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Hongjoong could see Seonghwa approaching the car after their impromptu stop at the supermarket. The pair had been driving back to their shared apartment and on the way, Seonghwa remembered they needed more milk and eggs after he had cooked a big meal for all of their friends the day before.
What had Hongjoong confused however was that Seonghwa, along with the bags that clearly held their groceries, was carrying a small box.
He squinted in confusion, trying to get a better look as his boyfriend got closer to the parked car, but he couldn’t seem to gauge what was in it. All he could really see was that Seonghwa kept glancing down at it with a weirdly fond expression as if he was bringing back a baby he had just given birth to on his short trip into the store.
When he finally made it to the car, he opened the door to the back seat and gently placed down the milk and eggs, beaming as he looked at Hongjoong through the rearview mirror and said, “You’ll never guess what I got!”
He closed the rear door and climbed back into the driver’s seat, glancing expectantly at Hongjoong, then down to the box only to be met with a peep.
“Did you just, like, peep at me?” Hongjoong didn’t even see Seonghwa’s mouth move from where it had formed a shy smile only seconds prior, but he had to admit it was pretty good. Since when had Seonghwa been working on his bird impression?
“It wasn’t me,” he chuckled in response, as if it was silly of Hongjoong to assume the sound came from him when they were the only two in the car, “Look!”
And then Seonghwa opened the box.
“Park Seonghwa, this better be a joke.”
Hongjoong knew Seonghwa liked to impulse buy. He couldn’t leave a store without attempting to purchase something absolutely ridiculous just because it was Star Wars-themed, or blowing half a paycheck on a new Lego set that just dropped.
But the last thing Hongjoong ever expected Seonghwa to bring home was a goddamned baby duck .
“Isn’t she just the cutest?” Seonghwa put the box back in his lap and scooped the little duckling out, cradling her in his hands and kissing the top of its little head, “The second I saw her I knew her name was Peanut Butter. Do you like it?” That smile was incredibly hard to resist, and who didn’t like seeing their hot ass boyfriend coddling a small animal? But Hongjoong couldn’t bring himself to crack just yet.
“Seonghwa! What the fuck!”
“What?” his smile faltered a bit, “We can name her something different if you really want…”
“No! I mean- Why? And how? Where did you even get that?” Hongjoong reached out a hand to touch it, flinching away when Peanut Butter peeped loudly at him.
“Calm down, baby, that’s just your other father,” Seonghwa cooed at the bird, then smiled back up at Hongjoong, “There was a lovely old woman standing outside and she had a box full of them! They were so precious I wanted to buy the whole box, but I figured you wouldn’t really like that.”
“You bought a duckling off of a shady old lady who was probably a witch or something and didn’t think to ask me- your boyfriend and roommate - first?”
“Hey, she wasn’t a witch,” Seonghwa frowned.
“We can’t take care of that! I can’t take care of that! I can barely remember to feed myself- I’m not ready to be a dad!”
“That’s what I’m here for! To remember to feed both of my babies,” he stopped his gentle patting on the duckling to reach over and pat Hongjoong’s shoulder instead.
“This is insane.”
“It’s just a duckling, Hongjoong.”
“ It’s just a duckling Hongjoong, ” he mocked back.
“Stop being rude, you’ll upset Peanut Butter,” Seonghwa scolded as he gently laid the duck back in the box and closed the top, then passed it over to Hongjoong, “Hold her tightly, please.”
Hongjoong huffed petulantly, but complied anyway before pulling out his phone and opening their group chat.
[hong] seonghwa bought a fucking duckling
[wooyoung] a duckling?
[wooyoung] why not full size lol that’s not even half a meal
[mingi] lmfaooooo
[hong] no like. a live one
[hong] *1 image attached*
[san] OMG
[yunho] aww it’s cute! ur fr dads now
[jongho] im gonna assume this was an impulse purchase based on ur lack of excitement…
[hong] bingo
[san] but it’s so cute :(( how could u be mad
[yeosang] becoming a real parent is a big deal sannie
[hong] exactly! he literally did not even ask me
[hong] he bought it off some shady old woman at the mart
[mingi] what if she was a witch :o
[hong] that’s what i said!
[san] what's its name?
