Fluffy ATEEZ Oneshots🧸

Dinnertime Disaster 🍼🌡️

Sickie/Little: Hongjoong

Caregivers: mainly Seonghwa

No one's POV.:

Ateez had been so busy recently, leaving their leader without any chance to slip. Hongjoong was usually quite good at controlling his headspace, so he didn't have to worry about slipping involuntarily during their schedule but when he ended up alone in his studio during the afternoon, he wasn't all that determined to stay big. Sure, there were so many tasks that still needed to be completed but he'd do a much better job after he had given his mind a break. Saving and closing the open files on his computer, Hongjoong opened a game to play for a little while to ease himself into his headspace before he'd get his minion plushie out of his backpack and slip even deeper. It felt relieving to finally let loose and he ended up playing for almost thirty minutes before remembering his plushie was still buried deep in his backpack. Scrambling to his feet, the little came to the rescue and dug the small comfort item out between the other contents of his bag. That was when he stumbled across a key. A very important key to be exact.

Often being holed up in his studio, Hongjoong had compiled a bunch of food, like instant noodles and other snacks that wouldn't go bad too fast, so he wouldn't have to part from whatever project he was working on. Aside from that, he also had a drawer filled with candy and sweet stuff for when he got frustrated while working, which was locked with the keep he kept hidden in the depths of his backpack. Hongjoong's sweet tooth was only amplified by slipping and little Joongie happily clapped his hands when he remembered what the key was for. Also pulling out his coloring book and crayons, he set up his desk and pushed the keyboard far away, so he'd have enough space. Then he unlocked the candy drawer and marveled at the variety of different snacks his big self had collected. He unwrapped a chocolate bar and started to flip through his coloring book as he took the first bite. Despite his exhaustion, his lips pulled into a wide smile. It had been a while since he had last eaten candy.

Hongjoong soon moved on to a bag of gummy bears, blindly reaching into the bag and trying to figure out which color it was by tasting it. The little hadn't had this much fun in a long time and wanted his caregivers to feel as happy as he did. They had all been so stressed lately. The thought made Joongie sad and he threw a handful of gummy bears into his mouth before flipping the page of his coloring book and starting a new one for his caregivers, so they could feel happy too. He hadn't even finished that coloring page when he reached into the bag of gummy bears, only to realize it was empty. Joongie whined, turning the bag over and shaking it. A single gummy bear fell out, bouncing off the table. Huffing, the little shoved the empty bag into the trash and went back to the drawer.

This time, he chose m&m's and even tried guessing the color again, sighing when he had to realize they all tasted the same. Joongie eventually grew tired of coloring and put his coloring supplies back into his backpack. He grabbed his phone and the emptying bag of m&m's and settled on the small couch to watch cartoons. Now that his hands weren't busy coloring, they reached into the bag more frequently and soon the little found himself having to get up again to get more snacks. His tummy was starting to ache a little but with how frequently the leader had gotten tummy aches from stress lately, he didn't pay it any mind, not getting the hint that maybe it was time to stop eating his snacks. Joongie always loved his snacks, so he continued munching away as he watched his cartoon until his phone rang.

Not having heard from their leader at all that day, Seonghwa called the younger to check on him, only to realize his dongsaeng had finally slipped after putting it off for so long. The timing wasn't really all that convenient with how busy they were but at least he had given himself a break. "Do you need me to come and pick you up, Joong?", Seonghwa asked, "It's almost dinnertime, so I'll make sure the others are home and we can all eat together once I collected you." The leader worriedly looked down at the empty candy bags, remembering that he wasn't allowed to eat snacks before a meal. He hadn't even realized that it was before a meal as he haad completely forgotten the time. "Hyung, Joongie ish a big boy", Hongjoong complained, hurriedly collecting all the candy wrappers strewn across the studio, afraid his caregiver might stop by and see how bad he had been. He plopped into his seat, palming at his tummy that had only started to hurt more from rushing around the studio, and insisted: "Am big boy an' can come home 'wone."