Baekhyun was taking a swallow of water to wash down his last bite of food when the boss spoke up from the end of the table. “Tomorrow is the beginning of harvest season, boys..” 

The tall man stood up and the rest of the men at the table all stopped talking and respectfully looked at their boss. “For those that don’t know how this works, pay attention.  We divide the orchard into four parts for harvesting. There are plenty of baskets so figure out one that works well for your picking style and stick with it.” The boss began pointing at the men as he continued. “Jongin, Minseok, and Jongdae will help with harvesting but they are also in charge of the carts getting to the barn.” The three men mentioned all nodded. The boss continued. “Junmyeon, Kyungsoo, and I will stay at the barn and oversee the fruit coming in and take care of weighing and crating. For everyone else, you’ve already been assigned to the two teams and Sehun and Yixing are in charge, so listen when they assign you to a specific section. If they decide to change your assignment don’t take it personally. They’ve been doing this for a long time and know what needs to be done to make things run smoothly. If you have questions, ask them. Don’t assume anything. If you’re confused, someone else might be as well so it’s better to get everyone on the same page as quickly as possible.”

All the men at the table seemed satisfied with the boss's speech, but the orphan was confused. He didn’t remember any discussions of being on teams before this. But the boss had said to ask questions if he was confused. Baekhyun stood up quickly, his chair scraping the floor and getting everyone’s attention. 

The boss lifted an eyebrow slightly. “Baekhyun?” he asked.

“Um.. I’m sorry. But, I don’t remember being assigned to a team.” the orphan said a little unsurely.

Sehun responded quickly. “That’s because you haven’t been,” he said matter-of-factly.

Baekhyun was immediately alarmed and insistent. “But I need to help! I mean- I want.. I can help.” His bravado weakened in the middle of his outburst as he saw the boss’s eyebrows raised at his words. The orphan sank back down into his chair, embarrassed at himself. Several of the men looked at each other a little uncomfortably, unsure of how to react. 

Junmyeon spoke up, leaning forward to look down the table at the orphan. “Baekhyun, it would be great if you come to the barn and help with tallying the crates and making sure the seals on them are on properly. This is something we have usually put off until the end of each day, so having a running tally throughout the day will save us that time and help a lot.”

The orphan instantly perked up. “I can do that!” he said with an eager smile. 

A few chuckles came from several of the men, including the boss, who nodded as he continued. “Good. That’s settled then. Oh, and one more thing, guys.. There aren’t many spare gloves, so if you get a rip, make sure to bring it to our little tailor quickly so he can fix it for you before you totally ruin the glove.”  The boss pointed down the table at the orphan, who managed to be wide-eyed and blushed at the same time, shrinking back into his chair. 

“Ok if there are no more questions, I guess we’re done.” The tall man then indicated with his head towards one of the front windows. “Perfect timing. Ice is here.” 

Minseok scooched his chair back. “I’m on it!” He left his place at the table and went directly out the front door, followed closely by Luhan.

Yixing stood up and quietly began gathering some of the plates from the men around him, and everyone took this cue to begin clearing the table. In the midst of the noise of conversations rising around him, Baekhyun hurried and put his plate over beside the kitchen sink, then scurried out of the way as he went back over to the end of the extra long table. He stopped just short of where the boss had sat back down, not wanting to interrupt as the tall man spoke with Jongdae about something. The loud man laughed as he noticed the little one standing over to the side, and the boss turned his head to see who had gotten Jongdae’s attention. 

Jongdae clapped the boss on the shoulder. “Go get’em, tiger!” he said with a wide grin and stood up to leave the table. 

The tall man had his eyebrows furrowed as he whipped his head back to the loud man briefly, but then turned back with a gentler expression to the little one standing nearby. “Yes, Baekhyun?” he asked. 

Baekhyun felt his heart skip again like it had when he’d made direct eye contact with the boss before. He stepped closer but then rocked on his feet a little. “Um.. I wanted to ask..if it would be ok for me to bring the sewing kit to the barn..?” he asked.

The boss looked a little confused. “You can take it wherever you want. That’s your kit now.” 

The orphan bounced as he perked up. “Oh! Ok good. I can work on the sewing during the daytime and still help with the counting of the crates and making sure the seals are correct and everything.” 

The tall man’s expression morphed into amusement. “You are so determined, aren’t you?”

Baekhyun blinked and cocked his head in confusion. “Huh?” he voiced his question.

“You are doing more than enough, Baekhyun. You don’t have to try to be an overachiever, really.” the boss said reassuringly as he stretched his hand out onto the table. 

It almost looked like the tall man was reaching for him and Baekhyun had a brief moment that he wanted to reach out and take the gently offered hand, but by the time he realized the thought, the boss had pulled his hand back into his lap. Baekhyun shook his head inwardly at himself, then realized he hadn’t answered the boss yet. 

“I-I want to learn so I can be a better help arou