sao sleeping on a piece of cardboard in an unknown city
and a curiouscat answer about how sao got stranded alone
TLDR: sao was alone in an unknown city and really struggled, and william was there at the perfect moment, charming and kind, and persuaded him to spend a little bit of time at his place.
Long ass version:
So robert and sao were basically orphans who had an apartment for themselves. They often were awake really late, and while watching tv they were stumbling upon some soft porn. Curious, they were trying to repeat some of what they saw, and during one of those times their mom and her boyfriend walked in. Robert ran and did not return home for a couple of weeks. During this time sayeedah and her bf came to the conclusion that sao is in a horrible situation and is getting groomed, and since they did not want to parent a child, they decided that the minimum that they can do is send him to some nice orphanage. In another, bigger city.
They went by car, the boyfriend and sao. Even tho it was said that it's gonna be a little car trip for fun, sao connected what happened earlier and this journey, and was horrified. On a gas station he said he needs to go to the toilet, and from there he ran as far from the car as he could.
In the new city he was completely lost. Usually his brother was doing the difficult survival tasks, and sao was mainly doing what he was told by robert. Without any help, and no apartment to sleep in, and no good practical knowledge of how to steal or find work, no knowledge of the city, no food, during cold autumn, it was a disaster. He knows how to beg, so he does just that. He sleeps on a cardboard piece in a subway underpass, it's horrifying and freezingly cold. Sao wants to get enough money so he can travel back, tho doesn't clearly know how to travel back.
Here william talks to him. For the last couple of days he was chillin nearby to see whether the kid is truly alone. He was checking Lost Child notices and didnt see anything about his target. During the conversation william put all his charm at work, was being thoughtful and caring, suggested for sao to just say for a bit, eat something, get shower, sleep on something softer than a cardboard piece. Sao is wavering and is really afraid to trust this man, but charisma and warmth of the stranger wins versus another cold night in the underpass. They get into the car and until the very end sao wonders whether he made a correct choice.