Work Text:
When he looked back on it, Yoongi wondered how he hadn’t noticed the signs sooner. It was so obvious now: Jimin’s restlessness, all the late nights where Yoongi woke up to an empty bed and found Jimin in the kitchen, typing away on his laptop with dark bags under his eyes. Yoongi had chalked it up to the newness of being a working adult. Jimin had only graduated recently and had found an office starter job. The hours were long and the pay could be better, but Jimin was hoping the added experience to his CV and the nice reference his boss would write him would both aid in his search for a job he actually liked. For now, Jimin was stuck with a crappy job, and Yoongi could see the effects that said crappy job had on his boyfriend clear as day.
After a month of sleepless nights and watching his boyfriend grow more and more stressed, Yoongi had enough. Jimin barely had the time to relax and unwind, let alone regress, so Yoongi figured a special dinner night followed by a nice movie night with their friends would do him some good. Maybe he could even coax Jimin into regressing - not in front of all their friends, obviously, as Seokjin and Hoseok were still unaware of Jimin’s little side. He could ask Namjoon and Jungkook to stay over, so both his boyfriend and Jungkook could regress together and have another playdate.
He messaged all their friends to make sure all of them could make it next Friday, then he let everyone at work know he would be taking the afternoon off. He didn’t tell his boyfriend yet - he wanted everything to be a big surprise. Jimin loved surprises and Yoongi, more often than not, indulged him. The smallest things could make Jimin smile in glee: an extra snack in his lunchbox with a little note, reminding him Yoongi loved him; preparing a pillow fort while Jimin was in the bathroom, movies and blankets and snacks awaiting him; waking up to Yoongi pressing featherlight kisses on his cheeks and forehead, only kissing him on the lips while he was fully awake and aware. He hoped dinner and a movie night surrounded by their friends would lighten his mood, lift off some of the weight on his shoulders.
When Friday came around, Yoongi left work around noon. He spent the early afternoon cleaning - he changed their bedsheets, did the laundry, vacuumed the entire apartment, and opened the windows to let in a nice breeze. Lighting up a cherry-scented candle, he looked around the apartment, satisfied with the homey feeling it gave off. He had fluffed up the pillows on the couch and added a couple of soft, pastel-coloured blankets: pink, blue, and yellow - Jimin’s favourite.
Their friends would arrive at eight – a glance at the clock told Yoongi he had about two hours left until Jimin arrived, then another hour alone with Jimin. Enough time to make dinner, then eat and cuddle with Jimin a bit before everyone barged in and the quietness vanished. He hummed softly as he entered the kitchen, starting dinner by washing and chopping the vegetables.
Time passed by in a blur, as it tended to do when Yoongi was busy in the kitchen. By the time the food was done, he had just enough time to set the table, serve the food on their plates, and light a long red candle, putting it in the middle of the table to create a romantic mood.
Yoongi heard the jingling of keys right before the front door opened. Smiling, he wiped his hands on his apron and took it off, dropping it on the kitchen counter.
“Hyung?”
“In the kitchen.”
Jimin entered the kitchen. He looked tired – shoulders slumped, dragging his feet. His faded pink hair fell into his eyes, a sign that he needed a haircut soon. “It smells nice,” he commented, a small smile on his lips.
“I cooked for us,” Yoongi said, stating the obvious and pointing both hands towards the dinner table.
Jimin hummed and walked closer, wrapping his arms around Yoongi’s waist and leaning his head on his shoulder. “Thanks.”
“No need.” Yoongi kissed Jimin’s temple, then his forehead, then his hair, delighted when he heard Jimin’s sweet giggles. “I invited our friends for a movie night. They know we’re both tired though, so they won’t judge if we start snoring halfway through.”
“I don’t snore,” Jimin retorted, a teasing lilt to his voice.
Yoongi kissed his forehead again. “Sure you don’t, sweetheart.”
They ate their dinner in comfortable silence. Jimin decided a chair wasn’t good enough and plopped himself down on Yoongi’s lap with a big grin. Yoongi pretended to be annoyed – “how am I supposed to eat like this, huh?” – but the way he wrapped his arms around Jimin’s waist the second his boyfriend moved to stand up again betrayed his true feelings. Being close to Jimin was always the highlight of his day, he would never pass up on the opportunity to have his boyfriend in his lap.
