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The dorm was blessedly silent for once, and Hongjoong was glad that they had gotten the whole day off after their dance practice in the morning. All of the members had been incredibly stressed for a while already, with their comeback still going on and a tour around the corner, this dance practice had been the tipping point. The dances started to get out of sync, and everyone grew frustrated as they had to do them again, and again, and again.
When they finally arrived home, almost all of the members headed straight to bed, with the exception of Wooyoung, who went to meet some friends, Hongjoong and Seonghwa. The leader was seated on the couch and had been trying to produce some more songs that he and EDEN could work on after the tour, when he was approached by a teary eyed Seonghwa. The boy stood in front of him with his cute bunny stuffy in his hand, wearing one of Mingi’s oversized sweaters, and just looking too adorable to be true. The vocalist asked him if he could ‘please take care of him’. And Hongjoong is such a weak man, there is no way he would ever be able to say no to that.
So he put his laptop on the table and opened his arms wide to invite the boy for a hug. Seonghwa sat on his lap and snuggled his face in the place between Hongjoong’s neck and shoulder, already feeling a thousand times more relaxed.
“What do you wanna do today, bun?” Hongjoong asked. He secretly hopes that the little doesn’t want to play chase or anything as active as that, he really doesn’t have the energy for that right now.
“Just wanna watch movie, Joongie,” he answered, and really, Hongjoong knew how tired Seonghwa was, of course he wouldn’t have the energy to run around the dorm.
“Sure baby, which one do you want to watch?” He turned on the television and opened Netflix, “We have Frozen, the Lorax, How to Train Your Dragon, The Incredibles, anything you want.”
The little thought for a moment before sitting up with a gasp. “Wanna watch Dragon! Toothless is so cute, Joongie!”
The leader agreed and they moved into a more comfortable position on the couch; They were sitting on the sectional with Seonghwa sitting between Hongjoong’s legs with his back pressed to the others front. Seonghwa had slid down a little so he could rest his head on Hongjoong’s chest, still clutching his bunny tight to his chest.
Hongjoong put the movie on and soon enough Seonghwa was totally invested in the movie. The caregiver could only sit there and watch as his little’s face lit up at the sight of his favourite dragon, and he exclaimed “Look Joongie! Its Toothless!”. The sight made his heart warm up, and he was so happy that he could have moments like these in his life as an idol.
“Wow, it’s you, baby!” He teased, and it made the little giggle. It was probably the cutest sound Hongjoong had ever heard, and he was sure that his heart was going to give up soon with how often it skipped a beat, or squeezed a little harder when Seonghwa did something cute.
Both boys felt a lot more relaxed at the end of the movie, and Hongjoong could feel Seonghwa slumping on him about halfway through the movie. The poor boy was probably exhausted after such a tiring week.
“What do you want to do now, bub?” Hongjoong asked, and before the little could get an answer out his stomach answered for him with a loud growl.
“Lunch it is then,” the caregiver laughed. He moved off the couch and held his hand out for Seonghwa to take. Seonghwa, however, didn’t feel like walking and tugged on Hongjoong’s sleeve to get his attention, and then held his arms out as a sign that he wanted to get picked up.
It seemed that his baby was a little younger than usual then, Hongjoong thought as he moved to pick the little up, leaving his bunny behind. It looked like it should have been impossible for the rapper to pick him up because he was so short, but he was a lot stronger than people thought.
Once arrived in the kitchen Hongjoong sat his baby down on the counter and searched through the fridge to find something that was somewhat healthy. He was so grateful for San and Jongho and their crazy healthy food obsession when he found some strawberries in the back, between all the protein yoghurts.
“Does Hwa want to eat some strawberries?” Hongjoong asked, although he knew the answer would be yes, Seonghwa was obsessed with fruits when he was little.
“Yes please, Joongie!” He answered, so the caregiver washed and cut the strawberries and put them in a plastic bowl. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks and stood back in front of the little, grabbing a strawberry with his chopsticks. Hongjoong held them out to Seonghwa, who happily bit down on the strawberry and ate it.
Hongjoong had to physically hold himself back from pinching those cute little cheeks until they’re red. But how can he not want that? His baby is so unbelievably adorable with his cheeks stuffed full with strawberries, looking just like a baby bunny.
When Seonghwa finished all of the fruit he put the empty bowl in the dishwasher and made a move to pick Seonghwa back up and bring him to the living room, but he was stopped by the little.
