Something about concert days made you incredibly happy. Especially Stray Kids concert days, despite this being the first time you're attending one in person. Maybe the joy is being on vacation or the fact that you're all dolled up and, for once, feeling like you look amazing.
You look into the mirrored wall of the hotel elevator as you step in, and you allow yourself to do one last onceover of your outfit and makeup. You didn't go all out or anything, just a little concealer and foundation, some mascara, a small wing of eyeliner. Enough to make yourself happy and feel comfortable in your skin again.
The elevator dings as it passes another floor and you smooth a hand over the side of your skirt. You peer over in the mirror, taking in your form. Taking in the black half skirt, half shorts bottom you chose. The black crop top with straps wrapping around your exposed midsection. The knee high black socks and black shin-high high heel leather boots. The oversized half red, half black streetwear jacket you threw on top of it. All adorned with a few silver chains on your belt loops, some rings, a pair of dangly earrings.
Even your hair has only a few curled pieces, where most falls to your back in your half-up, half-down styling.
Overall you're pretty happy with the final look. Even so, you can't help but chuckle at how similar you and Chan are when it comes to your black clothing preferences. I guess I can't be that critical of the man when I'm just as bad about adding in anything else, you think to yourself. Maybe we'll see some color from him today?
Feeling like an eternity had passed, the elevator makes a final ding and the doors open up to the bustling lobby. You have to stop yourself from skipping out, more than ready to grab a bite to eat before heading to the concert venue. You're not gonna miss anything if you can help it.
You only make it halfway through the large room when you notice an old woman pleading with a bellboy to your left, her frail arms shaking as she asks him something you can't quite hear.
The bellboy only shakes his head in response. With a quick glance to the time, you pocket your phone in your cross-body bag and walk up to them.
"Ma'am you didn't pay for our cart service. I can't help you," you hear the bellboy say. "This is as far as I go."
The woman opens her mouth to respond but you step up beside her, turning to the man still holding possessively onto the cart. "What seems to be the problem here?"
Pushing aside his initial surprise, he simply nods to the old woman. "She didn't pay for the cart service so I can't help her take her bags to her room. Nothing I can do."
You can feel anger building up inside of you almost immediately. "Sir, you see her age right? You seriously can't spare a few minutes to help her? Out of the kindness of your heart?" He just shrugs, uncaring, and you refrain from gritting your teeth knowing it'll ruin your previously joyful mood. "Fine, lend us the cart for a minute and I'll help her and return the cart to you."
"Can't do that either. Cart stays with me. Now, I've wasted enough time with the both of you." He unloads the old woman's five bags and spares you one last glance. "She's your problem now," he says before walking off, the cart clicking over the tile as he goes.
You hear the old woman sniffle and you turn to her, taking her shaking hands in your own before she can break down completely. "Hey, hey...it's okay. He's an asshole, don't worry about him. I'll help you get your bags to your room."
When she peers up at you with misty eyes, you smile brightly. "We got this. Now can you pull this one with the wheels while I take these other four?"
"O-oh yes, dear. Yes, I can. Thank you. Thank you so much." She fiddles with the crumpled up handkerchief in her hand. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't of come along.
"I, I just moved here to be with my with son, but my apartment isn't ready until tomorrow and he's working right now. I...didn't want to bother him when he's already going through so much trouble to help me."
You smile, beyond happy you stopped and made the time to help her after hearing her story. "It's no problem, ma'am. I'm happy to help so you don't have to worry." You grab two of the duffle bags and hoist them up. "I'm going to move these over to the elevator real quick and then I'll come back for the other two, okay?"
The old lady nods and you walk together over to the silver metal doors. Once you make it there, you click the up button before running back to get the other two bags where they sit off to the side in the lobby. When you finally make it back to the woman, the elevator dings and you both walk through the doorway with the bags you're holding, setting them down in the corner.
Just as you rush back out to grab the last two duffles, three decently tall men clad in masks walk up. You nearly bump into one of them, the one wearing a baseball hat, whereas the other two simply have the hoods of their hoodies pulled up over their heads.
All three sport oversized sweaters, black jeans, and leather boots, but from the little you can see, their skin is a creamy brown and their dark hair contrasts it beautifully. Clean and fashionable, but nothing fancy.
