Genesis 42:21,22

The brothers were losing one member. That reminded them that they had sent Joseph away many years before. They thought that God was punishing them for what they had done.

Reuben called Joseph ‘the boy’. Joseph’s age had been 17 years at that time. But Joseph was the youngest except for Benjamin, who was still with his father. And Reuben considered that he was responsible for Joseph. So Reuben called Joseph ‘the boy’.