SKZ Code: Behind the Scenes
genre. A (heavy), F (eventually at the end)
warnings. Cheating, gaslighting, arguing, grabbing, cursing, swearing
additional notes. Female! Reader | You/Your pronouns, reader is aged between Hyunjin and Han, includes all members of Stray Kids
pairing. Yoon Jeonghan x Reader, Platonic!Felix x Reader, ot8 x 9th member reader
w.c. 7.6K
synopsis. Things get heated as emotional problems follow Y/N on set after an overdue encounter with her boyfriend. So what happens when something happens to triggers that fresh memory?
a/n. This is my first ever "published" kpop fic...be nice to me LMAO After having watched SKZ CODE ep. 40, that scene between Hyunjin and Han really stuck with me and just would not get out of my head, thus, this is the result. Constructive criticism would be nice, I feel like I added a lot of detail and it could get muddled and just become a wall of text, let me know what you think.
This in no way reflects the actual persons involved/based in this fic, nor their actual character. This is purely fiction.
Friday, 11:53 PM, unknown club in Hongdae
There were people all around you. Many of which were bumping and grinding on each other as they enjoyed themselves in all corners of the darkened building. The bass that reverberated throughout the entire club you were currently in was thumping so loud that you couldn’t differentiate it from the wild beating of your heart. The thrumming in your body kept you grounded as you walked through the dense crowd. LEDs were blinking with multicolored filters and there were even a few fog machines that made the place more hip than cliché. Unfortunately, the constant flashing of said lights made the oncoming headache you had, worse.
God, you wanted to leave.
You weren’t even supposed to be there in the first place. But you had gotten a text from Nayeon an hour earlier that just had “???” and then immediately after a photo of what looked like your boyfriend looking really fucking cozy with some girl for someone who had supposedly stayed late for practice at his company that night.
So there you were, in some random club in Hongdae, trying to keep yourself from turning into a mess. Dating ban be damned, you weren’t the only idol that had tried to date in secret, and you certainly wouldn’t be the last. Yet in this instance, as you made your way to the second floor VIP area, maybe you should have just followed the rules instead…
Was sneaking out of your dorm at the risk of your reputation and that of your group to get some answers a good idea? Absolutely not. And having had left yours and Hyunjin’s nightly skin care routine; claiming a, now very real, headache to go there didn’t make it any better. You’d be in for the scolding of a lifetime if any of the guys were to find out you where you were.
. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .
Saturday, 12:45 AM, VIP lounge, unknown club in Hongdae
Moving past the bouncer of the VIP section, Nayeon walked up, having waited for you to come. One look at your distressed state and she quickly pulled you into a hug. Letting go and without another word she turned you to the left and you finally came face to face with what you had been hoping was misunderstanding until this very moment.
Just like it had been in the photo Nayeon had sent earlier, there he was. An overly relaxed looking Jeonghan manspreading in his seat as an unknown pretty girl, who looked far too comfortable for it to be their first time together like this, sat perched on his lap. You both watched as she leaned down to whisper in his ear, placing her hand none too subtly on his chest in the process. The grin he gave her as he wrapped his arm around her waist was what snapped you out of your stupor.
“Y/N, wait!” Nayeon yelled after you as you finally found the will to move forward. Certain now that the thrumming you felt earlier was your heart and not the music.
You were practically in front of them and yet they paid you no mind. In their own little bubble, ignorant to the storm inside you. “Yah… Yoon Jeonghan, are you fucking kidding me?”
Jeonghan glanced at you slowly, like he hadn’t a care in the world for whoever was interrupting him, only to sit up from his slouched position, eyes wide in shock. Instantly pulling away from the girl that had basically plastered herself onto him.
“Y-Y/N! What are you doing here?” He managed to stutter out, frantically looking around, unsure of how you got there.
“I should be asking you the same thing. The PLEDIS building sure got a damn upgrade since the last time I was there,” the venom in your voice apparent even over the loud music.
“Baby, please, it’s not what it looks like!” He gets up from his seat to get into your personal bubble to be heard. You see from your peripheral that the girl he was with slink off to somewhere else. The booming of the music made it hard to hear him but it’s easy to tell that he was trying to make excuses. Jeonghan probably felt the same way because in the next instance he was grabbing you by the arm and all but dragged you to the outside smoking balcony. You try to jerk free but he’s stronger than you, though he is struggling.
“Let me go!”
The balcony is empty of other people surprisingly and the music is still loud out there but at least you’re able to hear each other better as he whorls around to face you.
“Not until you hear me out!”
“There’s nothing for me to hear! It looks like my boyfriend was about to get Real. Fucking. Personal. With. Someone. Else.” You punctuate each word with a jab to his chest.
He grabs on to the appendage only to then forcefully let go as he steps away from you. The tick in his jaw letting you know he was already annoyed.
Good. So were you.
“Look would you just chill the fuck out! We weren’t even doing anything.”
“…She was sitting on your lap and you weren’t doing shit about it…”
“So she was sitting on my lap, who the fuck cares?”
“I do! And as my “boyfriend”, you should have had some respect for your partner and not do shit like that! How do you think that makes me feel Jeong?”
“Oh my god babe, it’s not that serious,” he says as he rolls his eyes, as if exasperated. He raked a hand through his hair, frustration evident in his body language.
“Ok, so if you were to see me with some random guy in the position you were in just now, it’d be fine? Is what you’re telling me?” You question hypothetically while aggressively gesturing to the building behind you.
“Babe…”
“No, I want to understand. Cause you’re saying it wasn’t that bad right? So I can just go inside and find some guy to get with and you’ll be ok with it, right?”
“…You’re starting to piss me off.”
“News flash, I’m already pissed off. If Nayeon hadn’t—”
“Nayeon? Oh yeah,” he spat out as he rolled his neck, “now it makes so much fucking sense. You know she fucking hates me babe, hasn’t liked me since you introduced us eight months ago. I told you she’s not a good friend if she keeps trying to break us up.”
“Oh my god, not this again...,” Now it’s your turn to roll your eyes.
“She’s always putting shit inside your head about us! She’ll say anything—"
“That’s not the fucking point right now! The point is that if you’re willing to do this in front of people, what kind of things are you doing when no one’s a-fucking-round! I know what I saw Jeonghan!”
