Today was the day that Jaehyun felt a bit more nervous than usual since the last time he came here he left on this weird mixture of both good and bad terms- which is always awkward to deal with. When he opened the door, he had to still make sure of precautions and saw how the string was still there at the entrance, making him think, Okay, either I'm still on bad terms with Hocheol or he just forgot... or maybe both...

When he heard rapid footsteps coming from the stairs, he didn't quite expect to see Inho coming down from it with a look of panic- to which Jaehyun had immediate deja vu.

"Okay before you go ranting please don't try to dislocate my shoulder as you drag me up there," so was Jaehyun immediate reaction.

"Hocheollie hasn't been acting nice with me!" Inho comically cried. Jaehyun was kind of shocked since he would've figured that Inho was Hocheol's favorite hyung out of all of them, but he was also worried that this might have something to do with what he had done.

"Did you think about what you could've done that could've made him annoyed at you out of all the people possible?" Jaehyun asked. He saw how Inho jolted, contemplated for a bit, before whispering into Jaehyun's ear.

And then there was a moment where his face morphed from listening, to thinking, to realization, before shouting, "Hyung of course he would be mad at that!"

Inho reacted through guiltily playing with his fingers, "I didn't think it would be that bad..."

"I understand that you're trying to ensure that no one is fired, but he didn't get a birthday gift on his birthday, neither was he able to spend time with his parents on that day. At least let him have something else other than manhwas?" Jaehyun sighed but Inho only responds by looking at the ground like a child who was being scolded for stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. He let's out a sigh, feeling a bit disappointed with his hyung, before he heads upstairs to Hocheol's room, finding the boy acting as usual with reading a manhwa and eating a pink macaron, more colorful macarons piled neatly on a plate on the nightstand.

Hocheol glances over to Jaehyun before turning his head away with a slight huff, murmuring something that Jaehyun couldn't hear.

"Wha-?"

"Nothing!" he interrupted curtly, returning his gaze to his manhwa, but Jaehyun was barely able to catch a slight pout to his face. The brunet lets out a sigh before saying, "Inho-hyung told me what happened," which made Hocheol's eyes widen in surprise.

"You should know that he's a bit of a blabbermouth, you know. He told me that he threw away the dandelion I gave you and you weren't happy at all with his decision."

"W-Whatever! Just forget about it..." Hocheol murmured stubbornly. There was an awkward moment of silence since Jaehyun could teel very well from the atmosphere that the younger was sulking still.

"We could always go outside to find more dandelions. Um- it would be good for you too, since you haven't gone out in a while, right?" Jaehyun awkwardly suggested, feeling bad for the boy, but freaked out when the atmosphere only grew worse even though Hocheol was acting a bit better at acting casual.

"It's not like I've ever been outside so it wouldn't matter to me..." Hocheol murmured before covering the insecure tone with a huff of indignity, "Even if I were taken outside before I would be too little to even remember." and that surprised Jaehyun really.

"Wait, so you're telling me, that you've never been outside of this mansion before? Like, ever?" Jaehyun blinked feeling rather surprised at the hearing such a thing so suddenly.

"Nope," Hocheol said with a tone that sounded like he didn't have a care in the world, munching on his macaron as he continues to read his manhwa, "Mama and papa always told me that there's no need to go outside when there's everything you can find outside in our house."

Jaehyun would've almost believed the attitude but this information was rather shocking, "You're not even curious?"

"Mm... not really... am I suppose to be?" Hocheol sits up straight and looks over to Jaehyun, continuing to munch on the remainder of the pink dessert.

"I mean I would of figured that you would want to see something outside of this giant maze..." Jaehyun awkwardly scratches the back of his head. Sure he's been working here for a while now, but it was still practically a maze to him.

Hocheol stares at Jaehyun for a bit longer with an emotion that Jaehyun couldn't tell what it was before he simply scoffs, "It's not a maze, it's my house. Besides, what's so good about the outside world? All that I'm ever told is that it's too dangerous for me to go outside."

"It's not that dangerous..."

"Says the nerd who's always outside."

"Yah!"

He spares Jaehyun one last glance before settling down onto his stomach again and returning his gaze to the manhwa, "... Are you kidding me, you think I haven't been curious as to what it's like to see clouds and stars? Why did you think I was so happy when you gave me that dandelion..." he mutters under his breath, a hint of disappointment apparent in his tone of voice that betrayed his previous indifferent tones.

Jaehyun is temporarily shocked yet again before sighing, putting a bit of thought into what he was going to say next, "We could always sneak out if you want," he tries to mute Inho's nag-rant that was basically recorded into his ear more-so than his brain.

Almost immediately, Hocheol widens his eyes and looks over to him, as though there were stars of hope dancing in his eyes, "Really?!"

"Yes, really," he manages a small smile, glad that he was finally able to break through the facade.

"L-Like, you'll actually take me out to see other people, cafes, the sunny sky- everything like that?!" Hocheol couldn't contain the excitement in his voice as he pushes himself up from his bed trying his best not to smile but ultimately failing.

"Yes, everything like that," Jaehyun lets out a small chuckle.

Maybe he thought Hocheol was cute, just a bit.