⚠️ WARNINGS ⚠️
• mentions :- age regression, anxeity, baby talk (a little), adhd.
age regression is a way of coping stress and anxeity among many people in the world. it's not always a role-play/kink/foreplay/nsfw. many people age regress because of past trauma (emotional or physical), excessive stress, mental health conditions such as high functioning anxeity, autism spectrum disorder (asd) or attention deficiet hyperactivity disorder (adhd). there's no specific age for a person to start regressing (voluntarily or involuntarily). it can be anyone even a child of ten years old (or younger) or a grown adult.
also. jimin as a psychologist.
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aera jumps slightly, a gasp slipping past her tinted lips as a pair of footsteps make it inside the room. she turns around quickly, clutching on her pikachu plush, staring at her brother with her dark, round eyes.
jungkook smiles at her briefly, scanning around the room and walks over to the table, taking his phone which he probably left behind when he came to check on aera. she stares up at him from her place on the carpet, sitting with her legs crossed and all her books scattered around her as she was earlier trying to get done with her homework.
although instead of the math she was supposed to do, aera sighs staring at her drawing book, seeing yet another incomplete drawing which makes her groan in annoyance, unhappy with herself that she can never complete a single task and just switches through tasks while not concentrating on any of them. tears blur her eyes and lips roll out a soft whine, pushing the books away and sits leaning against the frame of the bed.
jungkook hears the low sniffs and turns on his track, frowning at the sight of aera crying. he approaches her with a confused look and crouches in front of her, stroking her head, "hey, what's wrong, princess?" he asks and aera looks at him, breaking into a cranky sob, only to be hugged by jungkook.
jungkook couldn't understand the cause of this meltdown but it concerned him for sure. he had been noticing aera's different behaviour too evident the past few days, as though she was having difficulty even getting the easiest tasks done, or maybe she just simply didn't want to do anything? he'd like to believe that. she had been acting distant, cranky, and been less talkative than before. and when jungkook tried to talk to her about anything that's bothering her, she would just shake her head slightly, confused with herself as if she didn't know what was going on either.
all of it was getting just more bothering for jungkook each day as even jimin wasn't here to help him out and know what's happening. jungkook although called the elder and informed him with details how aera has been acting up in the past few days, zoning out quite often, jumping at any slight movements or noises and being like she was always scared and worried about something.
the elder assured him that he shouldn't be too worried and just try talking to her calmly. but jungkook just couldn't wrap his head around anything and demanded the elder to just return home as soon as possible for he didn't want aera to get hurt by any silly mistake. so jimin had to leave the conference and return back to korea for the emergency that jungkook couldn't seem to handle.
and it was about time for jimin to land, but jungkook having aera crying in his arms made it hard for him to leave and pick the elder up from the airport. he shifts to his side a little, pulling away from aera and cups her face, "why are you crying, ri? are you hurting anywhere? tell me,"
"koo, i'm tired... i no' wanna do this— this homework," she weeps and jungkook sighs softly, wiping her tears.
"alright, it's fine. we'll do it later, okay? don't worry," he smiles assuringly, kissing her cheeks and leans closer to bump his forehead against hers, "do you wanna go out? jiminie's coming back. i was going to take him from the airport,"
"jiminie?" aera sniffs, looking straight at his face and jungkook nods. she rubs her eyes and holds his hand, "le's go, i'm— i wanna see jiminie," she nibbles on her lip, getting up quickly and jungkook frowns at her, noticing the little mistakes in her speech that has been there for quite sometime now.
at first he decided to ignore that way of talking, assuming that she's just playing around with him probably because he calls her and treats her like a baby. but now it's a cause of bit concern when she would occasionally bring that in daily use. not always, but a noticeable amount of times during the day, especially when she would whine and cry about something not being her way.
"why are you talking like that, sweetheart? you told me not to call you a little baby, but you speak like that," he tries to joke, only to shut his mouth when he realises that aera probably didn't like the joke. she looks down, gulping down thickly and mumbles out a conscious apology as though she was being careful of how and what she says.
"uh, i'm sorry, i didn't mean it like that. you've been a little off these days and i was worried, that's why i asked. that's all," jungkook says.
