strawberries & crème ⤵︎ changlix

하나

strawberries & crème
1 | 하나

"Hey," a brown haired man coughed, waving his hand in front of the young worker at the register. "Changbin seriously, go home."

"Oh-uh. Sorry. I'll just close this up real quick." Changbin smiled, widening his eyes in a desperate attempt to wake himself up. He then dug around in the pockets of his black jeans, and locked the register quickly- only fumbling with the keys for a few minutes.

The black haired boy then made his way to the back room, passing by many different snacks and drinks, the neon light of the signs the only dim lighting present. Thus, only making him even sleepier.

'I can't believe you fell asleep on the job,' he thought to himself as he hung up his apron and placed it, along with his name tag into a small locker.

He then exited the small room, labeled 'staff', and headed towards the automatic doors of the GS 25.

Nodding his head to his manager, who was now sitting in the spot Changbin sat only a few minutes ago, he walked into the black night.

It was raining, softly, and there were no cars on the road. The only sounds he could hear were from a few bicycles and the thuds of business men leaving the office late, still in their work shoes. It was a quarter after eleven, and the dark haired boy was still twenty minutes from home.

The wind was picking up, causing a chill to run down Changbin's spine, as he wrapped his sweatshirt even tighter around himself. He kept up a pretty quick pace, passing closed shops and restaurants, making sure to stay on the main road as much as he could. It was just so cold though, and he couldn't stop shivering.

'It couldn't hurt to cut through an alley just this once?' he thought.

Pulling his hood over his black hair, he headed down, past a small liquor store, and into the dark alley behind it.

The entrance was littered with paper, and empty food boxes, which is ironic to Changbin, because there were multiple dumpsters just a few feet away.

He rolled his eyes.

If only people could pick up after themselves.

Grumbling, he pushed himself foreword, not wanting to stop and clean up because of the cold. Otherwise, he would have been a decent human being.

The rain coming down lightly now and he was almost to the end of the alleyway- when he heard something behind him.

Jumping, he turned around.

A can rolled from the side of a full trash can, but other than that there was nothing to be seen but puddles and ripped newspaper along the pavement.

'Don't be so paranoid, Changbin,' he thought to himself, as he took a deep breath. 'You're almost home.'

Turning back to face the direction he was headed, he scanned the area, the back doors of shops, and trash receptacles being the only things present, he continued on. This time a bit faster.

He heard another noise from behind, and couldn't help but look back. With hooded eyes, he saw a small figure peering over the side of an empty dumpster.

At the sight of him, the small boy- it seemed, hid further behind the dark green bin.

Changbin stepped closer, his heart beating faster with each small step.

It couldn't be a child, could it?

He was a few inches away from a small, blonde boy, when he heard a hiss.