Still A_Stray: Living With Stray Kids (ot8 fanfic)

Chapter 21

There's so many voices

I'd been in large corporate buildings before, but JYP-Entertainment put them all to shame.

Tucked in between two large alley-shaped buildings, it appeared far too grand for the space it was in, covered in a shell of glimmering glass windows stained blue from the sky. The inside made me think of a hotel lobby, with a white stone receptionist desk and pretty, meticulously-arranged vases on every available surface overflowing with flowers the color of gold. Everything smelled cloyingly of roses. The whole thing was a little too fancy for my cramped-dorm-room, fresh-out-of-college self, but I assured myself it was stupid to feel out of place here. I was with Stray Kids, and they strolled through the opulence and the golden flowers like they themselves were made of gold and pale stones. Even Jisung, whose eyes never rested on one thing for more than a second unless it was Minho; even Hyunjin, who could and would trip on a crack in the floor; and even Chan, who probably hadn't shut his eyes in a week. I trailed behind their group, wondering how they could have so much confidence.

My questions were quickly answered, however, as Felix fell into step next to me and whispered in my ear, "Before we debuted, we had a full week where we were trained how to walk in a way that made us seem charismatic and stylish. This is our Casual-walk. We also have a Guest-appearance Walk, a Red Carpet walk, and a Respectful Idol walk. Or, as Jisung likes to call them, a Nobody-wants-to-be-here-walk, a Help-everyone-is-pointing-cameras-at-us walk, and a Just-smile-and-wave-boys walk."

I snorted into my hand, feeling much less intimidated. Felix grinned at me and continued walking, adding a strut to his step for my amusement. I laughed and punched him gently on the shoulder, shaking my head. "You all are the most unserious group, I swear...."

He winked.

We made it to the practice room successfully, with only a few stares in my direction and some pleasant greetings with people Chan seemed to recognize and respect but meant nothing to me.

The choreographer was waiting, everything already set up. I let Changbin introduce me and bring me a chair; then, the members immediately launched into their dance practice.

I watched for a while, admiring the way they worked as one fluid unit, but sitting in the background made me feel a little out of place, even though everyone had been perfectly nice. I excused myself after a respectable amount of time, praying I remembered enough to find my way to the cafeteria. I needed a coffee. Something about the smooth white walls, the shining mirrors, that flowers-and-cleaning-detergent smell—I knew I was going to feel like an outsider in that room, no matter how much the members wanted or tried to accommodate me.

Because of that, I stayed in the cafeteria for a while. After getting coffee, I settled down into one of the many comfortable chairs, texting Claire an update and stalling for time before I'd have to go back. It was by far the nicest cafeteria I'd ever been in, too, so that didn't hurt.

"Excuse me?"

I looked up, blinking in surprise. A woman stood in front of me, smiling hesitantly. She wore sharp business clothes, and the way her hair was pulled back neatly made me self-conscious of my own still-drying hair.

Something about her face looked familiar; as I blinked at her in confusion, trying to pin it, her face quickly morphed into jubilation. "Yeji, it is you! Have you eaten? I wasn't sure at first—you've changed so much..."

It clicked then. "Chaeyoung-unnie," I said, hurriedly standing and bowing. Dread pooled low in my stomach, slowly climbing its way up to my throat. Chaeyoung was one of my mother's colleagues, and part of the group of "work friends" I'd met before on the small outings to the city my mother took me on that quickly became punishments as I grew older. And if she recognized me, that meant...