Chapter Text
Seonghwa hadn’t turned on his alarm this morning, and for a good reason: ATEEZ was given a day off, their first one in a while. They finished with their festival performances about a month ago and right after that, began preparations for their upcoming album ’Golden Hour : Part 5’. Since they weren’t given much time between album preparations and the release date, all 8 members have been working extremely hard. Their daily schedules quickly filled up with recording songs, dance practice, photoshoots, interviews and so much more, leaving close to no time to relax or enjoy their interests. So, when their manager said the company had given them a day off, to be fair everyone was shocked but took it nonetheless.
The oldest was currently deep asleep, blanket laid messily over the lower half of his body and face smushed into his pillow. His hair sprawled out over his face and on the pillow, and one of his arms escaped from under the blanket and draped over the edge of his bed. Despite being completely out cold, Seonghwa still thought of this as one of the best sleeps he’s had in a long time and hoped it wouldn’t be disrupted anytime soon. That was, of course, until a certain little came barging loudly into his room.
Mingi had woken up in his headspace not too long ago, feeling an immediate urge to wake up the rest of the members so he wasn’t all alone. His first destination was San’s room, jumping out of bed and walking quietly across the hall, entering the older’s room without knocking. The boy in question that the room belonged to was sat on the floor, Shiber laying beside him, a colouring book opened in front of him and a yellow crayon gripped in his hand. San was another one of the littles in ATEEZ, his headspace being about a year older than Mingi’s, yet he still liked most of the things his fellow little liked. A smile spread across little Minnie’s face when he realized the other was also little and he bounded over to him, crouching down beside him.
“Hihi, Sannie ’yungie!“ the little waved.
“Good mornin’, Minnie,“ little Sannie waved back before going back to finish colouring in a star.
Mingi sat there watching San colour in the picture, getting bored after only a minute and started to play with a loose thread on his pajamas.
“’yungie~“ Mingi whined, “Le’s go wake ups Mama.“
San set down the now red crayon, turning towards the other, “Hwahwa nuh awake yet?“ he tilted his head in confusion.
Mingi shook his head in response, “Nuh-uh. Mama stiww sweepin’. Wan’ go wake ’im uppies.“
“Wil’ he makes breakfast fow us?“ The older little questioned right before his tummy grumbled.
San had been up for about an hour and a half and hadn’t had anything to eat yet.
“M’ hungwy too“ the younger agreed, frowning.
“You go wake ups Hwahwa den an’ I go gets out da stuff for breakfast“ San confidently offered when he noticed little Minnie’s frown.
Now, San knew that when he was in his headspace he wasn’t allowed in the kitchen by himself for safety reasons. However, when it came to situations such as helping out the younger littles because their caregivers weren’t available at the moment, he often “forgot“ about rules like that in order to see them happy. It had gotten him into quite a bit of trouble before whenever he was caught but each time he’d lie and say he “forgot“ that the rule existed. He was just trying to see the others happy, not purposefully get in trouble. Little Sannie just didn’t think that his caregivers would understand that.
“Otay!“ Mingi’s smile returned, and he quickly rushed off.
Mingi soon found himself standing in front of Seonghwa’s bedroom door, entering the room just like he did with San. He was met with the oldest sleeping peacefully in his bed, oblivious to his presence. Mingi hopped forwards and climbed up onto the bed, crawling towards the idol. He then proceeded to spread his arms out from under him and flop down straight onto Seonghwa, giggling right into his ear. He didn’t wake up from the sudden weight on his right shoulder, so little Minnie poked his cheek once, waiting a few seconds for him to wake up which, to his disliking, hadn’t happened. Again, he poked his cheek, this time calling out the nickname he had given him.
“Mama~“
No response.
Just a dead-asleep Seonghwa.
Getting frustrated, Mingi leaned down closer to Seonghwa and, with all of the energy his little mindset could conjure up, he drew his name out as long as he could.
“Mamaaaaa!“
Seonghwa shuffled around under Mingi’s weight, furrowing his brows at the sudden noise before settling back into the mattress and letting sleep pull him back under. He kept his eyes closed and was too drowsy to notice the little lying on top of him so he didn’t even begin to think that Mingi was trying to get his attention. Mingi, however, wasn’t going to let his caregiver get away with falling back asleep when he would never let him go back to bed if he didn’t want to wake up. The little pushed himself up to basically sit on Seonghwa’s waist and tried shaking him awake.
“Mama, wake uppies!“ he pouted, growing more and more annoyed with the idol.
