"mom, you have to get hongjoong out of his room. seonghwa is going to be here at seven thirty and it's already five past seven, if joongie doesn't leave soon our whole plan will be ruined!" jongho exclaimed for the tenth time that night, running up to his mom who was stressing by herself in the living room.

"jongho, you don't think i know that already? i've tried and tried and tried, but he just doesn't want to go out tonight! he's been crying for the past hour, he's really just not in the mood to see his friends." she said as he pulled at her hair. jongho sighed out loud and looked around the room aimlessly, trying to come up with a good enough excuse to get hongjoong out of the house.

"why don't you bribe him or something? tell him you'll get him a new toy or something?" jongho suggested and his mother perked up at the idea.

"that's actually not half bad, he might say yes to that. come with me, maybe he'll feel more obligated to go if you tell him it's a good idea." ms. kim waved her son on and they both made their way up the stairs, walking straight over to hongjoong's room once they got there.

once they reached hongjoong's bedroom door, they could already hear the loud sobs coming from the other side. both of their hearts broke at the sound of the young boy hurting so bad. jongho was the first to make a move, knocking lightly on the door to not startle hongjoong.

hongjoong heard the knock and immediately stopped crying, lifting his head out of his hands and looking over to the bedroom door. he quickly wiped his eyes and took a deep breath, standing up from his bed and opening the door for whoever was on the other side.

"what do you guys want?" hongjoong asked, sounding a bit irritated when his mother and brother greeted him with a wave.

"is it ok if we come in?" jongho asked kindly. hongjoong originally hesitated, but eventually moved to the side and allowed his family members to enter his bedroom. both jongho and his mother took a seat on hongjoong's bed as hongjoong closed his bedroom door shut, walking over and sitting in between the two of them on the bed.

"so, wooyoungie texted me again and asked if you could please go over to his house. him and yeosang are already there, waiting for your arrival. they want to have a special plushie playdate." ms. kim said, slightly lying as she spoke. she hadn't gotten another text from wooyoung, but the part about the special plushie playdate wasn't a lie.

"i know, and i miss them, but i don't know. my heart is hurting." hongjoong mumbled as he held onto his chest.

"babe, i know you're hurting. trust me, i've dealt with heartbreak many times. but what you're doing right now isn't going to make you feel better. ignoring your friends and cowering in your room will only make things worse for you. you have to go out, have some fun, otherwise you'll go insane. come on, if you go i'll buy you a brand new plushie. you can pick whichever toy you want! does that sound like a deal?" jongho asked, speaking from the heart in the beginning of his speech in hopes to help his brother feel better. hongjoong's eyes lit up at the sound of a new toy in play.

"and besides, you're going to wooyoung's house. you have to be home by nine thirty anyway because of his bedtime. it's almost seven thirty now, you won't even have to be out that late." hongjoong's mother added on and hongjoong finally gave in.

"ok, fine. only because that means i'll get to spend time with jongie and get a new plushie soon!" hongjoong cheered with a smile on his face, leaning over and giving his brother a big hug. jongho accepted the hug, rubbing circles on his back as he did so.

"perfect. maybe we'll even invite wooyoung and yeosang to go with us, i miss sangie a lot." jongho admitted and hongjoong giggled, his mother cooing at how adorable jongho sounded, "come on hongjoong, let's go now. i'll drive you to wooyoung's." jongho stood up and held a hand out for hongjoong to grab onto which he gladly accepted.

"which plush do you want to bring honey?" hongjoong's mom asked him and hongjoong looked around his room, contemplating which toy to bring.

i could take mihi, but i could also take googie, what about inni--

"how about this one? i don't see you take it too often." jongho picked up a cat he found sitting on hongjoong's dresser top, holding it out for hongjoong to grab onto.

hongjoong's heart immediately dropped when he saw the toy, a frown forming on his face. jongho instantly regretted speaking and quickly went to put the toy down. he didn't completely understand the doll made hongjoong upset, but figured it had to do with seonghwa.

"babe i'm sorr--"

"no, it's ok. i actually don't give yoongles enough love like i promised i would. i'll take him. thank you jongie." hongjoong gave his brother a weak smile, taking the stuffed animal out of his hands and giving the toy a warm hug. the toy brought back memories of the time seonghwa won the cat from the claw machine for him on the day of their first kiss.

jongho smiled at his adorable brother, "ok, perfect. let's go now." hongjoong walked down the stairs by himself and jongho turned to his mother.

"i already know what you're going to say. it's seven twenty now, if you don't leave now you'll run into seonghwa at the front door. take him before he changes his mind!" ms. kim whisper screamed and jongho obeyed her orders, rushing down the stairs and grabbing his keys to take hongjoong to wooyoung's house.

ms. kim made her way down the stairs and sat on the living room couch for a few minutes, watching television to pass time before seonghwa arrived. it didn't take long for seonghwa to show up, the bell ringing through the house two minutes earlier than his expected arrival time. chinsun stood up and walked towards the front door to allow the boy inside her home.

"hello seonghwa." ms. kim greeted the obviously nervous and distraught boy behind the door with a smile.

"hello ms. kim." seonghwa greeted back with a bow, deciding against calling her by her first name due to his mess up.

"come on inside." she waved the boy in the home. seonghwa walked inside, slightly shaking as he handed the woman some flowers.

"these are for you, well and also hongjoong... it's kind of for the whole family." seonghwa handed her the bouquet after she locked the front door, internally praying that she would accept them. thankfully, the woman took the flowers with no issues.

