---

Sehun adjusts the strap on his briefcase as he reaches the bottom of the stairs. "Sorry that took so long, Baekhyun also wanted the last slice, we had to talk it out," he chuckles with a sheepish shrug, the pie slice neatly wrapped in plastic on a plate in his hands. He immediately spots Luhan and sends him a smile, but he quickly picks up on the distant look in his eyes. "Where's--" His smile lights up when he sees Jongin, who is sitting with his back turned to him a few feet away. Sehun figures he shouldn't get between Jongin and whatever gross insect the latter is probably in the midst of trying to catch and eat, so he simply gestures at the door. "Shall we?"

Jongin slowly gets up off the floor, hoping his legs don't give in as he rushes towards Sehun and as far away from the bathroom door as possible. He hurriedly wipes his eyes as Sehun hands him the plate and a plastic spoon, and Jongin instantly feels a little bit better when he catches a whiff of the fresh raspberries subsequently. He sticks to Sehun like glue as they walk out the door, and the cold gust of wind that passes afterwards makes Jongin's cheek sting so badly that he nearly drops the plate. His hiss of pain doesn't go unnoticed by Sehun, who sends him a look.

"Are you--" Sehun blinks and it's not until Jongin turns his face ever so slightly that his eyes widen. "What-- Christ, your face--" He halts, his eyebrows knitting together as he gently Jongin's cheek with his thumb, making the latter wince. "What on Earth have you--"

"He fell," Luhan blurts out and it's not until Jongin follows his gaze that he notices Chanyeol staring at them from the stairs. "He fell, uh...on...on his...on one side of his, uh...face--" He rubs the back of his neck and avoids Sehun's eyes when the latter looks at him.

Jongin nods, swallowing the lump in his throat when he hears Chanyeol walking up the stairs from the other side of the door. "I fell," he says silently, gripping the plate tightly as he latches onto Sehun's sleeve. He doesn't know if this whole thing is a plan set up by Chanyeol to make him confess to snooping around in other people's rooms without permission, but he clamps his mouth shut anyways.

Sehun's gaze flickers back and forth between Jongin and Luhan, and he eyes Jongin, who keeps his gaze fixated on the ground, for a while before nodding slowly. "Okay," he says, carding his fingers through Jongin's hair as they make their way down the stairs. Sehun definitely doesn't miss the way Jongin keeps sneaking glances over his shoulder as they cross the road and make their way towards the park.

--

"Look how high up I am!" Luhan exclaims as he swings back and forth. He's been swinging non stop for the past ten minutes and Sehun worries he might end up vomiting all over the ground. He suddenly comes to a halt, nearly falling right off the swing, and pulls out his phone. "Here, take a picture of me so I can send it to Mom," he says, walking over to Sehun and handing the latter his phone.

Sehun mumbles something absentmindedly as he accepts it, but he ends up remaining seated on the bench as he keeps his eyes on Jongin, who has been sitting on the swing next to Luhan's as quiet as a mouse since they arrived at the playground twenty minutes ago. In fact, Sehun doesn't think Jongin has uttered a single word since their arrival, even refusing to race Luhan to the swings when the latter suggested it earlier. Sehun watches as Jongin continues to eat the slice of pie little by little whilst keeping his eyes glued to his shoes. Over the sound of Luhan calling his name over and over, Sehun bites his lip in worry, mainly because he sort of regrets not letting Jongin stay in his office whilst he worked. Sehun seriously does not want a repeat of their argument from last week, and the thought of possibly boring Jongin half to death with his work makes Sehun's gut churn.

On the other hand, Sehun finds himself worrying more about the obvious red mark on Jongin's left cheek, which makes the latter wince every time a gust of wind passes. Sehun doesn't know if he believes in Luhan's (and Jongin's) explanation, but Sehun figures that a fall bad enough to produce a mark like that shouldn't go unchecked. A couple of sparrows land on the gravel two feet away from Sehun's feet, and it's not until Luhan proceeds to quite literally scramble off the swing in mid air, whilst Jongin remains seated and picking at the slice of pie that Sehun gets up off the bench.

"Hey," Sehun says softly as he moves into a squatting position in front of Jongin, who attempts to smile back as much as his sore face will allow him to. "Are you feeling alright? You're not sick, are you?" He his head aside and attempts to look Jongin in the eyes with little success. He tries ignoring the sickening crunch that fills the air afterwards, closely followed by Luhan emitting a noise of triumph. "Hey, look at me."

Shoving the spoon in his mouth, Jongin looks up at Sehun through his thick, black bangs. He can barely even see Sehun, but he does manage to catch a glimpse of the latter's concerned expression before he looks back down at the plate. His cheek still stings to the point that he can barely even open his mouth and eat, much less speak. "I'm fine," he mumbles, attempting to straighten his ears when he notices just how flattened they are. It barely works, which Sehun notices.

"Are you sure? It's just...you're awfully quiet," Sehun says in a low tone, making sure Luhan doesn't hear (not that he has to worry, since Luhan is much too busy ripping apart all three birds at once behind him to even listen, but still) before leaning in and Jongin's hair. "Where'd you fall? Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asks, wondering if he should make an appointment at the nearest doctor's office when Jongin simply shakes his head. "Are you sure?"

Jongin nods and swallows an entire raspberry. He figures he'd rather take a hit to the face any day than admitting he didn't keep his promise and being found out, because the thought of Sehun leaving him again is enough to nearly make the raspberry go down the wrong pipe subsequently. "M-hmm," he hums, trying to act as casual as he possibly can as he watches Luhan feast on the sparrows behind Sehun.

Sehun looks at Jongin for a moment until the latter goes back to hanging his head, and he sighs. "Look, I know this isn't the most exciting thing for you," he says, gently brushing Jongin's bangs aside so the latter won't have an excuse not to look at him. "But I promise I'll try to make it more enjoyable for you as soon as I hand in my next report tomorrow, alright? We'll dress up in our costumes and go trick or treating and watch scary movies all day tomorrow, I promise, alright?" He bites his lip when Jongin nods slowly. He's about to say something else when Luhan taps his shoulder.

"Hey, take a picture of me!" Luhan exclaims, beaming with his mouth full of, and stained with, bright red blood as he points to his phone, which Sehun forgot he was still holding until now. He poses proudly with whatever is left of the sparrows and ignores the horrified look on Sehun's face (and the hungry glint in Jongin's eyes). "Come on, I can't stand like this forever, dude--"

"Yeah, yeah, hang on," Sehun says before he holds up the phone and snaps a few photos of Luhan posing dramatically. They're all most likely blurry but he can tell that it doesn't matter to Luhan as the latter reviews them afterwards. He swallows when he notices Jongin slumping his shoulders again, and it's not until Luhan puts his phone away that he stands up. "Hey, do you know where he fell?"

Luhan bites down and raises an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean?" he asks, tearing off a wing before chewing with his mouth open.

Sehun grimaces before shrugging. "It's just...he seems-- Just...down in general," he says, not wanting to admit that he's at least 99% sure it's his fault. "I mean, he might be seriously injured, and it's just...I want to know," he adds, rubbing the back of his neck.

"He didn't fall," Luhan says absentmindedly as he struggles with one of the claws. He misses the way Jongin whips his head up to send him a look less than two seconds later as he successfully rips it off and begins chewing. He swallows and grimaces. "Man, I didn't think these'd be so sharp going down."