“Jesus fuck! I made out with someone one time at a party and now you hold it over my head!”
“Because if DK and I hadn’t’ve caught you you probably would have slept with her! You practically had your hand up her dress that time!”
“She literally means nothing to me!”
“So, you’re willing to risk our relationship for nothing?”
“You’re being so dramatic right now for no reason!”
“No reason?” You were stunned.
“It’s not that big a deal! God, if I had known that you were going to be this insecure about our relationship, I wouldn’t have even asked you out!”
“I’m only like this because of what you did!”
The both of you were far too into your heated argument to notice that the door to the balcony open and close.
Only a split second passed as Jeonghan latched onto your arm tightly again and got in your face. You whimper out at the sudden contact knowing full well you’d most likely have a hand shaped bruise to cover up later.
You wince as pain radiates up your arm.
“Let’s get one thing fucking straight—”
But he never got the chance to finish his sentence as he was forcefully yanked away from you. The familiar multicolored hair of you bandmember stands in front of you as Jeonghan nurses his now bruising cheek.
“Felix…?” You whisper in wonder. What was he doing there? How did he know where to find you? Your heart picks up from the adrenaline of this night.
“Don’t you ever put your hands on her again, do you hear me?” Felix said evenly, glaring daggers at Jeonghan. Felix may have been shorter than him but in that moment, he was the most intimidating of the two.
. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .
Saturday, 2:19 AM, Felix’s bedroom – VOCALRACHA dorm
You sat in the back of the blacked-out car that Felix has pulled up in. The driver giving the two of you a moment as Felix comforts your hunched over crying form.
You had learned that when you had first confronted Jeonghan, Nayeon had a feeling something would go wrong and immediately went to call Felix. He had been in the middle of playing one of his games when he got the call and proceeded to also sneak out if his dorm to meet her at the front of the club. From there, he got the gist of the information and made his way upstairs with the thought of being a mediator. Only with what he witnessed, it quickly put an end to that idea.
It was Felix who had opened the door to the balcony in the middle of your argument and lost it when Jeonghan put his hands on you.
After that was a bit of a blur for you as Nayeon and Felix maneuvered you through the club discreetly in case someone saw and the media get a hold of that information. All you knew is that Jeonghan tried to come at the two of you but the 63 taekwondo medal holder put him in his place. Felix eventually managed to get you out of there safely but not before letting you confirm out loud that it was officially over between you and Jeonghan.
Jeonghan was too busy writhing in pain to argue back.
So here you were, finally allowing yourself to feel all the emotions of the night, crying into Felix as he pats your hair soothingly, protective arm wrapped around you.
“I’m sorry you had to come out h-here,” you hiccup.
“It’s alright Jellybean, I’m just glad I got there in time to stop him from doing anything more to you. How’s your arm?”
Sniffling, you pull back from him and shift your arm forward. He turns on the flashlight from his phone to see and the both of you come face to face with the repercussions of angry actions.
As you thought, an outline of bruised digits were beginning to form like a bad tattoo on your bicep.
He sucks a breath between his teeth as he ghosts his fingers over the bruise. He’s silent as he tries to reel in his anger as he fights himself on going back inside and beating the shit out of the other idol.
But one look at your tear-stained face stops him.
“I’ll tell Chan and Lee Know-hyung that I called you over to our dorm later so they won’t go looking for you. That way you can just stay in my room.”
“Oh Lix, you don’t have—”
“No it’s ok, I don’t think you should be alone right now and I’m pretty sure you don’t want anyone to know about what happened.”
You stay quiet because you know he’s right. Reluctantly, you nod at his offer, grateful for the angel of your group.
He gives you a small sad smile as he brings you back into his arms, placing a comforting kiss on your head. Doesn’t say a word when you quietly start to cry again; just continues to pat your hair as the driver comes back into the car and takes the both of you back to Felix’s dorm.
. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .
You spent a total of 5 days in Felix’s room, crying. You finally managed to explain to Felix that you and Jeonghan had been secretly dating for about 10 months until then but that he had already cheated one you at least once, that you know of, before at an after party of one of the award shows. One of Jeonghan’s members had been with you when you caught him in the act and had gotten you out of there before a scene was caused.
You’d forgiven him after some heavy persuasion on his part but that left you feeling insecure about the relationship since it happened just about a month ago. He’d always had anger issues, but the night at the club was the first time he ever tried to grab you like that. When Nayeon eunnie messaged you that Friday night about seeing him with a different girl this time; you had to confront him before he had a chance to deny it.
You felt bad but Felix kept reassuring you that it was ok that you stayed there and that made you want to cry more. As he promised, he messaged the oldest members of your whereabouts. And with good timing too since according to Chan, Hyunjin had went into your room Saturday morning to wake you for the morning skin routine, but you were gone and he was about ready to freak out.
After that first night, Felix came up with the plan to say that you got hit with a weird bug and that it’d be too much of a hassle to move you back to your room in the 3RACHA dorm (plus you and Hyunjin) so you might as well just stay in his room for the time being. Minho came to check on you that night, but Felix managed to convince him that it wasn’t bad enough to go to the hospital; you just needed to rest and eat something not too heavy. It wasn’t that far off from the truth honestly, and it was a good excuse to stop anyone else from checking up on you.
So Felix’s room was now a designated “quarantine zone” and no one was allowed to go in and bother you. Felix being the only one able to go in and out since it was his room after all. Your phone had been bombarded with texts from all your members trying to check up on you, pinging every few minutes with memes and well wishes. It wasn’t until you kept getting back-to-back calls and texts from your now ex-boyfriend that you turned off your phone, not wanting to deal with him now or ever again.
Just like you thought, the bruise on your arm had gotten darker and it was easy to tell what had caused it. With just one glance at your arm, you knew that with how protective the guys were over you, that the entirety of Stray Kids would go looking for a fight with your ex and your group absolutely did not need any heat in the media right now. It was hard enough keeping Lix from going out there once he looked at your arm again and taking matters into his own hands. Let alone all eight of them if word got out.
No, you had just wanted to wallow in self-pity for now.