Yoongi had just finished feeding Jimin the last bite – Jimin had been pouting and cutely demanding Yoongi feed him, spoiled brat – when their doorbell rang. Jimin sat up straight, eyes wide. “Who’s here?”
“I invited everyone, remember, baby?” Yoongi gently nudged Jimin off his lap and stood up to open the front door. Jimin still looked confused, but that look disappeared when Taehyung and Seokjin both entered with big smiles on their faces and arms open wide. Jimin rushed forward to hug his best friend tightly and Yoongi smiled, feeling fondness settle in his chest. His boyfriend had needed this, he knew – Yoongi himself wasn’t a social butterfly, but Jimin thrived off meeting up with his friends. Ever since his new job, he’d been deprived of that.
Jimin let go of Taehyung to hug Seokjin. Now that their friends finally started dating, the new couple went on double dates with Jimin and Yoongi pretty often, so naturally, Jimin had grown closer to Seokjin too. “Hi, hyungie!”
“Hello, Jiminie,” Seokjin greeted back, ruffling Jimin’s hair before letting go of him. “Yoongi made us promise to let you choose the movie this time. Have you picked one yet?”
Jimin shook his head. His hair swished wildly from left to right, kind of resembling a baby chick. Yoongi had to hold back his laughter. He grabbed Jimin’s hand and started pulling him towards the living room. “Let’s go pick one, yeah?”
Jimin nodded excitedly and kissed Yoongi’s cheek in thanks. He let Yoongi pull him onto the couch with him, fully in his lap, and nuzzled his face softly in Yoongi’s neck.
Yoongi turned on the television and opened the Netflix application. “What movie do you want to watch, angel?”
His boyfriend hummed – he was pressing soft kisses on Yoongi’s neck, eyes closed. “Ponyo?”
“Oh? In the mood for studio Ghibli movies?” Jimin nodded. “Great idea,” Yoongi praised. He felt Jimin smile into his neck and started carding his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair, getting rid of some of the tangles.
“Thanks for making me feel single,” Taehyung teased. He came out of the kitchen, a bottle of wine in his left hand and a bottle of soda in his right.
“You’re literally dating me,” Seokjin deadpanned, kissing Taehyung on the cheek when he passed him. He set down seven glasses on the small coffee table, then sat down on the couch next to Yoongi and Jimin, undisturbed by their closeness – he’d seen them engage in worse PDA at parties, anyways. “When are the others coming?”
“Joon texted me and said they’re nearly here,” Yoongi replied, softly scratching Jimin’s nape. His boyfriend sighed, content, and snuggled even closer than Yoongi thought was physically possible.
“Do you think they’d mind if we started the movie already?” Taehyung asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Jimin wildly shook his head no, grinning at his best friend. “See? Jimin agrees with me - they won’t mind.”
Jimin snuggled closer to Yoongi, hiding his face in his boyfriend’s neck, causing Yoongi to miss the way Jimin frowned at being addressed by his name rather than one of his usual nicknames. He moved his hand from Jimin’s back to his waist, squeezing softly, while his other hand kept rhythmically playing with Jimin’s hair.
The doorbell rang and Yoongi was about to stand up to let their friends in when Jimin made a noise of discontent, grunting as he wound his arms around Yoongi’s neck and held on tightly.
“I’ve got it,” Taehyung reassured, standing up with a smile. He ruffled Jimin’s hair as he walked past - Jimin made a tiny noise in response, soft and happy. Yoongi couldn’t help but squeeze his boyfriend a little tighter against his chest, kissing his forehead for good measure.
The sounds of excited chatter reached Yoongi’s ears before he saw Jungkook, Hoseok and Namjoon enter the living room. Jungkook was bouncing on his heels, talking animatedly to Hoseok. It seemed like he was balancing in between headspaces, not quite big but not quite little, either. He was probably still coming down from regressing earlier during the day, Yoongi figured.
