Centers of Fate - Stray Kids

Chapter 24 - The Good Life

For those Superiors not quite ready to settle down in a house they could easily afford, or one they wanted to build themselves, there were multiple luxury apartments at their fingertips. The last remnants of Minho's Superior mindset was on the 10th floor of a building on the outskirts of the city.

The entire 10th floor.

Jisung had visited multiple times even before the couple was officially together. He was astonished at how much room there was. It was bigger than anywhere he had ever lived. Honestly, Minho preferred Jisung's cozy apartment. Tonight, they needed more room, and a proper kitchen, to make a luxury dinner for Felix, Jisung and Seungmin's joint birthday party.

"I'm almost done!" Minho called out to wherever Jisung was.

"Everything smells so good!"

Minho bought the best ingredients money could buy and made each of the September-borns their favorite dishes to be shared with everyone. He knew this would be a treat to his Average and Sub-Standard friends, and one he was happy to give to them. His evolving views made him truly believe that they deserved this too.

Jisung walked into the kitchen and back hugged Minho as he stood over the stove with a concentrated look on his face.

"It's going to be amazing!" Jisung said, his head peeking at the organized chaos from Minho's shoulder.

"I hope everyone likes it."

Jisung was happy Minho was being more honest with his feelings and insecurities. "They will, trust me!"

The doorbell rang through the apartment, and Jisung gave Minho a quick peck on the cheek before rushing off to answer it.

"Hiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!" Jisung's voice echoed through the relatively empty space as he saw his old and new friends at the door. "Min is just finishing up dinner, come on in!"

"Oh my gosh, this is crazy!" Chan took a few cautious steps in, trailing behind everyone else.

"Why are you..." Hyunjin started to tease, but then remembered from the article that Chan couldn't really go anywhere, so being in a space this large might be scary for him. "Never mind, sorry."

"Wow." Felix looked impressed. "We stan character development in this house."

Jisung grinned broadly. "And we are in the perfect house for that!"

"So whipped!" Hyunjin mumbled with a laugh.

"That was nice while it lasted." Felix dropped his head in pretend disappointment.

"Where's the lie though?" Minho emerged from the kitchen with a squirrel apron on, and everyone laughed. "The food's almost ready, come have a seat!"

The group walked into Minho's dining room, Chan still tiptoeing behind everyone. The large table was clearly upscale, but it wasn't as fancy as the furniture in the Lee mansion. Jeongin was impressed with the space, but turned around to comfort a clearly anxious Chan.

"It's okay, Channie. You're safe. What's wrong?" Jeongin gently pulled his boyfriend towards the table, pulling out a seat between him and Seungmin.

"It's just weird, living in such a big space."

"True, but we're safe here. We're with friends." Jeongin settled into his seat closer to the head of the table, knowing Chan made a good point, but didn't want to comment on it further.

"Dinner!"

Jisung's voice echoed once again as he helped Minho bring out the food. Each setting had a plate and silverware, and the boys barely waited for the food to land in their new homes before they started passing around the various dishes and sides. After being tied together through the protests and articles, they started to feel like a family. Even Seungmin, who was probably the furthest removed from the group, was happy to find a place he belonged. He purposefully sat on the end to have an excuse to see everyone's joy and laughter. This was his first birthday celebration since turning 18, and he didn't even mind it was with others, since he thought they were pretty cool.

"Oh my god, Min, this is delicious!" Jisung said between big bites, his cheeks puffed out.

"Seriously, you're a great cook!" Seungmin smiled at Minho, which was a rare sight for any of them to see.

"Thanks guys."

Jisung poked Minho's cheek as the group continued to eat and enjoy each other's company. Small talk and laughter filled the usually silent space, and it made Minho happy. He wasn't sure what he was going to do about not having a job, but at least for now, he wanted to enjoy what he had. Changbin was also happy for Minho, but he knew they should take advantage of their newfound free time to focus on their activism.

"So what do we do next?"

Minho groaned. "Why Binnie? Why can't we just enjoy this dinner together?"

"He has a point. We can't lose the momentum." Seungmin spoke softly from the farthest end of the table.

"You're getting stalked though." Chan gave him a worried look. "Aren't you scared?"

Seungmin shook his head. "They're trying to scare me. I'm not worried about it."

"It scared me." Minho said, and Jisung grabbed his hand in support.

"Seungmin is right. We can't be scared." Felix was deep in thought. "We have each other now. I lost my family over this, I'm committed now."

"They actually disowned you?" Hyunjin yelled, and Jisung plugged his ear with his free hand.

"Basically."

"I heard the government is going to talk about the presidential order soon." Jeongin said. "Maybe some of us could go and see if they have a chance for the public to speak?"

They decided that Minho and Changbin would go, and whoever else was free from work that day could join them. They needed to stay plugged in, but also needed to enjoy the birthday celebration. They let go of the topic for the rest of the night and had fun. Eventually everyone left except for Jisung.

"I have a surprise for you." Minho said to him as he finished washing the dishes.

"You do?" He smiled at Minho from his seat on the couch.

Minho turned around and smiled, eyes shining. "Yeah. I think you'll like it."