---

It's the sound of his phone ringing that awakens Jongin the next morning, which nearly causes him to fall right off the couch in surprise as he's hastily pulled from his peaceful slumber. It takes Jongin a minute to locate his phone in his pocket as he blinks the sleep out of his eyes, and he isn't even sure if he pressed the right button as he presses it to his ear. "Uh...hello?"

"Happy Halloween!" Luhan practically yells at the top of his lungs, which sort of nearly scares Jongin half to death. "Y'know, sometimes I wish you were a light sleeper, this is like the fifth time I've called." He chuckles. "Look, I was wondering if I could stay over for an hour or so whilst Mom's at her meeting," he says and Jongin figures he's eating breakfast, given the sloppy chewing sounds between each word.

Jongin continues to blink the sleep out of his eyes as he sits up and looks at the blanket, which seems to have a strange relationship with gravity as it lies rumpled on the carpet. "Uh." He runs a hand through his bedhead and nearly falls off the couch when he gets off the sofa. His neck aches after sleeping with his head at an awkward angle in Sehun's lap last night. "Wait--" He suddenly feels his pulse quicken when he stands in the empty room, his eyes roaming around wildly. In his dazed, sleep ridden state, Jongin rushes over to the kitchen and blinks when he finds it empty.

"Is something the matter? What's with that weird breathing of yours," Luhan asks, his words muffled as he talks with his mouth full. "Wait, so is that a yes? Be quick, her meeting's in like...I dunno, but she's giving me a ride, soooo...."

"I can't find Sehun," Jongin says and he sort of of hates how panicked he sounds as he checks the hallway. No sign of Sehun anywhere, and he finds himself questioning if he's still asleep and possibly sleepwalking until Luhan speaks again.

"Don't tell me he went to work without you," Luhan exclaims and Jongin can practically see his mouth is hanging open in surprise. "Based off what I've seen, a prince never leaves his princess," he says as a matter-of-factly. "So is that a yes? Come on, please, I had so much fun yesterday--" He cuts himself off when he hears Jongin's long sigh. "Dude, calm down, he's probably...out trick or treating or...something. Maybe. I think."

Jongin barely even pays attention to what Luhan is saying as he rushes up the stairs three at a time. He can smell Sehun's perfume as he reaches the upper floor, but he doesn't see Sehun anywhere. "He isn't even--" He blinks when a thought hits him. "What if--"

"Wait, so like, can I come? I'll only be there for an hour or two, I swear," Luhan says. "And--"

"What if he left," Jongin blurts out, mainly to himself, as he runs a stressed hand through his hair. He'd always thought that if Sehun were to leave him again, the latter would at least let him know, but then again, Jongin figures you can never be sure. "I think he left," he whines and can't help the hiss that subsequently escapes his throat. "See, I told you not to tell him!" He sits down on Sehun's bed and pouts as he looks around the room. "This is your fault--"

"...You mean to tell me that he left you...and left his whole house behind, as well?" Luhan laughs before he goes silent. "And how's this my fault???" he asks with a slight chuckle, confusion apparent in his voice. "Don't be--"

"Cause you weren't supposed to tell and he got annoyed and now he left," Jongin groans, ears twitching wildly for any possible noise before he lies down on his stomach and kneads the sheets. Even though it's only been two days, it feels like forever since he slept in Sehun's bed. The entire house is eerily quiet and he fights the urge to go downstairs and turn on the TV. Jongin doesn't even realize he's been wearing Sehun's suit jacket this whole time until he looks at himself, and he wriggles it off when he nearly dies of heatstroke.

"Sehun wanted me to tell him, lunkhead!" Luhan squawks and Jongin hears a female voice telling him to keep it down in the background. He mumbles a soft apology before huffing into the receiver. "Not to mention Chanyeol would kill us otherwise, you heard him!"

Jongin buries his face in the mattress, his brain still laced with sleep as he exhales slowly. He sort of wishes Sehun and Chanyeol hadn't argued yesterday, because if they hadn't, he figures Sehun wouldn't have left. Jongin reaches up and gently pokes his cheek, and even though it's no longer stinging like crazy, it brings him little comfort as he wraps his tail around his ankle. "Yeah, but..." He sighs for the nth time and stills when he hears a shuffling noise to his left. 

Sehun pokes his head in the door and raises an eyebrow when he sees Jongin lying face down on the bed with his phone in his hand. "Who are you talking to?" he mouths before sending Jongin a smile. The only response he gets is Jongin threatening to send them both tumbling down the stairs when he tackles him less than two seconds later. "Is something the matter?" he asks and blinks when Jongin squeezes him so tight his blouse gets wrinkled. He hears Luhan's loud laughter before the latter's voice emits from the speakers afterwards.

"Hey Jongin, you screamed like a little girl just now, just saying, it was glorious," Luhan snorts before he sighs impatiently. "Since you found your boyfriend and didn't say no, and were being mean to me, me and Mom are coming over, we'll be there in two!" He says before the same female voice Jongin heard earlier says something along the lines of 'Lu Han, get your feet off the dash right now!' before he hangs up.

Sehun blinks. "I was just doing laundry, what's going on?" He scratches the top of his head as he holds up Jongin's jacket. "Here, I finished washing this for you," he chuckles and hands it to Jongin, who accepts it with an equally confused look on his face. "How'd you sleep?" He looks down at his pants, and all he can think about is how long it took to get rid of all the fur off of them this morning (after waking up and momentarily having an existensial crisis, since he didn't even remember falling asleep last night). He barely hears Jongin's reply of 'Kinda good' when the doorbell rings, which makes him turn his head to face the stairs. Sehun briefly wonders who that could be, especially at seven, but he figures he had zero reason to be surprised when he opens the door.

"Happy Halloween, Mr. Prince and...Mr. Princess, I guess," Luhan says excitedly, his orange tail swaying back and forth as he waves frantically. He goes on to complain about the strong coffee scent before he spots Jongin cautiously approaching behind Sehun. "There you are, Mr. Screams-like-a-girl-when-he-sees-his-Prince!" he exclaims and doesn't even bother asking beforehand as he sprints in the door and pats Jongin's head. "Man, you look like death, go change your clothes!"

Sehun only mutters something in reply to Luhan's mother after she apologizes profusely for her son's behavior, and Jongin tunes them both out as he looks at Luhan. "You don't look very...scary," Jongin says and eyes the print on Luhan's fluffy yellow shirt. "What're you supposed to--"

"This isn't my costume, moron," Luhan huffs and mouths an apology to his mother, who scolds him again. "My costume's at home! We're having this big Halloween party thing with the relatives tonight!" He beams as he inspects his reflection in the hallway mirror. "I'm gonna be a pirate, isn't that awesome? Although Mom made me remove the hook since she said it was 'too violent' looking." He sends his mother an annoyed look, to which she only replies with a shrug, before he smiles again. "Why haven't y'all decorated the house? You wouldn't even recognize mine!"