Currently, Felix sat next to you in bed as you lay curled up by his side. He was letting you know that Chan had stopped by again to check on you when you were asleep earlier and had left you your designated SKZOO, a bear cub named Gom-N/N-ie, to “help you feel bettah.” You felt guilty for lying to him, all of them really, after that while accepting your SKZOO from the sunshine man. Bringing it to your chest, you bury your face in the familiar feeling of your plushie.
“You know you don’t have to go tomorrow, right? We can tell the managers that you’re sick, too,” Felix’s deep voice broke through the quiet of the room from his spot next to you as he gently combed his fingers through your hair. Tomorrow all of you were to begin shooting for a special new episode of SKZ Code for Chuseok. You’d completely forgot about it until you overheard Minho and Innie talking about it outside of the door earlier.
You were quiet for a moment, contemplating on what you should say and do. You know you can’t keep hiding out in Felix’s room like this, it’s not fair to him. He doesn’t like lying to the other members either yet is doing it just for your sake. He’s been working hard to deflect any and all questions, comments and concerns about your wellbeing while also placating everyone else. You’ve definitely put your younger member in a difficult position.
You owe him a lot, your little sunshine.
“…I’ll go.”
His hand stills in your hair, waiting to see if you’ll say anything else.
“I’ll go with everyone tomorrow. You’re probably sick of me being in here anyways,” you quietly laugh out.
“Naur, what?” His Aussie accent coming out as he switches from Korean to English and back again. “I’m not sick of you, I could never be. If anything, the others are jealous cause I’m the only one that’s gotten to see you!”
“That’s such a lie, Lee Yongbok!” you finally laugh out loud for the first time since Friday night while swatting him in the leg playfully.
“It’s true, noona! Binnie Hyung was about ready to tackle me to get inside the room yesterday!”
The image alone of your buff bun trying to tackle your sunshine lad had you in stitches. What you didn’t see was the loving gaze of said sunshine, glad to see you at least somewhat happy again after everything that’s happened.
For this moment in time, that’s all he could ask for.
Felix gently grazes his fingers over your bruised arm, his smile slightly faltering at what he sees. Moving his hand back to your hair, he gently pulls a few strands just to get your attention.
“It’s gonna be ok, you know. I’ll be there to help you if you need it, alright? You’re not gonna be alone.”
“I know Lix…thank you. For everything.,” you respond quietly.
His only action is to bend down and give you another comforting forehead kiss. The two of you remain quiet for the rest of the night until it was time for bed.
. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .
Thursday, 8:15 AM, VOCALRACHA dorm
As soon as you followed Felix out of the bedroom, you were accosted by the one and only maknae on top.
“Noona!” Jeongin yelled out, too loud for what time it was. “Are you feeling better? Do you need more medicine, a doctor?”
“Yah! Let her breathe.” The three of you jump in the middle of the hallway as the admonishing tone of Minho could be distinguished from the kitchen. He’d probably heard Innie from all the way over there.
Chuckling, you give him a small smile and a pat to his head to calm him down.
“I’m ok right now Innie, thank you for checking up on me.”
“You really had us worried noona, Lee Know-hyung was about to burst in there and take you to the hospital himself as soon as he found out you weren’t feeling good if it weren’t for Felix hyung.”
You’d figured something like that was bound to happen. You were even more grateful to Felix for all his efforts. You giggle at his comment and the three of you continue to the kitchen where Seungmin was also waiting.
“Morning everyone,” you greeted, sitting down next to the second youngest of you all.
“Are you sure you’re feeling ok enough to shoot today?” Seungmin asks quietly while placing a cup of juice in front of you which you gratefully take. You nod in agreeance as a bowl of porridge is placed in front of you. Minho pats your head before walking away to get the other dishes for breakfast.
“We’ll let the director-nim know that you should take it easier today at least,” he says while serving the rest of the guys at the table. Before you can protest, he sends you a heated look that leaves no room for argument.
With a twitch to your lips, you can’t help but to agree with him too. “I understand, thank you for breakfast.”
. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .
Thursday, 11:15 AM – SKZ Code shoot location, dressing room 1
Meeting the other half of your group went just about the same. Except more scolding from Hyunjin for skipping out on your daily routine. Although that was mostly an excuse because he was just so worried when he didn’t see you in your room that first morning.
“Really Y/N-ie, you should have messaged me first!” the pout on his lips not hard to find as he tugs on your sleeve.
“Y/N-ah, you should have seen him!” the boisterous voice of Changbin joins the two of you as you sit in your designated dressing room waiting for your leader’s return. The two of them immediately ambushing you, much like Jeongin this morning, upon your arrival. “He wouldn’t stop bothering Channie hyung for information on how you were doing!”
That evokes the lankier one of the two to get flustered and from there the two start a playful argument of no-I-wasn’t’s and yes-you-were’s. Just being with them again really did set your mind and heart at easy after the past couple of days. Not to mention a good distraction.
A quiet “noona” catches your attention from the squabble in front of you and has you turning to face Han questioningly.
“I brought you a red ginseng drink to keep your health up today.”
You wanted to cry again for an altogether different reason. Your members cared for you so much, each in their own different ways. You don’t know what you’d do without them.
“Ahh, thank you, Hannie. I’ll drink this right now.” The initial taste of the ginger is gross but it had a hint of sweetness at the end so the overall drink wasn’t too bad. Especially if you try to take it all in one go.
Han sits next to you on the couch, Felix following shortly after, as I.N and Minho join in on the fray to annoy the already hyped-up boys. Although they could all be loud and wild sometimes, it was just a part of their charm.
Chan comes back into the room about 5 minutes later gaining everyone’s attention.
“Alright, I got everything squared away with the director and producers. Y/N, they know you’re just getting better,” he states, staring directly at you as if he—, no there was no way, right? “So, you’re going to be given more of the easier things to do alright?”
The panic in your head only allows you to nod at him as you grab Felix’s hand for a quiet support. He doesn’t skip a beat in intertwining your hands together.
“Great, we’ve got 10 minutes before they want us to start going to make up and changing. Then we’re all going to film an intro piece for the episode. Anyone have any questions or problems with that?
When no one responded, Chan just nods and heads to the far corner and sits with his phone for a bit. You can’t help but think you feel his gaze every once in a while but brush it off as paranoia.
