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Some people (Seungmin) would say Jisung and Minho were codependent; Jisung called it being in love.
“I’m in love and I can go more than an hour without talking to these two,” Seungmin pointed out, gesturing at Hyunjin and Jeongin. They were all seated around a table at the club, and Seungmin had to raise his voice a little to be heard over the music.
At his side, Jeongin pouted.
“I’m not saying I want to,” Seungmin assured. “I’m saying I could.”
Jisung huffed. “We’re in our honeymoon phase.”
“You’ve been in your honeymoon phase for five years,” Seungmin muttered.
Frowning, Jisung said, “We’ve only been dating for three.”
Deadpan, Seungmin responded, “I know.”
Next to Jisung, Felix giggled. He was sipping something pink and fruity with a little umbrella, already on his way to tipsy. Out of all of them, he was the biggest lightweight. Jisung wasn’t far behind, though. He’d only had one and a half drinks, not wanting to get drunk, but he was feeling pleasantly buzzed. All of his emotions had a soft edge to them; he was reaching the point where he felt like waxing poetic and kissing all his friends.
“Anyway. I said I missed Minho,” Jisung said, “not that I couldn’t go an hour without talking to him.” He rolled his eyes. He frequently had to go much longer without talking to his boyfriend, thank you very much.
As if on cue, his phone lit up with a text notification. Jisung grabbed for it immediately, eyes bright.
Around the table, the other boys watched him, eyebrows raised.
“What? It’s probably not even from him.” (It was.)
Felix laughed again, and Hyunjin interlocked their fingers. “C’mon, Lixi, let's go dance. You coming, lover boy?”
Jisung slid his phone into his pocket and followed them out onto the dance floor.
“We’ll hold down the fort,” Seungmin said, Jeongin curled into his side.
Jisung didn’t know how long they danced for, but when they made it back to the table, he was feeling a little disconnected from their surroundings. Maybe it was the alcohol, the thump of the bass and press of sweaty bodies around him on the dance floor. The little alcove where they’d procured a table had fairy lights strung up around it, adding to the dream-like quality.
He nuzzled into Felix’s side as they made their way back to their table. Felix’s blonde hair tickled his face, and Jisung wrinkled his nose at the sensation. He rubbed at his eyes with a fist, and the lights around him blurred.
“Pretty,” he murmured, dazedly.
“You good, Sungie?” Hyunjin asked.
Jisung looked up from Felix’s neck to find all four boys staring at him. They’d made it back to the table without him noticing. He hummed, dropping his head back down on Felix’s shoulder, rubbing his cheek against Felix’s soft shirt. It felt nice against his skin. Pretty, he thought. The colors and the lights and his friends. They were all so pretty. He loved them so much.
“Wha–?” he asked when no one said anything.
“Jisung,” Felix said, voice soft and careful. “How old are you feeling right now?”
He held up his thumb and pointer finger, pressing them close together. Itty bitty, he thought. The smallest boy in the whole wide world.
That would make a good song, he mused, or maybe a picture book.
Oh.
No wait, that wasn’t right. He was a big boy.
“I don’t wanna go home,” he said with a pout. If he was small, they might make him go home. Although, he hummed thoughtfully, if he went home, he’d get to see Minho.
Felix was digging through Jisung’s pockets for his phone. “We’re just going to call Minho, okay? You said you missed Minho, right?”
Jisung clapped his hands, excited. “Yes, please.”
“Why don’t you sit down, bug,” Hyunjin suggested, “and we can video call him.”
Jisung crawled into the booth, sitting with his knees bent. He bounced impatiently as he waited for Felix to start the call.
Minho answered on the second ring. “Hey, baby. I thought–” His voice cut off as he took in Jisung.
Leaning in real close to the phone, Jisung said, “Hi, daddy.”
Minho’s voice softened, taking on the edge that made Jisung feel all safe and small. “Hi, honey. Are you okay?”
Jisung nodded quickly. “I just miss you, daddy.”
“Do you want to come home?”
He pouted, feeling conflicted. In his headspace, it seemed like an impossible decision to make. As his frustration built, his eyes started filling up with tears.
Noticing, Minho said, “Baby, it’s okay. You miss me but you want to keep hanging out with your friends?”
Jisung nodded, rubbing at his eyes, his cheeks pink.
“Can you hand the phone to Felix, honey?”
“But I miss you, daddy.” He pouted.
“I know, baby. But the grownups gotta talk real quick. I’ll see you soon, though, I promise, okay?”
When Jisung handed his phone over, he could hear Minho asking Felix if he was indeed still a grown up or if he’d regressed too. Sometimes the simple act of Jisung regressing made Felix regress too and vice versa.
Hyunjin had procured a pen from somewhere; he slid it and a napkin in front of Jisung. “Hey, bug. Can you draw me a picture?”
Jisung lit up and picked up the pen. When he had decided what to draw, he got to work.
When he looked away from the napkin a few minutes later, he caught sight of Seungmin and Jeongin across the table. He huddled into Hyunjin’s side, suddenly shy. Jeongin was the newest addition to their group of friends, and while he knew about Jisung and Felix’s regression, Jisung had never regressed in front of him.
