When Jongho came back to the living room, Wooyoung and San were crying hugging each other, Mingi, Yunho and Yeosang were close to tears while Seonghwa was just sad.
"Hyung's so strong" sniffled Yeosang looking at Jongho.
"I know..." murmured the maknae, looking at the duo crying on the couch. While San was trying to compose himself, Wooyoung was full on sobbing clinging to his soulmate, who was trying to calm down both himself and his friend.
"Me and Seonghwa hyung had a plan" announced Jongho, catching everyone's attention. San passed a paper tissue to Wooyoung before taking one himself, both trying to calm down enough to listen to the youngest.
"So... we were planning to report the babysitter who did that to Hongjoong that night" started Seonghwa, looking at the members' faces to see their reactions.
"But what can we possibly say? I mean, he hasn't done anything to us, except Joong of course, so how can we accuse him?" Yunho reasoned.
"With Hongjoong's permission, we wanted to tell our manager about that night's events, so he can take action instead of us" explained Jongho. Everyone nodded, some more convinced than others.
"Alright... but will our manager believe us? What if he doesn't? What if Hongjoong tells the manager about his past for nothing? He couldn't even tell us, just think about how telling the manager will be hard for him" pointed out Yeosang, who after Jongho was the most protective of the little.
"You're right, we don't know for sure. But manager-nim loves us, especially Hongjoong, and he knows we wouldn't randomly make up something so serious" Jongho tried to convince the others.
The members looked at each other, trying to find in each other the reassurance that everything would be okay.
The next few hours were spent creating every possible scenario, making up every possible question their manager could ask them and preparing the answers. Until a messy haired Hongjoong entered the living room, rubbing his eyes as he let out a small yawn.
"What did I miss?" asked the leader, still sleepy.
"Nothing hyung, don't worry. Can we go shopping today?" Yeosang didn't want to tell him what was happening when the boy had just woken up, so he decided to wait, choosing an activity that would hopefully wake up the older a bit.
"Sure" nodded Hongjoong, looking at the others to see if they were willing to tag along. When he didn't receive any disapproving reaction he rubbed his eyes again.
"I'll go get ready then" the leader disappeared again, coming back a few minutes later in a simple outfit.
"I'm here, let's go." Hongjoong said before leading them all out of the door. The drive to the mall was uneventful, the loud ones toning down their voice volumes to not disturb the leader, who looked still tired and out of it. Everyone had noticed how the few words Hongjoong had spoken since waking up were hesitant and quiet, but whether it was his headspace, a headache or simple sleepiness to blame, they didn't know.
"Woo-hoo! Freedom!" shouted Wooyoung, hopping off the van once it stopped.
"Tone it down please" reminded Seonghwa softly, seeing how Hongjoong had winced at the sudden loud noise.
"You have a headache hyung?" asked Yeosang. Once he received a nod he hummed worriedly but decided to not comment further, instead leaving the leader's side to check on his best friend, who was telling San about all the things he wanted to buy.
The boys slowly made their way to the mall, checking each other to see if anyone forgot to put on a face mask or cap.
"Joong, you forgot your hat. Everyone will recognize you" Hongjoong looked up at Seonghwa confused and disoriented, before remembering he had dyed his hair bright blue for their comeback. Sighing he let his only hyung place a fisherman hat on his head, a big one that was able to cover his unmistakable hair color.
"Are you okay hyung?" bless Jongho and his observant nature.
"I'm fine Jong. Thanks" the leader forced a smile before encouraging everyone to enter the building.
"Guys, let's pair up. Everyone, choose your partner and tell me your plans" encouraged Seonghwa. Usually it was Hongjoong's favorite line when they all went shopping, but the leader seemed out of it and Seonghwa didn't want anyone (Wooyoung) to complain about having little time to visit around.
"I'll go with Sannie! We'll go to Adidas first, then Nike and afterwards we'll find somewhere to sit down and have a snack" announced Wooyoung, grabbing San's arm.
Seonghwa nodded, then looked at Jongho.
"I'll go with Yeosang hyung to Calvin Klein and then to get a new pair of earphones for hyung" said the maknae.
"We don't know yet, I guess we'll just roam around until we find something that catches our eye" Yunho said, Mingi nodding behind him.
"So me and Joong are left to do grocery shopping for you all" sighed Seonghwa, though he didn't expect anyone to be responsible enough to offer to do it instead.
Wooyoung nodded, a grin appearing on his face.
"Thank you hyung" everyone laughed at Wooyoung's tone, mocking a child talking to their mom. Even Hongjoong smiled a little, though his joy was short lived, the smile quickly replaced by a distant expression.
After Seonghwa gave permission to everyone to go, he faced Hongjoong, who had zoned out sitting on a bench nearby.
"Joong?" whispered quietly Seonghwa, not wanting to startle the leader. Flinching, Hongjoong returned to reality and blinked a few times.
"Huh? Where are the boys?" asked the younger confused.
"They left to do their own shopping" explained Seonghwa.
"Come on now, we gotta go grocery shopping for the kids" chuckled the oldest, dragging the leader to the supermarket.
Grabbing a cart, Seonghwa started to get all the food they needed to restock at their dorm, while Hongjoong started wandering in the huge supermarket, getting distracted by all the things he saw.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Blue haired Hongjoong makes me feel something I can't explain it's just so perfect in blue, like pink haired Seonghwa and whatever color Yeosang had in Movement era (btw i became an atiny in halazia/bouncy era I think)
Also Joong zoning out every 2 seconds is taken from my personal experience lmao
Got some new skincare products and got a boost of motivation haha i still need to get a good moisturizer and I was thinking abt the Beauty of Joseon one cause korean skincare = best skincare yk
Also pls if u have any friends interested in buying kpop stuff send them to my vinted/insta acc (@/chimchimluvskpop) i need to get rid of like most of my albums and photocards and buy a new binder cuz mine broke
So I'll be on vacation from the 9th and we'll be going to the USA but we can't bring our dog so I'm so sad guys I'll probably cry ngl
Just kidding I don't cry. Or maybe I do. We'll never know... 👀
Anyways remember to drink some water cause hydration is the key to nice skin (me in my skincare era lmao) eat some good food and stay safe! Oh, and don't forget sleep guys. Sleep. (not me saying this as if it wasn't 1:15am lol)
(I'm such a yapper lmao sorry for this long A/N I'll stop I promise)
Love you all, see you in the next one!
~Nabi
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...
