Stray Kids Drabbles

Fifty-fifty

You followed him into the JYP building and let him lead you to an office. He pulled out his phone to send a text to Chan announcing that he'd be late to a recording session and that's when you saw his lockscreen with his cats.

The moment you brought it up, his whole face lit up. The conversation shifted to the three cats. His warm brown eyes twinkled with delight. He spoke softly while he disinfected and bandaged your hands. Once he was finished, he led you back towards the entrance.

He apologized for having to leave so soon, but he had to go to work. He gave you his number and insisted that if you texted him, the two of you could make plans and he'd buy you a coffee to make up for it.

It took you a few days to finally work up the courage to text him. When you agreed on a time and a date, you showed up at the coffee shop the day of. You had arrived twenty minutes early, but he was already sitting at an empty table waiting.

He grinned upon seeing you and made a joke about how desperate you must have been to see him again for showing up so early. You had rolled your eyes and told him to get over his pride.

You had been away from people for so long that you had forgotten how to have proper conversations. You often used sarcasm and said things that some people considered to be rude. You were worried that you had offended him, but he had only laughed at your remark.

As the two of you went up to the counter to order drinks, your playful banter had only continued. Your conversations didn't feel forced. Your cold remarks had been returned with Lee Know's own version. You weren't uncomfortable, you were thrilled.

You didn't know his story and you didn't know his past, but he was so much like you that it hurt. The two of you started hanging out more and more. Your sarcasm and playful comments were continuously met with his own, but you could easily have serious conversations when you needed to.

At one point, you had been having an awful day. You woke up late for work and someone backed into your car while you were on the way there. When you finally arrived, it was announced that your favorite co-worker was transferring jobs to another company building.

The company internet, which all of you needed, had gone out for a few hours. Your boss yelled at you for something that wasn't your fault. The list kept growing and growing and then you met up for coffee with Lee Know.

When he joked that you looked like a raccoon with your eye bags, tears filled your eyes. He was right, you hadn't been sleeping well lately. Your depression had spiked back up because of the cold weather and you felt so miserable. No matter how much sleep you got, it never seemed to be enough.

He was expecting to receive a snide remark, but when he saw tears in your eyes, his face fell. He apologized instantly, but you shook your head. Blinking rapidly, you forced the tears back. You apologized for ruining the atmosphere and his heart broke.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because this is supposed to be a stress-free time period. I'm not supposed to be crying and ruining it." You wiped a stray tear away with the side of your finger.

"You're not ruining anything by crying. Why are you crying anyway? What's wrong? We should talk about it."

You frantically shook your head and insisted that it was nothing. You hadn't been sleeping very well, but you refused to tell him anymore. The conversation went to his cats and then he began talking about his day at work.

You pushed your problems down. Your thumb ran across the lid of your coffee cup as you listened. You nodded and commented here and there. He had even gotten you to laugh.