Grow up

Chapter 2

After the events of the previous night, Jeongin decided to have a grown up talk with Hyunjin. Communication was an important part of their relationship, and although he didn't say it last night, as to not gain the attention of his other friends, he felt hurt that Hyunjin had forgotten. Of course, it wasn't something majorly important, but they promised to always talk to the other if they did something that upset them, regardless of how small it was.
As he was making his way to the kitchen, having already planned what he was going to say, nothing accusatory, just a brief explanation of how he felt last night, Hyunjin brushed past him towards the front door.
"Hyunjin, where are you going?"
"Oh," Hyunjin turned to face him, "sorry baby, i've got to go down to the company, i'll be back later, okay?" and he leant in to give him a quick kiss before exiting the dorm.
Jeongin stood, still looking at the door, before deciding that the conversation would have to wait, and going to make himself some breakfast.
~~~~~
When Hyunjin came back home, followed by Minho and Felix who had joined him later on, it was already evening. Jeongin tried not to feel disappointed that he had missed out on even more time with his caregiver, his boyfriend. Nevertheless, once Hyunjin had taken off his shoes and sat himself at the dining table, Jeongin approached him.
"Hey darling, how was practice?"
Hyunjin looked at him, he looked tired. "It was okay, this choreos really kicking my ass though." He chuckled.
Jeongin smiled, but he remembered what he wanted to talk to him about. "Look, last night you said you would come and see me after your game, but you didn't, and I waited up for you only to find that you were just watching a movie without me. It just... made me feel kinda sad, you know?"
"oh," Hyunjin looked at him sadly, "I'm so sorry baby, I completely forgot. After the game Seungmin came in and suggested we watch it and I just forgot." He hugged him. "Were you regressed?"
He felt Jeongin nod against his chest.
"I'm so sorry little one. How about this?" Jeongin looked up at him, curious. "We have a free day tomorrow, we can spend it all together, how does that sound?"
Jeongin smiled, "that sounds good. Thank you."
"Anything for you baby boy."
Jeongin was excited. A whole day with Hyunjin! When he went to bed that night, with Jiniret in his arms, a smile adorned his face.
~~~~~
Jeongin woke up multiple times throughout the morning. People poking their heads in his room and saying something before going back out. He just nodded and turned over, his mind too hazy from both sleep and his headspace to fully register what was being said to him.
~~~~~
It was 11:37am when Jeongin finally pulled himself from his sheets. Strange. Even thought they all liked to sleep in on their days off, they never stayed in bed this late. Except Jisung. Regardless, Chan was always making sure everyone was up and fed at least before 10am, what's weirder was that Hyunjin hadn't woken him up at all. His mind was already fuzzy from waking up regressed, but the lack of his caregiver was making him feel even more anxious, and therefore even smaller. It was a vicious cycle, really.
He sat up in bed and stretched, noticing the quietness from outside his room. Curious, he shuffled to his door and peeked outside. Nothing.
"Jinnie?" He called out. No reply.
"Channie?" Again, nothing.
He frowned and walked into the kitchen, seeing nothing but some dirty dishes piled next to the sink. "Anyone?" He called out in one last feeble attempt to get someone's attention. But no one was home. Not even Hyunjin.
He ran back to his room, being mindful of his socks on the linoleum floor, and grabbed his phone, seeing only a text from Felix in his notifications.

Lixie🐥
Hey! We're all out today, me minho and hyunjin are in the practice rooms and the others went to the studio, we told you before we left but i'm not sure if you actually woke up and heard us
We'll be back later!💗💗💗

They're all out? But Jinnie was supposed to be with me today.
He felt the prickling of tears behind his eyes at the realisation that Hyunjin had once again forgotten. At least he hoped he had forgotten, it would hurt less then knowing he remembered and still left him.
Deciding that there was nothing more to do, he went back to his room, got dressed (all by himself! He smiled proudly when looking in the mirror) and brushed his teeth. He sat in the living room and turned on the TV, deciding to watch the show he wanted to watch with Hyunjin last night. Not long after he had begun watching, his stomach rumbled.
Don't wanna get up. Want Jinnie.
He wasn't used to being regressed this deep without a caregiver, at his usual age he was able to look after himself at least a bit, but today, for whatever reason, he was regressed much younger.

He slid very ungracefully from the sofa and went to the kitchen, looking through the fridge to find something he could eat without having to use the oven or any knives. Eventually he decided on a carton of orange juice, because everything else either had to be cooked, or didn't appeal to his young mind at that moment.
He went back to the living room and resumed his show.
Suddenly he remembered what the others had said to him when they were still figuring out the whole age-regression thing: always call someone if you're alone and feel regressed. we don't want you having an accident and hurting yourself.
With that reminder, he picked up his phone and dialled Hyunjin's number.
It rang.
And rang.
And rang.
And went to voicemail.
Huffing, he called again.
It rang,
He picked up.
"What's up?" Hyunjin sounded out of breath. "I'm a little busy at the moment. Can I call you back?"
"Jinnie i'm-"
"Wait a second."
Jeongin heard some muffled voices in the background, he could pick out Felix's distinct tone.
"Is it urgent? I'm tryna get this choreo done."
"No, but-"
"Okay we'll i'll see you later baby okay? Sorry I couldn't be there today, everything's been really hectic. Love you."
"I love you too-"
Hyunjin hung up.
And now he was regressed, alone, and upset. Again.
His fears had been confirmed. Hyunjin remembered that he was supposed to be with him today. Jeongin couldn't hold in his sadness, his anger. Tears fell down his face as he sobbed into the pillow he had been holding, wishing it was his caregiver's arms. He knew things were stressful right now, hell, that's why he had regressed in the first place, but Hyunjin had promised to spend the day with him, he promised to look after him when he was little. Sniffling, Jeongin unpaused his show and tried to distract himself. He knew that he couldn't bring himself out of his headspace at this point, so he decided to just embrace it, and try and make today fun, to try and forget that he was even sad in the first place.
~~~~~
"Jeongin?" Felix asked.
Hyunjin looked up from his phone, "yeah. I told him I was busy, let's get back to it shall we?" he began to make his way back to his starting position.
"What did he want?" Minho inquired.
"Not sure."
"Was he regressed? You know he doesn't usually call in the middle of practice."
"He said it wasn't urgent," he started, "he was probably just wondering where I was, I said i'd hang out with him today, but he's a big boy, he can understand that I'm busy."
Felix and Minho shared a look, but decided against saying anything. After all, Jeongin and Hyunjin had been together for over two years at this point, if something was wrong with Jeongin, they were sure that Hyunjin would've picked up on it. They restarted their song, and began their routine.