Still A_Stray: Living With Stray Kids (ot8 fanfic)

Chapter 13

I don't know if I can sleep well tonight

It was well into the night by the time the door opened.

Jeongin immediately shot up, his head whipping towards the door like a dog seeing a squirrel. Minho looked up from his book, his expression unreadable, but I knew he was relieved. We all were.

Part of me—that small, insecure, childish part of me that had come to life the first time my mother forgot me at the supermarket—had been worrying they would never come back.

So something in my heart eased as Changbin walked through the door, followed by Jisung.

But it started right up again when Chan didn't follow.

"Where's Chan-hyung?" Minho asked, his voice clipped. Jeongin visibly deflated.

"Still at the studio. He's going to catch a ride home in an hour."

I chewed on my lip, my fingers tapping against the side of the couch. Based on what I knew about Chan, how likely was that?

The others' thought process seemed to mirror my own. Not wanting to see them so crestfallen, I quickly stood. "Hey, we made you guys cheesecake!"

Jisung immediately perked up. "Cheesecake?"

"Oh, yeah," said Felix, going over to the kitchen. "It's not done chilling yet, but it'll be fine to eat." He set it on the counter proudly.

Changbin blinked. "Why is it ... blue?"

"That's Yeji's fault," Seungmin muttered.

My jaw dropped. "How was I supposed to know Jeongin would go overboard with the sprinkles?"

"I don't care." Jisung didn't take his eyes off the cheesecake as Felix grabbed plates for serving. "Yeji-noona, I love you."

I laughed, grabbing a knife to cut into it. "Don't thank me—making a cheesecake was Minho's idea."

"Minho-hyung, I love you," said Jisung, and I didn't miss the way Minho's cheeks went dark pink and he cut a slice of cheesecake more aggressively than needed.

"It was a team effort, really," Felix said. "Everyone helped."

"I wouldn't call 'eating all the dough balls when no one was looking' helping," Hyunjin said with a side-eyed glance at Seungmin.

"At least I didn't start crying because I got splattered with a tiny bit of oil," he shot back.

"It could scar!"

Seungmin answered Hyunjin by shoving a piece of cheesecake into his mouth.

I laughed before taking my own slice. "Hey, it's not bad."

"Of course it isn't," Minho said. "We made it."

Jisung tried the cake and groaned. "This tastes so much better than it has any right to."

"Probably because you haven't eaten all day," Changbin muttered, stealing some of my cheesecake. I fought him, but stopped when I heard what he said.

"Seriously? You haven't eaten?"

Jisung shrugged, not meeting my eyes. "We were really busy..."

My eyes narrowed, and I thrust my plate into Changbin's hands. "Not too busy to grab something on the way there. Honestly, you two. You're worse than AP students the week before exams."

Hyunjin whistled, eyebrows shooting up. "I wouldn't take that if I were you, Changbin," Seungmin said.

"Oh, stop trying to instigate chaos," Felix said, though his voice was warm. "It's cake time. We can't fight during cake time."