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ever since hongjoong's incident at the store, seonghwa has been keeping a close eye on the younger and how he behaves.
there are some times where the two will sit and work it out. however, for the younger, sitting and talking was proven a little difficult, so seonghwa one day went to the store for paper and crayons and explained that if he's really having a difficult time, he can draw a picture of how he feels.
seonghwa remembers when he took hongjoong to see a therapist, how the doctor let him do the same thing and draw a picture- which, he still proudly displays on the fridge.
but there are also some instances where hongjoong will just burst into tears and cling to seonghwa with a death grip. the smallest things would make him mewl as if he's in pain. if he's building a tower and it falls, if he's painting and he accidentally drops the brush, or simply if he trips over his own feet and falls.
but overall, seonghwa is back at square one as to why the kitten has been more emotional than usual. when he's at home, he's fine. he'll sometimes glue himself to the older but seonghwa doesn't think too much of it.
its when he's going to school that hongjoong will visibly shake and cry his lungs out. he'll refuse to even leave seonghwa's side to the point where he'll just have to call out of work and stay home with him.
even if he did bring him to school and drop him off in his classroom, seonghwa doesn't have the heart to leave his poor baby visibly distressed.
but he can't stay home forever, seonghwa is going to find out what's wrong, no matter what. he can't watch his baby suffer like this.
seonghwa has stayed up late too many nights, making sure the kitten is fast asleep, only for him to sneak downstairs as his dam breaks. he'll sit on the floor for god knows how many hours and just let it all out. it really pains him to see hongjoong go through this.
but after a while, he picks himself up and washes his face. he can't sit here and cry- although it's nice to let it out- he needs to know what's making hongjoong act like this.
-
"hey, baby, it's time to wake up, my sunshine" seonghwa cards his fingers through the younger's hair, placing a few kisses to his forehead.
said kitten opens his eyes slowly, not even a second later tears well up in his eyes. seonghwa's chest begins to tighten.
"hey buttercup, no tears, you're going to be alright. I'm right here by your side" hongjoong sits up, immediately wrapping his arms around the older in a tight grip.
"w-wan'...wan' my hwa..."
seonghwa holds him closer, kissing the top of his head. "baby, I am here with you. hwa is always going to be here. nobody is taking you away from me or me from you. I promise."
"now," seonghwa adds, standing up from the bed "we do have to go to school today, but...your hyungies are going to pick you up earlier than usual."
he carries the kitten to the bathroom, placing him on the counter as he cups his face in his hands. "I know you can do this. I'm so proud of you for trying and making it to where you are now, baby."
hongjoong's eyes slowly tear up again as he looks up at the older. "you are hwa's strong boy, you can do this, my love."
the pair sit in silence for a moment, the sound of faint sniffles occupying the quiet room. the older holds the kitten closer to him.
-
"come on, woo!" san shouts from the staircase "we gotta go, we promised hwa we'd pick up joong early today."
not a minute to spare the younger cascades down the staircase, grumbling to himself as he trudges along his backpack "we're gonna be there until late at night, I had to pack some stuff for us."
san only rolls his eyes, focusing just at enough time when wooyoung tossed him his jacket
"I hope this'll cheer him up, we haven't see him in a while." san voices his concern as he pulls the jacket on, searching under and over papers on the kitchen counter for his keys.
"I hope so, too" wooyoung agrees "sang told me about what happened when him and jongho went out with him..."
san looks up to meet his boyfriend's eyes, the couple sharing a knowing look. no words need to be said as they both know what the other is thinking. san claims it's because it's a lover's telepathy; woo says it's just cause they've known each other for a long time.
san continues to search through the papers on the counter, growing warm with frustration.
"have you seen my-"
he looks up at the sound of keys jingling, wooyoung spinning it around his finger through one of the keychains.
san reaches to grab it, a sheepish look on his face. wooyoung just smirks throughout the whole ordeal.