The time eventually comes to split off as the boys go to their own designated dressing room and you stay in the current one. The stylists helping you to get ready for what is surely to be an interesting shoot if the hanbok you have to wear is anything to go off of.
. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .
Thursday, 1:15 PM – SKZ Code shoot location
[I.N - Lee Know's younger sister, Yongbok and Y/N's aunt]
[Changbin - High school jock / Always steps up to keep his family together]
[HAN - A sweet but strict father (But somewhat seems polite)]
[Hyunjin - The sassy mother]
[Lee Know - A tough woman but a lenient mother to Yongbok and Y/N]
[Seungmin - Survives through the attacks by Lee Know, I.N, and daughter’s Y/N and Yongbok]
[Yongbok - Sassy and brave like his mom, sister, and aunt]
[Bang Chan - The youngest son, loves his mom the most and hates his brother / Is always losing out to cousin Yongbok]
[Y/N – The exasperated oldest of the grandkids back from university/ Yongbok’s sister]
One rainy Chuseok morning, the SKZ Family are gathering in a long while today CHUSEOK SPECIAL : SKZ Family Returns
You stand off to the side, waiting for your cue to join, with the rest of the group as Channie and Felix do the beginning of the intro skit. It’s hard to keep the giggles in with how cute the both of them look and act.
“Hi...,” Chan started out shyly.
“Hi!” Felix sassed out immediately in response.
“How old are you?”
Felix counts slowly with his fingers, “…Three. How about you?”
“I’m five. I’m older than you.”
Felix plucks out two more digits to make five on his hand.
“You’re right.”
“Mm”
“You don’t look older though.”
“Why are you talking down to me?”
“Mind your own business.”
“Don’t talk down to me!”
“Don’t yell!”
“Okay…,” Chan whispers out. “Mommy!”
“Daddy!”
They both start crying and that’s your you cue to walk into the frame behind them.
“Hey! Stop crying!”
“Noona!” “Eunnie!”
. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .
Filming was going smoothly so far. It was just the beginning though so nothing too taxing had happened yet. Felix just finished introducing himself as three-year-old Yongbok who gets her good looks from her mom and wants to live with her mother after their divorce.
“Waaah, my little sister is so cute,” you say out loud with a smile, Felix sticking his tongue out at you in response.
“Yes, both of my daughters are so cute,” Lee Know says while pinching your cheek since you sat beside him. There went your smile.
“Ahh! Mom!”
“Y/N-ie, it’s your turn to introduce yourself,” Seungmin, as your father, says not even bothering to help you out. You make a noncommittal sound as you fight with Lee Know to let go of your cheek still. More than half the guys laughing at your antics.
“Mom, please!”
“Ohh, but how can I let go of these cheeks huh,” he says in a babying tone, as he does in fact, let you go.
You rub your cheek as you sit down on the stool and face the proper direction.
“Hello, I’m Yongbok’s older sister, Y/N. I’m tirelessly working on maintaining my high marks in school but currently on break from university. So I’m glad to be home and able to spend this time with my family.”
“You get you book smarts from your dad,” Han says chuckling.
“And your street smarts from your mom,” Seungmin joins in. Lee Know, jokingly takes the bubble gun blower in front of him and aims it at his ‘husband’.
“That’s right, so you better watch what you say.”
You’re laughing at the scene before you as Hyunjin continues the skit, “Y/N-ie, what are you studying in college?”
“Uhh,” you didn’t really have a concept for this character, until you lock eyes with Chan and then the kiddie computer in front of him. “I’m studying…m-music producing?” you get out before laughing since producing was certainly not your forte. And everyone in front of you knew that.
“Noona is so cool,” Chan says from his spot on the ground. “Better than my older brother.”
“Aww, thanks Channie,” you beam at him as he beams back.
“Yah Bang Chan!” Binnie yells from behind him before yelling in pain because Chan leaned back against his legs.
“Changbin, don’t yell at you brother,” Hyunjin says as his mom.
“Mmm, my daughter is so talented. Getting in the best university of the country, getting good grades and look at her face, just like me,” He strikes a little pose. “Maybe next holiday she’ll bring home a boyfriend,” Lee Know continues in character.
The smile on your face freezes as your heart zings in pain. You’ve become still in your seat as you feel Felix’s eyes on you. He being the only ones to notice your hands balling into fists on your skirt.
“…Mom,” you start off slowly. Your hesitancy easily mistakable for your character’s young adult/college student love life being interrogated by their parent. “That’s…”
“She doesn’t need to be dating in college,” Seungmin cuts you off. “We met in college and now we’re getting a divorce!”
“Yeah but she won’t meet a mistake like you and go through any hardships. So she’ll be fine .”
Grin faltering, you begin to bite the inside of your lip to stop your eyes from getting glossy. Your nose starting to sting, a tale tell sign that you wanted to cry. Your actual hardships flashing in your mind.
“Mommy, daddy, don’t fight,” Felix tries to distract them.
“We’re not fighting,” Lee Know quickly responds as you get up from your seat to switch places with him. Felix quickly looping his arm around yours, taking your hand in his, giving it a quick squeeze.
You give him one back as you stare at a spot by your feet.
.
.
.
Despite the earlier hiccup, everything was going fine. Both Lee Know and Seungmin went on to introduce themselves, which was a skit about how Lee Know got married for money and that they were in the process of getting a divorce more than anything. And then Innie looking out for his nieces because what was said in front of them.
It was then decided that Yongbok was going with Lee Know and you were going with Seungmin. Both kids pouting at this information for being separated.
. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .
Next up was Han, who’s outfit immediately got torn to pieces by everyone in the room. Him trying to explain that he got his style from his father caused everyone to derail in laughter.
He brings back everyone’s attention by restarting his introduction.
“I’m Yongbok and Y/N-ie’s uncle, but I could be their new father.”
“Their new father?” Lee Know questions immediately as you and Felix looked shocked at him.
“I mean, I’ll be that much kinder to them.”
A few of the members understand what he means by that and Hyunjin speaks up in relief, “I was worried.”
“Hey, just a few days ago,” Seungmin speaks up from beside you asking a seemingly innocent question until it wasn’t. “Did you enjoy dinner with the friend I introduced to you?”
There was a pause in the room. Han looking a little shell-shocked as he responds.