Sehun raises an eyebrow. "He didn't?" He blinks before looking back at Jongin. "But--"

"Luhan," Jongin says, scrambling to latch onto Sehun's arm. "Don't--"

"Chanyeol hit him," Luhan blurts out and it takes him a second to figure out what he's said before he slaps a hand over his mouth. It's not until he sees the look on Sehun and Jongin's faces that he huffs in defeat. "Okay, so like...I technically wasn't allowed to tell you that--" He runs a bloodied hand through his hair before his eyes flash in anger. "But Chanyeol hit him like, really, really hard." He curses under his breath, clearly agitated, before he stuffs the remainder of the sparrow in his mouth. "Damn, he's gonna kill me for that--"

Sehun is silent for a minute, his expression unreadable as he stares at Luhan for any signs of sarcasm. He finds none, and it's not until he sees Jongin rubbing his cheek in pain that he feels something burst in his chest. "Wait, what--" He blinks, trying to pull his thoughts together as he runs a hand through his hair. "Just now?" he asks, looking at Jongin. When it becomes clear that the latter has no intention of answering, he sends Luhan a look instead.

"I mean...yeah, like," Luhan says, swallowing, "I taught Jongin how to stair surf and we sort of...ran into him and he got all pissy and just hit him. Like, after he grabbed him here and dragged him around and stuff." He reaches behind him and grabs the back of his own shirt. "It was so loud, like, it echoed and stuff--" He quickly flails his limbs in all directions. "I mean, I'm the one who should've been hit since I was the one who ed up his walls and sent him stuff on the computer, but I tried telling him but he wouldn't freaking listen--"

Sehun exhales slowly. At least that explains why he caught Baekhyun and Chanyeol arguing over a supposed 'hate email' the redhead had sent earlier on his way to the printer room, he figures before swallowing thickly. The anger seeping into his veins hits him like a freight train and he does his best to keep it at bay as Jongin nearly squeezes the life out of his arm.

"I mean, it was my fault, yeah, but I can't be punished since I, uh, tried getting back at him for what he did to Jongin before that," Luhan squabbles, flailing his arms in all directions. A little girl sends him a strange look and he only hisses at her, which causes her to cry and run to her mother. "I can't be blamed! Don't tell my parents--"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Sehun asks, his eyebrows knitting together even more as he feels his pulse quicken. He tries his best to ignore it, but it barely works as he eyes Luhan sternly. "What do you mean, 'before that'? What else did he do?" he asks all in one breath, so quickly that it nearly forms into one word. A million thoughts scurry about inside his head and finds himself feeling queasy when Jongin whimpers silently. "What--"

"He, uh--" Luhan bites his lip before clamping his mouth shut, clearly unsure of what to say as he scratches the top of his head. "Like, he, uh, tried to kiss him here-" He points to his neck before grabbing his shirt. "And I told Jongin we had to leave so Chanyeol kind of, grabbed him by the shirt and--" He clamps his mouth shut, clearly frustrated as he swallows. "Uh, how much do you--"

"Tell me everything," Sehun says, not even bothering to hide the desperation in his voice, which makes an elderly woman send him a dirty look. He briefly tells her to off before clenching his jaw as he keeps his eyes glued on Luhan's face. "What else did he do?"

Luhan swallows. "I want you to know that I really did try my best to help--" He flinches when Sehun sends him a glare before he flails his arms in all directions. "But Chanyeol said we'd be history if we--"

"Luhan," Sehun says, trying his absolute best to keep his voice at a reasonable level when an entire group of kindergarteners rush towards the swingsets. The fact that Jongin is clinging to his arm for dear life is doing nothing to calm his nerves and he sends Luhan another look. "I need to know what Chanyeol did, so if you'd be so kind as to--"

"He threw him down on the table, kinda like they do in WWE, and like, put his hands in here--" Luhan slides his hand up his own shirt and rests it on his chest. "And like, here--" He points to his thigh, near his crotch. "And in here," he says and it's not until he slides his hand down his sweatpants that he takes a step back when Sehun emits a low growl. "Don't get mad, I tried helping, I did--" he babbles, nearly choking on his own words. "It wasn't my fault! I mean, I thought it was the nicest thing to do as a best friend since Jongin cried and told the goddamn moron to stop, since he's done it like, three times, but he didn't! I swear I fessed up to what I did to his walls and stuff! I didn't do anything! I just wanted to be a good best friend! Don't tell my parents, they'll be--" He blinks when Sehun turns on his heel, and Jongin nearly falls off the swing when Sehun wordlessly storms off and towards the building. Luhan curses under his breath before helping Jongin, who looks like he's on the verge of a meltdown, off the ground before they scurry close behind.

--

The warm fury flooding Sehun's system as he practically bursts through the door to the office building a minute later nearly prevents him from thinking straight as he pushes past a female colleague and charges up the stairs five at a time. He sort of feels bad about leaving Jongin and Luhan alone in the playground but Sehun barely pays it a second thought before storming past the doors lining the walls. He walks past Baekhyun's office but doesn't answer when the latter asks him what he's up to, and Sehun hears scurrying behind him as he comes to a stop at the end of the hallway.

Chanyeol curses loudly when his door suddenly gets thrown open with a loud bang, and Sehun immediately notices the bright green drawings on the walls and on the painting the second he steps foot in the room and slams the door behind him. There's a dark red puddle of blood on the white carpet and Sehun makes sure not to step in it as he walks up to the desk whilst attempting to keep his breathing at bay. Chanyeol's eyes linger on Sehun for a split second before he resumes typing, all whilst humming a low tune under his breath. 

"Y'know," Chanyeol chuckles after a while, his obliviousness only making Sehun's blood boil, "most people knock." He finishes typing something before grabbing his thermos. "Man, could this day drag on any longer," he huffs, spinning around in his chair as he takes a much needed drink. He resumes typing, seemingly ignoring Sehun's existence before chuckling again. "Yeah, don't mind that." He gestures at the wall behind him. "Don't even get me started on the cost. It literally pains me every time I see it." A noise of frustration makes it past his lips. "Man, Jongin, that little er--" He nearly falls out of his chair when Sehun slams his fist down on the table so forcefully that his thermos gets knocked over, as well as a jar of pencils and an empty photo frame, which tumbles to the floor. Coffee spills out all across the surface and Chanyeol curses loudly when it drips down in his lap. "The bloody hell was that for--"

"Lay your filthy hands on him one more time and it'll be the last thing you ever see," Sehun growls and promptly ignores Baekhyun when the latter asks what's wrong subsequently. Across from him, Chanyeol is completely silent with an unreadable look on his face, and Sehun is seconds away from knocking the entire table over until Chanyeol finally speaks.

"That..." Chanyeol closes his mouth before grabbing a Kleenex and calmly wiping his pants. "...was an accident," he says after a while and it's not until Sehun eyes actually flash with rage that he throws his hands in the air. "Did you see what those ers did to my wall? The paintings? My car? Guess who's covering the cost of all that? Not them, that's for in' sure. You can't even turn your goddamn back for a single second around here without happening, it's honestly tragic," he spits and gestures dramatically at the door. " outta here--"

"Were the other two times also 'accidents'?" Sehun growls, mimicking Chanyeol's voice as he grips the edge of the desk. "Or when you dragged him by the ing shirt and hit him so hard he could barely speak afterwards?" He's sort of glad that there's an entire table between him and Chanyeol, since he's at least 100% sure he would've walked right up and shattered the latter's jaw otherwise. "I in' knew it, he'd never ing hug or touch you, he ing hated your --" He runs a hand through his hair and chuckles out loud. "So that's what you get up to when my back's turned? How very thoughtful of you." He worries he might vomit all over the carpet if he doesn't leave the room soon, but Sehun doesn't get a chance to when Chanyeol laughs.

