#i meant to post this a while ago which is obv to the backdate lol

[rkseongmin]

new member to the family. heo family christmas backdated to dec  25. 2018 1:12pm

breakfast had been a rather normal affair. well, mostly normal what with his moms family all in town for the holidays. its different having them all here for it when hyunjoon remembers often traveling with his brother and sometimes mom as well to the states for christmas. his dad had never been much for the holiday, its not something really family centered in korea, but it had only taken a few years with his mom before he too was in the spirit. she grew up in the states where its such a big thing, and thus hyunjoon and jaewon were raised with the belief that its a more family thing. 

this year was different, of course it would be. jihyun is a debuted idol and unable to come home, hyunjoon is still mostly off his feet and got to just watch his mom bicker with his brother about what they should do for dinner, and... the absence of their father was easily noticeable. 

he tried not thinking on it. really, he did. it’s hard though once he’s left to his own devices not to let his mind wander. currently he was propped up on the couch at his grandparents place with his nose in his ds playing pokemon as he normally does. his mom and grandmother and aunt were all in the kitchen and he could hear them talking about this and that. his grandpa and uncle were off having man time or whatever with jaewon who had looked very reluctant to leave. he knew gwen had gone off with grayson to get something from the store a while ago so they could be back any moment. leaving hyunjoon on his own for now. 

a frown had worked its way across his face, game system resting on his lap now as he seemed to be glaring at the christmas tree put up. his neutral expression morphed with his growing negative thoughts. a swirling mass of things he has mostly been ignoring recently. mainly it centers on his dad, as most of his thoughts have since the accident. the time in the hospital is mostly a blur to him but what he can recall is never any fun. 

he misses his dad. even if they hadn’t made up he would miss him. they had a good relationship when he was growing up, he remembers years of going with him to the jyp building and loitering around randomly getting weird looks from staff members who didn’t know him. his dad had been the one to give him his first pokemon game too. something he would grow to be obsessed with for years to go. he remembers when he cooked the first dinner all on his own and how extra he dad had been in praise even thought it hadnt even been that good. his dad had been so excited when he got into dancing even thought he didnt stick to it long until he joined orion. and even when they were fighting, his dad and mom had both showing up to orion performances.

he wonders if they hadn’t gone on that trip if his dad would still be here. if maybe they had gotten a taxi so his dad wasnt driving. or if they had gone to lunch with their mom and left later. so many what ifs come to mind.

a finger is pressed to his forehead, his expression relaxing slightly as he catches sight of his cousin even as he raises his good hand to bat the finger away. “you’re going to have wrinkles at a young age if you keep that up.” grayson said, earning a huff from said teen which made him smile. same little hyunjoon, always putting up such a tough mean front. the older male settled in next to him, mindful of his leg and shoulder as he wraps an arm around his baby cousin. “what had you glaring a the tree like it offended you?” 

hyunjoon remained silent for a moment, tense even, before he let out a soft breath and laid his head against grayson shoulder and accepted the comfort from his cousin. “...i was thinking about dad.” he revealed, mumbled, but grayson caught it nevertheless. the older’s smile going a bit sad but he had figured that was the case. 

“do you want to talk about him?” grayson asked, and wasnt surprised when he felt hyunjoons head shake against his shoulder. he hadn’t thought the teen would want to, hyunjoon is often closed up tighter than a safe and those rare moments when he is open are normally only when hes having some kind of meltdown. and grayson didn’t want to push him today--he would, before he leaves, because its better for hyunjoon to talk about it--but for now he would accept it. “alright, well in that case i guess its time for you to get your last gift. this got his attention, the teen sitting up rather abruptly and giving his cousin this squinty eyed look as if judging to see if he was telling the truth. 

“i have another gift?” he asked finally when grayson gave a laugh to his expression. the older male nodded, looking over his shoulder to see that his mom was back in the room and she had a blanket in her hand and the blanket was moving and hyunjoons first response was. 

“you had another kid?? when were you ever pregnant?” which had everyone laughing as the rest of the family converged to the living room once more. jaewon was also casting the bundle in his moms arm a suspicious look as he bounced over to take hyunjoons other side on the couch. 

“it’s a baby, but not what youre thinking.” his mom said with a laugh, and she move in front of the boys before carefully setting the bundle into hyunjoons lap. “i know you’ve been asking for a while and we always said we couldn’t afford it--or there’s no room. but...” and that clued him in to exactly what it was, a gasp leaving hyunjoons lips as his good hand slowly unwrapped the top of the blanket bundle and curled up in the blanket was the smallest softest looking white kitten. 

“you got me a cat!” hyunjoon said, feeling jaewon lean closer to also look. the volume of his voice woke he kitten who blinked bearly up at him before meowing which drew a soft aw from both heo boys. 

“are we sure a cat can even take care of another cat?” gwens voice pipped in, teasing hyunjoon and earning herself stuck out tongue briefly which she laugh at. hyunjoon wasn’t really bothered though as he’s use to being called a cat by people. cats are right up there with his obsessions to pokemon and cooking, and many have likened him to a cat with the way his personality is. more of a compliment than anything. “do you know what you’ll name him?” she asks instead, and hyunjoon is already nodding.

“i’ll call him ramsay.”