“Why are you mentioning that now?”
Everyone’s quiet as Hyunjin gets up from his seated position. Your heartbeat picking up, flashes of your very recent tragedy of a relationship flashing in your mind. All the heartache came rushing back as the scene before you kept unfolding. Your heartbeat picking up in your chest as you look between the two.
“What does that mean?” Hyunjin asked cluelessly.
“You knew mom’s a jealous person!” Changbin yells from his spot next to I.N.
You can’t say anything as the ball of emotions in your throat gets bigger. Felix tries to comfort you but gets pulled away by Lee Know who’s trying to cover his eyes.
“Close your eyes and open your nose,” he says to Felix. If only you could shut out the blood rushing in your ears.
The deep breath that Hyunjin takes is something you felt from deep within your core. “Try explaining yourself.”
“What?”
“Try explaining.”
“You didn’t tell her?” Seungmin jumps in with a grin, making the situation worse. “I thought you did.”
It’s a joke. It’s a joke. It’s a joke.
You repeat to yourself as you try to control your breathing. It’s not their fault that you basically went through something so distressingly similar not even a week ago and they didn’t know about it. Staring at your lap, your hands begin to tremble and you can just feel your lips wobbling.
“Honey,” Han laughs out nervously.
“Was she prettier than me?”
You bring your hands up to cover part of your face. That had been one of many questions that had been plaguing you since the first time Jeonghan had cheated on you. You never got a good look at the first girl and the second girl was definitely pretty to you. You close your eyes, eyebrows furrowing, to try to block out the scene. You hope they can’t here you sniffling.
“…Yaaahh,” is all that Han can respond with, wanting to avoid answering the question.
Did he even feel guilty for what he did? Or did he just move on as if the last 10 months together didn’t mean anything?
A warm hand on your knee makes you open your eyes and you’re met with Chan’s concerned gaze as your eyesight becomes blurry with the tears quickly gathering there. His concern quickly becomes full on worry as a single tear drops down your cheek.
You needed to get out of there, quickly. It was a wonder how the others haven’t picked up on how upset you’re getting.
“Mom, no one’s prettier than you,” Changbin pipes up as he stands up next to Hyunjin.
“That’s right!”
Did Jeonghan ask his members not to tell you anything? Were they in on everything?
“Lee Know…?” Han questions.
“Huh?”
“Don’t tell them we met yesterday.”
Would they have told you if they knew? Or did they all laugh about you behind their backs? Did Jeonghan even like you, or did he just keep you around because you were convenient?
This endless cycle of negative questions kept spiraling in your mind as the skit the boys were doing continued to play out before you.
Lee Know, with a grin on his face, turns to look at Hyunjin who’s sat down next to Seungmin again. “It’s fine, I saw someone today too.” Hyunjin says in retaliation as he grabs onto Seungmin.
“Wait a minute…” Han starts but you’ve had enough by this point. The sob you try to hide was heard throughout the group and everyone freezes.
You hurriedly get up from your spot between Seungmin and Felix and trip twice trying to get out of there. The chaos that ensues as the fabric of your hanbok getting caught under your foot was instantaneous as Chan, Changbin, and Felix immediately try to catch you. The small leg space not making it easy to leave quickly.
“Noona?” I.N asks fearfully, breaking character as he sees the state that you’re in.
“Y/N-ah?” Minho asks from his side of the couch starting to get up from his seat.
Han, Seungmin, and Hyunjin quiet in their shock of what’s happening.
“Sorry—, I—, Please…,” you sob out as you finally get out of the cramped space. Felix and Chan following right behind you as you run to the restroom to lock yourself in there. The door closing in both of their faces. The brief look at your expression, blotchy and covered in tears, breaking their hearts.
You hug yourself as you slide down against the door, finally allowing yourself to cry fully. Even through your sobs, you can hear the other members coming up to the other side of the door to check on you. You could faintly make out the deep timbre of Felix’s voice most likely trying to diffuse the situation which makes you cry more. You weren’t ready to face any of this, or them, now. Should have just stayed home instead of making a mess like this.
You weren’t sure how much time had passed when you heard a gentle knock on the door behind you. Your tears still flowing slowly but at least you weren’t full on sobbing now. Sniffling, you’re hesitant as you look towards the locked doorknob.
“Y/N, it’s just me,” Chan says from the other side. “Everyone else went to go talk to the manager and director to give us a break right now.”
Not saying anything, he clears his throat before asking quietly, “Do you think you can let me in?”
The double entendre isn’t lost on you. Whether Chan knew what he said or not was unknown to you. With some tentativeness, you manage to wiggle to the wall to be able to unlock and open the door for him.
Chan slips into the restroom and closes the door swiftly behind him. You look small to him as you sat huddled into yourself on the ground. Not like your usual boisterous self. He doesn’t say anything as he sits down next to you. Doesn’t pressure you to say anything, either. Just sits with you, waiting patiently for you to be comfortable enough to tell him what’s wrong.
So you sit there in silence for a few moments more. Trying to gather the courage to lay yourself emotionally bare to your leader. You pick at the fabric you have on, sniffling every now and then until Chan gently places his hand over yours in comfort. And to probably stop you from tearing a hole in your clothes…
He lets you play with his hand until you manage to take a deep breath. For the second time since the whole fiasco happened, you find yourself confiding your problem with a member. Going into a bit more detail than what you did with Felix.
You told Chan everything while on the floor in that little restroom.
How you first met Jeonghan, how you kept bumping into him after the shows you all did, how you ended up exchanging numbers. To how you kept in touch after that, kept meeting up until he eventually asked you out. Occasionally sneaking out of the dorm to meet up with him at his insistence.
You thought Chan would get mad at that, but he didn’t say anything. Just squeezed your hand to get you to continue with your story.
You told Chan how you caught Jeonghan cheating the first time, and how DK all but dragged you out of there but it didn’t even matter because you saw everything. That messed you up mentally and was the reason why you had messed up a lot during dance practice the next day.
Chan remembers the day you were talking about. He thought something was wrong but kept it to himself, hoping you’d come talk to him about it, but you never did.
You explained the fight that happened a week after catching him back then. How you eventually, and stupidly, ended up forgiving him and continuing the relationship only for him to go behind your back and do it again a couple of days ago.