Jeongin scooted around the table, taking Felix’s vacated seat. Jisung picked up Hyunjin’s arm, trying to hide behind it. Jeongin just smiled patiently.
“What are you drawing a picture of?” Jeongin asked.
Jisung looked from Jeongin, up to Hyunjin, who nodded encouragingly. Jisung pointed at the stick figures he’d been working on. “This is me,” he whispered. He pointed at one figure before moving on to the next. “And daddy, and Lixie. That’s Binnie and Channie.” He shuffled closer to Hyunjin’s side. “And this is Jinnie and Minnie and you.” He said the last part quietly, pointing at the stick figure next to Seungmin’s. Seungmin and Hyunjin’s stick figures were notably taller than the others, while Jisung and Felix’s were smaller.
“Wow,” Jeongin exclaimed brightly. “You did such a good job. Look at Jinnie’s pretty hair.”
Hyunjin kissed the top of Jisung’s head. “Thank you, bug. That’s beautiful.”
“Who’s this down here?” Jeongin asked, pointing at three little figures at the bottom.
“The kitties,” Jisung said.
Jeongin nodded. “Of course. I love their little whiskers.”
Jisung squirmed in his seat, happy. “Thank you,” he murmured.
When Felix returned to the table, Minho was following him. Jisung screeched and crawled over Hyunjin to get to him. Kneeling, Minho flipped his baseball cap around just in time to get an arm full of Jisung.
“Daddy!”
Minho picked him up easily, Jisung’s legs around his waist. “Hi, baby bee.” He pressed a kiss to each of Jisung’s cheeks, making him giggle. “You ready to go?”
Jisung looked back at Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jeongin with a frown. “But–”
“It’s okay, bee. They can come too.”
Jisung brightened. “Really? Play?”
Minho nodded. “If they want to.”
In his arms, Jisung squirmed excitedly. “Wait, my picture!” He tried to reach toward the table.
“I got it,” Hyunjin said, handing it over.
Jisung showed it to Minho. “Look, daddy.”
“That’s beautiful, baby. You drew all of us! And the kitties.” He started walking them away from the table, but paused. “Do you need to go potty before we go?”
Without hesitating, Jisung shook his head quickly, a stubborn set to his shoulders.
Minho frowned. “Are you sure?”
Leaning forward, he whispered, “Daddy, the bathroom here is yucky.”
Next to them, Felix snorted.
“That’s fair,” Minho allowed. “Just let me know if you have to go before we get home.”
They made it out of the club and to the parking lot without incident. When they started to split up – they couldn’t all fit in Minho’s car, and Seungmin didn’t want to leave his – Jisung started throwing a fit, not wanting to be separated.
Minho helped him get buckled in, calmly explaining that they were all going to the same place, and they’d be reunited before he knew it. It didn’t matter; in Jisung’s headspace, all he could focus on was his friends were leaving him.
“Hey,” Felix soothed. “I can ride with you in the back,” he offered. “Or do you want Hyunjin?” While Felix and Jisung were best friends and tended to stick together, especially when one or both of them were regressed, they also had a tendency to cling to their favorite babysitter, Hyunjin.
Jisung looked around shyly, and then leaned in to whisper in Felix’s ear, too quiet for anyone else to hear.
Felix smiled. “That’s okay, Jiji. I’m not upset.” He turned to Minho. “He wants Innie to ride with him.”
Minho’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh? Did you make a new friend, baby?”
Hiding behind his hands, Jisung nodded. He didn’t look over at Jeongin, too nervous to see his reaction.
“Innie, Jiji wants you to sit next to him,” Minho hollered. “Is that okay?”
Seungmin and Jeongin had been hovering nearby. Jeongin’s eyes were bright as he walked around the car.
“Of course, Jiji. I’d love to.” He climbed in next to Jisung, who was kicking his legs happily.
Hand pressed to his chest, Hyunjin said, “I’m being replaced.”
Seungmin snorted and reached for him. “You’re still Lixi’s favorite, don’t worry.”
Hyunjin smiled and wrapped an arm around Felix’s shoulder. “That’s true. C’mon, angel.” To Minho he said, “We’ll see you back at your house.”
“We have to stop and get gas,” Seungmin added. “So it’ll be a few.”
In the car, Jeongin was asking Jisung what he wanted to do when they got back to his house, and Jisung was checking things off on his fingers. It was quite the list and with as late as it was, Minho wasn’t sure if they’d get to more than two things on it, let alone everything.
Jisung wasted no time when they made it home, pulling out his toy box to show off his favorite things to Jeongin, while simultaneously asking Minho for the crayons and coloring books so Jeongin could color with him. Minho had to pick him up and carry him into the bathroom, assuring him they could color and play after he went potty and changed his clothes. Jisung reluctantly, impatiently, did his business, washed his hands, and let Minho put a pull up on him – “Just in case,” he said. “I know you’re a big boy.” He tried to run out into the living room with just his pull up on, but Minho dragged him back to put his jammies on.
