SELF CONFIDENT
WORD COUNT 2.3k
OVERVIEW seokjin and hoseok are slightly worried about their boyfriend, no matter how cute he is. ( cglb w little!gguk & caregivers jin & hobi ✨💝 )
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THE DAY HAD BEEN going smoothly for both hoseok and seokjin. after dropping jeongguk off at his college classes, they went to their separate jobs– hoseok's at a daycare center and seokjin's at a restaurant– and they'd made sure to stay in touch every hour to make sure each of them were okay. seokjin had been cool and collected all day, not a worry in his mind.
that is, until he received a text from a different 97 liner, who wasn't his boyfriend. on his three o'clock break, seokjin stared incredulously at his phone screen, reading over the message that had come from jeongguk's number.
FROM [ GGUKIE 💝 ]
hey seokjin hyung, it's gyeomie...
um so gguk kinda fell into
little space after our dance
class bc he couldn't get the
routine right n so bam and i
took him back to our dorm
cos we still have some kids toys
from when kunpi's cousin stayed over
FROM [ GGUKIE 💝 ]
long story short he's just woken
up from a nap and keeps whining
for his daddies so idk what to do
unless you and hoseok hyung can get out of work or something
FROM [ GGUKIE 💝 ]
also please don't kill me he
wanted to come back with us
bc jinyoung is at ours rn and
he's a good caregiver so pls pls
don't castrate me or something
the messages had been sent ten minutes ago and seokjin knew how jeongguk could get while in little space. the younger hadn't been sleeping much, working on so many things for his classes, and frankly he and hoseok were worried. jeongguk hadn't been in little space for weeks, but it looked like he had definitely needed to.
seokjin sighed heavily and hurried over to another one of the waiters, asking for her to cover his shift. "family emergency" was his excuse, but this was slightly more urgent in his mind. he stripped himself of his apron and smart shirt and got the hell out of there, sending hoseok a rushed text.
TO [ HOBI ☀ ]
okay hobi code red gguk went
into little space at school
n now he's at gyeomie and bam's place having a tantrum or
smth so get ur ass outta work he needs us
seokjin drove his ford escort faster than he'd probably ever drove it, getting to sunny minds daycare center as quick as possible. a paint stained hoseok practically launched himself into the passenger seat, looking slightly disheveled, and seokjin pulled out of the parking lot.
"okay, okay, first of all," hoseok said after around two minutes. "why is gguk at bambam and yugyeom's? they're like... actual children?"
"so is jeongguk," seokjin rolled his eyes, focused on driving. "they shouldn't be taking care of him while he's in headspace, i know, but they're the only ones gguk's kinda friends with in dance class? plus gyeom said that they had some kiddie stuff at their dorm, plus a disposable caregiver aka park jinyoung."
"so why are we involved again?" hoseok asked, causing his boyfriend to glare at him.
"because gguk had a nap and now he's in unfamiliar surroundings without us, and he's probably seconds away from a screaming tantrum," he said, turning a sharp corner. "you know how he gets. plus yug and bambam live in a student dorm, i don't think anyone will take kindly to screaming and crying."
the car stopped abruptly, and hoseok saw dorm 7 of the local college. the two were quick to get out and run in, seokjin sending a quick "what number?" text to yugyeom, who responded with a simple "22". racing up two flights of stairs, hoseok could already hear jeongguk's loud crying, his heart breaking.
"kunpimook bhuwakal, open this goddamn door you thai stick!" seokjin yelled, knocking on the door loudly. it was answered by a sheepish red haired bambam, who dodged to avoid seokjin storming in. "where is he?" hoseok asked, calmer than his counterpart.
"living room. jinyoung's been trying to calm him with some stuffies, doesn't work," bambam said, biting his lip. "sorry, but gguk had nowhere else to go–"
"it's alright," hoseok assured, before taking seokjin's arm and walking into the living room, where, sure enough, a crying jeongguk was sat on park jinyoung's lap, rubbing at his eyes with fists and occasionally saying things that were unintelligible due to his sobs. stuffed animals surrounded them, and jinyoung glanced up with a face that said "help me". seokjin went into full caregiver mode. "ggukie, baby," he cooed, causing the little to look up curiously, the caregiver kneeling down and holding his arms out. "it's alright, daddy's here."
jeongguk pushed himself off jinyoung and shuffled over to seokjin, wrapping his arms around seokjin's neck and burying his face in his neck. "d-daddy," he hiccupped, still crying, and seokjin stroked his back gently, silently thanking jinyoung. "b-bammie an' gyeomie took ggukie home after dance 'cause ggukie went little. d-don' be mad." his words were muffled due to seokjin's shirt, but seokjin could hear him. jeongguk had clearly assumed he'd be mad, probably because he'd barged in yelling.