He wondered if Namjoon and Jungkook had told Hoseok about Jungkook’s age regression yet - Namjoon and Hoseok had started dating officially two weeks ago, and as Namjoon spent a lot of time being Jungkook’s caregiver, it was important for Hoseok to know about this aspect of their lives. By the way Hoseok was listening intently to Jungkook’s rambles, not once interrupting him and nodding at appropriate times, he might just know about Jungkook’s headspace. It could be hopeful wishing, but if Hoseok knew of little space and didn’t judge people who experienced it, that surely would make it easier for Jimin to admit to age regressing as well. That would leave Seokjin as the only unknown variable - had he even heard of age regression before? It was bad to assume, but Yoongi thought his friend didn’t have a clue about the topic. Maybe he could introduce him to it without outing Jimin, just to prepare Seokjin a little in case Jimin ever decided to tell their two remaining friends who didn’t know about it yet.
As everyone settled down to start their movie night, Jimin murmured “Toilet, toilet,” before suddenly standing up, hitting his leg on the coffee table and knocking off one of the glasses. It shattered loudly, chunks of glass scattering all over the living room floor. Jimin yelped, instinctively moving out of the way - right onto the broken glass.
“Jimin, careful !” Yoongi exclaimed, the distress in his voice clear. Jimin stilled, freezing in place as he stared at the broken glass all around him.
“I’ll go get a brush and dustpan,” Taehyung said, standing up and moving quickly to the kitchen. He was the one farthest away from the broken glass, so Yoongi didn’t worry about him accidentally stepping on some shards.
His biggest concern right now was Jimin, who was trying - and failing - not to cry. His lip wobbled dangerously, eyes glassy. Yoongi spoke up, keeping his voice low and soothing: “Baby, are you all right? Can you lift your right foot for me?”
That’s when the dam broke and the waterworks kicked in. Yoongi’s eyes widened - he recognised those sobs. Unlike big Jimin, who was a silent crier and rarely let anyone else see him sad, little Jimin was a loud crier. The loud sobs Jimin was letting out, the way he stood in the middle of the living room with his fists clenched next to his sides – not even attempting to hide his sadness from his friends – Yoongi knew immediately that his boyfriend had regressed. In front of everyone .
How could he have missed it? The Ghibli movie, the whining, the clinginess. Jimin had even forgotten that their friends were coming over, confusion clear in his eyes when he had heard the doorbell ring. He must have regressed during or right after dinner. Why hadn ’t he realised?
“Baby, look at me,” Yoongi demanded, keeping his voice calm and steady. He ignored the panicked whispers behind him - most likely Seokjin and Hoseok, who had never seen Jimin cry like that.
Jimin exhaled shakily, blinking profusely to try and stop the tears from coming out. He turned his head to make eye contact with Yoongi, hiccupping as the tears streamed over his face. Yoongi frowned in sympathy. “Lift your foot for me, darling. You can hold onto my hands to keep your balance. Namjoon-ah, can you go get some tweezers, disinfectant and gauze from the bathroom? It’s in the cabinet under the sink.”
“Got it,” Namjoon said and he rushed off towards the bathroom.
Taehyung came back with a brush and dustpan and started carefully cleaning up the glass shards, starting with the ones closest to Jimin. When there seemed to be no more glass close to Jimin, Yoongi asked him to sit down next to him. Lifting the foot that he had stepped on the glass with, Jimin held onto Yoongi’s hands as he slowly moved backwards, shuffling his other foot little by little until he hit the couch and sat down.
“Great job, angel,” Yoongi praised, pressing a kiss on Jimin’s forehead. “Can you lift your feet and put them in my lap for me?”
Jimin choked on a sob but nodded, following Yoongi’s lead as he leant back into the couch cushions and lifted his legs, putting them where Yoongi wanted. Yoongi looked at his feet and had to hold back a hiss - his left foot was fine, but there were tiny glass shards in his right foot, small droplets of blood welling up and slowly dripping down.
Namjoon came back with the tools Yoongi had asked for and put them next to Yoongi on the couch. “There you go, hyung. I took a bowl from the kitchen too, to put the glass in.”