Jongin blinks. The thought of decorating the inside of Sehun's house never really occured to him, mostly because none of his foster families trusted him with all the decorations laying around, which he never understood. He decides to keep his comment about finding celebrating Halloween inside a house rather than outside pretty pointless. All he knows about interior decorating is having a bunch of orange pumpkins with faces sitting around, and Jongin figures he doesn't have a reason to feel sad about not decorating the house anymore, given the nausea that followed after he caught a whiff of pumpkin insides once is something he'll never forget. "I just want to eat candy and catch fish," he mumbles (and deliberately leaves out the part about possibly being better at it than Luhan) before the door closes. 

"Go get dressed before we leave," Sehun says, checking his watch as he ruffles Jongin's hair. He fixes his hair in the mirror before placing a hand on Luhan's shoulder. "Next time you ask the head of the house if you plan on coming over, alright?" he chuckles and Luhan is already in the kitchen before he's had a chance to even finish his sentence. He briefly contemplates threatening to kick Luhan right out if the latter so much as attempts to bring anything dead inside the house, before dismissing the thought and heading upstairs.

Rummaging through Sehun's drawer (and leaving half the contents on the floor and bed), Jongin hums to himself until he settles for a gray hoodie and a pair of black jeans. He slides his shirt over his head before struggling to get his head through the neck hole (he may or not have forgotten that sometimes checking the strings might be a good idea). It suddenly hits Jongin that the jeans (most likely) have no hole at the back, and even though he doesn't want to ruin Sehun's clothing, Jongin knows far too much about what it's like to walk around with your tail entirely cramped inside anything that isn't a pair of shorts. Jongin doesn't remember coming across any shorts in Sehun's drawer, and even if he did, it's far too cold outside for it, anyway.

Jongin is pretty sure he saw a pair of scissors on Sehun's desk last week, so he skips over and finds them sitting in a small jar. He's never actually used a pair of scissors before, since his mother(s) never let him get within ten feet of anything sharp, so Jongin ends up holding the scissors at an awkward angle (and in the wrong hand, which only makes it that much more awkward) as he proceeds to cut a small but reasonably sized hole at the back of Sehun's jeans. Jongin places the scissors near the jar before putting them on one leg at a time. They're slightly long at the ankles but Jongin doesn't really mind it as he skips out of the room, only to jump when he nearly collides with Sehun.

"Hey there," Sehun chuckles as he ruffles Jongin's hair. His eyes trails over Jongin's outfit and it's not until he sees Jongin's tail swaying back and forth, as well as the orange scissors lying on the desk, that he fights the urge to sigh. On the other hand, he's a lot more worried about Jongin possibly cutting himself on the blades than the state of his pants. "You ready?" 

"Yeah," Jongin hums with a slight nod and hears a thud coming from downstairs. "Don't forget that we're gonna go fishing today, remember?" He stands on his tip toes and kisses Sehun's forehead, the latter's styled hair tickling his eyes. Jongin hates the idea of getting hair products in his eyes and face (and lungs, for that matter) so he quickly leans away and scampers downstairs, where he's greeted with the sight of Luhan holding a rumpled piece of paper. "...What're you doing??"

Luhan squints as he tries making sense of the letters and numbers before him. "I dunno, I just found this by the TV," he replies as he holds it up to the window, as if the sunlight seeping through the paper will somehow make its contents more legible. He blinks. "I see Chanyeol's name up here," he mumbles, pointing when Jongin walks over and stands behind him. "What does all this even mean? It's like, whaddya call it...math, I think." He shrugs before balling it up again and proceeds to chew on it absentmindedly. Jongin seriously doesn't understand how somebody could be so hungry 24/7.

Sehun comes downstairs and adjusts his tie before he walks over to his briefcase and picks it up. Jongin follows close behind as he walks over to the fridge and retreives the carton of milk. "That's not edible," he says before shaking his head in amusement and pouring some milk into a tall glass. He checks its temperature before handing it to Jongin, who practically inhales it all in one swig. Sehun sure is thankful that he made the choice to buy himself an identical suit jacket when he first got the job, since there's no way he could possibly wear the same one that Jongin slept in all night to work.

"I once mistook a yellow sticky note for a piece of candy, I barely felt a difference, except whilst it went down," Luhan says as he leans against the shelf and picks up Sehun's car keys. "Milk gives me a stomach ache, it ," he mumbles whilst inspecting their shininess as they dangle from his fingers. He looks up and watches Jongin nuzzle his face in the crook of Sehun's neck whilst he plays with the rim of the glass. "Oh yeah, that reminds me!" A smile erupts across his face. "So like, don't tell my Mom I told you this, but I kind of snuck into her room and used her computer the other day to watch movies since I was done with my chores." He nearly drops the keys on the floor as he twirls them around, much to Sehun's horror. "And I found this one called Fifty...Fifty...something--" He doesn't even get to finish when Sehun clears his throat loudly.

"I think we should get going," Sehun says and checks his watch. He places the empty glass in the sink and motions for Jongin to put his shoes on, and Sehun doesn't know if he should laugh or cry when he sees the glint of curiosity in Jongin's eyes. "Let's go--"

"What's that?" Jongin asks. The idea of being able to use a computer and watch movies by himself makes his ears twitch.

"They were a lot like you two, I think, except they were both human," Luhan says, gesturing excitedly in the air and either ignoring or missing the way Sehun gestures at him to cut it out subsequently. "Like, they kissed and hugged and stuff and reminded me a lot of you two--" He points at Jongin and Sehun, the latter only sighing. "There was this one scene, actually...it was kinda...weird." He bites his lip as he tries remembering. "Wait, have you two ever--" He clamps his mouth shut when Sehun sends him a glare. "I swear I'm not spoiling anything! You didn't even know what I was gonna say!" He only huffs and crosses his arms over his chest when Sehun shakes his head. "Whatever."

Jongin's ears are still twitching in curiosity, and he, too, emits a loud huff when Sehun asks them both to put their shoes on. "But I wanna know," he whines as he flops down on the floor and struggles to put on his shoes. He watches Luhan, who doesn't even bother tying his own laces, before standing up and fiddling with the strings to his hoodie. He never realized just how soft and comfortable the hoodie is, and Jongin figures he could lie down on the floor and go to sleep within seconds. He turns around and jabs Sehun's arm. "But why can't I know--"

"Because," Sehun says as he finishes fixing his hair and Jongin's cheek, "we're already late." He scolds Luhan when the latter tries unlocking the window when a couple of sparrows land on the roof outside. "I don't have much to do today, so we'll be able to watch movies and do whatever you'd like afterwards, okay?" He ruffles Jongin's hair and watches as he skips out the door and towards the car excitedly. He places a hand on Luhan's shoulder when the latter attempts to follow suit. "Hold on, I want to talk to you for a moment."

