When Wooyoung stepped into Marcus' office a few days later, he was greeted with a wide smile. "There he is. How are you today?"

"I'm great!" Wooyoung held out a piece of paper. "I finally got a phone number, so now you can contact me." He said, feeling proud of himself.

"Wonderful. I'll get this programmed in right away. Now I don't have to sit here and worry about you if you don't come on time." Marcus winked at him before grabbing his own cell phone.

Wooyoung smiled as he stepped into the back room. He was almost done with organizing everything. He just needed to alphabetize the places and it was done.

"It's looking good back here." Marcus said, coming to stand behind him. "I'm impressed." He placed a hand on Wooyoung's shoulder. "I don't think I've ever seen that wall before."

"What are you going to need me to do when this is done?" Wooyoung stepped forward to grab the first stack he needed to go through. He turned to see Marcus watching him.

"Well you can take phone calls and keep track of records and stuff, especially when I'm out on a case. Which will actually be soon. I have a client who called today and should be coming in for a meeting in an hour or so."

"Oh!" Wooyoung's eye grew wide with excitement. "That's great!"

"Yeah so I want you by my side the entire time, ok? Take notes, but don't ask questions."

"Sure thing. I won't let you down." Wooyoung smiled and bounced in place. He had been slightly worried that Marcus might not need him anymore once he was done organizing, so the thought of helping with cases was exciting.

"Oh, I know you won't." Marcus leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Once you're done back here, I'll start showing you the ropes."

Wooyoung nodded and turned to start putting files away. He hummed to himself as he did and at some point he noticed Marcus slip out to go up front.

After a little bit of time passed, he jumped when his pocket vibrated.

"I'm going to have to get used to that again." He chuckled to himself as he pulled out his phone and smiled.

Jongho

When is your next day off?

I want to come to the farm.

And stay for dinner.

Wooyoung

Thursday.

Is that ok?

Jongho

Thursday is perfect.

I'll pick you up at 10.

Is that too early?

Wooyoung

I'll be out front and waiting!

Wooyoung bit his lip as he slipped his phone back in his pocket and got back to work.

Suddenly Thursday couldn't come fast enough.

A short time later, he heard the front door open and Wooyoung quickly stepped int the front room.

He noticed a worried looking woman in her mid thirties standing in the doorway wringing her hands.

Marcus stood up from his desk and went to great her. "Hello Ma'am. I believe we spoke on the phone earlier. I am Marcus." He held out his hand and when she shook it, he enveloped the hand shake with his other hand in a warm gesture.

"Y-Yes, we did. I'm Mrs. Jaymison."

"Please, sit down." Marcus led her to the chair in front of her desk. "This is my assistant, Wooyoung. He is just here to take notes."

Wooyoung bowed his head to be polite, but stayed quiet as Marcus had requested of him earlier.

They all sat and Wooyoung pulled out a notebook to write things down.

Mrs. Jaymison was here hoping to find her daughter. She had run a way from home five years ago and she had just now saved up enough to approach a private investigator to try and find her.

Marcus asked several questions about their relationship, how her daughter had been acting before she ran away, if there was any place she might go, if it could have been something other than her running away. He also asked for detailed descriptions, phone numbers, emails, and any other information that could help him find her.

Wooyoung dutifully took notes the entire time, doing his best to keep up with what they were saying. He would draw lines between anything that he thought might be linked and star anything that was mentioned twice.

After a couple of hours, Marcus walked Mrs. Jaymison out of the office promising he would do everything he could to try and track down her daughter.

She gave him a sizable down payment and thanked him several times over.

Once she was gone, Marcus rubbed the back of his neck as he came to down next to Wooyoung again. "So. What do you think?"

"You're asking me?" Wooyoung pointed to himself.

Marcus leaned back as he laughed. "You were there the entire time. Of course I would ask you." Then he leaned forward and patted Wooyoung's leg a couple of times before leaving his hand there.

Wooyoung shifted a little, then looked down at his notebook. "I don't know. I mean it sounds like she ran away because she could have been looking for something. Maybe her father?"

Marcus squeezed his thigh. "Exactly what I was thinking. We will make a private investigator out of you yet."

"I don't know about that." Wooyoung blushed and stood up. "But here are my notes and I'll be in the back." He hurried to the back room and leaned against the wall.

That was... very friendly for Marcus. Wooyoung knew he would need to keep an eye on that. He hoped that all it was was a friendly gesture.

As he started to work again, his phone vibrated in his pocket again and Wooyoung froze when he saw the name.

Sannie

Hey gorgeous.

When do you get off on Friday?

Wooyoung

Usually around 7:30.

Sannie

Perfect.

I'm taking you to dinner.

I'll pick you up then.

No arguing.

Wooyoung let out a little giggle at the older's forwardness, but he found it charming. And the first thing that came to his mind was the kiss... Biting his lip, Wooyoung couldn't help but think about how much he wanted to do it again. He sent back his reply and returned to his organizing.