“Thanks, Namjoon-ah. Now, Minnie, I’m going to pull the glass out. It might sting a little, okay?” Yoongi said, hoping his voice sounded reassuring. By the way Jimin started crying harder, he figured it didn’t. “Taetae will hold your hand the whole time, right?”
Taehyung, who had just come back from the kitchen, nodded vehemently. “Of course. I’ll be here the entire time, Minnie!”
Jimin sniffled miserably. “Okay,” he whispered, and he reached out his left hand. Taehyung grabbed it tightly, standing close to his best friend. He used his free hand to play with Jimin’s hair, obviously in an attempt to calm him down a little. It worked to an extent.
Until Yoongi pulled out the first glass shard.
If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought Jimin was dying. As it were, little Jimin was just more expressive with his negative emotions than big Jimin. Big Jimin might have shed a tear or two, but little Jimin was in pain and had to make it clear to Yoongi - crying was both self-soothing and a way of getting his caregiver to comfort him. Knowing all that didn’t mean the heavy sobs weren’t breaking Yoongi’s heart in two, though.
Yoongi shushed him kindly. “Darling, hey, it’s okay, you’re okay. Be strong for a little bit longer, okay, little prince? I’ll make all the pain go away, daddy will take care of it.”
“P-please, daddy,” Jimin begged, coughing. Taehyung cooed and pressed a kiss on Jimin’s head, continuing to play with his hair.
“It’ll be over soon, baby,” Yoongi promised. He looked closely, making sure not to miss any shards. When he was certain all of the pieces were pulled out and in the bowl, he handed it to Namjoon. “Can you go throw these out?”
“Sure.”
Yoongi turned back to his boyfriend. “I’m going to disinfect the cuts now, all right? Can you be strong for a little while longer, angel?”
To his relief, Jimin nodded. Yoongi quickly disinfected the cuts. He ignored Jimin’s shaky breathing, focusing instead on properly bandaging his foot with the gauze. “There, all done,” he declared and he leaned forward to press a kiss to Jimin’s nose, then another one on each cheek. “You did so well, baby. I’m so proud of you.”
Jimin had, thankfully, stopped sobbing. He was still sniffling a little, but the tears had mostly stopped. Yoongi gently held Jimin’s face in his hands, using his thumbs to wipe away any remaining tears. “Did good?”
“Yes, Minnie did amazing,” Yoongi confirmed, pressing a kiss on Jimin’s forehead. “You’re the best little boy.”
“Not that this isn’t touching, but I’m a little confused.”
Yoongi turned around and looked at Seokjin, who was looking at Yoongi with wide eyes, sneaking glances at Jimin without openly staring at him. He looked curious, but not weirded out, which was a good start.
Letting go off Jimin’s face, Yoongi moved around - careful of Jimin’s legs still in his lap - until he could properly face Seokjin. He put his hands on Jimin’s ankles, hoping the touch would anchor him. “Have you ever heard of age regression, hyung?”
Seokjin, as Yooni had guessed, shook his head no.
“It’s this type of headspace,” Yoongi started, “where someone regresses back into a younger headspace. The age varies wildly and every little acts differently when they’re regressing. It’s a coping mechanism.”
Jimin’s hand reached out to Yoongi and he gently took it, rubbing small circles on his palm. “Minnie here is in his little space now,” he continued, “which is another word for age regression. Lately, he’s been mostly around two or three, but it can change over time. I’m what they call a caregiver - I take care of him when he’s feeling small.”
Seokjin nodded, processing the information. He looked around and seemed to notice he was the only one who was surprised by the evening’s events. “Was I the only one who didn’t know?”
“I used to be his caregiver before Yoongi-hyung started dating Minnie,” Taehyung spoke up. “So I knew, obviously.”
“I only found out recently,” Namjoon said. “It was kind of by accident, similar to how you’re finding out right now.” He looked at Jungkook, who nodded. “And Jungkook age regresses, as well, so I knew about little space before I knew Ji- Minnie was a little.”
