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It’s one of those rare days. Wooyoung has the day off. Which means that he has time to be little.
The whole group knows he’s a little, and are all his caregivers, so he doesn’t mind who he stays home with.
Today it’s Seonghwa, or Mama as his little side affectionately calls him. The rest of the group all have schedules, but Seonghwa and Wooyoung were lucky enough to get the day off.
They’d started the day sleeping in, the rest of the group long gone before either one get up. Seonghwa’s the first of the two up. Checking on Wooyoung and seeing the boy still asleep, Seonghwa heads into the kitchen to get a simple breakfast sorted for them. It only takes ten minutes and once he’s done he heads back into the little’s room.
The boy’s still asleep when he gets in and he coos silently, he’s curled up around a blue bear plushie that Yunho had gotten him when they’d first learnt about his regression. He’d gone to bed big, but Seonghwa can tell he’s gonna be waking up little today.
“Hey Woowie, you need to wake up baby.” Seonghwa gives Wooyoung a little nudge as he starts to pull the covers away from the boys sleeping form. Wooyoung’s face scrunches up in displeasure and he tries to grab for the covers, whining from the loss of warmth. “C’mon, bub. Breakfast is ready.”
“‘don wanna.” Wooyoung mumbles, turning away from Seonghwa.
“Don’t be a brat baby.” Seonghwa scold gently. Wooyoung sits up instantly looking a little scared.
“Sorry Mama.” Seonghwa just laughs gently and gets Wooyoung out of bed and into some clothes. Wooyoung’s quiet the whole time but Seonghwa excuses it as the boy just being tired.
“Here Bub, eat up.” Seonghwa gathers food on the fork, moving it towards Wooyoung’s mouth. The boy opens up without complaint and eats his food.
Seonghwa alternates between feeding himself and feeding Wooyoung. Surprisingly the boy doesn’t voice any complaints about the speed of the spoonfuls coming to his mouth, nor the amount of food he is given. Usually the boy has something to say about everything.
Hoping to get the boy to open up a bit more, he suggests play time. The reaction he’d expect is one of explosive excitement, but all be gets is a shallow nod and Wooyoung moving towards the living room, where his toy box is located. Wooyoung sits on the ground, patiently waiting for Seonghwa to open the box.
A little confused, Seonghwa opens the box and pulls out Wooyoung’s lego bricks. The boy looks quite content when Seonghwa places the collection down, so Seonghwa leaves him be, pulling out his phone and watching some youtube.
When Seonghwa leaves the room to go to the bathroom, Wooyoung looks a bit wary of him. Wooyoung hadn’t made a noice all day and Seonghwa’s getting a little concerned, but he lets the boy be because a quiet boy doesn’t seem like something he should be concerned over, right?
Coming back into the living room, Seonghwa realises that it’s lunch time, and tells the little as much. Wooyoung nods and begins to pack up his lego blocks, making them all neat again. He looks up at Seonghwa once he’s put them all back into their box, clearly expecting something.
“What do you want, baby?” Seonghwa asks softly, crouching down close to the boy.
“Put away?” Wooyoung whispers, pushing the box close to Seonghwa. Seonghwa furrows his eyebrows, the boy usually wants to play for as long as possible.
After a few seconds of silence Wooyoung whines like he’s uncomfortable and moves to get up. Seonghwa lets him and Wooyoung picks up the box and takes it over to the toy box, placing the lego collection inside. He then closes the box and turns back to Seonghwa.
“Lunch time, Mama?” Wooyoung asks.
“It’s not ready yet baby.”
“I wait for Mama.” Wooyoung nods, seeming sure of himself. Seonghwa, although confused, leads Wooyoung into the kitchen. Wooyoung sits down at the table without a word, just watching Seonghwa.
“What do you want to eat, Woowie?” Seonghwa expects an answer like chicken nuggets or chocolate.
“I eat wha’ Mama eat.” This surprises Seonghwa. Wooyoung doesn’t like to eat big food when he’s little, has had tantrums over it in the past.
“Mama’s going to be eating adult food baby. I don’t think Woowie likes adult food.” Before Wooyoung has the chance to respond, the front door opens and Yunho and Mingi come in.
