Although Junmyeon had reassured the orphan that he would have answers, immediately after that the older man had given the excuse that he had something to do and would see the little one when everyone sat down to eat together later, then basically ran from the room, closing the door firmly behind himself. Baekhyun was still a bit upset and felt like staying in his room, but his stomach had become used to having decent meals, and not too long after Junmyeon left, it had begun telling him it was time for food. 

So after delaying as long as he could, Baekhyun finally left his room to go down the stairs, but it was with a lot of trepidation. He wasn’t sure if Minseok had told any of the others about the awkward situation at the barn from earlier in the day, and even if the man had only told others the part about Baekhyun fixing lunch, it would be difficult for the orphan to be comfortable with new teasing from the other workers on that subject.

There were no other sounds in the upstairs hallway. It seemed that all the other men had already left the second floor. Baekhyun took a deep breath and began to walk down the stairs. His bare feet didn’t make any noises, and even though he knew everyone was back from the grove, other than the occasional sounds of their dinner being prepared, for some reason there were very few other sounds echoing in the house. 

But not even halfway down the stairs, Baekhyun paused. Standing at the bottom of the steps was the last person the orphan expected to see there.  

“Um.. Hi.” The boss’s deep voice rumbled in the empty hallway. 

Baekhyun didn’t say anything as he held onto the stair railing for dear life. Mr. Park’s almond-shaped eyes seemed to be full of the same turmoil and other emotions that the orphan was almost scared to try to decipher. He tried to calm his pounding heart as he stood still, looking back down at the tall man.

Mr. Park also held onto the railing but ran his fingers through his thick hair with the other hand in a slightly aggravated manner. “Jun yelled at me and I know from experience it’s not a good thing when he’s angry, but it’s even worse when he’s right, so I thought that maybe it would be better to go ahead and-”

“Sir.” The orphan abruptly interrupted the boss’s panicked ramble and the tall man actually looked a little relieved as he looked up at the little one. But Baekhyun didn’t want to let him off the hook that easily. “You are here because Junmyeon yelled at you?” he asked firmly.

“No. Yes. I mean- Please- Can we talk?” the boss finally asked hesitantly.

The orphan blinked but then pursed his lips in a line as he gave a short nod. The tall man took a visible breath then reached his hand up as though to offer it to the little one. Baekhyun looked at the large calloused hand for a moment before slowly walking down the stairs the rest of the way. But he did not reach out to take Mr. Park’s hand. So the tall man waited until the orphan came to the last step, but instead of bringing them towards the large area in the front of the house, he gestured towards the laundry room at the back of the house. Baekhyun was surprised at the choice of location but tried to not show it as he led the way into the room with the large wash basins and unlit fireplace in the corner. The smell of soap could be faintly detected in the air as Mr. Park quietly closed the door behind them. The boss then pointed over to the bench that lined a small section of the wall next to the door. Baekhyun took the silent hint and sat down on one end. The tall man also sat on the bench and turned to the little one, close but not quite to where their knees would touch. 

“So.. there are two things I want to tell you.” Mr. Park started. He was silent for a second as though collecting his thoughts then blurted out, “Ok first of all, I’m sorry. I’m sure you heard the conversation at the barn and although I can’t speak for the others, it was insensitive of me to have said what I did. Even if the guys tease about how I’m feeling it’s not fair to you to let them go on like that. I promise I’ll put a stop to it if they keep making you feel uncomfortable.” 

Baekhyun shook his head a little in confusion and furrowed his eyebrows. “I.. um. Ok..?” He waited for a second and when the tall man didn't continue, the orphan asked “What is the other thing?”  

Mr. Park gripped his own pants legs and cleared his throat. “Um.. Have you-..”