"is that good, baby?" hongjoong asked his son as he washed a plate in the sink.

yechan nodded aggressively and giggled with the blue popsicle melting over his tiny fingers and spread all over his face.

the male turned around and looked at his son with adoration. oh did he love that little boy so much, he never knew someone could change his life the way his son did.

"daddy!"

"yes darling?"

"blue juice fall," the boy said, pointing out to the melted popsicle on his white t-shirt

the redhead furrowed his eyebrows and wiped his wet hands on his shorts as he walked toward his son who was sitting on an old bar stool. he slightly touched his t-shirt with his index finger and squeaked.

"eeks! it's so sticky! let's get you washed up, hm?" he exclaimed, picking yechan up and placing him on the floor

he held the boy's sticky hand and walked him to the bathroom in the hallway.

"chanie, do you want daddy to bathe you or will you do it yourself?"

"daddy bath."

"okay then my little champ, let's get you ready!"

bath time was something. yechan loved all things water and would play with it at every chance he got. whether be it a swimming pool or a shower, he loved to play with water.

hongjoong's shirt and shorts got all soaked with water due to the amount his little boy splashed the water, always bursting with energy. he wondered where he got the energy from to be jumping around the house all day.

as hongjoong was wiping his son's hair with a soft towel, the little boy said something.

"sorry daddy."

"hm? what did you say baby? i couldn't quite catch it."

"sorry daddy."

the male looked confused at the sudden apology from his son. he stopped what he was doing and looked at him, with concern.

"why are you saying sorry, honey? there's nothing to apologize about!" he whispered gently as he caressed his head.

the boy didn't make any eye contact with him, as usual. he tried to, but it just never worked, he couldn't hold it for more than three seconds. to be fair, hongjoong couldn't do the same his entire life either and he struggled quite a bit with it.

"daddy come school pick me because i cry, no want daddy be sad," yechan said and pouted

"sad? oh love, you would never make me sad!"

"am sorry daddy."

the little boy fell into the warm embrace of his father, loving the feeling. he felt so safe with his father, much unlike how he felt at school.

"i cry cause other make fun me because i no talk proper."

"they do what?" hongjoong asked, a bit shocked

"make fun me cause i no talk proper, miss say she tell you i be bad. she call you cause i cry cause loud and make fun me."

"you're not being bad, sweetheart! you're a sweet boy, hm? daddy loves you so so much baby. nobody can make fun of my baby, ever, okay?"

"daddy sad on park day!"

"i mean that's okay, i was scared i lost you, that's why! but you're back to me, so why worry?" the redhead said, hugging his son tightly.

it had been a few weeks since the park incident where he got lost. yechan developed severe separation anxiety from his father and couldn't spend more than five hours away from him. school was a big struggle due that and it was the second time of the week that the boy had to be picked up from school midday.

hongjoong was worried. worried about his son's future and education, worried about what he could do. he surely couldn't afford sending him to a special needs school since he didn't have enough funds for it but at the same time he couldn't stand seeing his little boy, his entire life, being bullied by children at school. he had to do something about it, bullying was unacceptable in his household.

"would you like to take a nap honey?" the male asked and got a nod as a response.

after putting yechan to sleep and whispering 'sweet dreams' to him, the male jogged over to his desk to search for a hospital card to get the number of the pediatric psychiatrist they usually visit.

"fuck where did i leave it?"

he looked through the disaster of a desk for a good ten minutes before he found it in the drawer amongst the other useless junk.

hongjoong pulled out his phone and dialed the hospital's number to have a talk and take an appointment with his son's psychiatrist. he waited for someone to pick up while playing with a pen when all of a sudden a woman's high pitched voice rang through his ears, startling him.

"good afternoon, this is apollo children's hospital, how may i assist you?"

hongjoong hated social conversations. it always made him anxious and scared. he never understood why he was scared of something so simple but always brushed it off as social anxiety.

"um could you please connect me to dr park jihyo's secretary?"

"sure! one minute i'll just connect you to her!"

he paced around the room waiting to hear the very familiar voice of the secretary.

"hello! secretary of dr park jihyo speaking, how may i help you?"

"oh, hello. im yechan's father, kim hongjoong speaking."

"mr kim! how are you? how is yechan?" the lady cheered

"we are good! i was just wondering if i could schedule a consultation with dr jihyo for yechan. is she available this week?" he asked

"oh! dr jihyo is out of town right now and im afraid she won't be back for a couple of weeks. is it urgent?"

"uh yea, i wanted to inquire about some important things regarding yechan and also for a check up."

the lady on the other side hummed.

"well i could schedule you an appointment with another pediatric psychiatrist here! he's not very experienced; only about five years, but he is very good with his work and knows what he is doing. only if you want, that is."

"hm, what's his name?" the male asked curiously

"dr park seonghwa."

--|--

i feel like the writing is too weird and not good send help 😭