Fluffy ATEEZ Oneshots🧸

Fairytale🍼

Little: Hongjoong

Caregivers: Ateez

No one's POV.:

Hongjoong had developed his headspace quite a while ago, before most of his group members had even joined KQ Entertainment. He had been under quite a bit of pressure from the very start and slipping to a younger mental age, helped him escape his everyday life, even if only for some time. Not feeling like it was safe to own things that he wouldn't be able to explain away should someone find them, Hongjoong barely owned any littlegear. He had a minion plushie and a yellow pacifier, which he kept in a small box at the bottom of his backpack, so it's always be with him and he could make sure no one would go near his backpack. He loved doodling when he was little but not wanting to have to hide a coloring book, Hongjoong just kept a pencil case filled with colored pencils and a stack of blank papers, which he could doodle on. Things didn't change much when he met his future group members. The pressure was of course still there, especially after finding out he'd be the leader and second oldest, but now that there were other people, he wasn't as free to decide when he'd slip as he had been before. He had usually been able to slip at night or alone in his studio when he wasn't with Eden but now, he shared a room with Seonghwa and was around his new members for most of the day. If he ever spent time at the studio, there were usually other people present, so it became rare for Hongjoong to slip even if it had been tough to resist at first.

Hongjoong had expected it to be easier getting used to not slipping into his headspace anymore but there were so many ups to their new arrangements too, it seemed like a fair trade. He had been able to debut and had found a bunch of new friends even if they were a mess, he deeply cared about them. As the leader, he was supposed to be the one taking care of everyone, so Hongjoong didn't feel it was right for him to slip although he had had a few opportunities. Those were rare but not non-existent, still he didn't make use of any of them. When he learned that there was actually another little in the group, he didn't know what to think of it. Sure, Hongjoong was happy that they had reached a point in their friendship, where Wooyoung deemed it safe to show the group such a vulnerable aspect of himself but on the other hand, it showed the leader that his dongsaengs had to be protected at all costs and outing himself wasn't a possibility. He was proud of how well the members had adapted to the news and had all done their individual research on the topic. Yeosang was the first to really take care of Wooyoung after the revelation with Seonghwa helping them out, though he was too shy to really get involved at first. San soon joined Yeosang as the younger's caregiver and all of the members were happy to help out if need be.

Hongjoong was the only one distancing himself from Wooyoung whenever the dancer slipped. As much as he wanted to be a good leader and hyung, Hongjoong couldn't stand the presence of another little while he had to give up on his headspace. He was scared Wooyoung's toys and babbles would make him slip, rendering all his attempts at hiding and fighting back his headspace useless. As much as he wanted to, Hongjoong couldn't suppress his jealousy entirely either, craving the safety and stability his headspace offered. The group slowly grew frustrated with him, feeling like their leader was unaccepting of Wooyoung, so he didn't see any other option than to talk to the younger in privacy. Hongjoong told the dancer that he was perfectly okay with him being a little and didn't think any less of him because of it but he also made it very clear that although he had done his research about age regression and knew some stuff about it, he was still awkward about the topic and would prefer not to be around when the younger slipped.

Wooyoung had been in tears after their conversation, relieved that his hyung accepted him. He couldn't force the leader to be comfortable around him when he was acting different from usual but was happy, the older didn't think any less of him. Maybe if he gave him some time, Hongjoong would eventually warm up too. That evening, Seonghwa praised the leader for jumping over his shadow and opening his mind, completely unaware that the problem wasn't the younger being narrow-minded. Everything seemed to be going well after that and the members gave up on their grudges, maybe Hongjoong wasn't that bad of a leader after all. The peace didn't last for long though as their schedule picked up, leaving the group busier than ever. Usually it was Hongjoong delivering bad news about schedules changes to his members, though he was just passing on the message from their management, the rest of the group couldn't help but be upset at him telling them they'd be even busier. The stress combined with the tensions within his group kept pushing Hongjoong closer and closer towards the edge. It seemed everyone was upset at him. Their management because he couldn't finish things any faster and his members because he told them to speed their practices up and learn everything in less time.