---

Jongin hides behind Luhan as the latter's parents unlock the door, the warm blast of heat coated with spices and cinnamon hitting Jongin's nose before the door is even wide open. It's a nice smell, however, and Jongin skips in the door after Luhan. Jongin's stomach is growling so much that he nearly forgets to take his shoes off in the hallway, which earns him a light scolding from Luhan's father, and Jongin apologizes at least a hundred times before his ears twitch as he searches for the kitchen.

"That's the bathroom," Luhan chuckles when he catches Jongin peeking his head in a door. "Knowing you, the kitchen's this way." He gestures to his right. When Jongin blinks, he rolls his eyes. "Here, this way." He stops at the doorway whilst Jongin happily skips inside, tail swaying contently. "Help yourself to anything in the bowl, I'm gonna go help Mom with the rest of the laundry, I'll be back in two." And with that being said, he sends Jongin an apologetic smile before skipping down the hallway to join his mother.

Jongin blinks. He has no idea what Luhan meant, but he quickly forgets all about it when he eyes the bowl full of fruit on the table. It reminds him of the fruit bowl in Sehun's office and before Jongin knows it, he's reaching across and grabbing a cluster of grapes. He's never had any before, and he shoves all of them in his mouth at once, only to blink when he realizes that they don't taste like anything. Jongin forces himself to swallow them anyway before hopping off the couch and walking towards the fridge in search of some milk to wash it all down. He grabs a kitchen chair and places it near the counter before climbing onto it. A large spider inside the cabinet nearly has Jongin falling backwards and breaking his neck, and he hurriedly grabs a glass before jumping down and opening the fridge. Something catches Jongin's eye and he turns around, nearly jumping out of his own skin subsequently.

Luhan's father stares at him with a strict look on his face. "Not on the counter," he says sternly, the younger only nodding in slight shame. "Stand on the chair and reach up instead." He sees the chair pressed up against the counter before raising an eyebrow. "Don't worry, I had to tell Luhan off for doing the same thing many times when he first came to us, he should probably learn to do that. Who taught you that, anyway?" He gesures at the chair.

Jongin blinks before rubbing the back of his neck. "My, uh--" He bites his lip. "My...uh, father," he says quietly and he feels his body growing so hot he nearly drops the glass in surprise. He watches as Luhan's father simply nods before grabbing a newspaper and walking off. Jongin ends up standing in the same place for a whole minute, and it's not until the cold air emitting from the fridge hits his bare neck that he grabs a milk bottle. After filling it up to the very brim, Jongin caps the bottle before putting it back in the fridge. He skips over and sits on the couch, cursing to himself when he accidentally spills some on the cushions. 

Luhan returns a minute later, a smile growing on his lips when he sees Jongin sipping milk on the couch in absolute silence. "Still just as shy, huh," he chuckles before skipping over to the fridge. "Hey, be glad I didn't land right on top of you or else I would've broken your neck," he says as he rummages through it. "You should've seen your face, by the way, I was this close to dropping an acorn in your mouth--"

Jongin rolls his eyes. "," he mutters. "At least I'm not dumb enough to risk breaking my neck whenever I see a tree," he adds whilst fidgeting with the rim of the glass. Luhan's milk isn't nearly as good as Sehun's and he fights the urge to pout. "What's that?" he asks, bouncing up and down in excitement and hunger when Luhan returns with a plate in his hands.

"Watch it," Luhan squawks after Jongin attempts to swipe the food, which results in him nearly dropping it. He gently sets the plate full of fish cakes on the couch before getting comfortable across from Jongin. "Your favorite, that's what." He sends Jongin a smirk whilst running a hand through his hair. He's changed his shirt, and it doesn't take Jongin long to notice the scars on his forearm, but the latter keeps it to himself. "Anyway, I thought you told me you didn't have anybody right now? I mean, I heard you tell Dad you had a...nevermind." He picks up a fish cake when Jongin frowns slightly. "We can change the--"

"He's not my father anymore," Jongin blurts out and fights the urge to choke himself with the fish cake in his mouth when Luhan sends him a look. He chews it up and quickly swallows. "I mean, yeah, I guess he wasn't my father, but...yeah." He sighs before reaching for a third fish cake, and Luhan sends him a grimace when he proceeds to shove both of them in his mouth at once. As he chews (or rather, struggles to chew) the cakes, he furrows his eyebrows. It dawns on him that he has no idea what to even call Sehun, so he shrugs. "I mean, he wasn't married so I guess he wasn't."

