Kpop Little Space Oneshots || ✔

Long-ish || Seventeen

Joshua has long-ish, blonde hair and he loves it. But when not one, not two, but a whole class of people from college tease him about it, it makes it hard to do so. Especially when there's no reason for their teasing. It helps to have his friends compliment his hair every now and then, but it would help a heck of a lot more if he told them what's going on.
He'd tell his caregiver, but he was too scared to tell even him. And he tells Seokmin and his friends everything, so this was new. Joshua has never hidden anything from the younger, or his friends, and he's not very good at it anyway. He likes to think that he isn't hiding the teasing, but rather, he just isn't saying anything about it.
His friends know something is up, and they trust Joshua to tell them when he's ready. The only problem being, there are no signs that it'll be anytime soon. Seokmin is just about on his last straw. He's expressed his concern to the rest of the group, who all feel the same way. If Joshua gets upset again and still won't tell them what's wrong, Seokmin or Jeonghan, his two closest friends, would say something.

"Joshua! Over here!" Seungkwan called from their usual lunch table. Only about five others, including Seungkwan, Mingyu, Seungcheol, Seokmin, and Jeonghan, have the same lunch hour as Joshua. The little said nothing as he sat down next to Seokmin. Everyone was confused at the lack of greeting, the little getting distracted by his caregiver's hand.
After a couple minutes, Joshua couldn't fight the urge to slip. He hadn't gotten any sleep last night, and his classmates had teased him endlessly about his hair. "What's up?" Seokmin asked quietly. "Tiny... 'M sorry... I been havin' a bad day..." Seokmin nodded. "Do you wanna go back to the dorm love?" he asked Joshua, who shook his head. "Wanna see Hannie." Seokmin hummed, watching said boy approach the table.
The fellow little noticed the signs almost immediately as he sat down. "Is he...?" Jeonghan asked. Seokmin nodded with a smile. "He's not having the best day. I'm gonna take him back to the dorm after lunch, he wanted to see you first." Seokmin looked at his little, whispering to him. "Shua, Jeonghan's here." The freshly regressed little looked around the table. When he spotted Jeonghan, he smiled tiredly.
"Hey, Shua! I hear you're having a tough day, huh?" Jeonghan asked. The little nodded, frowning and back at Seokmin's rings. "Do you need a hug from your bestest friend?" Looking back up, Joshua nodded slowly. Seokmin watched him carefully as he got up and walked around the table to Jeonghan. The little sat down next to his best friend, Jeonghan wrapping his arms around him. Joshua hugged him back, burying his face in Jeonghan's shoulder.
"I'm sorry you aren't having a good day love," Jeonghan said quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of Joshua's head. This wasn't a rare sight, the whole school knowing that their relationship was strictly platonic. "Not your fault... It's-" Joshua cut himself off, not wanting to make the teasing any worse. "It's what, Shua?" The little shook his head, hugging Jeonghan tighter. Jeonghan looked to Seokmin, who nodded his head while he tightened his hold as well.
"I want you to promise me something," Jeonghan started, shrugging his shoulder slightly so that Joshua would look at him. "I want you to promise me that you'll tell one of us what's been going on, okay? You don't have to do it right now, but you have to do it soon. We've been patient, but we don't wanna see you be upset any longer. Can you do that? If not for your bestest friend in the whole wide world, then for Seokmin?"
Joshua frowned, looking from Jeonghan to Seokmin, who wore an encouraging smile. When his eyes found Jeonghan's again, he saw concern and warmth in them. "Okay... Promise," the little said slowly. Everyone at the table let out a breath of relief, Jeonghan holding out his pinky. Joshua smiled a small smile, lacing their pinkies together and bringing them up and down.
"Now seal it with a kiss!" Jeonghan said playfully, turning his face to the side. Joshua smiled a little, pressing a quick kiss to Jeonghan's cheek. "Thank you," Joshua let out the smallest of giggles, the bell ringing shortly after. "C'mon, Shua. Let's get you to the dorm," Seokmin said, holding out his hand for Joshua to take.
Grabbing a hold of his caregiver's hand, Joshua let himself be led out of the school and to the dorms. He waited patiently while Seokmin unlocked the door. "Alrighty, in you go." The little entered the dorm, dropping his bag on the floor and going to sit on his bed. He knew what was coming, trying to mentally prepare himself a little while Seokmin sat down next to him. "Love, do you wanna talk about it?"
"No... Bu' we has to, don't we?" Joshua asked, looking up at Seokmin. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, love. It's your decision," the caregiver said. Joshua looked down at his hands for a moment before reaching out and grabbing one of Seokmin's to play with. "We has to... Big Shua isn't gonna talk 'bout it, so I has to." Seokmin smiled gently, using his other hand to lift Joshua's head.
"Okay then. What's been going on?"

Thirteen college-age boys in one dorm room is a tight fit, but they made it work. All eleven of the others were gathered around to hear what Joshua had been keeping from them. "I'm gonna tell you because Shua here doesn't wanna tell the story twice, and that's okay," Seokmin started, giving the boy in his arms a slight squeeze.
"So, to sum up what I've been told, Shua's been getting borderline bullied by his classmates. They say things about his hair mainly but have said other things as well. He didn't wanna tell any of us because he didn't wanna worsen the "teasing"." Seokmin explained to an increasingly upset audience.
"Shua." Joshua looked up at his best friend hesitantly. Instead of seeing an angry friend, he saw a concerned Jeonghan. "Do you need one of us to talk to someone?" The little thought for a second before shaking his head. "No..." Seungcheol spoke up next. "Then you have to promise you'll do it yourself, okay?"
The two locked pinkies and shook while Joshua said, "I promise... If big Shua don't do it, then I gonna do it."