ateez family au

o37

Seonghwa felt like breaking down, his knees were already trembling. He felt guilty, she was his mother after all. He could only imagine how Hongjoong was feeling... But this wasn't something new, the had experienced something like that before, Seonghwa couldn't let that happen over and over again. Somewhere it had to stop, he had to show his husband the hard truth at some point. But it didn't help his feelings for guilt though. He should have told Hongjoong in another way.

~

Seonghwa walked up the stairs, turning back to his schedule. He wanted to get his mind on other things, he couldn't keep thinking of his husband and the events of that evening. So, he had made a big dinner, a full menu and had set the table already. Now, only his kids were missing.

Carefully, he knocked on the door of Mingi and Yunho's room, as the most noises were coming out of there. The voices died down as he pushed open the door. "Dinner is ready, come on down, don't let it cool down" he announced giving them a bright smile. He pushed the door wider open when the boys stood up and tried to fit through the frame at the same time. Jongho was left behind as he couldn't stand up as fast as his brothers. But Mingi turned around before leaving, pulling the youngest by his hand. Watching them made the parent coo for a moment. He helped them down the stairs though, walking up was one thing but walking down another.

"Ahh! It smells solo delicious~" San marked, taking his seat in the dining room. His eyes widened when he saw the variations of food he could choose from. His father really had to get a lot off his mind, you could taste it.

Everyone settled and grabbed their utensils, when Yunhk stopped in his tracks. "Where is Dad?" he asked curious.

Seonghwa, sitting at the one head of the table, slowly lifted his head. "Daddy is out... He's going to come late. I put food to the side for him. Don't worry about him" he assured, turning back to his food. Seonghwa didn't really know why it felt so uncomfortable talking about Hongjoong, maybe it was the fact that he didn't know 'where' he was exactly. He wouldn't try to call him after he dinner.

"I thought grandmother was going to stay until dinner?" Yeosang asked confused.

"Oh, she had to go home early today. Dad brought her home" the father replied. Everyone seemed to be satisfied with that answer and didn't ask anything else afterwards. Instead they told about their day and what they did all day. Of course, the kids were very curious about why their parents had left to the hospital earlier that day. Seonghwa didn't want to explain them that they were expecting another sibling into the household, first, because it would take a lot of explaining and second, he thought it was just a little to early. He would have to do the entire thing at some point anyway but today wasn't that day.

~

"Okay boys, Wooyoung and Jongho go first, then Mingi and Yunho, then San and Yeosang, ab? In that right order" Seonghwa ordered, getting the bathroom ready to shower his kids. He himself was pretty tired by now, so he didn't bother to fill the tub, but prepared the shower, turning the water to a warm temperature. He had also taken off his shirt and changed into shorts, as he would probably get wet from head to toe.

"Yesh" Jongho replied, climbing into his feet. He didn't wait for Wooyoung to follow as he stumbled down the hallway to the bathroom.

"Ah, where you going alone!" Seonghwa hushed after him, Wooyoung stumbling behind. He caught the youngest before he could step into the wet shower with his clothes on. "First we take these off, bunny. Look, just like Wooyoung does it" Seonghwa chuckled, helping Jongho out of his clothes. He helped them in and turned on the water. Washing Jongho was a dream, he let you do what you needed to do and that was it. Wooyoung on the other hand, well, he loved playing around. So, he curious boy yanked the hose of the  showerhead, making it fall down and spray directly in Seonghwa's face.

"Whoopsiee"

~

"Papa! I can wash my hair right, look!" Yunho said proudly, demonstrating his skills.

"Of course you can, you're so big by now!" Seonghwa agreed, laughing when the boy got shampoo in his eyes and begged to get it rinsed out.

"I can do that too! Look!" Mingi said and grabbed the bottle of Seonghwa's conditioner and emptied the whole thing on his head before his father could interfere.

"Mingi- no-"

~

"You look tired, Papa" San said as he tried washing his hair but he was thankful when Seongega took over.

"It's really late, baby. Papa needs his sleep too" Seonghwa replied and gave San the showerhead to rinse the shampoo off, while he moved to Yeosang, helping him out. Seonghwa was soaking by now, water dripping from his bangs. He would go shower himself later anyway. "And you two go to sleep immediately, ah? You have school tomorrow!"

"Yes. Promise"

~

Silence came upon the house, everyone was peacefully sleeping. Everyone except for Seonghwa. He had been busy putting everyone into bed and was now ready to take his own shower and finally fall into his bed.

The warm droplets of the shower greeted his cool skin, making him hiss for a moment. The water had coated him in seconds, his muscles finally relaxing. Seonghwa caught himself breathing out in relief, he had been so tensed up and now everything slowly getting to calm down.

Where is he?

And so his moment of peace was gone already. He had tried to call him a hundred times, no answer but Hongjoong had read all of the messages Seonghwa had sent him, somehow that relieved him. It meant he just didn't want to talk, nor that he couldn't. Seonghwa had known it would end up like this; him coming in the middle of the night, thinking he was asleep and then falling asleep himself. Seonghwa would wait, of course he would. He couldn't fall asleep the other way.

So, he finished his shower, night routine and laid down under the covers, waiting.

~

The streets were soulless when Hongjoong drove down. It was an unholy hour when he turned his way and was heading back home. He hadn't planned it to be this late, but driving under the influence of that bottle wine wasn't on his list. So he had to wait until the effect was over.

Silently he turned the key in its lock, entering his home. It was dark, cold even. Hongjoong carefully made his was up the stairs, checking on the kids while passing their doors. The last one was his own bedroom. As quiet as possible he slid through the frame, closing the door right behind him. Before taking another step, he sniffed his clothes.

Shower, right now.

He smelled like a mixture of sweat, alcohol and tears. Taking out fresh boxers and pajama pants, Hongjoong proceeded to the attached bathroom, taking a ice-cold fastt shower to clear his mind. It really helped, made his headache almost go away. Stepping out, he threw over what he had grabbed before and went to bed. The moment he laid down, his eyes studied Seonghwa's expression. He knew he wasn't sleeping, but he didn't want to show that. Hongjoong crawled a little closer, was then greeted by a warm hug immediately. It happened faster than he could process. The very moment his face was pressed against Seonghwa's beating heart, memories and emotions from a couple hours earlier hit the man a second time. Everything just came over him like a wave, sweeping him off of his feet. He couldn't stop it anymore.

-
Hello! How are you guys doing?

Soo, i am more or less back xD I just got so tired the past days. Like literally. I fell asleep tying twice ^^' I don't really know how and why, I'm really sleepy out of nowhere somehow and then poof, I fall asleep outta nowhere.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and I apologize for any mistakes beforehand because I'm literally driving off while tying again holy shot.

Please stay healthy and safe!

-gulkurusubb