The Stylist

Chapter 2

Flashback: 2 years ago

"Felix, I'm so fucking nervous, I think I'm gonna puke."

I was pacing in front of my brother in my apartment, trembling with nerves. I was supposed to start my first project with Stray Kids' stylist team the next day. I was 19, and the guys had blown up since their debut the year before, so there were more people paying attention to their final looks and their photo shoots. Normal idol things that seem to make or break how fast a group's fan base grows.

"What if I fuck up? What if they ask me to leave because of my tattoos? What if they hate me?" I wasn't even looking at my brother at that point. I wasn't even sure if he was listening, but he knew that unless I sat down, there was no chance that I would let him get a word in. So, like the best brother he is, he sat and let me word vomit until I tired myself out. I finally took the chance to glance over. Felix sat himself on my couch the moment I let him in. He was curled into the arm of it, with his arm propping his head up and his knees pulled comfortably to his chest. Seeing that I was finally looking at him, he adjusted his legs and widened his free arm to invite me to cuddle.

On wobbly knees, I shuffled over and curled into my brother. I relaxed the best I could, but my thoughts wouldn't shut off. They were running rampant as if they were cartoon monkeys that got loose from a zoo, wreaking havoc and destroying everything in their paths.

"It's moments like these that make me forget that you're the older sibling here." I could feel his voice rumbling over my head as he rubbed my back slowly.

"I know that you're nervous. I know that you're freaking yourself out. I know that if you hadn't called me to come over, you would be drowning yourself in nicotine and crying yourself to sleep. But I also know that my big sister is an absolute badass. I know that my sister is capable of being way more confident in herself. I know that the biggest reason that you're even nervous is because you're scared that you won't be able to hang out with me and you'd be forced to make actual friends." I huffed at the subtle jab, "Most importantly though, I know that I have 100% confidence that you'll do fine, and that the worst thing you could do is forget to voice your opinions when they ask for them. You worked so hard Chloe, don't psych yourself out over the trivial things."

I closed my eyes tightly, taking a long, lung-filling breath, before releasing it. He was right and I knew it. I was so against change for myself that I was making myself anxious, getting closer and closer to shooting myself in the foot with my nerves. This wouldn't be any different from when we would play around with different looks in grade school. Only difference now, is that I could do more to his hair color and style without worrying about getting him in trouble.

A few hours later, I was being introduced to the rest of the group, and they were pretty nice about everything. I was to set up my station and mostly observe as I watched my predecessor work. As I did, I listened to all the ideas that were being thrown around, and when one was suggested about my brother, I tried to imagine it. They wanted to give him a look that made him that scary kind of cool, but the way they were going about it just didn't click in my mind. Throwing caution to the wind, I made my first suggestion on anything professional.

"What if we gave Felix a more maverick look? With his silver, it'll make him look a bit colder, and it would work with his complexion and the concept for the video shoot?" Everyone in the room stared at me for a long moment, so I explained a bit further. "Think of him as a more Jason Bourne kind of cool instead of a Danny Zuko kind of cool. It comes off more classy, but at the same time, Felix would feel more like a seasoned individual that honestly couldn't care less about unwanted opinions, and effectively make his soft nature look hardened."