“Joongie wait! I-I- uhm,” The little was too embarrassed to finish his sentence, but luckily Hongjoong knew him well enough to guess what he wanted to say.
“What does my prince want, hm?”
Seonghwa squirmed at the new nickname from where he sat on the kitchen counter.
“Joongie, bottle?” he answered, and Hongjoong felt his heart squeeze at the way his little covered his face with his pink sweater paws. And oh, he must have done something incredible in his past life to be allowed to see someone so special, in such a vulnerable state.
“And how do we ask that nicely, bun?” He watched as his baby’s sweater paws left his face and his eyes become all big and sparkly as he looks at Hongjoong.
“Please! Can I has my bottle? I been so good today!” He whined, and Hongjoong planted a kiss on his forehead as reward.
“Of course baby, because you asked so nicely.” The caregiver grabbed the space theme bottle from the cabinet and filled it with some milk and honey, his boy’s favourite combination. He put the bottle in the microwave for a short bit and checked the temperature before giving it to Seonghwa. The little only fiddled with it before he held it out to Hongjoong again, a cute blush adorning his cheeks.
“What is it, baby? Don’t you like it? I’ll make you a new one, alright?” He was already turning around when he felt a tug on his sleeve, “Is something wrong, Hwa?”
The little shook his head and bit on the inside of his cheek, “Joongie, you give me bottle please?” the rapper was a bit confused and started to hand the bottle back to him, but then he realised.
“Of course, bub. Why don’t we move back to the couch, you will be more comfy there, okay?” His baby nodded in response and lifted his arms up so Hongjoong could carry him. The caregiver wrapped Seonghwa’s legs around his middle and used his free arm to hold him up by his bottom.
Hongjoong moved them over to the couch and sat down with his back against the armrest and his legs spread out. Seonghwa was sat on his lap, facing Hongjoong, but he slid down and turned around to lie with his cheek against his caregiver’s chest and his legs curled up, which seemed to be his favourite position to be in. Hongjoong spotted the forgotten bunny on the floor and leaned over to grab it, earning an annoyed whine from Seonghwa as he moved.
“Look, baby, your bunny,” he said. The little immediately reach his arms out for it, and squished it against his face when Hongjoong gave it to him. “Bunny! Thank you Joongie, you the best ever!” He squealed and settled back on Hongjoong, who cuddled the little close to his chest and held the bottle in front of his face. Seonghwa took the nipple into his mouth and began sucking on it, enjoying the milk warming up his belly.
He started feeling sleepier, and had trouble keeping his eyes open. Hongjoong ran his fingers through the soft strands of his hair, and planted a kiss atop his head. Never before had he felt so at peace, with not a single thing to worry about.
Seonghwa finished the bottle and let go of it, putting his thumb in his mouth. “Oh no baby, don’t put your thumb in your mouth, you know that that is dirty,” Hongjoong said. He put the bottle on the table and removed the little’s thumb from his mouth, earning him a whine. Luckily for Seonghwa, and Hongjoong, the caregiver had put his favourite pacifier on the table since he had a feeling that Seonghwa might need it today.
He grabbed it from the table and put it in his baby’s mouth. The paci was space themed, just like his bottle. It had a cute planet on the button, and some stars on the shield.
It had surprised Hongjoong at first, how much little Seonghwa liked space. He had expected dragons and fairy tales instead, not that the little didn’t like those, and he loved those nearly as much, but space was really came in first.
Hongjoong was so glad that the vocalist trusted him enough to let himself be taken care of by him. It warmed his heart thinking about all the time they spent together while Seonghwa was in his headspace. Taking care of the little was an amazing experience, and he was surprised at how relaxing it had been for the both of them the first time, and as he thinks about all of this he can feel the stress that had been building up during the past couple of weeks vanish. He loved his baby so much, and he hoped that Seonghwa knew, because he wasn’t sure how to express it in words.
“Thank you, papa,” the little mumbled, and oh, this was new; Seonghwa had never called him something other than Joongie when he was in his headspace. Being his papa felt so special, he could feel his heart warm up and he held his baby just a little tighter.
“No problem bun, go to sleep now, okay? Papa will be here when you wake up,” he replied. The caregiver felt him let out a deep sigh and slowly fall asleep.
“Kay, love you, papa,” the little mumbled, before falling asleep.
“Love you too, baby”
Everything was going to be alright, as long as he had his baby in his arms.