Chapter Text
“Hyung, have you seen my-“
Taehyung faltered, still halfway through the doorway to his Yoongi-hyung’s studio, when he saw that said hyung wasn’t sitting in his usual chair. In fact, despite Taehyung knowing for certain that the man had walked in there nearly an hour ago and definitely hadn’t walked out, Yoongi was nowhere to be seen. The room was barren of life, excluding for the small figure of a child that was standing precariously on the edge of Yoongi’s plush desk chair on their tip-toes, trying with all their might to reach the mic arm with a tiny hand smack on top of a monitor for balance.
Still caught in his confusion and shock, Taehyung could only watch in seeming slow motion as the child teetered dangerously off balance before ultimately losing their grip on the monitor and slipping off the edge of the chair. Reflexively- and with a rather loud screech- Taehyung shot forward, diving with his arms outstretched to catch the kid before they cracked their head open on one of Yoongi’s display shelves.
“What- oh my God- what are you doing in here?” he sputtered, baffled, readjusting the small boy up in his arms to inspect him for injury. “Yah, you have to be careful, okay? There’s a lot of dangerous stuff in here and Yoongi-hyung is a little particular about his things. You don’t want to break anything— especially that head of yours.” Taehyung offered a kind smile and ruffled the boy’s hair for good measure, trying to soothe him, but his face was slack in a shocked, terrified expression.
In fact, as Taehyung was able to get a closer look, he realized that the kid looked remarkably like Yoongi. He couldn’t be more than four or five- with tiny eyes set in full, round cheeks, a little button of a nose, arched and wispy eyebrows, and a thick flop of dark, dark hair. To add to it all, expression was something straight off of Yoongi's own face, and Taehyung almost laughed at seeing the signature grumpy look on such small and frankly adorable features. Mini-Yoongi was even wearing a shirt of Yoongi’s— and seemingly nothing else, Taehyung noticed with a start.
More importantly though, the boy’s eyes were brimming with tears. Luckily, he seemed uninjured, so Taehyung prayed that it was just the startle of slipping off such a high place that was causing him distress.
“Aw, buddy, please don’t cry,” he cooed, hugging him a little closer. “You’re okay, everything’s okay. Must’ve been quite a shock, huh?”
The kid only pouted harder. His expression was twisting a bit, almost like he was determined not to let the tears spill from his gleaming eyes.
“Did Yoongi-hyung leave you here all by yourself?” Taehyung continued, frowning. He was met with a surprisingly dead stare for a child and couldn’t help but laugh. “Ah, you’re so cute! You look just like him. Are you a cousin?” He brought a hand up to pinch at those full, dumpling-like cheeks, but a tiny hand quickly batted him away.
Taehyung blinked, shocked. The little boy was twisting his body physically away from the touch, a deep pout on his lips and his tiny arms crossed over his chest as he whined petulantly. It was a little too much like Yoongi. Too much to be…
Taehyung did a quick scan of the room, trying to ignore the fussy, squirming child in his arms. Finally, his eyes landed on a lump on the couch— a lump of dark, oversized clothes, complete with a black beanie, shorts, socks. It was everything that Yoongi had been wearing that day. Everything, but the…
Taehyung looked back at the little boy and his dark, dark eyes, his pale skin, his little button of a nose, the pinched, almost angry expression on his face as he leaned away from Taehyung’s touch—
Everything but the shirt that hung on the boy’s frame.
“Taehyung-ah, honey, calm down,” Jimin tried, shifting the phone from one hand to the other as he reached out to press the right floor in the elevator’s panel. “You’re getting yourself worked up. I can’t understand what you’re saying. Slowly, okay?”
“I don’t have time for ‘slowly,’ Jiminie!” his soulmate screeched through the receiver. “Hyung’s been baby-fied and it’s past lunchtime and it’s important for kids to get the proper nutrition they need, but he won’t even eat the meal I ordered for him even though I know for a fact that this is his regular!”
Jimin, still confused and halfway between fond and concerned, opened his mouth to reply, but was quickly cut off.
“I mean, what am I supposed to do?! I don’t know anything about childcare- and what if he gets hurt again?! A studio is no place for a kid, there’s so many wires and-and… thingies that he could trip on or put in his mouth of something! And then hyung will die and it’d be all my fault, but I can’t take him home because I didn’t bring a car today and I don’t want to scare him with public transport and- Oh my God, I can’t cook, I can’t clean, I’m gonna be the worst hyung! Jungkookie grew up too fast, I didn’t get enough practice!”
Jimin was recognizing the increasing panic in Taehyung’s voice as the other went on, his pitch rising steadily along with the pace of his breaths. A lot of the time, Taehyung, ever the beautifully eccentric mind, would say or phrase something in an… odd way, but usually Jimin and the others could piece together what he was trying to say. This time, Jimin was completely lost. Still, he could recognize one thing: his best friend was panicking and needed help.
“Tae,” he butt in. “Deep breaths. We can’t work this out if you can’t calm down a little first, okay?”
“But-“
“ Okay ?” Jimin repeated pointedly. He could only imagine the pout that caused the resulting silence and smiled to himself. “Deep breaths. In,” he demonstrated, waiting until he could hear Taehyung do the same. “And out.”
With the breaths, Jimin could hear the pace of Taehyung’s breathing slow. “Thank you,” he said softly. “Now, I’m almost at the floor to Yoongi-hyung’s office. Whatever this is, we’ll figure it out together. I’m here, Taehyung. I’m here.”
“Okay,” Taehyung breathed. “You’re right. You’re here.”
“I’ll see you soon, Taetae.”
“Please hurry, Jiminie.” And Jimin’s frown deepened at the quiet distress in the other man’s voice.
