seonghwa lifted his head off the counter as his phone was ringing. he sighed as he reached for the phone, as he was so stressed after the past day and a half.
he clicked answer and put it on speaker.
"mr. park, we found him. small, short brown hair, calling 'mama,' he has the birthmark-"
seonghwa jumped up and ran towards the door.
"HONGJOONG!" he screamed. hongjoong came running out of the bedroom. "they found him, get in the car." he said, and the pair both ran out the door and to their car.
yeosang was still crying. the officer was rubbing his head, trying to keep him as calm as possible.
he saw the car pull up, and seonghwa jump out as fast as possible. the officer stood up, waiting to watch the reunion they'd all been waiting for.
"yeosang!" seonghwa gasped.
he ran towards the child, as yeosang ran as well, and they finally embraced each other.
hongjoong approached as seonghwa, who was kneeling on the ground and hugging yeosang as tightly as he could, began to cry. the parents were both so relieved that they were brought to tears.
even the officer was close to tears. he didn't do missing cases often, but when he did, he loved reunions.
seonghwa tried to hand yeosang to hongjoong, as hongjoong was just as desperate to embrace yeosang as seonghwa was, but the child just clung onto his dad.
"come on, baby, daddy missed you as well..."
once seonghwa said this, yeosang finally loosened his grip, and turned around to face hongjoong. the father picked him up, then standing. yeosang kept crying, though he was calming down, as hongjoong patted his back and repeated the words, "shh, it's alright, it's ok, daddy and mommy are here... you're safe, now..."
seonghwa stood up and put a hand on his forehead. he saw the officer standing to the side, and approached him, saying "thank you" over and over.
the officer shook seonghwa's hand and patted his shoulder. "no thanks needed—just doing my job."
meanwhile, hongjoong was playing twenty questions (as any parent would to make sure he's okay). "have you eaten? i'm assuming no, don't worry baby, we brought you food. it's your favorite, we brought tteokbokki." he said, as he finally placed yeosang on the ground and bending down to keep talking to him.
"seonghwa, could you go get the tteokbokki? yeosang is hungry—probably starving." "of course."
seonghwa then ran to the car, pulled out a plastic bag filled with food, and ran right back. he gave it to hongjoong, who opened one of the containers, then handing it, with a fork, because the child still didn't know how to use chopsticks, to yeosang.
hongjoong then took off his coat and wrapped it around the child. even though it was summer, the nights were always cold, especially with the amount of wind.
watching yeosang finally warm and eating made both parents feel the biggest relief of their lives.
eventually, he finished the whole bowl. he was still sniffling, sort of still crying, even. the parents could tell he wanted to go home.
so, after seonghwa answered some questions, both parents said endless thank you's to the officer, and finally took yeosang to the car. while hongjoong drove, seonghwa sat in the back with the child.
"so, yeosang, your brothers have been staying at baekhyun's house, while we looked for you, so we're going to pick them up tomorrow morning."
once they arrived home, yeosang had fallen asleep.
seonghwa gently picked him up and carried him into the home, with hongjoong making sure to open all the doors quietly, as to not wake yeosang up.
they brought him into their bedroom, and seonghwa laid down, still cradling yeosang in his arms.
after turning off the lights and turning on a small nightlight, hongjoong finally got in bed as well, laying down next to seonghwa and letting a small smile creep onto his face at the relief that they'd finally found him. both parents wanted to ask yeosang about how he dealt with it and such, but then wasn't a good time at all.
"alright, yeosang, i'm warning you, you're gonna have eight people try to embrace you at once. all of your brothers and baekhyun, so be ready." hongjoong said with a smile, making yeosang chuckle.
they'd just pulled into the driveway of baekhyun's family's house, where all the kids were eagerly waiting inside to see yeosang again.
seonghwa was carrying yeosang, while hongjoong slowly went up to the door. he'd told baekhyun's "mom" (who was actually a guy) prior to their arrival to let the boys know. when he approached the front door, he could already hear all of the kids, sitting right in front of the door and chatting together.
the father rang the doorbell. the kids all gasped and started yelling.
"boys, boys, watch out, give some room for them to walk in.." baekhyun's "mom" said and he began opening the door. seonghwa walked in, quickly placing yeosang on the floor as the three parents watched him get tackled by all eight kids.
mingi was the first to get to him, followed by wooyoung, then just a clump of everyone else.
they were all laughing, until wooyoung screamed "I CAN'T BREATHE!" and so all the kids got off of each other, one by one.
and that was when the questions started.
"did you die? are you a ghost?" "did you talk to anyone?" "was it scary at night?" "did anyone try to help you?" "if you're a ghost, how can we touch you?" "guys, he's not a ghost." "WHAT IF HE'S A ZOMBIE?" san gasped.
yeosang blinked and tilted his head.
"well... that's okay if you're a zombie... just please don't eat my brain!" san continued, and hongjoong finally stopped all their concerns.
"he's not a zombie, he's alive." "what's an alive?" mingi blurted out. hongjoong could hear seonghwa chuckling, and the parent sighed. "no, he's not an alive, he is alive, meaning he's not dead, and not a zombie or a ghost." he explained, and mingi nodded, muttering an "ooohh.."
hongjoong stood up. "alright, well, i think it's about time we go home." "noooo! i wanna stay with baekhyun!"
wooyoung crossed his arms. "i know, but you've gotten to be here for a while. it's alright, you guys will see baekhyun again, so just say goodbye for now." the father said. all the kids sighed.
they each gave baekhyun hugs, before they all piled out the door. hongjoong thanked baekhyun's "mom," and they finally left, and went home.
ok sorry for being inactive and not updating,,,, also thanks for 3k reads <3