“Before Namjoon and I started dating, we talked about little space,” Hoseok said, to Yoongi’s surprise. “He told me about being Jungkook’s caregiver. How it was strictly platonic, but that I should know so I could decide if I still wanted to date him or not.” He snorted at that and Namjoon blushed slightly. “Which, duh , of course I still want to. So I also know about age regression, though I’m still learning how to be a proper caregiver for Jungkookie.”
“Daddy?” Jimin whispered. Yoongi looked at him, making eye contact. “Jinnie mad?”
“Of course not!”
Yoongi startled when Seokjin spoke up, not expecting him to be so loud. Jimin didn’t seem to mind, looking at his hyung with big, glossy eyes. “No mad?”
Seokjin stood up, walking closer to them. He crouched in front of Jimin. “I could never be mad at you, Jimin-ah.”
Jimin winced. Before Yoongi could interrupt, Seokjin corrected himself. “ Minnie . Sorry about that,” he added sheepishly. “I’m not mad at you and never will be, okay? Especially not for something like this. I might not know a lot about age regression, but I’ll learn about it for you, Minnie. And for Kookie, too. I would be a bad hyung if I didn’t.”
“Jinnie not a bad hyung!” Jimin said immediately. He frowned at Yoongi. “Tell him, daddy!”
“You heard the baby,” Yoongi deadpanned.
“All right, all right. I’m not a bad hyung, got it.”
Hoseok clapped in his hands. “Now, I was promised a movie night, was I not?”
And just like that, the atmosphere lightened up again. Everyone started chatting while they settled down again. Taehyung and Jungkook ran to the kitchen and came back with big bowls of popcorn, two bottles of soda, and a small sippy cup with orange juice. Taehyung handed it to Jimin with a bright smile. “For the best little boy,” he said with a wink.
Jimin giggled and accepted the sippy cup. He leaned closer to Yoongi while he drank greedily. “Slow down, baby,” Yoongi mumbled. “Don’t choke, please.”
Jimin didn’t listen and finished his drink quickly, handing the sippy cup to Yoongi when he was finished.
“You’re lucky you’re so cute,” Yoongi murmured as he put the cup on the coffee table.
Jimin moved his legs until he was sitting properly again. He then leaned into Yoongi’s side, looking at him with wide eyes. “Arm?”
Yoongi chuckled and put his arm around Jimin’s shoulder, pulling him close. Hoseok started the movie and clapped in excitement, causing both Jungkook and Taehyung to do the same. Jimin giggled, amused by their antics.
The rest of the movie night went by without a hitch, luckily. They finished Ponyo and started Kiki’s Delivery Service. By the time the first movie ended, Jimin was fast asleep, drooling a little on Yoongi’s shirt. Taehyung had draped the yellow blanket over Jimin halfway through Ponyo, so the warmth combined with his crying episode earlier made the little fall asleep fast. Yoongi kept carding his fingers through Jimin’s hair, hoping his baby was having a nice dream.
A whisper. “Is he asleep?”
Yoongi looked to his right, where Seokjin was sitting. “Yeah,” he whispered back.
“I just wanted to say that, though the way I had to find out sucks, I’m still glad I finally know now,” Seokjin murmured. “Thank you for trusting me and explaining everything.”
“Of course, hyung. I was waiting for Jimin to tell both you and Hoseok, but I guess he has a tendency of revealing his little side accidentally,” Yoongi said with a grin.
Seokjin’s eyes showed his curiosity clearly. “How did Namjoon find out?”
“He called me daddy while half-asleep.”
His hyung snorted. “Yeah, that would do the trick.”
Yoongi snorted too. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m also glad you know now. I can stop worrying about him falling into his headspace in front of everyone.”
“And we can have playdates with everyone!” Jungkook piped up. He was sitting on the floor in front of Seokjin - and had obviously been eavesdropping on them.
Seokjin gasped. “And tea parties!”
“And going to the playground!”
“And shopping for toys!”
Yoongi groaned. “Hyung, don’t spoil them.”
“Only the best for my babies,” Seokjin rebutted, smiling brightly as he ruffled Jungkook’s hair. Jungkook grinned back at him. Yoongi simply sighed, hiding his smile.
The two littles were going to become brats if he ever let Seokjin babysit them.