Chanyeol continues to hum as he organizes his stationery. His calm, structured movements only cause Sehun's urge to sock him right in the face to skyrocket. "Well, duh, since your dumb couldn't be bothered to teach his naive a thing or two, consider it a favor. You're welcome." He checks his reflection in the computer screen before crossing his hands in his lap and looking up at Sehun. "Last time I checked, he was your pet," he says, scowling at the last word as another humorless chuckle leaves his lips. "Not your husband-to-be," he adds and his head aside before clicking his tongue. The gesture nearly makes Sehun reach across and strangle him in his chair. "Oh Sehun, you received this position solely because of your bigger than average brain." He raises an eyebrow. "So use it."

"Last time I checked, it was still my duty to protect and care for him," Sehun says low in his throat whilst staring daggers at Chanyeol, who only rolls his eyes. "Listen, I don't want to see you talk to him and I don't ever want to see you near him ever again, you hear me? You goddamn ing--" He clenches his jaw when Chanyeol's expression suddenly shifts.

Chanyeol is silent, his face unreadable (and highly punchable, according to Sehun) until it slowly erupts into a discreet smirk. He scooches closer to his desk before resting his arms on the surface and cocking his head aside. "My, my," he sing-songs, voice dropping two octaves as his smirk only grows. "Look at you." He chuckles dryly before staring at Sehun with a look of pure pity, which makes the latter clench his teeth in fury. "You're actually trying to make me believe that Oh Sehun, one of the most intelligent men this office and company has ever seen, genuinely thinks his worthless pest of a pet loves him?" He shakes his head before picking up his thermos. The room is silent until he takes a swig and sends Sehun a scowl. "You know, I think I just might."

Sehun continues to stare daggers at Canyeol before he sees red, and something snaps at the back of his head as he reaches across and knocks the thermos right out of Chanyeol's hand, the latter cursing loudly when coffee ends up all over his white blouse. Sehun doesn't even give him a chance to respond before he grabs Chanyeol's tie and collar and yanks him forward so forcefully that the latter has to grab onto the edge of the table to prevent him from stumbling. Sehun can smell the overwhelming tobacco on Chanyeol's clothing and on his breath, and Sehun only feels his gut stir when he looks down and sees the large amount of black fur stuck to Chanyeol's blouse. Even though Chanyeol seems to notice, his expression still remains as neutral as ever, and Sehun bites back a growl.

For a moment, all Sehun can picture is Jongin trapped beneath Chanyeol on this very spot, with Jongin writhing and begging to be let go of, only for Chanyeol to proceed to hurt him in ways Sehun feels sick just thinking about, and even though Sehun feels his mind blanking out with rage, he manages to restrain himself from lashing out when he remembers that Jongin and Luhan are most definitely listening on the other side of the door right this second. Even though Sehun curses himself for not doing it, he knows for a fact that having Jongin somehow open the door and witness his owner permanently dislocate their colleague's jaw wouldn't exactly be setting the best example. So, Sehun forces himself to exhale in an attempt to pull himself together, before he promptly lets go of Chanyeol's blouse, the latter nearly falling to the floor subsequently.

Chanyeol quickly gets to his feet before he proceeds to fix his collar and send Sehun a smirk. "All bark and no bite, I see," he hums, although Sehun easily picks up on the way his voice wavers ever so slightly. "Just like your trusty little companion." He runs a hand through his hair before spinning his chair around until it's facing the desk. "Anyway, getting back to the important things." He sits down and picks up his thermos off the carpet. "If you've got nothing else, then kindly off and buy me a pack since mine seems to have...well, disappeared." He smirks knowingly before he sends Sehun an overdramatic grin. "Boss wants you to check over the new 1044's by five o'clock, just so you know. Now scram," he says before rolling his eyes, adjusting his tie and focusing his attention on his report.

Sehun watches Chanyeol type, the latter flat out ignoring his existence, before he turns on his heel. A thought hits him and he forces himself to swallow the string of obscenities on the tip of his tongue before walking towards the door and slamming it shut behind him.

--

"He's gonna leave again," Jongin sobs, wiping his eyes as Luhan continues to pat his shoulder. They've been sitting outside Chanyeol's office since they saw Sehun storm into Chanyeol's office and close the door, and Jongin doesn't know how long he's been hovering on the verge of a meltdown whilst having Luhan console him, but he can't bring himself to stop as he wipes his face again. His sore cheek stings like crazy every time he grazes it with the back of his hand, but Jongin has stopped paying it any attention. "He'll find out I went into their rooms without asking and think I'm annoying and kick me out again--" He flinches when Luhan pats the top of his head like a dog. Thinking about dogs only reminds Jongin of the dog that chased him off the patio the night he slept outside Sehun's front door, and the thought is enough to trigger a brand new river of hot tears that come streaming down his face subsequently. "I know it--

Luhan gently shushes him before scooching over to sit beside Jongin. "Hey now, I think he'll see past that, don't you think?" he hums, counting the cracks on the walls as he drums his fingers against his kneecaps. "I mean, what Chanyeol did to you was like, so much worse...I think," he adds and Jongin fights the urge to remind him that (semi consentfully) barging into somebody's room and scribbling all over somebody's wall in permanent marker might be slightly worse.

"You shouldn't have told him," Jongin sniffs, wiping his face again as he plays with his fingers. He doesn't know if he should be thankful or slap Luhan when the latter proceeds to envelope him in a bone crushing hug. Jongin is aware of how foolish he sounds but he's sort of beyond the point of caring at this point. "Why'd you tell him," he whines for the nth time and sighs loudly.

"He won't leave, princes and and princesses belong together forever," Luhan says as a matter-of-factly, his tail swaying back and forth until it puffs up thrice its size when a loud crashing noise fills the air, and both of them turn their heads to look at the door. "The heck was that." They can't hear much besides muffled exclaims, and they nearly jump five feet in the air when they hear footsteps approaching subsequently.

Baekhyun sports a look of pure confusion on his face as he sends both Luhan and Jongin a look. "Uh, what's going on? What's the matter?" he asks, eyeing the large, wooden door warily. "Why're you..." He's got blue ink all over one side of his right hand, but it doesn't seem to bother him as he runs a hand through his hair.

"Sehun's talking to Chanyeol and he's mad," Luhan blurts out and Jongin scrambles to cover his mouth subsequently.

"Really?" Baekhyun raises an eyebrow. "I did see Sehun around here a few minutes ago, the heck's he doing in there, anyway?" He scratches the back of his head, only to blink when he sees the tears, as well as the red mark, on Jongin's cheek. "Uh, if I may ask--" He gestures at Jongin's face, only to squawk when Jongin bursts into tears all over again. "Oh , sorry, I didn't-- I don't--"

"It's okay, you didn't do anything...I think," Luhan says, giving Jongin a tight squeeze, which only makes Jongin emit a loud sob. "It's just--"

"He's gonna leave, he's gonna leave," Jongin babbles, sobbing mid sentence as Luhan pats his head again. "He's--"

"So basically, Chanyeol hit Jongin and tried taking off his pants a bunch of times and stuff and I technically wasn't allowed to tell anyone since Chanyeol said he'd kill us, but I sort of accidentally did anyway and now Sehun's all mad and trying to talk to him," Luhan says all in one breath before he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a red piece of candy from Baekhyun's candy jar. He briefly wonders why Baekhyun doesn't comment on it before he hands it to Jongin. "Here, I saved some!" He beams when Jongin accepts it. "Anyway, like, even if you do get kicked out, can't you live with your very first family? I remember you'd ramble on and on about how much you liked them! You know, the one with the cute little girl who--"

"Wait--" Baekhyun is silent before his eyebrows suddenly furrow. "Uh, what did you--"

Jongin pouts. "But I want Sehun!" he exclaims and slaps a hand over his mouth. He curses to himself before unwrapping the candy and popping it in his mouth. The sugar makes his nerves settle, but only for a few minutes (or rather, seconds), and he soon finds himself sniffling into Luhan's shoulder less than five minutes later. "I don't want him to--"

"Wait, hang on," Baekhyun says, putting his hands up before he squats down next to Luhan and sends Jongin a look. "What did you say?" A concerned look spreads across his face when Jongin only chews in silence. He presses his lips together. "Has...has he done that many times?" he asks, cocking his head. "Chanyeol, that is."