“So you weren’t sick?” he cuts in, finally breaking his silence.
“I mean…not in the contagious sense…,” you explain while turning to him. He nods, letting you continue as he tries to wipe the dried tears off your face.
“So yeah, Nayeon called me up that Friday night and I had to sneak out to Hongdae. Sorry…about that by the way…,” you clear your throat, avoiding eye contact with him altogether. “So I saw him literally in the act again and had to confront him about it this time. We ended up going outside and basically just having an all-out screaming match with each other. Where, by the way, he tried to gaslight the shit out of me, but it didn’t work. Thankfully, Felix showed up when he did though because Jeonghan ended up grabbing me really hard. Who knows what he could have done if Lix hadn’t gotten there in time.”
You let go of Chan’s hand, which was still intertwined with yours, to rub against your bruised shoulder.
“Wait…he put his hands on you?”
You don’t pick up on his tone as you nod and take off the jeogori jacket layer of your hanbok. Presenting your, now, heavily bruised arm, Chan takes it delicately in his hands.
“I asked the stylist to try to use coverup on it, but it was just so dark and it still hurt so she couldn’t do much about it in the end.”
Gently, he touches the colorfully marred skin not saying a word, his jaw ticking in anger at what he’s seeing.
You don’t even get a word out before he’s up and bolting out of the restroom. Face clouded in rage.
“Ch-Chan!” Scrambling, you grab the jeogori from the ground and run after him, not even bothering to put it back on. “Chan, wait!”
The other members of your group had managed to clear the room of the staff and had been hovering close the door the entire time, waiting patiently for the two of you to come out. What they weren’t expecting was an infuriated Chan and an anxious you to come out of there.
“What’s happening,” Changbin asked, lowkey getting worked up just seeing his leader on edge.
“I’m gonna kill him,” is all Chan says.
“Who?” Han asks, also getting anxious.
“Noona, what happened to your arm?” Innie asks from beside you, gently grabbing your bruised arm. That captures everyone else’s attention. Your face pales as you realize your mistake.
“Is that a bruise?” “Why does it look like a hand?” “Who the hell touched you?” “Noona, are you ok?”
“I— ,” you’re on the verge of panicking, not knowing what to do.
This catches Chan’s attention and breaks the trance of rage he’s in. He makes his way back to you and brings you into a big hug. He holds you in his arms as you try to hide away from everyone’s prying eyes.
But honestly, they’re just so worried about you.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Channie whispers into your hair. Shaking your head, you understand everyone’s concerns, you just wish it wasn’t revealed this way.
Keeping your face in Chan’s chest to hide, your muffled response is heard. “Long story short, I got into it with an ex a couple of days ago because he was cheating and he…put his hands on me…”
Just like you thought, they were all visibly upset for you.
“This happened to you…and I was…” Han became visibly pale compared to the others as his actions up until you ran out sprang to his mind. That prompted the other boys, besides Felix, to realize why you had gotten upset enough to leave the set in the first place. All of them immediately apologizing to you, getting upset with themselves and begging for your forgiveness.
“Who is it?” Seungmin asks menacingly from somewhere behind you, voice quivering with emotion. Guard dog mode being activated.
“No, guys—”
“He’s gonna wish he only got a bruised arm once I’m done with him,” Changbin says while rolling his neck in annoyance now. Minho and Felix are taking off their own hanbok’s as I.N and Hyunjin stretch out themselves, preparing for a beatdown.
“Noona, seriously, who did this to you?” Han asks you quietly next to you, mood sad yet protective.
“Guys really, there’s nothing to forgive. You didn’t know what was going on, you don’t have to do anything,” You pipe up, finally pulling away from Chan a little. His arms tighten around you slightly, not wanting to let you go fully.
“Y/N, we have every right to want to have your back on this. He’s not gonna get away with putting his hands on you,” Chan explains to you still upset about all the information that you’ve shared with him.
“No, I get that, I swear,” you rotate in his arms to face the others. “I appreciate all of you wanting to go and kick his ass. But I swear it’s not necessary. Felix already beat the shit out of him. His company put out a statement saying he’s taking a break for a bit for ‘health reasons’.”
All of you turn to Felix, who’s now taking off his headband, cool expression on his face. “I’m not against kicking his ass again, Jellybean.”
You stare at him dumbfounded until you burst into laughter because of course he wouldn’t. None of them would be. Because this is your family away from family. They’re dead set in wanting to protect you, and each other, from any and everything that could be harmful.
The others stare at you as if you’ve finally lost your mind which prompts you to just say, “I love you guys.”
Felix, besides Chan who is still holding you, is the first to step up and give you a very much needed hug. A little confused, the rest of the guys follow suit and you all end up in one massive hug.
Until one of the younger boys starts fighting with Changbin and they all break away.
“Don’t think this lets you off the hook for sneaking out of the dorm, Y/N-ah,” Chan says out loud from behind you as you’re still wrapped in his arms.
“You did what?!” Minho could be heard yelling, which causes you to groan.
© hippopotamusdreamer, est 2016. all rights reserved.
62 notes
·
View notes
I’m a ghost and you are a shadow
Part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven | part eight | part nine | part ten | part eleven
—
When they finally got around to leaving the backyard, once Steve had collected all the little bits of himself that felt tattered and stretched to their limits, he glanced back at his bedroom window. He caught the blinds swaying just a bit, as if someone had been peaking through and just stepped away. It was easy to imagine Eddie, pulling his mess of curly hair over his face to hide even though Steve hadn’t seen him. He wished he’d come back down.
Eddie was the only constant back in his world. He may have been states away, chasing some kind of purpose that Steve had lost among the bodies, but he called at least once a week. Just to say hi. Just to make sure they were both alive. Steve thought maybe he’d been so used to calling Wayne, he just didn’t know what to do without him. If Steve could be that filler in his life, that voice on the end of the line whenever Eddie reached for the phone out of habit, that was fine by him. It was the only thing he’d started to look forward to.
He wondered if his Eddie would be sad when no one picked up the phone this week. Steve felt a little like the small child hiding amongst the clothing racks again. He’s sure Eddie would notice. He’s just not sure if he’d care. Maybe he’d also send the nanny if he could.