"i'm okay," aera mumbles, slowly looking up at his much taller and bulkier body in front of her petite one, "koo, can i hold your hand... please...?"
jungkook stays quiet, confirming that it's something serious for he knew his sister enough to also know that she would never be like this. he's pulled out of trance when aera speaks again, "it's okay if you don't want to—"
"i— no, it's okay, c'mere," jungkook smiles, wrapping his arm around aera and kisses the side of her head, "let's go before jiminie's plane lands,"
"mm-hmm," aera nods subtly, sighing in relief as she glanced at her hand curling around jungkook's index and middle finger after she looks up at his face to check that he's not uncomfortable or anything. jungkook notices her gaze, turning his head towards her and aera snaps out of her bubble, looking down quickly like she was never staring at jungkook.
jungkook sighs softly, not saying anything and checks his phone, going through the schedule of his hyung's flight and gets in the car, glancing at aera who instead of jumping in the passanger seat, sits in the back quietly looking out of the window. the brother keeps mum again, not wanting to ask her anything right now and leave it for his more experienced hyung to deal with. jimin most certainly tackles with such cases of anxeity and depression and many other stuff like that on a daily basis, which makes him more reliable and wise in doing anything about their sister's health too.
as they stop at a signal, jungkook's eyes wander back to aera who doesn't look that caged now and is quite freely watching eveything outside. her doe eyes shimmering in near fascination and gleaming less with stress or fear. jungkook smiles to himself, relieved to know that this drive might be helping her calm down. and if it does, he's willing to bring her out more often, might even get another car with a sun roof, because the one they have at home is jimin's and he's not always home.
"should i roll the window down?" jungkook asks, getting aera's attention as she breaks into a smile, nodding her head like a little child which makes the brother chuckle.
the window of her side rolls down, letting in fresh, cool air that brushes her short hair back and rushes past her skin, eliciting a soft giggle from aera's lips. by the team they reach the airport, jungkook can't help but admire his sister's innocent smiles and tactics as she tries to fix her hair that were blown back by the wind. she glances in the mirror, laughing at her funny hairstyle and jungkook smiles, resting his chin on his palm, seeing aera like that after quite a long time.
"seems like you're happy now," he says.
aera looks at him, tilting her had at a cute angle and grins, "'appy," her voice whispers with mischief, "so 'appy, koo. riri wike dis— dwive," she giggles, shifting forward in her seat to the brother whose smile fades away slowly, but she doesn't mind and leans closer to peck his lips, leaving him even more shocked.
"aera, what are you doing?" he pulls back, staring at her with a confused gaze, "we don't kiss people like that, baby. it was okay when you were young, but you're a big girl now,"
aera looks at him with a confused gaze that gradually turns into a guilty one, "i— i' sowwy... koo," she mumbles with a pout, tears welling her eyes as she looks down at her lap.
"and why are you speaking like that?" he sighs deeply, massaging his temples, shaking his head as he gets out of the car, leaving aera to stare at him with fearful eyes when he shuts the door. a sob rolls out of her lips, hand touching the door on her side and staring at jungkook outside who doesn't look happy.
"koo, i' sowwy... riri wuv you..." she cries, "koo..."
jungkook glances at her and sighs, giving in eventually. he stands right outside the window, leaning down to rest his elbows on the edge and speaks, "stop crying, aera. why are you being like this today? what's wrong?" he heaves out a tired breath, reaching out his hand to stroke her hair.
aera's sobs never lessen as hiccups make her body jump slightly every once in a while. lifting up her head, she looks at jungkook, mumbling something under her breath which he fails to understand and now starts losing patient bit by bit, for he couldn't figure out what aera wanted or why she kept acting like this. he pulls back from the door, leaving her by herself for a minute and shakes his head, trying not to get mad at her for crying unnecessarily.
"koo..." aera whimpers, which jungkook ignores and pulls out his phone, dialling jimin's number. but the elder is faster to call and jungkook sighs in relief, "hello, hyung, where are you?"
"just coming out," jimin says, "where are you?"
"i'm in the car, near the second exit,"
"okay, cool. i'm almost there,"
"yeah," jungkook slides his phone in the pocket and cracks his neck, glancing hack at the car where aera's still sobbing and looking at him with pleading eyes. he groans to himself, not knowing what to do and goes near her again, "listen, i'm serious, aera. please stop crying. i'll go get some water okay? you stay in the car,"
aera watches as he pulls away, going in the direction away from the car and whines more, "koo... no..." she cries, rubbing her eyes and clutching on the edge of the window, "koo, no' leaving riri..."
