end of the day | seongjoong

chapter fifty five

ding dong!

"seongie's here!" hongjoong stood up from his couch and ran towards the front door, opening it and smiling widely at the boy behind it.

"hello hongjoong." seonghwa greeted the small boy kindly, trying his best to hold back the frown that was threatening to form on his lips.

"hi seongie, come on in!" hongjoong waved the boy to come in and seonghwa complied, walking inside the home as hongjoong shut the door behind him.

"so, what would you like to do tonight?" seonghwa asked once hongjoong walked over to him, grabbing onto the boy's hips and pulling him in close.

"whatever you want to do, i just missed you so much!" hongjoong giggled and seonghwa smiled widely, leaning down to give the boy a quick peck on the lips.

"oh god, that was definitely something i could've went my whole life without seeing." jongho gagged as he walked towards the front door, both seonghwa and hongjoong turning around immediately.

"sorry ho, i didn't know you were there." seonghwa apologized as hongjoong hid his face in seonghwa's chest.

"it's fine, it's really my fault because i just walked in without any warning." jongho laughed and grabbed his wallet and keys, "i'm sadly heading to ryujin's, i'll see you guys in a bit."

seonghwa chucked at jongho's comment and waved goodbye to his friend as he stepped outside and locked the door behind him. hongjoong then let go of the older and ran towards the kitchen, seonghwa following not too far behind.

"what are you doing in here, honey?" seonghwa asked hongjoong who was staring at a freshly baked strawberry shortcake, "oh, now i know."

hongjoong giggled, "i want cake! can we eat together?" hongjoong asked, looking up to seonghwa with doe eyes.

"of course we can." seonghwa smiled and walked towards the drawer, grabbing a cake knife out of it so he could cut the cake for the two of them.

"i'll get plates and forks!" hongjoong screamed out and waddled towards the cabinet, grabbing two plates for him and seonghwa to use and then to the drawer to grab two forks.

hongjoong walked over to seonghwa while holding the glass plates and forks in his hand. he placed the plates with their forks down on the counter for seonghwa to put the cut pieces of strawberry shortcake on them. seonghwa began cutting, giving hongjoong a piece slightly bigger than his own. hongjoong smiled and grabbed the plate with the bigger piece and his fork and ran to the kitchen table, sitting down and immediately devouring the cake.

"wow, you waste no time when it comes to mommy's cake!" seonghwa laughed and hongjoong nodded his head.

"you know how much i love this cake. honestly i think it's my all time favorite dessert!" hongjoong smiled, the strawberry shortcake stuck in his teeth on full display.

as seonghwa ate his cake, he couldn't help but feel terrible about the situation he was putting himself in. sadly, the night before at san's didn't help like he hoped it would. in all honesty, it only made things worse. seonghwa ended up having absolutely no fun at san's party. instead of the alcohol making him forget all the negative thoughts like he hoped for, it amplified them. he couldn't sleep at all, the entire night his mind driving him insane.

seonghwa wasn't the only one whose mind was driving them insane. hongjoong knew about the formal after hearing the morning announcement the day before and he was nervous about it. he wanted to ask seonghwa about it, but he also didn't want to. hongjoong figured seonghwa would take him, but he couldn't be sure about it. he didn't want to be a burden.

i mean... it would make sense if he took me, right? we're kind of a thing, at least i think we are...

"we're both being oddly quiet." seonghwa interrupted hongjoong's running thoughts with a laugh, wanting to start up a conversation to hopefully help him forget about his haunting thoughts.

"yeah, we are." hongjoong agreed with the older as he took another bite of his cake.

"so let's talk about something then. how was your day?" seonghwa asked with a fake smile.

"it was good, a lot better now that you're here." hongjoong smiled, putting his hand out for seonghwa to grab onto which the older accepted.

"you're too sweet, baby." seonghwa smiled and leaned down to place a kiss on the younger's cheek.

"thank you." hongjoong blushed, wiping his cheek after seonghwa kissed it. seonghwa laughed and looked back down to his plate, taking another bite of the delicious cake.

after seonghwa had asked about hongjoong's day, the room went silent again. hongjoong frowned, his heart racing rapidly as he continued to think of the formal. not knowing the answer to his burning question was driving him insane, he felt like it was slowly killing him.

he couldn't wait any longer, hongjoong had to ask seonghwa about the event.

"seongie, i have a question." hongjoong spoke up and seonghwa's eyes widened. he put down his fork and faced the boy, praying that hongjoong wasn't going to ask what he thought he would.

"what is it?" seonghwa replied, sounding a bit shaky.

"i heard that the formal tickets are on sale now... i wanted to know if, um, you know..." hongjoong stopped speaking, growing too nervous to finish his sentence.

"if i'm going to ask you?" seonghwa finished his sentence with a question.

"yeah..." hongjoong mumbled so quietly seonghwa almost missed what he said.

seonghwa sighed to himself. he felt terrible, but he knew what he had to say to the younger.

"i'm sorry joongie... but i can't make it to the formal. i have my aunt's fiftieth birthday party the same night, and my mom told me i can't miss it. i'm so sorry for disappointing you, baby boy. i'm so, so sorry." seonghwa frowned, trying his best to hold back the tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

hongjoong's hopeful eyes immediately changed to ones of sadness. he was hurt beyond belief, but he understood that it wasn't seonghwa's fault that he couldn't make it to the event.

"it's ok. it's not your fault, don't be sorry. i was just excited to go, but it's not a big deal. we can go together next year!" hongjoong turned his frown upside down, trying his best to make light of the mood. seonghwa faked a smile for hongjoong once again.

"yeah, maybe next year." seonghwa spoke quietly, unable to meet hongjoong's eyes.

"now is not the time to be upset, hyung! come on, that's enough cake for the night. let's go play with my plushies!" hongjoong stood up and grabbed seonghwa's hand, dragging the boy to his room upstairs

yep, i'm officially the worst human being alive, seonghwa thought to himself.

since i absolutely hated the last chapter i decided to double update!!!!

also, HAPPY TEN YEARS TO ONE DIRECTION!!! i really might cry. i can't believe it's been ten years already. seems like yesterday up all night came out. i can't believe i was only NINE when i started stanning them... WOW!!!

-vic