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"look at all that snow, joongs!" jongho taps at the glass, moving the curtain for a better view.
the kitten waddles over to his hyung, gasping at how pretty and sparkly the clean snow looks! his eyes grow wide in interest as he sees a few birds land on top of the snow, their tiny prints left behind.
"jongie, so...so..." his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he focuses on how to pronounce a word. "so...beau'ful!"
jongho ruffles his hair as a praise. "very good job! that is a big word to pronounce, huh?"
hongjoong nods, suddenly gasping at he taps on the glass at who he sees. "jongie, minnie and sannie ou'si'e!"
"yeah, they are outside, bubs. they're shoveling the snow so we can walk on the driveway and no one gets hurt."
"don' ge' booboos" he points a finger (kind of like what seonghwa does when he's lecturing) at his hyungs; albeit, neither of them are even looking.
"they're almost done, would you wanna go play in the snow?" jongho asks, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
hongjoong gasps, nuzzling into his free hand "wan' p'ay in snow, p'ease!"
jongho looks out the window, watching san and mingi finish any last bits of shoveling. "alright then, let's go get you dressed and ready."
hongjoong grabs onto his hyungs hand, rather a little too tightly, as he drags him up the stairs. "jongie! hurry, p'ease!"
once in his shared bedroom, jongho helps the younger find his jacket, beanie, and mittens. "alright, we have to dress warmly before we put your jacket on. can you go find a long sleeved shirt to wear?"
hongjoong's head perks up at the simple request. he feels giddy as hwa asks him to find his own clothes sometimes (as a sense of independence).
he opens the drawer and pulls out one of seonghwa's long sleeved shirts instead. jongho figures it should be fine, and shrugs as he helps hongjoong change his shirt.
"alright! you're all set! let's go put your boots on now, be careful going down the stairs" jongho instructs.
hongjoong holds onto the railing tightly "hwa go' booboo on s'airs..."
"oh really?" jongho amuses "how did he get a booboo?"
"hwa mis'th step and fell...I 'ave hwa ban'aid" hongjoong focuses on going down the steps two feet at a time, not realizing jongho's amused expression.
"well, I'm glad your hwa has you to help him" he holds his hand out for the younger to grab, the ladder accepting it happily as he waddles over to the front door.
just as jongho grabs his boots, san and mingi enter the house. san looks exhausted, but mingi perks up at seeing hongjoong wearing his jacket and beanie.
"are you going to play outside?!" mingi exclaims.
hongjoong jumps in his spot, growing more excited as he sees minnie become loud. "minnie, I go p'ay in snow!"
"are you gonna go with him?" jongho asks, double knotting the laces on the youngers boots.
mingi nods simultaneously as san shakes his head. "I have decided I officially hate snow"
hongjoong gasps at what his hyung said, covering his mouth in shock. "sannie no li'e snow?"
"I'm afraid so" jongho sighs dramatically, nodding his head. "you know what that means, right? we'll have to pull a prank on him that includes snow! but next time though, we should go play in the snow before it gets dark out."
hongjoong nods proudly, squealing as he grips jongho's free hand. his hyung helps him stand up, waddling over to his minnie hyung.
"im gonna go get my stuff on, san are you sure you don't wanna join us?" jongho goes to grab his jacket from the coat rack.
said person shakes his head "I need a break from the snow...and don't think I didn't hear you say to hongjoong that you're gonna prank me! I don't wanna hurt him, but I'll hurt you!"
jongho squeals as he just dodges a pillow being thrown at him. before he heads out the door, he throws the pillows back onto the couch. whether or not it hit san, that's not his concern.
-
hongjoong isn't the best fan of winter, but he would be lying if he said he didn't love how pretty the snow is when the sun shines on it. he squats next to a patch of untouched snow on the front lawn and just stares at it in awe.
mingi invited the kitten to have a snowball fight, but hongjoong declined; not too keen on the idea of the snow hitting his clothes under the jacket.
just like when he was inside, he saw a few birds sit on top of the snow. he smiles, tail swaying softly, as he enjoys the moment he's in right now.
"col' bir'ie... go home...is warm" he mumbles out.
"hey, joongs, what'cha doing?" jongho squats next to him so he's at his eye level.
"watch bir'ies." hongjoong responds quietly, still too engaged in the bird watching.
"it's getting a little too cold so we're going to head inside soon, okay?" the older earns himself a nod as he stands up to give mingi the same 5 minute warning.
hongjoong sighs, now taking in just how cold it's becoming as his hands begin to hurt even with his gloves on.
just as he was going to stand up, however, hongjoong stepped on an icy patch, causing himself to lose his balance and fall almost face first on the concrete, but into the snow instead.
with his reflexes, he whimpered out to jongho as he tried to pull himself up. but he stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his leg, causing him to mewl out in discomfort.