Jungkook jogged into the common room, phone in hand and expression twisted with worry. “Hey, Tae, what’s up? You really freaked me out with your tex-“ He paused when he saw the little boy sitting at the table, slowly and methodically peeling into a tangerine while Jimin cooed from beside him, running a hand through his dark hair over and over.
“Hi,” the boy said simply in a small, cute voice before turning back to his task.
“Um,” Jungkook replied, smartly. “Who’s this?”
Taehyung, who had his arms full of bags stuffed with what looked to be kid supplies— everything from clothes, snacks, and toys to nutritional vitamins and tiny accessories— shuffled his way past the very stricken Jungkook. “It’s Yoongi-hyung!”
When Taehyung took to busying himself with organizing his loot, seemingly uninterested in elaborating, Jimin continued, “We don't know what happened. He came in normal and, sometime throughout the day, just-“ he paused to poke affectionately at the young boy’s side, coaxing big giggles from his little lips. His laugh was high and cute. “Turned into this little guy.”
“Mini Yoongi,” Taehyung corrected, pointedly. “ Agust C , even.”
Jungkook ignored him, eyes still stuck to the little boy that was apparently the hyung that’d raised him for almost half of his life. He approached slowly, watching those little, dark eyes shoot over to eye him curiously. The boy was ridiculously cute, and it was only enhanced by the signature bored resting expression that Jungkook recognized so well. He crouched to reach the eye-level, placing a hand on the boy’s knee. “Hyungie?”
The boy’s eyes searched his own for a long moment, before scrunching up to make way for incredibly full cheeks as he smiled, all pink gums and sparkly teeth. “Kookie,” he said in his little voice, then leaned forward and bonked their foreheads together affectionately in a way that was so Yoongi that Jungkook audibly gasped.
“Holy fuck,” he breathed.
Taehyung screeched suddenly, the sound making little Yoongi whine and cover his ears. Jungkook, distressed, placed his own palms over the boy’s to try and help muffle the sound. “Jungkook! Don’t curse in front of him, are you crazy?!”
Reflexively, Jungkook went into “being scolded by hyungs” mode and pouted, shooting a defensive look Taehyung’s way. “But Yoongi-hyung curses all the time!”
“But he’s a baby now! You’ll sully his youthful ears!”
“You’re the one yelling! That’s what’s hurting his ears!”
“Hey, come on,” Jimin interrupted, placing a hand on Yoongi’s back. “Don’t bicker, he’s getting upset.”
Jungkook frowned, looking back at the face he was still holding between his hands. The size of his head was even further dwarfed by Jungkook’s fingers and his pouty little expression was scrunched between his cheeks. Jungkook released him. “Sorry, Yoongi-hyung.”
Yoongi only went back to his tangerine, popping a few slices that he’d freed from the peel into his mouth. As he chewed, the pout slowly dissipated slightly. Wordlessly, he offered a slice to Jimin, who accepted gratefully.
“Did you see any of the other hyungs on your way up? We both tried calling them, but we haven’t heard from anyone other than you yet,” Jimin continued, popping the orange slice into his mouth and wringing his hands out. “I’m starting to get worried.”
Jungkook shook his head. “Just me,” he said. “Should we be looking for the other hyungs?”
“Yes!” Taehyung popped in again suddenly, a determined and serious expression on his face. “What if whatever happened to Yoongi happens to them?!”
Jungkook blinked. “Then, shouldn’t we be worried about it happening to us?”
The other man looked at him, shocked, like he hadn’t thought of that. He pursed his lips together in thought. “But what if it’s only happening to the hyungs?”
“Why would it only be happening to the hyungs?”
“Distribution and balance, of course! Like the movies! Keep up!” Taehyung flung his hands out, almost smacking Jimin in the face. Jimin, however, looked unphased, simply ducking out of the way and taking a squirming Yoongi into his arms while cooing softly. “Maybe the universe wants to give them a chance to be the little ones for a while! They’ve been really good hyungs to us, so they deserve to be young and taken care of in return, obviously.”
Jungkook pouted, “We weren’t this young when we met.” Then, pointedly, he tacked on, “And this isn’t a movie, hyung.”
“Guys, guys,” Jimin interrupted, waving a small hand in the air. “We won’t be able to figure it out until we’re all in one place, right? I’ll stay here with Yoongi. You guys go find the others and bring them back here. We can talk more about whatever’s happening then.”
“Jiminie’s right,” Taehyung nodded, the determination returning to his eyes. “Joon- and Jin–hyung were both working in-office today. Kookie, you look through the studios and grab them. I’ll go to Hobi-hyung’s place and see if he’s there.”
“Got it,” Jungkook saluted dutifully.
Jimin’s expression turned fierce for a moment. “And I want texts by the minute from each of you. If I don’t hear anything, I’m assuming you’ve both become babies and am coming after you.” A pause. “Then, I’m going to put you in matching overalls and take a million pictures to rub in your faces when you turn back for not listening to me.”
Jungkook, while appalled at the idea of Jimin forever having photos of a mini him and Taehyung in matching clothes to squeal over, couldn’t help but look down at Yoongi with sad eyes. “ If we turn back…”
Taehyung, instantly, swatted the younger man in the face, causing him to yelp in shock. “None of that,” he said. “We find baby hyungs first, have crisis later. They’re our priority right now.”
“We don’t even know if they’re-”
“Ready, team?!” Taehyung cut him off, throwing his hand out between them all, right above little Yoongi’s head.
