Use Me Like a Drug

12: Safe Place

"In celebration of us living together for a month, I believe we should go out and do something special." Huening Kai stated out of the blue, slightly bouncing from where he sat in the middle of the room. "Preferably going to a bakery or ice cream store."

Soobin didn't look up from the book he was reading, keeping the entirety of his attention on the words on the pages. His back comfortably pressed against the wall and legs bent slightly. Yeonjun sat in the same manner as the younger, keeping some distance from everyone with a notebook open on his lap and pencil in his hand.

"Kai, you know we don't have any money." Yeonjun sighed, lightly hitting the back of his head against the wall as he looked up. "And almost all of those types of places around here know your face by now."

"I know I know..." Huening Kai trailed off, his eyes still shimmered in the light. "But! There's a place I know about an hour away. Now hear me out, we could walk there, spend some time there, eat and whatnot, then the owner of the bakery would likely give us a ride back. If he wouldn't do that then he'd at least give us some sweets."

Soobin sniffled, glancing up to look at the youngest then over at the oldest in the room.

"He sounds desperate." Soobin joked, folding the corner of the page he was on over, closing the book afterwards. "I don't see why we couldn't try that though. It's been forever since I've eaten something sweet."

Yeonjun let out a huff, closing his notebook with little regard for what he was doing.

"I mean, I guess we could try that. But how sure are you that this will work?" Yeonjun said with his still plain voice, eyes landing on Huening Kai.

The boy hummed, scratching his head briefly. "Sixty percent."

"Sixty?" Yeonjun mirrored, letting out the smallest laugh while shaking his head.

"That's still pretty high." Soobin reasoned, shrugging his shoulders. "Have you done this before Huening Kai?"

"It's been a long time since I've been over there, but I used to go there pretty often." Huening Kai explained, standing up to get his things ready to go. "The owner likes me and has given me plenty of things before. I just don't if it'll work out because there's three of us now. But I mean, the owners super nice so I think he'll do something for us."

The two younger boys both looked over to Yeonjun with expecting eyes. Looks that the older couldn't get himself turn down.

"Alright fine, let's hurry up and get going then." Yeonjun sighed as he stood from his spot.

Huening Kai cheered, letting out a high pitched squeal that had Soobin covering his ears. Yeonjun moved over to his claimed corner where his belongings laid. Though it was really just his backpack, as he still refused to unpack and take everything with him everywhere he went. Soobin mostly caught onto this, doing the same thing minus a few pairs of bulkier clothes and some random things he's acquired.

"What's this place even called?" Yeonjun asked, looking over his shoulder at the youngest who's already got his backpack over his shoulders.

"Papa Mochi." Huening Kai answered with a firm nod. "I'm pretty sure it's a family-owned business. I think the owner inherited it from his grandmother if I recall correctly."

Soobin appeared at Yeonjun's side in seconds with his bag slung over his shoulders. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, reading the emotions behind them.

In this past month Soobin has grown quite a bit. He's gotten quite adventurous yet keeps within his limits to protect himself. Emotionally, he doesn't seem as dead, while it doesn't mean he's always happy it's still something to mention. Though despite this growth, his trauma still follows him daily. He can hardly stand it when Huening Kai attempts to hug him or cuddle up to him, and being in crowded spaces is a huge no-go as it'll eventually lead to a panic attack.