Rose was trying not to laugh as she watched Stray Kids record a zombie version of the Maniac choreography. While Felix was taking the performance very seriously, the others were having a great time pretending to be zombies. It was nice to see them having so much fun.
To begin with they were just doing the choreography with zombie-like movements: clawed hands, jerky body movements, and growls. Hyunjin almost looked cute when he waved his hands about in what was supposed to be a scary gesture. However, once they got into it, it turned into typical Stray Kids chaos.
It was obvious that Changbin in particular had watched a lot of zombie shows. Rose was impressed by his growls and twitchy movements but also noticed when the rapper smiled at himself after his solo.
At one point they all started to bite each other. It started with Changbin biting Chan on the side, taking the leader by surprise and making him cry out. Then Hyunjin pretended to bite Jeongin's neck, who retaliated by chomping back at him, and finally, Felix pretended to take a small bite out of Seungmin's neck as he walked past.
Rose almost shrieked in surprise at the end when Minho started running towards her in a zombie-like fashion, but he barely spared her a glance as he straightened up and walked away. She had her hand over her heart when Felix approached her with his normal grin.
"Did we scare you, Noona?"
"You were so good that I thought you'd turned into real zombies. So scary!"
"I think Changbin-Hyung has turned into a zombie."
The group member in question turned towards them at the mention of his name and stumbled over to where Rose was sitting, still in zombie mode. This time she really did squeal as he pretended to attack her. Felix and Jeongin held the rapper back and he tried to bite her, making her lean back as far as she could.
"Are you not a fan of zombies?"
"Don't tell anyone, but I'm actually a scared cat when it comes to stuff like this. I can't watch horror movies."
At her admission, Changbin immediately dropped his act.
"Sorry, Noona."
"No, no! You're fine. Really. You make an excellent zombie, Binnie."
The rapper's chest puffed up at her praise.
"What about me?!"
"You too, Innie. Very scary."
"Who was the scariest, Noona?"
"Oh, definitely you, Felix. Seriously terrifying. Especially with your hands."
"It was kind of cool having this kind of makeup put on."
"Do you know how to do stuff like this, Noona?"
"Special effects makeup? No, but I'd love to learn."
"It looks cool, but I bet it's going to be a pain to get off."
"I'll help you if you want. I have my own special makeup remover."
"Really? Thank you, Rose."
"Call me Noona."
"Okay! Thank you, Noona."
Rose helped the boys clean up, or at least the ones who would let her. She focused on cleaning Felix's arms while the other boys used her special remover.
"Whoa! This stuff is amazing."
"My skin feels so nice after using it!"
"Noona, what is this?"
"Ah. It's my secret recipe."
"Since your Chan-Hyungs soulmate does that mean we get access to a lifetime supply."
"Oh, is that how it works?"
"Yes?"
Jisung pouted cutely at Rose, and she imagined that no one could say no to that face.
"Do well in your performance later and I'll think about it."
"No problem!"
Once again Rose was watching Stray Kids perform from their dressing room backstage. Ever since the issue with Minho's outfit she had made a special effort to check that every member was comfortable with what they were wearing. However, she didn't think she would ever get used to seeing Chan in a cropped top.
She remembered back in the days of Kingdom when he got embarrassed for showing a lot of skin on stage. Even at their fan meet where they first met properly, he got a little shy about his outfits. Rose didn't know what had changed, but this comeback every single outfit he wore showed a slither of skin, or more when he danced. She tried not to pay too much attention as the stylists dressed him, after all, she had no right to be jealous. Chan was just her co-worker, a friend at most, but a platonic relationship either way.
Another thing she noticed was the butt grabbing during performances. Rose didn't know what it was with Idol groups and their fascination with slapping each other's butts, but her boys seemed to have taken it up a notch and on stage. What surprised her most was that Minho seemed to be the instigator. Although since she had been a fan for years it shouldn't be that surprising. Rose knew what Minho could be like, she just hoped that one day he would warm up to her.
As the performance ended, the camera landed on each of them for the ending close-up shots. Rose watched as Felix knelt down out of the way as he blocked the camera's view of his fellow member. It was so cute that it made her smile at how considerate the young Australian was.
Rose walked out of the dressing room with towels and water bottles for the boys and met them as they walked from the stage to the dressing room. She handed them out to Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin as they passed her by, getting a tired smile and thank you from the boys.
Felix looked a little sad and Rose knew that not being able to dance was killing him. She knew the boys did their best to cheer him up, even on stage during the performance, but nothing could make up for having to stand on the sidelines and watch the rest of the group perform.
"You did amazing, Sweetie."
"Thank you, Noona."
Since he wasn't as tired as the others, Felix decided to wait with Rose for the stragglers.
Changbin took a bottle of water gratefully and thanked Rose in a cutesy tone.
"Ah! I'm overheating in this outfit!"
"What? Why didn't you say something?"
"Noona, we get hot in all our outfits. I think it's inevitable."
"Debatable. Go on, go get changed."
When Minho walked past, Rose thought he was going to completely ignore her, but instead, he reached out to take a towel and a bottle of water.
"Good job today, Minho."
The dancer paused as he took the items from her and stared into her eyes. Rose felt as though she was being studied, scrutinised. It was the first time that they had made eye contact and she felt her heart race as she held his gaze.
"Thank you."
As Minho walked away, Rose almost held her hand against her chest but stopped herself.
"See! Minho-Hyung is warming up to you already."
Rose raised an eyebrow at Felix's overenthusiastic optimism.
"If that's him warming up to me, then give it another week and I'm sure we'll be best friends."
Her sarcasm made the boy snort with laughter as Jisung bounced over to them.
"Rosie-Noona! Did I do well?"
Before she could answer, Rose was distracted by Chan appearing around the corner. He was fiddling with his inner ears but that wasn't what caught her attention. Her soulmate was walking around with his top unbuttoned, his whole chest on display. It took her so much by surprise that she wouldn't have been shocked if her jaw had dropped open.
"Noona? Do I get the lifetime supply?"
"Huh? What? Yep. Sure..."
Jisung's sharp eyes noticed that Rose was distracted but only smirked to himself before running after Minho.
"Lee Know, me know!"
On stage is one thing, but just walking around like that... No one should get to see that but me.
"Show off. It's not fair. I'm going to lose my abs because I can't work out properly."
Felix linking his arm with Rose's and resting his head on her shoulder pulled her attention off of her soulmate. She shook her head to get rid of her thoughts.
Friends. Just friends. I can do that.
Using his grip on her arm, Rose turned them around and started walking back to the dressing room, leaving Chan behind.
"Aww, don't worry, Lixie. STAY will still love you, and anyway, you'll get them back."
Chan looked up to see his best friend and his soulmate walking away without waiting for him and sighed. Looking down at his feet he considered running after them but ultimately decided against it. He was glad that Felix and Rose got along so well. This whole situation would've been even more difficult if she hadn't been accepted by his group members, or at least most of them.
As he walked back to the dressing room, Chan ran his hand down his chest before loosely doing up his top. With renewed determination, he told himself that he would just have to work harder to catch Rose's attention. He worked hard to win his fans' affections, but it was obvious that it would take more than that to win over Rose. He just needed a plan and perhaps some help.