Steve steeled his thoughts as they stepped back into the house, trailing slightly behind Robin as if that would delay the inevitable. She told him it was okay, that he could trust this different version of his mom but he wasn’t quite sure he could believe her. Maybe this Linda was different. That still didn’t make her his mother.
Back in the living room, Nancy, Max, El, and Dustin looked up when he entered. Dustin looked so apologetic that Steve almost felt bad for his reaction. He looked like he wanted to tell Steve sorry, that he didn’t mean to blurt that out, or that he didn’t mean to startle him but he couldn’t get the words out. Steve just nodded at him with a small reassuring smile and ruffled his hair as he passed, sitting back down on the couch with Robin.
They were back to the looking at each other thing, so Steve took pity on them and broke the silence.
“I'm okay, we can call her. Did you tell everyone else?” He asked.
Nancy shook her head. “We were waiting for you, we didn’t want to do anything behind your back.”
Steve nodded, heart squeezing tightly in his chest at the reminder that they cared enough to do that, to wait for him. He turned to the kids that were no longer kids, sitting together on the second couch, Dustin on the left and the two girls on the right.
“Still got the walkies?” He asked. Dustin nodded, pulling the two-way radio out of the bag at his feet.
“Always,” he replied.
“Are you ready?” Nancy asked, eyes caring and worried. She emphasized that it was okay if he wasn’t, if he wanted a few more moments to prepare for what was sure to be a stampede. Steve reassured her it was fine, that they’d have to say something eventually, and Robin squeezed his knee to offer her support, letting her hand rest there to keep him anchored to the spot.
“The rest of the boys should be in town. Will and Mike work at the arcade and Lucas is working at Family Video.”
Steve smiled, it seemed like they’d passed down their shitty strip mall jobs to the next generation. It was still so weird to know the kids were the same age he was when Starcourt opened, older than Robin was.
Dustin clicked the radio on and took one more glance at Steve before pressing the talk button.
“Mike, Will, Lucas, this is Dustin, do you copy?” He waited a few seconds, static coming through the other line. “I repeat, Mike, Will, Lucas, do you copy?” Another few seconds of pause. “We’ve got a 10-17, I repeat, a 10-17, do you copy?”
The line clicked in response. “Uh, what’s a 10-17 again?” Mikes voice filtered through the speaker.
“I think it’s a request for a pick up?” Will’s voice responded on the same line.
“That’s a 10-16, isn’t a 10-17 out of service? Why are you telling us you’re out of service? Over.”
The line clicked again, “That’s a 10-7, Mike,” Lucas’ voice responded. “Over,” he tacked on.
Dustin was clearly ready to vibrate out of his shoes in disappointment. The voices filtering through the static of the walkies made something fuzzy in Steve’s brain. The banter and the arguing and the crackling of the speakers, he could remember it like it was yesterday, like he hadn’t been missing it for four years. He was starting to get misty-eyed again and clutched onto Robin’s hand, still resting on his knee. She squeezed back.
“You’re all useless, it’s urgent business! I repeat, urgent business! Over!” Dustin yelled through the receiver.
Max rolled her eyes on the couch next to him and sunk back into the cushions, arms crossed. El followed her example, crossing her arms as well and relaxing into Max’s side.
“You don’t have to repeat everything, you know,” Mike answered back, tone snappy and impatient. The familiar sound of arcade games crackled out vaguely in the background and Steve could picture him leaning against the prize counter, rolling his eyes as he ignored some little kid in favor of answering Dustin.
“My shift is over in thirty minutes, how urgent are we talking?” Lucas responded.
“Uhhh,” Dustin glanced at Steve, eyes looking just this side of manic, “Try back from the dead urgent.”
“What?”
“Dead?”
“Who’s dead?”
“Who’s back?”
Dustin pressed the talk button to cut them all off again, “Just finish your shifts if you have to and meet back at Base Nora, he’s not going anywhere. Over and out.” Mike, Will, and Lucas tried calling out over each other, the line cutting in and out about ‘who’s not going anywhere?’ and ‘what are you talking about?’, but Dustin just clicked the walkie off instead of answering.
Max leaned forward again, arms still crossed against her chest, and looked at Dustin like he’d finally lost it. “That was the absolute worst way you could have handled that.”
“Yeah but how fast do you think they’ll get here now?” he responded. Steve shook his head as a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. He had to admit Dustin was clever. Rude as hell, but clever. Max just smirked back at him.
“Oh they are so fired.”
“I don’t think Keith can afford to fire them,” El laughed.
Keith, Family Video, the kids, it was all so similar to his world. If it was just this, just the party and Robin and Eddie, it would be fine. The fact that his house was Base Nora, that it was clearly well used by many people and filled with laughter and the sunlight of the morning peaking through the windows, it filled Steve with longing for what he’d lost in his world.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d opened the blinds in his house. It was always dark, quiet. He barely even turned the lights on most days, just fumbled through the house hungover and half blind. If it was just the kids they had to tell, he’d be excited to see their reaction, to know that everyone was safe.
However, with the conclusion of one task, the other much more daunting task was at hand. The lightness in Steve’s chest from the kids’ banter was slowly stripped thread by thread, unraveling the warmth he felt and replacing it with cold dread. Robin pulled him up and they all made their way back into the kitchen.
He glanced again at the picture wall, taking in the images he was too panicked to really see before. He stepped closer. There was a picture of the party at a beach, though Steve didn’t know where. He’d only ever seen beaches from expensive hotel windows, before his parents deemed him old enough to stay home alone. Here, the other Steve was smiling, arms around Eddie and Robin, who both had their hair up in buns, kids fighting in the background. There was another picture of the party in his living room, blankets strewn around the floor, kids huddled around with a movie on in the background. He couldn’t tell which movie, but the kids weren’t looking at the screen anyway, they were all huddled around laughing at he and Eddie, sleeping soundly splayed out on top of each other.
Steve wondered how much happier this Steve was. How much more he had. He did things, went places, surrounded by friends, always touching and talking and laughing. He had the party, all safe, he had his mom. But he’d died, left it all behind and Steve was in his place, taking that spot from him. It didn’t seem fair. Steve really didn’t belong here.
