SCARED
WORD COUNT 2.5k
OVERVIEW yoongi promises taehyung he won't go into little space while home alone. spoiler: he does. ( cg/lb relationship w little yoon n it's hella fluffy at the end )
FOR Str0ng_P0wer_Thancc ❤
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"—ARE YOU SURE about this yoongi? really?" taehyung repeats the same question he's been asking for an hour now, dressed in his grey suit for work, eyebrows furrowed in worry. his short boyfriend rolls his eyes with a huff, hand on his hip.
"i'll be fine, tae," yoongi says, fed up with the younger's constant doubting of him. taehyung opens his mouth to speak, but the black haired boy shushes him. "you've got a meeting."
taehyung purses his lips, concerned. he's been called last minute for a business meeting at his father's company, which ruins the afternoon he had planned with yoongi, hopefully with his boyfriend free to be in little space like he wants to. taehyung hasn't seen his hyung in his favourite mindset for a week, yoongi having been busy with producing a song for some up and coming jyp group—he'd been stressed, and taehyung had hoped this saturday would be perfect for him to fall into his caregiver role. but, sadly, things changed.
"i'm just... concerned, okay yoon? you haven't been in little space for ages, baby, and i'm worried you'll slip," he says. yoongi exhales, pouty, before walking forward and standing on his tiptoes to kiss taehyung softly on the lips.
"i'll be alright. jimin's number is on speed-dial if i need a caregiver, you know that," he says, tender, and taehyung's heart melts like a sundae on a summer afternoon at the small smile on yoongi's face, nodding in understanding. the smaller boy grins and kisses him again, patting his shoulder. "now go! your dad'll pull a fit otherwise."
taehyung laughs and kisses yoongi's forehead, picking up his briefcase from the floor with a sad smile. yoongi's upset too; he was ready to spend the afternoon with taehyung, watching disney channel in their pajamas and eating sweets together, maybe doing some colouring and taking a nap eventually. as soon as taehyung's gone, he pouts heavily and sighs.
"guess i'm on my own." he says. truthfully, he could go into little space if he just called jimin—the younger is well experienced, thanks to his ex boyfriend youngjae—but it's not the same as being little with taehyung as his caregiver. they've been together for five years now, taehyung knows every little thing that yoongi needs when he's small, knows the snacks he likes best, the names of all his stuffies, the petnames he likes. with jimin, it's different, because jimin isn't a full time caregiver anymore, not now he's with hoseok, who yoongi would assume to be jimin's caregiver if he didn't know better. with jimin, it's a bit awkward—yoongi would never tell him that though.
with a gentle sigh leaving his pouty lips, yoongi goes upstairs and changes into his favourite pajamas; he can still have a lazy movie-pajama-junk food afternoon by himself. taehyung will be back in less than an hour. yoongi can handle himself.
dressed in one of taehyung's t-shirts and studio ghibli patterned pajama trousers—a valentine's gift from taehyung—, yoongi goes to the kitchen and tries to find some snacky food. he has to stand on a chair to reach the right cupboard (damn taehyung's tall ass), and manages to get the microwave popcorn and a packet of sour gummies from the sweet cabinet. taehyung thinks he's slick, hiding the sweets, but big yoongi knows where everything is. throwing some sweets into his mouth, he puts the popcorn in the microwave and waits.
taehyung and yoongi have been in this caregiver/little relationship since the second year of their relationship, and so far, it's all been okay. one day in that second year, yoongi fell into little space without even knowing what it was, but he'd been left alone for a bit at home and the stress that had been building up inside just burst. he regressed without a caregiver, and when taehyung got home, he latched onto him crying, mumbling out jumbled, frantic sentences, and when he called taehyung "daddy" without meaning to, everything sort of clicked for taehyung, who had met his a caregiver/little couple before, his friend seokmin and his boyfriend chan.
taehyung and yoongi had talked it out the next day, and yoongi, after a lot of "it's so fucking weird" and "don't you think i'm a freak?" remarks, had comes to terms with what he was. they went out that week and bought things especially for yoongi's headspace: pacifiers, plushies (not that he didn't have a few already), a box set of disney movies, colouring books, and other more childish things. that night, taehyung had never seen yoongi more happy, lying belly-down on the living room carpet with a purple pacifier between his lips and a colouring book in front of him. yoongi's still ashamed of it, a bit, but he's okay with being in headspace around taehyung, jimin, and jimin's boyfriend. it makes him feel safe, and happier overall, so he's not going to give it up.
yoongi yawns, taking the popcorn from the microwave and opening the package, hissing as his fingers burn a little. he chews on sour candy and throws himself onto the ash coloured sofa, legs tucked up to his chest, warm and content despite the horrendous rain outside. he feels sorry for taehyung, trapped in a business room with stuffy men ten years older than himself, and he sighs a little bit, reaching for the remote.