"we know, little prince," hoseok said, sitting down beside seokjin, and jeongguk looked up. hoseok was holding a pacifier in his hands– the perfect thing to calm jeongguk down– and the little's eyes went like dinner plates. "gyeomie told us, we're not mad. you want this?" he asked in the voice he always used with the kids at his daycare, because it always made them happy. jeongguk nodded, and hoseok gave him the paci, the youngest quickly calming in seokjin's arms.
"thanks so much for taking care of him, hyung." hoseok said to jinyoung, who smiled.
"ah, it's fine. yugyeom and bambam had no clue; i deal with a little at home as well, he can get just like gguk," he laughed at the indignant shouts from the '97 liners. "what? you're both children yourselves!"
"yeah, but we bought gguk home rather than letting him fend for himself!" yugyeom defended, arms crossed. "who else would've?"
"you should've texted seokjin or hoseok to tell them," jinyoung said, standing up. "remember when you took care of youngjae and he ended up with scraped knees and a bloody nose!?"
"that was one time!"
"guys, quit," hoseok said, looking at jeongguk, who looked like he'd quickly fall asleep at this rate. "thanks for taking care of him. we'll take him home now." he stroked jeongguk's hair, before seokjin carefully stood up, hands under the little's bum and making sure he was secure. bambam cooed at the sight of jeongguk suckling softly on a pacifier, feuding with jinyoung forgotten.
"alright, we'll see you around," yugyeom smiled. "hey... make sure gguk doesn't go too hard on himself. he... he wasn't good, earlier today at the studio, kept blaming himself for not being able to do the dance routine. he, um, didn't eat lunch. or at least bam didn't see him eat."
seokjin furrowed his brow in confusion. "does that happen a lot?" he asked bambam, careful to keep his voice down, lest he woke up the little, who was starting to feel very heavy in his arms. bambam nodded sadly.
"yeah... the last week, he hasn't eaten with minghao and i," he admitted. "he didn't even accept our offer to go get his favourite tacos when it was ming's birthday. said he was dieting."
seokjin and hoseok exchanged a worried glance, the younger looking at jeongguk with worry. "shit... he didn't mention a diet to us."
"he's eaten all my food at night..." seokjin said, biting his lip. bambam shrugged, looking sympathetic. "alright... thanks for telling us, guys."
"try to get him to eat when he's small," jinyoung offered. "littles'll eat anything if they're hungry." hoseok nodded, wrapping an arm around seokjin's shoulders. "thanks, hyung. see you guys."
the drive back to the apartment was quiet, jeongguk sleeping in the back, sat on hoseok's lap. seokjin had kept stealing worried glances at the boy, concerned about what he'd heard from bambam and yugyeom. jeongguk had dieted before, sure, but he didn't need it; he had a six pack (faded, but still there), better muscles than both his boyfriends, and thighs with enough muscle to make seokjin huff when jeongguk threw his leg over him in the night. why would he of all people be dieting, and so drastically?
jeongguk's eyes blinked open lazily when the car stopped outside of their apartment block, pacifier almost falling from his mouth. he bought his hand up to take it out, shuffling off hoseok's lap, and seokjin realised he wasn't little anymore.
"seokjin-hyung?" the youngest blinked, all bleary eyes and messy hair, looking between his boyfriends. he buried his face in his hands. "oh man... i went into little space didn't i– fuck my life."
hoseok ruffled his hair to cheer him up, taking the boys face in his hand and kissing his cheek. "hey, you're alright, gguk. bam and gyeom texted us and we came and got you. apparently you were really good for jinyoung."
jeongguk chuckled. "ah man... we're home though, right?"
"uh huh," seokjin smiled. "c'mon, i feel like a movie marathon is in order." this earned a smile
the three boys exited the car and walked into the apartment building, huddling together in the elevator. jeongguk, still tired, leaned against hoseok the whole way, cheek smushed against the taller's shoulder. it was sort of evident to seokjin that jeongguk was still a bit little, what with the clingy-ness, and it was cute. but he still needed to talk to jeongguk about the diet thing.
