Same day, the cemetery
-He was a good man. Such a shame he passed away so young, said the red hair man.
-He was a pain in the ass, replied Minho.
-Now don't be like that. He was a great leader. A genius if I dare to say.
-Even dead your mouth won't stop babbling, Minho rolled his eyes.
-What? Can't I have my moment of peace? Let me die being appreciated, the man smirked.
-You're still annoying, Bang Chan. Dead or alive.
Chan laughed amused of the graves he had in front of him.
-To make us graves after they killed us. Hypocrites.
Back to the day Chan got shot
Hyunjin decided to go to see with his eyes what happened. He climbed the stairs and opened the door to the roof.
He saw a body laying in blood and a lump formed in his throat. He got closer scared and recognised the blood curles now soaked in the red liquid.
-Boss! Boss! Come on, don't do this to us! It's not fucking funny! he yelled out of pure desperation.
-Dog, please come here! He needs you!
Jeongin followed the command and in a wink of an eye he reached them.
He kneeled down next to Chan and with his hand took the bangs off of his sweaty forehead.
-Chris, please! Can you hear me? he asked with a shaky voice.
Chan's eyes were opened, but empty. He couldn't see or hear anything.
Jeongin took of his jacket and put it on the wound, then pressed with all his force on that spot.
When he saw he doesn't have enough force, he put his knee on top of it and pressed harder.
Hyunjin was watching the scene terrified.
-Is he gonna die? he asked, his voice breaking at the end.
-I'M TRYING, OK? I'M FUCKING TRYING! HE IS LOSING BLOOD AND I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT IN HERE TO SAVE HIM!
Jeongin's outburst made Hyunjin understand what Chan did mean for the boy.
-Chris, look at me! Chris, for God's sake! You cannot leave me alone! Not like that! the maknae cried out loud. Please! I'm begging you!
-Can't we take him to the shelter? asked Hyunjin trying to help.
-It will take too long. He won't make it until then. I need a silent place to work in.
-What about the old hideout. No one will search for us there if they think we're dead.
-We can't carry him there. We don't have a stretcher and he needs to stay in this position.
Hyunjin called Changbin there and took off his his jacket. He tied it with Changbin's and improved a stretcher.
He put Chan slowly on the clothing peaces and, with Changbin's help, they took him to the tank under the other members' scared looks.
Seungmin was driving the tank, so he wasn't forced to look at the scene, but he coud hear everyone else calling Chan.
Minho covered Jisung and Felix's eyes and kept them beside them to stop them shaking. He didn't want them to see the amount of blood Chan was losing.
Jeongin was covered in the hot liquid up to his sleeves, working carefully to keep Chan alive.
Chan woke up three days later, with his abdomen looking like a mummy's, but still in one piece and this time sewed correctly.
He opened his eyes and squirmed because of the morning light.
He looked on his right and saw Jeongin sleeping on a chair, holding his hand.
He woke him up rubbing gently his thumb on the younger's cheek.
The latter was speechless. He lost his hope and the moment he saw Chan smiling at him, he broke into an ugly cry.
He moved closer and smashed his lips by Chan's, making pauses to cry or to cup Chan's face in his palms repeating "You're fine. You're alright".
After Jeongin calmed down, he helped Chan get dressed and took him by the hand.
-We're back to the hideout? he asked confused.
-This was the only safe place to bring you. There was no time to go to Busan, replied Jeongin still shaken up by the situation.
They entered the kitchen and found the others sitting at the table, each one with a glass of wine in front of him.
There were sitting in this exact order: Hyunjin, Felix, Minho, Jisung, Changbin, Seungmin.
And there were two empty seats at the head of the table.
-What's all of this?
-Sit down, Chris.
Jeongin helped him to sit on the chair, then took himself the seat between his leader and Hyunjin.
-We've been through a lot together. And we thought it would be nice to sit at the table together since it's been so long since we last did this. Like you taught us...like a family, added Jeongin squeezing Chan's hand.
The latter looked at his members holding hands and behaving like a family. He recalled in his head all the moments they saved each other and in that moment he knew he did it right.
-Chris? Jeongin asked worried when Chan bent his head down.
He looked closely and saw Chan crying. He was really crying. Tears streaming on his red face. That was the first time they ever saw their leader crying.
-Thank you for everything! For giving me this! That's all I ever wanted, he said through the sobs.
They all smiled at him and took in their hands the glasses of wine.
-Let's cheer for our deaths, leader! said Minho genuinely smiling.
Chan took the glass and rose it in air.
-For Stray Kids! they all cheered in the same time, before taking small sips of wine.
-Now what are we doing? asked Hyunjin staring at his leader.
Before Chan had the time to answer, his phone started ringing. They all looked at the screen and froze.
-What do you want? Chan asked with a stern voice.
"I heard you died. My condolences. If you were still alive, I would make you an offer that can help your team too. Don't you want a new job?"
-Just say it, Seonghwa. What do you want?
"I want you as my subdivision. In Mafia. You are indeed powerful weapons and I would be a fool to let you slip though my fingers. We can help each other. You protect my new empire and I give you the equipment necessary to destroy every District in the world. Isn't it what you want?"
-Only if you kill by my rules. No innocent ones.
"Very well. Welcome to the team, Stray Kids!"
Before moving to the Mafia hideout, when no one would search for them, they had to get rid of the last clue of their existence, which was their old hideout.
So with Jisung's help, they burnt it all to the ground.
They gathered around the fire and watched the flames spreading.
Minho went to Chan and gave him the necklace.
-I found this inside. It's a letter from your friend. I didn't read it.
Chan took it and lingered his eyes on it. A smile crept on his face when he reached the end.
-Thank you, Minho!
-About the necklace, I broke it by mistake, but Jisung fixed it, so it's fine.
Chan looked at Minho and took the necklace off.
-You don't need this anymore. Neither do I. You aren't replacements for my friends. You are my family I longed for so many years. Let's leave the past behind us and finally let the dead sleep in peace, he added before throwing the necklace in the fire along with the letter. BamBam can sleep now. Maybe the two of us would be able to sleep too, he joked referring to both his and Minho's sleeping problems.
___________________________
I told you, guys, to trust me. I couldn't leave Stray Kids without their leader.
There is one more chapter left. Isn't it exciting? The last chapter...the chapter about closure.
It made me so happy to see you all reading this fanfic. Honestly, I'm sad that it's ending. Even tho I write other fanfics, this one was the most popular one and the amount of comments made my day.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading!