardly through its silver chain, creating a small clanging noise with each rotation.

At 13, Baekhyun had learned the first rule of the criminal code of ethics.

The bunny had been a frequent visitor of the small square of a backyard he and the others had lived near at the time. Abandoned, motherless, and pining for company, just as he had been. The first time he’d decided to feed it, he’d thought nothing much of the creature, just a means to pass the time as he stood watch for Kris, or waited on a delivery from Xiumin. The second time was out of pure boredom. The third, habit. By the fourth, it had become routine, a small part of his life he’d managed to lock into consistency. No matter what had happened, at least the bunny was fed.

On the thirty second day, the last carrot had remained uneaten.

“Oh that,” Xiumin had told him between puffs of his cigarette, “Kyungsoo killed it, I think. Bastard wanted to see how big its heart was, the creepy .”

Baekhyun laughed it off, joking with the boy about how much of a chore the thing had become anyways. How indeed, it was a burden off his shoulders to know it wouldn’t be returning to beat upon their door again. It was then that he learned consistency was not a luxury permitted to his kind. Routine was not an option. And attatchment was unforgivable.

Three days later Kyungsoo presented him with the rabbits foot as a token of apology. Even as he twirled it through his finger now, the dried blood at the ankle remained visible.

*************************************
Baekhyun had avoided Navy Shoes since that night, save for the few minutes he’d spend in delivering her her dinner. Even in these moments, most nights passed by without so much as a sideways glance, although she would occasionally mumble a slight “thank you,”  the two small words alone churning his stomach as he’d slam the door behind him.

He couldn’t look at her. He couldn’t even meet her eye for fear of what he would see in their reflective surface. Questions? He could hardly answer any of his own. Desires? She only wanted a quick and painless death, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to oblige. Fear? It almost bothered him to think of it.

A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he ran a hand through his hair, gripping the bottle of the protein shake in his other hand tightly. The walk to her door was always the worst part of it all.  

“Hey,” he heard footsteps quicken to catch up from behind as he turned a corner, “Have you heard anything from Kris?”

Baekhyun shook his head, staring down at his old Chuck Tailors as they dragged across the worn wooden floor.  

“Not even a phone call? Suho didn’t hear anything either?”

“Why would he call us, Sehun? He’s only got one damn phone call and he’s not gonna use it just to tell us he’s okay.”

“What? So he’s contacting the partners? Somebody who can help get him out?”

The brown headed boy shrugged, tilting his head back to stretch his stiff muscles. “I guess.”

“What do you think he’s gonna say about the girl?”

Baekhyun snapped forward, narrowing his eyes at the boy. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you think we should get rid of her before he gets here?”

“Get rid of her?”

Sehun his lips tentatively. He came to a stop, lingering before the large door at the end of the hall. “Look, we don’t have to kill her. Maybe we could give her to Luhan and he could-”

“No.” Baekhyun cut him off sharply, his tone clipped, “Not to Luhan.”

“Look,” Sehun deadpanned, “You know it’s either her or us, right? We’re the ones that ed up here and if Kris comes back to find you ing spoon feeding the teller from the bank he’s not gonna-”

“You heard Suho, okay?” the young man snapped, “It’s not our decision to make. We wait till he comes back before we give her up to someone like ing Luhan.”

The younger boy narrowed his eyes, a frown distorting his features. “What’s with you? Defending this girl like you’re some ing hero? Are you forgetting you’re the reason she’s even here?”

Baekhyun clenched his jaw, turning to unlock the door he’d finally reached, the keychain itching against his skin. “Just leave it alone for now, okay?”

He slipped through the door, his fingers instantly going to turn the light switch. The fluorescents flickered on, humming lightly overhead.

“Who’s Luhan?”

He turned to the chair in the center of the room, catching the young woman’s gaze. Her lips trembled slightly, as if unsure of her question. Her eyes remained fixated on his, something along the lines of what he might call loneliness coloring their dark pupils. Baekhyun sighed, suddenly feeling incredibly foolish.

“No one.” he ran a hand through his hair as he made his way to the chair opposite her own, placing the protein shake beside the leg, “He’s no one.”

She waited for him to take a seat before continuing with the same uncertainty, “You don’t like him?”

“No,” he shook his head, “It’s not that I don’t like him. It’s just…”

His mind wandered to Sehun’s words. He was right, he thought. Why was he so adamant on protecting her? Who was she to him? It wasn’t like he hadn’t killed before, and it certainly wasn’t the first sob story he’d ever heard either. Why did this fragile, pathetic little thing matter to him at all? Why did he care if she lived or died, or spent the rest of her life in Luhan’s company? He bit his lip, his eyes falling down to her hands, a constant tremor keeping them shaking. He cursed himself as he felt his heart sink. “His business is… questionable. I don’t think you’d like it there.”

“Business?” she knit her brow.

A smirk played on his lips as he leaned his head against his palm, “The world’s oldest profession.”

She in a breath, her porcelain skin paling even more, if it was even possible. He let out a loud, if a little strained, laugh.

“Like I said, I think you’d prefer this-” he gestured towards the murky room, “Over Luhan’s company. He tends to be a little difficult with his employees.”

She nodded vaguely, her eyes wandering down to her knees. “What is this exactly?”

The lightheartedness died from his eyes as his lips curved in a frown. He wondered when exactly he’d become such a dismal person.

