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it's friday night- hongjoong's favorite day of the week! (which he can proudly say he's remembered while singing songs with hwa or at school).
seonghwa started a little mini tradition that every friday, him and his hyungs all get together and watch movies (of course age appropriate for the younger).
the older has also come to terms with that since the kitten started going to daycare, he hasn't seen his hyungs as much as he used to; going from seeing them everyday, to maybe once a week.
he'll never forget the time where hongjoong was upset over not seeing them in a long time- hongjoong was genuinely upset that he even started losing interest in going to school because he knew he wouldn't be able to see his jongie or even yunnie hyungie.
and seonghwa knew how important it was for the kitten- after all, each one of his friends have helped seonghwa raising him that he's pretty much like his brothers.
the kitten coming from a not so big family, it means the world to him that he's gained 6 brothers, grandparents, and of course, his hwa (who he definitely views as his mother.)
so, for hongjoong's sake, he reduced his days of going to daycare from 4 days a week to only 2. (which he swears he heard his bank account take a breath of relief.)
it's also a win/win situation for seonghwa as well; when his friends come over, he's able to get some last minute work done before the weekend.
and that's where the friday night movie tradition came to be.
-
just as seonghwa was helping hongjoong put on his socks, the pair hear the front door open; followed by loud voices and shouts.
(seonghwa internally curses at himself in this moment for giving his friends a spare key to his place)
hongjoong, however, begins to perk up. his cat ears twitch in excitement as he squeals with joy " hwa! my 'yungies!"
the older ruffles his curly hair, helping him off the bed. "I can oh so definitely hear them. let's go say hi, baby"
hongjoong pretty much runs out the room, stopping when he reaches the staircase. he waits for seonghwa to join him as he holds his hand out for him.
"hwa safe...hol' my han', p'ease"
and while grumbling under his breath, he holds the kitten's hand. 'you trip on the stairs one time' seonghwa internally scolds himself.
he totally and definitely ignores the snickers coming from his friends as they watch hongjoong holding onto the older's hand as they walk down the stairs.
when they reach the bottom is when hongjoong runs from each hyung, greeting them with the strongest grip of a hug he can mystery up.
"hey, joongs, we missed you so much!" yunho smiles as the kitten makes his way over to the taller, wrapping him in a big hug.
yunho picks him up with ease, watching as the kitten giggles from his height.
"miss my 'yungies...I sa' and cry a'yot..."
seonghwa backs away as he watches everyone crowd over the kitten. and hongjoong- he's basking in the affection. loud purrs filling the room and everyone's ears.
"alright, everyone, go sit in the living room, snacks will be out shortly"
just as yunho placed hongjoong down, jongho grabbed his hand as they all raced into the living room. seonghwa and san stayed behind to help prepare the snacks.
-
"how is school going for him?" san questions. seonghwa grabs four big bowls and places them all out.
"it's going pretty good for him. it was a little on the rough side in the beginning, but he's grown accustomed to it."
"that's a relief" san rummages through the cabinet and grabs a chip bag. seonghwa begins to pop some popcorn in the microwave.
"it is, but he's been in a funk lately. I think he really needs this movie night tonight." he turns to lean over the counter "you should have seen him earlier in the week. he was literally bawling his eyes out because he misses you guys. I haven't seen him that upset in a while"
san pats him on the back reassuringly "it's okay, you always do what's best for him. now...you did mention something about having some work you need to finish?"
seonghwa's eye light up "shoot, I almost forgot. you guys don't mind right?"
"of course not!" san exclaims, perhaps a little too loudly. he turns seonghwa by the shoulders and gently nudges him out the room. "go, go, he'll be fine with us. don't worry"
seonghwa turns around briefly, pointing finger aiming at him. san internally groans. 'here comes another lecture'. "please just make sure the movie is appropriate. his new obsession is disney movies. If you put one on, he'll literally sit for the whole 2 hours."
san nods, already pushing him out the door. "he'll be fine...if anything, we'll come get you"
just as seonghwa leaves the kitchen and heads into his office, the microwave beeps- the aroma of butter lingers into the living room.
-
"alright! have we decided what movie to watch?" san places the big bowls onto the coffee table, squealing as everyone begins to devour the junk food; while also keeping seonghwa's rule in mind.
no messes, especially in the living room.
everyone sits contently either on the couch or the floor with blankets and pillows. hongjoong sits snuggly inbetween his yunnie and minnie hyung, blanket in one hand and his sippy cup in the other.
