end of the day | seongjoong

chapter thirty nine

hongjoong woke up bright and early tuesday morning, excited for the day ahead of him. it was hongjoong's favorite day of the year, his birthday!

as soon as he sat up, he could smell the fresh brewing coffee and could hear the flipping of pancakes from the kitchen. without even bothering to look presentable, hongjoong ran downstairs, too excited to begin the celebration.

"good morning baby! happy birthday!" hongjoong's mom cheered as she turned around to face her smiling son.

"thank you mommy! i'm finally seventeen!" hongjoong ran into her arms, hugging his mother tightly.

the woman cuddled into her son, kissing the top of his head, "yes, you're getting so big!"

"mhm, i am." hongjoong giggled into his hands after he broke the hug, moving over to the table to take a seat.

"well, i obviously had to make your favorite this morning... strawberry pancakes with strawberry yogurt on the side! i have strawberry milk for you too!" she cheered, earning screeches and claps from her son.

"i love you so so much mommy! you're the best mommy ever!" hongjoong smiled widely at his beautiful mother, thanking her from the bottom of his heart.

"anything for my baby, especially on his special day!" she placed the pancakes on a plate and scooped out yogurt on the side, placing it in front of hongjoong.

hongjoong waited patiently for his mother to finish her plate, wanting to eat his birthday breakfast with her. thankfully, it didn't take long for her to finish her own plate and sit down. hongjoong immediately started digging in, his mother laughing at how he looked with food filling up in his cheeks.

"you know what mom, this is the best birthday ever!" hongjoong spoke with a mouth full of yogurt. his mother grabbed a napkin and leaned over the table, cleaning up all the yogurt off of his lips.

"why is this the best birthday ever, joongie?" she asked.

"because i think seonghwa likes me back!" hongjoong smiled down at his food as he spoke. his mother's interest was peaked, looking up from her plate into her son's eyes.

"oh really? what makes you think that?" she questioned.

"well, he's always been nice to me..." lies, but i'll look past that... hongjoong thought to himself, "but recently, he's been even nicer than usual! on friday, we played tea party together! he even wore jongho's prince jacket. and on saturday, we built a fort together and watched a movie! since he always lets me pick, i let him pick the movie that time... and he picked one i loved too! he picked the spongebob movie, i didn't know we had similar taste! he even asked me for my phone number! maybe jongho's good word worked!" hongjoong bounced in his seat, giggling to himself as he spoke.

hongjoong's mother was honestly shocked. she was very happy for her son, but didn't expect him to say those things to her.

"baby, that's incredible. i'm so happy for you!" she cheered, genuinely excited for her son.

hongjoong finished the last bits of his pancakes and yogurt, licking the plate clean, "thank you mommy! but i better get ready for school now, so i'll see you later!"

when hongjoong sprung up and sprinted towards his room, jongho emerged from his own bedroom, yawning and scratching the back of his head as he walked into the kitchen.

"thanks for joining us for your brother's birthday breakfast." his mother rolled her eyes and laughed, not surprised that her son didn't get up in time to celebrate with the two of them.

"hey, it's not my fault hongjoong wakes up before dawn on his birthday!" jongho defended himself.

"it's fine, don't worry. i know you have that food drive tonight, so you'll be missing dinner. you better be available for cake tonight." she gave her son a stern look and he lifted his hands up in defense.