The Little Things In Life [K-POP LITTLE SPACE/AGERE]

🌸 Aquarium (Part 1) - NCT 127

Fandom: NCT 127
Little(s): Lee Taeyong (3), Suh Youngho | Johnny (6), Lee Donghyuck | Haechan (1-4), Mark Lee (4)
Caregiver(s): NCT 127

Summary: NCT 127 goes to the aquarium while in Japan, which gives little Johnny, Taeyong, Mark, and Haechan time look at all the pretty fishies!

A/N: It's based on NCT 127's recent video ("CHECK THAT") where the group visits an aquarium in Japan together. I saw it and thought "oh, they're so little coded, they're so excited for the fish" and absolutely had to write this! Hope you enjoy it!

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"Haechanie hyung!" Taeyong gasped, waddling over to the large, blue tank. "Is a puffyfish! Is a puffyfish, look!"

Haechan smiled softly and nodded. "I see. Why don't we take a photo with it?" He asked sweetly.

Taeyong was practically shaking with excitement as Jaehyun held up the phone to take a photo. "Puffyfish! Puffyfish!" He smiled, waving at the camera and pointing at the tank with Donghyuck as the shutter clicked.

The group had decided to go to an aquarium and split into two teams to take photos with the animals that reminded them of each other... and a starfish to represent Taeil, who had been back at home, recovering from his accident.

But Donghyuck had been assigned to a pufferfish. He'd already had a stressful week and a bad day, but that comment really frustrated him. He was sick of them calling him fat and making remarks about his body! So all day, he'd been sulking around while little Taeyong chirped and sung about seeing colorful fish.

Donghyuck didn't want to be a burden to them, so he didn't say anything about it and didn't regress either, even though Johnny and Taeyong were going to. He kept quiet and followed the others, hoping they wouldn't notice.

But Yuta did. The usually bright Donghyuck wasn't talking much and wasn't as excited as Yuta would have thought. After this morning, he was sure that something had happened to the maknae. 

"Is everything okay, Hyuck?" Yuta asked cautiously, holding Donghyuck's hand and Taeyong went to look for the seals. But the youngest snatched it away and frowned.

"I'm fine. Whatever, it's fine." He sulked, making a face at Yuta.

"You know you can tell us anything, Duckie." Yuta gestures towards himself and Jaehyun. "We're your hyungs. We're here for you, trust us."

Donghyuck was silent for a moment and took a deep breath. "I really didn't appreciate getting called "puffy" like a pufferfish. That was mean. I... Duckie not puffy." His voice shook and his eyes started to water as he recalled the group's mean words. Yuta's smile dropped and he held Donghyuck close to him.

"Oh baby... honey, we didn't mean it like that. We're so, so sorry." Yuta hugged Donghyuck as he sniffled and tried not to be so obvious about crying. A few people were looking at the pair curiously, but that was fine.

"Jus' wanna little. An' see fishy." Donghyuck pouted, slipping into his little headspace quickly.

"You can regress, it's okay. You're not a burden, Duckie." Yuta assured.

After that, Donghyuck regressed fast. He held onto Yuta closely and peeked at the fish shyly as they walked through the crowds. Taeyong ran around excitedly, pointing at the fish and asking Jaehyun what their names were.

Donghyuck practically pressed his nose up to the glass and Yuta had to stand by to make sure he wouldn't try anything silly, like hitting the glass. His eyes were fixed on the stingray as it glides past him. He gasped and giggled, liking how softly the stingray's fins floated by.

Eventually they made their way to the next exhibit, which were the sharks. Sharks were more of Taeyong's thing, since little Donghyuck found them a little bit scary.

"Baby shark, do-do-do-do-do-do..." Donghyuck whispered under his breath as they passed the sharks. Although he could barely hear it, the cuteness of his singing made Yuta's heart flutter.

They walked around some more, eventually finding everyone's animal and taking photos with them. Taeyong found a seal and squeaked with happiness, pointing at it and saying that it was falling asleep and that it looked like Jaehyun. Yuta tended to Donghyuck, holding his hand while they walked because Donghyuck's steps were getting more and more uncoordinated as he was slipping deeper by the minute.

"Wanna go to the gift shop and pick out a stuffie, honey?" Yuta asked gently. Donghyuck nodded and hid his face in Yuta's shoulder, making him chuckle. Yuta gestured for Jaehyun to follow him and Donghyuck towards the exit.

"Yeah! Go, go!" Taeyong giggled, tugging on Jaehyun's arm impatiently. Jaehyun only smiled a wide, dimpled smile and followed the other three, wondering how the others were doing.