"goodness, what's wrong with her today?" jungkook mutters to himself, shaking his head and jogs to the store near by, hoping to make it quick instead of letting aera crying alone in the car. he buys a bottle of mineral water, taking a few sips to cool down his mind and body from aera's behaviour.
"hey, jungkook-ah!" jimin's voice makes jungkook turn around with a smile, closing the lid of the bottle before going in for a hug, "there, buddy, how long did i keep you waiting?" jimin chuckles.
"not too long, but it still felt like ages with aera wailing her lungs out for no reason," jungkook sighs, nodding towards the car as he takes jimin's bag and starts walking in the direction of the car with jimin.
"why? did you both fight or what?"
"no, i told you right? about her acting strange the past few weeks?" jungkook says, getting a nod from the elder brother whose gazes softens on seeing aera sobbing in the backseat of the car. "it's just been too much today. you have no idea how hard i was trying not to say anything to her," he exasperates, putting the suitcase in the trunk while jimin opens the door to the backseat, deciding to sit with aera.
"hey, princess," he smiles, getting in and opens his arms for her. aera looks at him, pausing the crying for a moment while she takes in the fact that jimin's back, then continues crying like before, hugging jimin tightly, "why's riri crying, hm? did you miss oppa that much?" he rubs her back.
"o-oppa..." aera sobs, burying her face in his jacket between the hiccups and the heavy breathings.
"yes, baby? stop crying now. oppa's here, and he's gonna scold whoever made his princess cry," jimin kisses her forehead and wipes the tears off her face. aera sniffles softly, nodding at his words and rubs her eyes, "good job. see? riri looks better smiling. will you give oppa a smile?"
aera nods slowly, forcing a smile despite her eyes still having tears left in them and cheek wet from the previous crying. jimin chuckles on seeing that, recalling how she would smile instantly whenever the brothers asked her to when she was much younger and had less understanding of emotions. jungkook, on the other hand, doesn't look phased by this behaviour of aera anymore and focuses on driving.
"good girl, now tell me why were you upset?" jimin asks.
aera pouts again, glancing at jungkook and leans closer to jimin, "koo, no' wuv riri... he- he saying no kissy..." she mumbles to jimin, getting a confused look from him.
"what?" he frowns.
"exactly," jungkook emphasizes, glancing at the elder brother through the mirror, "that's how she's been talking for the past hour. and she even kissed me on the lips— like what, and why?" he exasperates.
jimin looks down at aera, noticing how she hunches down when jungkook speaks that way of her, seemingly scared and confused. something in her eyes is different and jimin notices it right away, the way she looks at jungkook as though she couldn't understand half of what he was saying or she was unaware of the reason he was being mad.
"kook, it's fine," jimin says, gesturing his hand for the younger brother to stay quiet, getting an even more questioning look from him. "just listen to me and don't say anything stupid,"
"i— okay, fine," jungkook shrugs.
jimin nods, focusing his attention on aera and pats her side gently, "close your eyes. i think riri must be tired now," he hushes out, leaning down to press a kiss on the tip of aera's nose, "sleep for a while, hm?" aera nods, laying down on the seat with her head on jimin's lap, letting out a little, kitten like yawn before closing her eyes.
after sometime jimin himself decides to break the silence and looks up from his sister, to jungkook, "what did you say earlier was happening?"
"with aera?" jungkook asks, getting a nod from jimin, "ah just, she was acting a bit distant. like she wouldn't talk to me and just be in her own little world. she wouldn't leave my side, but didn't talk to me either when i stayed with her. last night she almost threw a fit when i was telling her to sleep first because i had some work and she had to get up early for school. her eating habits are very disturbed too... i was genuinely concerned about her— still am. i don't get what's going on with her,"
jimin hums softly, "has she been speaking like this before?"
"kind of?" jungkook says, "most of the time she wouldn't speak at all except for the basic words like sorry or just calling me for something. and when she did speak more, it was still the bare minimum,"
"alright," jimin nods, sighing deeply as he looks at aera, shaking his head and strokes her head gently.
"what do you think is going on? do you know anything?" jungkook asks.
"sounds like age regression. she has already been showing symptoms like adhd and anxeity before. i think her anxeity has been worse these days, that's why this happened,"
"age regression?" the younger male frowns, pulling over in the side of the street to have his full attention on jimin's words and turns to the side, having a better view of jimin and aera, "you mean that thing when people kind of fall into a younger headspace and start acting like a child...?"