Jongin nods before swallowing both the candy and the lump in his throat. "Three times," he says quietly, seriously wishing Sehun would come out soon so he can be confronted by the painful truth already. He feels slightly better when Luhan hands him another piece of candy. His tail is beginning to ache and go numb at the same time, but he doesn't have it in him to ask Luhan to move so he can shift into a more comfortable position.

"," Baekhyun curses before gesturing at the mark on Jongin's face. "And he hit you? When?" he asks, a petrified look on his face.

"Like, recently, I didn't do anything, though, he was just angry," Jongin sighs, wincing when a stinging sensation spreads across his entire cheek. "And now Sehun's gonna leave me again--"

"Chanyeol was mad at stuff I technically did, but I admitted it!" Luhan interrupts as he exclaims defensively. "And like, I even offered my face so he could hit me, I mean, I wouldn't let him, obviously, but I did it anyway!" he adds and crosses his arms over his chest with a scoff. "I hope Sehun doesn't tell my parents, I was supposed to go to the butterfly park with Mom tomorrow--"

"Wait, hold on," Baekhyun says, placing a hand on Luhan's shoulder before looking at Jongin again. His bright red hair is nearly hypnotizing to look at and Jongin catches himself staring for perhaps a little longer than necessary. "Well, first of all, that's awful and he's a goddamn dip, but why would Sehun leave you for it?" He blinks in genuine confusion.

Jongin sobs. "Because now he's gonna find out that I entered Chanyeol's room without asking and made him angry," he says quietly and sighs heavily. "And he'll be annoyed all over again and kick me out a second time, and this time I probably won't be able to come back--" He blinks when Baekhyun suddenly stands up and steps over their legs before slowly sinking down next to him. He can smell Baekhyun's strawberry shampoo and Jongin doesn't know if he loves it or hates it.

Baekhyun wraps his arms around Jongin's shoulders before pulling the latter in closer. "Jongin, I can assure you that Sehun isn't going to be leaving you for this," he says reassuringly before rubbing Jongin's shoulder. "If anything, he'll probably end up doing the opposite," he adds before chuckling. "Hell, even if he does leave you, I'll force him to take you back."

Jongin blinks. "You will?"

"You bet," Baekhyun laughs before he eyes the door warily. "My main concern is if any of them will make it out alive," he says only half jokingly before his voice turns serious. "No but seriously, if he ever tries doing that to you again and Sehun isn't around, let me know, 'kay? God, I should've figured it all out when you two were in my goddamn office--" He curses to himself and all three of them look up when the door opens moments later.

Sehun grumbles something under his breath as he steps out and slams the door behind him, and in his distracted state he trips over Baekhyun's legs, which causes him to stumble and accidentally step right on Luhan's tail, causing the latter to hiss and instinctively slash his pants open. Jongin watches, whilst wiping his eyes, as Sehun apologizes profusely to Luhan, who wordlessly massages his sore tail muscle, and Jongin visibly flinches when Sehun looks up at him. As much as Jongin wants to scream at Sehun to just hit him with the cold, hard truth already, he finds himself blinking in surprise when Sehun only gestures at him and Luhan to get up.

"How'd it go? Did you kill the ugly moron?" Luhan asks shamelessly, seemingly forgetting all about his tail as he stares at Sehun expectantly.

Sehun shakes his head, fighting the urge to say 'Almost' as he pulls Jongin into a tight hug. "I know this might be difficult, but I want you to do something," he says, gently wiping Jongin's eyes with the back of his hand. "It could really help." He the back of Jongin's head as the latter blinks in wonder. "I might need your help, too," he adds, sending Luhan a nod.

Baekhyun gets up off the floor before brushing himself off. "I'll be off, lemme know if you need anything," he says and sends Sehun a knowing smile before disappearing into his office and leaving the door ajar.

Jongin blinks as Sehun gently guides him down the hallway, and he makes sure to cling onto Sehun's arm like a baby koala as they approach a big, black door. A blast of different scents, mainly those of blu-tack, black coffee and overall cleanliness, hit Jongin all at once and he finds himself hiding behind Sehun when the door opens after three knocks. Jongin's ears flatten anxiously as Luhan skips inside the air conditioned room, and he makes sure to grasp the back of Sehun's suit jacket as the latter gently ushers him forward.

--

"I thought cats couldn't taste sweet things," Sehun chuckles as he watches Jongin stuff his face with brightly colored jelly beans. As they make their way down the gravelled path, Sehun briefly worries Jongin might trip over a rock and end up spilling the contents of the entire bag all over the ground, so he opts to wrap an arm around Jongin's waist. Sehun doesn't know what time it is, but they parted ways with Luhan roughly half an hour ago and the sun is starting to set, so Sehun figures it's at least some time past six. He looks at Jongin just as the latter walks right into a golden sun ray, and Sehun feels his breath hitch when it turns the younger's black hair and ears a dazzling brown shade. He almost looks like an angel with cat ears, Sehun thinks.

Jongin stuffs a handful of red jelly beans in his mouth before humming to himself. "Some can and some can't," he replies with his mouth full. A gust of wind passes and he sighs in relief when his cheek doesn't sting like it did mere hours ago. If he's going to be honest, if he'd known that simply talking to a middle aged woman with a strict face and big, ugly glasses for ten minutes was enough to earn him a five pound bag of jelly beans, Jongin sort of hates himself for being as anxious as he was earlier.

It's not like he knew what to expect, but Jongin honestly doesn't know if he felt a greater amount of surprise when said woman got up after their discussion and walked into Chanyeol's office and said something before the latter's room soon turned out to look just like Jongdae's shortly after, or when Sehun hugged him tightly and offered to buy him anything from the candy store afterwards. As much as Jongin doesn't want to admit it, given his love for candy, he knows for a fact that the former surprised him the most, especially when she dumped a pile of flat pieces of cardboard right on top Chanyeol's desk before telling the latter to 'pack up and get out right this instant' in the scariest voice Jongin had ever heard (perhaps even scarier than his first foster mother's voice when she first caught him tearing up the curtains). Jongin doesn't recall Chanyeol saying anything afterwards, but Jongin does recall Chanyeol sending him, Luhan and Sehun the most hateful glare he's ever seen on a human being before he proceeded to place his things inside the boxes subsequently.

At first, Sehun was slightly worried she wouldn't believe any of them, considering Jongin was shaking like a leaf at the start until Luhan gave him two pieces of candy to calm him down, all whilst reassuring Jongin that the 'scary looking lady probably wasn't all too scary'. Their discussion went smoothly after that, much to Sehun's relief, and he remembers feeling a sense of surprise at his usually stubborn and hard headed boss staring at Jongin with that much empathy and concern in her eyes after the latter was asked to speak on his behalf.

