Something For Your Mind | DongChan AU

Chapter 7

Pain seared through Chan's veins as he struggled to open his eyes. He let out a weak groan as he struggled to turn onto his side, body screaming at him from nearly being frozen. Sleep had left the stray, and now the consequences of its departure were making an entrance.

As the night had drawn on, Yuchan ended up falling asleep in a park under one of the many benches that dotted the area. Thankfully it had been quite empty, and nobody seemed to hang around during the wintertime. To keep warm, he had unpacked his bag, draping whatever clothing he had brought with him over his body, and it had barely been enough to keep him alive.

This fucking sucks.

Finally, after minutes of fighting for consciousness, Chan sat up, pulling himself feebly out from underneath the park bench. The sky was still clouded with its endless little snowflakes blanketing the world around him in white. However, daylight had broken, and the freezing, dark night had vanished. It wasn't much, but even five degrees warmer would make a difference to Yuchan who spent the whole night out in the cold.

Chan began to take his clothes off the snowy ground, shaking them out before shoving them back into his bag in no orderly fashion. Just then, he was reminded of the need to eat something, feeling his stomach tense up with hunger. He finished re-packing his bag before standing up, brushing himself off of the snow that covered where his body had touched the frozen ground as he slept.

There's gotta be something open now, right? What time is it?

Shivering a little from being out in the cold so long, Yuchan took his phone shakily from his back pocket and struggled to turn it on because his fingers were numb. Eventually he was able to read the screen, and put it back in his pocket.

8:30? Yeah... something should be open... I'm sure of it.

Chan sniffled, and rubbed his nose before he started walking in a random direction, trying to find his way out of the park again with his bag slung over one shoulder. He gazed around at the leafless trees and the flat white expanse as he walked, and eventually made it past the fence that stood along the perimeter of the park. Just across the street were lines of little buildings and shops that made up the downtown area of the town Yuchan lived in.

Too cold to care, Chan just picked the first restaurant he came across that was open, ending up at some fast food place. When he got inside, warm, welcoming air greeted him, and he was finally able to think again. The stray let out a long, silent sigh, thankful to just be inside again.

Walking up to the counter, Chan placed an order before going to pick out a place to sit to wait for it. He dropped his bag into a booth next to a window, and flopped down next to it. Just as he did, he realized how long it had been since he'd used a bathroom. The young man got up almost as quickly as he'd sat down, and ran off to the bathroom to do his thing.

A moment later he came back, and heard his order called out, so he returned to the counter to pick it up, thanking the lady behind it for his food. He sat back down in his booth, immediately tearing at his order, shoveling whatever he could into his face. As he ate, Chan's mind cleared up a little more—enough to be bored.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he tapped into one of his games again, which kept him busy until he finished his food. Then, he realized he didn't have anywhere to go afterward, and he knew he couldn't loiter around here all day. It isn't that Yuchan was afraid to be disrespectful or break a rule or anything—it was that he didn't want it to be obvious he didn't have a place to go home.

Byeongkwan's busy this weekend... I wouldn't want to interrupt his thing—besides he might kill me anyways if I fuck with his chances at the art teacher.