LITTLE BY LITTLE ☆ SVT AGERE

2.2

For the next week, Mingyu worries.

He spends about half the time out of his headspace, which isn't unusual. Neither he nor Wonwoo are consistent about when they regress or for how long. Just as it isn't usual for him to come out of headspace, it wouldn't be weird for him to regress for a long time at once. Wonwoo is the same.

But he's been thinking, and he's been noticing things.

Wonwoo has been a lot more sensitive and prone to regressing younger than usual. Seeing the little's eyes glaze over with tears doing something as simple as getting dressed in the morning sends all of Mingyu's protective instincts into overdrive trying to figure out what's upset him.

At first, it's confusing— it's even stressful when Mingyu's regressed and there's only so much he can do to comfort Wonwoo. He feels helpless when Wonwoo cries and all of the things that used to calm him down don't seem to work anymore.

And then one day while they're eating breakfast with the others, Joshua mentions Jeonghan coming back to visit them. The looks on his and Seokmin's faces reveal how much they like him, and it reminds Mingyu of the way Wonwoo had lit up at the sight of Seungcheol last time he visited them.

Minghao-hyung must be thinking the same thing. He pats the regressed boys on the shoulder and says, "Maybe Seungcheol will come back soon!"

While Mingyu is excited by the idea, Wonwoo only starts to cry.

The others around the table freeze, unsure of how they're supposed to react. Eventually, Mingyu and Junhui, sitting on either side of him, rub his back soothingly in an effort to calm him down.

"Don't cry, baby!" Junhui tucks an unruly piece of hair behind Wonwoo's ear. "It's okay!"

"What's wrong, Wonu?" Mingyu asks, worried about such an emotional reaction.

Wonwoo cries harder, tears rolling down his cheeks and his face red. He hugs his knees to his chest and wails, "Hyung!"

"You have all your hyungs right here, Won!" Seungkwan-hyung coos, finally coming over and joining the others in comforting him. "Myungho and I, your Mingyu-hyung—"

Wonwoo shakes his head harshly. At first, Mingyu feels hurt that his favorite person would reject him like that, but he quickly understands when Wonwoo cries out, "Cheollie-hyung!"

Wonwoo still misses Seungcheol. He still thinks about him when doing things their caregivers help them with, things Seungcheol would do for him if he were their caregiver instead. Mingyu has never seen the little as attached to anyone as he is to Mingyu, and it's... weird. Even Seungkwan-hyung and Minghao-hyung have never inspired such an attachment, and they are the ones giving Wonwoo baths and putting him down for naps at the end of the day.

"C-Cheollie-hyung," Wonwoo cries again, turning to curl into Mingyu's side.

With another few minutes of petting and reassurances of Seungcheol's return, Wonwoo calms himself down again, enough to eat a few more bites of his food. But the damage is already done.

care bears (4)

seungkwan
seungcheol-hyung!! (;;>_<)

seungcheol
?

seungkwan
you have to come back ASAP ㅠㅠ

seungcheol
???
is something wrong??

hao
wonwoo won't stop crying. i wish i was exaggerating.

hannie
aw
poor bub is going to make himself sick