Yeji sighed heavily, shutting her bedroom door behind her. She dragged herself across the room, barely making it to her bed. Yeji had had tough days before but this day was by far the worst. 

 

To make matters worse, she’d barely gotten any sleep which made her feel weaker mentally and physically. Yeji could tell her fatigue had affected her performance today, slipping up more than usual, earning her a lot of criticism and backlash from both netizens and staff members.

 

She winced as flashbacks of todays photoshoot replayed in her head.

 

“Don’t you think you’ve gained a little weight?” Said her makeup artist.

 

“Ugh…I’ll have to photoshop you but that’s so much work…make sure to stay on top of your workouts” said her camerawoman.

 

“Yeji! You’re supposed to be on Lia’s left!” Snapped their choreographer.

 

It was times like this Yeji hated being an idol. If only something had gone wrong on her journey to becoming a star. Maybe she’s broken a bone, lost her voice, would she have still pursued her dream of fame?

 

Perhaps it was too late now but the brunette still wondered what it’d be like not being the leader of Itzy for one day, a couple hours even. It was times like this where Yeji wished she were a child again, back at home with her family, living every day without a care in the world

 

Feeling a headache coming on Yeji started to massage her temples. “If only I could go back in time…” she muttered to herself.

 

All of a sudden, her vision went blurry, objects around her turning into blobs of colour.

 

Then, Yeji passed out.

 

 

 

“Hey Yuna?” Ryujin called. The youngest member nodding to her in acknowledgement, too busy doing god knows what on her phone. “Could you go get Yeji unnie? She was supposed to help me make dinner”

 

“Yeah sure, she’s been in her room for awhile…kinda strange right?”

 

Ryujin nodded. “She’s probably fine, maybe she fell asleep or something” Yuna agreed, jogging upstairs to go and fetch their leader.

 

Once Yuna reached Yeji’s bedroom door, she knocked and called out for her.

 

No response.

 

Well…that was weird, the light was on though so had she fallen asleep with the lights on?

 

Hoping she didn’t walk in on something she’d never forget, Yuna pushed down the door handle and let herself in.

 

“Hey unnie Ryujin-“ Yuna let out a huge gasp, so loud that Ryujin heard her from downstairs.

 

“Yuna? Everything okay up there?” She yelled. When stammering was all she got in response, Ryujin decided to see what was so surprising.

 

After reaching Yeji’s room, Ryujin peered over the younger girl’s shoulder to see Yeji as a baby. 

 

Wait, wait, wait, what?

 

Neither of the two could believe their eyes. Right in front of them, sitting in a baggy shirt and way too big jeans was Itzy’s leader Hwang Yeji, as a baby. Toddler to be exact.

 

Hearing all the commotion, Chaeryeong made her way over. She peeked over Ryujin’s shoulder. It took her a moment to realise everything but once she did she let out a scream, making Ryujin and Yuna wince.

 

Chaeryeong’s scream drew out Lia who pushed past the small crowd of girls to see what in the world made Chaeryeong screa-

 

Oh.

 

“Yeji…unnie?” Lia called out hesitantly. The child sitting in adult Yeji’s clothing looked at Lia, tilting her head. The four members in the doorway were utterly confused on what to do, not exactly expecting their leader to poof into a child that evening.

 

“What happened?” Chaeryeong asked. 

 

“You think we know?!” Yuna retorted.

 

“Guys, lets not in front of Yeji unn- I mean, baby..Yeji?”

 

Yeji giggled at her four members, thinking their facial expressions looked funny. 

 

It was Ryujin who approached her first, cautiously as if she were going to attack her despite being a literal child. As she got closer, Yeji seemed to get excited and held her arms out.

 

“I think she wants to be picked up unnie” said Lia.

 

Although she was kinda weirded out Ryujin had to admit, baby Yeji was really cute. Her cheeks were slightly chubbier and her cat like eyes that usually gave her a sharp and mature look now just made her look absolutely adorable. Carefully, Ryujin lifted her baby leader up, scared she’d drop her.

 

Everyone was silent, half in shock and half waiting for somebody to say something.

 

“‘Yujin!” Yeji blurted out.

