Baekhyun walked quietly up the porch steps. For some reason he felt nervous, like something big had happened and he hadn’t quite caught on to what it was yet. 

Behind him, Chanyeol’s heavier footsteps echoed, and at the top of the stairs the tall man reached around Baekhyun to gesture to the porch swing. Baekhyun took the silent suggestion and went over to the swing and sat down on one side, leaving the other side for Chanyeol to sit. But the tall man leaned against the railing and faced the orphan instead. 

“Baekhyun, do you trust me?”

The unexpected question made the orphan lift his head quickly and look at Chanyeol in shock. Baekhyun nodded. “Yes, sir- I mean Cha- Mr.- .. Yes.” The nerves combined with wanting to hurriedly assure the handsome man made Baekhyun unable to keep from stuttering.

“Then why didn’t you come to me and tell me about what happened?” Chanyeol asked with a sigh.

The orphan blinked in surprise, not sure what to say, but Chanyeol continued, choosing his words carefully. “I know you’ve had to look out for yourself for a long time. You’re tougher than you look. But I need to know about the safety of all my employees. I don’t tolerate anyone being hurtful to them in any way, and I certainly don’t want you being in danger. You are.. important to me.”

Baekhyun had been looking directly at the tall man, showing how he was listening clearly. At Chanyeol’s last sentence the orphan blushed, but he also internally cooed at how the tall man had turned a light pink around the ears at his own words. The boss had been an adult for a long while, but there was a child-like quality about the man that Baekhyun was starting to notice and he was really enjoying learning about the many sides of his multifaceted boss. 

He decided it was ok to show his own vulnerable side as well. “Before I came here, I used to always bathe in the river.” 

Chanyeol lifted his eyebrows at what seemed like a change in subject but kept quiet. The orphan continued, “Other people did that too, and a lot of times there were older men that would say erted and mean things to me. The words that man said to me this morning weren’t exactly like that but the tone and the way he made me feel was the same way I used to feel back at the river.”  

The tall man’s jaw was clenched and he made a fist with one hand. “That makes me want to pound some sense into his head even more now. He better hope he doesn’t ever show his face here again.” he said darkly.

Baekhyun couldn’t help a small smile. He flushed but didn’t look away when Chanyeol looked at him quizzically. “What?” the tall man asked, almost demandingly.

The orphan’s smile grew with a hint of mischievousness and he wasn’t sure where his bravery was coming from but he decided to go for it. “My hero…” he said coyly.

Chanyeol’s ears were definitely pink now. 

At that moment Kyungsoo popped his head out the side door. “Ok time to stop flirting. Lunch is ready.” he said quickly, then left the door propped open as he stepped back inside. Baekhyun and Chanyeol both were now varying shades of pink and they hurried in through the door, both stammering in protest at the chef’s words. Kyungsoo just chuckled and handed them their plates of food.

While they ate their sandwiches and sliced fruit, the three talked a little more about what had happened that morning. Baekhyun was surprised that both men seemed to still be angry about the situation. He smiled reassuringly to both of them, and they took the hint to lighten the conversation and talk about how the crop of oranges were looking instead.  

As soon as lunch was finished, Kyungsoo began washing the dirty dishes while Chanyeol and Baekhyun went back out to the barn. Baekhyun wanted to get a quick count to verify the number of filled crates from the day before. Chanyeol held the clipboard as the orphan called out numbers for each stack of crates. They finished just as Kyungsoo made it out to the barn. 

No filled carts had arrived yet, so the three sat down on a few of the crates. As they waited, Kyungsoo suggested that on the next trip to the market a bag of lemons should be purchased. Lemonade was a nice treat the workers didn’t get to have often. And he thought the skins could be combined with the orange peels in some of the air freshener bags in the future. Baekhyun agreed and was thanking the chef for the great idea just as Jongin arrived with the first cart of picked oranges. 

The afternoon seemed to go by quickly. Junmyeon hadn’t returned yet, so being down one cart, the full carts from the grove came to the barn faster than usual with Jongin doing all the driving. Minseok stayed in the grove and worked along with the others to help fill in for Yixing and Tao being gone. At the barn, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol unloaded the baskets of oranges and Baekhyun put the empty baskets back onto the carts each time. The three lugged oranges and crates on and off the scale, and Baekhyun kept a steady hand as he used the metal clamp tool to seal the filled crates.

Baekhyun definitely felt like he was sweating more than the previous two days. But he wasn’t sure if it was because he was working harder or if it was from seeing Chanyeol’s sweaty muscular body so close to his own for such a long period of time. The smell of sweat mixed with a woodsy smell that the orphan guessed was probably from the soap that Chanyeol used. The result was an intoxicating aroma that made his insides curl. Then, without warning the tall man lifted the bottom of his shirt up to wipe his forehead, which exposed his muscular torso and very shiny-with-sweat happy trail. 

Maybe it was the steady work or maybe it was the unexpected view, but Baekhyun suddenly felt faint. He realized he was almost panting, so he stepped backwards and tried to conce