Seoulstruck (Stray Kids, 18+)

Chapter 12: Keep Smiling

Felix slowly approached the front desk of the production building, a staff member standing behind it, this time. "I'm here to see Bangchan?" he said. "Lee Felix?" The staff member checked his ID, handing him a badge and directing him to Chan's studio room. Felix bowed in thanks, heading back up the familiar staircase and through the hallways to room 325. He knocked on the door, the bass thumping from behind it pausing as Chan rushed to let Felix in. "Gudday, mate!" he cried out, his dimples framing a megawatt smile. Felix smiled back, bowing before entering. "Hello, again!" He walked inside, Chan ushering him to a large, leather office chair beside him where Hyunjin usually sat.

"How are you feeling? Hope you got some good rest after bingsoo!" Felix nodded in response, smiling back at the producer. "It was great, thank you," he said, glancing at the laptop screen in front of them. "I'm really looking forward to hearing what you've been working on!" Chan smiled, nodding as he scrolled through sound files, looking for all the ones he wanted to share with the ray of sunshine, the studio seeming brighter, all of a sudden.

"Here's the one Changbin and I were working on all day, yesterday," Chan said, pulling up what looked like a bunch of sound clips layered together. "I'm telling you, this dude is the shit; listen to this." Upon pressing play, Felix's stomach burst with butterflies, a trap hop beat shaking the walls as it built up to Changbin's opening rap. Felix's eyebrows rose as he covered his mouth with his hand, never having heard someone rap so fast, before. "Wah... incredible!" Chan nodded to the beat in agreement. "Isn't it so good?!" It was too much to try to contain his excitement. "This is going to be the first single from my mini album," he said, dancing in his seat. Chan's vocals kicked in, going from rapping to singing through the pre-chorus into the chorus with both men's voices. Felix couldn't sit still, dancing in his chair along with Chan, the producer smiling wider than ever as they jammed out together.

"Wow, that was so good!" Felix clapped for Chan as the song came to a close. "You're... an amazing producer."

"Aw." Chan blushed from the compliments as he pretended to take a bow. "Thank you. I guess I'm ok. I deeply appreciate the encouragement. It's nice to hear some fresh opinions, you know?" He paused a moment, looking down and to the side. "Jinnie and I... we've worked together for so long, you get so comfortable with criticism you stop praising each other." A sorrow formed behind his smile, Felix feeling his heart break a little. He placed a supportive hand on Chan's shoulder, massaging the bicep under the sleeve of his black, designer hoodie. "You did a great job, truly," he assured, Chan feeling immediately comforted by Felix's tenderness. He turned to the smaller man, their eyes locking for a moment. "Want to hear another one?" he asked. Felix smiled, warmly, nodding, removing his hand.

Chan brought up the file for "Red Lights," holding up his index finger. "This one," he began, "was going to be the first single we released, but... we decided it's a bit too risqué to be the public's first impression of me." Felix cocked an eyebrow, leaning on his elbow in intrigue. He was always down for a good, sexy concept, listening intently as the song began. "Oof," he remarked, hearing the breathy opening. Chan grinned, doing his best not to think too hard about the night, before, the song reminding him of the many nights he spent with the idol. Good times... Great times. He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head a bit to pull himself back to reality. He and Hyunjin were over. Felix was quite literally beside him, now. Chan had to view this as a good thing. He smiled to himself. No matter what, he had to keep smiling.

The song ended, Felix clapping, once more. "That was... really raunchy," he affirmed with a chuckle. "But very good. You two work really well, together." "Yeah, we do," Chan agreed, sighing. He looked back up at Felix. "Want to get a snack?" Felix perked up.

"I thought you'd never ask!"