Tiny captain

6

"What do you mean by staying big Joongie?" inquired calmly Seonghwa, hoping to get some more information.

"'dat's age wegwession" confessed Hongjoong, making Seonghwa nod comprehensively waiting for further explanation.

"I thwee wight now. Cause... I smaww" Hongjoong wasn't sure he explained himself properly, but his best friend's reassuring look convinced him to continue.

"When dewe awe bad fings I get smaww cause I feew bettew when I smaww"

"And why are you small now Joongie?" asked carefully Seonghwa, afraid someone did something wrong to trigger the leader's headspace.

"Mowang made me smaww" blushed Hongjoong, hiding himself in Seonghwa's chest. It was comfortable there, thought the little.

"But there wasn't anything negative right?" Hongjoong shook his head, no, it was only Molang. And the fact that he couldn't avoid slipping.

"Awso... upset cause nuh can stay big" added the leader after hesitating for a moment.

"Aww, it's okay. You can be small here, no one will judge you. Did we judge Sangie for choosing Molang?" asked Seonghwa, wanting to prove that the others wouldn't be weirded out by him.

"Nuh... buh 's diffewent" shook his head Hongjoong.

"Onwy chu can know" decided the leader, wrapping his small arms around the older's torso.

"If you want to keep it a secret, it's alright. We will go at your pace Joongie, there's no rush" assured Seonghwa. Hongjoong nodded and sniffed.

"Come on, let's go clean you up, hm?" Seonghwa took the leader's hand and guided him towards the bathroom, where he made him sit on the closed toilet lid.

"Close your eyes for a second" instructed the oldest while putting a hand towel under warm water. Passing it on Hongjoong's face, Seonghwa heard the younger whine and squirm trying to get away.

"Come on Joongie, be a good boy and let hyung clean you up" Seonghwa's tone was motherly, felt like talking to a child and Hongjoong couldn't help but feel smaller and listen to his hyung, wanting to be a good boy.

"There, all done. Want some lip balm? You can use hyung's one, it's cherry flavored" Hongjoong nodded and let his hyung pass the lip balm stick over his cracked lips.

"There you go Joongie! Thanks for being good" smiled Seonghwa, watching Hongjoong's face light up. He loved praises more than anything else.

"Aww, you're so cute when you smile" cooed the older, making Hongjoong blush.

"Wanna go back to your room? We can watch a movie there" offered Seonghwa, to which the little nodded.

Once the two were settled down in the younger's bed, Seonghwa pulled out his phone.

"What do you want to watch Joong?" asked the older, making Hongjoong think for a bit.

"Can we pwease watch Petew Pan? Dat's my favowite movie evew!" revealed excited the younger, making Seonghwa smile endearingly.

"Of course we can watch that" and with that, the two started to watch the movie, Hongjoong falling asleep halfway through it.

Once Seonghwa realised the little was asleep he smiled fondly, caressing his cheek and leaving quietly right after.

The others in the meantime were doing their own things, Yeosang still lazily looking at the TV screen cuddled with Wooyoung and San, Yunho was sleeping on the other side of the couch, and Mingi was on his phone next to him.

"Where's Jongho?" asked Seonghwa.

"He went to buy us snacks" answered Wooyoung casually, making the oldest frown.

"Couldn't you go buy them yourself?" Seonghwa was quite annoyed. He was hoping to tell Jongho more about the Hongjoong situation but now he couldn't. Yes, he had promised the younger that he wouldn't tell anyone, but technically Jongho already knew, so it was only a little update.

"Relax hyung, he will be back soon. Why were you so eager to see him anyways?" asked Mingi.

"Oh, well, I... I can't explain right now, but I need to talk to Jongho as soon as he comes back" Seonghwa decided that it was the best way to not mess things up more, it was definitely suspicious but he couldn't think of anything better.

"Alright, well, he should be back in a few minutes" and with that, Mingi focused back on his phone, making Seonghwa sigh and walk away, towards Hongjoong's bedroom.

The younger was sleeping like a baby, Seonghwa had never seen him so relaxed. He could see how the leader 'felt better when he was small' and the oldest wished he was always this carefree. For a good half an hour the oldest just looked at Hongjoong endeared, lost in his own thoughts.

"Mmh" a whine could be heard, bringing Seonghwa back to reality.

"Joong?" called the older, unsure if Hongjoong was waking up or having a nightmare.

The younger opened his eyes and met Seonghwa's face staring at him with a fond, motherly look in his eyes.

"Slept well?" asked quietly the oldest, making Hongjoong nod. He couldn't quite remember what happened before falling asleep, so he asked his friend for an explanation.

"You were small. Or at least, that's what you told me" hesitated Seonghwa. Hongjoong groaned and hid his face in his pillow, making Seonghwa smile.

"It's okay Joong. You told me enough for me to understand that you benefit from it and I'm not gonna judge you for that" stated the oldest. Hongjoong lifted his head and peeked at his friend, trying to find any disapproval on his face that would betray his words, but the older's face showed nothing but care and concern.

"...okay then. But when you saw me earlier... well I..." Hongjoong didn't know how to say it. He wanted his best friend to know this about him, but he wasn't sure how to tell the older without bad memories come back to his mind making him slip again.

"You know you can tell me anything right? And if you don't want to, it's okay. We can wait. Or you can keep it to yourself. But I can tell you look conflicted so-"

"I wanna tell you" cutted off Hongjoong, making Seonghwa nod.

Author's note

Did i forget to publish again ahhh im so sorry 

school just finished today :D 

STREAM WORK BY ATEEZ and have a nice day ^^

also, next two chapters will have Hongjoong telling Seonghwa abt his trauma so yeah not fun stuff :( please don't read if sensitive (tws will be on top of the chapter as always, gotta keep y'all safe)

See you in the next one

~Nabi