Baekhyun stared without saying anything.

The man knew he was at the shack and had obviously been waiting for him. He didn’t understand what the second thing was that the man had said. And Baekhyun was very scared so he wasn't sure, but apparently the man had called him a.. fruit mouse?

The man spoke again. “Um.. xin chào..?”

Baekhyun blinked once, even more confused.

The man tried again. “Konnichiwa..?” By now, the stranger seemed to be struggling with the accent. This was obviously not the man’s native language.

Baekhyun scrunched his eyebrows and cocked his head but stayed quiet and let his eye’s shift around a little. He wasn’t sure if the stranger was alone but Baekhyun didn’t want to take any chances. So far the man hadn’t shown any aggressive moves, but someone might come up behind him unexpectedly. 

As Baekhyun shuffled his feet nervously, the man evidently thought the orphan was going to try to run away because he reached his hand out in a panic towards the scared boy. “No, wait! I don’t know what language to use to make you understand me, but I mean you no harm.. Really! Just.. Don’t run away. Please.” He looked pleadingly towards Baekhyun.

The orphan eyed the man with suspicion. “Why.. would you need to use another language to say that..?” he asked slowly. 

“Well I wasn’t sure if- Wait! You understood me! And you can speak! That’s great!” The man looked enthusiastically happy.

“It is?” Baekhyun still wasn’t sure what to think. His mind was whirling with possible scenarios and in most of them he didn’t trust this man no matter how much he smiled. The weaver’s helper had smiled at him sometimes, but that usually meant something bad for Baekhyun.  

“Yeah! We thought you might be mute or something but Xing said he heard you humming so we at least knew you could make sounds..”

“Zhhing..?” Baekhyun asked slowly but then suddenly flinched and cowered more as he held his bag even closer to himself when another man came around from behind him to stand near the first man.   

“Nǐ hǎo..” This man was taller with a wiry muscular build and soft eyes, and he spoke with a firm yet gentle tone. “I am Yixing. It is nice to meet you. Please what is your name?” His manner of speaking and accent was not one Baekhyun had heard before, but for some reason the orphan felt a little less nervous around the taller man making such an effort to communicate with him. 

Baekhyun tried to relax a little and he ducked his head in a short bow. “I am Baekhyun.” he said, still nervous but resigned. These men had obviously known he was there so he shouldn't be rude unless they gave him a reason. They both were wearing clothing similar to the other workers Baekhyun had seen in the grove, so if they knew he was there, then other workers probably did too. And yet no one had bothered him, so he didn’t feel a strong sense of danger telling these men his name. At least not for now. Maybe their smiles could be trusted. “Thank you for being kind, Yi-zhinng.”

A cute dimple appeared on the man’s face as he smiled. “You may call me Lay if you wish. It is easier.”

The orphan couldn’t help smiling back shyly and he tried to relax his shoulders more. The shorter man had been watching him closely and now cooed. “Cute fruit mouse.” he said quietly.

Baekhyun couldn’t help looking confused. “Why do you keep calling me.. fruit mouse?” he asked. 

“Well that’s what Boss has been calling you-”

“Your boss knows I’m here? Am I in trouble..?” The look of panic was evident on the orphan’s face and the shorter man quickly began making consoling shushing noises.

“No. Nonono.. Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble. It’s ok.” he tried to console the orphan.

“Um.. ok. Thank you…” Baekhyun trailed off, not knowing what to call the man.

Yixing spoke up instead. “My insensitive friend is named Minseok.” 

“Insensi- Xingie you’re the one being insensitive! Insulting me in front of our cute guest here! Really!” Minseok spoke with a huff and fake offended tone to the taller man. Baekhyun couldn’t help his inner giggle at the situation, and he covered his grin with his hand. His reaction made both of the other men grin and they exchanged a quick look before the shorter spoke again. “We would like to invite you to have dinner with us if you’d like. It would probably be nice for you to have something more than just oranges to eat.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “Oh! That is very kind of you.” He wasn’t sure how much he could trust these men, but this was a chance to get something to eat, and that had been in his plans, so at least that much