Stray Kids Oneshots

Forget Me Not - PT. 4 (HyunHo/MinChan)

~ A/N : comments are highly appreciated ~

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Despite having been forgiven by his little, Chan was still upset about what he had done. It didn't matter that Minho still loved him and wasn't mad at him, Chan was angry at himself. He didn't think he deserved to be Minho's caregiver anymore; he didn't think he should keep this role, since he couldn't live up to it. And looking back, Chan thought Hyunjin would be the best choice, the one he could give the role to. He had seen how Hyunjin and Minho had grown close and attached to each other, so maybe Hyunjin could become the official caregiver.

With that in mind, Chan walked up to Hyunjin one day, after practice, while the others were busy talking and stretching.

"Hey, Jinnie, can I talk to you?"

"Sure," Hyunjin smiled. "Do you want to go somewhere private?"

"Yeah, that'd be best."

Hyunjin nodded before walking to his bag to grab a towel and some water, and followed the leader out of the practice room and to his studio. Hyunjin closed the door and faced Chan who was sitting at his desk chair, his expression unreadable; the boy bit his lip and sat on the couch, scratching the back of his head.

"You wanted to talk?" Hyunjin said, breaking the heavy silence.

"Yeah... uhm... I wanted to ask you something, actually," Chan replied. He twisted his fingers and kept fidgeting in his seat, his teeth sinking into his lower lip and tearing the skin. "This isn't gonna be easy. To be honest, I feel awful for asking you this, and I don't want to, but I feel like this is the only way. The truth is, I'm not being a good caregiver, you know that." Hyunjin stopped himself from saying anything; yes, Chan had made mistakes, but he was still an amazing caregiver... "Minho deserves the world. He deserves all the love in the universe, he deserves the attention he needs, he deserves someone who always looks after him and makes sure he has everything he needs. I'm not that person; I thought I was, and I want to be that person, but I'm not... I'm not." Chan took a deep breath and scratched the material of his jeans. "So. Well, I thought that the best thing to do is to take a step back and stop being Minho's caregiver. And I'm asking you... you know, to be his caregiver."

Hyunjin's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, back straightening and cheeks reddening. "Hyung, what are you talking about?" He said. "You can't do that- you can't do this to Minho! He'll be crushed! He chose you for a reason, and he keeps choosing you, every single day and every time he regresses. Even if you make mistakes, he still comes back to you, don't you see that? Hyung, if you tell him you can't be his caregiver anymore, he won't understand and he'll think you don't love him anymore. Please, don't do this!"

"Hyunjin, I'm drowning in work, I don't have enough time to take care of Minho," Chan reasoned. "I love him. So, so much. That's why I'm asking you to be his caregiver, because I can't treat him the way he should be treated, and if I remain his caregiver, I'll just keep making him miserable. I don't want that."

"Channie hyung," Hyunjin said, voice low and serious, "Minho looks up to you, he loves you. He forgets about the times you weren't there, it doesn't matter to him, because he knows you'll always be back; the times he remembers are the times you're with him, hugging him and taking care of him."

Chan sighed, looking down at his feet before flicking his eyes towards Hyunjin who was staring at him, eyebrows knitted together. "But don't you wanna be his caregiver?" Hyunjin opened his mouth but closed it again quickly, unable to find a reply to that. "Come on, Jinnie... I've seen the way you look at him, the way you take care of him and make him your priority whenever you can. He's grown really attached to you, you know?"