Still A_Stray: Living With Stray Kids (ot8 fanfic)

Chapter 22 ★

Every day and night I'm walking

Lucky for me, the members were on a short break by the time I made it back up to the dance practice room. I waved to the members and quickly pulled Changbin aside, stepping into the hallway with him. He followed, slightly confused.

"Mom knows I'm in Korea," I said quietly as soon as the door shut. "I just ran into Chaeyoung—one of her colleagues. So just ... watch out if she tries to contact you soon."

Changbin's face turned serious. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, smiling tightly. "Yeah. I just didn't want you to be caught off guard."

He looked at me, brows furrowed, but whatever he saw in my expression must have assured him I was telling the truth. "C'mere." I yelped in protest as he crushed me into a hug.

"No—Bin, you're all gross—" I tried to pull away, but his arms were like a cage. "Bin, you're getting your nasty-ass sweat all over me—this is my favorite shirt—"

He laughed, letting me go. "That's what big brothers are for."

I shoved him. "You're not older than me, idiot. I cleaned your diapers."

"Shh!" Changbin looked around quickly. "If Jisung remembers we grew up together, he'll be hounding you for embarrassing stories about me for days."

My lips twitched, but I kept my face blank, still mad at him. "You really think he forgot?"

"He forgot his own name once," said Changbin grimly. "It's a skill at this point."

-

I stayed in the practice room until the members breaked for lunch, not wanting to risk another encounter. I watched Stray Kids a little—it was interesting to see their process of learning the choreo—but watching for too long made me feel like a creep, so I mostly just entertained myself.

The members finished the last run-through of the dance and all collapsed as the choreographer went to pause the music; I clapped enthusiastically like a mother watching her kid play soccer.

"How the hell are we going to do this on stage?" Changbin groaned, grabbing his water bottle.

"We've danced to worse," Minho pointed out, grabbing some towels and chucking them at Chan, who then proceeded to distribute them among the members.

"Still," Jeongin said. "I feel so wiped out." He sat up. "Scratch that, I'm actually just hungry. Is it lunch yet?"

"We can get lunch, yeah," said Chan, checking his watch. He was the only one standing. "Hyung, are we done for today?"

The choreographer nodded. "Unless you guys want to go over anything else, I'll see you all tomorrow."

The members all chorused good-byes. "You guys are doing this again tomorrow?" I asked, my eyebrows raising. "It looked like you had it down pretty well."

"This dance, yeah," said Hyunjin. "We're also learning three others for other songs."

"And we're also going to go over each dance on our own time, just for extra practice," said Felix, his arm slung over his eyes, obscuring his face. "Gah. Why did I become an idol again?"

"The easy work schedule, clearly," said Minho.

"And the peace and quiet," added Chan.

"And the freedom to date anyone you want," Jisung put in.

"Also, your life is free of drama," Hyunjin offered. "Scandals in k-pop? Never heard of it."

Felix sat up, frowning. "All of you are so—"