"it's okay beautiful boy, you'll be fine soon," hongjoong whispered to his son as he rocked him to sleep in his arms. it was late at night and he was still at the restaurant since it wasn't closing time. san napped on the cash counter outside as lizards chirped outside the windows. the restaurant was almost empty, only a two customers there who had come for the thing they always ordered. they were regulars at the restaurant; and hongjoong loved them. 

the chime on the door of the restaurant clinked, indicating someone had entered. it woke san up immediately as he looked at the door, and there stood the owner of this restaurant with his little daughter in his arms. 

"hello sir," san wished as he bowed and mingi waved him off

"nah, don't be so formal with me, you know we're the same age." 

the pink haired male flashed him a tiny smile before he waved to his daughter, her shyly burying her face in her father's neck. she was only one and a half years old and san loved meeting her whenever mingi brought her to the restaurant. her chubby little fingers tightly clutched her father's beige shirt as she looked around with big, wide eyes and a pout on her lips. 

hearing all the commotion outside, hongjoong decided to take a sneak peek on what was going on, and he was delighted to see a tall, familiar figure there with his daughter. he was glad mingi stopped by, he could bond with him over things their kids did. 

"hey," hongjoong said as he smiled when he saw the male, careful not to wake his son up. unlike his daughter, mingi seemed as energetic as ever, ready to party though on the other hand yuna looked like she would fall asleep then and there, much unlike yechan who was already sleep in hongjoong's arms. 

"why are you here this late?" 

"me? oh, she refused to sleep for no reason, so i took her for a little walk. thought i could stop by the restaurant to check up on how it's going," he spoke, his voice lowering when he noticed yechan was sound asleep. mingi then glanced around the restaurant as bounced yuna in his arms when she fussed for attention, rubbing her back gently with his large hands. 

"how's everything going on here?" he asked 

"not much. the usual customers are here, hustle nd bustle on saturday you know, other than that nothing out of the blue," hongjoong replied before he took a sip of water from san's water bottle. his arms ached from holding yecahn but he didn't want to keep him down, he was exhausted from a draining day at his school. 

"poor kid's really tired, yechan is unwell and hongjoong's been trying to rock him to sleep for the past hour. seems like his finally fell asleep," san commented as he fondly gazed at yechan. 

"yea, i think i'll take him home soon. it's almost closing time anyways, should be done soon," hongjoong said as he glanced at his son peacefully sleeping on his shoulder, his bottom lip jutting out and chubby cheek squished against his shoulder. mingi knew how amazing of a father hongjoong was and yet how much he struggled with yechan, he always looked up to the male like an older brother. 

yuna looked up from mingi's shoulder when she heard him talk about something, her blinking slowly like a little kitten as she lifted her chubby hand to wave at hongjoong. her tiny fingers clutched her father's shirt yet again as her curious eyes scanned the red haired male, slightly intimidated by how he looked. hongjoong's heart melted at her before he waved back, earning a giggle from her. 

"she's getting more social lately," mingi proudly said with a wide grin on his face, clearly proud of his daughter.

"that's good, you're raising her well then," the shorter male replied as he took a seat on one of the empty chairs, wrapping his arms securely around yechan. 

"she's still shy though, quite like me when i first opened this restaurant."

san loudly snorted and cackled at that. him and mingi had more of a friendly relationship with each other rather than a typical boss-employee dynamic

"you? shy? that's hard to imagine." 

"what?" he asked sarcastically

"well, if i asked you to go talk to that random grandfather on the road, you totally would strike up a random conversation with him without any hesitation, so please, don't even talk about you being shy," san completed with a smile. 

"shut up, you're annoying." 

before san could respond to him with another petty reply, the chime on the door once again clinked, alerting hongjoong and san to stand up and wish the customer. 

"hello sir, welcome to moonlight eats, what would you like?" san greeted as he bowed and mingi moved aside, hoping he wouldn't disrupt the services with a now cranky baby. 

hongjoong's heart twisted and fluttered when he heard the smooth, familiar voice echo through the restaurant as his stomach filled with the entire jungle when their gazes locked for a moment. he wore tight-fitting torn jeans along with an extremely loose hoodie that almost slid down his shoulders, exposing his collarbone.  he hadn't expected to see seonghwa out of the adhd testing and therapy sessions out of the hospital-- but life seemed to have something different in store for him. he stood in front of the cash counter casually, his hands dug into the big pockets in his warm hoodie. 

"your usual?" san asked and seonghwa nodded before the male made a note on his notepad. 

"i'll go and--" just as hongjoong was about to get up to walk to the kitchen to make the order, san stopped him and assured him that he could take a break to take care of yechan, that he would handle this since it would probably be the last meal of the day. 