"Ah." You stumble back a step, giving a small laugh in hopes of dissolving some of the awkwardness as all three men stop short. "I-I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going. My bad."
The one in the hat laughs heartily, his voice gentle. Musical almost. "Nah, it's my fault. We were rushing. No worries." He glances down at the duffle bags at your feet. "Do you need help?"
The other men with him walk into the elevator and you stoop to scoop up the bags. "I think I got them if you can keep the door open for me?"
He nods and quickly moves to hold his arm in front of the elevator door while you lug the surprisingly heavy bags inside and place them on top of the others already sitting in the corner.
"Wow." You look at one of the hooded men, his eyes on you now too. "You brought a lot of suitcases. Vacationing for a while?"
You shake your head as you shrug out of your thick jacket. It's way too hot to be wearing it right now. "They're not mine. They're hers." You nod respectfully at the old woman standing quietly in the corner as you wrap the jacket around your waist. "What floor are you ma'am?
"Third."
Wordlessly, the stockier man with the hat steps forward to press the button for the third floor as well as the fourth. The short ride up is quiet, save for the tinny dings of the elevator. Awkward almost. But it's over as quick as it started and the doors open up to the splay of third floor hotel rooms.
The old woman slowly shuffles out first and you hoist two bags, following her into the hall. "If you could hold-" you start to ask the man in the cap as you pass by, but him and one of the hooded men are already stepping forward toward the two bags left in the corner and they join you in the hall. "Please. Let us help you both take the bags instead. If that's okay?"
You smile, happy to see there are still good people in the world despite what you'd seen today. "That would be great, thank you." The two nod to the other hooded man still in the elevator and he nods back, letting the door close between them.
"What room ma'am?" you ask, readjusting your grip. Truthfully, your shoulders are aching already and you haven't been holding the bags long at all. Those things are obnoxiously heavy, but you simply grin and bear it. Better you than her.
"310." The woman waddles forward with her rolling luggage, looking at the room numbers on the wall. "To the left it seems."
You all start to follow after her as she leads the way, but as the man with the hat passes you, he extends a hand toward one of your duffle bags. "Can I?"
You blink up at him, a bit surprised. "Are you sure?" Though truthfully, you wouldn't mind the relief.
With his mask on, you can only see his eyes crinkle under the brim of his hat, but it looks like a bright smile nonetheless. His roughened skin brushes yours as he takes the bag from your hand, leaving you with one while he seems to easily carry two. "I'm sure."
"Thank you guys, for helping." You follow after them as you talk, taking up the rear as you all make your way down the hall. "I know I can speak for both of us when I say that we appreciate it. Restores our faith in humanity a little bit after that asshole of a bellboy."
The two men glance back at you as they walk, somewhat surprised by your confession. "What happened?"
You answer the man in the hood as you amble on. "He refused to take her bags up because quote, 'she didn't pay for the cart service'. I was passing by and tried to help but he wouldn't even let me take the cart and return to him after we were done. He simply dropped all her bags on the floor and told me she was my problem."
The man in the hat scoffs and you nod agreeing with the sentiment. "Exactly. What's worse is that she just moved here to be with her son. This is literally all of her belongings. Honestly, people like that just piss me off."
"You know," the man in the hat ponders as you all finally come to stop by a door with the number '310' plastered on the front of it. "Not everyone would have done what you did."
You simply shrug, shuffling inside behind the woman and setting the duffle bag next to the wall, out of the way. "It was right thing to do."
The hooded man and the man in the hat both deposit their own duffle bags before trying to make their way out to the hall. You follow them but the old woman stops the three of you with a softly uttered "wait". She looks at you and the guys, taking each of your hands in turn. "Thank you. Truly. I don't know what I would've done without you. I--"
"It was no trouble ma'am," the man in the hat interjects, his eyes crinkled in a smile again. "Take care of yourself, okay?"
You smile at the woman, squeezing her hands softly one last time before following the guys out into the hall. When she closes the hotel door, you roll your shoulders with a laugh as you all make your way back to the elevator. "Y'all were truly a lifesaver. My back thanks you."
Both men chuckle heartily at that. "Then, I'm all the more happy we could save your back, Miss...?"
"Y/N."
The man in the hat smiles again and you catch the glint of his dark brown eyes. He offers up a hand for you shake. "I'm Chris, and this is...Lewis." The hooded man offers up his hand as well and you shake them both.
