“Okay, I’m going to park the car over in the parking receptacle. You can just get out and wait here until I get back. It’ll only be like 3 minutes.” Luhan looks at me warily and I pucker my lips and look out of my passenger side window.

“I’ll just stay by that mall entrance over there. I’ll be on the bench?” I look at him to see if that’s fine with him, and he nods. I smile and he pushes a button so that my door will open for me. I climb out of the silver vehicle and the door closes behind me. The window rolls down and Luhan leans over his seat so that I can see him better.

“Stay there. Don’t do anything reckless until I get back.” He says sternly. I roll my eyes and walk towards the mall entrance on my own. It’s been three days since I talked to Tao and told him that I would go along with this suicide mission. Kris sent Luhan and me out to go and update my wardrobe now that I’ve decided to stay. I’d prefer it if the angry tall man would have come with me rather this guy who acts like I’m going to stab him at any moment, but Luhan is apparently the eldest and most experienced with this whole thing. I haven’t been told exactly how long I will be staying with the boys, what I’m going to be doing in the castle, or how long I will have to stay with the Queen, but as of now I’m just rolling with the punches.

I situate myself on the long metal bench and look around. We have apparently been in the 2nd ring this whole time. It’s a lot less urban in this ring than it was back in the 3rd. Maybe that’s why it all seems cleaner. I’ve been given a light blue shirt and white pants to wear on today’s adventure, and I was forced to shower 3 times before leaving the house. I didn’t think that I smelled that bad, but Luhan was adamant. He wasn’t going to take me out unless he could only smell my soap. A tap on my shoulder disturbs me and I jump in to defense mode almost immediately.

It’s been about a month since I was on the streets but the reaction is still instinct. The identified hand only belongs to Luhan and he gives me a worried look, I attempt to smile and brush off my nearly violent reaction. “Let’s walk around. I need you to see something…” I stand up and squeeze my lips into a line to show my skepticism. “And there is a specific store that we should go to. Let’s go.” He says.

---

We walk in silence for 15 minutes and the street and this part of the city is beginning to get a bit too crowded for me. The energetic people and excitement is tangible. I can feel myself tensing up and my nerves are on edges. A hand on my shoulder squeezes me reassuringly, when I look back it’s just Luhan nodding in encouragement, but not looking me in the face. I roll my eyes. Great, it’s starting.

Before we left the little “cult house”, Luhan told me that he wouldn’t be able to talk to me much outside of the house (as if he talked to me much inside the house in the first place). That he won’t be able to interact with me much out in public. I was told that as long as I pretend to be confident that everything would be just fine. I blink at Luhan behind me and then swallow down my fear. I square my shoulders and lift up my head so that I don’t look as scared as I feel.

No one gives me any kind of second glance. I look around and no one seems the least bit interested in what I’m doing or who I’m with, and to say that I’m kind of confused is an understatement.

“They think that you’re Gaia.” A soft voice informs me. My steps stutter and my eyes widen at the statement; they think I’m a mutant? A quick pinch to my arm makes me groan and recollect my composure. He didn’t pinch me hard, but it was definitely not light enough to be missed. The deer-eyed boy is still guarded around me, and I can understand why. I wasn’t exactly approachable for the first weeks and I did almost break his arm.

He’s been trailing behind me and letting me walk ahead since we got out of the car, and I feel seriously misplaced. Being so far ahead of him when he could easily be standing and walking beside me doesn’t make sense. I slow down my pace in hopes that he will fall in line with me, but he catches on quickly and slows down as well. “That’s not how this works.” He whispers. My shoulders slump and I sigh loudly.

Guess I’ll have to keep up this charade until we get home.

“Hey there sexy!”

“Why don’t you come over here and talk to us sweetheart!”

“Nice ass!”

“Hey don’t you hear us talking to you?!”

“Must be one of those stuck up ones. That’s fine, you aren’t that hot anyway, slut.”

The comments come and go, sometimes there are whistles and catcalls. My fist clench angrily and it takes every ounce of my restraint to not go and punch those people straight in the face. Catcalling and wolf whistling I can handle when it’s directed at me.

But, I won’t let them do this to Luhan.

“Hey Charmer. Let’s see what’s in those pants.” The lady and her friends laugh and others continue to make lewd comments directed towards the boy. If I send them the deadliest glare that I can manage, most of them will cough and look away. More daring ones will glare back at me. With me here they will quiet down, but the looks don’t stop. Women look at him as if he is a piece of meat, and it’s disgusting. He isn’t just a fucking body they can lust over. Don’t they have jobs or something that they should be doing?

My nails dig harshly in to my palm and my jaw is clenched shut. If another woman says anything to him, I swear to God I will strangle them here in the middle of the street. Magic or not, I’ll throw hands right here. We might not be what you call friends yet, but that doesn’t mean I’m not bothered to hear how they address him. “It’s fine; I’m used to it. Just relax. Go in there.” His hand points to a tall glass building with a clothing store on the ground floor, and I abandon my previous anger. I follow his order and we enter into the clean and quaint shop. The two of us sit in cushioned chairs and wait to be assisted.

When I look over to him, his gaze is blank, and not at all hostile like I thought it would be after the street harassment. I want to hold his hand or something to comfort him. He doesn’t show it, but that kind of experience always shakes you.

I would know.

I look down at his hand and contemplate grabbing it in my own, even if it’s just to assure myself that he’s okay, but I don’t want to make either of us uncomfortable in this situation. Or any more uncomfortable than I already feel it is. Maybe talking would help out a little bit. “So why are we here?” I whisper.

“You need new clothes so that you don’t look and smell like a bum.” He says without looking my way. I swat at his arm lightly and he smiles a half smile. It’s the first time he’s done that, and I feel hope blossoming in my chest. He avoids my eyes again and I sigh.

