It was chilly outside and Baekhyun had left the house without a coat, but he didn’t dare return in case someone spotted him and made him go back. It was Saturday morning, and he’d left the house before Yixing came to get him. He didn’t have any meetings scheduled for the day and, even though Madame probably expected him to spend the day studying business, no one had expressly told him he wasn’t allowed out. So now he was wondering aimlessly around the grounds, his stomach grumbling a bit since he hadn’t had anything to eat before his escape.

The grounds were quiet but full of life, so unlike the stuffy house Baekhyun was usually confined to. There were various workers busy about their tasks, most of whom had never seen Baekhyun and didn’t know who he was exactly. That suited Baekhyun just fine. He was tired of everyone bowing down to him like he was something special just because of his lineage.

Part of him wanted to go to the stables, to play with the horses and surround himself with the familiar sounds and smells of his hometown. But Chanyeol would definitely be at the stables, and he and Baekhyun hadn’t really talked much since they’d almost kissed at Baekhyun’s announcement party. Baekhyun was too awkward of a person to know what to say, so he steered clear of the stables in order to avoid making more of an out of himself.

So he found himself at the orchard, where he found Luhan on a ladder, picking the ripe apples off the tree and putting them in big wicker baskets to take up to the house. “Long time no see,” he greeted Baekhyun with a smile.

Baekhyun smiled a bit ruefully. “Yeah, they’ve been keeping me under lock and key. They’ll probably blow a gasket when they realize I’m gone.”

Luhan clucked his tongue reprovingly, but he was smiling. “Well, as long as you’re playing truant, you may as well grab a ladder and help me.”

Baekhyun laughed. “You do realize I’m technically your employer, right?”

Luhan gave him an innocent look. “What are you talking about? I thought we were friends?”

Baekhyun laughed again and grabbed a second ladder, arranging it so he could collect apples easily. “I didn’t know we had this many apple trees,” he admitted. “I haven’t gotten to spend much time out here in the orchard. What do you do with all of these?”

“We sell some of them,” Luhan explained, moving his ladder to a different spot and climbing back up. “Most of them get taken up to the house for cooking. Just wait until Kyungsoo gets his hands on these. There will be apple everything. I swear, it’s like his favorite thing to cook with. There will be apple pies and apple tarts and apple jam and applesauce. And it will all be delicious.”

Baekhyun groaned as his stomach gave a particularly loud grumble. “Don’t talk about food so much,” he complained. “I’m starving.”

Luhan laughed. “Have an apple or two,” he suggested. “They’re delicious right off the tree. I won’t tell the boss if you don’t.” He winked.

Baekhyun laughed again. He had already smiled more in one morning than he had over the past few weeks. He really had needed to get out of that suffocating house.

He plucked an apple off the tree and, wiping it off on his sleeve, he took a big bite. It was crisp and tart, just the way he liked them. It didn’t take him long to eat the whole thing, tossing the core down.

“Wow, you don’t know much about gardening, do you?” Luhan laughed, climbing down from his ladder and carefully pocketing the apple core Baekhyun had discarded.

Baekhyun also climbed down, frowning. “Is it that obvious?”

“These trees have planted very carefully,” Luhan explained, pointing. “Can you see? They’re all in very careful rows. We cultivated them that way. If you start throwing seeds this way and that, we could have a tree growing all willy-nilly. We don’t discard the seeds here.”

Baekhyun blushed, feeling chastised. “Sorry. I won’t do it again,” he promised.

But Luhan wasn’t upset with him. He just grinned and said, “Grab a basket. I promised Chanyeol I’d bring some up to the stables for the horses.”

Baekhyun nearly tripped coming down off the ladder. “The stables?” he repeated. “Right now?”

Luhan gave him a weird look. “Yeah. Not like you have anything else to do, right?”

And, since he didn’t actually have anything else to do, he had no choice but to follow Luhan down the hill in the direction of the stables. Luhan chatted amicably as they strolled through the autumn morning, mostly about what he was currently growing in the greenhouse and how tasty they would be once Kyungsoo got his magic fingers on them, but Baekhyun was too nervous to do more than nod along at vaguely appropriate times. He was too nervous about coming face-to-face with Chanyeol again. What would he say? What would he do? He wanted to melt into a puddle on the ground just thinking about it.