"wan' dinny mo'bie!" hongjoong exclaims, ears perked up high. his eyes practically hold stars in them as he looks up at his sannie hyung.
and who is san to tell him no?
"alright, honey, we'll watch your disney movies" they hear a small "yes!" from none other than hongjoong as he snuggles deeper into his blanket.
the kitten sits quietly, absentmindedly gnawing at the rubber tip of his sippy cup as the movie begins.
and at first, san didn't really take seonghwa's word- but it turns out that hongjoong really does take a liking to disney movies- so much that he sat for 3 full movies.
even when he had to go to the bathroom, he pleaded with round eyes for them to pause it. he didn't want to miss a second of the movie but also any moment with his hyungs.
the younger would have sat for almost 4 movies, but mingi noticed that his shoulder felt a little heavier; when he looked down, he realized that the kitten was knocked out, blanket smushed near his face.
none of them had the heart to move him, afraid he would wake up crying or grumpy (and all 6 of them definitely know by now that they don't want to be greeted by a grumpy hongjoong).
"should we get seonghwa to move him to bed?" yunho whispers above the sleeping kitten.
wooyoung simply waves his hand, shaking his head. "as much I love watching disney movies, I kinda wanna watch something else"
san's heart kind of sinks at the way wooyoung's eyes begin to glint, peaking into the hallway ever so often.
'this can't be good' he mumbles to himself.
the group watches as yunho joins wooyoung, being careful not to wake up hongjoong, as the pair situate themselves a little closer to the t.v.
suddenly yunho gasps (of course, at a low volume). "let's watch a horror movie! im kind of in the mood for one"
once again, wooyoung's eyes light up as if it's Christmas morning. "yunnie, you big brilliant genius!"
san's heart once again plummets to his feet as he remembers seonghwa's words. "uhh, guys...seonghwa said to keep it age appropriate..."
yeosang gently nudges him "it's fine, plus, he's out like a light anyway."
"yeah, but mingi is terrible at watching horror movies. one tiny jumpscare and he'll be screaming like a little girl!" san tries to argue. he really doesn't feel like getting a scolding from seonghwa, nor doesn't want to know what would happen if hongjoong woke up due to the movie.
"would you relax, you're such a worry wort! chill out, seonghwa's upstairs and hongjoong is sleeping. we're good!" jongho slightly pouts while his eyebrows are furrowed. his san hyung can be a little dramatic at times.
san, once again, sighs in defeat. he can already hear seonghwa ranting to them. he's just nervous about what would happen if hongjoong woke up and saw what was playing.
--------
hongjoong was sleeping peacefully. keyword: was.
he was dreaming about all the stuff that makes him happy- his hwa and hyungies, the flowers in the garden outside, and his warm fuzzy blanket that he loves to nuzzle against. (that's just only a few to list).
the last thing he remembers was watching disney movies with his hyungies and then the next he fell asleep on his minnie hyung. (It didn't help that mingi kept running his fingers through his curly hair either).
one minute he's having sweet dreams and then the next, everything turned dark and grim and he's sure he heard faint screaming and growling coming from somewhere.
in his dream, the kitten was being chased by a big monster who was trying to grab at him. hongjoong definitely understood that the monster was going to hurt him for sure.
the whole time he kept calling out for hwa, tears welling up in his eyes. his tail began to spike up as at first he curled in on himself, but when he saw the monster getting closer is when he started to feel tapping on his shoulders.
"-joong, wake up. you're having a bad dream, honey."
his eyes slowly blinked open as he looked around to gain a sense of his surroundings. he looked around to see his hyungs looking back at him with concern, but his heart dropped when he saw the same exact monster from his dream on the television.
immediately, hongjoong curled in on himself. tear streaks on his face as he calls out for the monster to go away; shortly followed by chanting seonghwa's name.
"hongjoong, you're okay, honey. you had a bad dream, but you're safe now." mingi tried explaining to him, but the kitten shook his head.
"mon'sther...there" with a shaky hand, he pointed to the t.v screen. "wan' my hwa...wan' hwa"
his mewls were hard on everyone's ears as he tried to bury himself in the junction of mingi's neck.
with only his eyes, mingi warned the rest to turn the t.v off, as what that's upsetting hongjoong.
mingi, however, grew concerned as hongjoong began to shake in his arms. his mewls becoming louder. one thing ran through everybody's mind;
'seonghwa is totally gonna kill us'
"I told you guys! but noooo, no one listens to me! and now look at hongjoong" san crossed his arms as he watches everyone look at the younger, who's visibly shaken up from the dumb horror movie they were watching.