--

Jongin walks over to Sehun's car and figures he should have asked Luhan for the keys when he tugs on the door handle and finds it locked. He turns around and blinks when he doesn't see Sehun and or Luhan anywhere, but Jongin catches a glimpse of Luhan's fluffy, orange tail in the hallway through the open door. Jongin can't really pick up on what they're talking about, and he's about to walk over and ask Sehun to hurry so that they can celebrate Halloween sooner when a sparrow suddenly lands by one of the tires. It hops past Jongin's shoes and Jongin feels his tail wag in excitement when he realizes that this could be his chance to improve his hunting skills (in other words, show Sehun how much better he actually is than Luhan). Jongin also figures that it might also give him some practice before fishing tonight.

As he continues to watch the small bird hop around, Jongin initially plans on pouncing straight down like he's seen Luhan do so many times, but Jongin can't bring himself to find a good angle and he eventually ends up stomping the sparrow with his foot. He isn't sure if this qualifies as hunting in either his or Sehun's book, but Jongin still feels a sense of proudness as he scoops up the pile of brown feathers and the mangled bits and pieces of the animal in his hands. He isn't sure if he should bring it inside and show Sehun or simply leave it outside for the latter to see in a bit, but Jongin ends up standing exactly where he is as he waits for Sehun and Luhan to come outside. Suddenly, a loud chirping noise makes Jongin's ear twitch to the left, and before he knows it, he's being swarmed by not one or two, but a dozen angry sparrows as they all proceed to screech and nip at him subsequently. Despite flailing his arms in all directions, which doesn't seem to faze them, Jongin finds himself unable to get rid of them as they continue to surround him from every direction.

Sehun ushers Luhan out of the house a moment later, the latter bouncing outside before he locks the door behind them. He remembers that he forgot to unlock his car, and he sort of worries Jongin might be freezing to death out in the cold. Except Sehun quickly notices that Jongin is nowhere to be seen and he internally panics before he spots a pair of legs and a black tail sticking out from underneath the car, which nearly makes Sehun collapse in relief. Whilst Luhan skips towards the car, Sehun briefly wonders if Jongin might have crawled underneath it to escape the cold, but it's not until he spots the bee-like swarm of sparrows circling the vehicle that it hits him.

"Jongin, come out, there's a ton of oils and dirt under there, you'll get filthy," Sehun says as he unlocks his car and puts his briefcase in the front seat. He ignores Luhan, who looks like he's just opened the gates to Heaven, before bending down and poking Jongin's foot, hoping he doesn't get scratched in the process. "Hey--"

"Are they gone? Are they gone?" Jongin babbles, a shriek leaving his lips when one of the sparrows nips at his tail, which causes him to scramble further underneath the car. He never actually realized how much room there actually is between the car itself and the tires, and he wonders why he didn't just sleep like this every night whilst he was jumping between homes. His thoughts are quickly diminished when he hears angry chirping outside, which is closely followed by a squawk and the sickening crunch of bones. "Are they gone???" he asks and blinks when he subsequently hears Luhan and Sehun bickering.

Sehun swats Luhan's hand away when the latter attempts to grab the door handle for the nth time. "You're not bringing that inside my car," he exclaims, trying to keep Luhan at an arm's distance to prevent his blouse from getting stained with blood and God knows what else. He shoves Luhan aside, which doesn't seem to faze Luhan as he simply goes back to grabbing as many sparrows as he possibly can before they get a chance to fly away. "Jongin, come out already!"

Jongin remains motionless as he plays with a couple pieces of gravel, until the chirping noises subside, and he slowly crawls out from beneath Sehun's car. Much to Sehun's relief, he isn't covered in motor oil and dirt, save for a few specks of it here and there, but Jongin doesn't seem at all bothered by it before he beams and points to the other side of the car. "Look! Look!" he squees, not even giving Sehun a chance to reply before he grabs the latter's hand and quite literally drags him to the other side. "Look! See?" 

Sehun brushes himself off and he's about to ask Jongin what he means when he sees the sparrow on the ground, or whatever's left of it, and he forces himself to smile before quickly looking away. "That's...nice," he mumbles and fumbles with the keys, successfully managing to lock the car in the nick of time before Luhan gets a chance to yank the door open and place his stash in the back seat. "Listen, we should get going, we're already la--"

"Aren't you proud? See? I did that myself!" Jongin squeals, seemingly not noticing the grimace on Sehun's face as he proceeds to pick up the bird off the ground. He doesn't remember the last time he actually ate a bird, since he tends to spend more time chasing them than consuming them. "Look! Look!" 

Luhan seems to notice Jongin's indecisive expression from the other side of the car. "If you don't want it, give it to me!" he says, despite the fact that he's already got more than ten of them in his arms. "And did you do that? I gotta say, I'm impressed!" He sends Jongin a grin as well as a thumbs up, which makes Jongin's ears straighten with pride.

Sehun has to turn around so he's facing the opposite direction when Jongin proceeds to bite down on the animal like he's biting into a candy bar, and Sehun thinks he'd rather watch Jongin eat a fish raw than a bird (or God forbid a rat or a mouse, and Sehun is suddenly thankful that Manhattan doesn't have a problem with rodents). He listens to the sounds of Jongin chewing as the latter hums before walking over to Luhan, who is entirely occupied with stuffing his face, as well. "We're late, we need to get going right now," he says and briefly prays for his seats all over again, since he knows there's no time to give either of them a bath. "You'll wash up when we get there."

"But aren't you proud of me?" Jongin asks, eyes wide and twinkling, and Sehun wonders how he manages to look so adorable with half his face covered in blood (Sehun figures that sparrows either have a lot of blood in them or Jongin is just a really, really messy eater. He ends up settling for the latter.). "Aren't you???" He attempts to give Sehun a hug, only for the latter to shove him away as gently as he possibly can. "Why aren't you?" His ears flatten.

"Jongin, if there's anything you don't like, don't give it to Sehun, give it all to me," Luhan says, his words barely audible as he chews with his mouth full.

Sehun promptly scolds Luhan before ruffling Jongin's hair. "Like I said, it's not a contest," he says softly. "And my boss won't be happy if I show up to work covered in blood, sorry." He shrugs sheepishly. However, he soon finds himself leaning in and kissing Jongin's cheek before unlocking his car. "Try not to get any blood and stuff on the seats, okay?" he says after getting behind the wheel and jamming the key in the ignition.

Luhan his fingers clean before crawling into the back seat and fastening his seatbelt. "You two really are like those two people from the Fifty Something of Something film," he mumbles as he admires his reflection in the window. "Except you guys don't take your clothes off as often, I think," he adds and blinks when Sehun sends him a glare through the rear view mirror. "Why're you trying to school me???" he squawks defensively. "I told you I wouldn't spoil anyth--"

"What do you mean by that?" Jongin mumbles absentmindedly as he breathes onto the window and proceeds to trace patterns into the fog. He isn't really listening, since he's far too busy thinking about how he's going to catch a big fish by himself in the dark tonight. Not only that, but watching movies and eating candy with Sehun, as well. Jongin turns his head to look at Sehun, who is resting one hand on top of the wheel as they wait at an intersection. He briefly wonders if Sehun will be angry if he disturbs the latter whilst he's driving, but Jongin shoves the thought aside before grabbing Sehun's hand and playing with his fingers.