It wasn’t long before the stables came into view, and there was Chanyeol, out in the yard. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt even though it was chilly, with a goofy smile on his face as he brushed down a foal.

When he noticed Luhan and Baekhyun approaching, his face split into a broad grin and he raised a hand in greeting.

“I come bearing gifts,” Luhan called back with a smile, gesturing to the basket of apples Baekhyun was still carrying. “And I found this lost little waif wandering around on his lonesome.”

“So you tricked him into helping you,” Chanyeol laughed. “Why am I not surprised.” He looked at Baekhyun, who immediately blushed crimson, but his smile was still warm and open. “Long time no see, Baek. I thought you were never going to come see me again.”

Baekhyun opened his mouth and tried to respond several times, but he wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. “I’ve been busy,” he finally said lamely, and he didn’t even have the courage to look at Chanyeol when he said it.

Chanyeol chuckled. “Yeah, I can see that. You look miserable.”

“I thought I’d get him some fresh air,” Luhan said, giving Baekhyun a strange look. “I’m gonna take these apples out to the pasture to give to the horses. I’ll leave you two to catch up.”

Baekhyun wanted to protest, but Luhan was through the gate and into the pasture before he could think of anything to say. And then it was just Chanyeol and Baekhyun alone with the foal, who was prancing happily in the dust.

“So you’ve been busy?” Chanyeol asked, handing a brush to Baekhyun so he could help. “I’ve missed seeing you around.”

Baekhyun blushed even more as he began to brush the foal. He hadn’t thought it was possible for him to turn even redder, but he was being proven wrong. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “They’ve had me studying business every second I’m not at the office. It’s really boring.” He almost added how much he’d rather be out here in the stables with Chanyeol, but that would just dig him into an even bigger hole, so he fell silent instead.

Chanyeol didn’t seem to mind. He chattered happily about what had been going on at the stables since Baekhyun had last visited. He didn’t appear to be awkward at all after what had happened between them.

Eventually Luhan returned – why on earth had it taken him so long? – and they said goodbye to Chanyeol and headed back towards the orchard.

“So what’s going on with you and Chanyeol?” Luhan asked as they walked.

Baekhyun tripped and nearly dropped his now-empty basket. “I-I don’t know what you mean,” he said, but he’d always been a terrible liar.

Luhan gave him a skeptical look. “Please. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so awkward before. Obviously something has happened.”

Baekhyun pretended like he didn’t hear his friend. “Oh look, there’s Jongin and Sehun.”

Luhan suddenly groaned. “Oh great. Not this again.”

But then they’re close enough to Baekhyun’s cousin and his best friend for them to call out greetings, so the four stop to say hello.

“Madame is in a tizzy looking for you,” Jongin said with a smirk. “And here you are, hanging out with the hired help.”

Luhan gave him a flat, unamused look.

Sehun, on the other hand, sidled up to Luhan. “Lulu, old friend,” he said with a greasy smile. “How have you been?”

“Since your last pathetic attempt at flirting?” Luhan said crisply. “About the same: unmoved.”

Sehun pretended to pout, draping an arm around Luhan’s shoulder. “Aw, don’t be like that, Lulu. You know I could give you anything you wanted in the world.”

“Right now the only thing I want is for you to remove your arm from my person,” Luhan said smartly. “I highly recommend that you do so immediately if you don’t want your arm permanently detached from your body.”

Sehun flinched and pulled his arm back. “One of these days you’re going to warm up to me, right?”

Luhan’s look was almost amused. “Not likely. Come on, Baek. Let’s get back to the orchard.”

Baekhyun had no choice but to follow after as his friend took off at a brisk walk.

“What the hell was that all about?” he demanded incredulously when he caught up.

Luhan sniffed disdainfully. “You keep your secrets and I’ll keep mine.”

Baekhyun shrugged. “Fair enough.”