"jongie! jongie!" he feels tears pooling by his eyes as he tries to stand up, but the pain in his leg causes him to fall back in the spot he's in.
within the second, he sees jongho running up to him, gasping at the condition he found the younger. "hongjoong, what happened? are you hurt?"
he tries his best to wipe the snow off the younger's face as he searches his face for an answer.
"my leg hur'...jongie...no' move..." hongjoong's voice grew wet as mewls out in pain. his cat ears, wet from the snow, are pressed down.
"hey...is everything okay? I heard hongjoong...oh baby, what happened?" mingi kneals down in front of the kitten.
"he says he can't move his leg...go get san, this isn't good..." hongjoong whimpered as he saw mingi stand up and run into house faster than he can blink the tears away.
"jongie...I s'are...wan' hwa..." jongho feels his heart break as hongjoong covers his face in his hands, the only indication of him crying were his shoulders shaking.
he heard footsteps approaching, didn't need to look up as he knew it was the others. "take off his boots, we have to see how his leg looks."
"let's bring him inside." jongho lifts him up first, hongjoong clinging onto his hyung, but whimpering due to the slightest bump or movement.
san stacked some pillows so they can elevate the younger's leg. mingi tried his best to remove his boots and roll up his pants, which was easier said than done as hongjoong hissed when they had to pull his boots off.
he curled himself into jongho's arms, wailing in pain when either of his hyungs tried to take a look. "jongie..." hongjoong whimpered in defeat "wan' -wa..."
"I know, baby..." he pressed a kiss to his forehead. "we gotta take him to the emergency room...i'll drive, one of you break the news to seonghwa. tell him that he's okay but he's definitely hurt."
the trio didn't even bother putting their winter jackets on, except for hongjoong; even though their in a rush, they don't feel like hearing a gentle scolding from the eldest that they didn't put him in a jacket.
for comfort, jongho placed one of seonghwa's sweater over hongjoong's shoulders. jongho helped mingi situate hongjoong in the backseat with him, keeping his leg stretched out.
san is still in the house, most likely on the phone with seonghwa and grabbing some of hongjoong's comfort items.
"minnie...where we go?"
mingi pushes his curly hair out of his frame "we're going to take you to the emergency room, baby. hwa is going to meet us there"
hongjoong's nerves grow uneasy, he's scared that his leg hurts, but even worse, he's going to the emergency room? let alone without seonghwa?
san exists the house not a moment later, with hongjoong's blue backpack and enters the car from the passenger seat. "I packed his essentials, let's get going"
"did you talk to hwa on the phone?"
san sighs heavily, dragging it out as long as his breath let's him. "he was definitely too stunned to speak, he's going to meet us there as soon as he can."
the car ride is quiet- the only sound is hongjoong whimpering out for his hwa.
--------
getting hongjoong out of the car and into the building was once again, easier said than done.
jongho held onto hongjoong protectively as he explained what happened and his injuries. before either of them knew what was happening, hongjoong was placed in a wheelchair and into his own private room.
hongjoong clutched onto seongjwa's sweater with a deathly grip as he had no idea what was going on. one second he was in jongho's arms and the next, he's being placed in this cold wheelchair in a cold room.
jongho held onto his hand tightly as he was hooked up on all these machines, absolutely terrified out of his mind. the nurses felt their heart breaks whenever they looked at the younger. but they had to do their job, although it hurt to hear the kitten cry out in pain.
"m-mommy" the younger whimpers out, chewing on the string of his sweater as a comfort.
"mommy is on his way, bubs" jongho answers calmly, pushing his hair out of his eyes "mommy is coming, I promise"
but the minute a nurse walks in rolling one of those wheelchairs is when hongjoong loses it.
his breathing quickens as he holds a heavy grip onto the hand he's holding, not really processing it's jongho's. he doesn't want to sit in the wheelchair, he doesn't want to be in this room. he wants hwa, and he wants to go back in his warm and safe home.
when the nurse approaches him, his tail curls in on himself as he begins to hiss. he shakes his head as he cries out in agony.
it's hard for jongho to explain hongjoong's circumstances over the loud wailing of said kitten. it hurts to see hongjoong in distress calling out for his mommy and there's nothing he can really do about it.
just as the nurse backs away, the hospital room door practically slams open. relief floods the hyungs as they see seonghwa run into the room, tears hazing in his eyes.
"'omma" hongjoong blubbers out, seonghwa wastes no time in running up to him and lifting him in his arms, being careful of his leg.
