the one that got away | seongjoong (✓)

• XXIV •

seonghwa and hongjoong followed the same routine for the next two days. they woke up, cuddled for a bit, made breakfast, got ready for the day and went to the cafe for the afternoon.

today, seonghwa spent most of his shift in the office with hongjoong, doing paperwork. he was more stressed than he usually was, likely because he had pushed things off, wanting to prioritize hongjoong over everything. hongjoong could tell the older was stressed too, so he sat quietly, knowing that if he bothered the older too much he would get frustrated and yell.

"i'll be right back," hongjoong said softly, needing to use the bathroom.

"where are you going?" seonghwa muttered.

"bathroom. i'll be okay, hwa."

the older just nodded, getting back to his work as hongjoong went to the restroom. seonghwa sighed in frustration, trying hard not to break down out of stress. the last time he had broken down from the stress of paperwork was shortly after he opened the cafe, back when it was just him and minhee and they were only open afternoons.

he tried his hardest, but soon hot tears were rolling down his cheeks as he pulled at his hair in frustration, desperately needing and wanting to get this done. hongjoong walked back in and noticed, frowning and going to seonghwa's side.

"hwa... take a break for a few minutes. you're only going to get more frustrated if you don't take breaks," hongjoong whispered, gently rubbing the older's back.

"i-i'll be fine..."

"seonghwa, stop it. i know you... you're stressed and frustrated to the point where you're crying, you need a break. put down the pen and look at me."

reluctantly, seonghwa obliged, looking at hongjoong with tired eyes. hongjoong cupped the boy's cheeks and wiped his tears away, then sat in seonghwa's lap and hugged him tight.

"let me help you relax for a bit, then i'll let you get back to work."

seonghwa nodded, nuzzling his head into the crook of hongjoong's neck. he closed his eyes and allowed hongjoong's presence to calm him down, smiling weakly as he began to feel more relaxed. he pressed a few soft kisses to the boy's neck, causing a smile from hongjoong.

"better?" hongjoong said softly.

"mhmm..."

"good..." hongjoong kissed seonghwa's temple. "you know, if you want... you can show me how to do it and i can try to help."

"as cute as that would be, i'll be okay. i just needed some stress relief, i think."

seonghwa gently rubbed hongjoong's sides, smiling a bit as he finally looked into the younger's eyes. the two stared at each other for a moment, then hongjoong cupped seonghwa's face and wiped the boy's cheeks again. before seonghwa could say anything, hongjoong had made up his mind, leaning in and pressing their lips together.

seonghwa held on tightly to the younger's sides, almost the same way that hongjoong held his cheeks. it was like they were each other's air, and being apart for any longer would have killed them.

when they finally pulled apart, hongjoong pressed his forehead to the older's and rested his hands on the back of the boy's neck.

"looks like i got more stress relief than i expected," seonghwa chuckled.

hongjoong smiled a bit, then went to pull away. seonghwa was quick to stop him, pecking the boy's lips a few times before finally letting go.

"i'm looking forward to our date, if you can't tell," hongjoong giggled.