“Steve?” Robins voice called as softly as he’d ever heard her. He turned away from the pictures to where she was standing by the phone, already held in her hand. She tilted her head toward the dial on the wall, silently asking if he’d like to do the honors.
He shook his head but walked over to her, stepping in as close as he could. She wrapped an arm around his waist and held the phone to her ear, inexplicably dialing the Wheeler’s number. He glanced over at Nancy, leaning against the archway to the kitchen.
“Our moms have girls’ days sometimes. That’s where they all are now,” she whispered as Robin finished dialing. He could hear it ring. The phone anxiety was creeping back up on him, clawing at his throat. What if she’s mad they interrupted, what if she’s sad he’s not really her Steve, what if she doesn’t care, what if-
“Hi Karen, can I talk to Linda?” Robin’s voice cut through his spiral. He could hear Mrs Wheeler on the other end calling out for his mom, heard giggling in the background and wondered how many of their parents were there. Linda. Robin Buckley was on first name basis with his mother. The more things stay the same, the more they change or whatever the fuck that saying was.
“Hello? Robin?” His mothers voice called out through the speaker. Robin gripped his waist tighter, squeezing three times. He tapped her hand three times right back. It was okay. He’d be okay.
“Hi Linda. I uh… sorry to interrupt!” Robin responded.
“Oh, nonsense, is everything okay? You’re all there, right?” Her voice was so soft, so kind. The last time he’d heard the same voice it was cold, hard like stone. A frigid ‘We’re very disappointed in you, Steven’ tossed his way before his father threw down job applications on the kitchen table. He blinked back the memories and tried tuning back into Robin.
“-don’t really know how to explain it, we just… uh. It’s about Steve.”
It was silent on the other end of the line. The static counting down the seconds before his mother cleared her throat to respond.
“What about Steve, Dear?”
Robin turned to look at him, a vague panic in her eyes as she didn’t know how to respond. They probably should have thought this through more, figured out something to say before calling. It was too late now.
“Um… uh… Something… happened this morning and we think it’s, you know, campaign related,” Robin emphasized, as if she were adding a wink, wink onto the end of her sentence.
She continued, “There’s some, uh, gates we think have opened and someone’s stumbled back into our lives.” Steve felt her shrug helplessly, letting go of his waist to give Nancy a sort of ‘please help me, I’m drowning here’ look, gesturing frantically to the phone. She marched over to them and slid it out of Robin’s hand, stepping in between the two of them.
“Hi, Linda. We think you should come home and see for yourself. It’s a lot, so just… try not to freak out,” Nancy added. Robin smacked her hand to her forehead, that would definitely make someone freak out.
Steve didn’t hear the end of his mom’s call, just the whispered frantic arguing between Nancy and Robin. Eventually, though, Robin hung up the phone and they all looked at each other. At least that was over now. The actual explaining this though was going to be harder. Where did they even start? Everyone was going to flip out the second they saw him, and Steve was exhausted enough already. He couldn’t wait for this part to be over, he just wanted to rest.
This much energy, this many people and conversations and socialization wasn’t something he was used to anymore. It was a bit suffocating, but that could also have just been the panic. It would take about fifteen minutes to get here from the Wheeler’s house, same for the boys at the strip mall — though, Steve wasn’t sure if they’d finish out their shifts first or just make a break for it. They were never good at impulse control.
He decided to sit on the staircase at the entryway. He figured being right there would sort of rip the bandaid off, so to say. So, he sat on the cold hardwood steps, felt Robin plop herself down next to him, and he waited. The dark wood table against the wall of the entryway was the same in his world, though there was a vase of fresh flowers, recently filled. Alive. In his world, they were never real to begin with. Instead, there was a large vase of scented sticks, some minimalist bullshit decor that meant nothing. He stared at the flowers, outlined each and every one to keep his mind away from the panic, to keep himself rooted to the spot.
He used to sit here after saying stiff and formal goodbyes to his parents. He’d watch them leave, tell them have a safe trip, close the door behind them and then just… sit on the stairs. He’d sit for minutes or hours or whatever amount of time it took him to get over himself and get back on with his life. Who cared about some superficial woes of a rich boy? What was he going to say, that he missed parents he never really had? That he wanted his mommy? It was pathetic. So he’d dust himself off, though a spec of dust probably didn’t exist anywhere in the Harrington house, and call up Tommy and Carol to tell them he had the house to himself again. He could fill it with as many people as he wanted before they got back, he was fine.
Now, instead of shaking himself out of it, he was snapped back by the sound of high heels against the brick steps outside. He held his breath, or maybe he just forgot to breathe all together. Before the handle was touched, a stampede of sneaker noises caught up to the heals on the steps, the panting and gasped complaints bleeding through the door.
“Hi, Mrs Harrington,” he thought it was Will’s voice that filtered in.
“Hi, boys. I’m assuming you got a cryptic call as well?” She teased. She teased. He’d never heard that tone before in his life.
“Yeah, Dustin called right in the middle of our shifts!” Lucas accused, as if Dustin didn’t specifically tell them to finish their shifts before coming over.
“Aren’t you going to get in trouble for that?” She asked
“Oh please, Keith can’t afford to fire us anyway,” Mike muttered.
With the greetings out of the way, someone finally gripped the handle. The rattling of the metal put a fire under Steve’s ass and before he knew it, he’d booked it around the corner and just out of sight.
“Wait, Steve-,” Robin shouted after him, though the door finally opened and she was confronted with four startled faces before she could run after him.
“Steve?” Lucas shouted.
He muttered a quiet fuck under his breath and braced himself. He couldn’t just leave Robin floundering around by herself out there, that was too cruel. So, instead of being an absolute coward he took in a deep breath, held it for just a few seconds until his lungs felt stretched to their limits, and then he let it all go as he stepped around the corner.
—
Sorry about that one guys, I hate cliff hangers but I never know where else to stop these lmao you'll meet Linda Harrington in the next one! We'll also hear from Eddie 👀
I'm still adding to the taglist as well, so feel free to ask!
@weirdandabsurd42 @sirsnacksalot @space-invading-pigeon @aliea82 @goodolefashionedloverboi @emly03 @bestwifehaver @mentallyundone @13catastrophic-blues @estrellami-1 @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @likelylad @aellafreya @wxrmland
102 notes
·
View notes