"let's go get joong~"
-
hongjoong sits quietly in the library area, blanket gripped tightly in his small hands. he doesn't feel like being interactive today- yet again- so he opts to go to his favorite spot in the classroom.
the library area is his favorite mainly because there's a big window, sun shining in the classroom. the warmth makes hongjoong feel momentarily better. he even helps his teachers organize the books; sometimes she'll even go to the bookstore and buy books for the classroom, but she'll let joong have the first read.
one thing he's extra careful with is books. his hwa's love and interest for books also sparked a new hobby for the younger.
he had a hard time when hwa dropped him off, he began to feel bad himself when he saw his hwa had tears in his eyes. hwa told him he was his strong boy, so in that second he wiped his own tears and hwa's tears and hesitantly walked into the classroom.
because the last thing he would ever want to do is make seonghwa cry.
so this morning was a little rough, hongjoong hasn't been in school in a few days, so it's somewhat hard for him to fall back in routine. but the minute his teacher announces they can go outside, hongjoong tried his best to neatly fold away his blanket and be the first to sit nicely, waiting his turn.
-
"hey joong! do you wanna play with me?!" hongjoong looked over to see his friend, jones, standing near him. one thing that hasn't changed is how his friend treats him.
jones however doesn't understand why hongjoong hasn't been at school in a while, but his parents raised him to always be patient with people because you never know what they're going through.
so when hongjoong gently declines his offer, he smiles and gives him a big hug. "I'll be here whenever you're ready to play!"
hongjoong sits by the grassy area, next to a patch of wildflowers. he smiles thinking of how nice jones is to him; sometimes even reminding him of his hwa talks to him.
speaking of hwa, he remembers him saying that his hyungs were going to come pick him up early. so, with the combination of the warm sun and the promise of leaving early, hongjoong feels pretty good right now.
the younger still feels a little bit of sadness being away from hwa, but to cheer himself up, he's decided to pick some of the wildflowers. he chose the prettiest ones for his hwa, but had to restrain himself from taking all of them.
now he sits with a small smile on his face, making sure his flowers are safe and in good condition for when he gets picked up. if someone kicks a ball over, he'll guard it with his other arm as he brings it closer to his chest.
but his happy moment was short lived. hongjoong suddenly feels a shadow looming over him, the shade becoming cold. hongjoong curls in on himself, protecting the flowers in his arms.
"well, well, well, look who finally decided to come back to school" there were two hybrids, ones he hasn't seen before; two bear hybrids.
hongjoong immediately felt tears pooling in his eyes. "p'ease...go 'way..."
the bear with brown ears sat next to hongjoong on the grass, wrapping his arm around his shoulder. hongjoong winced at the way his arm was gripped around him. the fur on his tail was beginning to spike.
"but we missed you! your mommy hasn't brought you to school, why is that?" the bear placed a hand over his chest, feigning innocence. "could it be...that you don't want to see us?"
hongjoong just wants to scream at them to leave him alone. all they do is bother him and make fun of him and call him mean names. if he could, he would have told them. but just looking at their faces, their cold expressions, makes him shiver in fear.
he tries to pry the arm off his shoulder. "what's wrong, hongjoong? you don't wanna talk to us?" the other hybrid, with black bear ears, teased hongjoong didn't answer back, he managed to squirm out of their hold.
he knew these hybrids were from another class, but he doesn't understand why they keep bothering him. hongjoong always keeps to himself, isn't mean to anyone.
just as he goes to walk away, one of the hybrids grab him by the shirt, pulling him back.
"Did we say you can leave?"
hongjoong felt his heart drop, their voices somehow making alarms go off in his head. he remembers that's the same voice they used last time he talked to him;
"You're a freak"
"You're a loser"
"Nobody likes you"
"Awe, are you crying for your mommy?"
"That's why you got adopted, your own mom didn't even want you"
with tears blurring his vision, hongjoong did his best to look around to see if anyone was noticing what these other hybrids were doing to him. but alas, they were in an area that couldn't be seen very well.
he pushed them away with as much of his strength as he could, but the other hybrid once again held him by the collar of his shirt.
"p-p'ease...jus' go 'way..." hongjoong muttered, voice growing wet. he clutched the flowers in his hand so tightly, his heart broke when he looked down and some of them were crushed. but he still wasn't letting go.
before hongjoong could process what was happening, he felt himself being shoved to the ground rather harshly. he didn't have time to focus on the pain, something wet landed on his arm not a moment to spare.
the younger looked up and saw the hybrids laughing amongst themselves, one of them wiping their mouths.
only one thought came to mind; did they just spit on me?
if he didn't feel scared before, he definitely sure does now. his tail is spiked and his cat ears are pressed down. hongjoong feels threatened near these guys. all he wants to do is go home to see his hwa.
this is why he was scared coming to school. he's not sure when- or even, why- this started. one day these hybrids came up to him and just started picking on him.
