You are now Kang Minho. And you’re writhing on the floor.
Which made sense; Hyunjin did just elbow Chan in the liver. Your synched up grunts of pain boom through the concert venue’s speakers; it’s enough for everyone else to freeze. Music continues to play as the background to their little comedy of everyone pausing mid-dance or falling out of the chorus jump to check on both of them. Woojin flubs the landing, stomping on Seungmin’s foot. They’re both on the ground and Changbin trips over the latter’s arm trying to get to you. Chan is rolling on the ground with a half grimace and half grin.
Glad to see he finds this funny, cause you don’t.
“Fuck! Dude, I know you’re excited but damn!” You say from stage left once you’re done gasping for breath. Your strained voice echoes throughout the empty venue. You’re leaning on an equipment box you’d fallen on when Hyunjin knocked the wind out of you. “Is this because Chan ate the last maki off the plate the other night? Cause if so, you didn’t have drag me into it!” You double over and curse.
Jisung, one of the few still on his feet, gets to you first. “Hyung are you alright?! You need anything?” He tries to help you up but you wave him off, finding your balance after a few minutes and stumbling through several tries. You’ve always had better pain tolerance than Chan and it shows. He’s still on the ground, arms around his abdomen while you’re trudging across half the stage to get to him. Your hearts though, beat at the same slowed pace.
“Sorry! I’m so sorry!” Hyunjin is blubbering at this point. His head whips back and forth between you and Chan, apologising over and over.
You put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine, it was an accident anyway,” you say though most of you nerves have been set aflame. You kneel next to Chris pulling him up to sit. “You good, loser?” You didn’t really need to ask, considering the dull pain in your abdomen spikes up and Chris’ expression smoothens out.
He frowns, “You don’t have to-“
“Too late,” you grin at him through the shock that stole what little breath you have from your lungs. It’s a good thing your legs give out again because you drop before. Chan can touch you. He puts a hand on his chest and winces, trying to reach for you again but you stop him with a hand. “Hey, you’ve got more practice to do, I’m done with my set already.”
You are done with your soundcheck and rehearsal for the Klockwork Royal Ball (1), but your group and other label mates had planned to go again after all the other groups and artists were done with their sets. Jihyeon would’ve called on all of you once Victon was done, two acts after Stray Kids. Looks like that isn’t happening for you. Even if she didn’t want to admit concern, she would never let you perform knowing you got hurt prior to. Damn stubborn leader. Chan is no better, being as stubborn as she can be. “Okay,” he says, knowing he doesn’t have to like it but can’t do anything to change your mind. “But we’re getting you an ice pack or something backstage, ok? Please?”
“Sure, sure.” You nod, standing and offering him a hand up. Hyunjin helps you pull Chan to his feet and he’s still apologizing. “Dude, chill out! It’ll be a bruise, at worst. The only thing you have to do, is get better at that move.”
You don’t tell Hyunjin because you don’t need him crying out of guilt but he knew how to hit. It was a beautiful liver shot really, hit the vagus nerve just right. You can tell from how your legs gave out, blood and heart rate slowed, and breath stalled. Both you and Chan are lucky it wasn’t a hard hit, just a precise one. Hyunjin bows his head but it can’t hide how pink the tips of his ears are. “I really didn’t mean to, I’m-“ he shut his mouth. Good, he knows he should stop it already. “I’m just...nervous.”
“You’ve been chosen to be one of the groups to open Rookies Day,” you laugh; it hurts to laugh but you do. They need some reassurance. “You guys haven’t even debuted and you earned that honor. If you weren’t jittery as hell, I’d call you stupid or Felix.”
Felix turns his head at the mention of his name. “What?”
You pat him on the shoulder. “How about this? Just get better at it for me, yeah?” You smile at him and he looks up, a small one of his own, creeping into his lips.
“Okay, Null sunb- I mean Minho hyung,” he says, taking a step back as Chan puts an arm around your waist and leads you backstage.
You really don’t need the help, the pain is already subsiding. Then again someone should put some ointment on the bruise you knows is blossoming on your abdomen. So, you let him support you and he’s smiling for some reason, smirking to himself like he knows something you don’t. “The last time you had that smile on your face, we locked two people in a closet together,” You accuse, feeling a sliver of his amusement, and some suspicion of your own.
“It’s just...” He glances back over their shoulders. “They like you, they took to you so fast, it’s like they’ve-
You nod, “Known me for as long as they’ve known you,” you say with smile, despite the pain. “It’s kinda implied. Some theories say, we’re halves of a whole, others say we’re one.” You shrug, even though it had surprised you how fast Chan’s little group of misfits warmed up to you as well. It’s only been a week and a half since you and Chan found each other and you’ve spent almost every day of that week having with him and his group. A night ago you learned their Hellevator choreo. The first two days before that you spent so long in the studio with Chan and the other 2/3rds of 3racha you were called by every member of Krownus, even Jihyeon (2). 28 hours passed like nothing.
“It’s good you like em too.”
You scoff, “Your little pack of strays? Are you kidding?”
“Nah, you can’t pull that tough shit, Null” He teases, grinning as he guides you to the medic’s room backstage. “You like them. I can feel it.”