An hour later, Wooyoung stepped out front again, ready to say goodbye.

Marcus had his eyes glued on the computer and was scrolling through a page on the internet.

"I'm leaving." Wooyoung said, moving to stand in front of the desk.

His boss looked up and ran a hand over his face. "That late already? Alright. Be safe going home. Oh, and here." He slipped over an envelope. "You pay. I get paid mostly in cash, so I hope you don't mind if that's how I pay you?"

Wooyoung hesitantly took the envelope. Marcus hadn't given him any reason not to trust him, so he nodded after a moment. "That should be fine."

"I hope you are ready to hit the ground running. Now that we have a case I'm going to need your help. As long as you do well, like you have been, we might be able to look into this being a full time job." Marcus said with a wink.

"Thank you, I'll do my best not to let you down." Wooyoung bowed his head. "Good night."

"Good night, Wooyoung."

—

The rest of the week passed fairly quickly. His work with Marcus was mostly research right now as his boss was trying to put his client's story together and figure out where he wanted to start.

But he didn't need to worry about that today, for it was finally Thursday.

Wooyoung stood on the side walk in front of his apartment and ran a hand through his black hair. His ears strained to hear the thrum of Jongho's truck.

Thankfully he didn't have to wait long.

A smile tore across his face as Jongho pulled up.

"Hey!" Jongho called out through the window with a wide smile. "I didn't keep you waiting did I?"

"Nope! I was early." Wooyoung slid into the front seat and pulled the door shut. "Thank you for coming to get me. I really need to save up for car."

"Don't worry about it. I had a delivery to make in town so I was already here." Jongho dismissed him as he pulled back into the street and started driving. "Oh, these are for you." He said, motioning to a pair of boot sitting between them on the seat.

Wooyoung gave him a questioning look as he grabbed them.

"I'm sorry they aren't new or anything, they are a pair of my old boots. But I know you don't own anything, and you need something to have something to protect your feet. I hope they fit ok." Jongho gave him a quick, apologetic look before focusing on the road again.

Wooyoung was touched as he glanced down at the ratty pair of sneakers he was wearing. He hadn't known what to wear today, but his sneakers were the only shoes he felt comfortable with wearing around a farm.

"Thank you." He said, trying to imprint every ounce of sincerity into his words as he twisted in the seat to start putting on the boots. There was something about Jongho that made all his worries fly away, so not being buckled in his truck while changing his shoes didn't bother him.

Jongho kept his eyes on the road the entire time.

Wooyoung worked the boots on, thankful that he had on skinny jeans so they tucked in easily. The boots felt like they might have been a little big, but they would work. He ran his fingers over the worn leather and started to wonder what they had been through with Jongho.

"Do they fit ok?" Jongho asked, glancing at him quickly.

"I think so! Thank you again." Wooyoung twisted to sit normally in his seat again. He made a mental not to buy some new shoes with the money Marcus had paid him. It was only a couple hundred dollars, but it was better than nothing.

About twenty minutes later, Wooyoung leaned forward in his seat and admired the large farm appearing in front of them. There were large field full of green crops, large pastures with cows and horses and sheep, several buildings in a close knit semicircle, and probably more that he couldn't even see.

"This is all yours?" He said in awe.

"Yeah." Jongho said with a shy tone.

"It's beautiful." Wooyoung stuck his head out the window and tried to take it all in.

There were people everywhere, all working hard and confirming just how big of an operation Jongho was running.

They pulled up in front of the house and Jongho approached him with his hands behind his back. "Where would you like to start?"

"I don't even know." Wooyoung chuckled as he turned in a circle. "I can't believe how big this place is! Jongho, this is amazing!"

He turned to the younger and saw him blushing as he ran his foot back and forth over the dirt. "Thank you. I'm very proud of it. It took me a long time to get to where it's at today."

"You should be proud." Wooyoung walked over to him. "As much as I admire the farm aspect, show me the animals!" He rocked back and forth and stuck out his lower lip,.

Jongho chuckled and motioned for him to follow.

They made their way to the large barn. Jongho greeted anyone they passed, and they all smiled or nodded in return.

"How many people work for you?" Wooyoung asked, speeding up so he could ask in a hushed tone.

The younger pushed his lips out in a pout as he thought. "Anywhere between fifty and a hundred depending on the time of year."

Wooyoung stopped in place. "Really?"

Jongho hummed and opened the door to the barn. "This place can't run itself. And I love being able to give people a job when they haven't been able to find it elsewhere."

Admiring the younger's kind heart, Wooyoung followed him into the barn.

Several horse stalls lined the wall to the right. On the left was a few different large cages that looked like they also led to an area outside. "What's in those?" He asked, pausing to walk over.

"That's where we keep some of our smaller animals. Oh!" Jongho hurried to join him, but the moved in front of him to block his way. "Close your eyes."

