after school on friday, hongjoong felt extremely exhausted. he had a very long day filled with loud classmates and difficult tests giving him a headache. as soon as he got home, hongjoong decided he needed to take a nap.

hongjoong quickly changed from his school outfit to an oversized pink crewneck, a new pair of boxers, and a fresh pair of fuzzy socks. he also decided to cuddle mihi while napping, since the pink flamingo plush matched his crewneck.

he jumped under the covers, thrilled to finally get some rest. after a bit of tossing and turning, the small boy finally feel asleep.

much to his dismay, hongjoong's slumber got rudely interrupted by a ruckus coming from downstairs. he began stirring in his sleep and eventually opened his eyes, groaning out loud.

"ugh, what's all that noise?" hongjoong said to himself as he sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "jongie must be watching another one of those weird reality tv shows." he muttered as he threw the covers off his body and hopped out of bed.

hongjoong took mihi and began walking out of his room, heading towards the noise. the boy dragged his half asleep body down the stairs, not even bothering to fully open his eyes.

"jongie, is that you? what's all the noise?" he whined, facing the living room.

"um, can you let your brother know he has no pants on?" hongjoong heard an unfamiliar voice chuckle, forcing his eyes open immediately .

when hongjoong looked at the crowd in front of him, he was horrified with what he saw. not only was jongho in the room, but so were his friends... including seonghwa.

"oh-- um, i-i'm sorry j-jongie, i didn't know you had friends over." hongjoong nervously admitted, pulling down his crewneck a bit to make sure he wasn't exposing himself.

jongho quickly got up and covered the boy's body. "it's ok, hongjoong. you can't see your boxers, the crewneck covers you. besides, it's only san, mingi, yunho, and seonghwa."

yeah... only seonghwa, hongjoong thought to himself.

"still, i'm sorry. if you told me they were coming i would've gotten dressed." hongjoong covered his face as jongho tried to fix his messy hair a bit.

"i'm sorry." was all jongho replied to the younger before he walked over to the couch and sat back down in his seat.

"i'm gonna head to the bathroom, be right back." seonghwa sat up as he walked through the kitchen, heading towards the bathroom. hongjoong was slightly relieved when the older left, finally feeling like he could breath again.

"so kid, do you always carry around little pink toys wherever you go?" san chuckled a bit as he spoke to hongjoong.

hongjoong pulled the flamingo to his side in a protective manner. "i like plushies a lot, and sometimes i like to carry them around the house. i also just woke up, so i was sleeping with her."

"her? it's a fucking to--"

"i think she's beautiful, hongjoong." yunho quickly interrupted san, afraid that what he was about to say would hurt hongjoong in any way.

"thank you. my mommy surprised me with her. i think she's beautiful too." hongjoong smiled at yunho's compliment, pulling mihi in closer to his chest.

"well, your mommy must really love you." yunho replied back, making san scoff at how soft he was acting.

"she does. i'm gonna go get some strawberries from the kitchen, bye bye!" hongjoong waved to jongho's friends, receiving waves from everyone but san who continued to stare at the television in front of him.

hongjoong waddled his way towards the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. he took out the container of strawberries and smiled widely, super excited to eat the tart fruit. he brought the container to the table and sat down, plopping mihi right next to his strawberries. not even bothering to grab a plate, hongjoong started to eat the fruits straight from the container.

he was humming to himself and doing a small happy dance after every bite, eating slowly to savor the taste a bit longer on his tongue. he even decided to share his snack with his plushie, mihi, not wanting to leave her out from the incredible flavor.

"mihi, do you want some strawberries?" he asked the doll.

"yes, of course joongie!" he answered back in his high pitched female voice, pretending to give mihi a bite.

"how do you like the taste, mihi?" hongjoong questioned.

"they're delicious!" he replied back, giggling to himself as he took another bite.

since his snack kept him distracted, he didn't notice seonghwa exit the bathroom, which was only a few feet away from the kitchen table. the older boy walked over and took a seat across from hongjoong, startling him when he heard the squeak of the chair's legs against the kitchen floor.

"so, you really do love strawberries, don't you?" seonghwa smirked, making hongjoong's heart do a flip at how beautiful his smile was.

"um... y-yeah, i do." he stuttered out.

"stuttering again, i see." seonghwa chuckled to himself, looking up from his lap and into hongjoong's eyes.

"sorry, you just surprised me." hongjoong defended himself.

"yeah yeah, more excuses. just keep them coming, little kim." seonghwa sat up and walked towards hongjoong, making the younger hold his breath.

seonghwa ruffled hongjoong's hair a bit before running his fingers through the messy bleached locks. hongjoong began blushing a dark shade of pink, hiding his cheeks with his hands. "seonghwa, what are you doing?"

"you have god awful bedhead, sorry for helping you out." seonghwa chuckled before removing his hand from hongjoong's head, "i better head back to my friends though, enjoy your strawberries." he smirked before walking out of the room, leaving hongjoong completely flustered.

as seonghwa entered the living room, he noticed san giving him a knowing look. seonghwa just rolled his eyes and shook his head, knowing exactly what the younger was going to say to him.

"got a new boy toy, hwa?" san laughed as seonghwa took a seat, the older flipping san off.

"hell no, i just like making him flustered. i learned i have that effect on hongjoong last time i babysat him, so it's fun messing with him." seonghwa shrugged and jongho turned towards him, hearing every single one of seonghwa's words.

"you know, that's still my baby brother you're talking about. don't hurt him or i'll hurt you, and you know i can kick your ass if i really wanted to." jongho replied and yunho smiled widely.

"jongho finally defending his blood? we love character development!" he clapped his hands and mingi began clapping with him, laughing a bit at yunho's sassy remark.

"shut up, you're both annoying." jongho rolled his eyes as he turned his head and continued watching the jersey shore.

"don't worry, ho. it won't go that far. he still annoys me." seonghwa reassured jongho.

"well, since you suddenly love making him flustered... how is watching him tomorrow afternoon?" jongho asked and seonghwa rolled his eyes.

"bro, we literally have a party at san's tomorrow." seonghwa reminded his friend 

"that's why i said tomorrow afternoon," he emphasized 'afternoon', "i'm taking ryujin to some movie she wants to see before the party, so i need someone to watch him."

seonghwa huffed out, "fine, i'll watch the freak." he said as he crossed his arms.

"thanks man, more money coming your way!" jongho playfully punched seonghwa's arm as he turned back towards the tv, ignoring how obviously annoyed the older was.

this chapter really made me soft ngl 🥺

also, seonghwa's asmr... reminds me oddly of a future chapter i wrote a while back. seonghwa, are you reading this book or are you reading my mind??? i'm honored, hi king!!! 👑

and i just went back and commented back to some of y'all in this chapter and STOP SAYING HWA HAD A BONER THE POOR BOY JUST HAD TO PISS.

-vic