end of the day | seongjoong

chapter twenty two

as eleven o'clock neared, hongjoong sat on yeosang's bed patiently. he was waiting for his brother to text him that he was outside, but he was taking forever to show up.

yeosang fell asleep... where is he?, hongjoong thought to himself.

thankfully, he got a text from jongho not even two minutes later.

jongie hyung
hey, we're here

joongie
ok be right out!

hongjoong hesitantly poked his friend, waking him up from his slumber, "sorry sangie, but my brother is here." he sheepishly said.

yeosang rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stood up, "it's ok, i'll walk you out." yeosang said and led hongjoong towards the front door of his house.

"bye mrs. kang!" hongjoong waved goodbye to yeosang's mom who waved back.

"goodnight, sweetie. i'll see you soon!" she called as the boy walked outside.

"i'll text you tomorrow sang!" hongjoong said as he neared yunho's car.

"ok, bye!" yeosang waved one last time before shutting the door and heading back to bed.

before hongjoong could open the door to yunho's car, his brother stepped out, "here hongjoong, sit in the middle seat. you're the smallest out of all of us." he motioned for hongjoong to enter the car to which he obeyed.

as he shuffled his way into the car, he realized who he was going to have to sit next to on the way home.

seonghwa.

hongjoong's eyes widened, not expecting to see the older in the car. instead of saying anything to seonghwa when entering the car, hongjoong quietly took his seat, not wanting to bother him as he usually did.

"hey hongjoong." yunho lowered the radio and turned around, smiling at the small boy.

"hi yunho." hongjoong whispered out as jongho took the seat next to him, squishing in.

once the car door shut, yunho began driving off. although hongjoong felt suffocated in the small car, the boy tried his best to ignore the feeling.

his heart began racing as it typically did when he was near seonghwa. the only other time he's been this close to the boy was the time when he awkwardly admitted his feelings for seonghwa, but that only lasted for about ten seconds. now, he has to deal with the boy being pressed up against him for a five minute car ride.

"mingi, turn the volume back up!" jongho called from beside hongjoong, scaring him out of his thoughts. mingi gave the boy a thumbs up and raised the volume of the radio, blasting 'view' by shinee.

as the music blared through hongjoong's eardrums, he continued to grow more uncomfortable in his seat as the seconds passed. not only was everyone in the car scream singing horribly off key and slightly scaring him, but he was also forced to be squished up against his crush for an entire car ride.

as he was sitting in the stuffy car, seonghwa's arm began hurting him. he was in an uncomfortable position, bending his arm in a way it doesn't naturally bend. he lifted his arm and began moving it towards the boy sitting beside him.

"hey, do you mind if i put my arm around you?" he asked hongjoong nonchalantly. hongjoong's eyes widened, gulping loudly after hearing seonghwa's request.

"um, y-yeah. that's fine." hongjoong choked out, earning a grin from seonghwa as he placed his arm around the boy's lower back.

as soon as hongjoong felt seonghwa's arm around his waist, his breath hitched. he felt even more suffocated, his heart racing even faster than before.