"they're absolutely beautiful seonghwa, thank you." she thanked the boy and led him into the kitchen where she could put them in a vase.

as chinsun was putting water into the vase for the flowers seonghwa had gifted her, seonghwa was nervously tapping his foot on the tile floor. seonghwa knee that before he could apologize to hongjoong, he needed to officially apologize to his mother. he already apologized to jongho and his friends, but his apology to ms. kim made him the most nervous of all.

what if she doesn't accept it? what if she hates me? then there's no point in apologizing to hongjoong, i need his mother's approval to date him... there's no way she'll let me date her son after what i did to him, there's just no way.

"are you ok honey? you look lost in thought." ms. kim waved her hands in front of seonghwa's face, taking him out of his negative state of mind.

"oh, i'm so sorry. i just have a lot on my mind." seonghwa shyly admitted and ms. kim took a seat at the table, inviting the boy to sit along with her.

"so tell me about it. what exactly brings you here?' ms. kim asked, knowing the actual answer but wanting to hear it from seonghwa himself.

"so, uh..." seonghwa started out, "i messed up. I messed up big time, ms. kim. i'm so s-sorry." seonghwa began speaking, having to stop mid speech due to his tears.

"it's ok to cry, seonghwa. speak when you're ready." chinsun said reassuringly, putting a hand out for seonghwa to grab which he immediately accepted.

"i can't believe what i did. i'm an idiot. i messed up something that meant more to me than anything in this world. hongjoong is the most important thing in my entire life, and he hates me. rightfully so, but i miss him. but before i get into that, i need to apologize to you. i'm sorry to you, i'm sorry for hurting your son, i'm sorry for being the person you asked me not to be. i'm so very sorry for it all." seonghwa apologized to the woman as tears fell down his cheeks. hongjoong's mother squeezed the boy's hand, rubbing it with her thumb.

"babe, i accept your apology, but there's no reason to apologize to me. you didn't hurt me, you hurt my baby. you hurt, as you said, the most important thing in your entire life. i just need you to know how badly you hurt hongjoong. i've never seen him so upset in my entire life. he doesn't normally cry, and i think i've seen him cry more in the past week than i've seen him cry in the past five years. i don't say that to hurt you more, but you need to know that what you did was completely wrong, even if i forgive you." she finished explaining and seonghwa nodded his head in agreement.

"yes. i completely understand what you mean, ms. kim." seonghwa replied respectfully.

"i'm glad you understand. but let me ask, why hongjoong? what about him is so special, so important to you that you can't be without him?" ms. kim asked, wanting to know what was running through seonghwa's mind.

seonghwa took a deep breath before speaking. he was nervous to admit this to hongjoong's mother, but he knew it was something he needed to do in order to get the boy he wanted.

"ms kim, i realized the other day that i love hongjoong. i l-love your son, and i've never loved anyone like that in my entire life. i truly, wholeheartedly know that i love k-kim hongjoong." seonghwa shakily admitted, stuttering a bit on some of his words in fear of ms. kim's reaction. thankfully, she smiled widely, forcing a smile to form on seonghwa's own lips.

"seonghwa, you don't understand how happy that makes me. i know deep down that you're a good guy. i'm not even going to ask why you did what you did, because it's honestly none of my business, but i just want you to know that it means so much to me that you genuinely apologized for what you did. if i'm being honest, i think hongjoong might love you too, but i can't tell you that for certain. it has to come from him. and even after everything you did, i somehow can't find it in my heart to hate you." chinsun laughed, trying to make some light of the situation. seonghwa laughed along with her, smiling widely as he did so.

"thank you so much, ms. kim. you really are an angel from above, the best mother in the world. thank you for everything you've ever done for me, and i promise that i'll never hurt hongjoong ever again." seonghwa spoke from the heart, meaning each and every word he said to the woman.

"of course baby, that's what mothers are for. and thank you, i really do believe that you'll stick by your word this time. hongjoong needs you just as much as you need him, you two are perfect for each other. but didn't i tell you a while back to call me chinsun? ms. kim makes me feel old!" chinsun exclaimed as she let go of seonghwa's hand, putting her hand over her heart to pretend she was hurt. seonghwa immediately felt bad, apologizing over and over again for his wrongdoings.

"i'm so sorry, chinsun." seonghwa frowned a bit.

"hun, it's a joke. but seriously, call me chinsun." she smiled kindly as she spoke to the boy in front of her.

"ok, well now i've apologized to my friends, to jongho, and to you... next is hongjoong." seonghwa looked at the woman sheepishly, "how should i do it?"

chinsun put her finger on her chin in thought, thinking of what could possibly win her son over. seonghwa began thinking too, hoping something good would come to either one of their minds.

"how about we make him a cake? you know that he loves my strawberry shortcake, you can help me bake it for him. i know dessert won't solve all the world's problems, but it can make for a great ice breaker." ms. kim suggested and seonghwa's eyes lit up.

"that's a perfect idea! thank you so much for your help. and by the way, you really do make the best strawberry shortcake ever. i had it once with hongjoong and i never got a chance to compliment you for it." seonghwa praised the woman and ms. kim smiled, wiping a fake tear off her cheek from how touched she was.

"wow, you're really a charmer aren't you?" ms. kim asked and seonghwa blushed a light shade of pink.

"i guess i am." seonghwa shrugged his shoulders in response, causing both of them to laugh out loud.

"ok, we have a good hour before i have to pick up hongjoong. let's not waste time, it's baking time!" chinsun cheered out and seonghwa clapped his hands, ready to finally tackle his apology head on.

sorry for the later than usual update, i had trouble falling asleep last night so i was really tired this morning🥱

-vic