hongjoong was confused to say the least. during the entirety of yechan's session, the little one was doing perfectly okay, socializing well with the junior doctors but well-- seonghwa kept coming and checking up on hongjoong for no rhyme or reason.

the male could have been on his phone just talking to san and then th next thing he knew was his son's doctor trying to start a conversation with him to get to know him more.

he was most surprised when the older male brought him a separate fork to give him some salad. it's not like hongjoong liked vegetables anyways, he just thought it would have just been a tad bit rude to decline such a kind offer made by him.

there was currently only five minutes left of yechan's first adhd testing session and seonghwa was sitting next to hongjoong, a bright, grin spread across his face. the pair sat in silence and hongjoong took this moment to actually take a proper look at the younger's doctor.

and oh fuck, was he handsome.

his hair was slightly grown, longer than the last time he saw the male; it reached almost reached his shoulders. the doctor was so feminine yet in a way that didn't completely diminish his masculinity. his classic thin-frame round black glasses sat stiff on his sharp nose and a light shade of red tinted his soft-looking, plump lips. unlike usual, this time he wore a white button down under a black vest that hugged his chest tightly along with his white doctor's coat, a black bow tie and black leather jeans that he had never expected to see seonghwa wear in a hospital setting.

"what's your favorite ice cream flavor?" seonghwa randomly asked, making the younger snap out of his thoughts

"what?"

"i asked, what's your favorite ice cream flavor?"

seonghwa's confidence had sky rocketted and had now decided that he would shoot random questions at the younger that he thought he needed the answers to. one very important question being, his favorite ice cream flavor.

"i'm not sure actually, i haven't had ice cream in a long, long time. it's been a hot minute," the male said, scratching his neck awkwardly while awkwardly chuckling.

seonghwa being the stupid sap he was thought this was actually the prettiest sound he had heard in a while; except for the snores his dog miso let out when she was sleeping.

hongjoong honestly hated the fact that he was broke. he had to work three job to meet ends it was the most difficult yet frustrating thing. yes-- he did love his son with his entire life and wanted to give him everything he wanted but at the same time he wished he could fulfill his own wishes.

the male had completely missed out on going to college since he had to raise yechan, all alone that too. he hadnt eaten anything he wanted in ages because his budget was tight. every month was like hanging on a flimsy thread until payday. it always felt like the debt was choking him alive, making him feel like he couldn't do anything and he hated it. he hated asking people for money. it made him feel like he didn't work hard enough.

"why so?" seonghwa questioned back

"i dont know, i just didn't crave it much," he replied, looking down as he fidgeted with his fingers, tangling them in each other and then playing with the hem of his shirt.

and that was in fact, a lie. he was really craving a good coffee flavoured ice cream topped with nuts and chocolate sauce, it was something simple which he couldn't even afford.

"so what's you're favourite flavor, from when you had it last time?"

hongjoong had to think about it for a bit, since he always had more than two favourite flavours of ice cream, he had to think.

"i love most flavors, but my tel favourite flavours have to be almond caramel or coffee. but i prefer coffee because it has a slight bitter taste i like," he said, thinking about the last time he had ice cream and damn was it delicious. san had bought it for him for his birthday. it was two scoops of coffee ice cream with thick chocolate syrup and crushed almonds on top of it.

seonghwa made a mental note of hongjoong's favorite ice cream flavor.

just as the older male was about to open his mouth, yechan ran out the room with his arms wide open, jumping into his father's arms with a huge smile across his little face. hongjoong swore that seeing this smile once a day even on a cold day was enough to make him melt on the inside like ice does under the sun. yechan's smile could cure depression; once said by san.

although he did hiss slightly at the pain on his arm, the little one's hands accidentally hit the red marks on his hands and shoulders.

"daddy!!" the little exclaimed, leaping into hongjoong's arms with a giggle.

"hi baby, how was it?" the male asked as he stared at his baby who then hugged him tightly.

"was' good."

"that's lovely, baby. did you have fun?" hongjoong asked and he could feel yechan nodding a yes against his shoulder.

"it seems like the session went well," seonghwa commented as he looked at the warm sight in front of him. it was just another father carrying his son, it shouldn't mean anything to him, right?

no. wrong. it was the most adorable sight he had seen, and it was a dramatic thing to say but seonghwa swore it was true. the way yechan clung on to his father like a baby koala and the way hongjoonf held him so gently, looked at him with so much love and affection, looked at him in a way nobody else could. only a love a father could give his son.

"it seems so," hongjoong replied, briefly smiling at seonghwa

fuck, his smile was beautiful too.

"am hungry," he mumbled into his father's ear, him immediately understanding.

he carried yechan onto his hip and stood up, bowing at the doctor then wishing him a thank you for his kind words and help.

"thank you, doctor."

"oh, no problem! my pleasure actually, i love working with yechan. can't wait to meet again."

hongjoong nodded.

"whens the next appointment?" he asked

"i will ask my secretary to contact you about that, is that okay?" seonghwa asked, pulling out his phone to check his schedule.

he wanted to keep it at a time when nobody else had appointments just for him to be able to spend some stupid little time with the father of a patient he didn't even know much about.

"yes, of course that's not a problem!" he replied with enthusiasm

"thank you, hongjoong."

with that, seonghwa walked away.

hongjoong. nobody else called him that except for san and yunho-- maybe hiw clients at the club too but that was rare.

it made his stomach do back flips, for a reason he didn't know.

--|--

writing 1200 words in 20 mins was not on my bingo card for today but okay 😀👍

i hope it's good this was kinda rushed :((

also has not been proof read so ignore typos (i kinda hate this chapter)