"we will give you some privacy and return in a few minutes" the doctor informs, holding the door for the nurse as they all exit the room.
with the two of them alone in the room, tears were definitely shed. hongjoong didn't bother wiping seonghwa's tears, he knew more would come anyway, but that didn't stop him from trying to comfort him.
he nuzzled into his neck, albeit wet with his tears. seonghwa just held him tighter in his arms, being careful with his injured leg; both of them clinging onto each other for comfort.
his tail wrapped around seonghwa's arm, and if he felt the kitten's claws dig into his skin, he isn't going to say anything. he can't imagine the stress he must have been through in the past 2 hours.
"honeybear, it's all going to be okay. the doctors have to make sure your leg is okay and then we're going home. mommy will be here the whole time." seonghwa presses an infinite amount of kisses onto the top of hongjoong's head as he gently rocks him in his arms.
the silence was interrupted by a knock on the door, hongjoong trying his best to hide from the doctor and nurse from before.
hongjoong doesn't process what his hwa and the doctor are discussing, just clings onto his momma tighter; wanting nothing but to go home.
he looks up at the older with tired and red eyes, a slight tint of tears forming once again. hwa only holds him tighter as the pair follow the doctor into another room.
hongjoong whimpers at how cold it feels in here, yelps in pain when he's placed onto the waiting table. even with his momma next to him, he feels absolutely terrified; trying his best to use his words, but all that comes out are whimpers of pain.
"alright, this will only take less than 5 minutes." the doctor instructs. "since he's wearing lose pants, you can just roll them up. I'll give you a minute."
hongjoong's eyes follow the doctor leaving, then looking over at his momma. he sees seonghwa search for something in his backpack, pulling out a pull-up.
"come, my baby, let's go get changed into this pull-up really quick. mommy doesn't want you to have an accident."
the younger doesn't respond, just let's seonghwa carry him to the bathroom and help him place the pull-up on. when they re-enter the room, a different doctor and nurse are waiting by one of machines.
hongjoong hides his head in seonghwa's sweater, tail hidden in his hands. he feels too exposed with all these new people entering the room.
"lay him on the table when you're ready." the nurse instructed. seonghwa began to feel a little anxious as he helped the younger lay on his back, hongjoong holding a death grip onto his momma's arm.
he whined rather loudly in protest, afraid of the older leaving. but when seonghwa heard the doctors were starting up the machine, he leaned over hongjoong and began to coo at him- like how a mother would at their infant child- mainly to distract him.
"oh look at my sweet baby, joongie! oh you are just so cute!" seonghwa talked in his high voice as he peppered kisses on his chubby cheeks.
hongjoong only babbled, squealing with delight as he made grabby hands up at the older. seonghwa had to turn him on his stomach so they can get another look at his leg; the cooing continued.
"look at mommy's sweet little honeybear! mommy loves you so much, oh yes he does!" seonghwa learned forward to tickle around his neck, placing even more kisses onto his cheeks.
the younger's eyes were practically sparkling with how he heard seonghwa was baby talking to him, more babbles left his lips. the pain in his leg momentarily forgotten the minute the older picks him up and places him on his hip.
he nuzzles into seonghwa's neck, not paying any attention to the doctors or nurses that walk with them down the hallway. his mind is only focused on his momma and how soft and warm he is.
the doctor holds the door open for seonghwa as the pair enter the room. upon entering, he sees jongho, san, and mingi waiting (somewhat) patiently in the room; eyes lighting up when they see the younger protectively held in his arms.
"he's on the younger side right now, so keep the volume at a low." he goes to rock the younger as he walks around the room.
"what did they say? is his leg okay?" jongho was the first to speak up, eyebrows drawn in.
"yes, I have to wait for the results but they said the most it could be is just swollen...can you hand me his spare bottle in his backpack?" seonghwa keeps his voice low, being mindful of the kitten who's babbling in his arms.
"me and min will go fill it up for him." san pats the older on the back, sharing a glance at jongho before the pair leave the room.
seonghwa watches as jongho looks anywhere but at the kitten, fiddling with his thumbs.
"jong...what's on your mind?" seonghwa gently pries; he hates when he sees any of his friends look uncertain or nervous.
jongho sighs, gripping the edge of the plastic chair. "I feel like this is all my fault...if I didn't leave him alone, he wouldn't be here and he wouldn't have regressed further..."
the older slightly coos, sitting in another empty chair in the room. he momentarily slips in the younger's pacifier in his mouth, patting his bottom to soothe his nerves.
