Stay - Stray Kids Han Jisung FF (RESQ SAGA PART 3)

7.

The fourth of April was the last day before Lin came back and we had to start working for the album full time so, as the boys were going to MCountdown that day, we decided to spend some time with them and support them. Lin had also agreed to call us whenever she had free time in between preparations as Idol Producer's final would not start until nine at night Korean time.

"Apparently the number of votes we have is very high," said Chan as we waited backstage while other groups performed. "It's either us or Haeun and Yosep with <Girlfriend>."

"I bet my guitar it is going to be you," I said confidently. "Guys, everyone loves your song! You are meant to win it!"

"Alix, we appreciate the enthusiasm but don't bet your guitar. You won't want to lose it," Jisung told me nervously.

"Han Jisung!" I exclaimed and held his shoulders. "I said I would bet my guitar and I am dead serious about it. Your song was a hit and that's it. Be more confident and have some faith."

"I've already said it once and I will say it as many times as needed: we need to keep her. She's like our personal cheerleader," Jeongin joked although he still looked very nervous.

As if on cue, Mika's phone rang and she immediately picked up the video call, where we could see her along with a girl that seemed to be around our age too.

"Mika, how are the boys? Nervous?" Lin asked her.

Mika then turned the phone so she could see them and saw them pacing around the small room looking more than nervous.

"Gosh, you look terrible!" she exclaimed. "You looked even more nervous than the boys here and they still don't know whether they will be debuting or not!"

"You are no help, Lin. No offense," Minho told her.

"None taken," Lin quickly said. "Guys, you can do it. I'm sorry I can't be there to support all of you but I have used the people here as my own lab rats and had them vote for all of you. You are welcome."

"I love you right now, you know that?" Woojin told her making us all laugh.

"Good luck to all of you!" the girl beside Lin, who I recognise as Jiang Yingyue as I watched the show, exclaimed with a very bad Korean. "You can do it!"

"Thank you!" Seungmin told her.

"Good luck to you too, Yingyue," I told her in Chinese. "I will make sure to vote for you as many times as I can later."

"Thank you!" She said back. "I will do my best."

"Stray Kids, get ready. You go back on stage in five," a staff member said. 

The boys then began panicking even more and pacing around, so we didn't know what to do. Lin also had to hang up so we were left there alone with the very nervous boys.

Although they all looked nervous, we all knew that the 3Racha boys were the worst so Mika quickly approached Chan, Leah approached Changbin and Soojin approached Jisung, leaving me alone with the rest of the boys. A few seconds later, though, Soojin came back and tapped my shoulder.

"You should go," she told me. "He seems to calm down better with you."

Confused, I still thanked her and went towards where Jisung was drinking some water and visibly shaking.

"Jisung..." I called him quietly. "Just believe in yourself and all of the Stays out there. I know you are very capable of winning and, even if you don't, this is just one of many shows and one of many comebacks. It's not like this is the end of the world."

"But it's exactly our one year anniversary album and all. It holds something very special," he explained.

"Jisung. Believe in yourself," I said and grabbed his hand. "I believe in you, okay? I believe in you so much I would bet my life right now on that win. I know you will do it. As you said, this is a special date and destiny always finds its fun little ways to surprise us."

He then suddenly pulled my arm and wrapped me in a hug that I quickly responded to, knowing that he needed it very badly.

"Thank you, Alix," he told me. "Let's hope you are right."

"Guys, you need to go on stage now," their manager told them.

After saying goodbye, the boys all left and we watched the program from the screens around the backstage since we couldn't see it live.

In just a few minutes, the MC's announced that they would reveal the winner's vote count and the girls and I held hands while waiting for it.

After they added all of the votes up, we saw Miroh had won and immediately began screaming happily, the staff and people there sending us weird looks that we simply ignored. The girls then hugged each other and I was shocked when they did the same with me as it felt like I was part of the group for the first time.

I didn't know why but I had begun to tear up due to all of the emotions at that moment although I didn't shed any tears. I hadn't known the boys for long but my relationship with Woojin and the friendship that Jisung and I had just started was enough for me to feel extremely happy for them.

"Firstly, I would like to thank Park Jinyoung PD, CEO Jung Wook, vice-president Pyo Jungyook, vice-president Jo Heasung, vice-president Byun Sabong, manager Jee In, Jinchul, Junghwan, Jonggu, and our JYP family. Especially the ResQ girls including our new friend, Alix," Chan said in tears surprising me when he said my name. "I would also like to thank our families, managers, our makeup and hair team, stylists and members of the staff for treating us well. It was an honour for us to be nominated for first place. I want to share this joy with all of the artists here on stage. It's been a year since we debuted and we managed to get here thanks to our Stays. The Stays always give us strength and, because of that, we were able to share our music with everyone and that has made us very happy. I would like to thank the Stays for giving us this wonderful price. We will continue sharing our stories with many people though Kpop and music. Thank you. Stray Kids everywhere all around the world. You make Stay Kids stay. Thank you!"

Their encore stage then began and we were shocked when the staff told us we could go to see them from the side of the stage. Still, not wanting to waste the opportunity, we all headed there to see them.

They were singing the second verse by the we arrived, so we sadly had missed part of it. Still, we were so happy for them that we didn't even care about missing a few seconds if that meant we would get to be closer to them in that very special moment.

Hearing Jisung rapping in tears made me almost cry for real that time but I managed to not do it as, when I turned to the girls, they were singing and dancing with huge smiles on their faces.

As they performed, Felix suddenly saw us and immediately ran towards us and grabbed Mika's and Leah's arm -since they were closest to him- to pull them on stage too, where Soojin quickly joined. I wasn't wearing clothes nor makeup that someone would deem appropriate for going on stage, so I tried to stay there but Woojin quickly approached me and pulled me with them too.

The boys then approached me whenever they could to give me a quick hug but Jisung, who was still sobbing uncontrollably, hadn't, so I decided to go towards him myself pretending to just dance and jump around like the others.

When I finally reached where he was, I quickly hugged him tightly and he continued crying on my shoulder while holding me very tightly.

"I told you you would win, didn't I?" I said in his ear, making him smile just a little.

"Thank you, Alix," he said and suddenly picked me up slightly while still hugging me before leaving me on the floor again. "I really mean it."