Unexpected: Before Ateez

Chapter 3: dinner with Eomma Park.

Part 3: TW:: sasaeng fan, transphobia, physical assault.

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Their dinner was quiet; Seonghwa's mother giving Hongjoong an insight on what pregnancy would look like for the first three months, barely any showing, morning sickness, aches, chills, etc. He'd feel like he had the flu rather than being pregnant, and that was okay for Hongjoong, he wasn't really all that excited for all the stuff that came with pregnancy. But he was excited to meet his baby when that time came; to be a parent with Seonghwa, to have the rest of Ateez as uncles. Finishing up their meal Seonghwa's mother got up to pay for the bill leaving the young couple at the table.

"Feeling a little better?" Seonghwa asked, rubbing his lover's shoulder. "Yeah much better, way less freaked out now." Hongjoong nodded as he wiped his hands on a napkin. "I need to use the bathroom, I'll be back. Tell eomma?" Seonghwa nodded, kissing his boyfriend's cheek before sending him off. Hongjoong checked twice before slipping into the men's restroom; thankfully it was empty so he would have no problem slipping into a stall, locking the stall he pulled his pants down to do his business then paused. A pair of footsteps headed towards his exact stall, then a knock. "Uhm..I'm in here?" He squeaked out pulling his pants back up. "Girls aren't allowed in the men's restroom. Get out." Hongjoong scoffed. "I'm a man too, can I just pee and then I'll leave?" A violent tug on the stall popped the lock, a taller man stood in the door way now. "I said, girls aren't allowed in here. I heard your conversation, you're pregnant. So that means you're a woman right Hongjoong ah~" his blood turned to ice, fear crawling up his spine. "I'm...I'm a man, men can be pregnant. Not all men have a penis-" a hand tugged on his hair, pulling him out of the stall and to the floor. "You're no man Kim Hongjoong, KQ had no right debuting a tranny! You should be in a girl group!" A harsh kick was done to his back, causing the smaller to vomit from the force. "Leave me alone...I'll get out...just stop." Hongjoong tried to crawl away, only to have his ankle stepped on. A scream left his mouth, he could feel the bone crack, hear it even. "Fucking listen to me Hongjoong-ah...I've been following you since Mixnine. And you don't deserve to be on the brink of debut, so why don't you get up, clean your face, and use the bathroom you belong in you freak." The man kicked him once more before leaving; Hongjoong shivered on the floor, pulling out his phone he typed a message to Seonghwa,

🐿️: come to the men's restroom, I need you.

He slowly got off the floor, shaking as he limped over to the sink to wash the vomit off his face and hair. It didn't take long for Seonghwa to come rushing in with a worried look, "what happened!? Are you okay!? Is the baby okay?" Seonghwa's hand immediately going to his stomach made Hongjoong melt, already thinking about how protective Seonghwa would be during the pregnancy. "Some asshole came in and kicked me...told me I was a girl so I should use the girls bathrooms....I thought I'd escape this after high school. I guess not." Tears fell down his face, dripping onto the sink beneath him, "just because I'm having a baby doesn't make me a girl...tons of trans men have babies." Seonghwa comforted his boyfriend by tugging him into his arms, rubbing his back gently. "Hey, don't worry about assholes like that. Do you still need to go?" Hongjoong nodded, "I just needed to pee it takes five seconds." , "go. I'll keep watch:" Hongjoong wiped his tears and nodded, kissing his boyfriend quickly before entering the stall again, Seonghwa keeping his promise and guarding it the whole time.

Coming out of the restroom Seonghwa's mother looked worried, "Hongjoong ah, you were in the bathroom for a long time are you okay?" Hongjoong nodded, not wanting to scare his eomma. "Yeah I'm okay, shy bladder." She seemed to have bought the excuse. "Alright, let's get you boys home." The drive home was quiet; Hongjoong's body starting to feel the pain making him groan, which he excused as muscle pain from dance practice. The boys thanked Seonghwa's mother for dinner then headed into the apartment; where Seonghwa quickly pulled his boyfriend into a kiss, "let me check your injuries okay? See how bad they are." , "they aren't bad, just bruises and maybe a sprained ankle. We can get it looked at tomorrow. I want to forget what happened in the bathroom." His hands ran up his boyfriend's chest, "then I'll help you forget." The two shared a heated kiss as they stumbled into their bedroom, locking the door behind them.

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Seonghwa woke up first the next morning; admiring the sight of Hongjoong naked beside him, blanket wrapped around his chest to hide what was underneath. Leaning down to press a kiss to his lovers forehead he slipped out of bed and pulled on his boxers and tank top, he'd just make breakfast in bed for the both of them. Grabbing his phone he decided to check his notifications as he walked into the kitchen; nothing too out of the ordinary, the members complaining about the naughty noises they'd heard, a good morning text from their manager in the group chat, an unknown number texting him...unknown number??

Tapping the notification Seonghwa had assumed it was just a spam text, oh how wrong he was;

📰: Trainee Kim Hongjoong of KQ Entertainment is transgender? And expecting his first child with fellow KQ Trainee park Seonghwa?

His blood froze. Ice flowing through his veins. "Oh fuck-" he let out a shaky breath, the sound of a door being thrown open and frantic footsteps were what made him turn around, "Seonghwa-hyung! This is bad!" Wooyoung was only in his boxers when he shoved his phone in Seonghwa's face.

📰: KQ trainees expecting child? Openly lgbt member is none other than Kim Hongjoong? Former Mixnine contestant?

"This is bad! Is Hongjoong awake!? He's gonna flip. You remember what happened last time he was outed." Seonghwa did remember, very well in fact. The boy had stopped eating and didn't talk to anyone for weeks. Now there was a baby involved; his baby, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to his child. "No he hasn't, go sneak his phone off the nightstand, when he ask where it is tell him it broke. I have a spare he can have." Seonghwa walked over to the closet they kept their extra junk, pulling out a small white Apple box containing an IPhone 8 he'd been given by an atiny despite already having the iPhone X himself. "We gotta keep him from knowing until we know how this got leaked. And put a shirt on!" Wooyoung sheepishly nodded as he ran off, attending to what Seonghwa had asked.

Hongjoong would believe his phone stopped working; he wouldn't believe they weren't hiding something from him, but he'd have to assume the other members didn't get the same news articles. And if they did...who was the one who sent them?