it started small- knocking stuff out of his hand, sticking their foot out to trip him, bumping into him on purpose.
hongjoong didn't think anything of it, 'maybe their just clumsy' he thinks 'yunnie hyung is clumsy, too'
but when the deliberate pushing began, hongjoong had a sense that they were doing this to be mean. he hates to admit it, but before hwa entered his life, his mother used to push him around like he was just an object always in the way.
but this is the first time that they spit on him. it made the kitten feel- well, embarrassed. that made him think that maybe he is just like garbage. it definitely took a blow to his self-esteem.
he kept yelling at them to stop, but he knew his pleas were falling on deaf ears. he just wants his hwa, he doesn't want to be here anymore.
he misses his hwa, how comforting just his presence alone is to him. how warm and safe he utterly feels when he holds him. just the thought of hwa makes his eyes begin to tear up; this time loud mewls echo in the enclosed area and before anyone can react, heavy footsteps approach them.
-
this is the first time wooyoung and san have been to hongjoong's daycare. they are both impressed with how many hybrids they see- just automatically assuming seonghwa had to fight tooth and nail to let hongjoong come to the school.
san leads the way, directing them in the path of the front office. he explains that they are here to pick up hongjoong early- with permission from his legal guardian and a proof of I.D- and are directed to where his classroom is.
once walking in, they both gasp. this classroom is huge! everything is neatly organized with a bunch of the students artwork displayed.
"it's like a maze in here" san gasps, almost stumbling as he spins around looking in every direction.
"I'm gonna go grab his stuff...seonghwa said if they aren't in the class then they're outside, c'mon." wooyoung finds hongjoong's cubby and grabs jacket and backpack.
wooyoung has to practically drag san by the arm when he sees him about to grab one of the books to look through them. "it's so colorful and bright, I just have to know what's in it!" san whines, being pulled out of the room.
when they walk towards the playground, san begins to look around for the familiar pair of white cat ears.
"I don't see hi-"
"oh my g- , san!" wooyoung shoves the kitten's belongings into the older's arms, not even looking back to see if he caught it. wooyoung has never ran this fast in his entire life.
his breath was staggering but the adrenaline was pumping through his body. the moment he slowed down, his heart dropped to the floor.
he saw a bunch of people crowding by a few bushes. now he knew he didn't know any of these students, but he did remember seonghwa talking about hongjoong's friend who was a fox hybrid. maybe he can tell him what happened.
he took a quick scan to look for any other fox hybrids. when he saw the only one near him, he gently approached him.
"where is hongjoong?"
the fox shakily pointed near the bush, eyes beginning to tear up. wooyoung suddenly got a bad feeling in his stomach, footsteps growing heavier as he made his way over to the bush.
"oh my god...hongjoong"
the said kitten is seen visibly shaking with his knees up to his chest. he's trying to hide himself further in the bushes when he hears people approaching, but looks up at the familiar voice.
it breaks wooyoung's heart to see the way hongjoong makes grabby hands at him, mumbled attempts of his name is faintly heard.
"hongjoongie, it's okay. woo and sannie are here, baby" wooyoung goes to pick him up, holding him protectively in his arms.
"hwa..." he hears the kitten blubber out. he's frantically searching for said person, but begins to grow anxious when they aren't in sight. his hands grow clammy as he shakily places a thumb past his lips.
"hey, you got me a little worried th- joongie, what happened, lovebug? are you alright?" hongjoong hides his face in the crook of wooyoung's neck.
he's happy that his san and woo hyungie are here to rescue him- but at the same time, the person that he desperately needs is no where in sight.
the kitten's tail begins to spike, ears pressed flat in fear. he feels himself being placed in san's arms. not⁷ even a second later, he hears wooyoung's voice become higher and louder. san slowly walked away as he covered the kitten's ears.
"it's okay, joongie, sannie and woo are here" he holds him protectively in his arms. hongjoong slowly lifted his head up to look at his hyung.
it hurt san to see the younger visibly shaking, his eyes were red and puffy. his cheeks stained with tears and the smallest residue of spit. "I...I wan' my hwa"
the way he spoke even sounded painful, almost defeated. how long were these students bullying hongjoong? and more importantly, why was nobody around to stop it?
san presses a kiss to his temple "we're going home now baby, we'll tell your hwa to come home early."
