At the practice room, in the meantime, the other seven boys were panicking. They were waiting for their leader to continue practicing, but more than 20 minutes had passed and the boy was nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe he's still at the restaurant" suggested Yunho anxiously.
"I'll go check" Mingi stood up and ran out of the room to search for Hongjoong.
"Can someone call him?" asked San.
Wooyoung ran to his bag to fetch his phone, but as soon as he dialed the leader's number, a ringtone could be heard. Yunho ran to the source of sound, just to find Hongjoong's phone near the speakers.
"It's here, Hongjoong didn't even bring it to the restaurant" realized Wooyoung. Just then Mingi barged in, panting.
"Hongjoong... waiter... home... lollipop" the others looked at the boy confused.
"Catch your breath first" instructed Seonghwa, coaching the younger's breath until he was able to speak normally again.
"I talked to a waiter who helped him grab his coat from the hanger. He knows what littles are, he complimented me for having such a polite little" Jongho rolled his eyes at this.
"He gave Joong a lollipop and told him to go home, so he's probably home now" finished Mingi, making the others sigh.
"He surely needs a punishment after this" said Jongho.
"But maybe something's happening, something's wrong. He never misbehaved until now" pointed out Yeosang. The others agreed with him and packed their bags, wanting to make sure the leader was alright. During the drive back home, suddenly Seonghwa shouted.
"That's Hongjoong!"
The van immediately stopped, and the seven boys rushed out of it, everyone recognising the small boy by his hair colour. When they approached, they noticed that the little was asleep, and his hands were holding a plastic lollipop stick, the candy already finished. He also had a face mask on, which made the others frown before taking it off, Yunho slipping it in his pocket.
"What happened to him?" asked Yunho, more to himself as he knew no one had the answer to that question yet.
"Let's try waking him up maybe?" suggested Mingi, making Jongho shake his head no.
"I don't want to get hit again" frowned the maknae. The others agreed. This situation was similar to the one they dealt with in the morning, if not even worse.
"Let's just bring him home and wait for him to wake up" everyone nodded at Yunho's words.
"Jong, wanna carry him? You're the strongest out of us" Jongho sighed but nodded, carefully picking up the leader from the bench and carrying him to the van, followed by the rest of the members.
"Let's go back home, we need to discuss a few things anyways" decided Yeosang, to which the others agreed.
Once they got back at the dorm, Jongho laid the little on his bed and joined the others in the living room.
"Seonghwa, anything to say?" It had been a while since the oldest last entered the ATEEZ dorm, and it was making him bittersweet. One side of him hoped he could live here again, the other side thought he deserved to not even be part of the group anymore.
"I- I don't have any excuses. I read some internet articles and believed them, forgetting about Hongjoong's personality. He trusted me and I just betrayed his trust. I wish I didn't say those words, I really do, but I can't take them back, since I assume Hongjoong knows about the shit I said behind his back?" the sentence ended almost like a question, to which Yeosang nodded.
"Yeah... so if you give me the chance to, I can prove you all that I can do better" finished the oldest quietly.
"You were a complete asshole, you know that too" Seonghwa nodded, looking down.
"But I think everyone deserves a second chance" completed Yeosang, making the oldest look at him surprised, almost in shock, not believing his ears.
"I... I can stay?" stuttered Seonghwa. Yeosang nodded.
"Prove us that you've changed" warned seriously the younger.
"I will. Thank you, Yeosang. Thank you all so much" the oldest was almost in tears. One spilled from his eye, making everyone sigh.
"You're forgiven" everyone formed a cuddle pile in the middle of the living room, Jongho included. In the end, the boys were just glad they were united again, it was 8 makes 1 team forever.
After 10 minutes the boys got up from the floor.
"What are we gonna do now?" asked Wooyoung.
"I know Hongjoong trusted you, but I believe we need to know what happened to him in the past to be careful around him" Yunho said. Seonghwa hesitated.
"If Joong allows me, I will. But I can't do it if he doesn't want me to. Maybe he'll tell you himself once he's ready" said the oldest. Everyone agreed.
Just then, a cry could be heard from Hongjoong's room, making everyone look in direction of the noise.
"Wanna go Seonghwa? If you comfort him, maybe he'll forgive you" suggested Jongho. Everyone was surprised, since the maknae was the most protective towards the little.
"...alright. But Yeo, can you come with me? Just, you know... in case I accidentally mess up again" Yeosang nodded, doubting the older would mess up but still wanting to provide Seonghwa a sense of safeness.
The two quietly entered the room, Seonghwa approaching the little as calmly as possible, despite his heart aching at the little's cries.
"Hey minion, it's mama" Hongjoong's head snapped towards the older hearing the his voice.
"Ma..." whined the little.
"Ba' man hewe ma" cried Hongjoong, clinging to the older like his life depended on it. Seonghwa widened his eyes and tried to comfort the younger.
"No baby, the bad man isn't here" denied Seonghwa, but Hongjoong just sobbed, shaking and crying.
" 'es, he hewe. Buh da mask pwotect Joong an' he go 'way" Seonghwa realized why the younger was wearing a face mask when they found him and his heart broke. He didn't deserve all of this.
"It's okay baby, no one can get in here and you're safe with mama and hyungies" promised Seonghwa, picking up Hongjoong and carrying him to the living room, where the others were waiting.
"Don't ask questions, just... give him love and distract him from his thoughts" instructed Seonghwa, making the others agree while looking at each other confused.
"Wanna watch Peter Pan baby?" suggested Wooyoung smiling. The little sniffled but nodded, allowing San to place him on the couch between himself and Yeosang while Wooyoung started the movie.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
lmao so i was thinking, what if in the future i suddenly wanna become a kpop idol (or an influencer or any work that will expose me on social medias) and ppl find out I used to write these fanfictions? 💀
Pls go check my skz collection drop post on my instagram (@chimchimluvskpop) cause guess who's gonna start a Hongjoong pc collection and needs money? Me. Lol. Also where can i find an official jjoongrami for a price lower than the 70€ one i saw online + without joining gos?
Have a snack/a meal/a drink, listen to your fav music and see y'all at the skz/nmixx concert ig? Update on saturday too so i can rant abt the concert lmao
YOU ARE READING
Tiny captain
FanfictionHongjoong has been slipping unvoluntarily since that day. It's not a thing that he can control and it's not a thing that he plans on telling his members. Absolutely not. But telling them is not the only way they'll discover this part of him. Warning...