Luhan raises an eyebrow. "You mean he wasn't your father because he wasn't married?" He blinks, stuffing a fish cake in his mouth. "I guess, yeah," he adds, a few crumbs spilling from his mouth and onto the couch. "Was he nice? What was he like?" His tail sways back and forth in curiosity and he nearly knocks Jongin's glass over.

Grabbing another fish cake, Jongin scratches the back of his ear. "I mean, I don't think he was my father 'cause he was pretty young, like I was younger, but he was still young," he mumbles, chewing with his mouth open as he kneads a cushion in his lap.  "We caught a fish together!" He beams as he stretches his arm wide open. "It was like, this big!" He grins wider when Luhan's eyes sparkle with interest. "I think he was impressed with me! And I tried giving it to him as a present but he didn't want it," he adds with a slight pout. There's no more fish cakes left and he swirls his finger around on the empty plate. "He let me ride in the front seat in his car, too! And sometimes he did this--" He leans forward and ruffles Luhan's hair, the latter swatting his hand away. He sends Luhan a cheeky grin. "Do you have more? I'm hungry--"

"Not so shy anymore, huh," Luhan chuckles, the curious glint still in his eyes as he grabs the plate and skitters over to the pantry. He soon returns with twice the amount of fish cakes and he excitedly jabs Jongin's arm to the point of bruising subsequently. "Tell me, tell me, what else did he do?" he asks, bouncing up and down in excitement. He picks up a cushion and kneads it in excitement until his mother walks in and scolds him, and he quickly puts it away.

Jongin stuffs a fish cake in his mouth. Amidst the sweet and sourness lacing his tastebuds, he thinks he feels something coiling in his gut. It's that familiar feeling again, but it disappears the second he swallows. "He took me to work with him," he says, spotting a fly buzzing around Luhan's head, the latter twitching his ear subsequently. "It looks like a castle, which suits him since he looks like a prince!" He attempts to balance three fish cakes on top of each other, only to curse when all three of tumble down to the floor. "One of his colleagues is really cool, he gives me candy--"

"Really?" Luhan asks, ears erect as he stares at Jongin wide eyed. "Like the Prince from Cinderella?" He blinks in curiosity, seemingly ignoring Jongin's last remark, only to beam when the latter nods. "That's so cool! That mean you're his princess!" Crumbs fall from his mouth as he speaks.

Jongin blinks. "But...she's human," he says quietly, only to blink when he realizes how fast his heart is racing. He briefly wonders if he's allergic to fish cakes and figures he probably should stop eating, so he promptly puts his half eaten cake back on the plate. Not to mention he's eaten so many that his stomach is set to erupt any minute. "We bought costumes for Halloween, and he picked an outfit that made him look like a prince, like, with a crown and everything." He feels his chest tighten when he realizes that he won't be celebrating Halloween with Sehun anymore, and Jongin doesn't even notice his ears drooping until Luhan speaks.

"You know, he doesn't actually sound like your father," Luhan says, his fingers. "You pocket dialed me whilst I was helping Mom, by the way, you should stop sitting on your phone 24/7," he adds and blinks when he sees the look on Jongin's face.

"He doesn't?" Jongin asks, too busy trying to stop the spinning in his head to hear Luhan's second remark. He attempts to get rid of the lump in his throat by stuffing himself with another fish cake. It doesn't work. Great. "What does he sound like, then?" he asks absentmindedly, following the fly with his eyes. It flies close to his face and he's about to jump across the couch and grab it when Chanyeol's words pop into his head. He remains as still as a statue as Luhan nods.