Jungkook kicked his shin weakly, but put his hand in all the same. He knew better than to go against his hyung when his mind was set on something. And, while hesitation held him back, he knew that Taehyung was right. Crazy, maybe, but just as much as whatever situation they found themselves in was. Jimin, probably thinking similarly, shifted Yoongi in his lap to do the same.
“Three, two, one…” Taehyung began.
At the same time, they all called out–
“Bang! Tan!” yelled Jungkook.
“ Go, Hyung-sitters’ Club! ” yelled Taehyung.
“ Wooo! ” yelled Jimin.
And, “Zero,” said little Yoongi, in a near-monotone voice, like the answer was obvious.
Jungkook loved his Namjoon-hyung’s studio. It was a perfect reflection of the man himself– a cozy room, dark, warm, and wooden, and brimming with music equipment. There were spots of bright color in art and figurines that Namjoon dusted and maintained with care, talking endlessly about how cute he found even the strangest-looking ones. There were comfy and plush chairs in earthy tones that Jungkook had so many memories of curling up in and listening to his hyung’s latest track. Walking into the room itself was like walking into Namjoon’s mind, like sinking into his hugs and feeling the warmth surround you up until the moment you walked through the doors.
Jungkook never thought a day would come that he dreaded walking inside. Yet, there he was, only feet from the threshold of the door with a great pit of anxiety welling in his stomach. What would he do if his hyung wasn’t inside? What would he do if he was inside and a couple decades younger? How would he deal without having the man he’d looked to for guidance and stability for so long away from his side?
All of his thoughts were squandered though as he took a deep breath, walked inside, and took in the scene before him.
There was Namjoon, around three or four years old, with his big cheeks, full lips, and sharp little eyes all rounded and gleaming. His hair was longer at the top and close-cut on the sides, covering part of his forehead in triangular bangs that he fussed with every so often, but revealing big, big ears. He was sitting cross-legged in the desk chair in a gray hoodie several sizes too big with headphones precariously balanced and partially sinking off his head, still plugged into the desktop like he’d turned in the middle of working. He had one of the figurines from the desk held in his hands, one of the smaller (and thankfully less expensive) KAWS figures, that he was turning around and smiling down at softly, his little eyes disappearing into his cheeks with his grin.
Jungkook died on the spot.
“Rapmon-hyungie!” he called out, racing towards him in the way he used to when he wanted to be picked up. This time, he intended on returning the favor and gathering his now-smaller hyung into his arms to cuddle and love. When he saw the shocked and mildly terrified expression on the boy’s face, though, he stopped wholly in his tracks.
Namjoon was scared. He was confused. He was suddenly a little boy in a big world that was scary to deal with and now a giant man with piercings and tattoos was approaching him with unbridled glee. Jungkook softened and tried to look as un-intimidating as he could, crouching a bit and holding his hands out as if approaching a wild animal.
“Hi, Namjoonie,” he began in a low voice. “My name is Jungkook. We’ve been friends for a long time. Do you remember me?”
The boy considered him for a long moment, clutching the figure to his chest like a crutch. The startled tears sprouting in his eyes made Jungkook’s heart crumble. Finally, Namjoon gave him a small, timid nod.
“You, um, you like music, right? We do that, together. You taught me how to rap. You… taught me a lot of things,” Jungkook continued, approaching slowly. When he got within reach, he slowly brought a hand out to offer to Namjoon, still terrified of upsetting him.
Namjoon, equally as slow, put his hand in Jungkook’s. His palm was nearly half the size of his own, little fingers stretched to grasp onto even just one of his fingers. Jungkook, catching an idea, turned his hand until the back was facing upwards.
“See, my tattoos? This one’s a heart, and this one’s a crown,” he pointed at each as he went on. “I like art a lot, so I wanted to have it on my body so that I could see it wherever I went. This one is about our music,” he pointed to the capital Phonecian letters, spelling out “ ARMY ” over his knuckles. “I got it because I don’t know who I’d be without it. It’s my heart and soul.”
Namjoon had a thoughtful expression on his face, one that Jungkook recognized well. He ran a small finger over the letters, tracing them each slowly. “Pretty,” he whispered under his breath softly. “I like them.”
“Thank you,” Jungkook smiled, relief flushing over him as the little body before him finally relaxed. “Do you want to come play with me and the others?” When he saw the hesitation on the boy’s face, he thought to add, “I don’t know where Jin-hyung is, and I’m worried he might be alone, like you were here. Do you want to help find him, so we can all be together?”
That caught the boy’s attention, something from the caring and attentive leader he once was– Still is, Jungkook insisted in his mind– lighting in his soul and causing his back to straighten and a determined expression to cross his tiny features. He nodded, “Jin.”
Taehyung was trying very, very, very hard not to panic. And he was doing a pretty good job, if he did say so himself.
After his initial almost-breakdown– which consisted of impulse-buying a plethora of things to make sure that Yoongi would be okay, because damn it if it was even for just an hour that one of his best friends was turned into a child, that child would be safe and sound and entertained and happy as all hell if he had anything to say about it – he’d had the mind to call Jimin.
And, while seeing his dearest friend always settled his nerves, it was seeing his expression that really did it for Taehyung. It was the concerned, alarmed, and slightly panicked look on his soft features that Jimin was so clearly trying to hide so he could remain collected and strong for the both of them that convinced Taehyung that he needed to gather his emotions for this. It was the way that, despite it all, Jimin gathered a crying Yoongi in his arms, took him to the kitchen, gave him a tangerine, and sang him a song until he calmed down, and still went to Taehyung to comfort him and ask him if he was okay.
Jimin, ever the light in the darkness, was being so very, very strong about this. So, Taehyung would be, too. They would figure this out together. All of them.