Mingi stopped shaking the other only when he watched him turn onto his back, running a hand over his face to block the light as he opened his eyes. The little’s face shone brighter than the sunlight leaking into the room when he realized he successfully woke him up, a drastic difference in how Seonghwa felt.
Seonghwa wasn’t too happy to have been woken up on their day off–he knew he shut off his alarm the previous night so he’d have the chance to sleep in like he wanted. What he didn’t think of though was one of the members coming into his room to wake him up, and that member being in his little headspace. A low grumble escaped from his lips as he rolled onto his back (with a bit of struggle because of Mingi’s full weight on his waist) and rubbed his hand over his face. He peeled his eyes open, letting his hand drop to rest beside Mingi’s knee and stared at the boy’s blurry figure. Blinking a few times, Seonghwa let his eyes come fully into focus before chuckling softly at the little eagerly waiting for him to wake up.
“Goo’ mownin’, Mama!“ Mingi beamed, flashing the caregiver a gummy smile.
Seonghwa returned the smile, although dialed down a bit due to his sleepiness, “Morning, Minnie. What are you doing up so early?“
“M’ an’ Sannie ’yungie aw hungwy an’ m’ bowed.“
“...you woke up to tell me you’re bored?“
Seonghwa found the other’s logic adorable and couldn’t help but chuckle again. He lightly tickled little Minnie’s sides, making him squeal and try to squirm out of his grip, but Seonghwa kept his hands on his waist so he wouldn’t fall off the bed.
“Silly baby.“
“M’ awso hungwyyy“ Mingi added on after Seonghwa stopped tickling him.
“Are you now?“ he playfully poked the little’s stomach, “Well then, maybe we should get some food into that little tummy of yours.“
“Sannie ’yungie ’ummy too?“
Seonghwa answered his question with another question, “Is Sannie also small this morning?“
“Mhm!“ Mingi hummed.
Seonghwa didn’t imagine that this was how his day off would start–taking care of two littles at the same time–but he was just glad that it was a simple start.
“Alright then“ he declared, “You go to the living room, Minnie, and I’ll be out in a bit to make the two of you some breakfast, okay?“
“Otay, Mama“ the little nodded.
Mingi hopped off Seonghwa (the oldest secretly being relieved that the little wasn’t sitting on him anymore) and patted his bum as he rushed off towards the living room. After Mingi left, Seonghwa laid there motionless–his only movement being the rising and falling of his chest as he breathed–for a few more minutes to wake up properly and not to a little yelling in his ear before ultimately pushing himself to sit up. He moved the blanket off his legs and set his feet on the floor, silently cursing at how cold it was. Grabbing his phone, he stood up and walked over the mirror by his bedroom door, smoothing down his hair until he deemed he looked presentable enough.
It was only the littles that would be seeing him right now so he didn’t need to completely dress up, but there were still windows in their dorm. So the least he could do was make it look like he hadn’t just woken up.
Seonghwa finally left his room, following the sound of cartoons playing on the tv to see both little Minnie and little Sannie sitting in front of the coffee table, completely immersed in what was playing. They each had an almost empty cup of orange juice, and the full container of cookies Seonghwa baked just a few days ago that was placed in between them. He was surprised that they seemed to have not made a mess, until Seonghwa stood there a little longer and finally noticed the orange juice stains on San’s pajamas as well as a small stain on the carpet right beside him. Sighing, Seonghwa walked right past the duo and into the kitchen, ripping a few paper towels from the roll and running them partially under warm water.
At least it’s only a small mess, Seonghwa thought.
He walked back into the living, crossing in front of the tv and crouching down beside San to clean the stains as best he could while beginning to speak.
“So,“ the caregiver began, “Who’s idea was it to eat the entire batch of cookies I made? I thought you two wanted me to make breakfast. That’s why Minnie here woke me up, is it not?“
“Uhh…“
Mingi and San glanced at each other.
“Da food fow breakfas’ was too high-“ San mumbled.
“-an’- an’ m’ an’ Sannie ’yungie ’ummys nuh can stay hungwy fowevew“ Mingi added on, helping defend San’s meal choice, which in this case, was just San wanting cookies over proper breakfast foods.
Seonghwa eyed the pair suspiciously, “Hmm… well~ if you cuties already had some of the cookies today, then I guess you can’t have any later, since you know therules and all“ he made sure to put extra emphasis on the word ’rules’.
“Bu’ we nuh eat da cookies yet!“ San exclaimed, feeling himself start to crumble under Seonghwa’s gaze.