"Oh, you know," Luhan replies, splaying himself out across the back seats, "they took their clothes off a bunch and then, like..." He furrows his eyebrows in wonder. "How do I explain it...like, they--"

"I hope you're not getting blood on the seats," Sehun says in a bleak attempt at trying to change the subject as he steps on the accelerator. He nearly flinches when Jongin leans on his shoulder and fiddles with his sleeves. He places a long kiss on the top of Jongin's head whilst keeping his eyes on the road.

Luhan blinks before he eyes the large, bright red handprint on the back of Sehun's seat. "Uh, I'm...not," he says before his eyes light up. "Hey, I wanna see if I can swing even higher today," he says and squees when he sees Jongin's ears twitching in excitement. "Bet you a bass that I'll be a hundred times better than y--"

"I don't want you out there on your own," Sehun sighs as he pulls into the office parking lot. When Jongin squawks in protest, he shakes his head. "We've been over this, that place is sketchy even in broad daylight. I don't want any of you getting hurt or...yeah," he says, especially worried about Jongin as he gives the latter's hand a tight squeeze. "And I talked to your mother about bringing you to work with me, and she didn't say anything about letting you play outside unsupervised." He sends Luhan an apologetic look through the rear view mirror.

"But I promise I won't get kidnapped," Jongin whines whilst poking Sehun's cheek. "I promise, I promise--" 

"You're a moron if you think I'd let somebody kidnap me," Luhan scowls before unfastening his seatbelt and opening the door, only to slam it shut again when he realizes that Sehun is in the midst of backing into the parking space. "Dad lets me stay outside as long as I keep in touch with him on my phone," he adds before huffing childishly and crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not like I've ever been kidnapped before, I honestly don't see your problem."

Jongin's eyes light up and he finds himself nearly suffocating Sehun to death when he proceeds to hop out of his seat and wrap his arms around Sehun's neck. "Can we do that?" he asks, poking Sehun's chest repeatedly before Luhan joins in on it, as well. "Pleasepleaseplease--" 

Sehun bites his lip and swats Luhan's hand away when the latter starts poking his neck. "Do you know how to use it, though?" he asks and watches as Jongin scrambles to pull out his phone less than two seconds later. He stares at the gadget before exhaling slowly and running a hand through his hair. The sense of dread that washed over him when he found Jongin's jacket abandoned in the park floods his system and part of him wants to shake his head vigorously. On the other hand, Sehun knows that robbing Jongin of his freedom isn't exactly the wisest thing to do, either, so before Sehun knows it, he's muttering a low 'Okay, fine', which is soon replaced by a noise of surprise when both Jongin and Luhan ambush him in a giant hug. "Let's head upstairs first," he says, opening the door.

"See? I told you your phone would come in handy one day," Luhan giggles before he wipes the blood from his chin. "Hey, if you take a decent video of me I might teach you how to master the art of hunting," he adds and playfully shoves Jongin, who nearly trips over his own two feet, as they make their way towards the building. "Why'd you have Chanyeol's work paper assignment thingymajig, anyway?" 

Sehun finds himself tensing at the mention of Chanyeol's name, but he forces himself to remain neutral as he scans his ID card and holds the door open for them. "There were a few things he hadn't completed, so I took it upon myself to finish them," he replies, keeping his voice low for reasons unknown. He watches as Jongin and Luhan skip up the stairs, and it's not until Sehun averts his gaze that he sees the spot in which he found Jongin sitting yesterday, along with the bathroom door. Sehun clenches his jaw when he realizes that Chanyeol must have slipped inside the bathroom when he came down the stairs, considering Sehun didn't see Chanyeol go upstairs or outside. Sehun has to force himself to let the thought go before walking up the stairs two at a time. He figures he's got bigger things to worry about, such as whether agreeing to let Jongin play outside all alone really was a good idea or not. The thought of Luhan being there makes Sehun less worried, but he can't stop himself from feeling anxious as he enters the hallway.

Jongin waves at Baekhyun as they pass the latter's office before skipping inside Sehun's office. Whilst Luhan immediately heads for the bowl of fruit on the table, Jongin follows after Sehun and proceeds to sit on the desk whilst Sehun unpacks his briefcase. "Can I ask Baekhyun for some candy?" Jongin asks as he swings his legs back and forth. He's still holding his phone in his hand and he inspects his reflection in the screen.

Sehun turns on his computer before sitting down. "You're gonna be stuffing your face tonight," he chuckles and pats Jongin's head (like a dog, Luhan thinks). When he notices how both Luhan and Jongin are buzzing with energy, he sighs before extracting his hand. Jongin immediately gets the hint and he hands Sehun his phone before the latter proceeds to unlock it. "I'll give you both my number, call me immediately if anything happens, alright?" Sehun types in his number before handing the phone back, before he proceeds to do the same thing with Luhan's phone. "No talking to strangers no matter what, and if I call you, I expect you to pick up, okay?" He looks at both of them, but mainly Jongin. "Okay?"

"You sound like my grandpa, but a more handsome version of him, since he's old," Luhan says, biting into a peeled orange. He wrinkles his nose in distaste before putting it back in the bowl (along with what he spat out) and heading for the door. "3, 2, 1, let's go already, come on!" He gestures down the hallway dramatically. "JonginJonginJongin--"

"I'm coming," Jongin huffs before hopping off the desk and stuffing his phone in his pocket. He kisses Sehun square on the lips without warning. "Bye!" he says with a wide grin, and he barely hears Sehun telling them both to wash up in the bathroom before he skips into the hallway to join Luhan. "Where's the bathroom?" he mumbles, scratching his head as he watches Luhan eye the door at the end of the hallway.

Luhan quietly closes Sehun's door before gesturing in front of him. "Wait, hold on, I just wanna--" He cuts himself off as he walks towards the door, Jongin following close behind. They approach what used to be Chanyeol's office and peek their heads inside.

Even though the smell of smoke still lingers in the air, Jongin figures Sehun's boss must have aired the room out for a while, because he can actually take five breaths in a row without feeling the need to vomit. The entire room is entirely void of furniture and paintings, save for the desk in the middle of the room. The only things remaining, besides the table, are the cardboard boxes sitting on the floor. It reminds Jongin of how Jongdae's office used to look like before the latter came to collect his own things, and Jongin sneaks a worried glance at Sehun's door when Luhan proceeds to rummage through one of the boxes. "Uh, I don't think we should--"

"Relax, I just wanna see if the ugly moron owns anything ugly and moronic," Luhan says shamelessly as he literally tosses Chanyeol's belongings over his shoulder. "Look at this!" He holds up a framed photograph and squints.

Jongin bites his lip reluctantly as he keeps one foot hovered above the threshold, almost as if entering the room will cause Chanyeol to magically appear right next to him and yell in his face. Even though the door was open, Jongin figures that Sehun probably won't have a problem with them being in here, since Sehun didn't say anything about them not being allowed to explore, so Jongin slowly walks towards Luhan and squats across from him. "Who's that," he mumbles as he stares at the man in the photo, who looks a lot like Chanyeol (it's the ears, Jongin figures). 

