Chapter Text
"Bye guys!"
"Bye Bin!"
"See ya later Changbinnie."
Changbin waves his friends goodbye and begins his trek down the street to the parking garage. He stopped drinking a couple of hours ago since he stayed late at work and drove there after; the others were able and smart enough to get cabs from home. He walks about ten minutes down the street just to realize he doesn't recognize the signs on the buildings next to him.
Wait… did I go the wrong way?... Surely not. I'm not that bad at directions.
He shakes it off, pulls out his phone, and upon opening the GPS realizes he did in fact go the wrong way.
Fuck. Maybe I am still drunk.
He lets out a defeated huff and turns back in the opposite direction. A black car slowly drives past him, slow enough to make him suspicious but not enough to look past what his head can naturally turn. Several steps later, a door shuts behind him and he hears mumbling.
Damn, they're out late… I guess I'm not much better.
"It's time for me to go."
"No it's not, boy. I've changed my mind."
"I've already gotten out. I got my payment, I need to leave."
"Nuh-uh. I've decided you're staying with me tonight, baby."
Is that any of my business? Probably not.
Changbin shakes off his curiosity until he hears a whiny, "Stop."
He turns his head and, in the distance, sees a guy with a plain t-shirt and jeans attempting to jerk away from an arm out the window of the car next to him.
"I said let me go."
"No, you whore, get back in here."
Oh hell no.
Changbin quickly turns stoic, fast-walks toward the confrontation and sternly calls, "Hey."
The guy looks over to him, his hand gripping his forearm above the strange hand that's grasping his thin wrist.
"Let go of him. He said stop."
"Fuck off." The voice calls from the car as he releases and hastily drives off.
Changbin finally gets close enough to see the guy's face. His eyes are wide, bags under his brown eyes, and his mouth is slightly parted.
He has such a pretty face.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm… uh…" he shifts his attention to either side behind Changbin's head, "yea, I'm fine."
"Did he hurt you?"
"No…" His voice is soft and meek, his expression is obviously uncomfortable. Changbin can't help but wonder what the confrontation was about.
Now's not the time.
"Do you have a ride home? My car is about 20 minutes the other direction. If you want I can come back through and pick you up if you don't want to walk."
His face is riddled with confusion, his brows furrowed and eyes squinted. "Um… no, thanks. I'm okay."
"Are you sure? I don't mind."
"I don't mean to be rude but I don't know you."
"I'm Seo Changbin." He extends his hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you."
The stranger is taken aback by the friendly gesture though takes it anyway. "Sam."
"Well nice to meet you. But really, though, I insist on taking you home." He takes another look at him and realizes he doesn't have a jacket on in the crisp weather; Changbin's hands have been in his own pockets this whole time. "Are you cold? You only have a t-shirt on and it's not exactly warm."
Sam glances down at his own outfit. "Honestly, I haven't noticed. I'm okay."
He's so passive.
"Well, if you don't want me to take you home at least let me get you some tea or something to warm you up. Decaf coffee? It is… " Changbin checks his watch, "right after 3am."
"No, really, I'm -"
"Please."
"You are… uh… how do I say it… aggressively polite."
"You just seem to have had a rough night and I want to help."
He directs his attention to his own worn sneakers. "Well, if you're just going to fight me until I give in I might as well give in now."
"I… uh… I guess I don't mean to force you -"
"Too late, I've agreed." Sam looks back up and softly smiles. "Where do you like going?"
"There's one on my way home but we can go closer to your place if you want."
"No it's okay, wherever is fine."
"Okay cool. Do you want to walk with me or let me come pick you up?"
"We can just walk."
"Okay then, well…" Changbin slides off his light but warm jacket and holds it in front of him. "Here."
"What is this for?"
"I've got long sleeves… but also I have more meat than you. Please, take it. I'll be fine."
Sam very slightly bows and hesitantly takes it. "Thank you, Seo Changbin."
"Please, call me Changbin. My friends call me Bin and Binnie, too."
He gives Changbin a reassuring smile.
They begin the walk back to the garage. Initially it's in silence, but when Changbin hears a growl he breaks it. "Are you hungry?"
"Why do you say that?"
"The only sounds right now are our footsteps and an angry stomach that I know isn't mine."
He diverts his gaze from Changbin to the ground. "No, really, I'm fine."
"Well good thing the café has food too."
"No, really -"
"Stop fighting it, Sam. You're good. Also you're really skinny. I swear you have no fat at all."
"Thanks."
Thanks?
"But really though, are you okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you have access to food? I feel like a social worker asking that but -"
"I'm alive. I'm fine." He deadpans.
That single-handedly breaks Changbin's heart.
"So… um… I don't know how much you'd want to talk about, but did you know that guy? You got out of his car, didn't you?"
He immediately tenses and noticeably gulps. Changbin's uncomfortable with how uncomfortable he looks. "No, uh, not really. Enough."
