Baekho woke up to find Minhyun gone again. He yawned and looked around the hammock he was in before noticing a shimmering lining that seemed to hook onto the hammock. He approached it and realised that there was now a makeshift web ladder that led to the bottom hammock. He was confused but waited for Minhyun to come back to ask about it. The spider hybrid appeared and Baekho beamed.

"Morning!" Baekho greeted him with a wave and Minhyun flinched as though he was surprised by the sudden greeting.

"It's not morning," Minhyun responded as he navigated his way onto the hammock to sit beside Baekho. He started weaving with his fingers and Baekho watched with fascination. He had come to learn that Minhyun made his own clothes and that truly made him feel at awe towards the spider hybrid. Not only could he spin pretty webs, he made his own clothes! How niche was that. Baekho also had new clothes to wear thanks to that. No, he didn't have to beg for new clothes. Minhyun just threw one at him when he started sneezing again and it fit him just right. Surprisingly. 

"But I can't tell day from night in here."

Minhyun raised his brows but said nothing.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"If you're going to ask for my name again, the answer is still no."

Baekho huffed but that wasn't what he wanted to ask. "I wanted to ask you about this ladder thing you just made." Baekho pointed to it and Minhyun gave it a quick glance.

"Oh. That's for you," He replied simply. Baekho was still confused.

"For me?"

"Yes. So that you can move around the cave freely," Minhyun replied carelessly as he was more focused on making a new shirt for Baekho to wear. "It's not quite done yet and there are lots of parts to connect bu-" Minhyun stopped when he realised Baekho's eyes had gone wide. "What. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You... You trust me enough to let me go around your home freely?"

Baekho's question made Minhyun freeze. His hands had stopped moving as well. Baekho grinned and hugged Minhyun.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you."

Minhyun was baffled by the hug and pushed Baekho away from him. If there had been more light in the cave, Baekho might have been able to see rosy cheeks for once on the pale hybrid. "Wow. Hey. I... Who said anything about trusting you?"

Baekho giggled brightly. "But you made them for me! I can't believe it. I thought I was going to be stuck on the hammock for the rest of my life."

Minhyun breathed in sharply and looked down. His thoughts were troubled but he didn't voice them out, afraid his true feelings would be exposed. But even now his feelings were like a whirlpool and Minhyun could barely tell which was the real emotion.

After the construction of ladders and stable connected paths, Baekho could now make his way to the ground of the main cave he was in but the highest didn't lead to the entrance he had fallen in from. Baekho wasn't sure if Minhyun did that on purpose to keep him there or if the other really had no intention of even going close to the surface. He silently prayed when he saw the skeletons he had once landed on along with the dead rotting body of the bat hybrid that surprisingly didn't have a stench. He looked at them and wondered how many souls had died there. As he was gazing at them, something clicked in his mind. He picked up a bone and then another. He got up from his spot and rushed to a different one, picking up bones as well. He gasped softly and just as he was about to climb up to find Minhyun again, he heard a sound so he turned around.

Baekho's piercing scream made Minhyun startled as it echoed into the cave he was in. He felt as if someone had struck his chest in fear and pain that something might have happened to Baekho again. He gasped and immediately dropped whatever he was doing to rush back to the main cave area where the sound had come from.

"Baekho?!" the spider hybrid yelled as he hopped down, trying to find for the tiger hybrid. He felt rough vibrations in his web below and immediately knew where the other was. He headed towards that direction and gasped when he saw Baekho tangled in the webs while struggling to climb. "Calm down. It's just me." Baekho stopped moving and whimpering when he saw Minhyun. The spider hybrid tore through the webs easily and helped Baekho get out from them, the other immediately jumped into Minhyun's arms and hugged him. "What happened?"

"There was a rat!" Baekho cried out and Minhyun was dumbfounded.

"What."

"A rat!!" he cried out again and Minhyun groaned.

"You screamed... Because of a rat?" Minhyun sighed.

"I told you I'm afraid of a-a lot of things! I can't help that rats scare me too," Baekho wailed and sobbed into Minhyun's chest. The spider hybrid patted his back and carried him up properly before elevating them back to the hammock.

"It's just a rat. You're bigger than it and... Far stronger. You don't have anything to be afraid of," Minhyun said and Baekho nodded. They stayed that way for a couple of minutes before Baekho finally moved away. Minhyun brushed his thumb over Baekho's wet cheeks. "You're a coward and a crybaby seriously."

Baekho pouted but it was the truth. He knew he was a scaredy cat and he cried tons although he tried to act tough in front of his friends and family but here in the cave, everything was so different and Baekho felt even more vulnerable. "But I didn't cry when the bat attacked me!" 

"Are you sure you didn't? I was out cold so I wouldn't know. You could be lying to me." 

"I-I." Baekho did cry a little when he thought Minhyun had died since he wouldn't wake up when Baekho had tried shaking him but he wasn't going to tell the mean spider that. "Thank you for coming for me."

"Idiot. I can't have you dying on me," Minhyun whispered and Baekho's eyes went wide again.

"W-wha... What do you mean?"

Minhyun stiffened, realising he had said his thought out loud. Immediately, he pushed Baekho away and got up. He tried to run away but Baekho grasped one of his legs. "Stop! Don't leave me alone now. Please."

"Let go." Minhyun tried to pull his leg away but Baekho hugged it tightly.

"No. I refuse!" Baekho squeaked defiantly and Minhyun gritted his teeth. He could easily just fling the other off but he didn't want to hurt Baekho so he sighed and plopped back down again. Baekho took the chance to scuttle back onto Minhyun's lap and hug him. "Don't go." Minhyun sighed, wondering what he had done to himself and the other. He patted Baekho's head and laid down on the hammock, pulling him closer and protectively. "Aren't you lonely?"

Minhyun stiffened from the question. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you live down here alone. Is that why you wanted to keep me here?" Baekho questioned more while holding onto Minhyun tightly so he wouldn't escape again which was pretty ironic considering who the captor was in the first place.

"I... Well..."