"No clue, maybe his Dad," Luhan says before carelessly tossing back in the box. "Moronicness runs in the family, I guess," he adds whilst standing up and eyeing the yellowed window. "Anyway, I want my video, so let's go." He tugs on Jongin's sleeve.

Jongin continues to prod through the objects in the box, and he comes across a few lighters (all of which are broken, which he figures is a good thing), some sticky notes and the paintings Luhan drew on, before also standing up. "I don't think Sehun will be happy if you fall and hurt yourself," he mumbles as they exit the room without turning off the lights.

"Correction, I won't be able to go to the butterfly park with Mom tomorrow," Luhan says as he drags his hand across the wall. "Which is a whole lot wor--" He halts before his ears perk up. "Hold on, I smell candy and kindness," he mumbles and Jongin doesn't even get a chance to stop him before he's rushing towards Baekhyun's office.

"Hey there," Baekhyun says, turning around until his back is facing the open window when Jongin and Luhan enter the room. It doesn't take long for Jongin to spot the cigarette burning between his fingers. "Does Sehun know you're both here? Man, talk about double babysitting," he chuckles before proceeding to put it out against the bottom of his shoe. He brushes his hands together as he sends them both a smile and sitting down behind his desk. "What're you up to?"

Luhan points to Baekhyun with a horrified look on his face. "Are you--" He blinks when Baekhyun blinks. "Are you becoming like...him, now?" he asks and Jongin has to place a hand on his shoulder when it looks like he's nearing a mental breakdown.

Baekhyun only shakes his head with a laugh. "I'm not planning on it, don't worry" he replies before typing something without looking at the screen. "On the other hand, I actually think I've been a smoker for a smidge longer than Chanyeol, so--" He suddenly furrows his eyebrows as he looks at Jongin, who doesn't even bother hiding the twinkle in his eyes as he stares at the candy jar on the table. "How're you holding up? I see your, uh, face is all better now."

"Uh, it's...good," Jongin blurts out as he tears his eyes off the candy jar, his stomach growling as he swallows. "We were in his room just now and it looks like Jongdae's," he says and feels his gut coil when he sees the cracked painting hanging on the wall above the couch, on which Luhan is resting. "Did...did you know that?" He stares at Baekhyun with wide eyes.

"That's good to hear," Baekhyun says before nodding. "And yeah, of course. I was actually the first one to see it entirely wiped out." He visibly clenches his jaw before resuming typing. His tie isn't tied properly and Jongin figures Baekhyun should take some lessons from Sehun, whose tie always looks flawless.

Luhan stops chasing his tail and looks up. "It's kinda weird that you guys don't get along like they do in 'The Office'," he says casually before flopping onto his back and complaining about the heat and lack of tasty bugs. "Were you guys like, friends? Did you prank each other by placing thumbtacks on each other's chairs and stuff?" He rolls onto his stomach and plays with his fingers whilst Jongin watches awkwardly from the doorway.

Baekhyun blinks, seemingly taken aback before slowly shaking his head. "No, we weren't," he says before blinking in surprise again. "At all," he adds after a minute. He stops typing and spins around in his chair. "I mean, I probably would've befriended him since he's intelligent and rather charming, in a sense." He chuckles when Luhan gags loudly like he's about to vomit. "I know, crazy, isn't it?" He shakes his head in amusement. "That is, before he started becoming a little ." He clears his throat when Jongin sends him a puzzled look. "I mean, he's always been stubborn and ill tempered and all, but he suddenly became like, so much worse a month ago, so we all kinda gave up on trying to be nice to him since then."

"Really?" Jongin asks, cocking his head aside. As much as he wants to walk over and perch himself on the desk, he knows that the smell of smoke will be overwhelming if he does, so he sits cross legged on the carpet instead. Even though his ears are practically flattened against his head at the constant mention of Chanyeol's name, he still finds himself buzzing with curiosity whilst he watches Baekhyun intently.

"Yup." Baekhyun nods as he fiddles with a pencil. "I mean, we tried getting him to talk about it like, a hundred times, but he'd always say something along the lines of 'It's just some family thing, stay out of it'," he says whilst mimicking Chanyeol's voice, and Jongin has to cover his mouth to prevent himself from laughing out loud. "But like, even if we were friends, I wouldn't be now that I know all about the he's done to you," he says after a while with a look in Jongin's direction, before he shudders in irritation. "Anyway, are you two planning on dressing up tonight, or what?" He chuckles when Jongin and Luhan practically fall apart from nodding ecstatically.

Jongin beams. "I'm gonna dress up as a rabbit," he says and sways his tail back and forth in excitement, since he's never watched a movie on a television whilst wearing a costume before.

Baekhyun nods in understanding. "I see," he hums and promptly puts his phone on silent when it buzzes subsequently. "Because you think they're cute, I take it?" He smiles fondly as he sends Jongin a look.

"No," Jongin replies as he shakes his head back and forth vigorously. "Because I think they taste good," he says and smiles widely when Baekhyun only blinks. He's about to ask Luhan if they can head to the playground before all the children can beat them to it when the latter speaks.

"Have you ever even caught a rabbit before?" Luhan asks, staring at Jongin before shrugging. "Last time you saw one, you screamed and ran away and hid," he mutters under his breath and only snickers when Baekhyun involuntarly emits a loud laugh. "Anyway, I'm going as a pirate, minus the hook, though, so I'm a fake pirate, I...guess." He glumly scratches the back of his head. "Anyway, can I have some candy? Pleeeeeease--"

"You can still be a pirate without a hook, like Jack Sparrow, and he's awesome," Baekhyun replies and sends Luhan a wink. He only shakes his head in amusement when Jongin and Luhan proceed to point to the candy jar rather indiscreetly, but he soon caves when Jongin pouts. "I think I've refilled this thing more times this week than I did throughout the entire month of August," he laughs before unscrewing the lid and tossing a them both a piece of candy each. "I gotta get back to work, but feel free to stop by later if you wanna!"

Jongin waves goodbye whilst he chews, and he stuffs the wrapper in his pocket as he follows after Luhan. They slide down the railing to the stairs (after Luhan managed to convince that Chanyeol would not, in fact, magically appear at the bottom of the stairs and hit him again) and Jongin halts when Luhan reaches out to open the door. "Wait--"

Luhan blinks before huffing impatiently. "What is it now?" he asks and stomps his foot childishly. "Dude, I've got a video to rec--"

"Sehun said we had to wash up, remember?" Jongin says, gesturing towards the door marked 'WC'. As much as it pains him to even look in that direction, he knows that Sehun will scold him if he returns with dry blood all over his chin.

