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“Here, honey. It's Valentine's day, so I got you this…” Hyuna showed Luka the box of chocolates she had in her hand. She knew that he didn't specifically like chocolate, but he would eat anything if she gave it to him.
Hyuna and Luka had known each other since they were kids, and from very early on, Hyuna could tell that her friend Luka had a regressed mentality. Despite being older than her, he behaved like he was much younger and he didn't understand certain things. Hyuna saw that Luka would often copy the behaviors of those around him, so early on she had made sure the other kids they hung out with were kind and loving.
As Luka got older, his age regression was a less dominant part of his personality, but it was always a part of him. Hyuna and Luka were currently dating, so for Valentines day she had expected him to do something romantic, but before long she had realized that he was in a regressed state of mind, so it was likely that the romantic side of Valentines day would have to wait until he was back into his regular frame of mind.
Still, Hyuna didn't mind taking care of her boyfriend when he regressed. Although Luka didn't understand a lot of things when he was age regressed, Hyuna made sure to teach him what was right and wrong and she showed him many things. Sometimes when he was regressed she would walk with him on a trail outside their home and he listened intently on what she would tell him about the flowers and birds and trees.
Luka glanced at the chocolate and took it in his hands, opening it up and taking a bite out of one. He looked back up at her, smiling slightly. “Yay.”
“Don't talk with your mouth full, silly,” Hyuna laughed, ruffling his hair gently. She'd taught him many times not to speak with his mouth full but he always forgot. Or perhaps he just liked watching her reaction to it. “Do you like it?”
“I think so,” he continued to munch on a few more, and then seemed to remember that Hyuna could also consume chocolate just as well as he could. “Here...” He took one in his hands and reached out for her to take it.
“My, thank you.” Hyuna smiled as she took the chocolate from him and ate it. “I'll get you some water to wash it down with.” She stood up and went into the kitchen. She knew that when he regressed unless he was given it Luka wouldn't otherwise drink it. She got out one of his sippy cups he used when he was tiny and filled it up with water.
“Here you are,” she plopped down next to him on the couch where he was sitting, handing him the sippy cup. “Remember not to drink too fast.”
“Okay,” Luka slowly drank the water. “I did it, Hyuna.” He looked at her expectantly.
“Good job, Luka!” Hyuna grinned. Despite not knowing a lot about what he liked or disliked in his child-like state, she had noticed that he did like to be praised for doing things. “Do you want to go on one of our walks now?”
Luka thought for a moment, something he rarely did (LOL). He then shook his head and stood up, walking over to the bin where he kept his toys and arts and craft supplies. He pulled out a sheet of paper and his pencil crayon holder. He walked back over to Hyuna and sat down on the floor in front of her.
“What are you doing…?” Hyuna asked, amused. Luka sometimes didn't explain what he was doing.
“Making a card.” Luka mumbled, and then continued to fold the sheet of paper so it looked like a card. He then began to draw on it and Hyuna watched him happily as he made her a Valentines day card.
When he was done, he turned to Hyuna and held the card up to her. “I made this for you.”
“Why, thank you.” Hyuna opened the card up and saw that Luka had drawn the two of them together holding hands and smiling. On the other side, he had written “Happy Valentines day Hyuna” And there was a flower beside her name. He always associated her with flowers for some reason.
Hyuna smiled at him. “Awe. This is great, Luka! Thank you for making me a card, sweetheart.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead softly.
“Hehe…” Luka giggled happily. He was always happy when Hyuna was affectionate with him. “Now can we walk?” He tilted his head.
“Yes, now we can walk.” Hyuna placed her card on the table and stood. “Let's go.” She took his hand in hers and led him towards the door. He followed her, traces of a smile still on his lips.
Hyuna pulled on her shoes. It was pretty sunny out, so there was no need for a jacket. She glanced at Luka and saw that he hadn’t moved. “Come on, let's get your shoes on, mister,” Hyuna bent down and helped him do up his shoes. When she was done, she stood up. “There we go. All done.”
