Still A_Stray: Living With Stray Kids (ot8 fanfic)

Chapter 24

Sunday~

They wonder how my spotlight is so bright

I was going to have a quiet evening.

Or at least a quiet hour. The members were all chilling while we waited for the evening to arrive; Hyunjin was going over parts of the choreos with Changbin and Jisung in the living room, so Chan and I had taken the time to lock ourselves in the studio and pull out our laptops. For half an hour, the only sound that had filled the air was our typing, and it had been glorious.

Chan and I had been making a habit of working together ever since our conversation the night when I'd ripped off the blanket over the wall. The first time, I'd needed peace and quiet desperately to get out the idea I had of the makings of a story—especially since it was the first bit of writing inspiration I'd had in months, however small—and Chan's studio had been the only place I could find in the small dorm. Chan hadn't minded at all, just motioned for me to come in.

That was how we worked: him sitting at his desk, me on the couch, both of us in comfortable silence.

That is, until that silence was shattered and grounded into little bits and pieces by a loud crash, followed by Jisung, Changbin and Hyunjin almost breaking down the door to the studio, all of them pointing fingers and shouting at once.

"Chan-hyung, Changbin-hyung attacked me—"

"I did not, you were lying on the floor and I just tripped—"

"Chan-hyung, Hyunjinnie made me hurt my eye and now it's swelling!"

"Why are you guys sitting in here with the lights off, anyway—"

I sighed and closed my laptop. In front of me, Chan took a sip of his coffee.

"Jisung," he said when the three's shouting had died down. Jisung stepped forward, pouting; Chan took his face in his hands, examining the small cut below his left eyebrow. "Was it the kitchen counter again?"

"No," Jisung mumbled. "This time Hyunjin knocked me into the coffee table."

"We really need to start sanding down all of the sharp objects in this place, hyung," Changbin muttered. "Apparently two of the members you chose decided they wanted to be walking hazards when they grew up."

Hyunjin shot him a glare. "Says the person who kicked me in the ribs."

"I tripped—"

"Changbin," Chan said, quieting them. "Go get the first-aid kid from my room. Hyunjin, get me a cloth with warm water from the kitchen." He returned his attention to Jisung. "It's not deep, which is good. It should heal soon."

"What will STAY think?" Jisung said, touching the cut with a wince. "Ooh, can I wear an eyepatch? I've always wanted to wear an eyepatch."

"If it gets infected, you might have to," Chan said sternly, batting Jisung's hand away gently.

I watched the whole ordeal with an amused smile on my face. And Chan insisted to all the heavens that he wasn't a dad.

Things calmed down as Chan cleaned Jisung's cut and put a band-aid over it. "Let's have everyone just try not to lie spread out on the floor," he said as he finished. "And in the future, if you guys want to practice a choreo, go over to the other dorm, okay?"

"Okay," Changbin, Hyunjin and Jisung chorused.

"Okay," Chan repeated, opening his laptop again.

They didn't move.

Chan paused, looking up. "Yes?"

Changbin, Jisung, and Hyunjin said nothing, just watching him like baby birds looking to their mother for food.