"It's nice to meet you Chris. Lewis."
Inwardly you chuckle at the irony of his name. Chris. If only.
When you all make it back to the elevator, the other hooded man who had stayed behind comes jogging down the hall, something grasped tightly in his uplifted hand. "I got it!" he shouts. Chris and Lewis both laugh as he joins you, handing the item off to Chris and doubling over to rest his hands on his knees, his chest heaving.
"And this," Chris gestures to their friend with a laugh after pocketing the piece he was given. "This is Peter. Peter, y/n."
"Nice to meet you, y/n." Peter whips out a hand, still slightly out of breath but smiling from the looks of his crinkled eyes. "So," he muses in between breaths as you all file into the elevator to get back to the lobby. "If you're not here to lug around half your closet, then what are you here for?"
"A concert actually. Later tonight. My first one." Your first Stray Kids concert no less, but you aren't about to tell them that. You rub at your neck sheepishly and the ding of each floor passing by fills up the tense silence that seems to spread through the small elevator.
Did I say something wrong or--
Then Chris speaks up. "Well, may the concert be as amazing as you hope it is."
Your rising anxiety settles at that, his kindness soothing your nerves instantly. "Thank you, I really appreciate that Chris. I hope so too."
Then, almost as if it was timed, the elevator doors slide open to the buzzing lobby and you all make your way into the crowd. All three of them wave at you as they hurry off and Peter shouts out a joyful, "Have fun!" before they continue their jog through the foyer.
You wave and shout back, "Have a good day!" chuckling at Peter's antics, wondering how anyone can be sad around him with his joyful demeanor. You watch them for a second as they maneuver through the crowd up ahead and you follow, ready to get this show on the road. Literally.
But just as you start to look away from their retreating forms, you see someone bump into Chris causing something to drop from his pocket. Chris and the man seem to apologize to each other, but Chris simply continues on his path, completely oblivious to what he's leaving behind.
Jumping into action, you rush forward, practically diving for the item before it gets lost as you also try to keep an eye on where Chris went, so you don't lose him in the crowd either.
You barely scoop it up in time for it to avoid a bellboy cart rolling past and you let out a breath of relief. You glance down at what looks like a small flash drive grasped in your hand before rushing forward, calling out Chris' name hoping to catch him before he's out earshot.
Surprisingly, Chris, Peter, and Lewis all skid to a stop and turn back to the open lobby. Eyes wide, Chris scans the crowd before his gaze lands on you. You simply continue weaving in and out between people as he watches and you manage to make it to him quickly, if not a bit out of breath.
"Here." You take Chris' hand and place the drive into it. "You dropped this when that guy bumped into you."
Trying to control your breathing, you straighten and smooth your hair back, no doubt a little disheveled from all the physical exertion lately and you haven't even gotten to the concert yet. Great.
The three of them simply gawk at you, then each other, and you fiddle with your hands, a little bit nervous at the attention. "I didn't mean to call you out...like that. I-I just thought it was important seeing as how it's what you all came here for." When they still say nothing, you paste on a smile and start to walk toward the door, hoping your afternoon plans aren't completely dashed. "Sorry, enjoy--"
Chris stops you with a hand on your wrist, but he turns to Peter and Lewis for a second. "I'll meet you in the car, give me a second." And with that, he wordlessly pulls you after him through the lobby and down an empty hall.
Part of you wants to fight it, a bit worried about the seclusion of the hallway and why he's leading you there, but then again, you were alone with all of them on the third floor. And in the elevator. Why would he try anything now when there's countless people just a few feet away?
So you reluctantly allow yourself to be towed along until he stops and turns you both so his back is facing the lobby and you're facing toward him.
Before you can say anything he releases your wrist, taking a second to study your face and the no doubt bewildered expression you're wearing. "You're here for the Stray Kids concert, yes?"
You blink. "How did you--"
Without warning, he pulls the mask from his face and you can't help but back up a few steps, your hand flying up to cover your mouth and muffle whatever ungodly sound would want to escape.
Chris. It's actually Chris. As in THE Bang Chan himself.