"what's on..." he says to himself, surfing the channel schedule, putting a few bits of popcorn in his mouth. he doesn't feel like watching disney movies or anything that could trigger his headspace, so he goes down to the movie channels. some nick cage movie he watched the other day, a marathon of strong woman do-bong soon, 10 things i hate about you... yoongi stops on the channel showing the first the conjuring movie, eyebrows raising. it's his favourite out of the duo, and it's been years. he remembers watching it with namjoon the year it came out, how they screamed like little girls at the exorcism scene. he grins and plays the movie; it's halfway through, but he doesn't mind.
see, big yoongi sometimes... forgets how easy it is for him to slip into a small headspace when he's left alone or hasn't been in little space for a while. lots of things can trigger it: going into the spare room they've put all of yoongi's little stuff in, watching cartoons or disney stuff, seeing cute animals, getting hurt, and getting scared. big yoongi also forgets that his smaller self scares very easily, so he didn't think twice about putting on the horror movie, munching away on sour candy and popcorn and even laughing at a lighter scene.
wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, yoongi notices the rain getting heavier, the sky getting darker. the big glass window of the living room shows clouds blanketing the town, and he shivers; he hopes to god it's just rain. watching the movie again, a scarier scene starts, music getting suspenseful and the atmosphere tense. it takes three things for yoongi to lose all composure.
one – the sudden intense shriek of a jumpscare that makes him jump high in the air, like he's been poked with a hot needle, his headspace slipping like sand through his fingers.
two – the lights in the house all flicker, making the atmosphere even scarier.
three – a loud 'crash!' of a thunderclap erupts over the house, and it's enough for yoongi to whimper.
"daddy!" he cries out on reflex, but taehyung's not there, and won't be for a while, and yoongi's suddenly scared and cowering on the couch, hands over his ears. as if everything wasn't bad enough, the power suddenly snaps off, leaving the scared boy alone and in the dark.
"d-daddy?" lip quivering and trying to hold in his tears, yoongi keeps a tight grip on the blanket wrapped around his shoulders, bare feet hitting the carpeted floors. his headspace age is usually around five to four, and somehow he's forgotten his caregiver isn't in the house with him. wide eyed and with his lips wrapped around him thumb, his whole body shakes as he walks out of the living room, every shadow seemingly a monster out to get him. when another thunderclap sounds, yoongi's tears start silently flowing, scared out of his mind. he calls for his caregiver again and again, but no answer. "d-daddy, where ar-are y-you? y-yoonie's scared!" his r's turn to w's when he's small, his lisp more prominent especially as he's crying.
where did his daddy go? yoongi's small mind is full of fear and worry, worry that his daddy's just left him alone in this scary house—he barely even recognises the place in his terror. when lightning shoots a white light through the house and a huge bang resonates, yoongi runs to the nearest place that seems safe: the cupboard under the stairs where they keep their coats and umbrellas, left open by taehyung when he went out.
the little nestles himself between coats and shoes, curled up small. "d-daddy..." his terrified voice is little more than a whimper. his little mind has convinced him that taehyung's been taken by whatever monster is hiding in this seemingly unknown house, and tears start to fall, hot, heavy and salty, down his reddening cheeks. he cries into his knees, convinced he's now all alone and that his daddy's gone, that he's in this house with the monster from the movie.
he closed the door behind him when he got into the cupboard, so he's in complete darkness, hiding from the monster that's out there. he cries and cries, shaking like a leaf in a storm. what happened to his daddy?
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"—AND I'LL SEE YOU all after this week of holidays, have a good time. thank you for coming in at such early notice."
taehyung groan is masked by applause when the boring meeting is finally over, the young boy having been staring at one of the businessmen's slowly slipping toupee for the past fifteen minutes. his father had called this meeting because of a celebration, saying they could all have a week off because the company had achieved it's yearly monetary goal, or something. the meeting still somehow lasted an hour.
taehyung stands with the others, wanting just to drive home. his father shakes his hand, with a dazzling fake smile. "thanks for making it, son," he says, and taehyung wants to slap him. "not many people would've come at such short notice."