Luhan moves into a cross legged position before brushing his tail. "Nope," he says, shaking his head vigorously before he lays back and stretches. "He sounded like your boyfriend," he adds and swats at the fly when it threatens to fly into his open mouth. He crushes it with his fist before brushing his hands together. It's not until Jongin goes silent that he raises an eyebrow. "What? It's true, isn't it?"

Jongin presses his lips together. He remembers how one of his foster sisters would bring her boyfriend over for dinner sometimes, and all he recalls is them spoonfeeding each other as well as sitting in each other's lap and kissing. As far as Jongin knows, he knows for a fact that he didn't do any of that with Sehun, so he really has no clue where Luhan is coming from. "We never kissed each other, though," he mumbles and swallows when it feels like his heart is about to pound out of his chest. He's suddenly feeling awfully restless from sitting down so long and he's about to hop off the couch when Luhan speaks.

"I don't think you need to kiss to be in love," Luhan replies, looking equally puzzled as he scratches the back of his ear. He seems to notice Jongin's restlessness and climbs off the couch. "Mom's brother has a girlfriend and I've never seen them kiss when they're over, but I know that he buys her gifts and hugs her a lot," he adds. "Oh, and I always hear him telling her how pretty she looks, and you said you thought Sehun looked like a prince, right?" He beams  before gesturing towards the window. "Care for dessert?" Jongin doesn't even get to answer before he's grabbing the latter's sleeve and dragging him towards the front door.

--

Baekhyun falls halfway out of his chair when the door to his office gets thrown open, nearly dropping his phone in surprise when he turns his head and sees Sehun standing in the doorway. He sends Sehun a quick nod before turning his attention back to his client, only to blink when Sehun walks up to his desk, and it's not until Baekhyun sees the distressed look on the former's face that he mutters a quick 'Call you back'. "This better be good, boss is gonna kill me for that," he says with slight concern in his voice.

Sehun doesn't say anything and he simply places Jongin's coat on Baekhyun's desk, ignoring the latter's squawk of 'Watch my stuff!' before furrowing his eyebrows in concern. His head is reeling (mainly from barely avoiding getting hit by a car on his way here) and he has to run a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm his raging pulse. "Well?" He stares at Baekhyun, who looks like a question mark.

Baekhyun stares at the wet garment, which is probably ruining his papers, in disgust before sending Sehun a look. "You been looting through the dumpster out back or what?" he murmurs only half jokingly. When Sehun only scowls, he throws his hands in the air. "Yeah, okay, I don't know what this is, sorry--"

"It's Jongin's," Sehun says, drumming his fingers against the desk as he bites his lip. He figures he probably looks like a nervous wreck, and he gives up on masking the concern in his voice when Baekhyun only blinks in response. "I found it lying by one of the bushes--" He curses under his breath as he takes a deep breath to pull himself together to no avail. "In the park, y'know, the tall bushes? With the raspberries? It must've been laying there since yesterday, what if he was alone in the rain all night--" He has to walk over to Baekhyun's couch, careful to avoid sitting on the fading shoeprints. "Damn it--"

"And he wasn't anywhere?" Baekhyun asks, worry seeping into his voice as he inspects Jongin's coat. He seems reluctant to touch it and it's not until Sehun nods that he swallows. "Hm, okay--" He scratches the back of his head. "Maybe he just...left it there? Y'know...for--"

"Who leaves their coat in the middle of a park in zero degree weather?" Sehun groans, running a hand down his face. He soon rummages through his pocket before pulling out Jongin's phone and handing it to Baekhyun. "I-- He left this behind, I tried calling Luhan but he didn't pick up, I don't think they've talked in two years--" He curses under his breath, only to still when Baekhyun sends him a questioning look.