"-alright...let's go. g-give me your keys, I'll drive" wooyoung's voice approached. he looked as if he ran a marathon with the way he was catching his breath and face was red.
he's glad he brought the kitten away from his hyung when he stormed inside the building to the front office. wooyoung definitely doesn't have a filter when he's mad.
san shook his head on instinct. "you look like you need to catch your breath...what did you even say to them?"
"I told them that me going in there was nothing...wait until his guardian hears about this."
nothing was said after. the sound of the gravel crunching under their shoes was the only sound to fill their ears as they made their way towards the car.
-
when seonghwa entered the house, immediately the sound of hongjoong's wails hit him. he threw his belongings onto the floor as his footsteps grew faster towards the sound.
the last time he felt this much anger was definitely when hongjoong's birth mother visited. and now he has to hear from his friends that hongjoong is being bullied at school? his hongjoong?
the one that wouldn't even hurt a fly and gets excited whenever he sees other kittens? he definitely felt like storming down to his school and go off on everyone. why was no one watching them? how long has this been going on?
he's feeling his skin grow warm, clenching his fists as he's totally prepared to drive to the school right now. he's about to turn around to grab his keys, but hearing hongjoong's whimpers grow louder brings him back to reality.
seonghwa knows he needs to comfort his baby first. taking a deep breath, he enters the living room; his feet moving on their own accord.
"look joong, look who's home early~" woo gently coos in hongjoong's ear. his voice was so gentle that seonghwa barely heard what he said. with the state he finds the kitten in, he's appreciative of the gentleness.
his poor hongjoong- who appears to be wrapped in a few of seonghwa's sweaters and jackets. he's nuzzling against one of the older's shirts, muffled mewls fill the air.
the older knew hongjoong needed his scent to help him soothe his nerves, but when he sees multiples of his clothing items, seonghwa knows he must have been really shaken up. his crying turns into munching noises as he's gnawing on his pacifier, trying to keep it in his mouth in a desperate manner.
"oh, baby. my sweet baby boy, come here" hongjoong's eyes begin to water. his pacifier drops past his lips as he digs himself out of the makeshift cocoon of seonghwa's clothing, leaping into the older's awaited arms.
he holds him closer to his chest for the comfort he's been seeking since this morning. his body uncontrollably begins to shake as more sobs are let out.
all seonghwa can do is hold him tight, patting his bottom in reassurance. "I know, baby...let it all out. it's okay to cry, just let it all out" he presses a soft kiss onto his forehead "your hwa is here now, I'm going to help you"
the older just let's hongjoong cry onto his shoulder. his shirt is bunched is his shaky hands. he's afraid that hwa will leave him again. the younger mewls in pain as he buries himself into his neck. he feels slight nipping at his neck again, knowing it's just the kitten trying to suck on the skin.
"do you want us to leave? we can give him some privacy if he needs it" san's voice seemed hesitant, almost like he was afraid to ruin the moment.
"no, stay" seonghwa replies, no hesitation heard in his voice. "I need to go down and figure out what the hell happened. would you guys mind staying here with him? he's going to panic when I leave, but right now I need him to be around people I trust"
the pair nod their heads simultaneously, both wondering what must be going through the elder's mind. they try to process if they were in seonghwa's shoes. finding out that your hybrid is being bullied in school? a place that's supposed to be safe for them to learn and play?
seonghwa kisses hongjoong's temple, letting his lips stay pressed there a little longer. he feels like he let the younger down. that first night he found him and brought him home, he made a promise that he would protect hongjoong no matter what happens.
now his poor baby clings onto him in fear because he's getting bullied at school; now piecing together the reason why hongjoong hasn't been acting like himself lately and is more emotional than usual.
he carries the kitten into the kitchen for a bit of privacy. his poor baby has his cat ears pressed down, his tail is spiked for he's still a little shaky.
"I'm sorry hwa couldn't protect you, my sweetheart, but hwa is going to figure out what happened so this never happens again." he gently releases the younger's arms around his waist.
but hongjoong whimpers, his eyebrows furrowing. he feels an ugly feeling in his chest start to bubble and before he realizes it, he's raising his voice.
"NO!" the younger surprisingly raises his voice "no hwa y'eave!" his hands are shaking uncontrollably. seonghwa desperately wants to comfort him, but he knows this has been building inside of hongjoong long enough.
