Grow up

Chapter 1

Hyunjin was stressed. Everyone could see that. Between the endless pressure of the public and the tiring practice, he was wearing thin.

Everyone in stray kids was dealing with the same situation, each coping in their own ways; where Chan would relax by spending time with the members and ensuring they were all happy, Minho would hide away in his room, watching whatever new show had been released on netflix. They all had their own methods of relaxing, and they all respected what the other members had to do in order to achieve this.

Everyone knew that Jeongin's method of relieving stress was to regress. They were a little confused when he had admitted to them that he regressed into a child's headspace to calm down, but in the years since then, after thoroughly researching and communicating with him, they had come to accept that it was a harmless and, on most days, fun activity.
Hyunjin had volunteered to be his caregiver not long after he had told them about it, wanting to be able to provide for his boyfriend and look after him in his headspace. It didn't take long for him to realise that it served as just as good a coping mechanism for him as it did Jeongin.
The bond between both boys only grew stronger due to this arrangement, but of course there were days that weren't so good for either of them; the days where Jeongin would sob for hours, unable to bring himself out of his headspace regardless of his efforts, the stress too much for him to deal with while big, and the days where Hyunjin would feel like a failure after seeing one too many hate comments about him. Regardless, they were both always there to help each other. Hyunjin would comfort Jeongin through his cries, and Jeongin would do his best to reassure his caregiver that he was, in his words, the "absolute bestest person in the world". Hyunjin could never stay upset for long when his boyfriend was here to constantly help him up, regardless of his own headspace. Big Jeongin would hold and reassure him, while little Jeongin would draw him pictures and cover him in cuddles until his crying ceased.
Neither could ask for a better boyfriend.
~~~~~~
The problem began one day when Jeongin was regressed, the day had been hard for all of them, learning new choreography was never easy; he exited his room and made his way across the dorm to where Hyunjin was sitting in the living room, competing against Changbin in an intense battle of smash bros.

"Jinnie?" He asked quietly, not wanting to startle him.
"Hey baby, what's up?" Hyunjin replied, never taking his eyes off the screen.
"When you're done, do you wanna come cuddle?"
"Yeah sure, let me finish this, yeah?"
"Okay Jinnie," He smiled, making his way back to his room to prepare his bed.
He piled blankets and pillows atop eachother, trying to make his space as comfy as possible. He grabbed his Jiniret plushie, his favourite, and waited. His favourite show was ready on his laptop, still paused, he didn't want to start it without Hyunjin there, he knew that he liked this show, he claimed that it had "a good story" that made it enjoyable to watch even as an adult. After how stressful this week had been, Jeongin couldn't wait to just have his caregiver with him, running his fingers through his hair and holding him in his arms.
~~~~~
Jeongin's eyes were starting to feel heavy. His laptop had turned itself off due to a lack of activity, and it was no longer light outside. He stood up, legs dead from where he hadn't moved for the past hour, and made his way back to the main living area, Jiniret still in his arms.
When he entered, he found all seven other boys sat on the sofas watching a movie. All together. Without him.
"Oh! Jeongin!" Felix noticed his presence and smiled at him, "wanna join us?"
He looked at the TV, it looked to be some kind of horror movie where a masked figure was approaching a lone cabin in the woods. He looked back at Felix before he saw anything too scary. Horror movies were great when he was big, but he didn't think he could handle one right now, scratch that, he was close to shaking purely from the scary mask the man was wearing.
"No thank you hyung, I was just seeing if Jinnie had finished with his game."
"Oh yeah we finished that ages ago," Changbin supplied, waving his hand dismissively, eyes still fixed on the screen, "did you need something?"
Hyunjin looked at him expectantly, "I thought you went to bed, what's up?"
"I-" His attention was suddenly brought to the movie playing when he heard an ear-piercing scream, tears gathered at the corners of his eyes as he watched as the girl in the cabin was brutally attacked by the scary masked man.
The others laughed at the film, making comments about the unrealistic effects, Hyunjin looked away from Jeongin to watch, adding his own comments.
Once he had willed the tears away, he stood up a little straighter, feeling himself come back to his bigger headspace.
"I didn't go to bed Hyunjin, I was waiting for you."
This got Hyunjin's attention again, "oh, why?"
Jeongin blinked. He's stressed, he just forgot, don't worry about it.
"Don't worry," he turned around, "enjoy your movie."
He entered his bedroom, feeling his headspace creep up on him again. He closed his laptop and placed it on the floor before getting under his blankets and going to sleep. Alone.