"i'm your son. you say jump, i say how high, even if it means sacrificing an evening with my boyfriend," taehyung deadpans, hands in his pockets. "now, if you'll excuse me, this was fucking boring. see you next week."
he leaves for the elevator, tapping his foot impatiently. there's no news or texts from yoongi, so he can only assume the older boy is safe and sounds in the house. he still wants to get home desperately though, as the rain and storm have worsened since he got to the meeting, and yoongi hates storms more than anything—the older will probably be curled up on the couch awaiting his return. this makes taehyung smile as he climbs into the front seat of his audi, the rain coming down torrentially, his window wipers barely keeping up.
his radio plays the song yoongi helped coproduce last month, making taehyung grin widely. he loves yoongi so much; the headspace thing never weirded him out at all, and he loved taking care of yoongi in various ways. it makes him feel like he has a purpose, really, and it's nice to have someone to care for and love, someone who depends on him and who loves him unconditionally.
their house is ten minutes away from his work, but it's harder with this rain, and taehyung hears on the radio that lots of people are experiencing their power cutting off because of the weather. he bites at his lip, driving as fast as he can whilst still safe. his tie seems to be strangling him, and taehyung casts the thing aside, focusing heavily on the road.
when he sees the house, it's like a blessing. the car goes into the spacious garage, and taehyung runs to the front door, fumbling with his keys. the lights are all on, which is lucky, but taehyung's confused when he sees the tv on, popcorn and sweets on the sofa, but no yoongi. he furrows his brows; maybe the younger took a nap?
taehyung discards his suit jacket as he heads upstairs, poking his head into their bedroom. the bed's empty. after looking around more, he discovers nothing in yoongi's playroom, nothing in the bathroom or in the home studio. his heart's hammering hard in his chest, suffocating.
"yoongi!" he calls out, scared. what if's start attacking his brain: what if yoongi went into little space and went outside? what if they were robbed? what if what if what if— taehyung yells yoongi's name like it's all he knows, running through the house.
"baby boy? where are you? daddy's here, i'm here, please—" taehyung's practically babbling as he runs through the first floor, heart stopping when he hears something.
"da-d-dy— daddy where are you?"
it's coming from the cupboard under the stairs. taehyung opens the door like a man possessed, and finds a teary faced yoongi curled up in a ball amongst their coats and shoes, absolutely hysteric. the little babbles frantically, crying so hard he almost hyperventilates, and taehyung scoops him up in his arms, holding him tight.
"baby, baby, i thought i lost you," taehyung says, gripping onto his clearly terrorized boyfriend. "it's okay, it's okay, daddy's here."
"y-yoonie thu-thought da-daddy left hu-him," yoongi's crying so hard his chest is heaving, arms around taehyung's neck like a vice. "t-thought the mo-monster g-got d-daddy."
"i'm here peach, there's no monster, it's all okay," taehyung holds onto yoongi's thighs, carrying him to the living room and sitting on the couch, turning off the tv. yoongi's face is red and snotty, and taehyung takes the box of tissues on the table, cleaning him up. "you're safe now, bubba, promise." he plants kisses on both of yoongi's cheeks, rubbing soothing patterns on his side. "where are you, peach, tell me."
"i-in our h-house, with daddy," yoongi says, trying to breathe as steadily as he can. "i-i'm safe."
"that's it, pumpkin. breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth," taehyung's skilled at soothing yoongi out of his panic attacks, and soon the little can breathe properly. "there you go, baby boy. daddy's so proud of you."
"wan' cuddles." yoongi says, and taehyung complies, holding his baby boy to his chest and rubbing his back. taehyung kisses the crown of yoongi's head, humming gently.
"why were you under the stairs, little prince?" the taller asks after a while. yoongi shifts a little in his lap, huffing.
"b-big yoonie put on a scary movie," he says, almost like he's complaining about another person. "yoonie went little cuz of a scary face. 'nd then the lights went out." he buries his face in taehyung's chest, tiredly groaning. taehyung nods, understanding everything; yoongi loves a good horror flick, but he forgets what it does to his smaller self.
"well, you're safe now, baby," taehyung says, tipping yoongi's head up so he can kiss him gently. "so what do you say to a studio ghibli marathon?"
yoongi grins happily, and then everything is back to normal. taehyung changes into his rilakuma onesie, makes hot chocolate for the two of them, and they curl up watching kiki's delivery service, yoongi sucking contently on a pacifier. everything is as it should be.
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LITTLE YOON IS THE MOST PRECIOUS BABY CINNAMON APPLE PRINCE SHWJWISJWIJ UWU MACHINE BROKE
in other words this took me two days to write and yet it's somehow still shit??? i haven't written cg/lb for a while forgive me. oh n i've started on that new oneshot book! it's called rainbow and should be up soon :)
— jace