The oldest giggled, “Does that mean you’ll eat whatever I go make?“
“Mama make da bestes’ food evew!“
Mingi drew a huge arc with his arms to show just how well he thought of Seonghwa as a cook, the latter ruffling the little’s hair. He placed the lid back on the container, leaving two cookies on top of the lid to put in a bag for San and Mingi to have later. Taking the now empty orange juice cups in one hand and balancing the container in the other, Seonghwa took everything to the kitchen, setting it down on the kitchen island.
He had left the littles to finish watching the episode they were on but made a mental note to shut the tv off afterwards so they wouldn’t be spending too much time in front of the tv this early in the day.
Keeping that thought aside, making breakfast for the three of them wasn’t too difficult. He finished everything in about 20 minutes, and grabbed out a regular plate for himself and two sectioned plates for San and Mingi. Portioning the food out onto each of the plates, Seonghwa first took his plate out to the kitchen table then walked back to the kitchen to grab the other two as well as some utensils for all of them. As the idol was heading back to the table to set down everything, he called over San and Mingi and waited for them to be sat with their food before shutting off the tv.
Eating breakfast also wasn’t too much of a hassle–Seonghwa just quickly rushing into the kitchen yet again to grab placemats for the two littles before they could start eating to help with any messes. He finished his food first, while San and Mingi were barely halfway done with their plates, so he got up to set his plate in the sink to wash later before rejoining the duo. Seonghwa simply sat there, watching in amusement as San kept dropping breadcrumbs on his lap and Mingi struggled to keep the food actually on his fork. He soon gave up, dropping the fork onto the table and eating his breakfast with his hands.
Too cute
He snapped out of his thoughts though when both Mingi and San looked down at the table, and followed their gazes to his phone. It was lit up and ringing out, the caller id reading ’Joongie 🐿’. Seonghwa slid his finger over the button to answer, bringing the phone up to his ear and immediately sensing a type of uneasiness in the captain’s voice.
“H-i, Hwahwa…“ he spoke softly.
“Hey, Joong“ Seonghwa responded with a matching uneasiness, “Everything okay?“
“Well… uhh… not really.“
The oldest’s brows furrowed, “What’s going on?“
He stepped away from the table and into the hallway just in case it was worse than what he was thinking and didn’t want Mingi and San listening in.
“So, umm, both Jongho and Wooyoung woke up in their headspaces today–and that’s fine, nothing wrong with that, they can be little. The only thing is that our morning hasn’t been going super great, it’s been kind of a mess… shh shh it’s okay…“
Seonghwa froze, wondering what the shorter male could possibly mean, and why it sounded like he was shushing something at the end. It wasn’t until, however, the oldest got cut off by a voice shouting that he could only assume belonged to little Youngie. The boy sounded like he was running and crashing into things all throughout their dorm, repeating the same phrase over and over again like it was a chant; ’Wan’ see Minnie, Wan’ see Minnie, Wan’ see Minnie!’. Seonghwa honestly wondered how Hongjoong hadn’t gone insane considering the fact that even though he was the more patient caregiver of them two, it was already starting to get on his nerves and he’s barely heard it.
What made it make a little more sense though was when the oldest’s ears caught onto the wailing from closer to the phone. It also made the captain’s shushing earlier make more sense, being that it was coming from the only little currently in babyspace, Jongho. He was crying his poor little lungs out, wiggling in his caregiver’s hold to get away from the little tornado known as Jung Wooyoung as Hongjoong continued to try and calm him down. Rocking back and forth, light bouncing, shushing & soft talking–none of it seemed to be working. As it would for any parent, hearing the boy’s cries broke Seonghwa’s heart but with the way Hongjoong had explained this situation, he found it just a little funny (even though he probably shouldn't have).
Seonghwa stifled a laugh, “I can hear.“
“Ya! You’re not the one dealing with two littles!“ the other whisper-shouted.
“Is that why you called me then?“ he switched up the subject.
“Mhm. I tried calling Mingi’s phone just a few minutes ago but he wasn’t answering so I’m calling you to see if you knew what he was doing.“
“Mingi actually also woke up in his headspace, so he’d have to wait to answer his phone anyways. Both him and San are little right now. So yes, infact, I am dealing with two littles.“
The captain was surprised to hear this, “Four littles right now?“
“Yeah,“ Seonghwa hummed in agreement.
