^(LATE)

“Growing up in the city .”

Baekhyun’s complaint was viewed as a very random and confusing one, as the topic they were talking about just then was pancakes and honey. All the men in the living room turned to him with the most puzzled faces, as they tried to understand how he suddenly got to that subject.

“And why is that?”

Jongdae asked, giving the man a lead to the conversation, as no one else in the room seemed to be willing to do so.

“Because we grow up in these gray blocks! Apartments, apartments, and more apartments! We’re all stacked up on top of each other! A child should grow around trees, and greens, and clean air!”

The man angrily complained, and none could properly understand what happened inside his head a second ago that made him so worked up about that topic.

“We have parks though? I went to the park a lot as I was growing up. And we can also visit farms once in a while. I went to visit my grandfather’s farm very often.”

Chanyeol talked back, very softly, because he was a bit unsure if it was okay to disagree with Baekhyun, or if the man was too upset to listen.

That comment made Baekhyun slow down, like he suddenly lost his main point to argue on, but he quickly got it back.

“But it’s polluted! And even going to the farm, the farm is not your house, you’re still in the city most of the time!”

He argued back, and there was only silence after that. No one wanted to talk against him, because he was getting too worked up, and almost shouting. After a few seconds of everyone staring at the man, Jongdae finally stepped up as the spokesperson of the group again.

“Why are you so mad about this all of sudden?”

He asked, and now everyone really stared at Baekhyun, all wondering about the answer.

Baekhyun retreated his body on his seat, bringing his legs up and hugging his knees. He was looking really shy all of sudden, like he was embarrassed to talk.

“I always wanted a tree house.”

He finally said.

“I wanted a really nice tree house, that I could even sleep on. But I lived in an apartment my whole life… I just think it would be so magical, you know? Sleeping in a tree.”

He explained, now very calmly, looking like a hopeful child as he dreamed away about his ideal tree house.

“Yeah, but… The bugs.”

Kyungsoo simply said, and that turned Baekhyun’s face into stone. He hadn’t thought about that. And suddenly his dream crashed down, like an old and rotten tree house falling off its tree.

“Ah, right…”

He hated bugs. He wouldn’t last one night up there. And what if it rained? Now all he could see were the flaws of his idealized house. And then, he felt adulthood hitting him in the face with a cold glass of water. Now he understood why his dad refused the idea so much. He would never use it, even if he had the chance.

_{The End. 521 Words.}