 

“Aww! She’s trying to say Ryujin!” Said Chaeryeong. Instantly, the rest of the girls crowded round the baby, drawn in by her cuteness. 

 

“Ae’yeong!” Yeji blurted out yet again, pointing at Chaeryeong. 

 

“Aww” the members said in unison. 

 

Ryujin reached up to softly pinch Yeji’s chubby cheek, giggling at the squeak she got in response. “Who told you to be this cute as a baby, hm?” Ryujin asked, Yeji giggled, not understanding what she said but finding it funny nonetheless.

 

“So uh, what do we do? How long is this supposed to last?” Yuna asked, everyone shrugging and not really caring as Yeji as a toddler was so darn cute.

 

Each girl were taking turns pinching and kissing all over the baby’s chubby cheeks, said baby clearly enjoying all the affection by how pink her face had become.

 

“Are you hungry, Yejinnie?” Ryujin asked, it was odd not calling Yeji ‘unnie’ but you can’t exactly call a toddler such honorifics so she came up with a cute nickname instead.

 

“Mhm!”

 

“What do you wanna eat?” Asked Chaeryeong, her tone a little higher than usual when speaking to baby Yeji.

 

“Snack!”

 

“But it’s dinnertime, you can’t eat snacks for dinner, Yeji-ah”

 

“Why?” Yeji asked, pouting.

 

“Because your tummy won’t be completely full” Ryujin chimed in. Yeji fell silent, pondering what she wanted to eat for dinner.

 

“Curry!”

 

“You want curry for dinner?” Chaeryeong asked, Yeji nodding enthusiastically.

 

 

 

Unfortunately there were no toys at the home for Yeji to play with but luckily for her, Ryujin put on Doraemon on the tv for her to watch.

 

She sat still for awhile, sitting on the couch with her eyes glued to the screen, for some reason Yeji kept playing around with her foot as she watched which Ryujin found really strange but cute.

 

None of the Itzy members were really master chefs so naturally, the kitchen was bursting with curses, yelps and scolding. 

 

“Chaeryeong no!”

 

“Lia be careful!”

 

“Unnie help!!”

 

Hearing all the commotion, Yeji turned around, facing towards the kitchen. She whined to get the 4 girls’ attention. It worked, said girls now looking at her. 

 

“Can guys quiet downs?”

 

Ryujin chuckled, Yeji was still their leader even if she was a child, huh?

 

“Sorry Yeji unnie~” Yeji furrowed her eyebrows and puffed out her cheeks. “Oops, I mean sorry Yejinnie” the small girl smiled, turning back around to continue watching her cartoons.

 

 

 

Dinner was served (somehow), Yeji sitting in Ryujin’s lap in order to be able to reach the table. She attempted to feed herself but all the members quickly found out that wasn’t an option unless they wanted to do extra clean up after dinner.

 

Chaeryeong offered to feed Yeji which turned out to be a fun and ridiculously cute experience. Her chubby cheeks somehow looked even more cute when stuffed with food and decorated with rice grains.

 

 

 

Lia noticed Yeji dozing off after dinner, here eyelids drooping while trying to watch Doraemon. Since she knew she was a light sleeper, she mouthed to Ryujin that the baby was falling asleep as to not startle her. 

 

“Go get a blanket from upstairs” Ryujin whispered, looking down at the cutie in her lap. Yeji had fallen asleep. Lia cooed quietly before disappearing upstairs to fetch the mini leader a blanket. Worried she might wake her, Ryujin clenched her jaw as she reached for the tv remote. She managed to get it without waking the toddler, successfully turning off the tv.

 

Lia returned with a fuzzy blanket with cat print, gently laying it over Ryujin and Yeji. “We should recline the chair” Ryujin mentioned, Lia agreeing.

 

The two cringed as the chair made a loud click. Their cringe intensified as Yeji began to stir, whining quietly. Ryujin hushed her gently, heart melting as the baby turned to lay on her stomach, nuzzling into the older girl’s chest before settling back down.

 

“Lia?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I think I could die happy”

 

Lia rolled her eyes playfully, patting Yeji’s head. She switched off the living room light and quietly went back to her room.