Little!Taehyung ~ Mental age: 3-5
Caregiver!Jungkook
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"Tae, take a break."
"No."
"C'mon, please? You've been working for hours and I haven't seen you leave your room all day."
"I said no, Jungkook."
"Just ten minutes-"
"I can't! Just... leave me alone. I need to do this."
Jungkook sighed and left the older's room, closing the door behind him before resting his head against the door. This was the fifth time this week that Taehyung had refused to take a break from studying, and Jungkook didn't only miss him, he was extremely worried about him. The older hadn't slipped since his exam dates had been announced, working from morning to evening on assignments and revision that ended up taking up meal times as well as the rest of the day. Jungkook tried to get him to come out of his room at least to have dinner with him, but he'd always be met with the same 'no, Jungkook' or 'I can't, okay?' from his hyung, and so he'd been eating alone for the past week.
Jungkook didn't like how Taehyung was acting either; cold and reserved from all of the stress of his upcoming exams. The younger missed the cuddles, the cute nicknames and the happy, smiley Tae. He missed little Tae.
He knew Taehyung needed to slip, and knew that it would only be a matter of time until he did so, but for now, the older was stubborn and adamant about focusing on studying, and in turn, not sleeping, eating properly, or listening to Jungkook. Jungkook was practically tearing his hair out when Taehyung had done no more than nod when he had brought dinner to his room, desperately wanting to do something to help but he really didn't know what else to try at this point.
"Please sleep soon, baby."
"Mhm."
Jungkook sighed in defeat, walking out of his boyfriend's room for the nth time that day and trudging or his own room, a feeling of helplessness washing over him. He really wasn't sure what to do, and ended up deciding on leaving him for today and retrying tomorrow after getting whatever sleep he could at this late hour. God, it was midnight and Taehyung was still studying; Jungkook couldn't help but feel like a bad boyfriend. He had a small frown on his face as he slowly drifted off to sleep in his own room, alone, having had a somewhat exhausting day, though he was sure that Taehyung must be more tired than him.
Jungkook had noticed the dullness in Taehyung's eyes, followed by the bags beneath them and his somewhat pale skin, and although Taehyung tried hard to hide it the younger was right. Taehyung was exhausted. The boy was currently trying hard to complete some complex maths questions, but after trying and trying to get this one particular question right, he completely caved in.
"I don't get it!" He said under his breath through gritted teeth, clenching his fists into his hair and rocking himself back and forwards in his chair.
He almost chuckled at himself when he felt the tears beginning to roll down his cheeks, knowing that this wasn't the first time he'd broken down that day, but this time it was different. It was so overwhelming. The anxiety of the exams and the frustration and stress that came with his work had finally merged together into one big mess, and before he knew it he could feel himself slipping. And deep.
As he started to feel smaller and smaller, all he could realise was how panicked and downright awful he felt, a small whine leaving his lips as his body trembled and more tears escaped his eyes. He hated this. He hated all of this so much. He hated the work, hated how he dreaded the exams, but mostly he hated how he'd been pushing Jungkook away. And right now, he needed his boyfriend more than ever.
It was almost 2am when Jungkook was woken up by a hand lightly shaking his shoulder, the younger groaning in his sleepy state as he turned over to see Taehyung standing beside his bed.
"Tae?" He mumbled out, voice thick with sleep as he spoke in a tone of confusion, but his eyes snapped open when he heard a sniffle and a whimper from the boy who stood in front of him, switching into caregiver-mode.
"Da-daddy." Taehyung cried out in a small voice, and Jungkook was up in a flash, sitting on the edge of his bed and reaching out for his little with gentle arms and concerned eyes.