Aside from Jongin's nervousness, Sehun also worried that she wouldn't take Jongin's word for it, since Sehun knew just how much she valued Chanyeol as an employee, but all it took was one look at the red mark on Jongin's cheek, and the tears streaming down his face (as he pretty much latched on to Sehun like a clingy koala), for her to stand up, grab a couple of folded up boxes, walk straight down the hallway and into Chanyeol's office, before quite literally tossing them at Chanyeol's face less than ten minutes later without giving him a chance to protest. The next couple of minutes were spent trying to convince Luhan that Chanyeol wouldn't, in fact, 'murder him and chop his body up like they do in horror movies' for telling the truth, whilst Luhan nearly suffered a mental breakdown right in the middle of his boss' office. Jongin, on the other hand, seemed to sport a look of mild confusion as he watched Chanyeol from the safety of said office.

Chanyeol finished packing up less than ten minutes later, and he sent Jongin a glare that had Jongin cowering in fear after he blindly dashed towards Chanyeol after spotting an insect crawling on one of the boxes the latter was carrying. Instead of stepping between them, like Sehun initially planned, he ended up yanking Jongin back inside his boss' office (because Sehun knew that he, too, would be fired on the spot for having given Chanyeol a coma inducing concussion) before closing and locking the door. Sehun won't ever forget the radiant smile that lit up Jongin's entire face after they stepped out of the car and walked right up to a candy store afterwards. In his ecstatic state, Jongin briefly forgot that he needed to pay for the things he wanted, and Sehun had to chase Jongin into the parking lot after the latter grabbed as much candy as he could carry before rushing out of the store and towards the car.

"I see," Sehun hums, nodding absentmindedly as they pass the calm pond by the bridge. "I'm just glad he can't hurt you anymore," he says before carding his fingers through Jongin's hair. 

Jongin stuffs six jelly beans in his mouth. "But you have so much to do now," he pouts, gesturing at Sehun's briefcase, in which he's placed three of Chanyeol's half finished reports. "I like these better than fish," he giggles and nearly drops the bag in surprise when a dog barks at him subsequently. The thought of making Sehun stressed again sort of makes him sick.

"I know," Sehun says before chuckling. "I'm totally fine with that if it means he won't be able to lay a hand on you again." He pats Jongin's shoulder. "And don't stuff your face, you'll get a stomach ache--"

"Is my tongue blue?" Jongin giggles, sticking his tongue out. An oncoming breeze blows his bangs back, revealing his forehead. "Look! Look!"

Sehun blinks. "More like red," he chuckles, even though Jongin's tongue is a mixture of all the colors of the rainbow. He's about to suggest stopping by the playground so Jongin can eat in peace when Jongin suddenly leans in, and the next thing Sehun registers is a certain sweetness tickling his tastebuds after he runs his tongue across his lower lip. An elderly couple sends them strange looks and as much as Sehun wants to shove Jongin head first into the pond, he lightly whacks his arm instead. "Stop that, you--"

"Your lips are red!" Jongin laughs and Sehun has to shush him when they pass a group of people, who all send them both dirty looks. "Kind of like my Mother's lips when she wore her lip makeup," he hums absentmindedly and he doesn't end up sticking to his promise of being quiet when he spots a large oak tree up ahead. Upon closer inspection, he notices two magpies perched on one of the branches. Sehun seems to notice, as well, because he quickly wraps a hand around his wrist. "Just one--"

Sehun tightens his grip around Jongin's wrist when the latter proceeds to charge towards the tree. "Remember what happened? I don't want to have to climb up and get you," he says, seriously wondering how anybody would be alright with doing something twice after nearly breaking their neck the first time. When Jongin only attempts to pull on his arm again, he shakes his head. "It's getting dark out, we should be heading home," he says. Before all the crazies emerge from their caves and proceed to pollute the park, he thinks.

"But I wanna show you what a good hunter I am," Jongin pouts, even though he's sort of already aware of the fact that he likely won't be able to capture an adult magpie on his own, but even so. "Maybe even better than Luhan!" He grins and his eyes twinkle at the thought of impressing Sehun, even if it might (correction, will) come at the expense of getting stuck in a tree and never being able to climb back down ever again. He only sighs when Sehun shakes his head again. "Why not?!"

Sehun blinks before sending Jongin a look. "Is me not wanting you to fall and risk hurting yourself not a good enough reason for you?" he deadpans.

"I'll just look!" Jongin says, eyes twinkling as he grins widely. "Please? Like, I'll only look, I won't touch, I promise, I promise, I promise," he says all in one breath before pointing to the birds a few feet away. They don't seem to be acknowledging his presence, which Sehun finds kind of relieving. "Pleasepleaseplease--!"

Sehun doesn't even get a chance to answer (not that it would have made a difference) before Jongin is bouncing up and down in glee, and Sehun doesn't even realize Jongin has pulled him closer to the tree until he looks up and sees the two magpies less than three feet from his face. It doesn't take long for Sehun to notice the way Jongin is shaking like a leaf as he tries not to act upon his urges, so he quickly wraps his arms around Jongin from behind, securely holding him in place. Conveniently enough, an ice cold breeze passes and rustles every leaf on the tree, and Sehun finds himself tightening his grip when Jongin shivers (which he figures is the right thing to do, since Jongin's jacket is still in the laundry). Even so, the hungry glint still remains in the latter's eyes as he watches the birds chirp above. 

"Eggs," Jongin says, pointing up at the branch, his tail swaying back and forth. The birds seem to react to his voice as they flutter their wings subsequently. "Wait, hold on--!"

"They can't understand you, ," Sehun chuckles. Jongin's hair tickles his face as it blows in the wind, and Sehun has to dip his head down and rest his chin on Jongin's shoulder when the wind doesn't stop blowing. "What'd you say?"

"They've got eggs," Jongin says, pointing again. A gust of wind blows his hair up front until it's covering his eyes, but he's unable to brush it away due to Sehun's iron grip preventing him from moving his arms at all costs. He feels Sehun's warm breath tickling his neck but he blames the gust of wind that passes subsequently for making his entire spine shudder.

Sehun blinks. He didn't even know magpies nested at this time of year, but he knows he isn't an expert on birds, so he dismisses the thought. "Even more reason not to eat them," he hums and sort of hopes none of the birds end up freaking out and scratching their faces off.

Jongin watches for a few more minutes until he feels his neck starting to cramp. "I won't eat them," he says, moving his hand until he's unconsciously fiddling with Sehun's watch.

Sehun blinks. "Why not?" he asks. He sort of wants to know what Jongin is doing to his watch, but it's not like he's going to risk letting go of the latter to find out. 

"Because babies need someone who will love and take care of them, so I won't eat them," Jongin hums before huffing slightly. "But why can't I show you what a good hunter I really am?" He squirms. "I might even be like, a hundred times better than Luhan for all you know!!!"

"Because I don't want you getting stuck or hurting yourself again," Sehun simply says, listening to the birds chirp, almost like they're arguing, as he slowly exhales and the top of Jongin's head with his right hand. "Luhan could beat you in every single hunting contest in existence and I'd love you just as much," he adds and briefly wonders if Jongin might have switched his watch to Tokyo time when it beeps shortly after. "Seriously, we should head home before you catch a cold-"

Watching the magpies fly off, Jongin rummages through his pocket until he retreives the half empty bag of jelly beans. There's a certain skip to his step when he walks next to Sehun as they pass the playground. "What're you gonna do now that both of them are gone?" he asks, pouting when he drops a jelly bean on the ground. Sehun has to usher him forward before he can bend down and eat it. 

"You mean Chanyeol and Jongdae?" Sehun runs a hand through his hair, ignoring the nervous buzzing in his gut before he shrugs. "We'll all carry on like usual, if that's what you mean." He thinks about the three reports sitting in his briefcase that Chanyeol left behind. Sehun knows that he would rather drown himself in a mountain of extra reports and assignments than be forced to work under the same roof as Chanyeol ever again, as long as he lives. They approach an intersection shortly after, which is buzzing with cars from both directions, and Sehun doesn't even realize he's been grabbing onto Jongin's hand the entire time until they make it across afterwards.