"it's fine, i'll handle it."

now it was just the two of them; well technically three because yechan was asleep. mingi had left the place, informing that hongjoong that he needed to put yuna to bed. the male noticed that seonghwa leaned against the counter, his eyes flickering between yechan and hongjoong.

"hey," he greeted, his sweet voice was like music to hongjoong's ears if he was being honest. 

"sorry if i interrupted anything, was passing by, thought of stopping for a little snack after a long day of work."

hongjoong nodded, his cheeks tinting a slight shade of pink. he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not knowing how to react to the bubbling feeling in his chest whenever he was with seonghwa. he was well aware of his speeding heartbeat, he held yechan closer instead of focusing on the fact that he was with seonghwa outside of professional settings. 

--|--

seonghwa intially hadn't planned to stop by the restaurant to get a snack, but after a long day at work, he found himself only craving one thing. he was aware that hongjoong worked at the restaurant, that he worked a night shift-- seonghwa figured seeing the male would make him feel much better. he wanted to stop himself, though the simple thought of him lead him in the direction of the restaurant and there he was, standing in front of the cash counter. he hadn't even bothered to change from the hoodie he bought back in 12th grade. 

the sight of hongjoong cradling in his arms, looking so tender and soft, made seonghwa feel something he didn't know how to name. there was something about the way hongjoong cared for yechan, in the best way possible. the way his eyes sparkled whenever he spoke about his son, they were filled with so much love for him. he had never felt that way for a person, especially a patient's father. 

he stood at the counter silently, waiting for his food to arrive though he couldn't help but become lost in hongjoong's oh so beautiful features yet again. the warm lights from the diner softly shone against the male's smooth skin as his eyes twinkled in the light. his thick glasses almost slipped down his nose before he could push them back him with his index finger. the white uniform tightly clung on to his thin arms and his pink lips were now slightly dry but seonghwa still wanted to kiss them. 

he didn't know why but he struggled keeping hongjoong in his thoughts normally, like the father of his patient and not a potential partner. maybe it was how sweet he was, how he always put others first or the fact that he loved his son so much that he would sacrifice anything for him. it seemed like hongjoong managed to carry the world on his shoulders and yet he always had a beautiful smile tugged across his lips. every time he saw him, something in seonghwa softened, wanting to protect hongjoong forever. he knew it was a dangerous territory to be in, since in a professional setting this would not be accepted in any way whatsoever. 

hongjoong never felt like a patient's father or a client, he always felt like something more that seonghwa didn't know how to name. 

when their eyes met again, the older male's heart flipped a million times and he felt something much deeper in him. hongjoong flashed him a tried smile and it tugged seonghwa's heart in ways he didn't know how to describe. 

"you look exhausted," seonghwa said softly as he stepped closer to where hongjoong sat. 

"how are you holding up?" he asked, concern lacing in his voice. 

"nothing much, i've had worse nights," hongjoong replied as he shrugged, the sudden memories of that one night flooding back to him. he tried to push the thoughts away to have a sane conversation. 

"yechan is asleep now though, so i guess that's a win. he was struggling to fall asleep." 

seonghwa nodded in understanding, his gaze softening as he watched yechan squiggle in hongjoong's arms. 

"you're an amazing father, he's so lucky t have you," seonghwa complimented.

it caught hongjoong off guard-- nobody had ever complimented him like that before. he blinked, looking at him with a mix of surprise as a smile creeped upon his lips. his chest warmed at the thought of seonghwa complimenting him more. 

"thanks. i don't always feel like i'm being a good father, but i try."

before seonghwa could reply to that, san appeared from the kitchen with full energy along with a bag in his hands.

"here's your order, i added an extra side. it's on the house," he said as he winked and hongjoong chuckled at that.

"ah why? tsk, thanks, you're the best," seonghwa commented before smiling once again. 

san waved him off and walked back to the kitchen to clean everything up for closing time. seonghwa took one last glance at hongjoong.

"bye, i'll see you soon," he whispered before he left.

the unsaid words between the pair lingered in the thick air, it made hongjoong feel like he was almost suffocating. 

the cool night air grazed against seonghwa's burning skin, he couldn't shake of the feeling that there was some spark between the younger and him. no matter how had he tried to maintain a professional relationship, he always failed with hongjoong. the fine line between caring for someone who is struggling and liking someone enough to go beyond your limits to care for them was becoming harder to see for seonghwa.

for the first time ever, seonghwa didn't know if he wanted to step closer or step farther away from hongjoong. 

--|--

they're so cute pls dont do this to me