Stray Kids One Shots

Stay- Bang Chan

I looked out the window of Soul Cafe, stirring the familiar smelling hazelnut coffee that I'd drunk regularly for years.

I, Jung Y/n, after three years of hiding in London, finally came home to Seoul. Why was I hiding? Well, let's just say it's family issues and let it go, shall we?

The waitress set a sea salt caramel chocolate cake in front of me, and I smiled sadly, remembering who I used to share this with.

Bang Christopher Chan, my best friend, my first love.

He used to laugh every time I ordered this, trying to say it out himself then complaining that it was such a tongue twister.

It's been years since I last saw that smile.

I still remembered twelve-year-old me, walking home alone in the rain. The new transfer student from Australia, who had just moved in next to me, had shared his umbrella and made small talk with me all the way home.

I remembered, that even if the sun was hidden behind the clouds that day, his smile was enough to give me warmth. Even the way he talked was filled with so much passion and care, that he made me feel loved.

We were never seen apart after that day.

Soon, the little friendship blossomed into something more. Maybe he felt it too, how every glance we shared was filled with a deeper love.

But the smiling boy was broken on the inside.

His parents fought every day, and the boy spent every night locked in his room as wine bottles crashed outside.

"I believe, broken is beautiful." I had told him once I found him alone in his room while his parents are away. He had punched the mirror, and his knuckles were embedded with the glass until I cleaned his wound.

A broken piece of the mirror laid beside him. I had picked up the piece and held it up to the light. The reflection of my eyes showed in the glass.

"See, it's broken, but it's still doing what it was made to do. Broken things aren't really broken if they work. I'll help you become who you want to be, putting you back together piece by piece."

"Promise me." He had asked after he wiped off his tears. "Promise me you'd never leave me, that we'd be together, that we'd help each other."

I had interlocked our pinkies and whispered the promise that night, not knowing what was going to happen.

We spent every day together after that, slowly revealing a bit more of us to each other. Soon enough, the word 'secrets' had ceased to exist between us.

At least, that's what I thought.

"Y/n, you can't stay here anymore. Your aunt is after you, and the family fortune. Stay in London for a while, and I'll call you back after things die down and the Will is signed."

That's what my father had said to me after he made me disappear from Korea.

"Change your number, cut off contacts with your friends, you need to stay away from Korea until that bitch has learned not to mess with me."

I had just nodded and packed my bags like the good daughter I was, leaving my family, my friends, my life, and especially him, behind.

I... didn't tell him.

Just a short letter to tell him I would be leaving, and I won't be coming back any time soon. Just a short goodbye, as if he meant nothing to me.

But I was back now, and I could explain everything to him. The bright Bang Chan I knew would probably at his apartment with his friends, I mean, play his role as the father to his seven kids.