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i.
the first few days are the worst, not because the situation gets any better, but because they don’t really know what to expect.
when the realization sinks in that they don’t have anyone making them three meals a day, they freak out. tao asks a convenience store clerk if they can have all of the roller food that wasn’t eaten. the clerk kicks them out and they freak out even more.
“what are we going to do? we can’t die yet it’s only the first day,” sehun says, curling in on himself. they’ve come to a park and have decided to set a cup out and see if anyone would give them change.
“we’re not going to die on the first day unless someone kills us,” tao says. he really wants a cigarette but he smoked them all and hasn’t been able to bum anything off of anyone. “let’s go to a store later and steal something.”
“i’m scared, what if the cops catch us? let’s go eat out of the mcdonald’s dumpster instead. i’m sure they throw away food all the time.”
“sehun. when i said we were street rats i didn’t actually mean we were rats.”
sehun stands up, face heated. “let me pretend! what if i don’t want to be a real boy right now and have to fight for my survival? i just want to be a rat and roll around in shit and not care about what i eat or how i get it! shit!”
as he finishes talking, a businessman walks by and throws a quarter into the cup. sehun sits down looking defeated and on the verge of tears while tao chews the inside of his cheek in thought.
“maybe you should keep doing that so we can eat something that isn’t maggot infested tonight.”
sehun pushes him off the bench.
ii.
after being chased out of a store for getting caught stealing, sehun and tao amble down an alley.
“it’s like people don’t care that there’s two really handsome, really cool, homeless kids that are hungry. they don’t care at all,” tao says. his hands are deep in his pockets and he grimaces when he finds that there’s a hole at the bottom of one of them.
“maybe we can go loiter in front of an entertainment building and they can hire us and give us food.”
“no, if they hired us they wouldn’t give us food and we’d have to work. also i think they’d call the police on us for hanging around outside.”
they reach the end of an alley and lean against the walls for a second.
“fuck the cops,” sehun says resolutely.
just as he says that, an officer walks by the alley they are hanging out in and looks them right in the eyes.
tao is already running down the other end in the alley and sehun tears off after him, screaming for him to wait. they run until tao decides he’s out of breath and it’s in the middle of a park in the fancy part of town.
“okay, listen, shut your fucking mouth always,” tao says as he glares at sehun, panting and wiping sweat from his brow.
“did i lie though?”
they both laugh as they scare a group of lady joggers just by existing where they shouldn’t.
iii.
“let’s spray paint a dick on this wall,” tao says one day while they’re walking through the business district.
“why?”
“it’s so plain. i think it would make it look nicer.”
“okay but like, what style? realistic? basic? cartoony?” sehun looks at the wall a little bit more closely upon saying this.
“like hentai anime strong dick.”
“a strong dick?”
“like veiny and shit,” tao shrugs.
“i was thinking like, an american cartoon dick. it has arms and legs and an eerily friendly face.”
“i see where you’re going with this but i honestly think this wall calls for a hentai cock.”
“don’t you think it’d be funnier though? you walk down this street and you see this happy ass penis just staring at you and waving. like, how do you rationally take that?”
tao pauses for a moment, taking time to imagine what it would look like on the wall and the reactions of people walking by.
“okay, i agree. you got spraypaint?”
“no. you?”
“no.”
they both look at each other for a second longer before deciding to put the wall and the dicks behind them and continue walking.
iv.
they’re running away from a gangster when they lose him in a crowd of tourists. tao steals a bill hanging out of someone’s pocket and they go to a burger place.
they’re loitering around some dumpsters eating 49 cent hamburgers when a gawky, tall guy walks up to them.
“hey,” he says nonchalantly.
tao looks up at him as if he had just picked his nose in front of him. “uh, hey?”
“you guys want some, like, weed?”
sehun’s mouth drops as tao continues chewing his hamburger.
“uh, what do i look like, a failure?” sehun says, looking obstinate. tao stops chewing as he holds the bridge of his nose between his fingers and clenches his eyes.
“um, if you’re asking, yeah. you’re eating burgers by a dumpster.” the drug dealer scuffs the floor with his foot awkwardly.
“well, injecting weed is for losers. doobies are for dummies,” sehun says, getting red in the face.
“are you serious, bro?”
before sehun can continue, tao puts a hand over his mouth. “i’m sorry, he just graduated fifth grade. what’s your name?”
“chanyeol but my street name is yung ferret–”
“alright chanyeol, listen, my friend here just got out of juvie for beating up a dude who offered him drugs. he’s straight edge and has anger problems.”
“what, shit, really? alright see you later then,” chanyeol says as he turns around and walks away, trying to disguise how he’s trying to expedite his exit.
when he’s out of sight, sehun starts trembling and tao sighs.
“listen, if you didn’t want any at least sound cool when you turn it down. we need street cred,” tao says softly, scooting closer to him.
“i want to call my mom.”
“this street rat thing is a lot better when you don’t mention moms.”
“whatever.” sehun’s shaking hands reach into the bag and pull out another hamburger. they sit there for another thirty minutes eating and draped over one another.
v.
“we’re not even like street rats, aren’t we? we’re more like...street mice,” sehun says, sipping a banana milk he shoplifted.
“we’re like, the street fleas on those street mice,” tao says. he pulls at a string coming from one of the holes in his jeans.
they’re sitting on some rooftop in the middle of the city watching the setting sun, the light pouring through the skyscrapers like lashes.
“we fucking suck.” sehun leans back and lays down on the roof. “it’s weird but i don’t remember my mom’s voice.”
“stop talking about your goddamn mom.”
“if i don’t talk to you about it then who would i talk to about it?” sehun says, his voice rising. tao looks away from him and frowns.
“sorry.”
“it’s okay.”
sehun drags tao down with him and pinches him in the side. when tao laughs, he does too. “i wasn’t actually mad, don’t get all pouty on me.”
“you’re so lucky you became homeless with me,” tao says. they wrestle for a little bit before tao decides to drop himself on sehun’s chest and lay there. sehun hugs him and lets out a sigh.
“i’m so lucky you’re like a human blanket.”
tao snorts but he doesn’t get up and sehun thinks he can see some stars in the sky that aren’t helicopters.