Baekhyun blinks. "Luhan?" He only his head aside when Sehun nods. "Wait, you mean Luhan? The Luhan? Like,--"

"Yes, Jongdae's Luhan," Sehun exclaims in exasperation, fighting the urge to flip the entire table over when he bounces his leg up and down. "They were best friends, but point is, I can't reach him and I have no idea where Luhan even is." He sighs and is about to speak again when the door opens.

"Quit your racket, some of us are actually trying to work around here," Chanyeol grumbles, although it soon becomes obvious that he's got every intent to hang around. He watches as Baekhyun holds up the jacket, which is basically already dry at this point, before grimacing. "The 's that...thing."

"Jongin's jacket that Sehun found in the park, by the raspberry bushes," Baekhyun says in a low voice. 

Chanyeol lights up a cigarette before walking over to the window and undoing the hatch. "With his cell and everything?" he chuckles humorlessly, his words muffled as he takes a long drag. "And by the raspberry bushes?" He exhales and makes sure to blow right into the room to annoy Baekhyun. "He's probably in the back of some druggie's van at this point--" He takes a drag and nearly chokes when Sehun sends him a murderous look. "Or h-he just ran away, or some weirdo abducted him, you know how common that is. outta here--" With a glare in Sehun's direction, he turns around and faces the window.

Sehun only buries his head in his hands. Even though it's been three years since the last (reported) case of hybrid abduction in their state, he suddenly finds himself unable to shove the thought of Jongin scared and alone whilst being held captive someplace, and he fights the impulse to walk over and smack Chanyeol in the face. Despite the (attempted) abduction of hybrids being relatively common, Sehun tries (and fails) to calm himself down by reminding himself that the chances of Jongin being kidnapped are low, given that the latter is an inside cat. The thought only brings him temporary comfort and the next thing he knows, Sehun is pacing back and forth inside the room with Baekhyun biting his lip in concern.

"Get over yourselves," Chanyeol scoffs and ignores Baekhyun's squawk when he flicks his cigarette, which is still lit, out the window. "Big deal, another cat person let their curiosity get the best of them and got their kidnapped, who in' cares, he stressed you the out anyway. Good riddance if you ask me." He shrugs before picking at the peeling paint on the window sill.

Baekhyun clears his throat. "I mean, he's got a point," he mutters, nodding at Chanyeol. When Sehun only sends him a look, he throws his hands in the air in defense. "Not that, I meant the stressed out part," he squabbles and runs a distressed hand through his hair. "I mean, it's kinda true, though, isn't it? You haven't been looking all too good since...you know."

"He was nothing but trouble, don't you dare deny it." Chanyeol sends Sehun a look. "Would've ed your career right up before you'd have known it, anyway."

Baekhyun presses his lips together. "I mean, what are you suggesting we do?" he asks, looking at Sehun. "I mean look, you didn't exchange numbers and Manhattan's huge," he adds for emphasis and Sehun only sighs. Baekhyun only tosses an eraser at Chanyeol's head when the latter snickers into his fist. "You're not helping, moron."

Sehun exhales slowly. Part of him wants to curse Baekhyun's (and Chanyeol's, but that's no surprise) unwillingness, but another part of him knows that Baekhyun is right. Because Sehun knows for a fact that he doesn't have any way to contact Jongin (in fact, Sehun didn't even know hybrids carried cell phones up until now), and Sehun also knows that, even though he could try, there is little to no use in jumping in his car and scavenging half the city in search of somebody whose looks might resemble that of a hybrid abductor; not to mention he would have no idea where to even look. Sehun remembers being there when one of his friend's put up missing pet posters all over the neighborhood after her puppy ran away, but he doesn't even get a chance to say anything when Baekhyun speaks up.

"People don't do that with hybrids," Baekhyun simply says and Sehun doesn't even bother asking him how he knew. "It's useless, I think, since more hybrids tend to disappear more often than stay," he adds with a shake of his head. He soon realizes that his words are doing little to cheer Sehun up, and he gestures wildly in the air. "I mean, it's good to think rationally sometimes--" He blinks before looking at Chanyeol. "Wait, you talked to Jongin in here a few days ago, right? Did he tell you anything?"

