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You woke up from your nap to laughter coming from the living room. It sounded like Minnie and Kookie, but you also heard a deeper voice from one of the caregivers.
It’d been a few months now since you’d started living with them, and during that time, you’d spent most of it in little space. Normally, you didn’t spend that long of a time period in little space, but when you were big and able to process things a bit better, you realized it was probably how your mind was coping from the trauma of your last caregivers.
A small screech broke you out of your thoughts, followed by a burst of laughter. It sounded like they were having a really good time. Maybe they were playing hide and seek! Or playing with the mountain of stuffed animals that was kept in the living room toy box! You could feel the tug in the corner of your mind to slip and go out there and play with them.
No. You couldn’t do that. It was probably the first time since you’d been there that the caregivers had time alone with both Minnie and Kookie. They didn’t need to add you into that mix. They probably wanted to spend time with their official littles, not one they’d found on the streets.
You would just have to hide out in your room until they either left the living room or were big again. You could do that. The boys had outfitted your guest room with everything you could need and more. It even had an ensuite bathroom, so you wouldn’t even need to leave for that. Unfortunately though, you’d still need to go to the kitchen for food. Maybe you could just wait until everyone went to sleep to go and grab something.
You spent the rest of the afternoon curled up on your bed, reading a book on the tablet you had been gifted. Luckily, nobody came to check on you. They all knew you had been big when you woke up that morning, and everyone wanted to give you some space while you were big since you were still getting to know them all.
Around six, someone knocked hesitantly on the door.
“Sweetheart? Do you want to come get dinner?” Namjoon called quietly through the door.
“I’m not feeling very hungry right now. Maybe in a little bit,” you replied, not bothering to get up. You knew that if you saw one of the caregivers, you would buckle. You had heard little feet scrambling down the hallway not too long ago, followed by a round of quiet giggles, so there was still a huge possibility that Minnie and Kookie were still little.
“Are you sure?” Namjoon asked one more time, not wanting to push you too hard, especially while you were big.
“I’m sure,” you confirmed. Your stomach growled loudly in protest, and you were happy that the door was closed so that Namjoon couldn’t hear your lie.
A few seconds later, you heard Namjoon’s footsteps slowly walking back downstairs.
Your stomach growled again and you glared down at it. Traitor . You only had to last a few more hours before everyone went to sleep. Then, you could slip downstairs and grab something to eat. You knew they had plenty of snacks readily available that you could grab quickly.
You turned your attention back to the book you were reading, trying (and failing) to ignore your stomach. You were able to get through another chapter before the growling got the better of you and you switched the tablet off. The more your stomach growled, the more tempted you were to run downstairs and ask one of the caregivers for dinner. Based on the experiences you’d had so far in this household, you knew that any one of them would immediately take you to the kitchen and whip you up something.
Your mind started getting fuzzy at the thought of Seokjin warming you up some rice and maybe some milk in a sippy cup.
No! Stop it!
You shook your head, trying to dispel any thoughts of being little. You couldn’t be little. Not right now. You needed to be big. Who would want to keep a little that couldn’t even stay big for one day, especially when they already had two littles?
Picking the tablet back up, you looked at the time. It was barely 7 o’clock. Only an hour since Namjoon had come to check on you. It definitely wasn’t late enough for any of them to have gone to bed. You would just have to distract yourself and keep yourself big.
Opening up one of the many streaming service apps that was downloaded on the tablet, you pulled up one of your favorite TV shows. If anything could keep you big, it was a show about crime. Nothing in there that would trigger your little self.
Luckily, the show distracted you for the next couple of hours. You completely forgot about your growling stomach and the fact that you were avoiding the others until the third episode was finished and the screen turned black while it asked if you wanted to continue on to the next episode.
Before hitting ‘yes’, you realized the house was quiet again. You quickly closed the app and checked the time. It was definitely late enough that they should at least all be in their rooms for the night. No one to bother you while you ran downstairs to grab something to eat.
Tiptoeing to the door, you held your ear to it to make sure that you couldn’t hear anybody moving around. It sounded like somebody’s TV was on, but it was super quiet, so it had to be in one of the bedrooms.
You opened the door quietly, peeking your head around the frame and looking up and down the hallway. When you didn’t see anybody, you finally opened the door all the way and made your way downstairs.
You paused with only a few steps left when you realized that the TV that was on was actually the one in the living room, though the volume had been turned super low. Stepping down the last few steps as quietly as possible, you poked your head around the corner to see who was still awake.
The living room was empty. Somebody must’ve forgot to turn the TV off before they went to bed. You shrugged your shoulders and bounced into the kitchen, heading straight for the pantry, knowing there was a stash of individually-wrapped snacks on one of the lower shelves for the littles to be able to grab without help.
A few minutes later and your arms were full of chips, crackers, a fruit cup, and a bottle of water. You closed the pantry door, ready to make a mad (but quiet) dash back upstairs. Then you’d be safe in your room and could eat to your heart's content. And then maybe tomorrow, Minnie and Kookie would be big and everything would be back to normal and you wouldn’t have to hide out all day.
As you crossed the living room, you glanced at the TV, curious as to how somebody had forgotten to turn it off. The bright colors caught your eye and made you stop.
Molang!
The second you realized it was your favorite show, Molang, the grip you’d held onto your big side all day slipped away without you even noticing.
