The soft sounds of hoof beats on sand does nothing to stifle the severe lack of greenery surrounding the road that leads to the small wayward town called Mamacita. Sighing softly, Choi Siwon wonders for the billionth time why he’s the one who has to be the Sheriff in such a small, off the beaten trail type of tiny town such as this one. The only consolation he has is that there is little to no crime, so Siwon’s pistols are spit shined to perfection, gleaming silver and steel bright enough to blind anyone who’s unfortunate enough to glance at them when the sun is glaring maddeningly in the sky.

Siwon’s also caught up on his reading list, not that there was much for him to read on it, but the point is, Siwon’s bored in this small eyesore of a town. Sure he’s caught a few random wanted men who thought the tiny town wouldn’t even have a jail, let alone a Sheriff, but the last one he’d caught had been some small-bit gambler who’d been caught cheating at cards in a major poker tournament.

The unfortunate part had been the reward for the capture of said gambler had almost been outweighed by the costs of having to feed him while some deputy came to get him to take back to the county where he’d committed the crime.

Since then, it’s been dull enough that Siwon’s taken to growing a mustache out and attempting a new styles with the itchy thing.

The hoof beats on the sand stop not far from where Siwon’s sitting outside his office, trying to beat the dry heat with a bit of shade and a cool drink from across the way. Siwon considers the tall glass of lemonade a boon, and the establishment that it comes from is nothing short of a god send some nights. Kim Heechul’s bar is probably the one place where Siwon can go, have a drink or two, and enjoy the company of people who don’t care about this tiny town they live in.

“Well, this is unexpected!” The smooth voice rolls over Siwon as he’s taking a sip of the still cold liquid.

Siwon looks up and spots a face he never thought he’d see again. “Cho Kyuhyun!” Siwon’s face breaks out into a grin seeing his old friend. “What brings you here?”

Kyuhyun smiles, the expression making him look much younger than he really is. “I think my days of gambling are over.” He laments as he comes over, takes the seat across from Siwon and draws off his riding gloves. “I’ve lost my last 3 games in a row and most of the money I’ve put aside for gambling purposes only.” He admits to the older man. “So I got trained in the last town over as a deputy and they sent me this way.” Kyuhyun pulls out a stack of wanted posters.

Siwon’s eyes light up. He’s been waiting for a new stack since the last telegraph message had come in stating most of the wanted posters up on the wall in the office were obsolete. “Oh sweet. I’ve been waiting for the new posters.”

Kyuhyun hands him the stack, which Siwon immediately starts shuffling through them. “Park Jungsoo, aka Leeteuk.” Siwon’s holding up the wanted poster of a thin looking man with the typical cowboy hat and a dark throw over in the picture. “Wanted for theft.”

“He’s the newest one.” Kyuhyun comments, taking a look around the tiny town, a frown spreading on his face. “Wow, this place is smaller than I expected.”

Siwon snorts, the action fluttering the papers in front of his face. “It’s the most boring place on the planet.” He says, flipping through the stack some more before settling the thief poster on top and putting the stack under his recently cleaned pistol. “Last arrest I had was over a month ago.”

Kyuhyun sighs. “Well at least I’ll get to practice my card skills some while I’m here.” He cracks the knuckles on his hands, the gloves already stowed in a random pocket on his dust jacket.

Siwon raises an eyebrow at his friend. “What do you mean?” He asked, leaning forward in his chair.

“Some of the other counties think that a lot of the people wanted in that stack are in this county and might be coming through Mamacita, so I was send to be your deputy.” Kyuhyun tells him, shrugging off the dust jacket, revealing a smart looking suit.

Siwon sighs. “Well I guess that can’t be helped. You’ll be just as bored here with me as any other.”

Kyuhyun smirks. “Well, that’s the idea. I sort of asked for this spot.” He admits. “I need time away from the cards circuit to recoup my losses.”

Siwon laughs. “I’ll be surprised if you can get any of the people here to gamble with you Kyu.”

Kyuhyun’s smirk grows deeper. It’s a trademark look of his when he’s plotting something that benefits him more than anyone else in the area that he’s included into his schemes. “Oh, I’d almost bet there is one guy around here willing to bet at least a little something.”

