Lonely, Lonely Little Life

Chapter 3

Yoongi is loitering awkwardly by the front door when Taehyung is finally ready. The younger boy has gravitated to the comfier and more colorful clothes in his closet for his look, likely influenced by his newfound headspace.

"Alright, uh... let's do this," Yoongi mumbles, head down. Taehyung grabs a mask and hat to head out, and Yoongi does the same. It's not far to the BigHit building, but you never know what could happen.

They arrive at the studio quickly; Yoongi punches in the code for the Genius Lab and lets Tae in behind him. He locks the door afterwards, but not without a questioning glance from Taehyung. The older boy sighs. This is gonna be difficult, he thinks as he turns around.

"Do you remember what happened last night?" He asks, maybe a little more blunt than intended.

"No, why? Oh! I didn't do anything wrong or embarrassing did I?" Tae questions.

"Uh, well, not really. I just, I needed to know what you knew."

"Know what? What aren't you telling me hyung?" Yoongi looks down at this. His anxiety is beginning to cloud his mind, but he pushes through.

"...You ever heard of age regression before?" His voice is small, barely audible, but Taehyung still picks up on it.

"You mean like, that kink stuff?"

"No! God, no definitely not, no!" Yoongi practically shouts, stumbling over his words in his haste to deny his dongsaeng's query.

"Okay, then what do you mean, hyung? Are you about to tell me you pretend to be a child for fun?" His words aren't malicious, but the older can't help but flinch at those words. He's not pretending.

"Well, the thing is, I'm not, uh, pretending.... Not the point! Age regression is a type of coping mechanism often used to deal with stress and past trauma... and yes I do regress... but I also think you do too..." As he says this, he slowly curls in on himself. He's starting to slip again, and his eyes get a little bit bigger, a little bit brighter. Taehyung notices, confused. He's never seen his hyung like this, and it feels a little out of character for his hyung. Yoongi smiles shyly, and he starts pulling on his index finger in an attempt to self-soothe. Then the younger processes.

"Wait, what?! I - what? I get that I can be a little childish sometimes, but I'm not actually a child!" Tae yells, mostly out of shock. Yoongi doesn't take this well, however. The boy covers his ears with the palms of his hands, and his eyes start to glisten with unshed tears.

"Honestly, I feel disrespected hyung! I-" Taehyung's rant gets cut short as he hears a small sob. Now on the ground, Yoongi is whimpering and crying softly, hands still firmly over his ears. The taller boy doesn't know what to do. His hyung, his senior of three years, is sniffling like a child who just got scolded. Unsure still, Tae awkwardly pats his head.

"Uh... there there?" It comes out as a question, but the small boy looks up at the gesture. His eyes are still shining with tears, and his nose is running, and yet he looks... cute. Vulnerable. And dare he think it, adorable. 

"Taetae?" The small boy asks.

"Yeah, hyung?" Oooh, wrong word to use, because at that moment, Yoongi whimpers again and the tears that were slowing down come back in full force. The boy is full on bawling now, head down and desperate hands reaching out to cling onto Taehyung's legs. His own eyes are starting to get watery as he watches his small hyung on the ground beneath him. A sense of deja vu accompanies a descending fog on his mind, and now he is sobbing too. He sinks to the ground as he trembles. Yoongi pulls him closer and they cry on each others' shoulders, confused and scared. As the sobs wind down, soft, slow breaths fill the air of the Genius Lab.