You remove your hand from your mouth, ready to say...ready to say what? What could you possibly say to this man? But Chan steps forward beating you to it. "Don't freak out--"
A borderline demented laugh escapes you, stopping him short, but you can't help it. Maybe it's the nerves or the fact that you hardly believe this is real, but you double over, holding your head and stomach in disbelief.
"You do realize how unrealistic of a request that is, right Chan?" Then a realization hits you and you sober almost immediately. "Wait...Lewis and Peter..."
Chan watches you and your bout of deliriousness, no doubt worried the shock made you spiral into madness, but then you double over laughing again, harder than the first time around.
"That was Changbin and Han, wasn't it? God...I can't believe I didn't catch onto the whole charade earlier. It all makes sense now." You shake your head. "And here I call myself a Stay."
Somewhat relieved you're still of sound mind, Chan chuckles, taking a step forward to bridge the gap somewhat. "Yes...it was them, but don't give yourself a hard time. Can't you tell?" He gestures to his hat and mask and oversized sweater. "Our disguises are near foolproof."
You snort and he laughs along with you, knowing you don't believe his poorly veiled sarcasm. "Okay okay. Look, y/n, I'm short for time. We actually should be back at the venue doing soundcheck right now, but one of the audio files got corrupted somehow and this," he holds up the flash drive you handed to him, "is the only working file that exists right now. It's actually my whole life's work..." he chuckles nervously when you glance at the flash drive with wide eyes.
Quietly, he pockets the drive again, unmistakably trying to hide the nervousness at his confession, but you smile at him softly, unable to help it. "I still would have returned it to you had I known everything I do now, Chan. I would never jeopardize Stray Kids careers and I would never forgive myself if I hurt any of you like that.
"Now, I say this despite the distasteful jokes you've probably seen about Stays wanting to steal your laptop and rummage through the 17 comebacks you have planned. Or maybe it's just me who thinks that's wrong, I don't know. But, I'm going to your concert for pete's sake. Kinda hard to see you guys perform and sing the songs without the music."
The look in his eyes is one you can't quite decipher, but he shakes his head, clearing it before you can think more about it. "You did the right thing, y/n...and you didn't have to. But you did. You saved our skins with this and I wanted to thank you--"
You shake your head. "No need to thank me Chan. Really." Truly. This interaction is more than enough. More than you deserve. In this lifetime and the next.
"No," he corrects, not allowing you to stop him, "I wanted to thank you by inviting you to our soundcheck. We have some special guests today so it's closed attendance, but honestly, I think you more than earned that title." He rubs at his neck sheepishly. "That is, if you want to come. You don't have--"
"Oh, I want to."
You know taking this offer from anyone else would be absolute lunacy but...you know Chan. You know his pure intentions. Despite how crazy it is to just say yes to this on the spot with so little forethought and planning, you can't help that your heart and head are both saying the same thing for once. And that thing is yes.
Chan perks up at your quick response, a big smile finding its way to his lips. One you can't help but mimic having finally seen his smile in person.
"Okay then. We can give you a ride if you want, but we have to get going now before our manager has our heads. Then you'd be next on his hit list. I mean, you would also be the prime suspect in our murders after all, seeing as how you were the last person to see the whole of 3racha alive. These are dangerous waters, y/n."
Still beyond giddy and absolutely beside yourself with your luck. With fate gifting you this. Gifting you Chan and this opportunity. You simply laugh without a care. "We certainly don't want that. Lead the way, Chris."
With practiced ease, he hooks the mask onto his ears again and you follow him through the lobby and outside the hotel to where their telltale black van is waiting at the curb. How that didn't clue you in either, you do not know.
Chan pulls open the door of the van, allowing you to climb in first before he quickly follows suit.
"Ummm, Chan?" You recognize Han's questioning voice to your right, sounding closer than any song could ever mimic. "You do realize closed practice means...well, closed practice, right?"
You see Changbin--hood and mask off now--smack his arm as you settle onto the cushion and buckle the seat belt. Inwardly you wonder how they'll take the news of you tagging along. But Han just winces, rubbing his arm and Changbin huffs. "Stop trying to get rid of her and pay up."
You watch as Han, also having abandoned his hood and mask, pulls out his wallet and slaps a few bills into Changbin's waiting hand with a grumble. Changbin simply grins and pockets the cash without a word. In the midst of it all, you feel the car start with a low rumble and it pulls into the street leaving the safety of the hotel behind.