Siwon shakes his head. “Alright. I can see you plotting something, Kyu.” He says laughing softly. “I think with you around, the town may just be a little less boring.”

The tiny town of Mamacita is more of a passing through kind of town nestled in between the capital city of Seoul and Yangjun. It doesn’t really serve a good purpose on the main roads between the two larger towns, unless someone happens to want a drink at Heechul’s bar as they pass through. Because the distance between the two larger towns is small enough to make day trips, Mamacita doesn’t even get the luxury of having an Inn where stragglers or guests can stay, so Kyuhyun’s forced to stable his horse in the Sheriff’s stables where Siwon’s horse is lazily staring over at Kyuhyun while the gambler takes care of his horse and tackle for the evening.

The office has 2 bedrooms and a kitchen attached opposite of where the jail cells are located, a design that allows for both the Sheriff and his deputy to cover watch duty whenever they have someone in the jail cells. Kyuhyun’s saddle bags are brought into the deputy room, which is spotlessly cleaned to perfection. Kyuhyun knows from previous times of staying with Siwon, before he’d become Sheriff of Mamacita, that the older man is not one for cleanliness or organization.

Those facts alone confirm to Kyuhyun that Siwon’s got entirely too much time on his hands. The smirk he’d had earlier returns. Things in Mamacita are going to be getting more interesting now that he’s there, and the best part of it all is that Siwon’s going to be so excited to actually have something to do soon, and for that Kyuhyun knows the idea he’s got brewing in his head will be worth it in the end.

Siwon’s busy putting up the new wanted posters over on the cork board when a knock sounds on the door to the office. “Come in!” Siwon calls out cheerfully, pinning the last poster up on the board before turning to greet the new visitor.

“Got some new fruit in from the dealer over in Yangju.” The smooth voice doesn’t match the face of the person standing in the doorway of the office. He’s got long blond hair that’s parted in the middle, and looks like he’s just gotten up out of bed with his tank top and pants that don’t quite reach his ankles.

The smell of earth wafts over and hits Kyuhyun strongly as he peaks his head out of his new bedroom, intrigued by the idea of new fruit. Siwon’s sighing and shaking his head. “I wish I could buy some off you Kangin. Fresh fruit sounds good right about now.”

Kyuhyun clears his throat, eyebrows raised. He’s in the mood for some fruit, depending on what this Kangin guy has to offer. “Hyung, I got it.” He says, coming out into the room fully.

Kyuhyun knows he’s dressed to impress the ladies at the card tables, but the look on Kangin’s face is priceless when he spots Kyuhyun in his suit. “Ah, Sheriff you didn’t tell me you hired a deputy!”

Kyuhyun’s forgotten he’s pinned his deputy star on his suit jacket, so he smiles and nods. “Cho Kyuhyun.” He says, bowing to Kangin in greeting.

“I’m Kim Youngwoon, but everyone calls me Kangin.” The man smiles, bowing back at Kyuhyun. “I own the general store in town.” He added before Kyuhyun could ask what he did in such a small town.

Kyuhyun nods, filing the information for later. “So what do you have for fruit?” The ride in from the city to the west hadn’t been long, but it had been dusty and dry.

Kangin’s face lights up. Waving his hand at Kyuhyun and Siwon to follow him outside, Kangin walks to a small hand drawn cart sitting next to the steps in what little shade the building provides over the walkway. “Watermelon is currently in season, so I have several nice ones.” He says proudly.

Kyuhyun isn’t overly fond of watermelon, but he sees Siwon’s eyes light up at the sight of the seeded fruit. “Hyung, you chose whatever fruit you want.”

Siwon looks over the cart, picking out a few small pieces of mango and eyes one of the smaller melons. “Today I think we should be good with these.” He raises the mangos at Kyuhyun.

After paying Kangin, and promising to buy a melon from him the next day if he has any left over, they sat in the overhang next to the door of the office to enjoy their treats.

“This is nice.” Kyuhyun commented as he finished the last of his mango. He didn’t feel any of the pressures to act a certain way, or time constraints to be at a certain table to play a round of cards by a certain time. He started to feel the deep-seated tensions of constantly being on the go start to fade as he sat with Siwon and enjoyed the lazy afternoon.

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A/N: Hello lovely readers! I hope you like this first chapter! Please let me know what you think of it in the comments!