Damned soul bond, not letting you hide a thing from him.
_______________________________________________________________________
The day after the Royal Ball, you’re scrolling through SNS feeds for people’s opinion on the concert. Chan sits across from you, half listening to you read comments aloud and half focused on writing lyrics while both of you share a pair of airpods. You don’t notice but you’re bobbing your head to the beat of this new unreleased 3racha song.
Around you the Devil’s Den cafe is as busy as ever, more so that it’s just after lunch time. Students, office workers and fans alike are in and out of the door and the servers and baristas are red blurs. They’re calm in the face of their rush hour, mahogany aprons and white shirts spotless, and customer service smile still intact. They navigate their way around the people and tables with such grace and skill it makes you wonder how the hell you didn’t gain the same poise from working here in your years interning for Jihyeon. Then again, you were only ever on duty here as punishment for the stupid shit you pulled.
“Check it out,” you steal Chan’s attention away from his lyrics, clearing your throat. “Omona! Stray Kids were amazing at rookie’s day!” you squeal pitching up your voice to the point where it annoyed even you. “Bangchan-oppa was sooo cool, I just wanted to die!”
Chan laughs, throwing a wad of napkins at you. “Please, never do that again.”
“And deprive the world of my spot on impressions?” You shake your head, expression grave. “I have a duty in life Chanstopher Bang-“
You silence him with a hand, exclaiming, “A duty Chanstopher!” before putting that same hand on your chest. “To make this dark world a brighter place with my humor...and outstanding personality.”
“Don’t forget, your incredible humility and modesty.” Chan rolls his eyes, closing his lyrics notebook. He stretches his arms back over his head, joints popping and straining. You do the same, you body relaxed in the wake of sitting in the same place and position for a few hours. To be honest, the only reason you two left Chan’s studio is because SKZ’s manager accused him of becoming a hermit.
You’re already packed up, your own lyrics notebook and laptop put away in a backpack, you just wait on Chan who heads to the restroom first. “Should we get a drink for the road?”
“In that line?” He gestures to the busy counter.
You rolls your eyes, pulling out your phone and sending a quick text. “Don’t worry about it,” You tell him, handing him back his other air pod and putting your hat back on. “I’m Klockwork (3) and the Kingdom (4) looks out for it’s Kings (5).”
Which is to say, you’re going to abuse your status as a fellow label mate to get your friend behind the counter to rush your order.
“Two cold brews for the dumb looking guy in the-“
You snatch one of drinks away with a click of your tongue. “And what have I done to deserve such slander, Dani?” The corners of your mouth twitch trying to maintain the feigned disappointment.
“Wore a neon green cap for one thing,” Dani says, wrinkling her nose in distaste, though amusement shines in her eyes. “Minho you look like you should be directing traffic at night.” She hold out the second drink for him. When he takes it she turns her back and goes on making other customer’s orders. You never noticed before, but Dani keeps her hair in a low ponytail more often than anything else. It suits her: like her it’s nothing too complicated or fancy but it’s nice, pretty even. You shake your head. It’s a weird line of thought, one you’ve never considered before.
Adjusting the cap in question on your head, you have to admit the colors jars even you. Then again: “Didn’t you give me this?”
“Well yeah,” she turns back, holding some guys white chocolate mocha. “But I gave it away because it’s an eyesore. I didn’t think you were actually gonna wear it.”
She’s cute when she’s mocking you.
Something in your chest makes itself known then, an odd kind of warmth. It’s not from the coffee, nor the insulation your hoodie provides you with. You stare at the back of her head for a while until she turns and looks at you too. You shy away, which is not normal. What the hell is going on?
“You alright there Minho?”
Her concern for you is sweet. She’s sweet. What?
You shake your head. “Uh yeah. Fine.”
“Is there something on my face?” Dani, asks as she serves another drink but lets the other person behind the counter, an actual worker, call out the customer.
You can feel your gut churning, nerves building up. “No, nothing,” You say, voice even and calm. You feel fine but also not. You’re...jittery but it’s faint, like an aftereffect. This is not normal. Teasing back and forth with Dani is. Insulting her and accepting her insults is. Writing and composing with her at the original Devil’s Den (6), the studio, is. And nothing about that is any different from this.
“Are you sure?” She raises a brow at you, “Because your friend by the bathroom is looking at me weird too.”
You whirl around, eyes finding Chan. His hands are fidgeting at his sides, wiping them on his pants. He swallows, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of his face even though it’s air conditioned in the cafe. He’s looking towards the counter but not back at you. You follow his line of sight.
Rebloooog. Like or whateva ❣
Glossary
(1) Klockwork Royal Ball: The label’s concert like an SM or JYP tour that also features other artists.
(2) Jihyeon: Nam Jihyeon; stage name “Sin”; the leader of Minho’s group Krownus and owner of Devil’s Den
(3) Klockwork: Minho’s label
(4) Kingdom: What the label’s fans are called; likened to JYP Nation.
(5) Kings: Artists from the label Klockwork
(6) Devil’s Den: The name of Sin’s (Nam Jihyeon’s) studio and her cafe where her interns and trainees are sent as punishment or just as a part time job opportunity. (Either way they get paid)