So, he was most definitely not panicking as he rode the elevator up to Hoseok’s condo and most definitely not calling his hyung’s cell over and over in hopes of reaching him faster than the (apparent world’s slowest) elevator could.
When the doors opened, Taehyung practically sprinted passed them, nearly flinging his whole body to the ground with his arms outstretched in order to enter the floor faster. “Hobi-hyung!” he called. “Hobi-hyung! Hobi-hyung!”
But, the hall before him was empty. And so was the living room. And the dining room. And the kitchen. Taehyung looked everywhere a small child could possibly hide, scouring through the cabinets and rifling through every drawer. (Okay, maybe that one was a little extreme). “Please, hyungie, please be in here,” Taehyung begged, practically on the verge of tears as he searched. He couldn’t imagine what could have happened if Hoseok has turned while out shopping, or at a restaurant, or– oh God, what if he was in a government building turning in papers for something and he turned into a baby right on the spot, and the officers saw him and took him in and sent him off to some secret science facility of the government and they were experimenting on him and his hyung hates needles and he must be so scared, and–
All of Taehyung’s thoughts came to a spiraling halt when he ripped open the closet door to find the very person he’d been looking for. He was sitting contently in a big, fluffy coat that was bunched up on the floor and eating from a bag of candy that he cradled delicately in his little hands.
It was unmistakably Hoseok, with the pointed bow of his lips, the curl in the shape of his nostrils, and the way his little ears turned outwards at the ends, making him look like a mix between a cherub and a baby elf. His cheekbones and jawline were melted into adorable and plentiful baby fat and his eyes were big and beautiful in a way that made Taehyung want to sob. He had one of Hoseok’s fluffy, colorful sherpa bucket hats on his head, a way oversized t-shirt, and was wearing one of Hoseok’s pairs of boxers as shorts. He was even watching something on his phone, his expression bright and gleeful. He was precious and calm and, frankly, one of the most stylish babies Taehyung had ever seen, and he was… fine. He was fine. He was a carefree kid enjoying some TV-time and most definitely not being experimented on in order to be turned into the next baby superhero for the South Korean government’s military.
Taehyung was glad he most definitely didn’t freak out over nothing.
That was, until the boy caught sight of what must be a very frantic and panicked-looking stranger that had just ripped the closet door open and was then probably staring through him like he wanted to steal him.
Hoseok’s expression pinched, his little eyebrows drawing together and his bottom lip quivering. The phone slipped from his hands, revealing the video of a puppy and kitten playing with one another that he’d been watching with glee before. Tears were already streaming down his puffed-out cheeks by the time Taehyung rushed over, rubbing his back and trying to bring the phone back to his attention to calm him down.
“Hey, buddy, it’s okay,” he tried desperately. “Look, here, it’s okay. I’m sorry for scaring you, I didn’t mean to.”
To his surprise, though, Hoseok just shook his head, rubbing an eye with the back of his little fist. With the other hand, he pointed at Taehyung’s chest. “‘N’t scare me,” he babbled, voice tiny. “You ‘re s-scared.”
It took Taehyung a long moment to process what he was trying to say. “You’re crying because you were… worried about me ?”
Hoseok, who was already trying to crawl into his lap, nodded. Taehyung moved his legs out from underneath him in order to allow the boy to properly find a place on top of him. When he did, Hoseok immediately drew his arms around Taehyung’s middle, not quite reaching one another around him, but gripping him tightly all the same.
“Taetae looked worried,” he explained, rubbing his face into Taehyung’s chest. “What’s wrong?” And he looked up, big eyes wide and shiny and a tiny frown on his little lips. Taehyung’s heart melted and he gathered his tiny hyung closer to his chest, hugging him tightly. Hoseok tucked his little face into Taehyung’s shoulder.
That’s right, Taehyung had more than one light in his darkness. And that light, no matter the fact that his own life had been surreptitiously turned upside-down in the span of an afternoon, was sitting in his lap and sobbing his little heart out because he was that worried that something was bothering him.
He wouldn’t crumble. He couldn’t. Nothing had changed. Even when he didn’t know what to do, they were there, loving and supporting him, every step of the way. They were still there.
“Nothing now,” Taehyung assured him, rubbing his back. “I’m okay, Hobi-hyung. Everything’s just fine.”
Jungkook wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when he found Jin, but it most certainly wasn’t… this.
Sure, he was willing to admit that maybe Taehyung was right and it was just the hyungs that had been turned– as he’d received the texts full of emojis and exclamation points while walking down the hall with Namjoon in tow that he deciphered to mean that Hoseok had turned too, followed by a million different pictures of the two of them, trying on colorful outfits from Hoseok’s closet, having a tickle fight, doing their hair in brightly colored clips with little cartoon characters on them and rainbow accessories. That was followed by a text from Jimin reminding him that he was supposed to bring him back, and that was followed by an apology with several puppy-eye emojis, claiming that the boy was just too cute –
Jungkook had rolled his eyes and put the conversation on mute, before tucking his phone back in his pocket.
… Maybe not before saving the photos to his camera roll for himself. Hoseok really was a cute kid.
But, he’d had bigger things to worry about, as Namjoon tugged on his finger every so often and pointed to some random object, asking in his little voice what it was, how it worked, what they used it for, where it came from. And Jungkook, ever weak to his hyung, answered each question obediently and watched in delight as the boy’s little expression lit up with glee and excitement with each little tidbit of information.
“I like you,” Namjoon had said, clutching his KAWS figure to his chest and grinning after Jungkook explained to him what the air purifier sitting in the corner of the hall did. “You’re so smart. And cool.”
