Fluffy ATEEZ Oneshots🧸

Nuh Kissies🍼

Little: Hongjoong

Caregiver: mainly Seonghwa

No one's POV.:

Hongjoong had been more than stressed lately, barely able to meet the deadlines for their new album. Now that he had gotten it over with, the leader would have sometime to relax but he couldn't even remember what that was. Although the group had gotten a day off, Hongjoong had gone to the studio right after breakfast to pick up his work right where he had left off. He had taken a painkiller before heading out to quell the lingering headache that had been plaguing him for over a week now. It didn't help much but he had at least done something to try and make it better, so Seonghwa couldn't scold him for not taking care of himself. That was kind of ironic, considering the leader's predicament. He was a little and taking care of himself would mean slipping into his headspace but being little would mean he'd be unable to take care of himself. Even worse was that Hongjoong didn't feel like he had the right to slip. He was the leader after all and needed to be there for his dongsaengs. Not like he'd make them take care of him while he was little but he wouldn't be able to take care of them when he couldn't even take care of himself.

He had only once brought the topic of his regression up in front of one of the members. It had been during one of the late-night talks between Seonghwa and him, the roommates often talking before going to sleep, at least when Hongjoong came home at a reasonable time. That conversation had ended in awkward silence as the older had no idea what age regression was and Hongjoong's attempts at explaining it were messy and confusing. The leader had felt so embarrassed afterwards that he had avoided his only hyung for almost a week, feeling humiliated that the other had seen such a vulnerable side of him. Seonghwa though had allowed him to keep his distance for some time, noticing how uneasy the leader was in his presence. Wanting to help Hongjoong, well aware that the younger had a lot on his plate, Seonghwa had done his own research on the topic and although it had sounded strange in the beginning, he kept an open mind and tried to learn as much as he could from online articles and blogposts. Regressing to a younger age mentally that one was physically, sounded rather sick to Seonghwa but he reminded himself that overworking oneself and not letting go of stress every once in a while, wasn't healthy either.

Seonghwa had tried to talk to Hongjoong again after some time, not wanting the leader to distance himself too much. They had had a pretty tense conversation, during which Hongjoong pleaded for them to go back to how they had been before he had overshared and to pretend he had never said anything. The oldest wasn't happy with that result, trying to convince his dongsaeng that he was okay with him being a little and that he'd try to help the other out should he ever need someone but Hongjoong insisted the topic would be dropped and never mentioned again.

That was also what led to him continuing to work on their day off. He knew he'd most likely slip if he allowed himself a break and with all of the members being home, the risk of someone finding out would be way to high. Especially because little Joongie was too outgoing and friendly for his own good. Although his adult self knew that he couldn't just go wherever he pleased while he was little, when he regressed, he wanted to venture around, visit his friends or play with whoever he might run into. Hongjoong knew that wasn't good and slipping at the company building would be even more dangerous because he might show his little side to someone work-related but he could just lock his studio and hope that his work distracted him enough to stay big.

Hongjoong's play was only partly successful, considering his music had occupied him for a few hours already. It didn't work like that forever though and once lunchtime rolled around, his headache had gotten too intense to keep looking at his computer screen. The pain made his eyes water and the leader pouted softly, realizing he was all alone there. Whining, he crossed his arms on the desk and rested his pounding head on them. Hongjoong's mind grew fuzzy and at this point, he didn't have anymore fight left in him, allowing the fuzziness to spread. When the tears started to fall, he rubbed his face into his sleeves, sniffling softly as he wished he'd be home with his friends and the minion plushie waiting on his bed. He wanted to hear Seonghwa's motherly tone when he scolded him for leaving the dorm to work on a day off and despite his headache, he wanted to hear the other members' bickering as their chaos meant home to him even if it was a lot to handle sometimes. Eventually the lack of sleep, that had accumulated over the past weeks, caught up on him and Hongjoong fell asleep, locked up in his studio alone.