A "Little" Surprise

Kookies N' Milk

"You guys have been up here for a while, is everything-" Jin broke off mid sentence at the sight of his three dongsaengs staring at him, looking startled and guilty of something.

Jungkook hid the stuffed bunny behind his back.

"What did you guys do?" Jin asked, slightly suspicious.

"Why do you always assume we're up to something?" Taehyung asked, feigning insulted.

Jin raised an eyebrow at the three of them.

"Kookie's sorry Jinnie hyung!" Jungkook burst out, his little self unable to handle the tension and thought of his hyung being angry with him. He widened his eyes and clapped his hand over his mouth with a whimper.

Jin's mouth dropped open. "You're a little?" He asked incredulously.

Jungkook's eyes filled with tears at the tone of Jin's voice and the expression on his face. "Don't hate Kookie, Hyungie!" Jungkook begged, his lower lip trembling.

"No no no Kookie! I could never hate you, baby! I was just surprised!" Jin frantically tried to calm the younger. His voice softened. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Taehyung turned to Jin. "That was what Jimin and I were trying to find out before you barged in and scared him." he said accusingly.

"Oh." Jin looked embarrassed and was about to leave when Jungkook giggled and made grabby hands at him. Gone were the tears and the pout, in its place was a sparkling bunny smile.

"Cuddles Jinnie!" He demanded, having decided that his lovely hyungie wasn't mad at him and would make a very good cuddle buddy. Besides, all the crying had made him sleepy, and being around Jin had always helped him fall asleep.

Jin looked at Jimin, who looked at Taehyung, who looked at Jin. Jimin and Taehyung both shrugged their shoulders like why not?

Jin sat down on the bed next to Jungkook and gently pulled him into his lap, hugging him close. Jungkook yawned again and curled up against him. In a matter of minutes, his breathing slowed to a sedate pace and he was asleep.

Jin softly laid him down and tucked him into the bed, placing the bunny stuffie under his arm, and pressing a quick kiss on his forehead. Then he turned to Jimin and Taehyung, beckoning them outside.

Once they were in the hall, Jin sighed heavily. "What the heck just happened?"

Jimin explained how he had gone to check on Jungkook when they heard the thump and had found him sobbing with the door locked. He told Jin about getting help from Tae because he knew Tae had the spare key to Jungkook's room.

From there Taehyung took over, explaining how they found Jungkook stuck under the bed, pulled him out, and found his bunny.

"And that's when you walked in." Taehyung finished. "But I have a question for you two, what the heck is a little!?"

"To put it veeeery simply, a little is a person who uses age regression to cope with stress. In littlespace, which is the mindset a person is in when they regress, Jungkook will act like a child, and depending on how young he regresses to, he'll need certain accommodations."

"So is that why he was freaking out about losing a stuffed animal?" Taehyung asked. "I mean, I'd be sad if I lost something special to me, but he looked devastated. Also, is that why he was referring to himself in third person?"

"Yes that is why he was acting that way." Jin nodded. "There are other reasons why someone might regress, like severe PTSD, depression, or other medical circumstances, but I'm fairly certain Jungkook only regresses to relieve stress. He's never been good with his feelings, maybe this is how he deals with them."