Jongin watches Sehun unlock the front door before he bounces inside. He removes his shoes after a brief struggle and wishes his jacket was clean, since his hands and feet have gone entirely numb at this point. Jongin figures, after this whole incident, that he should probably use and check his phone more often, so he pulls it out of his pocket and proceeds to text Luhan about hanging out some other time. Jongin knows he can easily just walk out the door and walk two blocks to Luhan's house, but he figures he might as well teach himself how to use his phone for the first time in a while.

The response is nearly instant and Jongin emits a loud squee when Luhan's text of approval (which is soon followed by another text containing a blinding amount of yellow, smiling emojis) shows up on the bright screen. As he continues stuffing his face with jelly beans, Jongin wonders if Sehun would have anything against him meeting up Luhan and hanging out whilst Sehun is at work, and after pondering the decision, Jongin opens his mouth to speak. "Sehun, can I ask you something," he asks, voice muffled as he chews loudly, but he quickly clamps his mouth shut when Sehun sends him a strict glare. "But my Mom always let me--"

"It doesn't matter, you always chew with your mouth closed no matter what," Sehun says as he puts his briefcase down. He figures he should probably get to work as soon as possible if he wants to finish at a reasonable time tomorrow. If he manages to work uninterrupted for five hours straight, he won't need to stay behind. He looks up and tries convincing himself that it's not, in fact, the feeling of his heart melting into a pile of mush when he sees Jongin sitting cross legged on the couch, ears twitching happily as he stuffs his face with candy. "What'd you wanna ask me?"

Jongin feels the couch dip when Sehun takes a seat next to him, and he hides the nearly empty bag under his arm possessively. "I was uh, thinking if Luhan could...like, if we could play together tomorrow whilst we wait for you to finish?" He plays with his fingers as he discreetly pops a jelly bean into his mouth. "Like, that way you won't think I'm annoying and you'll be able to work, right?" He props his feet up on the coffee table, only to huff when Sehun sends him a strict look.

Sehun is silent for a moment, crossing one leg over the other as he bites his lip. "You mean at his house?" he asks and suddenly feels a whole lot like a single father dropping their child off at pre-school before heading to work every morning. 

"Like, at the playground," Jongin says, reaching out and pawing at a crease in Sehun's blouse. His ears perk up when he feels Sehun's body heat under his palm and before Jongin knows it, he's inching closer until he's lying with his head in Sehun's lap. "Since I didn't get to swing earlier."

Sehun hums in contemplation as he Jongin's hair, but it's not until Jongin attempts to curl up right in his lap that he has to shove him off. "I...that place is awfully sketchy, even in the mornings," he says and now that he thinks about it, he has no idea what he was thinking stepping foot in said playground earlier. At all. "I don't know how I feel about you being out there all by yourself," he adds for emphasis. Once again, the mental image of Jongin being lured away by a stranger floods his mind and Sehun doesn't realize he's hugging Jongin painfully tight until the latter whines in pain.

"But your office is like, not that far away!" Jongin retorts, poking Sehun's cheek in annoyance.

"It'll take me two minutes to exit my office and come down," Sehun chuckles, even though the worried glint remains in his eyes. "Not to mention I won't be able to see your from my window," he adds and shrugs apologetically. "Sorry, kiddo, it's just--"

"Cause you're scared someone's gonna kidnap us, right?" Jongin lies back down in Sehun's lap and plays with Sehun's tie, until the latter swats his hand away when he proceeds to (accidentally) give it a harsh tug. He suddenly sits up and rests himself on his elbows, seemingly too gleeful to acknowledge Sehun's groan of pain. "But then it's a good thing Luhan's with me, right? If I get kidnapped, he'll save me and you know it!" His bright grin nearly makes Sehun cave, but the latter still shakes his head. "Why not?!?! You don't think Luhan can save me???"

"...What if Luhan gets kidnapped first?" Sehun sends Jongin a look and only chuckles when Jongin huffs in defeat. "Thought so--"

Jongin pouts. "Maybe you can be with us so you can save us instead," he giggles, poking Sehun's chest until the latter slaps his hand away. "Cause you'd save me, right? You would, right? Right? Right? Right?" He winces slightly when his spine aches after he shifts into a more comfortable position. When he sees Sehun's questioning look, he shrugs. "It kind of hurts after he did the...the thing," he says, grabbing the remaining jelly beans and stuffing them all in his mouth. 

Sehun doesn't know how he does it, but he actually manages to stop himself from flipping the entire coffee table over in rage, and due to his much his head is spinning, he nearly forgets to tell Jongin to sit up whilst eating before the latter can choke to death. His heart is threatening to burst out of his chest and all he wants is to turn on the TV in a desperate attempt at changing the subject. But Sehun can't reach out and grab the remote with his arm feeling like it's made of steel, and before he knows it, he's opening his mouth to speak. "Why didn't you tell me," he says nearly inaudibly as he sinks into the cushions and runs both hands down his face.

Jongin blinks. "What do you--"

"It was probably my fault for leaving you alone, but still," Sehun sighs, a long exhale making it past his dry lips before he swallows and sits upright. It suddenly hits him that he should have paid more attention to Jongin's complaints about Chanyeol, but he manages to shove the thought away before he actually does end up knocking the table over. Damn it.

Jongin blinks again before he thinks back to the scene he saw on the television earlier. "But...isn't that how people express love?" he mumbles, scratching the back of his head in mild confusion. His ears droop slightly when he eyes the empty bag of jelly beans next to him and he's about to ask Sehun if he can go buy him some more when he hears a long sigh of exasperation.

"It most certainly isn't," Sehun says after a few moments of silence as he runs his tongue across his dry lips. It suddenly hits him that he forgot to lock the front door but he soon gives up on getting off the couch when his body refuses to cooperate. He has to remove his suit jacket when he worries he might die from heatstroke, but he doesn't get a chance to toss it on the floor when Jongin tugs on his sleeve.

Jongin beams when Sehun wordlessly hands him the jacket and he scrambles to put it on. It's a near perfect fit and Jongin figures Luhan would call him something along the lines of 'handsome' or 'rich' if he were here. For a second, all he can register is Sehun's scent and perfume, and Jongin has to grab onto one of the cushions when the giddiness nearly makes him fall off the couch. His eyebrows soon furrow. "It's not?" he asks and blinks. "But don't you remember the thing we saw-"

"That's very different," Sehun sighs and briefly wonders if his legs will cooperate and let him walk ten feet to the kitchen and fetch a glass of water. He figures they most likely won't, so he opts to sit exactly where he is. Thankfully, the melodic sound of Jongin's loud laughter instantly makes Sehun's nerves relax. He still can't stop his eyebrows from creasing in worry, however, as he opens his mouth to speak. "But hey, listen--" He has to place a hand on Jongin's shoulder when the latter won't stop inspecting himself in the jacket. "Listen. If anybody ever does that to you when I'm not around, you need to tell me, or somebody else you trust, like Baekhyun, for instance. Okay?" He can't help the sigh that leaves his lips when Jongin proceeds to groom himself. "Okay?"

Jongin nods, even though the confused glint remains in his eyes. "Okay," he hums and looks around the room. He blinks when he sees how dark it's gotten outside. "But..." His voice trails off as he buttons the jacket, with some difficulty. "But like, if I told you, like, back then, what would you do?" A wave of fatigue washes over him all at once and he doesn't even give Sehun a warning before he flops down head first in Sehun's lap. "Would you be angry?" His voice trails off when he spots a moth flying in circles above the ceiling lamp, and Jongin is lucky, because Sehun his hair is the only thing keeping him from standing up, pouncing, and possibly shattering the lamp in the process.

