Surprise?...

4

MARKS POV

I woke up to loud knocking on my door and I groaned before remembering BamBam never came back last night.  He left all his things here so maybe it was him needing back inside the dorm.  Quickly I got up, shaking Ha-Eun off of me and opened the door to see not BamBam but Jaebum glaring at me.

"Jaebum?"  I asked and he crossed his arms.

"Are you an idiot?  You didn't even go out to check on Bam last night.."  Jaebum said and I widened my eyes.

"Was he with you?  Is he okay?"  I asked worriedly.

"I found him sobbing in the public restroom downstairs... He's... okay."  Jaebum said after a second and I felt my heart pang.

"What upset him so much?  I came home after getting some food and he just ran out..."  I mumbled and Jaebum groaned.

"Are you stupid?  Jesus do you not see the way Ha-Eun acts towards him?  If you knew what she said yesterday.. god- is she in there?  I want to talk to her."  Jaebum said his temper rising.

"She's asleep keep it down... what did she ever do to Bam?"  I asked confused.

"What did she ever do?  She just poked fun at how he acted yesterday and called him a giant baby that was ruining your plans and made fun of his biggest insecurity not even knowing why he was like that yesterday...  Like you don't even know what happened yesterday with him in class yet you didn't even bother to see if he was okay?"  Jaebum asked pushing his finger into my chest.

I flinched as I saw BamBam peak out from behind Jaebum with wide eyes.  He looked so... fragile?  He was in the same clothes from yesterday his hair sticking up in every direction and his eyes red and puffy.

"Mark what's going on?"  Ha-Eun asked wrapping her arms around my waist and looking into the hall.

"What's it doing here?  Can't the baby get a different babysitter?"  She asked with a scoff and I widened my eyes.

BamBam shifted and stared at the floor but I could tell he was crying because of how he was shaking and Jaebum glared at Ha-Eun so intensely I felt scared for her.

"What the fuck did you just say?"  Jaebum and I asked at the same time.

She looked confused as I pushed her off of me and walked over to BamBam.

"BamBam isn't an it for one thing... and i'm not his babysitter.  I'm his friend, hyung, and roommate so if he can't come to me when he needs help then what the hell am I here for?  And this is his fucking dorm too so he's allowed to be here anytime."  I said glaring at her as she looked at me with wide eyes.

"Mark.. don't you want someone that can actually take care of themselves?  Not some freak that talks like a baby and doodles little pictures?"  She said talking like a baby at the end and BamBam whimpered crouching on the ground and covering his ears.

Jaebum grabbed her arm and forced her into the hallway before I could do anything, shoving her towards the wall across from him.  Ignoring them I turned to BamBam and crouched in front of him putting my hands on his shoulders.  

"Bammie what's wrong?"  I whispered and he looked at me with wide eyes.

"Ma- Markie.."  He whimpered burying his face into my chest.

I stumbled back slightly but caught him and securely held him to me while stroking his back.  I turned to see Jaebum glaring at Ha-Eun who was crossing her arms over her chest.

"Leave."  He said.

"Mark.. defend me!  Are you going to let some anger issued jerk and a cry baby freak do this to me?  I'm your fucking girlfriend!"  She screamed at me.

"Not anymore."  I said picking BamBam up and walking into the dorm with Jaebum and shutting and locking the door.

"Shh it's okay."  I said to BamBam while rocking back and forth while looking to Jaebum.

"Explain."  I said and he gave a very worried and sheepish smile.

~~

I ended up sitting on my bed with BamBam's head in my lap while he slept peacefully.  At some point he had gripped onto my hand with his and put my thumb into his mouth where he began to gently suck on it.  At first I jumped a little and went to pull my hand away but Jaebum smacked my arm and told me not to.  I got use to it after a little bit but it was something I had never experienced and it was weird... but it was almost heart warming to see BamBam sleeping on my lap while sucking my thumb... like a small child?

"Okay.. I'll explain but please take your time and try to understand it because I just found out last night so I don't really know everything either."  Jaebum said and I nodded.

"So from what he told me.. He said he is what they call a Little, meaning sometimes for no real reason or because of stress he slips into this mindset where he's a child.  He just regresses in age, if he feels like he is 5 he will act like a 5 year old..  Like yesterday he said when he woke up in class the loud noise really scared him so he must of woke up in Little space which was why he doodled and got so upset when you took his paper.  

Then when he woke up again he wasn't in Little Space, he was his actual age and Ha-Eun made a bunch of comments about him being a giant baby and how you couldn't baby him forever and he had to grow up and it really hurt him because Little's normally find a caregiver.  A Daddy or Mommy to take care of them when they are in Little Space, it's either just that or they are like dating a lot of times I saw when I did research.. but he doesn't think anyone will ever be his caregiver because he's a freak... and he was so fucking sad Mark it was so heartbreaking."  Jaebum explained and I stopped to just look at him.

He was so small sleeping in my lap, his face relaxed and peaceful... It hurt to think of that face sobbing in a bathroom alone because of something my girlfriend- my ex girlfriend said to him.  

"Why didn't he just tell me about it?  I've heard about this a few times online... it's not like he's the first Little to ever exist."  I said and Jaebum smiled.

"Because he thought you'd hate him... He'd thought you'd react like Ha-Eun did."  Jaebum explained and my heart broke.

Did he see me as that kind of a person?  Someone who would just abandon their friend because they were a little different?

"You'll have to talk to him once he wakes up... Youngjae and I know but no one else does and I don't know if he wants everyone to know...  I also don't know what Ha-Eun knows and how much she's going to say."  Jaebum said patting my shoulder before leaving.

This was a lot... but it didn't seem that surprising..  Honestly BamBam was always kind of like a small special baby that you wanted to protect but I didn't know how to protect him.

wheezes

i just keep writing this i have no self control