Looking at them...hearing them...
How you didn't recognize their voices before now, you don't know either, but none of your Stay friends will ever hear about that if you have anything to say about it.
They'll be as disappointed in you as you are of yourself right now. But then again, you had a lot on your mind at the time. And what's the likelihood that little, old you would ever run into them? Mentally, it had been so out of the realm of possibility that you didn't even think to connect the dots. And yet...here you are.
Han pointedly ignores Changbin and his exuberant bout of giddiness and turns to you a bit embarrassed. "For the record, y/n, I wasn't trying to get rid of you. Just...reminding Chan hyung in case he forgot. And, I'll have you know, my bet was me simply playing devil's advocate."
You glance at Chan who looks downright horrified and completely unsure of what to do about them as he takes off his own mask, but you ultimately focus back on Han. "Do you guys just bet on everything or is this an often occurrence?" you wonder.
Chan groans but you can't help the curiosity. While it doesn't change that you would still want to be here and you'd still take Chan's offer, admittedly, you'd be a bit saddened if this is something that happened a lot. If he just went around picking up girls. I mean, he is the pickup line king after all. It wouldn't surprise you. The man has rizz. And look at him! From appearance alone he no doubt has millions of women at his feet.
"Not at all," Changbin interjects, pulling you from your thoughts. You meet his gaze, his brown eyes still dancing with joy. "This is the first time actually. The bet was simply because we saw the look in his eyes and we wanted to see if we knew our leader as well as we thought."
Han blows a raspberry at Changbin and you can't help but laugh at getting to see them interact like this in the flesh. It's truly something else.
Blinking away his horror, Chan turns to you, ignoring them both. "Don't mind them, y/n. They're...an acquired taste."
Indulging him, you pivot in your seat slightly to face toward him a bit more. "You say that as if I don't already know they can get a bit...riled up at times."
Chan snorts. "That's putting it nicely."
Han huffs an offended "hey" in the midst of a newly minted debate between him and Changbin. But Chan doesn't even acknowledge his outburst as they lose themselves in their lively argument again as if nothing happened.
"You say you know us, but...do you really? I mean, you didn't even recognize us. And I gave you our names."
It's your turn to huff a "hey", sounding just as offended as Han before. You wag a finger a Chan but he doesn't look at all deterred. He looks amused. "You gave me your English names. Aside from you and Felix, the group hardly ever uses them so you gotta cut me a little slack."
"Still. 'Chris' didn't clue you in at all? Not even a little bit?"
"Believe it or not, my first thought was that you shared the same name. And before you ask, yes, you've eternally ruined that name for me." Chan continues to watch you with that teasing smile and you turn away crossing your arms, trying desperately to hide your own smile. You're trying to be angry with him.
"I don't know what you want from me. You all were completely covered up. You try recognizing someone that's only showing like 2% skin." Chan looks down at himself as if to confirm your judgement, but you barrel on before he can say anything. "And you say that I should've known it was you as if you expect any sane person to go around thinking they'll ever get the chance to come face to face with you. What are the odds?"
Chan bumps your shoulder playfully. "And yet?"
You don't respond to the open-ended question, not that you get the chance, when Han taps you on the shoulder. "That's actually a pretty good point. You didn't think you would and yet you're here. With us. How are you not..." he seems to struggle to find the words but ultimately ends his question with a not so subtly mimed explosion.
With a laugh, you lighten up on the feigned anger though you still pretend to ignore Chan as you turn to Han. "Believe me when I say it's not been easy. I'm still in shock to be honest. But," you say with a smile, "I'm trying my hardest to remind myself you all are just people too.
"You get enough crazy fans and people asking for your signature or a picture or whatever else they can conjure up. You all have given me so much, the least I can do is talk to you like I did back at the hotel before I knew who you were. Let you feel normal, ya know?" You shrug, feeling a bit self-conscious but you try to paste on a reassuring smile. "I can't give you much, but I can give you that."
"Well damn..."
You glance over at Changbin who looks completely beside himself, but he doesn't say anything else, he simply stares at you with wide eyes.
"You can imagine we don't get that very often," Chan admits, capturing your attention again. "But I think I can confidently say we all appreciate it. A lot. And so will the rest of the kids."