Jungkook almost cried. “I like you too, hyung,” he replied earnestly. “You’ve always been the coolest. And you’re so smart too, you know that? You always have these great, big ideas that everyone loves to listen to you talk about. And the music you make inspires so many people.”
His little hyung looked up at him with sparkling eyes. “Really?”
Jungkook nodded. “Really.”
“Wow,” Namjoon said softly. “I can’t wait to grow up and do all that.”
“Don’t worry about it, hyung, okay? You don’t have to wait, or to make music for everyone. You’re inspiring me right now, so you're already there. You’re really cool, as you are. You’ve always been, no matter what age,” he winked assuredly, pointing to himself with his thumb. “And, like you said, I’m super smart, right? So you know I'm telling the truth. I’m positive about it, hyungie.”
“Okay,” Namjoon breathed, still looking up at him with wide eyes. Jungkook wondered to himself if this is what Namjoon saw when they first met– this awestruck, wide-eyed expression of pure adoration, like he was looking at something magical and unbelievable. “I wanna do that though,” the boy continued shyly. “I know I don’t have to. But I wanna make stuff for people.”
A soft smile turned Jungkook’s lips. He squatted at the boy’s side, unable to help himself from pressing a kiss to his little forehead. “You can. We’ll do it together, okay? Just like we always have.”
Namjoon lit up from the inside out, like an entire city regaining its power and coming to life in its neon signs and shining streetlights and the patterns drawn in the sky from the light that streamed through the windows of skyscrapers; like paint flowing over a canvas, filling up the picture of a sketch with color and life; like… Namjoon when he was making music. Like the world he helped create through his passion, drive, and strength.
“Okay, together,” Namjoon repeated, nodding. His expression was bright with determination and excitement, and Jungkook felt his chest swell with a million different emotions. “I’m excited.”
“Good,” Jungkook replied, pressing another kiss to his head and tickling his sides lightly for good measure before he stood back up, their hands still intertwined.
And that’s how they found Jin, with their hands clasped together like a lifeline and matching doofy smiles on their faces, practically running down the halls to Jin’s studio because they were two matching balls of unbridled energy now fueled with determination and love.
But Jin shocked Jungkook from that high when he saw him…
At his computer.
The boy was only maybe four or five years-old, but he was… sitting at Jin’s computer. He was up on his knees with his belly half-hanging off the surface to keep him up so his little hands could reach the keyboard and mouse. Jungkook, still in shock, peered over his shoulder so he could see what the boy was doing.
On the screen was a mess of bright colors and cartoon happy faces, a conglomerate of overstimulation that Jungkook pieced together to be some sort of game for kids. It looked like a mix between Tetris and Candy Crush. Jin’s little fingers worked carefully over the keys to navigate the cartoons to where they needed to be. His apparent score was surprisingly high.
“Uh,” Jungkook said, intelligently. “Jin-hyung?” He prayed with all his might that Jin, in his tiny state, didn’t accidentally delete or mess with anything important on the system. He knew his hyung kept a couple games on there to play when he needed a breather or to clear his head, but whatever was brought up on the screen didn’t look like any of them. In fact, Jungkook wasn’t one-hundred percent certain how a child managed to navigate to, let alone control, the game. It was meant for children, surely, but Jin was really… little. Jungkook supposed that maybe he just didn’t know enough about growth stages, let alone ones that were reached in the span of an afternoon.
Jin whipped around, surprised– and thankfully not outright scared or shocked– and Jungkook was able to get a good look at him. He looked… not at all surprisingly, practically the same as before. He was a handsome little fella, because Jin wouldn’t settle for anything less, with full lips, a tiny nose that swooped downward, and big, gentle-looking bambi eyes. His eyebrows were wispy and arched high on his incredibly symmetrical face and his little jaw was angled to make his head a perfect little oval shape. His cheeks were still on the slimmer side, but still full and rosy in a boyish way.
He looked like a baby from a commercial. He looked like a cartoon character. He looked like those babies that celebrities have and dress up and take incredibly staged photoshoots of to incessantly post about to make everyone think “wow, their life is so perfect.” It would’ve been ridiculous, if Jungkook wasn’t so used to the fact that his hyung was just like that. Still, he couldn’t help but be surprised.
Eventually, the shock melted from little Jin’s face the longer that they all stood there, looking at one another. It was, to Jungkook’s horror, replaced with an absolutely pitiful look of guilt. The boy’s hands melted away from the desk to his lap and he sat back, his gaze avoiding Jungkook’s.
“Oh,” he whispered. His voice was ridiculously gentle and melodic. “I’m sorry. Am I in trouble?”
Jungkook rushed to assure his baby-fied hyung that he wasn’t, but Namjoon, from his side, cut him off. The boy stepped forward with that determined look still on his face, putting himself in front of Jungkook and placing his hands on his hips.
“No,” Namjoon said, shaking his head. “You’re not in trouble, so you don’t hafta’ be scared. We’re here to come get you.”
“Oh,” Jin said again, his eyes still wide. “Why?” His eyes were caught between looking at Namjoon, looking at Jungkook, and staring at the ground shyly. Jungkook was taken back to their early days of debut, before Jin developed the confident and goofy persona that he used to bring smiles to everyone’s faces, to comfort them when they needed and fill up the empty spaces in conversations; back to when he was a shy boy that was still unsure of himself despite the world telling him of his beauty, who just wanted to sing and be a good hyung to the six younger boys that were suddenly thrust into his arms.
“I’m playing games here,” Jin continued, gesturing back to the computer’s screen. “I like it. I wanna stay.”
Jungkook opened his mouth to speak and was once again interrupted by Namjoon.