"well, yes, to put it simply. we say that when someone is facing or has faced some kind of trauma, they tend to be more sensitive to mental stimulus. that's when a part of them, in some cases, wishes that they could go back in their childhood when everything was fine and they didn't have to care so much about the things around them. to most people regressing is a coping mechanisms with the anxeity they've been struggling to deal with,"
jungkook stays quiet for a moment, staring at jimin and then at aera, shaking his head as he feels all of it too much to take in at once. so he takes a deep breath before speaking, "but she's just fourteen...!"
"and?" jimin arches up a brow.
"and hyung, i'm not trying to sound like an asshole but still i apologize in advance. she... aera is just a kid, all she has to do is her homework and okay maybe go through some stressful people in scholl. but that's not that hard, i mean, what will she do when she grows up more and there are tons of other problems out there waiting for her in life?"
"jungkook, think it about it," jimin sighs, "consider a child of first grade, and one in high school. the first grader studies basic things like numbers, alphabets, times tables and things like that which the high schooler already knows. but that doesn't mean that those numbers and alphabets are easy for the first grader. that kid is coming across them for the first time, and when he or she appears for a test, they'll be evaluated on the basis of that particular knowledge. you won't expect that kid to do algebra or calculus would you?"
"no," jungkook says amd jimin smiles a little.
"exactly, just because aera's young doesn't mean she doesn't have enough on her plate. you cannot expect her to worry about a job or the government at this age. she'll do only that much that a kid her age is supposed to do, and she's going to face problems within that. it won't be like she does the bare minimum and worries about the united nations making amendments in the world peace laws or whatever,"
"damn... you and your examples, hyung," jungkook shakes his head and jimin chuckles, "united nations, even i don't think about all that,"
"you should," jimin jokes.
"i will later. but for now, tell me about this thing with riri. like what should we do now? and is it anxeity or anything else?"
"anxeity is one of the most common reasons people age regress. others can be due to adhd or even autism,"
"okay... and does she like know it? she's doing it because she wants to?"
"i don't think she's aware of this," jimin glances at the sister, "many can people regress voluntarily, but with some people they might just slip into that younger headspace whenever they feel too anxious or burdened,"
"ah poor riri," jungkook sighs, "i can tell she's been really struggling the past few days. like, really. and it hurts me to see her that way. i feel sorry now,"
"why?"
"i was getting mad at her today because i couldn't understand why she was acting like this. it felt weird when she kissed me like that out of nowhere and then wouldn't even speak properly. but i swear hyung i didn't scold her or anything, i was really holding myself back from saying anything rude or stupid," jungkook says, now turning ahead and ignites the engine again, ready to complete the remaining half of their journey to home.
"thank you very much for that," jimin shakes his head.
•••
later in the evening when aera wakes up, she feels much lighter and breathable as though some invisible weight was removed from her. she washed up for certainly no reason and changed into a different set of pajamas before making her way downstairs. although she felt better than the last few days, she still remembered what she did earlier today and how jungkook seemed uncomfortable and kind of mad.
she shakes away the feelings of guilt and embarrassment, hoping that jimin will know something better. aera enters the kitchen, trying her best to act normal and pretend like she doesn't remember herself acting like a child and even kissed jungkook on the lips. that's crazy and embarrassing. on second thoughts to her, jungkook wasn't wrong, she's fourteen and a big girl now, these things don't make sense and she shouldn't have let that happen.
with seconds passing the relaxation drains away and all that's left is embarrassment with herself, guilt about her actions and fear of jungkook being ashamed of her. she stops on her track, regretting that she ever came out of her room and takes a step back, tears blurring her eyes again as she mutters curses to herself for being so fucking stupid and weird.
"ri? you're up," jimin voices, "come, sit. dinner's almost ready,"
aera never looks up and just shakes her head, "i'm not hungry," she nibbles on her lip, turning around instantly to go back and hide in her room.