“Wait, Hwa-“ Hongjoong paused, “if San, Mingi, Wooyo and Jjong are all little right now, then what are the chances Yunho and Yeo are also small?“
At first, Seonghwa was ready to dismiss the other since that wasn’t really how it worked and he couldn’t think of a way that could work. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that, in a way, it could be a little possible. After all, whenever the members were around each other and at least one of them was little, it wouldn’t take too long before the others followed suit and slipped into their headspaces. If either Yunho or Yeosang actually did wake up small, then it’d make sense for the other to end up slipping too.
“Very slim.“ Seonghwa hummed, “There’s still a chance, but I’m not so sure.“
“It wouldn’t hurt to check on them. Just in case they're both little,“ Hongjoong offered up.
“I suppose.“
“Would you mind going over to their dorm though since it’s pretty chaotic over here?“ he asked just as Seonghwa heard another one of Jongho’s wails and Wooyoung’s shouts.
“Only if you’ll take Minnie first.“
“If that’ll stop Youngie’s shouting and Jongie’s crying then go ahead.“
“I’ll be there in a bit then“ he smiled.
“Bye, Hwa.“
“Bye, Joong.“
Seonghwa hung up, shutting off his phone before making his way back to the kitchen table. When he got there, Mingi and San had completely abandoned their breakfasts to the side and were in a yapversation with each other about who even knows what. The duo was speaking at a slow enough pace that he should be able to understand, but their lisps and slurring words together made what they were saying almost unintelligible.
“Minnie, Sannie“ Seonghwa interrupted, getting both of the littles’ attention, “I want you both to finish your breakfasts quickly, okay? Hwahwa has to go somewhere with Sannie, but Minnie, you’re gonna be dropped off at Joongie’s dorm first.“
San looked from Seonghwa to Mingi to back at Seonghwa before finally speaking, “Why only Minnie goin’ away?“
“Joongie had both of the littles at his dorm slip and one of those littles in particular really wants to see Minnie“ he briefly responded.
Little Minnie’s brain almost instantly made the connection as to who Seonghwa was talking about, and without even knowing, began copying the exact same way the aforementioned little had been acting over the phone.
“Is Youngie?! M’ wan’ see Youngie ’oo! Youngie, Youngie, Youngie!“ he got up from his seat to start running around the table.
“Woah~ Minnie, honey, hold on“ the caregiver rushed forward, swiftly picking up the little in his arms, “No running in the dorm, you’re gonna get hurt. It wouldn’t be nice if you can’t play with Youngie today because you hurt yourself, now would it?“
Mingi looked down, “Sowwy, Mama.“
“It’s okay, no harm was actually done“ he gently kissed his forehead, “Now go finish eating so we can get going.“
He set him down on the ground and Mingi turned to sit back down in his seat, picking up his fork and began to finish his breakfast, while San’s breakfast still sat fully ignored beside him. Right now, that food was the last thing on the little’s mind, as he was still wondering why Seonghwa was just taking him out instead of leaving him with Mingi, Hongjoong and the other two littles.
“Where we goin’ den?“
Seonghwa smiled, “After we drop off Minnie at Joongie’s dorm, we’re gonna go check on Yuyu and Sangie, then we’re all gonna spend the day back at Joongie’s dorm.“
“Awe Yuyu an’ Sangie small too?“ the little perked up.
“That’s what we’re gonna go check,“ he nodded in agreement, “So let’s hurry up and start getting ready to leave. We don’t wanna keep them waiting.“
~ 20 minutes later ~
Dropping Mingi off at Hongjoong, Wooyoung and Jongho’s dorm was less of a hassle than Seonghwa thought it’d be, as the captain opened the door and Wooyoung instantly ran over to Mingi, pulling him inside and the two ran off deep into the dorm together. The oldest stood and waited to see if Mingi would turn back to say bye before he left… Nope. Nothing. He was left in the doorway, staring down the hallway of a brightly-light yet bare dorm that wasn’t even his. And if that wasn’t already awkward enough, now it was Hongjoong’s turn to giggle at the other. Seonghwa shot the captain an annoyed glare, but he held up his hands (more like one hand because of the maknae in his arms) in defense. He managed to get some of the final tears on baby Jongie’s cheeks to fall with that, having exaggerated his reaction which had successfully worked.
It was a little funny, yes, and that’s why Hongjoong believed it was fair since Seonghwa had done the same to him merely half an hour ago.
Seonghwa stepped forward to be fully in the dorm to greet Jongho before stepping back out to leave with San. The duo waved bye to Hongjoong and Jongho, the oldest grabbing the little’s hand tightly in his own right after as they left to go do what they had originally planned–check on Yunho and Yeosang.