"Enough?"
"Mhm."
"So… what's his name?"
Sam purses his lips. "Ya know… uh… I don't remember."
"No?"
"No."
"How long have you known him?"
"We met tonight."
"I don't mean to overstep a boundary but… um… you barely know him and you got off of his car… then he called you a whore -"
Sam abruptly stops and as soon as Changbin realizes he stops to look back at him. "I need to go."
"No, Sam, I'm sor-"
"Thanks for your kindness," he takes the jacket from over his shoulders and holds it back out to him, "but really I'm okay."
"No! I'm… uh… so sorry. I don't mean to imply anything. I just meant -"
"Really. Please."
He looks so scared, fragile.
Why do I feel like I can't leave him alone?
"I'm so sorry, it's none of my business. Please, I'm begging you, let me do this one thing for you. If you never want to see me again after then so be it."
Sam slowly pulls the coat back into his chest. "You don't know me, why are you being so nice?"
"I can't be nice for the sake of it?"
His eye's flicker between both of Changbin's before settling on the concrete. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Let's go."
The rest of the walk is properly in silence and they get to the garage.
"I'm just right inside here to the left."
Sam nods and they walk over to a lone Rolls Royce, which immediately puts him to a halt.
"What's wrong?"
"This is your car?"
"Yea."
"Uh… huh…" He slowly walks to the passenger side, Changbin confused at his shock and goes to his.
"Okay, time for food."
They go to a 24-hour coffee shop where Changbin pays for Sam's iced americano and gets his own fancy drink. He orders a bagel and sandwich of Sam's choosing and gives it to him as he sits down at the table he picked.
"Thank you." Sam says as he takes the snack.
"Of course. But… um… really, if you just want to sit here I won't force you to talk about anything. I just want to know you're safe."
"That I'm… safe?"
"Yea. You just… I don't know… something about you makes me want to protect you from bad guys."
He huffs air in place of a laugh with a forced smile. "Should I take offense to that?"
"No, not at all. You just seem so… I don't know… pure and innocent. Like you need a friend."
Sam's eyes meet Changbin's welcoming ones just to immediately go back down to his food. "I have friends."
"Where are they now?"
"Home."
"Do you live with any of them?"
"A few."
"Oh okay, so you have roommates."
He purses his lips and nods. "Yea."
"Okay cool. Do you want to call one of them to come get you instead?"
"Honestly, uh… we usually walk."
"Yea?"
"Yea."
"It's too cold for you to be walking out there."
"I doubt that. It took you a while to mention me not having a jacket."
"Because I was fine. Once I gave mine to you I realized how bad it was."
Sam nods and takes a shy bite of his sandwich.
"Why don't you have one?"
"A what?"
"Jacket."
"I don't usually need one for too long."
"No?"
Sam's eyes widen and Changbin can tell he's uncomfortable again.
"It's not important. Let's just eat, yea?"
He nods and resumes snacking, alternating between bites and sips. Changbin is watching every movement of his chapped lips that he can without being noticed and it doesn't take an expert to know he's extremely closed off. He doesn't seem to have the best social skills but still seems nice.
When they finish eating, Changbin offers to take all of the trash and throws it away for the both of them. He decides to order a water to go to drink on his way home.
"You sure you don't want anything?"
"No, I'm -" Sam takes a quick pause. "Actually, uh… yea, I'll take one too."
"Can do." Changbin turns back to the cashier as Sam watches him order.
"Thank you." He slightly bows and looks back to him, handing him one of the two bottles. "Let's go."
They walk outside the door as the little bell chimes and Changbin stops when he notices Sam has. "So… um… are you 100% positive you don't want me to take you home?"
"I'm sure. Thank you, though."
"Okay. Well, do you have a phone?"
His head tilts. "A phone?"
"Yea, just enough to know that you got home safe. You can delete my number later if you want."
"Um…." He appears deep in thought, to which Changbin's eyes squint in observation. "You can just trust me, yea?"
"Well… um… alright. I'll leave you alone. I did kind of drag you out on a date."
"A date?"
"Not like that," Changbin panics, waving his hands out, "I just mean -"
"No, it's okay. I just, yea… thank you for your kindness. You really didn't have to."
"It's no problem at all, really. And… uh… if you don't mind, keep my jacket."
"Your jacket?"
"Yea. I actually have another one at the house. Black instead of brown. I don't wear that one that much." Changbin gestures to it with a nod. "You can have it for the trip home."
"No, no, I can't -"
"I insist." Changbin nods in approval. "Take it."
"I don't know what to say."
"A simple 'thank you' would suffice."
"Thank you so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."
"Of course. Well, um, I guess this is where I take my leave. Nice to meet you, Sam."
"Nice to meet you, Changbin."
"Have a good night. Be safe out there."
"Yea, thanks… you too."