They got to the nearest convenience store at around dawn and got a tube of glue and plastic bags.Now all that was left, was to get a stranger to buy them cigars.Usually they would ask for them to buy them cigars for their parents, which was of course a lie since Eds parents had died a long time ago. The only problem was that there was nobody around to ask. Just as Ed was thinking of what they could do, a white van pulled up a few meters away from them and seven boys came out, one of them, the shortest of all, complaining and whining. Perfect, Ed thought and walked over to who he thought looked like the eldest.

"'Xcuse me sir" Ed said looking up at him.He didn't seem to have noticed him so he tried again louder.

"Sir!" the boy looked down at him startled."D'you think you could buy me some cigars, sir? My dad needs'em." The boyish-looking man stared at him not quite having understood what the kid was asking him. Truth be told, Eds Korean wasn't perfect at all. He slurred his words and talked fast so you could never be sure of what he was saying.

"I'm sorry, what?" the man said looking puzzled.

"Cigars, sir, could you buy me a pack?" Ed was getting impatient as this was taking longer than usual and he was desperate to feed his addiction." You know, cigarettes, cigars?", he tried in English.

"Yeah, what about them?", the man asked in perfect English. Εd unconsciously took a step back. The other persons English was better than he expected. He was now staring at the kid with a bit of a shock and clear disappointment on his face. Ed hated that look. But he was determined to use him to get what he wanted. He cleared his throat and started again.

"They're for my d-dad." He gulped. Why was he stuttering? He had never stuttered before, so why now? The man looked at him with disbelief.

"Really? So why doesn't your dad come and buy them himself?" Ed didn't like where this was going.

"He didn't want to, that's why he sent me", he replied shrugging his shoulders, trying to seem persuasive. The man continued looking at him, this time with pity. He knew the kid was lying, but he could also see how desperate he was.He looked at him up and down. He was wearing a soldiers coat, obviously too big for him,worn-out  torn jean caprice shorts, a dirty sweater and no shoes. He was so thin he looked like a walking skeleton, his cheeks were sunken in,making his purplish eyes look giant and he was covered in bruises. But most of all, he looked hungry. More so; he looked starved. Like he hadn't eaten for days.He looked at the money he was handing him. 4000 won. He could easily buy a meal for himself with that money.So why wasn't he? Why did he prefer smoke to a proper meal?                                                        

     Ed regretted it. He regretted ever walking up to the guy and asking him for anything. He knew he had been found out and he knew he would not get his cigars.He decided this wasn't going anywhere so he turned around to leave when he suddenly heard the guy calling him.

"Hey, where are you going? Come back." Ed obeyed hoping he'd get what he wanted after all.

"Are you hungry?" Ed was taken aback. He wasn't used to being asked about himself at all.Why would he suddenly ask that out of the blue? But he nodded nonetheless. He hadn't eaten for days.

"What's your name?" Ed wasn't sure what to answer. Should he trust him? What if he was a kidnapper? But...he didn't look like he could do any harm to anyone. He decided to take the risk.

"Alexander", he mumbled.

"Really?", the guys' face suddenly lit up and his voice got playful."So is mine!"

"Guys! The bus has arrived.Come." An older man shouted and the other boys started getting in the bus.

"Hey", older Alexander said, "I know this sounds wrong and you should normally never get into a strangers' car, but how about you come with me?" Ed wasn't sure what to answer.

"Why?" was the only thing he could say. Alexander froze. He didn't know why he suddenly wanted to take care of this kid. To take him home ,dress him in warm clothes and give him something to eat. He just felt he had to.

"Because...you said you're hungry, right? I'll get you something to eat. What do you say?" Ed nodded. He knew what he was doing was dangerous,but this guy didn't seem like a stranger at all. He was more like a long lost friend.

As he was following Alexander to the bus, he looked back over his shoulder at Jack, who had been watching them from a safe distance all this time and signed to her that he would be going with the strange guy. Jack nodded and left.