You plopped down onto the couch, wanting to watch this episode. You couldn’t remember now why you were in such a hurry to get back upstairs anyways! You had plenty of food right here and were now watching Molang, so everything had to be okay!
You didn’t know how long you’d been chowing down on your snacks, eyes never leaving the screen, when Yoongi walked into the room. He hadn’t been upstairs long. He and the others had carried a sleeping Minnie and Kookie into the nursery, as they’d fallen asleep while watching TV, and he’d only come back down to turn the TV back off. He paused, shocked to see you at all, taking in your posture and your wide eyes before speaking.
“Baby?” Yoongi asked cautiously. It looked like you were little, but he didn’t want to fully assume, especially since he hadn’t known you for that long. And the few times that you had been big, you’d always come and got one of them the second you started to slip again. But today, you’d hidden out in your room all day. He knew you’d been big when you woken up, but how long had you been little? Based on the fact that you were eating a mountain of snacks this late, he had to assume it’d been a while and that you’d been avoiding them, though he couldn’t figure out why.
You looked up, startled that somebody else was in the room. Tears sprung to your eyes before you could stop them. Nobody was supposed to see you! That’s why you were in a rush earlier! You couldn’t be little! You just couldn’t!
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, baby,” Yoongi quickly reassured, rushing forward to wipe your eyes before the tears could fall very far. He gathered you up into his arms, brushing all your snacks aside, and rocking you back and forth. “Can you tell Yoonie why you’re crying? And why you’re out here all alone this late?”
You shook your head. You didn’t want to tell him! Then he’d get mad and kick you out! And then you’d never get to play with Minnie or Kookie again! And never see your favorite bottle with the little duckies and bunnies all over it again! And you wouldn’t have a warm blankie to sleep with every night!
Before you knew it, tears were streaming down your face again.
“Shh, it’s okay, honey. Everything’s okay,” Yoongi hushed, continuing to rock you back and forth. “Can you please tell Yoonie? I can’t make it all better if you don’t tell me. I promise, nobody will be mad or upset if that’s what you’re worried about.”
You took a moment to think again, a few tears still escaping down your cheeks, which Yoongi quickly wiped away with the sleeve of his sweater. They would find out sooner or later, so you might as well tell them now. If they were going to be upset, you wanted to get it over with. You didn’t like it when a caregiver yelled at you.
“Not little,” you were able to get out through stuttered breaths.
“You’re not little?” Yoongi guessed, though he knew that definitely wasn’t true at this point.
“No!” you huffed. “Not supposed to be little.”
You refused to make eye contact with Yoongi, focusing instead on a fuzzy on his sweater.
“Who told you you’re not supposed to be little?” Yoongi replied. He knew it definitely wasn’t any of his boys. They would never say anything like that to you. And if they did, they’d be in a hell of a lot of trouble in the morning.
You pointed to yourself.
“ You told yourself that you’re not supposed to be little?” Yoongi asked.
You nodded, still focusing on the man’s sweater. He didn’t sound upset, but that didn’t always mean anything. Your previous caregiver was very good at sounding like he was happy before he started yelling at you. You didn’t like that one bit.
“And why did you tell yourself that, baby?” Yoongi questioned, wanting to get to the bottom of why you were suddenly hiding your little side away from them.
It took you a moment to respond. Words were becoming harder and harder to put together the longer that Yoongi rocked you and the more you calmed down. The fuzziness that had lifted with the surprise of seeing Yoongi was slowly coming back.
“Didn’t want to take Yoonie and Jinnie and Joonie and Hobi and Tae Tae away from Minnie and Kookie time,” you slurred out. “Wanted to give time away from baby for your own littles.”
“Oh baby,” Yoongi frowned, pulling you closer to him. “No! You will never be taking us away from Minnie and Kookie. If you want or need to be little, then we want you to be little. We never want you to hide away from us. We love playing with our baby, and so do Minnie and Kookie. They were very sad that they didn’t get to play with you today!”
You finally glanced up at this. You were surprised to hear that. You’d thought that both boys would’ve loved to spend the entire day with only their caregivers without you needing attention from them.
“Minnie and Kookie play with me?”
“Yeah, baby. They wanted to play with you,” Yoongi translated. “Now, can you promise me that whenever you’re feeling little, you won’t ever hide away from us again? We love you and will always want to take care of you. No more pushing that side of yourself down anymore. Promise?”
“P-pw-pomise,” you stuttered out, having trouble getting your lips to move in the way that you wanted them to.
“Are words hard right now, honey?” Yoongi guessed. You quickly nodded, knowing that it was easier than trying to confirm verbally. The fuzziness was back in full force, and if Yoongi kept rocking you, you’d be asleep in no time. “Alright, how about we get you a bottle before cuddling up in Yoonie’s bed for the night?”
At the mention of a bottle, your head snapped up. Yoongi let out a small chuckle before situating you on his hip and heading to the kitchen.
Once Yoongi had you settled on his bed with your lips wrapped around your bottle, it didn’t take more than five minutes for your eyes to slip shut, tummy finally full and warm.
Yoongi watched your breathing even out for a few moments before cuddling up beside you and pulling the blanket over the two of you. He knew this was something that they would need to talk about again when you were big, but that could wait for now. It sounded like getting you to fully trust them was going to take some time, but he knew that they had plenty of time and love to go around.