“That’s okay,” Namjoon nodded, a solemn expression on his tiny expression, like he understood deeply the grave importance of fun, colorful games. “You can play some more later. But, you can’t stay here, because it’s lonely here and everyone’s over there. You gotta come with us so we can be together. But, don’t worry, because we can all play together when we’re all there. You just can’t be alone. I don’t want you to be alone.” He then looked up at Jungkook, as if asking for approval. Jungkook, despite his surprise, made sure to give him a thumbs up.
Jin seemed to consider this for a long moment, before nodding. “Okay. I’ll come with you,” he announced. “Games are fun, but you’re right. We gotta be together.”
Then, to Jungkook’s further surprise, he turned right back around, put his tiny hand on the mouse, and carefully exited the game and put the computer to sleep. He then nonchalantly hopped out of the chair and took Namjoon’s offered hand. He was only wearing the shirt that Jin had been wearing before he turned, much like the others, and he daintily adjusted it as he stood, brushing off some invisible lint and smoothing the wrinkles. Namjoon watched him patiently until he was done, and then they both looked up at Jungkook expectantly.
Jungkook, still… confused about the whole situation, took a long moment to understand that they wanted him to lead the way to where the others were. Because, if they didn’t understand anything and just wanted to be kids and do kid things, they still understood that the seven of them had to be together. Despite the absolute absurdity of it all, Jungkook couldn’t help but be touched at the fact.
“Okay,” Jungkook began, clearing his throat. “Let’s go find everyone else!”
And he led them in a march, listening happily to Namjoon– and eventually Jin’s– light and endearing giggles all the way.
“Oh, Jin-hyung, Namjoonie,” Jimin muttered as they arrived, rushing towards them with open arms. The two, surprisingly, didn’t startle as Jimin approached in his usual koala-like fashion, latching onto them and rubbing their cheeks in his hands, half appraising their cuteness and half checking for any injuries a child left without supervision might’ve acquired. “My poor, poor hyungies. Look at you both. Are you feeling okay? Did anything happen?”
“I played games,” Jin replied dutifully, like that was the answer Jimin was expecting.
Jimin’s eyebrows raised and he looked to Jungkook for explanation, who only shrugged in response. “Oh… okay,” he offered, looking back down. “Sounds fun.”
“It was,” Jin replied, very seriously.
Namjoon, however, had a tiny frown on his face and a little wrinkle forming between his eyebrows.
“What’s wrong, Joonie-hyung?” Jimin asked, his frown returning full-force. He took the boy’s hands in his own and squeezed, a comforting vice for the both of them. “Tell Jiminie. I’ll fix it for you.”
Instead, Namjoon looked back to where Jungkook stood behind them all. “You said everyone’d be here,” he said softly. His gaze was gently un-accusatory, but almost disappointed at the lack of seven individuals filling up the lounge.
Jimin watched Jungkook’s entire being crumble. “They will, hyung,” he said, sinking to a squat. “I promise, okay?”
“Yeah,” Jimin agreed, squeezing Namjoon’s little hands again. “Taehyungie and Hobi-hyung are on their way. They’re coming right here so we can all be together.”
Namjoon sniffled and it was such a small and vulnerable sound that Jimin wanted to take his little figure into his arms and hold him there forever, protect him from anything bad in the world that would even threaten to harm this precious little soul. “You promise?” he asked, voice still small.
Jimin held up his pinky, a jokingly serious expression on his face.
Instantly, Namjoon wrapped his own around Jimin’s, matching his expression. He understood the sanctimony of the pinkie-promise. Jimin took the opportunity to press a kiss to the boy’s hand, making him giggle and squirm against him.
“It’s important we’re all together,” Namjoon said after his laughter died down, a very serious expression on his face, like the statement was the most important fact in his little world.
“Yeah,” Jimin replied, fond and gentle. He rubbed the back of Namjoon’s head tenderly, smoothing his hair down. “You’re right. It’s very important.”
“Can I go to the bathroom?” He heard Jin ask from behind him, and Jimin whipped around to find that his tiny hyung had made his way over to where he’d left Yoongi as the two men comforted Namjoon, and had been sorting through the clothes that Taehyung had brought. One of his arms was still in the basket, but the set of clothes he clutched in the other was seemingly offered by Yoongi, who was sitting patiently at his side– like he’d seen Jin looking for something to wear and knew immediately what was needed, and Jin abandoned his search to take whatever Yoongi offered, trusting him wholeheartedly.
“Oh,” Jimin blinked. He took Namjoon’s hand and started guiding him towards where the others were. “Sure, honey. But, you know, you can change here. It doesn’t matter to us.”
Jin shook his head politely. “I wanna go to the bathroom to change. Please.”
“Okay, you can change alone if you want. But, if you have to use the bathroom, let me or Jungkookie know, okay? The fixtures here aren’t made for little ones, so we gotta help,” Jimin said softly. As he spoke, Namjoon abandoned his side to curiously sidle up to Yoongi, watching with bright and obvious fascination in his eyes as the boy played with some sort of sliding puzzle from Taehyung’s shopping spree. He wasn’t reaching a hand out to join, but rather sitting contentedly to watch, and Yoongi seemed unphased at his sudden audience. He even began to explain why some blocks go down the loop before the others, so they don’t catch one another and get stuck.
“They really are the same,” Jimin breathed to Jungkook, starting to fold some of the clothes that Jin had rifled through to keep his nervous hands busy.
The maknae was still standing there awkwardly, watching with big eyes as Namjoon and Yoongi interacted. Jimin wordlessly guided him to sit on the couch, patting down his hair.
“Yeah,” Jungkook finally agreed. “They are.” Then, he breathed a heavy sigh. “They’re still… different though.”