Your heart pounds at the thought of meeting the rest of them. Three of them at once is already borderline too much. All eight of them in the same vicinity as you?
You anxiously fiddle with the chain hanging from your belt loop, unsure of how you'll be able to contain yourself much less function normally when you're already having a hard time simply forming sentences.
"Hey." Chan reaches out a hand to take one of yours, holding it loosely. "It'll be okay, I promise. Like you said, we're just people." He smiles reassuringly and somehow the sight of him and his warm hand on your own soothes you somewhat. "Now," he continues, "I feel like I should tell you what's gonna happen soon 'cause we're almost there."
Any anxiety he chased away floods back immediately and you feel him squeeze your hand, almost as if he senses the panic creeping in. "When we get inside, I'll brief our manager on what happened and he'll give you a soundcheck pass so everyone knows you belong there. The three of us are way behind schedule so we'll have to hurry backstage and get this show on the road, but you'll join our other guests until we're ready. Shouldn't be too long."
"Do I get to know who these other guests are?"
Chan tilts his head, seemingly thinking about it, but Changbin pipes up from the back as he calmly stares out the window. "Probably wouldn't be best to know yet."
Your eyes widen, millions of thoughts running through your mind, and you see Chan shake his head. "Not exactly reassuring, Bin."
Han pokes at Changbin, mocking him. "Yeah Bin. You can't just freak her out like that. That's mean."
Changbin looks to you, about to say something but you cut him off, despite your growing nerves. "Don't listen to him. It's okay Binnie. I understand there are restrictions and things you can't tell me."
"Restrictions?" To your right Chan barks out a laugh, catching you by surprise. "The moment you walk in there, restrictions pretty much go out the window. Actually, I think they did when you got in the car, but still. Which reminds me, it goes without saying, but I should probably remind you...you can't share, talk about, photograph, or post about anything you see or hear when we get inside, okay? You'll understand why soon enough."
You deadpan as you meet Chan's eye. "Who's being reassuring now, Chris?" He gives a nervous chuckle and you soften, responding with a nervous smile of your own.
Quietly, you dig into your bag and pull out your phone, offering it to him. "Please take this from me. It's not that I don't trust myself from being able to refrain, but with that warning, I don't even want it near me and risk doing anything that will harm you guys."
Chan quirks a brow, surprised. "Are you sure?" You can tell he wants to say he trusts you, but having just met you and with a warning like that, you know whatever it is that's in store for you is a big deal. So you simply nod and place your phone in his hands. Not that his possession of it lasts long as Han dives forward, scooping it up with a plainly decreed, "I'll hold onto that for you."
Chan turns, looking like he's about to chastise Han but you stop him with a hand on his arm. "It's fine. Honestly. I don't care who holds onto it. I trust you guys." You hear Changbin and Han giggle in the back almost instantly, quietly discussing your lock screen background of the eight of them. One back from their Oddinary era.
Chan simply gives you a look that says, "you shouldn't trust them at all".
You hadn't even thought of what they'd see with your phone in their possession, but you mentally shrug. It's not like you have anything to hide. Not that there's much they can do with it locked anyway.
Suddenly, you feel the van sway and you look outside to see the huge arena looming over the car-or the backside of it at least-as the driver pulls up to the curb and parks. Almost immediately, the boys each unbuckle and you do the same, taking their cue.
Within seconds, Chan is crawling out onto the sidewalk and he turns to hold the door, waving you forward. You do as you're told and scoot yourself over the seats before stepping out beside him onto the fresh air.
You glance around for a moment but the sidewalk and staff parking lot are utterly barren. Filled with cars but devoid of people. Oddly, you expected a bit more action, but it seems you'll have to wait a little longer for the rush to hit.
Changbin and Han are quick to follow suit in climbing out and the three of them start to jog toward the arena without wasting a breath.
You do the same, keeping up with them easily despite your heels. The boys eye you with surprise as you all run together and you stifle a smirk at their reaction. You had worn these boots because they're comfortable and you knew you were going to be on your feet for the rest of the night. Plus the heel is chunky, so running in them isn't a challenge at all.
It isn't long before you all reach the back door to the venue and Chan pulls it open, looking you straight in the eye with the biggest smile plastered on his face. "Well, there's no going back now."
And you step inside, not at all knowing what to expect.