hongjoong skipped along the sidewalk as he took a bite of the berry ice cream he bought. the backpack on his back bounced lightly along with his fluffy red hair that was fading a little bit. he was feeling giddy and extremely happy. the previous night wasnt the best since he met rude clients that degraded him but there was one thing that brought upon a smile on his face; he found a chocolate in his bag he never remembered keeping. it was his favorite chocolate, the ones with almonds in it. he loved those ever since he was young.

the redhead found the chocolate hiding under his spare pink undies from six years ago while rummaging for his phone charger. he didn't expect to find it but it was like a little treat for him after a long day of work. he wondered where that chocolate spawned from, he also wondered if he was the one who kept it in there since he had the memory of a goldfish. he pondered eating the chocolate for a minute, knowing it was marinating under his over used undies but little did he care.

this random thing reminded him of when yechan was a toddler, around three years old-- he would steal hongjoong's undies and run around the house with them like his life depended on it but once he took them away from him, he would throw a two hour long tantrum because he didn't get his father's undies. hongjoong never knew he could ruin someone's life by not giving them his undies to play with. the male remembers chasing his little one around the small apartment with soaking wet hair and his beige turkish towel tied around his waist.

that was the sole reason he refused to shower with the door closed unless and until there was someone to supervise his son. on some days he would shower in peace when san took care of yechan but those days weren't often. the younger male was busy with college, he was focused on getting his degree which hongjoong was understanding about.

some days yechan was extra calm due to being tired from playing and the others he would barge into the bathroom with something to show his father. hongjoong had no other option but to say 'great job love' or 'that's neat' mid shower; unless it was something like carrying hongjoong's hoodies on his head. during those times hongjoong would have to prepare to chase an energetic six year old around the house for half an hour. despite all of this, he wouldn't change his life for anything, yechan made his life better despite how significantly difficult it was to take care of a child alone. he wouldn't change anything for shit.

hongjoong had a long night ahead of him that he wasn't anticipating. he had a lot of work to get done and the only thing he was excited for was spending time with yechan. he had decided to teach his son how to bake a cake since the week had been hectic and he hadn't spent much time with him. he was currently walking home with all the items needed to bake the cake. 

the evening sun illuminated against the floor of the building as hongjoong inserted the key into the hole and twisted it, a small click indicating that the door had opened. he pushed the door open with his before and placed the grocery bags on the mini table in the small foyer. just as he squatted down to untie the laces on his favorite red shoes, he felt a little figure attack him in a hug while giggling.

"hi daddy!" the little one exclaimed, excited to see his father after not seeing the entire morning. san babysat him since he was free that day.

"hi baby, how was your day?" hongjoong said as he admired his son's adorable face and brushed back his soft hair with his fingers. yechan just nodded and flashed a little smile to his father.

"okay, i'll assume you enjoyed it," he whispered before he picked up yechan in his arms to hang out with him in the living room, he kicked his shoes off to the side.

san walked out into the living room with a crumpled shirt and messed up hair as he rubbed to sleep out of his eyes.

"i see, were you both taking a nap? for how long?"

"not too long."

"are you sure? you look like you just for attacked by a polar bear," hongjoong commented.

"jeez, thank you, that's very nice of you to say."

"did you rest well?" hongjoong asked with a hint of concern in his voice. san had severe insomnia and was constantly tired due to it. but when he did sleep, he always slept for long hours.

"mhm, it was the best, most life changing nap i've ever taken. it felt like i ascended to heaven and came back," san said while he ripped open a packet of a protein bar and stuffed the entire bar in his mouth. hongjoong cringed at the sight of his best friend looking like a chipmunk filling its mouth with acorns.

san tried to speak with the bar in his mouth but miserably failed, to which hongjoong laughed at the attempt and the younger just whined. yechan simply watched while he fidgeted with his fingers. he loved seeing his father being happy and carefree. though he got bored after a minute and picked up his favorite book to read.

"there was nothing funny about me eating a protein bar," san deadpanned

"it actually was really funny-- you looked like a squirrel filling its mouth with nuts, a storage space of sorts."

"right, you and yechan should bake the cake, i'll get going. im gonna study a bit, see you at eleven?" san asked as be picked up his house keys

"i'll tuck chanie in to sleep before you get here, don't worry, you won't have to chase him around the house."

"he slept for three hours," san reminded

"ugh, don't make me think of that. i'll try my best to put him to sleep before you come. i'll tire him out somehow, don't worry."

"okay then, im off. bye chanie!" san said but got no reply from the younger to which he pouted.

"it's okay, you know sometimes he's just like that," hongjoong said and san nodded in understanding with pursed lips.

san bid goodbye to hongjoong and left the house and there was a silence.

"chanie, do you wanna bake a cake with daddy?" hongjoong asked as he scooted closer to his son. no response.

"okay, you read, i'll watch some tv until you tell me you want to bake the cake."

sometimes hongjoong felt lonely at home. yechan was unresponsive at times and that made him feel like he had nobody to talk to, especially if san was busy. he loved his son very much, but the times he didn't respond or was really hyperactive were the most difficult for him to deal with. though he somehow always did it, like the amazing father he was.

--|--

seonghwa sighed as he stretched his arms and groaned loudly. his last therapy appointment with a fifteen year old had just finished and it was the last one for that day. he was totally exhausted from everything he had to deal with that day. two children had a meltdown right in his office which their parents didn't know how to handle, his secretary yunho was on leave due to being sick and since almost all of doctor jihyo's patients were transferred to him for the time being, he had a crap ton of reports to complete. usually yunho would complete the reports for him and he would only fill up the progress of each of his patients.

the keys on the keyboard of his laptop echoed through the quiet room before he heard a knock on the door.

"come in," he said.

a familiar male with his classic black glasses walked in with a ton of files in his arms.

"woo! come on in!" seonghwa said once he recognized who it was. wooyoung was a nurse that worked at the hospital for quite a while. he was the last person he was in a relationship with and they lasted a good while except for the fact that they fell out of love; or so he thought. they decided to remain friends though.

"isn't your shift over? what are you doing here?"

"nah, i have a night shift today. i was supposed to come only at nine but i came earlier to hang out with you," the younger male said as he pulled out a stool and sat down on it, next to seonghwa.

"watcha doin'?"

"just completing the reports of all my patients," seonghwa replied while typing away on his keyboard.

"interesting. did you have dinner?" wooyoung asked

"dinner? this early? i just had a snack a while back, i'll go home and have some dinner."

wooyoung nodded in response.

"do you wanna see pictures of the new kitty i adopted?" the younger said as he pulled his phone out

"you have a cat?! since when? of course i wanna see the pictures!" seonghwa immediately turned his seat around, facing wooyoung with a wide smile on his face.

seonghwa loved animals. he had a dog of his own, a two year old golden retriever named miso who his house keeper would take care of when he was away. he loved miso like she was his own daughter-- well she technically was. he would cuddle her every night, give her all the love he could and he would even take her on special play dates when he was free. they would go hiking on mountains together early in the morning.

"he's so cute!" seonghwa squealed like a kid once he saw the pictures of the little black kitty

"what's his name?"

"i was thinking of naming him berry, short for blackberry. another cute name i thought of was hershey, which one do you think would suit him?"

"berry is extremely adorable and it would suit that little ball of fluff. i want to just squish him!" seonghwa said before making inhumane sounds along with a squishing gesture.

"that's concerning."

--|--

i've put in a lot of research for this book, especially for yechan's character, please let me know if there's anything wrong about something or have written something that's offensive, i'll immediately change it