"don't be like that, baby. you've got to eat. jungkook told me how you've been skipping meals,"
"i'm really not hungry, oppa," she says, rubbing her eyes and looks around for jungkook. but he isn't anywhere to be seen, so she sighs, "okay fine, but i'll eat in my room, please?"
jimin sighs softly, staring at her with knowing eyes and turns off the stove, wiping off his hands before going to aera, "it's okay, kiddo. you don't have to overthink that much about anything, okay? eveything's fine," he assures, sitting on chair and pulls aera to sit on his lap which makes her want to pull away subtly, "what's wrong? you don't wanna come to oppa?"
aera looks down, hesitating, "i-it's not like that. i'm not a baby anymore, an— yeah, so it's fine,"
"do you think so?" jimin smiles, wrapping his arms around her and pulls her down to kiss her cheek, "you're always gonna be my little girl, aera. no matter how much you grow up, you'll always be my baby, you know that right?"
"yes," she nods, looking at him for the first time now. she feels at ease and smiles softly, sitting on jimin's lap sideways, "i love you, oppa. thank you," she hushes out, hugging him tightly. "and i'm sorry for earlier i don't know what was wrong with me. i shouldn't've been like that. it's so silly and uhm embarrassing... i'm so sor—"
"hush, it's okay," jimin assures, stroking her back and kisses her cheek, "don't worry about that. it happens,"
"it does? you don't think i was being stupid acting like a baby when i'm not?"
"not at all. in fact i'm glad you were comfortable being like that— i mean so vulnerable with your oppa. and who said that it's silly? i asked jungkook and he said you were being so cute, it reminded him of the days when you were younger,"
"really? but wasn't he mad at me?" aera frowns in confusion and jimin chuckles, shaking his head.
"no, who told you that? he was just worried at first because you weren't really opening up to him the last few days. but today seeing you happy earlier made him happy too,"
aera hums softly, smiling at that, "i like going for a drive with koo,"
"yes, and that's why he's gonna take you out more often,"
"really? that's nice!" she giggles, kissing jimin's cheek, "thank you, oppa. you're really the best big brother,"
"is that so?" jimin smiles fondly, chuckling as aera nods for him. a pair of footsteps enter the kitchen, drawing attention from the oldest and youngest sibling, seeing it's jungkook putting the plastic bag on the table while he rubs the back of his neck.
"ice cream people?"
"i think riri would like that," jimin says, patting aera's back encouragingly and she stands up, nodding her head.
she goes to jungkook first, looking up at his face and smiles softly, "koo, i'm sorry for earlier. i didn't wanna make you mad or uncomfortable or anything like that,"
"it's okay," jungkook cups her face, leaning doen to kiss the tip of her nose and pulls her into a hug, "honestly i wasn't mad, not for more than a second. i just think we need to spend more time together, like actually do something fun like we used to do before. don't you agree?"
aera breaks into a smile, looking at him thankfully and nods, "yes, maybe we can paint? or go out?"
"or maybe we can do both?" jungkook grins, hoisting her up in his arms and sits on the dining chair, bringing aera on his lap. he smiles fondly, nuzzling his nose against her cheek and pretends to bite, making her squeal playfully and squirm in hid arms, cackling loudly.
"alright, play later, dinner's ready," jimin smiles at them, "put the ice cream in the fridge, champ,"
"me?" jungkook looks at the elder and jimin smiles to himself, keeping his eyes on the work he's doing while setting the table and jungkook glances at aera, "he's calling me champ?" he whispers.
"because you are champ," aera whispers back.
"right?" jungkook grins, leaving her for a moment and stands up, putting the ice cream in the freezer and helps jimin set the table. as jimin turns around to grab something, jungkook interrupts with a surprise hug and sighs softly, "thanks hyung. everything would've been so hard without you," he says before pulling away and sits beside aera, going back to talking to her about something funny as it makes her laugh.
jimin just watches them fondly for a minute, them shakes his head on hearing aera calling for him to sit with them too and have dinner together after almost a month. 'i missed you two so much' the eldest smiles to himself almost going to take his first bite of the steak, but stops on seeing that aera has already dropped the soy sauce on her shirt. he breaks into a chuckle, shaking his head passing the napkins to the younger siblings, "eat properly, and don't talk with your mouth full," he says.
"why are you smiling, oppa?" aera asks, getting jungkook's attention on jimin's face as well.
"yeah, why are you smiling hyung?"
"nothing," jimin takes a quick bite, "eat up,"
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a/n- hellooo everyone 💖 i've particularly been so happy today and i felt like doing everything at once. and writing is my favourite thing to do so here's an update. pls vote and comment to let me know if you liked the chapter or not.
also how did you first learn about age regression and what are your thoughts about it?
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