“Thank you.” Luka replied, looking relieved she had helped him, almost as if he had forgotten how to tie his shoes up. Then again, knowing Luka, Hyuna wouldn't be surprised.
“Ready?” She asked him, opening up the door. She felt the cool breeze of wind across her face despite the warm sun beaming down.
“Ready.” He followed behind her as she walked out onto the porch and down onto the grass.
“It's so sunny out, it's–” Hyuna paused in her steps. She turned around, feeling a tug on her shirt. Luka was tugging on it. “Luka?”
“We have to hold hands so we don't get lost.” He held up his hand to hers.
“Oh, I see,” Hyuna slowly smiled. “We wouldn't want to get lost, would we?” She squeezed his hand and Luka squeezed hers back. Together, the two of them continued walking along the start of the trail.
The trees somehow looked even greener today than they usually did as she and Luka walked. Although Hyuna had been expecting her Valentine's day to be a bit different, she couldn't help but enjoy taking care of Luka when he was regressed. He was a sweet child and he made her happy.
“Hyuna,” Luka said out of the blue, surprising her. She looked at where he was pointing with his finger. It was a squirrel, sitting on a branch– but not just any squirrel– an albino one! “It's a white squirrel.” He didn't sound particularly surprised or curious about it, but he knew she would like this sort of thing.
“Well, look at that!” Hyuna grinned, amazed. She had always found squirrels cute and it was exciting to see an albino one out in the middle of a trail like this. “Maybe he'll let us get a picture of him!”
Luka pulled out his phone from his pocket and handed it to Hyuna. “You can take a picture with this.”
“Good idea,” she took his phone (she had a bad habit of forgetting hers and Luka knew this) and snapped a picture of it. “It's so pretty!”
Soon enough, the squirrel scampered away, but Hyuna was so glad to have gotten a picture of it. She kept talking about how amazing it was to see one out in the middle of nowhere like that and Luka listened to her, a peaceful look on his face.
A few minutes later, the pair stumbled upon the patch of flowers that Luka liked to look at. He would usually be staring at the butterflies or bugs near them. He began to pick a few of various colors and ran back up to Hyuna who was waiting for him on the main path of the trail. “For you.” He gave her his tiny bouquet of wildflowers.
“Aww, It's gorgeous!” she exclaimed, sniffing them. “You always pick the flowers that smell the best. You must have a knack for it, like a secret talent or something.” She watched how his face lit up at that and she felt so happy.
The rest of the walk continued without a hitch. Luka played with a caterpillar, Hyuna told him to put it back on the ground, they spotted a small rabbit, and they listened to the sounds of a nearby river trickling. By the end of it, Hyuna could tell that Luka had enjoyed himself.
When they got back inside, Hyuna put the wildflowers Luka had got her into a vase with water and put them on the table. She was about to start cleaning up the dishes from last night's dinner, but she saw that Luka was standing in the corner, sucking his thumb as if he didn't know what else to do.
Hyuna walked over to him and took his hand in hers. Usually when Luka sucked on his thumb it meant that he was sleepy. “Does someone need a nap?” she questioned him, raising her eyebrow.
“Nap Time…?” Luka mumbled, and his tired eyes confirmed to Hyuna that he needed to get a bit of shut eye. That walk had probably tired him.
“That's right. Nap time.” Hyuna held his hand and led him upstairs and into their bedroom. She helped him get into bed.
“Hyuna…” he tugged on her hand gently. “Story?” He asked sleepily yet hopefully.
“You want a story?” Hyuna usually read Luka a story for bed when he was regressed, but usually she didn't do that when he took naps. Still, it was Valentine's day, so… she decided just this once. “Alright, you.” she grinned and went to grab one of his favourite stories.
She picked out one he liked about aliens and how they made friends with humans and how they sang wonderful songs together. Luka always liked that one, and within a few minutes of the story he was fast asleep.
Hyuna finished the story and leaned over, kissing him on the forehead. She loved him very dearly and wanted to keep him safe.“Sleep well, Luka.” She stood up and went downstairs to clean the dishes.
And maybe make a certain somebody an extra treat.