"jongho, honey, don't beat yourself up about this. accidents happen all the time." but jongho looks unconvinced as he stares down at his lap. he smiles sadly when he sees a lone tear stream down his cheek. he cups his face to thumb the tear away.
"look, I don't want you to beat yourself up about this. this isn't your fault, nor san's nor mingi's. I'm not mad or upset...and I know hongjoong isn't either...isn't that right, my baby bear? jongie is the best hyung ever, huh?!"
hongjoong squeals loudly in excitment, he loves when his momma baby talks to him. he turns over, trying his best to nuzzle into his tummy.
the younger tries his best to communicate with his momma, but words are a little hard right now for him to use; so he opts for reaching out for his bottle when he sees his san and minnie hyung enter the room.
the trio just sit back, watching with fondness in their eyes as seonghwa helps feed the kitten his bottle. how it just comes naturally for the eldest when bottle feeding or burping or just simply taking care of hongjoong when he's in a younger mindset.
the older feels grateful when hongjoong doesn't whine or grumble in fear as the doctor enters the room; he's too distracted by the bottle and how warm his momma feels.
"so, mr. park, we're in luck. hongjoong's leg is not broken or seriously injured, just a little bruising. It should go down in a few days, I'm going to prescribe medicine that you have to apply on his leg to help with the healing process." the doctor scribbles something on a piece of paper before he rips it off and handing it to seonghwa.
"are we all ready to go?"
"yep, let's go home"
--------
"joongie, are you up, baby? hwa has to put the medicine on your booboo" he cards his fingers through his hair- a gentle way of waking up the kitten.
begrudgingly, hongjoong blinks his eyes open, pacifier in mouth along with his blanket gripped in one hand; the other making grabby hands up at the older.
it's been a few weeks since his incident- hongjoong making a fast recovery than expected; although still having a hard time putting pressure on his leg.
so, for the past few weeks, hongjoong has been getting the utmost attention for his every need (which he's been loving every second of it.)
occasionally, his friends come over and help him, whether it's running an errand or simply just coming to give hongjoong some company (or seonghwa, a break).
"hwa...I 'seepy..." hongjoong mumbles as he rubs at one of his eyes with his free hand.
seonghwa momentarily sits next to him on the couch, placing a soft kiss onto his cheek. "I know, baby, but hwa has to put the medicine on your booboo so you feel all better."
with a slight pout, hongjoong watches as seonghwa slips on a glove as he begins to rub the ointment on the younger's leg. it almost puts hongjoong back to sleep, with how gentle and careful seonghwa is.
"alright you stay here, I'll be right back." seonghwa almost smiles to himself at what he said. of course hongjoong has to stay there, he can't really walk 100% yet.
but hongjoong, like any other person would, tends to grow restless at staying in one spot too long. he's used to running around the house or rolling around in his blankets or the fuzzy carpet. but now, he just has to sit there. and it's boring.
with all of his strength, he pushes himself up from the couch as he stands up without trouble. his legs feel like jelly but that doesn't stop him from taking a step forward, leaning on the edge of the cushion for support.
slowly, he's able to put slight pressure to the point where he can put his foot flat down on the floor. he's waddling almost like a baby as he makes his way out of the living room.
a slight gasp almost stops him in his tracks. "oh my god, hongjoong, baby, you're doing it!" seonghwa's smile is so bright, it encourages the kitten to keep going.
"come to hwa, baby, you can do it!" seonghwa awaits with his arms open. the younger squeals as he waddles his way over to older, practically running into his awaiting arms.
seonghwa wraps him in a hug, spinning him around in delight. "oh, my sweet baby, I'm so proud of you! you were walking all on your own!"
hongjoong faintly begins to purr, wiping seonghwa's tears away the minute he sees one stream down his face. is this what parents feels like when they witness their child taking their first steps?
"sweetheart, hwa is so proud of you. you did that all on your own!" just like what the kitten does, seonghwa nuzzles into hongjoong's neck; leaving a small kiss on his cheek.
the kitten basks in the attention, loves getting praised and encouraged by his hwa the most. seonghwa goes to place him back down on the carpet, sitting next to him. every since his little injury, seonghwa taught hongjoong to importance of stretching, especially since his leg was still healing.
he's been home with his hwa all week that whenever he sees seonghwa sit on the carpet, he claps his hands in delight knowing that it's time to do his daily stretches.
the older watches with fondness as he watches hongjoong finish his stretches, then goes to continue putting pressure on his foot as he walks around the living room.
"yes, hongjoong! honey, you're doing such a good job! hwa is so proud of you!"
he's so proud of how far hongjoong has come in his life, and even learned the importance of how dangerous ice can be.