cinco
hongjoong bit his nails as he paced around the small kitchen with anxiety bubbling in his chest.
"joong, he's gonna be oka-"
"he is not going to be okay! i can sense it! i sent him to that hellhole just because the teachers had bombarded me with twenty million emails about how he should attend school again! all that for them to just call me now and tell me that he needs to be picked up?" hongjoong abruptly cut off his co-worker san, who was also his close friend.
hongjoong sighed deeply as he pulled out a chair to take a seat. he rubbed his temples and kept his eyes closed shut; he was stressed. he took a deep breath.
san handed him a glass of water which he was really thankful for. he chugged down the water rather quickly.
he blankly stared at the floor, his mind counting all the things he had to do that day.
"i first need to pick him up, then complete these work hours, then go to the hospital for the round check up the new psychiatrist guy suggested for yechan, which is some sort of therapy thing, then i need to drop him off at your place and again go to work."
he despised going to work other than the restaurant. especially at night.
"do you need me to take care of him while you're clocking in your hours?" san offered
"but you're already going to take care of him at night, you know it's not something i can accept unless i give something back to you. it's fine, i'll just take care of him, he's my child anyways,"
san wanted to protest and argue back with the other but decided against it since he was already stressed enough and in a sour mood, he didn't want to add to it. he would probably get eaten up if he did try to argue back.
"can i take your bike?" hongjoong asked after grabbing the keys of the younger's bike.
"of course, is that even a question? go ahead, take it!"
and before he knew it, hongjoong was off to the school, hoping that the rest of the day would be a little better with his little one. he always made his day better, despite it being difficult to raise him, he couldn't imagine life without his son. even if sometimes he wished had been a responsible teenager.
as usual, san greeted yechan at the restaurant with lots of love and hugs. he prepared a special meal he always made whenever he met with yechan.
ignoring all the complaints from hongjoong, he did eventually let san take care of his son while he worked his last three hours at the restaurant. he knew after that he had to rush home to get dressed for the appointment yechan's new psychiatrist had set up for therapy.
yechan had grown a liking to the man since he was one of the only people who could match his crazy energy levels when playing. he loved sitting on san's lap and listening to all his stories from when he was younger, stories about his childhood and what he did when he was yechan's age. he would spend hours on end listening to him and san on the other hand; he loved narrating the stories.
he loved yechan like he was his own son. san met hongjoong at this restaurant when yechan was only a few months old. san always knew that meeting hongjoong was a miracle, he had saved him when he was at the lowest point in his life.
"okay san, im done with my shift. what's the time?" he asked as he wiped his hands on his apron and san rocked a sleepy and tired yechan to sleep in his arms.
"shh, it's almost six. isn't his appointment in half an hour? do you have any spare clothes to change into?"
hongjoong nodded as he pulled out a pair of pants and a t-shirt which he always wore. he quickly scurried to the bathroom and changed into his fresh clothes, spraying a little perfume at the end to seem more presentable at the hospital. he fixed his bright red hair with a comb he brought with him.
he walked out of the restaurant to see san waiting near his bike with his son in his arms.
"you ready?" he asked as he handed sleeping yechan to hongjoong, who immediately clung on to his father like a baby koala.
"yea."
hongjoong carefully sat behind san, holding on to yechan carefully, caressing his head while doing so.
he sighed. he didn't know what to do with his life. everyday felt the same to him, just like how a record player would play the same audio over and over again. he wondered if he would ever get his life back, if he would ever find someone to love again.
sure, he did have san and of course his son yechan, but there were some things he couldn't tell the either of them; some things only a partner would understand.
would anyone ever love someone like him? hongjoong was broke, worked three jobs and was a father to a child who he loved with his whole heart. he did everything in his will to give his son the best childhood, by trying to be both his mom and dad. he sacrificed his happiness and health to see his son happy. he was scared of intimacy, yet he worked a job that included the very thing he was fearful of-- all just to earn money and provide for his son.
these questions always lingered at the back of his mind. he stared blankly into the air, thinking if there was anything left for him in life.