Chanyeol stills, only to scramble for his pack when Sehun looks at him. "He did not," he mumbles and misses his mouth twice as he puts the cigarette between his lips. It's not until Sehun gets off the couch and walks towards him that he nearly drops his lighter. "I mean, yeah, we talked, but--" He takes a step backwards when Sehun sends him a glare. "What goddamn business is it of yours, anyway?" 

With an unreadable glare, Sehun continues to eye Chanyeol and it's not until the latter threatens to burn him with his cigarette that he stills. If he's going to be completely honest, Sehun doesn't even know what to think, and even if he knew what to think, he doesn't think he wants to believe it. In fact, the pounding in his chest and neck is making it downright impossible for Sehun to even think straight, and he eventually has to turn his face away and keep his eyes fixated on Baekhyun's coat, which is hanging on a hook on the wall. Except Sehun quickly whips his head backto face Chanyeol, and, whilst ignoring the puzzled look on the latter's face, Sehun is at least 99% sure that Chanyeol's white blouse is speckled with strands of black fur. "What's that?"

Chanyeol raises an eyebrow mid drag, puffing smoke directly in Sehun's face before following the latter's gaze. "The are you talking about," he mutters. When he looks down, he visibly tenses, which does little to soothe Sehun's nerves. "...Didn't know giving hugs was a crime," he chuckles humorlessly. He tosses his cigarette, which he's barely smoked anything of, over his shoulder and out the window. Brushing his hands together, he sends Sehun a look. "Outta my way, I got work to do--"

"From what I've heard, you weren't exactly his cup of tea," Sehun says low in his throat. He tries ignoring the painful throbbing in his chest as he watches Chanyeol roll his eyes. To his left, Baekhyun clears his throat, but Sehun doesn't break eye contact as Chanyeol proceeds to avoid his eyes. 

After a few seconds of silence, Chanyeol chuckles dryly. "You seem to know more than I do," he simply says and he's about to brush past Sehun when the latter shoulders him backwards, making him growl in irritation. "I'm telling you, asswipe, I have no idea where your boy toy is."

Sehun clenches his jaw, and it takes him everything in his power to resist the urge to punch Chanyeol in the face, especially when the latter scowls subsequently. In truth, Sehun has no idea what to say, since the anxiety pumping through his system is making his tongue feel like it's being weighed down by an iron block. The worst part is that Sehun knows he's overreacting and that he should probably retreat back into his office, finish up for the day, and promptly forget all about what's happened. Despite that, a low growl makes it past his lips as the thoughts continue to scurry about like a hurricane inside his head.

All three of them stand in complete silence for a minute, until Sehun spots Baekhyun lifting up and inspecting Jongin's jacket. The mental image of Jongin in danger somewhere floods his head, which makes Sehun put his hands on his hips in distress. It's not until Chanyeol snickers at the way Sehun nervously chews on his bottom lip that the latter suddenly feels his mind go blank, and before he knows it, Baekhyun is ushering Sehun out of the room before he gets a chance to shatter Chanyeol's jaw.

Once they're in the hallway, Baekhyun pats Sehun's shoulder reassuringly. "I feel you," he mutters, only to blink when Sehun brushes him off and storms off towards the staircase. "Hold on, wait--"

Sehun doesn't wait. Instead, he finds himself blindly rushing down the steps three at a time before he jogs towards the door. He hears somebody, presumably Baekhyun (as long as it isn't Chanyeol, Sehun figures anybody will do), scurry after him, but Sehun doesn't even turn back as he throws the door open and steps outside. Once the cool air enters his lungs, his thoughts seem to come to a halt, but Sehun still finds himself tapping his foot in a stressed manner as he absentmindedly scans his surroundings. Sehun nearly wants to cry at how obnoxious he's being,  and he doesn't even turn around when the door opens a second later. 