Luhan raises an eyebrow before pouting. "Yeah, but--" He squints. "You're not even that dirty, you've just got some...stuff here and there and...all over your entire face--" He groans impatiently before gesturing at the door. "We'll do it when we get back, okay? I promise I won't forget--"

"But he'll get mad," Jongin exclaims and sort of hates how childish he sounds. He reaches up and winces when he feels the dried, caked up blood on his nose, chin and lower lip. On the other hand, he figures that Sehun won't need to worry about creepy men trying to kidnap him anymore, because if he were to swing on the playground looking like this, Jongin figures he would successfully scare away just about anybody. 

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but like--" Luhan tugs on the door handle impatiently. "Look, we'll wash our faces by the pond, okay?" He chuckles when Jongin's entire face lights up. "I need lunch, anyway, so hurry." When Jongin only stares at the bathroom door reluctantly, Luhan huffs loudly before marching over and ushering Jongin through the door.

--

Splashing his face with water, Jongin watches as red droplets fall back into the pond before wiping his hairline with his arm. He figures he'll die of hypothermia if subjects himself to the ice cold water a second time, so he simply stands up and watches Luhan as the latter washes his face, whilst trying to catch fish simultaneously. As people continue to walk past, Jongin shivers when the wind hits his wet cheeks and it's not until Luhan swats at a fish and misses it by an inch that Jongin pulls his phone out of his pocket. He scrolls for a bit, trying to figure out how to place a call before pressing down on Sehun's name and holding the phone to his ear.

Sehun picks up after the first ring. "Is something the matter?" he asks, worry and surprise lacing his voice as he speaks. Jongin hears the sound of papers rustling in the background. "...What's all that splashing I hear? Where are you guys?"

Shaking his head, Jongin giggles. "Nothing's wrong," he hums, feeling his entire body grow hot at the sound of Sehun's voice. He turns to face Luhan, who yells a curse word Jongin has never heard before when he misses a fish again. "We're washing our faces on the bridge and Luhan's trying to fish! He almost caught one!" He beams, only to blink when Sehun goes silent. "You...you told me to call if something happened, right???"

Sehun is silent for a moment. "Why're you-- I thought I told you to do it in the bathroom downstairs," he sighs and Jongin can see him shaking his head in disappointment behind his desk. "Be careful, okay? Don't go too close to the edge--"

"But Luhan's fishing," Jongin retorts and steps back when Luhan thrashes his head back and forth after getting a faceful of water. He fights the urge to remind Sehun that he was literally fishing, on his own, by the pond when they first ran into each other. "Are you done yet? I wanna watch TV." He pouts and sits cross legged on top of the pale wood. He scooches backwards and nearly drops his phone in surprise when he accidentally topples over the edge subsequently.

"Almost, just a moment, don't you worry," Sehun chuckles and he's about to say something else when Luhan speaks.

"Is that Sehun?" Luhan asks, running a hand through his damp hair. A grin spreads across his face and he points to the phone after Jongin nods wordlessly. "Call him 'y babe', he'll love it," he says in a low voice before winking and going back to trying to catch fish.

Jongin blinks before clearing his throat, figuring he should probably say something before Sehun grows bored and hangs up. "Uh, okay...uh, y babe," he says and beams when Luhan successfully catches a large fish shortly after. "Luhan just caught one!!!" he squeals and feels his mouth water when Luhan places it on the bridge. However, it doesn't take long for Jongin to realize that Sehun isn't saying anything, and he briefly wonders if his phone might be out of battery (Jongin honestly can't remember the last time he charged his phone, nor where his charger even is. Now that he thinks about it, he wonders if he's charged it once since his mother bought it for him) until Sehun sighs on the other end.

There's a sound that sounds a lot like papers being rustled before Sehun sighs again. "Who taught you that?"

Jongin blinks, figuring Sehun didn't hear the part about the fish. "Uh...Luhan," he mumbles and rubs the back of his neck. "But he just caught--"

"Can I talk to Luhan for a minute?" Sehun asks and Jongin briefly hears typing noises in the background.

Jongin blinks again, wondering why Sehun seemingly doesn't care about Luhan's grand achievment before nodding and wordlessly tapping Luhan's shoulder. "He, uh...Sehun wants to--" He gestures at the phone when Luhan sends him a look. 

Luhan stops stuffing his face momentarily and raises an eyebrow. "Uh, okay?" He stands up, fish in hand, before grabbing the phone and pressing it to his ear. "I have your number, why're you--" He cuts himself off when he bites down on the fish and proceeds to rip its entire tail fin off in one swift move. Jongin figures that he doesn't just envy Luhan's hunting skills, but the latter's sharp canines, as well. "...What's wrong with that? It's not like it's a bad thing to say!..." He huffs in irritation before taking another bite. "...Yeah, okay, well, my brother calls his girlfriend that 24/7 and she loves it, so-- ...Whaddya mean, 'On his own'???!!! Last time I checked, I was his best friend and I'm trying to help him and you're---"

Jongin finds himself tuning Luhan out as he sways his tail around restlessly, before he feels the bridge vibrate. He looks aside and sees a group of females approaching. They're wearing brightly colored clothing that Jongin remembers his mother wearing every time she went to the pool and or beach with his sister, and he blinks when he hears one of them screech loudly. Jongin feels his ears perk up in curiosity and he finds himself walking towards them when he notices them staring and pointing at something on the bridge. Upon closer inspection, Jongin sees a large, strange looking beetle, its legs flailing as it struggles on its back. Jongin ignores the way they send him strange looks when he approaches, only for his tail to puff up when all three girls emit high pitched screams after he proceeds to pick it up and stuff it in his mouth.

As he chews, Jongin realizes that if Sehun were here, the latter would probably scold him for being 'selfish', but he can't bring himself to spit it out. Instead, Jongin simply mutters a low 'Sorry', hoping none of the girls will kill him as they send him weird looks. As he remains glued in place, Jongin eyes their flat, toned abs and immediately thinks back to when he stepped inside the shower together with Sehun. Jongin knows for a fact that he likes Sehun's body a whole lot better and blinks when he feels a warm feeling pooling in his gut that nearly threatens to set his insides on fire. Jongin quickly forgets all about it when his eyes land on a tiny, shiny silver object attached to the center of one of the girls' stomachs. It's so glittery that Jongin can't stop staring and he doesn't even realize how close he's standing until he reaches out and attempts to grab it.

However, Jongin doesn't get a chance to touch it before he hears one of the girls yell something along the lines of 'Disgusting creep' before another one tugs on his hair. Figuring she must have realized that he mentally insulted her body just now, Jongin looks up and attempts to apologize, only for Luhan to grab his wrist and drag him away. Jongin finds himself blinking in confusion as the girls continue to yell at him from afar, but he quickly forgets all about them when they arrive at the playground shortly after. Thankfully, it's not overrun by children and Jongin happily hops on one of the swings.

"Here's your phone back," Luhan mutters and hands Jongin his phone, which is all bloody. "Take a video of me, okay? Here's mine!" He pulls out his own phone and gives it to Jongin. "Man, they're still screeching like witches, what's wrong with females," he mutters bitterly.

Jongin shrugs. "She had a shiny thing here, it was pretty," he says and points to his shirt where his belly button would be. "What did you and Sehun talk about, by the way?" He sees an empty bag of chips blowing in the wind and contemplates checking it for leftovers.