"uhhh, san...we have a little problem"
"hm?"
"hongjoong...umm...he-"
"minnie...I ma'e mess" hongjoong blubbers out, voice slightly shaky. his ears are pressed down in fear as he doesn't think it's possible for his heart to drop even further.
he looks around, eyes wide and teary, as he searches for the one person he truly wants right now. slowly, he pushes himself away from minnie and calls out for seonghwa.
his hyungs know they're in big trouble when they hear the faint whimpers of "hwa". all of them kind of just stare at each other and at the poor kitten, who's curling in on himself as his wails continue to grow louder.
it was as if time moved slow on purpose, especially when they heard sock-clad feet running down the stairs and into the living room.
"hey...hey...baby, what happened?" seonghwa's voice fills the younger's ears, causing the wails to simmer into faint hiccups. just as he goes to lift him up, he immediately feels the damp spot on his pants.
hongjoong clings tighter, trying to sniff at seonghwa's neck for comfort. "hwa....ma'e mess."
"it's alright sweetheart, I'll help you get cleaned up. why didn't you tell your hyungies if you had to go potty?"
hongjoong raised his head up, slowly lifting his thumb towards his mouth as he stares past seonghwa's shoulder.
but before joong can answer, seonghwa places a hand on the back of his head. "I'm sorry about that guys, let me help him get cleaned up and I'll bring him back."
san let's out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in until seonghwa carried hongjoong out the room and upstairs into the bathroom.
"do you think we'll get away with it?" wooyoung whispers frantically, eyes darting between each person.
mingi shrugs. "he's not dumb, hongjoong will definitely tell seonghwa what happened-"
"-which means an early grave for all of us! welp!-" wooyoung slaps his knees as he goes to stand up "it was nice knowing you all!"
before anyone gets up to grab their shoes, san stands up "guys, stop...we have to face it that we're the ones who made hongjoong have an accident on himself because we watched a scary movie and he saw it...we have to take responsibility"
it's silent for a moment, wooyoung goes to sit back down, suddenly turning quiet.
it's quiet enough for them to hear the pair re-enter the living room. hongjoong is clinging tighter onto seonghwa's shirt as he buries his head in the crook of his neck.
seonghwa doesn't look too happy as he securely holds the kitten in his arms, almost in a protective manner.
"what did I tell you guys before leaving, hm?"
"...not to watch anything scary in front of hongjoong..." san mutters, crossing his arms once again.
hongjoong rubs at his eyes as he looks at his hyungs- who look upset- and back at his hwa- who looks...well, not too happy.
he doesn't fully understand as to why hwa looks mad. and judging from the looks, he's mad at his hyungs. did they do something wrong? are they in trouble?
seonghwa begins to go on a rant, further explaining as to why they can't watch any horror movies in front of the younger; and with their heads looking anywhere but the older, hongjoong knows they are getting a scolding.
(he's recieved a good handful of those a few times)
but what makes the kitten pause is hearing small sniffles coming from someone who's sitting on the couch. he wriggled out of seonghwa's grip, to walk up to the culprit of the sniffles.
hongjoong feels his heart break as he sees it's his woo hyungie who's crying. wooyoung looks anywhere but the kitten, who raises his head up by his chin.
he wipes his hyungs tears, wrapping his arms around him almost in a protective manner. seonghwa has put his lecture on pause as he watches hongjoong try to comfort wooyoung.
"hwa..." hongjoong mumbles "ni'e to my woo, p'ease..."
"I didn't mean to do it! I just wanted to watch a different movie!" seonghwa feels a little guilty for lecturing them in front of hongjoong, nonetheless having wooyoung become so upset he ended up crying.
seonghwa sighs, makes his way onto the couch. hongjoong watches all of his hyungs scramble to hug the oldest, as he continues to cling onto wooyoung.
"woo be'yer?" hongjoong whispers, wiping away any leftover tears on his hyungs face.
wooyoung nods his head, showing a small smile. "yeah, woo is good. thank you, joong".
hongjoong faintly purrs as he nuzzles against wooyoung.
-
after the little mishap, seonghwa ends up joining them, hongjoong making sure wooyoung was okay before he sat next to hwa.
all eight of them pretty much snuggle with one another as another disney movie is played, for hongjoong's sake. (with the promise of watching any scary movies they want when the younger isn't in the room from the oldest still fresh in their minds)
It's actually kind of a nice feeling-hongjoong has never seen any of his hyungs be overly affectionate with his hwa before.
It makes him feel safe. It makes him feel happy.
It makes it feel like a real family.