"aish, hyung," jeongguk whined as they walked into the apartment, arms wrapped around hoseok's midsection. "i'm exhausted... and hungry... hnng..." he was whiny and tired, and seokjin cooed stupidly, squishing jeongguk's cheeks.
"alright, go lie with hobi and i'll make some movie snacks," he said, kissing jeongguk's pouty lips. the boy grinned, waddling behind hoseok, still wrapped around him like a child, which made seokjin giggle. "choose something funny!"
seokjin popped jeongguk's favourite salted caramel popcorn, and searched in the cupboards for the american candy jeongguk's brother had sent them. a nice little feast of junk food was soon prepared, and seokjin walked into the living room to find jeongguk sat on hoseok's thighs, scrolling through their netflix to find some comedy. seokjin placed the snacks down, and he could see jeongguk's quick glance to them, biting his lip like he thought his hyungs couldn't tell that something was up. hoseok and seokjin exchanged a glance when he looked back at the tv, seokjin mouthing "you ask him, you're less terrifying", to which hoseok replied "why me? you're the eldest". after a few seconds of silent arguing, they decided hoseok would ask. jeongguk had settled on his personal favourite; a little series from the nineties, called 'the mighty boosh'.
jeongguk ended up half on seokjin's lap and half on hoseok's, but he hadn't touched the popcorn. two episodes in, and seokjin and hoseok had eaten; jeongguk hadn't. "ggukie, you want some?" seokjin asked, holding up a packet of chocolate nerds. jeongguk's face flitted between conflicted and worried, and seokjin noticed that easily.
"n-no, i'm not hungry, thanks hyung." he said. hoseok's arm snaked around his waist, worried.
"but bambam and yug said you didn't eat lunch?" hoseok said quietly, and jeongguk's eyes widened, realising he'd been caught.
"i-i had dino nuggies at theirs!" he defended, but both of his boyfriends knew that wasn't true. jeongguk looked on the verge of a breakdown, tiredness seeping through his very body.
"jinyoung didn't mention that," seokjin said, and he saw a single tear roll down jeongguk's cheek, the youngest making grabby hands for seokjin. seokjin pulled him into his lap, realising that jeongguk was little, and he sighed softly, pressing a kiss to the needy little's lips.
"baby..." he spoke softly, stroking jeongguk's hair. "are you sure you don't wanna tell daddy the truth?"
jeongguk's lips pouted, but seokjin knew it was easier to get the truth out of his baby if he was little. little gguk didn't like lying; complete opposite of his big self. jeongguk looked guilty at seokjin. "n-no, daddy."
"well then, babydoll," hoseok said, scooching closer to them. "can you tell daddy why you didn't eat lunch with bammie and hao today?"
jeongguk's doe eyes were slightly teary, and he fiddled with his fingers, biting hard at his lip. "i'm sorry, daddy," he mumbled, guilty. "g-ggukie's fat, don' wanna eat."
seokjin gasped loud enough for the little to look at him, wide eyed. "baby," seokjin ran his fingers over jeongguk's faint abs under his shirt, while hoseok played with his hair. "you're not fat at all, my darling. you're perfectly healthy!"
"you've just gotta little chub, is all," hoseok said with a cheerful smile, pinching jeongguk's chubby bunny cheek and making the little squeal, blushing red. "and daddy and i love you so much, no matter what, ggukie. you can dance and sing, and you're completely gorgeous, the cutest little marshmallow! you're so amazing, doll, and that won't change, no matter what."
"why would you think you're fat, baby boy?" seokjin asked, rubbing circles over jeongguk's stomach in a comforting way. jeongguk shrugged.
"just... ggukie's mind sayin' things," he shrugged, and hoseok pecked a kiss on his cheek. "i... just wanted to be pretty."
"you are, so pretty, baby," hoseok said, soft, making eye contact so jeongguk knew he was sincere. jeongguk blushed a little. "don't ever miss meals again, ggukie. it's dangerous."
jeongguk nodded, understanding. "o-okay seokie," he smiled sheepishly. "kisses and popcorn now?"
"any thing for you, babydoll."
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010618
i get home from school and this is the first thing i do lmao fuck homework am i right
anyway!!! happy pride month my fellow gays and happy june to all of y'all heterosexual buds!!! ilyasm
hope u enjoyed !
–jace