"That's called a piercing, my brother's girlfriend has one both there and on her tongue," Luhan says and sticks his own tongue out. He chuckles when Jongin grimaces. "I know, right? I'm surprised she can even talk," he adds before standing on the swing and swinging back and forth. "And I don't really know, he seemed kinda pissed about something, I already forgot most of what he said." He stuffs the remainder of the fish in his mouth. "But he said something about wanting you to find...something out on your own, I dunno, now give me a push!" He huffs when Jongin only remains motionless on the swing next to him. "Hello? Are you deaf? A push! I need a push!!!"

"Fine," Jongin says before getting up and giving Luhan a push from behind. He gracefully moves to the other side and briefly forgets how to unlock Luhan's phone, since it's different from his own, but Jongin manages to unlock it before opening up the camera. To his left, he hears the girls splashing about in the water and Jongin finds himself thinking about their colorful clothing. A thought hits him and he blinks. "What was the film you watched earlier?" he asks, cursing under his breath as he tries switching to video mode, only to keep pressing the wrong button.

Luhan subsequently swings past in the form of a yellow flash. "I can't remember its name," he says and Jongin barely hears him when he swings away from him a second later. "But it was pretty cool, there was this one scene where one of them showed the other a room full of black objects just like, hanging from the ceiling, it was so weird." He chuckles and attempts to catch a bird in his mouth when it flies past, only to fail. "A part of me wishes I was in a relationship with someone just to be able to experience all that cool stuff." He pouts slightly before groaning impatiently when he passes Jongin. "Now do the thing already!" he exclaims, trying to nudge Jongin with his foot when he swings past.

Holding up the phone, Jongin presses 'Record' and lets out a string of chuckles when Luhan proceeds to deliver a (barely audible, thanks to the wind) message to his mother. A part of him wants to see the movie Luhan keeps talking about with his own eyes, but another part of him suspects that Sehun might get angry if he finds out about it. On the other hand, Jongin really doesn't see why Sehun would get mad over something as simple as a movie, but the thought disappears when Jongin squawks after Luhan swings too close and nearly kicks him in the face. "Not so fast, I can't keep up!"

"Stop talking, , you're ruining my video," Luhan hisses, only to slap a hand over his mouth (Jongin hopes he doesn't fall backwards and die). "Oh , sorry, Mom, I know I'm not supposed to-- Damn it--" He groans before gesturing at Jongin to stop recording, which the latter does after a brief struggle. After hastily coming to a halt, he takes his phone back and reviews the video. Muttering a low 'Good enough', he sends it before stuffing his phone in his pocket. "I forgot the name of the site I found it on, but I think there's a clip online, wanna watch?" A grin spreads across his entire face.

Jongin scratches the back of his head in hesitation, but Luhan's grin and his overall curiosity soon get the best of him, and Jongin finds himself nodding enthusiastically before Luhan types something on his phone. Jongin gives up on asking Luhan to leave him some space on the swing, so he ends up standing behind Luhan and watching the screen over the latter's shoulder instead. As Jongin watches the heated scenes unfold, eyes wide in curiosity, he briefly thinks back to the film he and Sehun watched during their pizza night when he sees the shirtless male torso on the screen. One thought quickly leads to another, and before Jongin knows it, his brain is flooding with Sehun's toned body, his bleach blond hair and his sculpted face. Jongin doesn't even notice that the warm coiling has returned to his gut until his chest feels like it's about to explode, so he turns his face away before his insides can melt alltogether.

"I'm pretty sure this is what my brother and his girlfriend get up to when they're alone, but I dunno, dude," Luhan snickers as he watches with twitching ears. They both flinch when the loud sound of a whip cracking fills the calm silence, which is closely followed by the strangest sounding noise Jongin has ever heard coming from a person's mouth. "I dunno why she's liking that, but who am I to judge," he laughs and shrugs.

"Is...is he gonna crush her?" Jongin's eyes widen slightly as he hides half his face behind Luhan's head. The closest thing he's ever come to experiencing what he's seeing is when he got into a rather heated argument with another hybrid over food, except it included far more scratching, hissing and mud. Jongin recalls the panic of being caught underneath said hybrid whilst trying to avoid getting his eyes scratched out, and he seriously doesn't understand how anybody could enjoy being in a similar situation (even though Jongin knows he'd happily switch places with the woman on screen than risk getting into another altercation of the sort, but still).

Luhan shrugs casually. "She seems fine with it," he mumbles. "I actually think they're a couple in the movie, so maybe you should show this to Sehun and give him some ideas?" The clip soon ends and he shoves his phone back in his pocket. "Y'know, I was thinking, since you're his princess, you should be on the bottom, like her. It makes sense, right?" He blinks when he sees the distant look on Jongin's face. "Hello-o???" He waves a hand in front of Jongin's face.

Jongin jumps five feet in the air before blinking. "Uh--" He blinks again and tries getting rid of the buzzing in his veins. "Yeah, I think so...too," he says and wishes the girls on the bridge would finish up and go away already, since his face feels like it's on fire and he desperately wants to dunk his head in the pond. "Sehun said not everyone has to express their love that way," he murmurs and barely hears his own voice over the wind.

"Yeah, but what harm can it do? I mean, it's weird, but it seems cool," Luhan chuckles. "Like I said, I'm at least 600% sure my brother and his girlfriend do this all the time, and they're not exactly unhappy, so--" His phone suddenly rings and Jongin exhales in relief.

Jongin only murmurs something incoherent in response, hoping Luhan won't see his reddening face as he bends down and picks up a handful of sand. A bright red ladybug crawls out from beneath the pile of grains and Jongin thinks it's too beautiful to eat, so he ends up tossing it back on the ground. It ends up landing on its back but Jongin fears his knees might give in if he bends down and attempts to help it upright, so he ignores it.

"Yeah, okay...sure...yeah, I know...Mom, I said I know...okay, love you too," Jongin hears Luhan say before he says goodbye and hangs up. He turns to face Jongin with an apologetic look on his face. "Mom's coming to pick me up in a sec, we're picking out a pumpkin! Wanna come?" He jabs Jongin's arm and pouts when the latter shakes his head. "I see, you wanna wait for your boyfriend, I getcha." He runs a hand through his hair and Jongin doesn't know if he should point out that both his hands, including half his face, are caked with fish blood. He doesn't get a chance to, though, when a silver car pulls up a few feet away. "There she is, see ya!" Luhan squees before giving Jongin a tight squeeze and scampering off.

Muttering a low 'See ya', Jongin watches (or rather, hears) as Luhan's mother proceeds to scold Luhan about the latter's 'excessive snacking' when she sees the blood on his face, which is closely followed by Luhan apologizing profusely and begging her to take him to the butterfly farm anyway. Jongin tunes them both out as he attempts to control his buzzing head, and he finds himself unable to walk towards the building considering his legs feel like jelly. He opts to sit cross legged in the sand, a beer can hitting the bottom of his shoe after a gust of wind blows it over. Jongin picks it up and unconsciously inspects its shininess, not even noticing how foul smelling it is as he holds it in his hands. Jongin sort of internally panics when the warmth in his gut refuses to disappear and he briefly worries he might have caught the flu. However, the realization that hybrids don't get the flu subsequently hits Jongin, and he only sighs to himself as he hears the car drive away.

