The orphan entered his room slowly and sat down on the bed as his mind whirled.

There were no clothes that needed mending, and Baekhyun knew he still had plenty of time to work on more bags before the weekend. And he was still in a tizzy over what had happened in the small house with the boss so he didn’t think he could do any sewing right now without his hands shaking and pricking himself. He definitely wouldn’t be able to sew in a straight line with his thoughts being all over the place like this. So it was probably best to wait till the evening before taking on any more sewing.

After figuring out how to put the large scissors into the sewing kit and still close the tin, Baekhyun scampered back down the stairs and out the side door to go to the barn. The breeze was blowing harder today and the few clouds in the sky were moving along quickly, not blocking much sunlight. Baekhyun slowed down his walking to stretch his arms out wide and tilted his head back as he let the warmth soak into his skin for a minute, but then brought his arms back to his sides and hurried on to the barn. 

Junmyeon and Kyungsoo were already inside the barn. Kyungsoo was up on an old-looking ladder as he counted stacks of filled and empty crates. Junmyeon had a clipboard with a paper on it and was writing down the numbers that Kyungsoo called out to him. Baekhyun suddenly felt guilty. “I’m sorry. I know I was supposed to help with counting. I should have done that yesterday.” he said as he walked up to Junmyeon.

The older man smiled and didn’t seem upset. “No it’s ok. We can just let you do the double check for us. We always count twice anyway, just to be sure.”

“Oh, ok..” Baekhyun responded. As he watched as Kyungsoo climbed back down the ladder, the orphan had a thought. “Since you guys are busy, I can go get started on fixing lunch.” he offered and pointed towards the large house.

Kyungsoo looked at the orphan with interest. “What are you planning to make?” he asked as he dusted off his hands. Junmyeon held the clipboard to his chest and also focused on the orphan.

“Oh- Well..” The little one stammered out his explanation. “I- I can’t cook, but I know we have oranges, apples and pears. And I think there's some fresh strawberries in the ice box. So.. I thought maybe I could cut up a bunch of the fruit and mix it together in bowls. And.. That would taste good with sandwiches, right?” he offered awkwardly. 

Both men looked at him with pride evident in their smiles. The chef nodded. “I think that sounds great! Go ahead and get started, and I’ll join you in a minute.”

Baekhyun grinned and ran out of the barn and back towards the house. He felt relieved. He was being helpful as best he could, and people seemed to appreciate it. This had never happened at the weaver’s shop, and had only happened a handful of times while he still lived at the orphanage. He tripped as he went up the stairs to the porch, but caught himself in time before he fell over. But this only made him giggle. Nothing could ruin his good mood. He was still smiling as he went into the house.

Mr. Park joined them in the big house just as plates and bowls were filled, and as they ate, the orphan found himself squirming under the proud looks and compliments for his food prepping skills. He was protesting the kind words for what felt like the hundredth time when the sound of horses hooves echoed outside the house along with the loud whistle of Minseok. The men all stood up from the table and began to collect their dirty dishes, but in a fit of bravery Baekhyun shooed them all away as if he was in charge and told them he would see to the dishes. All three men exchanged wide grins and Kyungsoo even ruffled the orphan’s hair as they agreed to the arrangement then piled out the side door to go to the barn.

Baekhyun hurried to wash the dishes and piled them carefully on a dish towel to the side of the sink. Once he had washed everything he took another dish towel and dried the dishes one by one as he put them away as quickly as he could. Soon finished, he went back out the side door of the house and down the porch stairs. 

As he hurried through the grass he heard the voices of the men talking. Their conversation was clearly about lunch and Minseok made a good-natured comment about Baekhyun training to be a housewife. But the comment in the boss’s deep voice made the orphan stop cold. 

“No. Baekhyun wouldn’t be my wife.”

Baekhyun wanted to cry. It was like a bucket of ice water had been poured on him and he felt despair even though he had thought through this exact thing before. He should have known Mr. Park didn’t want him. 

But before he could think anything else, the boss continued. “Baekhyun is a man. He would be my husband.”

Sounds of good-natured cooing and a wolf whistle echoed clearly from inside the barn. Baekhyun’s despair drained from him so quickly he felt dizzy. Was the boss being serious or was it all just in jest? At this point he didn't know what to think. In his shock he started forward again but tripped on his shoes and almost fell. The abruptness shook him, making him alert to his surroundings and he carefully went the short distance to the cart that was stopped in fro