Subtle Differences | Junhao oneshots

The reveal

     It was a beautiful Sunday morning in spring. Minghao stretched out his arms and wiggled around in the bed that didn't belong to him. He rubbed his eyes slowly, vaguely remembering how he climbed into Junhui's embrace the night before after coming back to the dorm late. Minghao turned around to snuggle into the familiar warmth, but found that it was no longer there. A small pout formed on his face, bottom lip jutting out in confusion. "Ah... Junnie has a schedule now." He muttered to himself. The Chinese male rolled over to check the time on his phone. It was already half past 8, but that didn't really matter since it was their day off, albeit Junhui having a last minute interview. When Minghao scrolled through all his notifications, he saw a chain of messages from his boyfriend.

My huihui<3 

Morning darling

I'm at the interview right now so I won't be
home till the afternoon

Rest well today ok? Don't stress yourself
and slip if you need to. It's not good to hold
it in

Love you💖 

     Minghao smiled softly at the messages, lying on his stomach to type a response. Junhui always managed to make him feel so loved. He lazed around in the comfort of the older's soft sheets before finally deciding to stand up and venture out of their shared room. As Minghao stepped into the living room, Chan tapped him on the shoulder lightly.

     "Hyung, we're going out to the mall soon. Do you want to follow us?" 

     Minghao shook his head. "It's okay. I'm kind of tired from practice last night. You guys go on without me." He replied. He headed into the kitchen to pour himself a bowl of cereal.  A flying sock narrowly missed his bowl as he shoveled the first spoon into his mouth. 

     "Shit, sorry Minghao!" Seungkwan apologised when his sock landed on the table, instead of at Mingyu. Mingyu stared in mock horror, rushing at Seungkwan who ran away screaming. Minghao watched their antics fondly. A few moments and an empty bowl later, the rest of the members were stepping out the door. Minghao brought his bowl to the sink to wash it, and then headed back to his room. 

     Just as he was about to start a game on his phone, a dull throb in his head interrupted him. That was one of Minghao's signs that he was about to slip. His eyes glossed over, and he padded over to their closet. He rummaged through to the back of a drawer, where a box was hidden. Opening its baby blue cover, Minghao took out his favourite bunny plushie, as well as a pacifier and another elephant plushie. The sight of his so-called "little" items made him regress completely. He giggled softly, sticking the pacifier between his lips. The bunny and elephant plushie, which he had cleverly named Lolo and Lola, was tucked safely under his arms. The little settled in Junhui's bed, contentedly hugging his plushies and mumbling incoherent words to them. 

     Two hours later, whilst Minghao was in the midst of entertaining himself with Lolo and Lola, he heard his stomach grumble. It was already 12pm, and Junhui was nowhere to be seen. "Haohao hungwy...!" The male whispered. Despite his boyfriend's fair amount of warning not to wander into the kitchen when he was in little space in case he hurt himself, nothing could stop  Minghao's hunger. And so, the little waddled into the kitchen in search of food. 

     "Ow!" Minghao pulled a pack of nuggets out from the freezer, but his fingers tensed up from the sudden cold. The nuggets fell to the ground, making Minghao flinch from the noise when it came into contact with the tiled flooring. Minghao gave Lola a little squeeze before picking up the food like nothing had happened.

     "Minghao? What happe-" All of a sudden, Wonwoo appeared in the kitchen with his headphones still on. He stopped short when his eyes landed on the pacifier in between Minghao's lips and the plushie in his embrace. He hadn't followed the rest to the mall as he just felt like spending the day at home, and maybe inviting Minghao to game with him. Wonwoo, however, was clearly not expecting to see Minghao in this state. "What in the..." His jaws dropped a little.