[hong] what makes u think i let him name it
[yeosang] 😐
[yunho] 😐
[wooyoung] 😐
[jongho] 😐
[mingi] 😐
[san] 😐
[hong] fuck all of u
[hong] its peanut butter
[san] I WANNA MEET PEANUT BUTTER
[hong] NO
[hong] im gonna make him get rid of her
[san] :(((
[yeosang] woooow you wanna leave a young girl fatherless? i thought u were a feminist
[jongho] sheesh ://
[hong] I AM A FEMINIST
[seonghwa <3] get out of the car
[yunho] LMFAO
[wooyoung] GET HIS ASS
Hongjoong guiltily looked up from his phone to a face full of Seonghwa glaring right at him. Since when did they even get home? He sent his boyfriend a guilt-ridden smile, to which the man huffed and exited the car to grab their groceries and head towards their apartment.
“You’re lucky I love your dad so much or I swear to fuck I would just leave you on the street,” Hongjoong pouted at the box he was still holding onto tightly and finally got out, being careful not to jostle the duckling around too much as he walked into the complex and up the stairs.
When he entered the front door Seonghwa was nowhere to be found, the groceries having been thrown haphazardly on the counter, and Seonghwa’s favorite candle already burning on the coffee table.
“I’m in here!” Seonghwa called from the bedroom, having heard Hongjoong entering the house.
Hongjoong quickly made his way to the room, placing the duckling’s box on the bed and walking up to his boyfriend who was busy rummaging through their closet.
“What are you doing?” Hongjoong questioned.
“Getting together a box for Peanut Butter,” Hongjoong watched as the contents of a large storage container that was full of winter clothes were dumped out onto the floor, and Seonghwa carefully folded a blanket and placed it at the bottom. After making sure it was nestled perfectly inside he whipped around and threw his best puppy eyes at Hongjoong, “You’re not really gonna make me get rid of her, right?”
God Fucking Dammit.
If Hongjoong was good at anything, it was denying people anything they asked of him. His naturally stubborn personality made it nearly impossible to make him do anything if he was asked, and completely impossible if he was ordered. Yet ironically enough the one thing he was bad at was denying Seonghwa anything he asked of him. Especially when he brought out the puppy eyes.
“You are evil, ” Hongjoong groaned and grabbed the box from his boyfriend, “Where do you want this?”
“The living room? So we can keep an eye on her,” He smiled, satisfied with himself for winning over Hongjoong for now, and picked up the duckling from the bed as he followed him out to the living room where the box was placed on the floor by the coffee table.
Seonghwa finally removed Peanut Butter from her temporary home and kissed the crown of her head before letting her settle down onto the blanket in her box. He walked into their little kitchen to get food and water for the duckling when he heard Hongjoong let out a groan from the couch.
“I still can’t believe this,” he ran a hand through his hair as he stared down at the young duck who was picking at the fabric of her blanket, “The one fucking time I let you in a store by yourself and you come back with a kid.”
Seonghwa chuckled as he reentered the space with a bowl of water and a bowl piled with chopped cabbage and blueberries, “Oh come on, this is better than having a kid! She won’t puke on us or cry all night, and seriously, isn’t she so cute!” He placed the bowls in the box and the duckling immediately began eagerly snacking on the cabbage.
Hongjoong glared at the duck, “She’s fucking adorable, but that’s not the point. How do we even take care of her? What if we kill her?”
“Ok, stop right there,” Seonghwa held out a quelling hand and sported a look that showed how hard he was trying not to laugh, “You seem to have forgotten that I’m not a city boy like you are. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a duckling and I actually have taken care of some before.”
“Alright, cowboy, sure.”
“I’ll admit this was a rash decision and I probably should have asked you first,” he looked down guiltily, “but I promise we’ll be fine. Ducks aren’t that high maintenance and we can do more research tonight so you’ll know just what to do!”
“Shouldn’t we take her to the vet or something? That bill, Seonghwa-”
“I’ll dip into my savings, no big deal,” he shrugged and sat down, slinging an arm around Hongjoong and drawing him close, “I may be pretty impulsive sometimes, but you most of all know that I’m not stupid. We’ll make fine parents,” he placed a kiss on his boyfriend's head to which he earned an affirming grunt, followed by an affirming peep from Peanut Butter.