Baekhyun wordlessly stands next to Sehun, hands shoved deep in his pockets as he bites his lip. His face looks rather stoic, as usual, but Sehun quickly spots the worried glint in his eyes. A moment later, he pulls out a green cigarette pack and wordlessly brings a stick to his lips. The smoke filling the space between them subsequently makes Sehun think of Chanyeol, which in turn only causes him to tap his foot even faster. Eventually, the silence nearly becomes suffocating and before he knows it, Sehun opens his mouth to speak. 

"I didn't know you smoked," Sehun blurts out and curses under his breath. He figured he would at least try to hide his anxiousness, but he figured it was bound to fail anyways. He takes a few deep breaths to pull himself together, but it does him little good when the tobacco ridden air nearly makes him gag.

Baekhyun shrugs and rubs the back of his neck. "When the situation calls for it," he replies sheepishly before taking a long drag. "Trying to quit, though," he adds, but quickly goes silent when he sees the distant look in Sehun's eyes. "What are you thinking about?" he asks softly and makes sure to exhale in the opposite direction.

Sehun is silent for a minute and decides not to comment on Baekhyun's hatred for Chanyeol's smoking habit whilst being a smoker himself. "Yeah, okay, I...see." With the smoke no longer blocking his airways (as well as the filter between his brain and his mouth), he finds himself shrugging in defeat. After running a hand through his hair, he figures he should at least attempt to formulate a coherent response, so he clears his throat and hopes his tongue won't tie itself into a knot mid sentence. "I don't know, I don't--" He clamps his mouth shut, pulse quickening. Baekhyun soon puts a hand on his shoulder and Sehun flinches so hard he nearly whacks the cigarette out of the former's mouth.

"I don't think Chanyeol's kidnapped Jongin," Baekhyun says neutrally as he wraps his lips around his cigarette. "So I wouldn't be too worried about that," he adds and exhales, only to apologize when he accidentally blows smoke right in a woman's face as she opens the door to get out. "Anyway, I mean-- I know just as much as you do," he says after she walks away, "but be that as it may--" He bites his lip, seemingly in contemplation before sighing. "He's not your problem anymore, there's not much you can do about it." An audible sigh leaves his mouth in the form of a dark gray cloud of smoke, which disappears and becomes one with the wind.

Sehun sighs for the nth time, worrying he might suffer from permanent hair loss as a result of running his hand through his hair every two minutes. "Yeah, but--" He curses under his breath. An ice cold gust of wind passes and he has to keep a hand on his tie to prevent it from fluttering. "I was probably too...nevermind," he mutters, shaking his head. 

"You weren't too harsh," Baekhyun replies almost instantly. "Hell, he was too much even for me to handle, so props to you, I guess," he adds with a humorless chuckle before bending down and putting out his cigarette on the concrete stairs. "You're a workaholic and he was a bomb with cat ears waiting to explode, what else could you possibly expect? It's like oil and water." 

The longer Sehun keeps his hand pressed on top of his tie, the more apparent his racing heartbeat becomes, and he eventually has to keep his hands shoved in his pockets when he worries his chest might implode. He wordlessly follows the cars racing by with his eyes, biting down hard on his bottom lip until a metallic taste tickles his tastebuds. Sehun won't even attempt to deny Baekhyun's words, because the mere thought of Jongin's antics is enough to make Sehun both physically and mentally exhausted, not to mention the constant missed deadlines (and having to deal with his boss chewing him out for it every time) and sleepless nights. 

The sound of Baekhyun slowly exhaling fills Sehun's ears in the same moment that Jongin's triumphant smile, after they caught that fish together, floods his head. For a second, it's all Sehun can think of and see in front of him and he has to clear his throat loudly to distract himself. However, Sehun soon feels a warm sensation flood his gut, because as much as he tries convincing himself otherwise, he knows deep down that he liked putting up with it all. In fact, now that Sehun thinks about it, his insomnia has gotten slightly worse ever since he laid in bed the day he let Jongin go, and Sehun figures it doesn't take a genius to figure out that his work pace has taken a nose dive since that very day, judging by the piles of papers piling up on his desk both at work and at home. Sehun feels instant relief when Baekhyun proceeds to light another cigarette, because the silence is seriously starting to tear his insides to shreds.

