Following the familiar path away from the shack, Baekhyun walked easily through the semi-darkness and soon made it to the water trough in the clearing. By now he was used to what was needed to operate the pump to get the water to flow from the faucet. He confidently grabbed the handle and threw his weight into the first push, listening to the sound of the water gurgling up through the pipe. Waiting until the optimal moment, he pushed down on the handle again, and then again, getting the most results from each action. 

After the fourth pump of the handle, the water was flowing steadily and the moonlight was reflecting in the rising level of crisp liquid filling the trough. Baekhyun reached into his bag and pulled out his cup. This would probably be his last night there, and he didn’t know what access he would have to clean water in the next few days. So he quickly sat on the side of the trough, unwrapped both feet and put them into the water. He took his time as he enjoyed drinking the cool flowing water and soaking his feet. As the water trickled to a stop, the orphan held one of his hands under the faucet, letting the last drops drip down on his slender fingers before trailing down into the water below. The thought crossed his mind that he would have liked to somehow bathe the rest of his body but he decided against it for now. Even though it had been several days since his last actual bath, for some reason it just didn’t seem appropriate to try to clean his body in the water coming from the trough, considering he was basically stealing what he was already using for drinking and soaking his feet. 

But Baekhyun did take care washing the pieces of material that he had been using to protect his feet from the ground. The cloth was showing significant wear from the repeated use, and although he knew he could start doubling up the pieces since they were getting thin, he also knew he would eventually need to find more material. The old tattered blanket from the shack came to mind, and Baekhyun made a mental note to look it over carefully later when there was more light to see it clearly. He might be able to tear it into strips to have more cloth protection for his feet when the pieces he had brought from the weaver’s shop became unusable.

With this in mind, the orphan finished up his time at the trough, wrapping up his feet in dry cloth from his bag and pumping the handle on the faucet one more time to get a last drink of clean water. He then put his metal cup and the damp cleaned pieces of cloth into his bag and soon made his way back to the shack. As he approached, the slowly waning moonlight showed the fruit he had left from his work earlier was still sitting in a neat row in front of the door, and he smiled as he saw the cute sight. 

Baekhyun picked up the oranges, cradling them in his shirt, and then entered the shack. The dim moonlight shone through the one window as he put the oranges down on the table and hung his bag on the old chair, then pulled the washed pieces of cloth out of his bag and hung them over the back of the chair just as he had  each night before. Then he picked the oranges back up and plopped himself down on what had become his usual spot on the low platform area.

He slowly peeled and ate two of the oranges, doing like he had before and carefully stacking the peelings on the corner next to the already drying older peelings. He picked up a piece of one of the older peelings, noticing it still had a faint fragrance even though the skin was shriveling as it lost its natural moisture. The smell was pleasant, and the orphan smiled as he placed the peeling back down with the others. He also noticed his previously cleaned fingers had a nice citrus odor from the oils of the fresh orange peels.

All of these thoughts calmed his mind as he finished eating, and he yawned widely then laid down on the platform and easily fell as