"ba' s'uff happen when hwa y'eave! ... w-why mea' to me? I goo' boy...I hwa 'aby...no ba' boy, I goo' boy. I ni'e to f'yien'...why mea' to me, hwa? b'year mea' li'e...li'e mommy! no wan' mommy anymore! wan' h-hwa!"
seonghwa steps back a little at the confession. this is the first time hongjoong has ever raised his voice, let alone expresses his anger- which he sometimes struggles to express. he could tell this was what he was holding inside. and just like a popped balloon, he bursted.
hongjoong buries his head in his hands, shoulders shaking not a moment later. seonghwa doesn't waste another second, he rushes over and wraps his arms around his baby. he rocks him side to side. he also doesn't comment on how hongjoong tries to nip and suck on the skin of his neck for comfort.
"park hongjoong, don't ever think like that...I don't want you to be scared if you're not near me. those kids that did this to you, hwa is going to make sure they never bother you again...I promise, hongjoong." he lifts him off the counter and walks back into the living room.
"your woo and sannie hyung are going to stay with you, hwa needs to make sure this never happens again."
he looks up at his hwa, teary eyes pleading for him to stay. seonghwa hands him his blanket and pacifier. "it's okay to cry, baby. your feelings matter and if you want to cry, then you can. or if you want to scream and yell, then you can...I'll be back, baby, I won't be too long."
he places one last kiss on the top of his head. his heart breaks possibly even more when he sees tears pooling in the youngers eyes. he's clinging onto his blanket with his pacifier in his mouth.
"do whatever you think is necessary to keep him calm, if he starts to throw a fit, let him get it all out." he explains to the couple, already set on grabbing his keys.
"hwa?"
he turns around, hand still on the doorknob. hongjoong looks at him with tears in his eyes. the blanket is smushed against his face, soaking any tears that fall.
"hwa is coming back, baby. I promise"
-
"mr. park, pleas-"
"absolutely not! I won't calm down for the umpteenth time! you're telling me that my child has been the target of another student for weeks, and nobody fucking saw anything?!"
seonghwa is furious- scratch that, he's utterly pissed off. he tried to take some deep breaths on the drive here, and it somewhat worked. but the minute he stepped foot into the front office, he felt that second calmness disintegrate.
one of the secretary's had to close the door; seonghwa definitely had a bright and explicit vocabulary.
a few of the secretary's looked at him bewildered- never have they seen mr. park like this before, he's always so warm and friendly, and definitely had that nurturing presence. to see him like this- unfiltered and uncensored- it kind of them feel nervous.
seonghwa requested to have a meeting with the teacher, surely she must have seen something or noticed a change in behavior.
so that's where he finds himself, in hongjoong's classroom with his teacher. he makes a small note of how weird it feels to be here during the night.
"ah, mr. park, thank you for waiting." his teacher entered the room, closing the door right away. she goes to sit in her chair at her desk, seonghwa opts to stand. the chairs in the room are too small for him.
"we need to discuss what has been going on with hongjoong. I haven't gotten a lot of details but hongjoong himself has told me that there's other students who are mean to him...bear hybrids?"
she sighs, removing her glasses. "yes...in another classroom, there are some bear hybrids. their class has the same outside schedule as ours. during our outside time, hongjoong likes to spend time by himself near our flower patch. it's visible from where we stand, unless at the time one of the supervisors turned momentarily and that's when it started occurring."
seonghwa tried to hide his annoyed expression. he knows how from day one, his teacher has been nothing but sweet and understanding to hongjoong, so it could possibly be the reason.
but no one lays a hand on his baby.
"but this student spit on my child! I don't know how no one saw or didn't hear the commotion! when hongjoong gets hurt, you know how loud his cries can be; I'm pretty sure you've heard it at least once"
"mr. park, on my behalf, I do apologize. you know I absolutely adore hongjoong and treat him as of he's one of my own." she smiles softly at what she said. "I will be talking to the other child's mother as well as our director. you can rest assured when I say this definitely will not happen again."
seonghwa didn't stay too long as he knew he needed to be home with hongjoong. he did mention that he will he keeping him home for a personal day on monday.
his teacher lightly begins to discuss how hongjoong is doing otherwise to lighten the overly present tension.
-
as he pulled the car in the driveway, he sat for a moment in silence to reflect on today's events.