“What happens if people find out that I’m not Gaia here?”

“Less powerful Gaia and Charmers can’t just tell if you aren’t Gaia. Only royals and the higher ups can sense it. Most of the people around here would need some kind of proof, and even if they find out it’s only the Charmers that would treat you any less. Gaia might baby you a bit, but that’s all.” He says quietly. I scoff. Baby me? Not on my watch. I hold my head up higher so that I can look and feel confident. Luhan snickers. “You’re so innocent…” he murmurs.

The curtain in the back of the room swings open and a woman enters. Her hair is dark and long, her body is athletic almost, and the air around her screams ‘obey me’. It’s obvious that she is not human. Her aura has a pull and I find myself on my feet walking towards her by instinct. Luhan stays seated and looks on in confusion.

“Welcome to my lovely little shop, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” her voice is sweet and her personality is warm. Being around her feels like being wrapped in a warm and soft blanket. The greeting is nice and polite until her eyes spot Luhan still seated in his chair. “Yah!” she calls out. Her smile vanishes and a disgusted look takes its place. Luhan stands quickly, bows, and then stands slightly behind me. She gives him a once over. “So he’s yours.” She acknowledges.

“Yes.” I reply quickly. My voice wavers and I mentally smack myself. Really intimidating. She continues to stare at him with a mix of hostility and desire. “Excuse me, but can I get some help finding some clothes to buy?” she snaps out of whatever thought process that she was engaged in to turn her attention back to me. A smile graces her features again and she claps her hands together once.

“Lovely. What can I help you with?” she asks genuinely. The difference in how she addresses Luhan and me is astounding, and it takes me a second to remember that I have job to do right now.

“Um, anything really. Shirts, shoes, hats, pants, all of it. I’m…redoing my wardrobe.” I tell her. Her eyes brighten at the amount of money that she expects I will spend, and then proceeds to whisk me around the shop. Without asking, she knows my size in clothes and shoes. Her powers must play a role in that. The fabrics of the clothes in the store are soft and I’d only ever seen these materials on the people I worked for. All of my clothes were ill-fitting and scratchy back in the 3rd ring. While the few outfits I’ve had at Kris’s are nice, they definitely aren’t this.

She tosses bundles of clothes in my direction and Luhan uses his floaty magic so that I don’t actually have to carry it. The clothes follow me in a stack to the register. The woman rings up my purchases and tells me that it will be 300 credits. About the same amount of 3 new tablets. A good deal I guess for the amount of clothes that I got.

One problem. I don’t have any money to pay for this.

I snap around to face Luhan. Oh my Gods. How am I supposed to pay for all of this? A card raises in to my line of vision and I grab it slowly. Wu Yifan. I hold the card out to Luhan as if to ask ‘who the bloody hell is Wu Yifan?’ and he only motions back to the lady with a tilt of his head. I give him a thankful look and hand the card to the woman. Her card glows blue and 300 credits is taken from my card. She bags the purchases and sits them atop the counter. My hands reach out to grab the stuffed bags, but Luhan grabs them faster. I’m frozen slightly in place from the action until I realize the lady is looking at the both of us weirdly.

I put a neutral expression back on my face, snatch back the card, and walk out of the store with my head high and Luhan on my heel.

We walk and drive back to the house in silence, and I feel utterly drained. I have never felt so mentally tired in all of my life. We enter the house and as soon as the door closes behind us I take the bags from Luhan and toss them on the floor. I throw myself into him to wrap him in a hug.

He stiffens and I squeeze him tighter as if I can absorb all of what happened out of him and into myself. I wish I could take it for myself to deal with. “I am so sorry, Luhan.” I mutter against his shirt.

All of the dirty looks.

The rude words.

The inappropriate glances.

The Gaia women were utterly too much. He wasn’t the only Charmer out, in fact most of the women had a man or two with them, but that didn’t stop them from treating Luhan any different than those who didn’t have a Charmer or human with them. “I’m so sorry.” I say again. This time trying to excuse my behavior when he first met me. “Thank you for going out with me. I’m sorry that they’re like this to you.”

This wasn’t the worst of it, I know. But if this is how it is in public, I don’t think I want to learn what happens in private. He doesn’t move in my embrace, and it’s shockingly similar to how Jongin was. I pull back and am surprised to see his face flushed, and he seems to actually be blushing. Are these guys not used to affection like this? Do they not know how to respond to hugs or something? I open my mouth to ask about this, when Tao pops into the hall and pulls me into his own arms.

“You’re back! What did you get?! Let’s take a look! I should have been the one to go, Luhan doesn’t know anything about clothes. Look at him.” He rambles still holding me to his chest. I wiggle out of his grasp with a smile and look at Luhan’s outfit. He’s wearing light washed jeans, athletic shoes and a long sleeved shirt that looks really nice on him. It might be a bit hot out for that kind of shirt with jeans, but hey. To each his own.

His light brown hair is undercut and softly falls around his face. He looks great really, and I can’t believe I hadn’t seen how attractive he was before now.

“I think he looks quite handsome in what he’s wearing.” I say with a full smile. His cheeks flame pink and he clears his throat in an attempt to pull the attention away from his embarrassment.

Yep. Definitely not use to this kind of attention and affection.

He struggles to gather his composure and I can see Tao glare at him for half a second. “I know that I’m handsome. I don’t need either of you to tell me that.” Luhan says while lifting his head and puffing out his chest. I laugh at how cute he appears. He deflates and roughly tells Tao and me to follow him and help put away the clothes. The two of us share a secret smile and follow behind the embarrassed man in front of us.

Notes