Jongin doesn't even know how long he ends up sitting in the sand in the middle of the playground, but the next thing he registers in footsteps hastily approaching. He looks up, his entire torso feeling like it's been set on fire, before he blinks.

"There you are," Sehun sighs and adjusts the strap to his briefcase. "I told you to pick up if I called, what are you doing out here all alone? Where's Luhan?" he asks and looks around, only to blink when he doesn't see the brunet anywhere. He soon notices the beer can in Jongin's hands, which the latter forgot he was still holding, and promptly yanks it out of his grip. 

Jongin watches as Sehun tosses it into one of the trash cans before pressing his lips together. "He, uh...he left, with his...with his mother," he says whilst his ear. The sounds and scenes from the clip briefly clouds his mind and his gaze drifts to Sehun's chest, where it lingers for a while, which only makes Jongin's inner panic skyrocket. "Like a m-minute ago."

Sehun opens his mouth to speak, only to close it again. He seemingly doesn't notice Jongin's red face, which sort of puts the latter at ease. "I told him to wait with you until I finished," he huffs before shaking his head slightly. It's not until he looks at Jongin again that he notices the latter's piercing stare. "Uh, are you alr--"

"I'm fine, I'm okay," Jongin says loudly, mostly to reassure himself, as he scrambles off the ground. He figures spending time with Sehun will make the pins and needles in his gut go away, but Jongin is instantly proven wrong when he nuzzles his face in Sehun's neck, only to blink when a feeling that closely resembles that of a balloon full of butterflies popping in the deepest parts of his gut spreads inside of him. Jongin jumps back like he's been burned and mentally slaps himself in the face when Sehun sends him a look. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry, i-i-it's nothing--"

Sehun nods. "What do you want to do now?" he asks and blinks when he realizes that Jongin forgot to put on his jacket this morning. He pulls Jongin closer and rubs the small of his back. "Aren't you cold?"

Jongin shakes his head. In fact, his body feels like it's on the verge of heat combustion and he's sort of really glad he isn't wearing his puffy jacket. "I'm good," he mumbles and scrambles to hide behind Sehun when the girls he'd seen earlier walk towards them. They send him dirty looks as they pass, and Jongin simply hisses at them before clinging onto Sehun's arm like a baby koala. All his thoughts disappear when he sees a ripple appear on the water surface. "I wanna fish!" he squees, tugging on Sehun's sleeve whilst pointing to the bridge over and over. He's lowkey hoping that dunking his head in the water will stop his face from feeling like it's on fire.

"Now?" Sehun blinks and checks his watch. "It's only three o'clock, it's not even that dark out," he adds and figures time doesn't really matter, given that the sun usually sets at four o'clock at this time of year. Not to mention they most likely won't be able to see their own hands in front of their faces in less than an hour, anyway. "Oh, and if you're going to snoop around, make sure to turn the lights off when you leave." He ruffles Jongin's hair.

Jongin blinks. "It wasn't me," he blurts out and mentally punches himself. "I mean, I was there, like, in the room, but it was Luhan who--"

"I'm sure it was," Sehun laughs and brushes a few strands of hair out of Jongin's face. "My point is, don't make a mess." He adjusts his tie whilst they walk towards the bridge, with Jongin skipping ahead by a few feet. He figures that they probably should have brought an extra change of clothing for the both of them if Jongin really is planning on catching fish all night. "Did you find anything interesting?"

Jongin shrugs and briefly stops skipping to let Sehun catch up. He goes on to complain about how much of a slowpoke Sehun is before skipping off again. "Uh, boring stuff, like those things that he and Baekhyun use to smoke, and a photo of an old guy with weird ears, and some papers and pens and...stuff," he says and chooses to leave the vandalized paintings out of the equation. He can smell the pond water from afar and hopes nobody plans on swimming for at least another hour, since otherwise Jongin figures he'll have to hiss at them until they leave him and Sehun alone.

Sehun raises an eyebrow. "How did you--" He chooses not to ask Jongin how he knows about Baekhyun and makes a mental note to tell the redhead never to smoke in front of neither Jongin nor Luhan before clearing his throat. Whilst papers, pens and staplers don't surprise him, Sehun doesn't think Chanyeol ever had any photos sitting on his desk (but then again, Sehun can count the amount of times he's stepped foot in Chanyeol's office on his right hand, yesterday's confrontation included).

But when Sehun thinks about it a little harder, he does recall leaving a pile of 1044's on Chanyeol's desk some time in mid September, only to catch the slightest glimpse of a yellow photo frame next to Chanyeol's thermos a week later. Sehun dismissed it and didn't think anything of it until now; in fact, Sehun doesn't think he would have remembered it at all if it wasn't for Chanyeol's sudden temper shift that begun the same week and lasted all throughout the rest of his time in the office. Sehun recalls discussing it with Baekhyun in the break room, and how Chanyeol would flip them off, only telling them it was 'personal and none of their goddamn business' every time they tried questioning him about it. As much as it still confuses him to this day, Sehun finds himself balling his hands into fists inside his pockets and forces himself to shift his attention somewhere else.

Sehun flinches when he notices Jongin standing less than ten inches away, the latter sporting a puzzled expression. "Uh, it's nothing, don't worry about it."

"What are you thinking about? Your face looks kinda weird," Jongin says, reaching out and poking the space between Sehun's eyebrows. He spots a squirrel scurrying up the tree next to them and even though Luhan said he would train him, Jongin figures he might as well get a headstart as he snaps a branch off, but Sehun grabs his wrist before he gets the chance to impale the critter. "Hey--!!!" 

Sehun keeps his comment about not wanting Jongin to spoil his appetite to himself. He soon realizes that they're standing a mere twenty feet away from the raspberry bushes and for a second, all Sehun can think about is Jongin's supposed run-in with the two alcoholics earlier. Jongin's doe-eyed look is doing nothing to calm Sehun's nerves as he goes on to imagine just how terrified and lonely Jongin must have been that night, before he chose to spend the cold night curled up right on the front step of his house. Sehun doesn't know if it's simply his nerves getting the best of him or the look on Jongin's face, but he finds himself pulling Jongin into a tight hug, all whilst Jongin complains about the squirrel getting away. Sehun is aware of how strange he must look as he embraces Jongin like his life depends on it, but the judgemental stares from passerbyers only make Sehun tighten his grip, all whilst Jongin asks him what the matter is.

As the wind rustles the leaves above, Sehun rubs the small of Jongin's back. "Nothing," he says softly, a certain fuzziness tickling his face before he rests his chin on Jongin's shoulder. "I'm just so ing glad you're alright."

---