By the time he was dressed for the night, Hyunjin, Felix and Seungmin had arrived and were sitting around the coffee table. Felix had located Jisung’s art supplies and one of them had even put Winnie the Pooh on the television.
Jeongin was sitting cross legged on the floor, and Jisung clambered into his lab. Jeongin let out a small oof in surprise, but smiled down at him. “Hi, Jiji.”
Jisung held up his plush Pooh Bear, dressed as a bee, for Jeongin to see. “Pooh bee,” he announced and buzzed.
“That’s adorable.” Jeongin pointed to the coloring books on the table. There were multiple Winnie the Pooh themed ones. “Do you want to find a picture to color?”
Jisung was yawning halfway through the movie, but every time Minho brought up sleep, he shook his head stubbornly. He also refused to leave Jeongin’s side, even trying to follow him to the bathroom at one point. Minho had intervened, telling him he could wait in the living room and didn’t need to loiter outside the bathroom for him.
He was back to sitting in Jeongin’s lap when the keypad at the front door beeped and Chan and Changbin walked in. Felix started to get up, but Jisung beat him to the entryway, colliding with Changbin.
Changbin swung him around. “Hi, bug.”
“Binnie.” Jisung giggled, resting his head on Changbin’s shoulder and reaching out for Chan with his free hand. They squished him between them in a hug, making Jisung screech, “No sandwich me.”
“Honey bee sandwich,” Changbin argued, poking him in the belly. “Buzz, buzz.”
Jisung pulled back with a frown, suddenly serious. “Daddy’s bee, not Binnie’s bee.”
Changbin nodded somberly. “Right, of course. I’m sorry, bug.”
Felix, who had come up to give them both hugs, looked delighted at the prospect of getting his boyfriend in trouble. He opened his mouth, no doubt ready to holler for Minho and tell him Changbin had called Jisung bee, but Changbin poked him in the chest.
“Don’t even think about it, you little tattle tale.”
Grinning, Felix shut his mouth.
“Channie, what do?” Jisung asked with a yawn.
Changbin transferred him to Chan’s arms. He nuzzled sleepily into Chan’s neck. He made a very comfortable pillow. Not as good as his daddy, but maybe second best.
“We’re here to take Felix home,” Chan said, rubbing his back.
Jisung sat up in alarm, lower lip wobbling. “No leave! Stay!”
“We can stay for a few minutes,” Chan said, “but it’s late, bug. We gotta go home.”
Minho walked up with one of Jisung’s sippy cups. “Baby, I warmed you up some milk,” he said, and Jisung promptly burst into tears. Minho looked at Chan mock-accusingly. “Why are you always making him cry?”
He knew Minho was only teasing him, but Chan sighed and handed Jisung over anyway.
Jisung tried to cling to Chan. “No, no leave.” He pushed the offered sippy cup away.
“Baby, it’s bedtime,” Minho explained. “Everyone’s going to go to sleep, not just you.”
Jisung pouted. “Sleepover,” he muttered.
Minho hummed thoughtfully. “We can plan a sleepover, okay? For another night. If you promise to be good and try to go to sleep now.”
Crossing his arms, Jisung huffed and buried his face in Minho’s chest.
“Okay, grumpy pants. Do you want to say goodbye to your friends?”
Jisung mumbled something unintelligible.
“Jisung,” Minho said, tone soft but serious. Jisung froze; Minho only called him Jisung when he was big or about to get in trouble. “I know you’re upset, but can you say goodnight to your friends and thank them for playing with you?”
When Jisung sat up, there were tears streaming down his face. He waved goodbye to everyone, saying a quiet tank you, and even let Jeongin and Felix give him a kiss on the head.
Minho laid him on their bed when everyone was gone, getting him tucked in — with his Pooh Bear and all the lights turned off save for his Pooh night light — before he joined him.
Jisung drank some of his warm milk before asking, quiet and hesitant, “Daddy mad?”
He pressed a kiss to Jisung’s forehead. “No, baby. I’m not mad.”
After a few more sips he asked, “Daddy love Jiji?”
Minho nodded. “I love you always, even if I was mad, okay? Nothing’s going to change that.”
A few more moments passed, quiet except for the sound of Jisung swallowing, and then, “I’m sorry I’m grumpy pants.”
Minho smiled and gave him another kiss. “It’s okay, baby. Sometimes I’m grumpy pants, too.”
Jisung rolled around in Minho’s arms, his Pooh and sippy cup tucked between them. There was a little bit of milk on his upper lip and chin, which Minho wiped off fondly.
“Grumpy daddy.” He giggled.
“Daddy’s gonna be grumpy if you don’t go to sleep,” Minho teased, taking Jisung’s mostly empty sippy cup and setting it on the nightstand.
“Kiss,” he requested.
Minho gave him a kiss on the forehead.
“No, daddy.” He pursed his lips.
Minho obliged, giving him a kiss on the lips. “Sleep now.”
Jisung tucked himself under Minho’s chin. “Love you, daddy.”
“I love you, too, baby.”