“That’s also true,” Jimin hummed in agreement, coaxing him to continue.
“They’re so…” Jungkook fidgeted. “Young. They’re the same, but they’re young and innocent and they’re looking to us for guidance.”
Jimin stopped folding to take Jungkook’s hand, using the other to squeeze his knee. “They are. But it’s not going to be forever, Kookie. We’re going to figure out what happened and how to change them back. And, while we do that, we’re going to make sure they’re happy and healthy, because they’re our hyungs and we care about them. But, you know what else?”
Jungkook peered at him through his bangs, his eyes big and scared. “What?” he asked softly.
“We’re going to do it all together because we’re a team. They’re looking to us for help, but we’re going to help and care for them together. And, if you mess up, that’s okay. It’s not the end of the world.”
“But they’re so-” Jungkook floundered for a moment, still unsure. “Small. Vulnerable. What if one mess up turns out seriously hurting them or, I don’t know, messing them up for the future? What if they’re stuck like this forever?”
“They won’t be,” Jimin said fiercely, jaw set. “We’re going to figure this out. And you won’t mess up because you’ll have me and Taehyungie– and everyone else. They’re kids, but they can still tell us what they want and need. We’re not going at this blind. And, more importantly, we are not going at this alone, alright? There’s nothing to be scared of. You’re going to be a great hyung. Trust me, I know you. And they do, too. That’s why they trust you.”
Jungkook took a deep, heavy breath, taking his time to process the older man’s words. He blinked hard, before nodding. “You’re right. Thanks, hyung.”
“Of course, Jungkookie,” Jimin said easily, petting his hair affectionately.
Suddenly, a tissue box came out of nowhere to smack against Jungkook’s chest, held up by a tiny, pale hand. The two men looked over in shock to find Yoongi, sitting on his knees beside them and holding it up, having seemingly plucked it from the counter nearby to offer it to Jungkook. When their eyes met, Yoongi turned his head, his gaze landing on anything but them and a neutral expression fell over his face.
“For you,” he explained simply. “Since you’re crying.”
“Oh,” Jungkook said, taking the box in his hands. “Thanks, hyung.”
Yoongi made a small, non-committal noise that Jimin assumed was supposed to be a grunt but came out more like a squeak due to his little voice, then climbed off the couch and went back to his puzzle.
Jimin watched Jungkook silently laugh into his tissue as he wiped his nose and couldn’t contain himself from bursting into a fit of giggles himself, nearly falling off the couch with the weight of it. Yoongi whined that they were laughing at him and they immediately had to explain that he was just too cute, but that only seemed to make him more petulant. He calmed down when they both held a hand of his and offered to put on a movie for him and Namjoon to watch.
He and Hoseok looked fabulous, if you asked Taehyung.
The boy had insisted on doing something together “in order for TaeTae to feel better,” and Taehyung, still feeling guilty for scaring the crap out of his now kid hyung, obliged in whatever he wanted to do. But, it turned out, baby Hoseok was just as fun to be around as adult Hoseok, just with almost triple the energy and an equal amount of sound effects. They ended up doing as many activities together that would coax that big laugh out of him that shook his whole body, until he flung himself around and into Taehyung’s lap in his giggles– because Taehyung was always fond of Hoseok’s laugh and wanted to hear more of it, but now his hyung was smaller and the laughter was so much louder and somehow even easier to produce. They had to return eventually though, because he knew the others were worried and he himself wanted to verify that Jin and Namjoon were okay.
So he carried Hoseok down the streets in their matching hair and colorful, oversized outfits like he was a proud dad showing off his rainbow of a son. Luckily, though Hoseok was scared at the idea of exiting into the outside world at first, he was overjoyed when Taehyung explained that he’d get to see the others, and was practically vibrating with excitement as he was carried through the city. Taehyung, in his panic, didn’t think to bring a pair of kid-sized shoes with him when he sought out to find Hoseok. But, it didn’t seem to be an issue, because Taehyung was more than happy to carry the boy and Hoseok was more than happy to be carried, squirmy as he was.
“I’m gonna show Jiminie our hair!” Hoseok squawked proudly and perhaps a bit too loudly. “And Namjoon, and Yoongi, and Jungkookie, and Jin, and-” he stopped to think for a long moment, even tapping his little finger against his chin in thought. “Is there anyone else we can show?” he asked Taehyung, blinking owlishly.
Taehyung sucked in through his teeth. “It’s probably not a good idea to let anyone else see you, hyung– at least until we can talk about it between all of us. I don’t really want anyone to try to get a story out of you or something without your consent.”
His explanation was met with deaf ears though, as Hoseok just nodded easily, trusting whatever Taehyung said without understanding it. “Okay,” he agreed. “We can just show the seven of us. That’s okay too.”
Taehyung’s expression scrunched, trying to contain the surge of emotion that came from the cuteness of his hyung. He buried his face into Hoseok’s shoulder, using his nose to tickle him and listening to the boy’s big, boisterous laugh.
“We’re here!” Taehyung announced as he dramatically opened the door to the lounge with Hoseok in tow.
Jungkook was at the center of the room, caught between a mix of holding a tiny Namjoon in the air and waving his m around while making airplane noises, and having a dramatic impromptu boxing match with Jin, complete with loud sound effects and exaggerated grunts for every “hit.” Jimin was on the floor laughing, clutching his stomach and squirming with his giggles, while Yoongi sat on the couch that Jimin most likely slid off of, watching quietly with a big grin on his face.
At their arrival, though, everyone in the room turned to look at them, and the children immediately soared over to greet them.
