Final Puzzle Piece || SKZ 9th Member

Chan's Comfort

On the stairs, Ryujin sighed for the umpteenth time seeing her dormmate still crying hard on the floor in front of the window. Kala had been like that since she got back from filming the Stray Kids survival show yesterday. She told Ryujin what happened of course, but she didn't let the older girl make her feel better.

Ryujin tried anything she could think of to lift Kala's mood. She made Kala a hot chocolate to warm up her body after out in the rain, she cooked her a ramyeon with egg, green onion, and a lot of chili powder just what Kala usually liked, and she gave up the last piece of donuts that they always fought over. But none of them could stop Kala from sniveling here and there and saying, "How can I do this without Minho Oppa now?" over and over again.

Kala had to cry herself to sleep last night. Maybe at around 3 in the morning, she finally passed out and Ryujin was more than glad. But then she woke up to Kala staring blankly out of the window with a bunch of tissues on the floor around her.

As Kala's condition started to get concerning, Ryujin decided to call Chan to come over. The leader had been texting Ryujin since yesterday to keep him updated on Kala's well-being because he knew this maknae of his group wouldn't check her phone.

Chan was so worried when he didn't find Kala after the shoot yesterday. He looked for her anywhere in the building until one of the staff told him she had been in the women's toilet for more than two hours and then went straight home. Knowing she needed some space, the only way to make sure she was okay was through Ryujin.

The bell rang at last. Ryujin swiftly walked to the door and opened it, revealing Chan who stood there with an uneasy expression.

"Where is she?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. "Still crying?"

Ryujin breathed out, stepping aside so Chan could see the view of his little sister blowing her nose and sobbing on the floor. "She stopped when she was asleep. But this morning she was already there crying again."

Chan nodded, his heart broke in an instant watching Kala's shaking back. "Can I come in?"

"Of course. I call you here for that." Ryujin instructed Chan to get inside using her head.

He directly entered the unit and approached Kala slowly, not wanting to make her reject his presence. "Kalie."

Upon hearing her nickname from Chan, Kala perked up, eyes flooded with tears. "Oppa..." she wailed louder when she saw her leader there.

"Aigoo, uri gongjunim." Chan sat beside Kala and spread his arms, inviting her to his warm embrace that Kala immediately surrendered herself into. He stroked her hair down and patted her shoulder continuously. "Aren't you tired of crying all night?"

"Oppa..." she choked, "where's Minho Oppa?"

Ryujin who was in the kitchen observing the two also felt her heart burdened by the question.

"He...." Chan trailed off, "he left the dorm this morning."

At that statement, Kala bawled harder.

"You still can see him, Kalie. He's not going anywhere. You'll meet him in the company," Chan tried to comfort her the best he could. But when he felt it wasn't enough to lessen Kala's crying, he gently pulled out from the hold and brought his hands to cup her face which had soaked in tears. "Kalie, listen to me, yeah?" he told her in a soft and firm voice at the same time. "When you join a group, there's always a possibility that you'd lose your group mates, whether it's because of the company, the other members, the public, or their personal reasons. You maybe didn't know this because you were a solo trainee before, and I'm sorry for not warning you in advance. I really wish I could tell you sooner so when this happened, you'd be more prepared and not breaking down like this."

Kala was still whimpering while listening to Chan's words, and every now and then Chan was casually just wiping her tears on her cheeks.

"Minho will be alright. So will you. It was never a farewell between us. We still can be in touch with him," Chan reassured. Kala's sob gradually diminished, just some sniffles remained. "I swear it'll get better, Kalie, I promise. You just need to trust me, can you do that?"

She sniffed then nodded. "I trust you with my life."

Chan's mouth curved into a smile at the faith Kala put in him. He hugged her again and rocked their bodies side to side. "Our little Kalie, you're so precious."