"hello you two!" jaemin exclaimed taking a seat next to jeno and renjun inside the school's library while the two boys were peacefully studying. "i'm sorry renjun, but i need to borrow him for a few minutes."

"why the- "

jeno couldn't finish his sentence, jaemin had gripped his arm and pulled him away from the study place under renjun's confused eyes.

"where are you bringing me?" jeno asked as he was being dragged around the school's corridors.

"i need to have a quick talk with you, and then we need to have a talk with mark." jaemin said quickly.

"why? and why?" jeno questioned.

"i'll tell you later."

not receiving the answer he expected, jeno abruptly stopped, his hand reaching for jaemin's wrist as he pulled the boy with all his force, making jaemin stumble backwards.

the pinkette was suddenly turned around, and he crashed into jeno's hard chest, making him let out a groan.

"ouch! why would you do that?" he asked, rubbing his forehead.

"i asked you a question, i expect an answer." jeno replied.

jaemin rolled his eyes as he motioned jeno to lean forwards.

jaemin used a hand to cup jeno's cheek as he approached his face from the boy's ear to whisper.

"donghyuck wants me to tell mark about littles and everything. and you seem to know a lot about them, so i need you."

jeno pulled away, his cheeks flushed at the feeling of jaemin's delicate lips brushing against his ear.

"o-okay."

"what dirty shit are you two up to?" a voice startled them from behind.

"mark!" jaemin exclaimed. "good to see you there!"

"huh... yeah?" the canadian raised a brow.

"come with us." jeno said quickly, grabbing mark's arm to drag him towards an empty classroom.

"what? huh... why?" mark's brows furrowed as he was being dragged.

"it's important." jaemin said, grabbing his other arm.

the three boys found a small and empty classroom quickly. they walked in closing the door behind their back and locking the door.

"you guys are weird." mark declared, sitting down on one of the desks.

"we have something important to tell you." jeno said.

"i'm lowkey scared." mark rubbed his nape, looking successively at his best friend and jaemin.

"we're going to be straight forward." jaemin told. "do you know what little space is?"

mark's brows furrowed as a confused expression appeared on his face.

"little what?"

"little space." jeno repeated. "have you ever heard about it? or anything similar?"

"no." mark shook his head. "why? should i know?"

"we're going to tell you about it." jaemin said, looking at jeno for the boy to start speaking.

"okay, huh..." he coughed. "little space is basically a mindset in which someone can dive into to be in a better world."

"what?" mark asked, not understanding any word that had been pronounced.

"to make it easier, some people can switch an imaginary button in their mind to grow down, and become a child again." jaemin explained, not making it clearer for mark.

"are we talking about split personality?" mark questioned.

"not really..." jaemin sighed.

"i don't understand anything, guys." mark declared.

"we're trying our best." jeno tsked, searching a new way to explain to his friend what little space is.

"it's when an adult gets triggered by something, and his mind becomes one of a child." jaemin tried again.

mark stared at the pink-haired silently, waiting for something more to be told.

"mark! concentrate!" jeno yelled.

"i'm trying to! but you two are confusing me!" the canadian replied. "why are you suddenly telling me about this? am i into little space? or whatever it is?"

"no, mark. it's not about you!" jaemin groaned.

"who is it about then?"

jeno and jaemin exchanged glanced, both silently asking each other if they said the whole truth right now.

"donghyuck." "renjun." jaemin and jeno answered at the same time.

the two boys stared at each other for a second.

"renjun." "donghyuck." they said again.

mark stared at them even more confused than before.

"what the hell are you saying?"

"listen carefully." jaemin warned. "donghyuck lived a trauma when he was three years old. a bus accident that caused his parent's death. he has grown up since then, but sometimes, his mind is triggered, and when this happens, he forgets that he is a 19-year-old boy who has responsibilities, and he goes back in the mind of the donghyuck of three years old." the pink-haired explained, making sure to use simple words for mark to understand better.

mark stayed silent for a few seconds; his eyes focused on jaemin.

"w-what?!"

"aghh!" jaemin groaned. "mark?! have you listened to what i said?!"

"yeah! but... i don't understand." the canadian sighed.

"have you never wondered why donghyuck still slept with a plushie at 19 years old? or why he cried so easily? or why he called you 'daddy'?" jeno bombarded mark with questions. "have you never wondered why donghyuck was so childish?"

"i-i though he was just playing with me..." mark replied.

"well, it's not the case." jaemin told. "his traumatic past makes this part of him resurface each time he is triggered."

"so... he's still a child?" mark asked.

"he is an adult. the same 19-year-old donghyuck that you fell for. it's just that sometimes, he slips into little space, and becomes a little boy, with different needs." jeno explained.

mark thought for a few seconds about everything that had been said.

it was weird, and even hard to believe.

but at the same time, it justified so many things that had happened...

the plushies, the cries, the colouring pens, the drawings, the dolls...

"is this why he calls me 'daddy' sometimes?" he asked, the question he had asked donghyuck in the ferris wheel coming back to his mind.

"exactly." jaemin nodded. "he calls you like that when he's in little space."

"but, why? i'm not his father... does he call you that too?" mark's brows furrowed.

"donghyuck has a nickname for all of us when he's in little space. i'm nana, and jisung is sungie."jaemin explained. "we were the one to decide our nicknames for him."

"but you are special, mark." jeno added. "donghyuck found your nickname on his own. you're more than just a friend for him, or a lover, or whatever you two are.  you're his caregiver."

mark let out a confused cry. "his what?"

"caregiver." jaemin repeated.

"you are the one he trusts with all his life, and the one he wants to take care of him. you basically have all the qualities that he's searching for." jeno explained.

mark stared at the two boys once again, trying to process everything.

however, a little detail still bothered him.

"you mentioned renjun's name..." mark started. "is he like that too?"

jaemin looked at jeno in the eye, asking for permission to spill renjun's secret.

"renjun's father used to lock him in a safe when he was young. this made him develop claustrophobia, a fear of closed spaces. whenever he's facing his fear, he slips into the mindset of younger renjun."jaemin explained what jeno had told him a few days before.

the events of jaemin discovering renjun's secrert had made jeno, renjun and jaemin much closer than they were.

renjun acknowledged jaemin as his caregiver, and he started warming up about him, and maybe envisioning including the pink-haired in his and jeno's loving relationship.

"i-i... i never knew..." mark let out confusedly. he had spent a lot of time with renjun.

"renjun hates this side of him." jeno told. "he doesn't even like showing it to his caregivers."

"who is his caregiver?" mark asked.

"jeno and i." jaemin replied.

"you?!" mark exclaimed.

"surprising, i know." jaemin shrugged.

mark passed a hand through his hair as he sighed deeply.

this was very sudden, and very unexpected.

"does it bother you?" jaemin asked the question worth a million.

by then, both him and jeno were side by side, they hands intertwined behind their backs as a moral support.

"all this little space thing?" mark asked.

"that the boy you like actually has a hidden facette." jaemin specified.

"why would i be bothered by this?" mark asked. "i love him just the way he is. and now that i know this, it explains so much things..."

jeno and jaemin smiled at themselves, feeling happy that their mission was a success.

"so... you still plan on asking him out?" jeno raised a brow.

"of course. and i already planned how..."