months. it's been months since the leader had slipped into headspace and the members have been doing whatever they could to let him slip. the reason? no one knows; hell, taeyong can't confirm why he physically can't slip. "yong—" "taeyong-hyung." he'd softly reprimand jaehyun whenever the younger tried something. he keeps saying no, he keeps resisting yet in all honesty, he desperately wants to slip.
maybe it's because of their long-running promotions, maybe it's because of the tour or maybe it's because he gets tight schedules that can't even give him a proper hour of rest. he genuinely wants to slip but seeing the circumstances, he can't. even when he finally gets a weekend off, there's something that bugs the boy.
。・°°・°°・。
"well hyung, if you weren't so stupid, then maybe none of us would be having a massive argument!" he heard hyuck yell out right when he walked in at 12am and he just stood there, tongue tied and limbs frozen. "no, listen you little fucker— shut the fuck up!" mark yelled back and the other boys surrounded the two. no one even noticed tae starting to furrow his brows. "guys." he mumbled and no one heard, no one listened as they all yelled at each other, some yelling for the youngest pair to stop, and some backing one of them up.
during that time, tae was ready to slip and cry out of pure fear but the leader in him decided otherwise. "guys." he let out another futile attempt at calling them and sighed before throwing a nearby vase. he looked pissed off but his mind was in between anger and fear, big or little. the vase shattered and its shards flew all over the place. "considering how busy i am.. how i can't keep track of you guys 24/7, please. please fucking stop." he mumbled, eyes on the ground as he tried stopping himself from crying. honestly, it was the first time he personally witnessed them argue this much and it hurt.
the members fell silent, only the sounds of breathing, footsteps and sweeping were heard. "yong-hyung.." jungwoo mumbled and attempted to lift the other's chin up. "you guys know h-how much it huw-hurts to s-see you guys f-fight after the day yon— i had?" there, it clicked in the younger one's brain; he's stuck between slipping or staying yet he chose to stay big for as long as possible.
。・°°・°°・。
ever since that day, taeyong refused to slip because a: he had to be the responsible figure, b: his schedules said "no" and c: he was scared. seeing the boys get so angry about a lot of pent up issues honestly stabbed his bravery to shreds and now it's gone with the wind. "hi bub." taeil grinned up at him as he tiredly walked into the dorm after a long day. the eldest had his arms wide open, ready for(and honestly, hoping for) taeyong to run while whining until they finally hugged.
"did anything break today, hyung?" shit, his voice sounded so damn dead. taeil thought but shook his head to answer the younger. "did anyone argue? is someone ill? do we need to restock the fridge?" "tae, seriously. relax a bit, hmm?" taeil suggested, his eyes practically begging the other to slip. everyone's been trying lately seeing as they were more than guilty since that day 4 months ago. "are the others oka—" "oh for fuck's sake, jOHNNY!" taeil yelled out; this was the pair's desperate option: taeil yells for johnny in the middle of a conversation with taeyong so the other can easily carry the leader. "wazoom! ninja skills!" johnny chuckled as he carried a very fussy taeyong. "put me down!" he ordered repeatedly and yet, his body moved differently. instead of prying himself away, he snuggled into the taller male's body and still had the guts to complain about being put down.
"sweet pea, you're asking me to put you down yet you're already calmer than before... isn't our yongie being a little too mean to himself?" johnny asked calmly and a slight glint of sorrow showed up in tae's eyes. "e-everything huwts!" that's when he begun sobbing quietly, exactly like when he's emotionally hurt before his headspace happened. "j-johnny, evewything huwts." he continued crying as the other two eyed him silently. "we fucked up." johnny mouted and gestured for the eldest to gather everyone to talk about the issue. "what hurts, baby?"
taeyong lifted his head up from johnny's shoulder and sadly pointed at his chest. "hewe." he frowned and sobbed again with multiple teardrops falling from his eyes. perfect timing though cuz the rest of the members saw what he pointed to and heard what he said. "honey.." some of them would mumble, guilt lacing their voices and choking them whole. they did this; caused a massive fight and pushed him to an edge. the silence ended up being too much for jaehyun, seeing as he finally approached the melancholic taeyong.
"yong-ah." he softly said and bit his lip nervously until he heard a soft yet broken hum as a response. "baby, we're sorry." jaehyun said on behalf of everyone as he carefully placed his hand on the little's tear-stained cheek. "we scared you and managed to make you angry and now, here we are; incapable of doing anything for your broken heart.." this made taeyong cry more and goddamn he missed the others so much. he reached out to jaehyun while his sobs grew louder and of course, the caregiver obliged. "who the hell said we can't do anything?" doyoung said with his iconic gummy smile plastered onto his face. "what do you mean?" "simple—" doyoung approached taeyong with the most gentle smile you'd ever see from him and swept his stray hair aside. "prince, is there anything in particular that you'd want us to do?" he asked and taeyong nodded.
"no fights." the boy said, resting his head on jaehyun's shoulder. "and?" "cuddles!" there he was; their little baby boy was back and at least, by now, they know better than to impulsively start fights or anything the boy would hate. "cuddles from?" johnny jokingly asked with a chuckle following straight after as he saw the little stare at each of them. "uwu!" taeyong giggled, calling out to jungwoo as he did grabby hands towards the younger. this is how they'll fix it: step by step and being as delicate as possible. sure, taeyong seemed a million times happier but still... they know how big the wounds are and they'll definitely take their time to heal everything.