“Hey hyung, we got let off early, thought we’d come home early.” Mingi announces as the two take off their shoes.
“That’s good.” Seonghwa responds, moving closer to the two arrivals. “Woo and I are about to have lunch, you guys hungry?”
“Yeah, thanks hyung.” Seonghwa turns back to Wooyoung after getting the affirmative from Yunho. “Now, mister, what do you want to eat? Chicken nuggets?”
“Wha’ mama wan’s.” Seonghwa’s really confused now. Yunho, who had been listening to the conversation, looks over at Seonghwa, a matching expression on his face.
“Wooyoung, baby.” Wooyoung looks over at Yunho. “How about you come into the living room with me and Mingi and let Mama make lunch?”
Wooyoung nods and gets up from the table, waddling over to Yunho, who takes his hand and leads him back to the living room. Mingi stays in the kitchen area for a moment longer.
“Make him the nuggets, hyung. You know he’ll throw a tantrum if you don’t.” Seonghwa nods as Mingi follows the duo into the living room.
Seonghwa cooks the nuggets for Wooyoung as well as a simple fried rice dish for the other three, as well as extra just in case someone else comes home hungry. Just as he finishes, Mingi comes back into the kitchen.
“Wooyoung’s being weird.” He announces. Seonghwa’s shoulders slump.
“So it’s not just me whose noticed.” Seonghwa sighs. “He’s been like this all day. All quiet and… I don’t know.”
“Obedient?” Mingi suggests. Seonghwa nods, sighing again. “He refused to play while Yunho and I were watching TV, insisting he sit on the floor to, and I quote ‘not be a bother’.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“How about we ask him, hyung? Surely he knows why he’s acting weird, right?” Mingi suggests. Seonghwa follows Mingi into the living room. They find Wooyoung exactly where Mingi described, sitting on the floor in front of the couch, staring at the TV.
“Hey Woowie, are you alright sweatheart?” Seonghwa asks, moving to sit on the couch next to Wooyoung. Wooyoung nods, not looking away from the TV. “Woowie? Look at me darling.”
Wooyoung looks a little worried when he looks up at Seonghwa, like he thinks he’s in trouble. This is the final straw for Seonghwa. Something’s definitely wrong. He slides off the couch and onto the floor with Wooyoung.
“What’s wrong baby? You’ve been quiet all day, and I know that that’s not normal for you. Did I do something wrong? You can tell me, baby.” Seonghwa asks, vulnerable. Yunho pauses the TV and the silence stretches for a short minute before Wooyoung speaks.
“Am I a brat, Mama?”
It takes Seonghwa by surprise. He didn’t think that Wooyoung had been so affected by the teasing term he recalled using when waking the boy up.
“No baby. No one thinks you’re a brat. Mama didn’t mean to call you a brat, I promise.” Seonghwa takes one of Wooyoung’s hands into his.
“Jeongha always called Woowie a brat,” Wooyoung whispers, “Jeongha hitted Woowie when he was a brat.”
Seonghwa was shocked. He knew that Jeongha had been a babysitter for Wooyoung as a kid, but had never heard of any abuse coming from the woman. The room was suddenly electrified with the angry energy emitting from the three caregivers in the room. Calming down slightly, Seonghwa moves Wooyoung’s hand into his lap.
“Jeongha was very wrong to do that baby. No one in this house is ever going to hit you. You aren’t a brat, you’re our precious little Woowie and we wouldn’t trade you for the world. We love you baby, and you don’t hit someone if you love them. Okay baby?”
Wooyoung nods, leaning in to hug Seonghwa. Seonghwa returns the hug, Yunho and Mingi sitting down and taking Wooyoung in their arms as well.
“You’re our best boy, Wooyoung.” Yunho smiles at the little.
“We love you, you don’t have to be afraid of us.” Mingi adds, tearing up a little. The four sit on the floor for a good five minutes, the caregivers reassuring Wooyoung of their love for him.
“I made nuggets for you baby, do you think you wanna eat lunch now?” Seonghwa asks. Wooyoung nods, making grabby hands for him. Seonghwa picks him up, the other two follow Seonghwa into the kitchen.
“Thank you Mama.”
At the end of the day, Seonghwa knows everything’s going to be alright.