"earth to hongjoong. hello? come back to earth? did you reach heaven already? hello? we're here," san said as he waved his hands and snapped his fingers in front of hongjoong's face, which immediately made him snap out of his thoughts.
"we're here?" he asked questionably as he looked around, seeing the big hospital on his right.
"right, we are, it says in big letters there, apollo children's hospital," san said pointedly
he got off the bike with yechan still sleeping in his arms and thanked his best-- and only friend for dropping him off at the hospital.
once he did, he stepped inside the big hospital. the floors were pristine white as usual and the walls were filled with different drawings of animals.
"uh hello, may i know where dr park seonghwa takes his therapy sessions?" he asked the receptionist awkwardly.
--|--
yechan tiredly rubbed his puffy eyes with his tiny fists as hongjoong fixed his hair right before they went inside the therapy room.
"good evening!" seonghwa greeted with excitement. it was his first therapy session with yechan.
yechan smiled widely as he ran towards seonghwa, straight into his arms. he never usually did that, but the psychiatrist seemed like yechan loved. this made hongjoong smile. he loved seeing his son be comfortable with people.
"good evening doctor," the red head wished as he pulled out a chair and sat down on it, much less dramatically than the last time.
"good evening to you too mr kim!"
the doctor looked a little different today. he was dressed up more casual yet so professional. he wore a simple pink button down, his bangs cascaded over his forehead and as usual, his thin glasses sat perfectly on his sharp nose.
hongjoong patted the seat next to him, indicating yechan to come and sit there, which he did.
"good boy," he praised as he ruffled his son's hair.
the doctor went through yechan's reports first, scanning through each and every page carefully. once he was done, he flashed a smile and returned the reports.
hongjoong was awkward and didn't know what to say. this was always the case and it was one of the main reasons he left therapy when he was a teenager.
"uh, do i need to leave?" hongjoong asked, keeping his eyes on the table instead of seonghwa.
"oh-- we will have to ask yechan that. it's his therapy session after all."
"okay sweetheart, would you like daddy to leave or stay here?" he asked yechan softly as he reached out into his drawer to pull out a candy.
"daddy stay," yechan voiced, holding his father's hand tighter. seonghwa nodded in understanding, smiling at his little patient who smiled back at him.
"alright sweetie, im going to ask you a few questions and once you answer them, you will get this chocolate," the male said as he showed yechan the chocolate in his palm.
yechan's eyes widened and his expression turned into one with a huge grin. he flapped his hands together and aggressively nodded his head, making both of them chuckle at his adorable behavior.
an hour and a half later, it was over. yechan's first ever therapy session went extremely well according to hongjoong. the male moved very slowly with yechan, not forcing him to say anything, or not forcing him to do anything he didn't want to. by the end of the session, seonghwa was sitting on the floor along with yechan, colouring a drawing of a dog and a dog house on the colouring book he kept for his little patients. yechan was also happy that he got his chocolate.
hongjoong started packing up, his stuff and got up from his chair, holding his son's tiny hand as he bowed to the doctor in front of him. he waited for him to finish packing up too. his backpack hung on his shoulder as he turned off all the lights in the room.
"thank you doctor," hongjoong thanked him again as he bowed.
"ah no need to thank me, it's my pleasure." he replied
"was this your last session of the day?"
"mhm, it was indeed the last session for today."
they walked out of the room together, yechan hopping like a baby rabbit next to hongjoong.
"today's therapy session was amazing. i can't wait to meet him again in a few days."
"bye bye!!" yechan wished before he hopped into his father's arms.
just before seonghwa was about to leave, he slyly slipped in the extra chocolate he had with him into the backpack which had a slight opening, hoping the man would find it later once he was back home. it would be a sweet little surprise. he smiled a little, knowing how happy such small things could make.
--|--
this chapter looked better in my head ngl 🤠
all chapters look better in my head until i write them but it's whatever
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