It's been 2 years since he's first had hongjoong in his care. he remembers the moments where hongjoong was still a shy and skittish kitten, even in front of seonghwa.
when he got attached, he was afraid of even letting seonghwa go in another room without him. seonghwa is the first consistent and familiar thing that's entered his life, he never wants to let him go.
he also remembers the small moments of bottle feeding him from teaching him how to properly using the bathroom. the first time the kitten said his name, he felt tears form in his eyes.
over time, hongjoong grew out of his shell, that he even attends daycare now and has made friends. but seonghwa really thinks it clicked for hongjoong that he was always going to be with seonghwa was when he was officially adopted by him.
hongjoong couldn't stop smiling and crying tears of joy, he finally got his wish of finding his own family who loves him.
he will always be grateful for the kitten entering his life so abruptly, he's changed it for the better. he feels as if this was fate for the two of them to be in each other's lives.
he exits the car with a pep in his step. he's not sure how hongjoong will be, but he's not worried. he just wants to be with his baby after a long day.
when he opens the door, the sound of the t.v playing fills the rest of the quiet house. he takes his shoes off, pushing them to the side and goes to hang up his jacket.
before entering the living room, he leans against the door frame watching for a while. he sees hongjoong, freshly bathed into his favorite set of pajamas- fresh water drops clinging onto his wet cat tears.
he's wrapped in his blanket and pacifier securely nudged in his mouth. the coffee table is littered with crayons and ripped coloring pages. a half empty bottle of milk sits near the edge.
he's wrapped in his blanket and he buries himself into the couch cushion. he recognizes one of his hoodies in hongjoong's grip as he desperately tries to sniff at it for comfort.
his body jolts with the occasional sniffle, his ears pressed down. the older walks into the living room more, hearing a small mewl when hongjoong makes eye contact with him.
"hey, baby~" seonghwa's voice is gentle on the ears. hongjoong holds the hoodie tighter in his grip and he makes grabby hands with his free arm.
seonghwa holds him with a death grip as he occupies the same spot the kitten was in. said kitten lets out mewls that definitely hurt their hearts to hear.
he lets hongjoong bury himself in his neck, sniffing desperately for comfort. "how was he while I was gone?"
wooyoung helps to gather the coloring pages and crayons into their designated basket. "he was good, a little on the quiet side though. we offered multiple things for him to do to keep him busy, but he chose to stand post by the couch and wait for you to come home."
seonghwa coos, pressing multiple kisses all over his face- on his cheeks, eyelids, nose, anywhere he can reach. "I promised I was coming back, I'm always going to come back, my sweet boy."
hongjoong remained pliant in his arms, not so keen on using words right now. he lowered his head onto seonghwa's shoulder, pacifier held tightly between his teeth.
the younger watches with tired eyes as his hyung and hwa talk. he's not close to paying attention, sleep is slowly gracing him. he looks between the three people in front of him for a while, not really focusing on what they're discussing.
but minutes pass by and hongjoong grows a little anxious. he tugs on hwa's shirt, small whines escapes from the pacifier. he's definitely feeling sleepy now, head lolling to the side more than usual.
he wouldn't mind letting sleep take over and closing his eyes, but he feels a little on edge. hongjoong knows his hyungs mean well and always have the best intentions, but right now he just wants to be alone with his hwa- especially after the day he's had.
his hyungs eventually depart from being with the kitten all day, watching with half closed lids as they say goodbye and head back to their home.
"you're alright my honeybear. let's go get you ready for bed, okay?"
"hwa..."
"yes, joong?"
"I-i....y'ove you....y'ove my hwa" he hides in embarrassment in the palm of his hands. seonghwa slowly lowers his hands for a moment.
"hongjoong, I love you, forever and always." the kitten looks up at the older, eyes twinkling like stars in the night sky.
"joongie, my love" seonghwa starts, holding his free hand "I know today was kind of...difficult, but hwa will always be here to protect you and help you when you need it. you are so very important to me and hwa loves you so so much."
the poor kitten starts whimpering when he sees tears begin to flow past seonghwa's cheeks. "I love you so much and whatever you go through in life, hwa will be here to guide you and keep you safe."
the pair share a silent moment before hongjoong nuzzles against his neck, his new habit is to suck and nip at the older's neck for comfort.
faint purrs echo in the quiet bedroom, through the quiet house. "you're my son, hongjoong. and seonghwa will be always love and protect you. I love you so much."
-
and if a few days later, seonghwa goes back to the same store to let hongjoong pick out that cat plush toy, he doesn't say anything but feel his heart swell with warmth when hongjoong holds the toy closer with tears in his eyes as he's smiling so bright it's almost blinding.