Baekhyun had been expecting to work in the orange grove with the other workers, so he was a little shocked at the boss’s announcement but the murmurs around the table went back to regular level conversations fairly quickly, making the orphan not feel quite as self-concious. He kept a tentative smile on his face as he ducked his head in a quick bow. “Yes, sir.” he said dutifully.

“Go back and finish your breakfast. When you’re done eating Sehun can bring you the bag of clothes that need mending.”

“Oh, but I can go ahead and get started on them now. I’ve eaten enough.” Baekhyun nodded confidently as he spoke, but both the boss and Sehun looked doubtful. 

The boss responded first. “I don’t think you have…”

Sehun nodded his agreement and furrowed his brow a little at the orphan. “You need to eat more to get some more meat on those bones.” He gave an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry about trying to hurry. We have a little extra time this morning before the crew leaves to tend the trees.”

Some of the men had been finishing their food and drink, but upon hearing Sehun’s words they deliberately slowed down and even began new conversations with others sitting near them. Kyungsoo walked around the table with a hot metal pitcher of steaming dark liquid and refilled some of the men’s mugs. The liquid they called coffee smelled delicious and Baekhyun had been curious when he first saw Yixing enjoying it earlier that morning. Now, as the orphan dutifully went back to his seat, Kyungsoo came over and offered him some of the hot drink. Baekhyun wasn’t finished with his water, so he decided to try the dark liquid some other time. He had enough new things to think about before then.

Baekhyun did eat the rest of his toast but couldn’t bring himself to eat any more of the eggs. Not eating large amounts of food for so long had made his small frame unable to finish his breakfast. But he relished the water, even filling his mug with more of the refreshing liquid when he took his plate to the kitchen sink. Kyungsoo showed him how to scrape the left-over eggs off his plate into a shallow bucket on the floor and mentioned something about a compost heap. 

Once the rest of the men finished with their breakfast and cleanup was completed, Jongin carried the compost bucket out the side door of the house. Baekhyun carried his water and ran to the door to watch as the tanned man tossed the contents into a rectangular caged area that was almost the same size as the small cart he had ridden in the previous afternoon. Jongin raked through the compost a couple of times then grabbed the bucket again and headed back indoors. He stopped at the doorway to ruffle the orphan’s hair briefly, then grinned and walked back and put the bucket back next to the kitchen sink. Baekhyun tried to cover his obvious blush by hiding behind his mug as he drank the rest of his water. 

Across the room almond-shaped eyes coupled with a furrowed brow and slight frown watched as the small scene unfolded. Sehun looked very amused but ran down the hallway. The rest of the men all busied themselves in finishing getting ready for the work day and footsteps and voices could be heard from all areas of the large house.

As he was washing his now-empty mug in the sink, Baekhyun heard Sehun calling his name from the living room area. The orphan finished washing up quickly then went over and saw a small bag on one of the sofas. Next to the bag was a metal tin about the size of a stack of plates, and Sehun smiled encouragingly as he handed it to him. Baekhyun sat down on the sofa and pried open the tin, balancing it on his lap. Inside the metal container were a few partial spools of thread, a small pair of scissors, a tape measure, and an old pincushion with pins and needles sticking into it.

“I hope it’s ok..” Sehun said. 

Baekhyun looked up with a small smile. “It is more than enough. Thank you.”

“It was my mother’s.” The boss said. The tall man had walked over silently, still carrying his coffee. Both Sehun and Baekhyun looked up in surprise at the boss’s words, but the tall man just took another drink from his mug without further comment. Sehun walked over to one of the windows and adjusted the curtains so the sunlight could shine on the sofa where the orphan was sitting. Baekhyun smiled his thanks as he set the tin carefully over to the side then reached into the bag for the first piece of clothing. Sehun smiled back then jogged out of the room. 

Meanwhile, the boss had taken a seat on a different sofa and positioned himself with a direct view of the orphan. Before Baekhyun could get overly nervous about being watched so directly, Junmyeon's laugh suddenly came from the hall doorway. “Park, leave the poor boy alone. You’re going to make him mess up before he even gets started!” The kind man continued to chuckle as he walked over to the sofa area. His forehead was sweaty, his sleeves were pushed up above his elbows, and a thin towel was tied around his neck. He also had a long thick apron on, and Baekhyun realized that the man must have been doing laundry. The night before Junmyeon had shown the orphan the back room of the house, where a tiled area surrounded two large basins, water pipes, and a small open fireplace with a small hanging caldron for boiling water. And the older man had mention