“I like your hair,” Jin said. His hand was in Yoongi’s after dragging him over while the younger boy protested weakly. He looked happy to be there though, and waved at Taehyung when they made eye contact.
“Thanks!” Hoseok exclaimed, his voice exploding from his loudly enough that Taehyung had to hold him a bit further away from his ears. He began squirming wildly, patting at Tae’s hands. “Down, please.”
Taehyung set him down and watched as he jumped onto Jin in a great, big hug, all the while talking about his hair and all the fun things that he did with Taehyung. And then he grabbed Yoongi, who nodded along as he listened to Hoseok’s story. Jungkook walked up with a squirming Namjoon and set him into the crowd, grinning at Taehyung.
“How’s everything here?” Taehyung asked, eyeing the toys from his bags scattered around the lounge floor and the seemingly forgotten kids’ movie running on the TV.
“Good,” Jungkook grinned, his nose scrunching up to reveal his teeth. “They’re so cute and full of energy!”
“We finally got them changed into some proper clothes, too,” Jimin added, approaching. He picked up Hoseok when the boy began pulling at the legs of his pants, squealing and cooing.
“Jiminie! I’m so happy to see you! You’re so cute!” Little hands pinched and pulled at Jimin’s cheeks in the same way that Hoseok did as the man’s elder.
“Thanks, hyung,” Jimin replied, voice muffled from the way that his cheeks were pressed together.
Taehyung laughed at the scene, before feeling a hand patting his knee. He looked down to see Namjoon, who gestured him down to his eye level. When he squatted, he cupped a hand around his lips like he was telling a secret, accidentally smacking his own eye in the process, but continuing on anyway. “Hoba laughs and moves around a lot when he’s happy,” he explained gently.
Taehyung giggled, but nodded solemnly, accepting the secret information like it was of grave importance. “You’re right, Namjoonie-hyung,” he agreed. “He does move a lot. He’s got the heart of a dancer, you know? He expresses his thoughts with his body.”
Namjoon’s little mouth popped open at the new information and he nodded slowly, turning it over in his head.
“You’re so sweet, Namjoonie-hyung,” he grinned, tickling the boy’s belly. “Always thinking about others with that big brain of yours, even now. You like seeing us all happy, huh?”
A giant smile lit up Namjoon’s face as he nodded eagerly. “Yeah! It makes me really happy inside.”
Taehyung cooed, pinching his cheeks. “Ah, little baby hyung~ It’s unfair for you to be this cute!”
“Should we still call them ‘hyungs?’” Jungkook wondered aloud. He was back on the sofa with Yoongi in his lap, who was listening to Jin tell a story with the occasional nod. Jimin was sending Hoseok into giggle fits with every expression he made as he got him in some properly-sized clothes. “They’re younger than us, now.”
“I’m five,” Jin piped up helpfully, patting Jungkook’s arm to make sure he heard him.
“Oh?” Jimin looked surprised, still wrangling a laughing and squirming Hoseok in his arms. “How do you know?”
Jin just shrugged nonchalantly. “I just do.”
Taehyung– who was already having a make-believe sword fight with Namjoon, complete with dramatic sound effects, shouts, and Namjoon lying on the floor after Taehyung pretend-stabbed him– piped up, “Okay. So that makes Yoongi-hyung four and Joonie and Hobi-hyung three.” He turned to blow a raspberry into Namjoon’s exposed stomach, making him laugh and squeal in shock. “Either way, they’ll all always still be our hyungs, even if they’re a lot smaller now.”
“Makes sense,” Jungkook agreed cheerily. He turned back to Yoongi in his lap and joked, “does that mean you’ll still buy me lamb skewers?”
Yoongi, to their surprise, just nodded seriously, his little hand reaching out to pat Jungkook’s chest. “Take care of you,” he agreed.
“No!” Jin exclaimed suddenly, putting his hands on his waist and pouting with his big lips. “I’ll do it, okay? You’re little still, Yoongi-yah. Jin will take care of you both. ‘S my job.”
Yoongi, seemingly knowing better than to argue with Jin, nodded along. Jimin made a noise halfway between a coo and a squeal, coming over to pinch and kiss his puffed out cheeks.
Taehyung turned back to see that Namjoon’s laughter had died off completely and was replaced with a sad, pouty look on his face. “You wanna take care of us too, Namjoonie?” Taehyung guessed, rubbing the boy’s back.
He just nodded forlornly. “I gotta make sure y-you’re happy and safe.”
“We are, hyungie,” Jungkook assured him from where he was sat, making sure Jimin didn’t accidentally knock Jin off the couch in his giggles as he messed with a whining Yoongi.
“How ‘bout this,” Taehyung began when the pout refused to melt from Namjoon’s face. “You can make sure we’re all okay, and then we all make sure that you’re okay. And we’ll do that for all of us. Does that sound good?”
Namjoon considered in for a moment, his lips pursing together in thought. “Yeah,” he agreed quietly after a long moment. “I like that.”
Taehyung grinned. “Good. You’ll take care of us, and we’ll take care of you. You wanna know why?”
Namjoon’s head tilted curiously in a way that reminded Taehyung of a confused puppy. “Why?”
“Because we love each other, that’s why!” Taehyung exclaimed, grabbing the boy and pulling him in to blow big raspberries against his cheeks. “Love, love, love you, hyungie!”
Namjoon immediately exploded into laughter. “I love you too, Tae!”
“Taehyungie’s so smart,” Jin nodded to Jungkook as they both watched the scene, patting him on the knee like he held all the wisdom a five year-old could possibly contain. “Family takes care of each other.”
Jungkook grinned in return, reaching his free arm out to draw his hyung into his side. “That’s right, Jin-hyung. They do.”