"Knowing him and how much he seemed to like you, he'll probably come crawling back someday," Baekhyun hums, tapping his cigarette. "Let's just hope he's gotten his act together by then," he adds, only to clamp his mouth shut when he sees Sehun's expression. "Remember when you were sick last year? Jongdae brought Luhan to the office, and he actually seemed pretty tame compared to when I met him the first time. Jongdae must've been good at riling him up, I just hope Jongin's smart enough to do the same thing." A bright red lock of his hair falls in his face when he dips his head down to take a drag. "But who knows, some just can't be tamed." He blinks when Sehun looks at him.

Sehun stares at Baekhyun for a full minute, eyes wide and unblinking, and it's not until Baekhyun actually takes a step back, with a less than freaked out look on his face, that Sehun feels the warmth in his gut spread to every vein in his body when it finally hits him: Jongin's families most likely didn't disown him because he couldn't be tamed, but because they never bothered to tame him in the first place. Sehun suddenly remembers Jongin's face when the latter talked about his frustration over not being able to prove himself, and before Sehun knows it, he's running a hand down his face. Baekhyun only watches in mild awe and curiosity as Sehun sighs loudly in exasperation.

"Don't feel bad, you made the right decision," Baekhyun mutters, leaning against the stone wall. "But then again, I've never owned one, so don't take my word for it," he adds and taps his cigarette. Sehun watches as black and grey crumbs fall from the filter and onto the ground below. His voice soon turns serious. "I mean, he liked you, man, he might find his way back to you, but don't let him rile you up again in that case, I don't want to have to refill my candy jar and hide my erasers every ten minutes." He sends Sehun a wink and the latter finds himself chuckling ever so slightly. "Sometimes you gotta use your head and meet people halfway, that's just how it works."

Sehun fills his lungs with cold air, a heavy cloud filling his head as he shifts. His boss is probably driving herself crazy looking for them both, but he honestly can't bring himself to care. He suddenly feels himself balling his hands into fists inside his pockets, which Baekhyun seems to notice. "It's nothing, don't worry about it," he sighs. For the first time, he actually wishes he was a smoker, given Baekhyun and Chanyeol's equally calm and collected demeanors every time one of them smokes. 

A woman opens the door and nearly whacks Baekhyun in the face, and he jumps aside in the nick of time. He waits until she's out of sight before taking a drag and sending Sehun a sympathetic look. "We can only hope he's safe and happy--"

"Not that," Sehun blurts out, anxiously fiddling with his tie as he avoids Baekhyun's eyes. His tongue once again feels like it's made out of iron as it refuses to move. He quickly shakes his head and attempts to shove his hands back in his pockets casually, hoping Baekhyun will leave it. The latter does not, inevitably.

"Is it Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asks, and he doesn't even need to look at Sehun to know that he's right. "Like I said, I doubt he's holding Jongin hostage in his basement," he says, only to clear his throat when Sehun visibly swallows. "I mean look, he's a real ing prick but I doubt he'd want anything to do with Jongin, not to mention he hates animals." He checks the time on his phone before tossing his cigarette onto the ground and stepping on it. After kicking it off the step, he sends Sehun a reassuring smile. "Jongin nearly tried clawing his eyes out when he got too close that one time, so I think you're good."

Sehun bites his lip. "Yeah, fine, but, like--"

"I've also eard that cats hate the smell of tobacco, so I doubt he'd wander anywhere near Chanyeol's office," Baekhyun interrupts before he places two fingers under his chin. "Actually, the only situation in which I could possibly imagine Jongin hanging out in Chanyeol's office for more than two minutes would be if Chanyeol locked him inside and tortured him with his cigs." And with that being said, he sends Sehun a playful wink, the latter only slapping him in the arm before they scan their ID cards and re-enter the building.
 

---