Sehun has to take a minute to organize his thoughts, and he doesn't know if he finds himself squeezing Jongin to the point that the latter nearly suffocates as a way to prevent him from yelling at the top of his lungs, or for reasons he's too wired up to think about right now. Now, Sehun isn't exactly 100% sure, but he's pretty sure that cornering Chanyeol with the latter ultimately begging on his very knees for Sehun to let him live to see even the slightest glimpse of tomorrow qualifies as 'being angry', but he simply shrugs. "Of course I would," he says, running a tired hand through his hair. Thinking about Chanyeol only reminds him of the three half finished reports he has yet to complete, but Sehun can't bring himself to spare them, or even Chanyeol, a single ounce of thought whilst he Jongin's hair.

"I think I look better in this than you," Jongin giggles, fiddling with the sleeves on the jacket. Sehun's lap is warm and it reminds him of the time his first foster mother made him lie on his bed with a hot water bottle underneath his head after he tripped and fell into a ditch whilst running away from a dog. Still, Jongin knows for a fact that he prefers the warmer (and painless) version as he proceeds to press his hands into Sehun's clothed thighs. They lay in complete silence for a few minutes until Jongin's eyes fly open. The next thing he knows, he's sitting up like a bullet and missing Sehun's face by an inch. "You said it."

Sehun blinks at the sudden subject change and it takes him a minute to process Jongin's words. "Uh--" His cluelessness only skyrockets when Jongin erupts into a face splitting grin. "Wait, what--"

"You said it, like, earlier," Jongin exclaims, not even bothering to keep his voice down as he jabs Sehun's arm with each word. "Remember? Remember? Remember? You said it, I heard you, I remember--" He's practically trembling with excitement to the point that Sehun genuinely worries he might fall off the sofa. "You said it! Remember???"

"Uh." Sehun blinks for the nth time. "What did I--"

"The thing!" Jongin says and beams, seemingly unaware of Sehun's puzzled expression as he continues to jab the latter's arm. "Remember?"

Sehun blinks again. "What thing--"

"You said 'love'," Jongin squees before scrambling into Sehun's lap again. "You said it, remember? Remember?" He stares at the blond with hearts in his eyes. "You said you'd love me just as much, remember? I remember--" He pokes Sehun's shoulder until Sehun has to hold him in place so he doesn't accidentally end up whacking either of them in the head. 

It takes Sehun five whole minutes to figure out what Jongin is talking about, but it suddenly hits him whilst Jongin is in the middle of poking his cheek repeatedly. A blast of heat suddenly spreads from his chest to his entire body, which he finds strange, since taking off his jacket seemed to do the trick. Sehun finds himself opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish until he eventually has to shove Jongin out of his lap when his legs threaten to shatter to pieces under his weight. "You're too heavy, get off--" He eyes his briefcase, which is sitting neglected in the hallway, and is halfway through standing up when Jongin tugs on his arm. "Jongin, I need to get to work-"

"But you always work," Jongin whines loudly, rolling onto his back as he continues to pull on Sehun's sleeve. "It's Halloween tomorrow, remember?" He figures spending time with Luhan must have made the latter's lightning reflexes rub off on him, after Sehun caves and sits back down. It takes Jongin a moment to process the fact that his face hasn't, in fact, been smashed into his head, before he grins again. "I wanna go fishing in the dark, Luhan did it once and didn't fall in!" He's fibbing and he knows it, because Luhan has definitely fallen head first into the pond on more than one occasion whilst fishing at night, but he chooses to keep that part a secret. "Like, it has to be dark, like, really really dark, okay???"

Sehun walks over and opens the window, hoping the cool breeze will alleviate the heat coursing through his body. It sort of works, but not enough, especially not when Jongin proceeds to send him a wide-eyed puppy stare as the latter pops his head up from the couch. "Not too dark, though," he says, attempting and failing to discreetly fan his face. He only clears his throat when Jongin blinks in puzzlement. "I really don't want you falling in." He doesn't even want to know, but he figures Jongin will definitely claw his eyes out if he jumps in and tries saving him from the ice cold water.

"If I can't be a better hunter than Luhan, then I wanna have better balance," Jongin says, playing with his fingers as he rests his chin on the soft back rest. He has a faint memory of Siwon telling him that fish tasted better when caught in the dark, and the thought only makes him bounce up and down in excitement. Sehun nearly trips over his own two feet as he rushes forward and grabs ahold of the sofa before Jongin manages to tip it over. "But is that a yes? It's a yes, right? Right?" He continues to stare at Sehun with stars in his eyes, seemingly unaware of the fact that Sehun just saved him from knocking all his teeth out at once. "Right? Right? Right?"

"It's not a contest, you know," Sehun chuckles, exhaling in relief as he leans against the back rest. "I mean, we could do that, but don't worry about being better or worse than Luhan, okay? You know I'd--" He clears his throat and looks away when Jongin squeals loudly. His attempt at concealing his evergrowing blush is soon shown to be useless when Jongin pokes his cheek. "Stop that--!"

"You'd love me just as much, right?" Jongin says and nearly ends up tipping the couch over a second time when he throws his arms around Sehun's neck. "Right? Right? Right?" It's not until he's poked Sehun's arm to the point of bruising that the latter sighs loudly. "Right? I'm right, right--?"

"Yeah, you're right," Sehun sighs, unable to hold back a chuckle as he rolls his eyes in exasperation. "We'll talk about our plans tomorrow, try to get some sleep--" He turns around and nearly jumps out of his own skin when he sees Jongin's face less than five inches from his own.

Jongin's tail sways back and forth as he plays with Sehun's blond locks. "You've never kissed me, right?" he asks, cocking his head to the side as his eyes twinkle.

Sehun blinks. He figures that he's definitely underestimated Jongin's arm strength as he finds himself unable to move in the latter's grasp. "I don't think so," he mumbles. Even though he can't even feel his own heart race in his chest for some reason, but he quickly shoves the thought aside when Jongin's ears twitch. "Jongin, you know what I've said about Lu--" His words die in his throat when Jongin leans in ever so slightly and before Sehun has a chance to process what he's doing, he's pecking Jongin's lips, which are still colorfully stained thanks to the jelly beans. Jongin's loud squee is all Sehun hears for the next ten seconds until he clears his throat. 

Jongin runs his tongue, which is still multicolored, across his lower lip before his ears twitch. "You never accept my gifts and you're always gonna be a way worse hunter than me," he chuckles, jabbing Sehun square in the chest, making the latter wince. "But I'll still love you just as much, too!" He pokes Sehun's shoulder for the nth time before giggling, his tail swaying high above his head. He suddenly blinks when he hears a dull, rapid noise. "What's--" His ears twitch as he leans in until his face is less than two inches from Sehun's chest. "Is...is your heart doing the thing again???"

Sehun blinks. "What thi--" A loud squawk leaves his lips when a high pitched creaking noise fills the air, and he jumps aside in the nick of time to save his foot from being permanently crushed when the entire couch comes crashing down to the floor. He doesn't even need to check to know that Jongin scurried away mid air and landed safely on all fours, and Sehun knows for a fact that he's going to have the entire neighborhood on his front step in less than ten minutes. Even so, Sehun manages to get the couch upright on his own, after a brief struggle, and he checks his watch before looking around the room. He doesn't see Jongin anywhere and Sehun is seconds away from questioning his sanity when he spots a pair of black ears sticking out from behind the TV. "Come out, you'll knock it down again--!"

