Fire and Ice

Chapter Seventeen

3rd Person POV

After Chan talked with JYP, a statement was released immediately. The company wanted to get this under control before Stray Kids began the tour. Within hours, STAYs were in a panic. Many had questions they wanted answered. Some didn't hesitate to bash the girls and Ollie all over social media. And some were genuinely happy that the boys had found someone to love. Their faces were kept anonymous, along with their names. JYP went through with vetting all four individuals and found no reason to worry. He was a bit wary about Laney's parents, though.

Somehow, the information had been leaked about the girls' and Ollie's identities, and the fans changed gears. International STAYs found the relationships to be cute and comforting. To know that their favorite Idols weren't afraid to defy what was socially acceptable made them feel seen and heard. K-STAYs were significantly upset. They didn't like any of Stray Kids dating anyone outside their race. It wasn't culturally appropriate in their world. Some went as far as sending trucks to JYP to protest the relationships. There were a few that supported them, though.

Due to the chaos that ensued, the company pushed back the tour dates by two weeks. With Stayville being in an uproar, they wanted to make sure there was time for things to cool down before the boys traveled. By the time the boys were set to leave, things had died down exponentially, but that didn't mean the harsh and rude comments weren't still circling the fandom.

At first, the comments and outrage were easy to ignore. The girls and Ollie all knew that it was a bad idea to be on social media and they avoided it like the plague. The boys had been gone for a week and a half while they toured around South Korea and Japan. The four watched every live, and every video posted and supported their partners wholeheartedly. They'd sit in front of the TV and play their own game of Who Was Who? Of course, Jade made a drinking game out of it.

Once the performances ended and they saw the boys walking off stage, they'd sit around in a circle and place bets about who would get a call first, their phones faced up on the coffee table.

"Okay, everyone. Place your bets," Laney said as she pulled out the pen and paper she kept stored on the table. They did this often enough that it had become a permanent fixture.

"With how clingy Chan is, I say Laney first and then Jade," Bonnie snickered.

Laney wrote down Bonnie's guess as she smirked. "How much are you willing to bet on that? Like how positive are you?"

"Twenty dollars," Bonnie responded confidently. She knew she had this in the bag.

Laney then turned to Jade and smiled. "What about you?"

Jade put her finger on her chin. "I think Laney, then Ollie, mainly because although they have been together for a while now, Ollie and Changbin are still the newest couple and Changbin is obsessed." She laughed and then took a sip of her beer. "And before you ask, thirty dollars," she added smugly.

Laney turned to look at Ollie who sat on the floor close to her legs. They seemed to be lost in thought as they stared at the TV that now had large red letters across it that said 'Live Ended.'

"Ollie?"

They jumped slightly and blinked a few times as the sound of their name pulled them back to reality. "Hmm, yeah?" They turned their attention to Laney.

"Your guess and bet?" she asked with raised brows.

"Oh! Right. Um, well, I think Bonnie, then Jade. Honestly, those guys act like they can't live without the girls, and, um, twenty dollars." They took a drink of their beer as they looked at Jade and Bonnie with a raised brow, receiving eye rolls from both girls.