Being in the same building, it was a rather short journey to Yunho and Yeosang’s shared dorm. When they arrived, Seonghwa softly knocked on the door, still keeping San’s hand clutched in his while the latter rocked back and forth on his feet. The former could hear objects clattering, hushed voices and quick footsteps coming from the other side, making him assume that both of the members were awake, just not the confirmation if they were little or not. He got his answer, however, when one of the voices spoke a little louder, and in a slightly higher pitch. He couldn't hear much of the other voice anymore, but Seonghwa already got the answer that he came here for.
“Door… knocking…“
“Hmm?“
“Not allowed… can’t…“
“Ahh, ahh~“
“I can’t…“
“Da!“
“What if… hurt… in trouble…“
“Mmm~“
“Smart… Chair first… high…“
There was a bit more clattering and running around, along with the ear-piercing SCREECH of a chair getting dragged on the floor. Seonghwa then heard a gasp, followed by what he assumed to be the chair being shoved out of the way before the door opened. A happy Yunho was standing on the other side, and a curious Yeosang sat on the floor just a couple feet behind him. Both idols were wearing clothes that clearly showed they were in their headspaces–Yunho in his little side’s favourite t-shirt and overalls for his older headspace age of about 7yrs old, while Yeosang wore his puppy onesie that Matz often put him in when he was in his younger headspace age of about 1yr old.
“Hi, hyungie!“ Yunho smiled, moving out of the way to let the duo inside.
“Morning, Yuyu“ Seonghwa greeted back, glancing between him and Yeosang, “I see that the both of you are little this morning, huh?“
The little nodded, “Mhm! I even took care of baby Sangie all by myself!“
“Really? That’s great, good job!“
Seonghwa had opened his mouth to begin explaining why him and San were at their dorm, but San was just a tiny bit quicker and beat him to it.
“Me, Minnie, Youngie, an’ Jongie all awe small an’ we all goin’ to Joongie hyungie’s dorm bu’ Hwahwa said we gonna come here fiwst.“
“Everyone’s small?!“ Yunho’s face lit up.
“Yea!“
“I guess Sannie already explained everything,“ Seonghwa glanced at the aforementioned little then back to Yunho, “But yes, everyone’s little and they’re all waiting back at Joongie’s dorm so we shouldn’t take too long heading over then.“
The oldest little nodded, “I’ll be super quick!“
Yunho ran off deeper into the dorm, in the direction of his room.
“Then Sannie–“
Seonghwa turned to look at the younger, watching him try to pick Yeosang up by hugging him which, unfortunately for him, didn’t seem to be working.
“Sannie?“ The little in question turned his head, keeping his arms wrapped around Yeosang, “Do you think you can watch Sangie for me while I go help Yuyu pa–?“
“I gots ’im, hyungie,“ San exclaimed before Seonghwa could finish speaking.
The caregiver walked forward to grab Yeosang from San’s hold and into his, carrying him on his hip as the trio all made their way to the living room. Now, it wasn’t that Seonghwa didn’t trust San to carry the younger little–he was actually one of the littles that the oldest had the most trust for, which was why he felt okay leaving Yeosang with him. It was simply because Yeosang’s headspace age was so young and he would rather not have anything happen because of how San tried carrying him. He sat the mentally youngest in front of the coffee table, waiting for the older little to sit down beside him before walking off to go help Yunho.
Yunho had already mostly packed his Spiderman bag with stuff that he deemed he’d need at the other dorm (which consisted mainly of toys and plushies for him and the younger littles). The only thing Seonghwa ended up helping with was verbally giving the boy a list of what he had missed. When the little had everything packed and ready, he headed out to the living room to join the other two littles, while Seonghwa went into Yeosang’s room to pack a small bag for him too. That took just a little more time since he’d need a few more items than his roommate, but he still moved quickly nonetheless.
On the topic of moving quickly though, 10 minutes was all it took for Seonghwa and San to arrive, pack up everything Yunsang might need for the day, and exit the dorm to go back over to Hongjoong, Wooyoung and Jongho’s dorm. The oldest knocked a couple times on the door, shifting the mentally youngest out of them four higher up on his hip as he had made his way back into his arms when they left.
It took a bit of time for the door to open, something Seonghwa expected with Hongjoong having both the youngest little out of all the members and the two most energetic littles.
But what he didn’t expect, however, was what the door would be opening to…
Oh god