“Look,” a heavy sigh deflated his shoulders, “I can’t go against orders, ok? All they told me to do was see if you’re a liability-“

“And I am.” She asserted, “You said it yourself, Baekhyun.”  

His throat tightened at the sound of his name falling from her lips. Why was it that the word always came out so soft when she spoke it?

“Yeah, well, maybe I think you’ll keep your mouth shut. I mean, what if-”

“Since when have you people based your decisions on ‘what ifs’?”

“You people?” he narrowed his eyes, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know what it means, Baekhyun.” She sighed, sounding more tired than fed up,  “What do you expect me to say?”

“Is that all you see me as?” he scoffed, his lips twisting in a smile he himself couldn’t didn’t know the reason for, “Am I those boys who shot that shop owner? Am I the guy you see sketches of on the news? The guy the police put up curfew for?”

“Baek-“

“Am I the reason you shake like that?” he gestured towards her delicate palms, pressed flat against her knees, “You never answered me before, Princess. Are you afraid of me?”

She opened to speak, yet nothing but a whimper escaped her lips. clammed shut.

“Answer me,” the young man demanded, his voice rising, “Do I scare you?”

She dropped her gaze to the floor, standing up from her seat. As she turned, Baekhyun stood, grabbing a hold of her shoulder with a force he hadn’t intended.

“Answer me!” he yelled, holding her by the shoulders, his fingers digging into her flesh. She bit her lip, her dark eyes avoiding his own, “Are you afraid? What do you think I’m capable of? Do you think I’m gonna torture you? you? What do you think I’ve done to others before you, huh? Is that why you wanna die so ing bad?”

She whimpered slightly, the tears blurring her vision. He grit his teeth, bringing his voice to a low whisper as he leaned in closer, close enough that she smelled the peppermint of his breath.

“Are you afraid I’ll be like those two boys?” he breathed, his hands traveling from her shoulders to her neck, cupping her face on either side, “Tell you everything’ll be fine- just play along and be good and everything’ll be fine- then rip you apart from the inside out, the first chance I get? Hm?”

His thumb traced over her cheek, falling to her lips. He pulled them apart, a soft cry, something reminiscent of a moan escaping . His eyes wandered over her features, her ruddy lips, her stained, blackened eyes, her smooth porcelain skin. His thumb dragged her lip down, exposing her teeth for an instant before letting go.

“You know what really pissed me off that day at the bank?”

She didn’t respond, letting out a shaky breath as he stepped back. He gazed down at her through heavy lids, his featured hardened in a way she’d never seen before.

“You cared so ing much for those people,” he spat, “You cried for them.”

“Why?” he continued, “What did they ever do for you? What makes you think their lives were so worth saving? What if one of those men was molester? What if one of them harassed his coworkers? What if one of those women was an adulterer? There could’ve been a murderer among them. A , a cheater, hell, even a thief, just like me.”

She folded her arms, her head bent to face the floor. When she didn’t respond, he spoke up again, his voice strained,

“And I told you I’d keep you safe.”

She glanced up, catching his gaze. His irises were vague, clouded with a kind of emotion she couldn’t quite place. His jaw clenched and unclenched periodically as he continued, “I said, as long as you did what I asked of you, I’d make sure no one- not you, not your boss, not those people- would get hurt.”

Baekhyun paused, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. His fingers fumbled within the pocket, feeling, searching for something. His brow furrowed, his pouting lips curving in a grimace.

“Tell me, princess,” he looked up at her, the dim lighting of the fluorescents casting a deep shadow upon his features, accentuating the grimace on his lips “How is it that you put so much faith in those people – people you didn’t even know- people who didn’t promise you a thing- but you didn’t believe a word I said? Not that night, and not since.”

She swallowed nervously, breaking his hold on her gaze. Her voice sounded in broken cracks when she responded, “You’re a criminal.”

Her lips trembled, her fingers clutching at her arms as she tightened them around her torso, “How could I trust you?”

“Yeah, I am.” Baekhyun let out a laugh, running a hand through his tousled locks as he grinned, “And I’m a lot of other things too.”

The smile vanished from his lips almost instantly, replaced with a stern frown. He straightened his posture, his hands once again hidden away in his pockets as he looked down at her. “I didn’t choose the circumstances I grew up in. Just like everybody else. Just like you.”

“This”, he took a hold of her hands, shaking them within his grasp. His eyes burned with an intensity verging on desperation as he spoke, “You didn’t choose for this to happen to you. The robbery, the cops, the shooting when you were a kid- none of it. And neither did I.“

His fingers grew limp against her hands, allowing them to fall from his hold. His entire body shook from what seemed like the very core of his being. She bit her lip, unable to speak, or move, or react as whatever pathetic semblance the boy had placed around him shattered, crashing into a million shards about his feet. This was something he’d long been tortured with, she realized. Something which burdened him everyday, since before she’d ever known the young, reckless bank robber, Baekhyun even existed. Her eyes shifted over his features, darting from his blackened eyes to his ruddy lips, to his thin fingers, trembling uncontrollably.

"That day,” he muttered, his voice shaking, “Nobody in the bank that day was any more worthy of surviving than me.”

“Baekh-”

“I’m not gonna kill you, Princess. And I’m not gonna hurt you either.” He continued curtly, “So maybe it’s time you should start thinking of some other way to help yourself.”

Before she could respond, he was out the door, his shoe kicking the protein shake against the wall.