The first thing Seonghwa thought as Hongjoong pulled him into his room, was: wow... Yeosang looks so raw... so broken...
With blotchy, mottled cheeks, and swollen dusky lips, it was obvious that he had not had a fantastic day.
'Evening, Hwa~' Wooyoung said softly, giving him a warm smile. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with Yeosang cradled in his arms, but although he too had clearly been crying, he seemed okay at the minute.
'Evening~' he replied, giving the blonde a small smile. 'Sorry to appear with no notice-'
'No no~, you're welcome any time,' he replied. His arms rearranged as Yeosang moved to sit beside him, wiping his eyes and leaning against the bed head.
'Come sit~' Yeosang said sweetly, and his husky, raw voice cut at Seonghwa's heart. The poor thing was wrecked.
'Oh no, I can't-'
Hongjoong suddenly grabbed a hold of him and dragged him over to the bed, leaving him to breath out in surprise. Hongjoong climbed up onto the mattress beside Yeosang, still pulling at him to sit.
And so giving in, Seonghwa perched himself on the edge of the bed, lifting the small bags in his hands up before him.
'Joong told me things haven't been fantastic...' he said softly, and cringed as he saw Yeosang glance down for a moment, picking at his fingers in his lap.
'I know it's not much, and it won't solve anything, but...' he passed each of the blonde boys their respective gifts, and watched hopefully as they accepted them.
He couldn't help but glance at Hongjoong with a small smile as he noticed both Wooyoung and Yeosang exhibit the same reactions, frowning, before hesitantly peeking inside like there might be something potentially dangerous inside. But seeing no such thing would surface, they both let their lips fall open, before looking up in synchronisation.
And as Hongjoong reached over to squeeze his hand, Seonghwa couldn't help but feel his heart go incredibly soft.
'Seonghwa,' Yeosang breathed, blinking a few times as his eyes teared up for a moment. 'You shouldn-'
Shaking his head, he gave the teary boy a smile. 'I hope they don't taste like shit,' he said.
And Yeosang suddenly laughed. Croaky and raspy, yet genuine, he peeked inside the narrow decorative wine bag, before glancing in the other. And he suddenly gasped as he pulled out a little box inside.
'Is this mug from the pharmacy?' he breathed with a small smirk on his lips.
Seonghwa cringed. 'Pretend it's not? I thought it was nice... It reminded me of your three...'
He watched as Yeosang picked up the little decorative mug box and showed it to Wooyoung.
And the blonde gasped, melting immediately. 'It's got little kittens on it~' he breathed, gazing at the little artworks inking the ceramic.
Yeosang reached an arm around him and hugged him, kissing the top of his forehead before turning back with teary eyes. 'Thank you, Seonghwa,' he said softly, wiping his cheeks with his sleeves.
'You're welcome... I know I probably should say anything but... I'm sorry... about...' He could barely bring himself to finish his sentence.
But Yeosang just smiled, brushing it off. 'Don't be~ What's life without a little drama?'
Seonghwa stared at him, restraining from sarcastically saying well, you probably could have gone without this drama.
Yeosang chuckled a little under his breath. 'Anyway. Did you just get off work?' he asked.
'I did.'
'Stay for dinner?'
Seonghwa's lips fell apart in surprise. 'Oh, no, it's oka-'
But Hongjoong suddenly squeezed his hand, and as Seonghwa let his eyes rest softly upon him, he saw him smile, nodding. 'Stay~' he whispered.
Melting to his core, he had been just about to force himself to say no, I should leave you all alone, when Yeosang suddenly clapped softly.
'Good. It's settled then.' And the effort in his voice to sound lively was both crushing, and heartwarming at the same time. He shot him a solemn, yet still playful smirk, and Seonghwa couldn't help but find himself chuckling softly. 'Up you get, Woo. Let's go cook something, hmm?'
Wooyoung gave his brother a smile before he obeyed, crawling out of bed.
And as Yeosang filed out beside him, he picked up the gifts and put them on the bedside table. Shooing Wooyoung around the bed towards the door, he softly teased him playfully by ruffling his hair, whispering 'out you go, we're enough wheels to be a car.'
And as the two left the room entirely, Seonghwa glanced at Hongjoong beside him, watching him turn around to sit beside him and sink into his chest.
'Hwa, thank you for being so kind to my family,' he whispered, resting his cheek into his chest.
Seonghwa wrapped his arms around his body, trying to make his embrace as comforting, and as encompassing as he possibly could for him. 'Your family becomes my family, baby. I know I'm probably coming on strong, but I am serious about you, and I want you to know that I want to be here for you, and your family. I love you... and I worry about you...'
And of course he did worry that maybe Hongjoong thought he was too much... But god, he could barely believe himself, just how serious he felt... how much he loved Hongjoong...
In his eyes this was it. This was the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
Hongjoong, was the only one he wanted.
And so he didn't want to half-ass it. He wanted to commit, and he wanted to do all the things for him that he wanted to do...
But he was also very aware that he had felt things for Hongjoong, far longer than he had for him, and it was probably a lot to have him coming on so strong...
But as he looked down at the boy in his arms, he saw Hongjoong gaze up at him with a look that seemed somewhat new...
Seonghwa wanted to instantly commit it to memory.
'Hwa, you're not coming on too strong at all...' he breathed, letting him take a deep, relieved breath. 'Seonghwa, you make me feel protected, and solid... You feel safe... And baby, I want to be all those things for you, too.'
Seonghwa melted. His heart, that was already overflowing with love before, was over-swept by another wave of fondness and enchantment, leaving him unsure how he was even able to live through how much he felt for this man.
'I love you, so much. Do you know that?' Seonghwa asked, reaching up and gently brushing his index finger down the bleach blonde hair falling softly over his forehead.
And as Hongjoong's lips pulled into a playful smile, and his arms around him tightened, Seonghwa melted.
'Yes, I do recall hearing that once or twice before~'
~~~