"What? Why?"

"Close your eyes." Jongho said a little softer.

Wooyoung pressed his lips together and obeyed. He felt his heart beat a little faster when Jongho took his hands and started to pull him forward. It sounded line he opened one of the gates to the cages, led Wooyoung through, then shut the gate.

Then he positioned Wooyoung's hands so that they were facing palm up next to each other. "Stay there." Jongho whispered

The older just nodded as his excitement grew. Several soft balls were placed in his hands followed by lots of 'peeping'.

Unable to wait any longer, Wooyoung looked at his hands and felt like he was going to burst as several chicks sat there huddled together. One pecked at his thumb, it's tiny peak tickling his skin. "Oh my gosh! They are so cute!"

He brought them a little closer to his chest and watched them look around.

"They were just hatched a few weeks ago." Jongho stepped closer and ran a finger over one of their backs. "We actually have a lot of babies on the farm right now. It's part of what makes spring my favorite time of year."

Wooyoung giggled as more of them started to peck at his skin.

"Would you like to see more?" Jongho looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh yes please!"

The farmer beamed as he took the chicks and placed them in a large box that had heating lamps in the corners for them to huddle under. Then he led back into the main isle. "This one is my pride and joy." He said, taking Wooyoung to the last and largest stall in the corner.

Wooyoung peeked over the side of the door to see a tiny foal watching them from behind her mom. His heart melted at the sight. She's had lanky legs that were black while the rest of her body was a golden color. It looked like her nose was black too.

"This is Sunny." Jongho said, motioning for Wooyoung to stay where he was as he grabbed a small halter. "And her mom is Fleetfoot. I rescued her from an auction and brought her back here to work the farm. She was already pregnant at the time so she's still a little skittish, but she has learned to trust me."

Jongho walked forward and held out his hand. The mare extended her neck and scented him, then nickered gently. He rubbed her neck a few times while Sunny came forward to see what he was doing.

After a moment, he turned and put the halter on her. She snorted, clearly unhappy with the thing around her face, and tried to pull away. But when her mom didn't panic, she calmed down a little. "That's a good girl. Let's get you outside to run around." Jongho rubbed her neck too and Wooyoung smiled at the way her short, fluffy tail flopped back and forth.

"They are both beautiful. And she looks just like her mom." Wooyoung said as he opened the stall door and stepped back. Jongho walked out first, leading Sunny, and Fleetfoot followed close behind.

The older gulped when he realized just how big the mare was. He had never been around a horse before, so he didn't quite know what to expect.

He was impressed that the mare followed behind Jongho without the need of a harness, although he suspected that had more to do with the fact that Jongho had her baby more than anything else.

When the trio was a good distance away, Wooyoung followed behind them. He saw the mare turn her head slightly to watch him.

Just outside the barn was another gate that was the entrance to a large pasture. Jongho opened it and let it swing wide so the horses and room to walk through. Fleetfoot hurried forward and shook her head as she stretched her legs.

Sunny let out a high whinny and tried to pull away form Jongho. "Hang on, hang on! Let me get this off you silly!" He chuckled as he unclipped the rope from her halter. She bolted and ran to her mom's side.

Wooyoung stood on the fence and watched them run around for a long moment while Jongho closed the gate and came to stand next to him.

"They are amazing. I've never been around horses before." Wooyoung said, glancing in his direction and blushing when he saw Jongho watching him.

"You did well. Most people aren't that respectful their first time, especially with a baby."

"Well you said you rescued her, so I figured she has a rough past. And if she only trusts you, then there's no way she'd let me near her foal." Wooyoung turned back to watch them wander around. He knew enough about trust and having a difficult past to respect boundaries.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Jongho said.

Wooyoung turned back to him and saw an adorable half smile on his face that made his eyes sparkle.

The farmer pulled him down from the fence and rubbed his lips together. "Listen, Woo, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about, but I haven't been able to find the words to say it or really express how I feel because I'm not good at doing that." He said, started to speak a little faster as he went.

Feeling his heart pounding against his chest, Wooyoung watched as he fidgeted with his hands and stared at the ground.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is... I like you, Woo. A lot more than I've like anyone else. And..." Jongho reached forward and took his hand. His thumb drifted back and forth slowly. "I want to get to know you more."

"I want that too." Wooyoung said before he even took the chance to think. Because he did. He loved every second he had spent with the farmer.

"Really?" Jongho's face lit up as he stepped closer. "I know this is sudden and all that, but..."

Wooyoung thought the way Jongho was trying to find his words very endearing and he squeezed Jongho's hand. "It's not." He whispered.

Now it was Jongho's turn to blush and he chewed on his lip. "Ok."

"So, what's next?" Wooyoung asked.

"I say lunch." Jongho pulled Wooyoung behind him, never letting go of his hand, as they made their way to the main house.