"Are you angry?" Jongin asks, his ears still ringing from the deafening noise. He spots a spider crawling on the wall and scoops it up in his hand. He briefly contemplates releasing it before quickly stuffing it in his mouth.

"I will be if you don't come out right this instant," Sehun says but there's no bite in his voice. He walks over and places a hand on the edge of the television just in case, as he watches Jongin slowly emerge from his hiding spot. "Anyway, get changed and get ready for bed, it's way too late for all this." He picks the blanket up off the floor before folding it up into a neat square. After placing it on the coffee table, he fetches his briefcase, only to blink when he sees Jongin's sullen expression. "What's the matter??"

"Why do you have to work so much," Jongin groans as he stretches. "It's Halloween tomorrow, remember?" He successfully manages to catch the moth when it flies in front of his face, and he figures he should text Luhan and let him know. It doesn't taste as good as it looks, however, and Sehun has to convince him not to spit it out all over the carpet.

"That's precisely why I'm doing it," Sehun laughs before he settles himself down on the couch again. He places his laptop on the coffee table and nearly cries in relief when he realizes, after skimming through the reports, that despite having sported a godawful personality, Chanyeol was clearly far from sporting godawful work skills, considering all of them are neatly typed out and practically already complete. After doing the math, Sehun figures it should take roughly an hour to get through all three. If he's lucky, he might even be able to leave work early tomorrow and spend the rest of the day with Jongin. "This shouldn't take too long, though, just some finishing touches is all." He pats Jongin's head. "Why don't you get ready for bed? You'll need your beauty sleep if you're going to stay up late tomorrow."

Jongin forces himself to swallow before slumping his shoulders in defeat. He mumbles a low 'Fine' as he picks up a cushion and places it against the armrest. Sehun only sends him a look when he proceeds to grab the blanket before lying down, unfolding it and placing it on top of him until only his ears are visible. He wishes he hadn't eaten all the entire bag of jelly beans since his stomach is cramping painfully, but it soon disappears when he hears the sounds of keys clicking and papers rustling from across the sofa. "I'm gonna catch the biggest fish ever," he mumbles, mainly to himself as he plays with his fingers, before lifting his head and grinning. "Won't you be impressed???"

Skimming through the papers in his hands, Sehun hums something in response before pressing a few keys. As much as even touching something with Chanyeol's name on it makes his gut coil in fury, he won't deny that he lowkey admires Chanyeol's essay writing skills as he shuffles back and forth between the three papers. "I'll be impressed as long as you don't fall in and drown," he says only half jokingly and curses when Jongin responds by kicking him in the leg. "And by 'bed', I obviously meant upstairs," he adds with a small huff, even though he knows he'd rather sit and work with Jongin kicking him than all alone in the dark with nothing but a rainstorm to keep him company. 

"This is so much better," Jongin says as a matter-of-factly before burrowing himself under the covers when the window blows open behind the couch. Even though he's wearing Sehun's suit jacket, the cold still makes him shiver. He certainly hopes he won't end up falling in, since otherwise he won't have a story to tell Luhan afterwards (not to mention he'll probably end up scaring all the fish away, so he'll have nothing to give to Sehun). When the cold air continues to fill the room, he turns himself around and nearly bumps his head against Sehun's elbow when he looks up.

Sehun tears his eyes off the papers before chuckling and lifting the covers off of Jongin's head, revealing the latter's wide eyes and twitching ears. "I'm almost done, don't worry," he says before picking up the last report and placing his laptop in lap. It's already heated up and threatening to burn through his pants (not that it would matter, since they're already ruined thanks to Luhan), but Sehun knows that he'd rather come to work tomorrow in ruined pants than stay behind. "Don't just stare like that, it's--" He clamps his mouth shut and blinks when Jongin, without a warning, rests his head right on top of the keyboard. "What are you doing--"

"My favorite sister said that people scare each other and eat candy on Halloween," Jongin hums, pulling the blanket up to his chin. The warmth emitting from the computer instantly warms up his entire body when he places an ear on the keys. It's not the best pillow, but it's a hundred times better than a regular one. "Should we scare Luhan and Baekhyun? Or maybe we should ask them for candy, right?" He sort of wishes he hadn't mentioned the word candy, since it seemingly triggers another series of painful stomach cramps. "Or maybe we should just eat all the candy ourselves--"

"Jongin, I can't work like this," Sehun sighs as he proceeds to highlight a few sentences on one of the pages. Just like he expected, Jongin doesn't get the hint, and Jongin's occasional purrs of contentment are the only things keeping Sehun from shoving Jongin right off and forcing him to sleep upstairs. "I wouldn't recommend scaring Baekhyun, but Luhan, I guess, sure." He soon gives up on trying to convince Jongin to use a real pillow instead when the latter gets comfortable underneath the blanket. Sehun resumes typing and it's not until the room falls into silence for ten whole minutes that Sehun figures, no, knows, that Jongin has fallen asleep. It's probably all the sugar, he figures and tries not to laugh.

Eventually, Sehun (somehow) ends up finding a somewhat decent balance between typing and not waking Jongin, despite not having access to pretty much the entire keyboard. However, it soon becomes clear that if he doesn't get access to the keyboard soon, he's definitely going to be staying late tomorrow, so Sehun sees no other option than to slowly moves the laptop from underneath Jongin's head, hoping Jongin doesn't wake up and scratch his face off as he moves the computer from his lap to the coffee table. With the warmth now gone, Sehun sort of expects Jongin to head upstairs and sleep on his bed, which is why Sehun blinks in surprise when Jongin only stirs in his sleep before nuzzling his face in his stomach instead.  Sehun ends up staring at Jongin's sleeping form for a moment; at the way his ears remain flattened as he sleeps and how he's unconsciously kneading the back rest. Sehun places a hand on Jongin's shoulder with the intention of asking him to move, but instead, Sehun finds himself pulling the blanket up to Jongin's chin before he moves his hand up and scratches the latter behind the ear.

Whilst typing three whole paragraphs with just one hand might seem impossible to some, Sehun makes it work and before he knows it, he's finished all three reports. As he's skimming through the page one last time, Sehun finds himself balling the entire report up in his hand when his eyes land on the words 'Park Chanyeol' in the upper right hand corner of one of the pages. Jongin thankfully doesn't wake up as Sehun tosses it clear across the room in anger, and the sound of Jongin humming in his sleep is the only thing keeping Sehun from standing up, walking over to the TV and shattering the screen with his fist.

As he continues to scratch the area behind Jongin's ear, Sehun closes his laptop with his free hand and leans back against the cushions. He's forgotten to turn on the light again, like usual, and Sehun ends up sitting motionless in the darkening room until he runs his tongue across his bottom lip, which he realizes is still tingling. At some point, his heart starts racing so fast Sehun worries it might wake Jongin up, but the latter remains fast asleep as he proceeds to nuzzle his face in Sehun's stomach. Sehun figures Jongin must be a deep sleeper, because Jongin doesn't even flinch when the window blows open for the nth time, as opposed to Sehun, who nearly jumps straight through the ceiling in surprise.

The cool air entering the room does wonders for Sehun's messy thoughts and he listens to Jongin's soft breathing before bending down and kissing Jongin's temple softly. A gust of wind messes up Jongin's hair and Sehun gently brushes it out of his face, ignoring the way his heart trembles when he sees the fading, but still red, mark on Jongin's cheek. Even so, Sehun finds himself concentrating on Jongin's angellic expression as he sleeps soundly, and Sehun barely feels the ice cold air hitting his neck over the heat coursing through his veins. Jongin kneads one of the cushions in his sleep and Sehun drapes an arm across his shoulder, holding Jongin close as he listens to the wind howling outside. 

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