Stay ~ A Stray Kids Fanfic

Seungmin

Seungmin's POV
Half an Hour before

I have a headache.

My brain is flooded with the booms and cries of the music and students dancing to it. The gym was crowded beyond expectation. Streamers hung around the room and dangled from the ceiling. Balloons littered the ground, changing colors as the lights followed the beat of the music. I caught sight of a circle of girls dancing beneath a curtain of ribbons. I wondered how they managed to get those up there. Either way, Mr. Choi will be pleased to know student council raised more than our goal.

I slouch back in my chair, watching couples jig and laugh with others. Some created dance circles in which some would bounce in and out, showing off an image of themselves for the student body to remember all year. My headache seemed to intensify.

A balloon floats my way. Some couples are already starting to leave. It hasn't even been an hour. We all knew what they were doing though. The parking lot was never truly empty and neither were the cars.

My phone dings, followed by a buzz from the table. I see the screen light up, notifying me that my dad messaged me. From here I can see it clearly: "that Lee kid needs to pay soon. His family owes $348.90 by Monday." Three days. Minho had three days to pay his medical bill or else my dad will press charges. A pain rises to my temples, allowing myself to helplessly massage them.

"Hey, Seungmin!" I raise my head from my perched hands to see Mr. Choi waving my way. The message is stored in my memory to worry about later. I give a faint smile and gesture in return. He strides over to me, smiling and cheering on the dancing as he passed, as if his credibility needed that of being the rowdy teacher at a school dance way past his time.

"I think you can lock up the box. We made a jackpot today, didn't we?" He beams, but it's more directed to the money than me. I didn't mind; after all, I was just there to collect the ticket fees.

"Yes, sir," I finally reply, clasping my hands behind my back. The gym was getting too stuffy. I wish I had changed out of my uniform beforehand.

Mr. Choi pulls out his overly crowded ring of keys and locks up the box of cash. The grey tin lid snaps in place. "Would you mind taking it back to my classroom? I'll have the rest of the yearbook students count with me during homeroom tomorrow." He chides the box into my arms before I could give an answer. "Thanks, kid."

He leaves to go awkwardly spectate the conjoining couples at he cue of the slow song. I take the box just as he pulls out his ruler.

That's when I see the ring of keys on the ground. "Uh, Mr. Choi-" He doesn't respond once noticed student getting to close, in which he then took out his ruler. The students all sulk among themselves before grudgingly obliging.

I think back to the text. My heart drops to my stomach. Something about the keys among the humid atmosphere of the gym floor and the bystanders stuck in deep conversion sent my mind wondering: do I take this opportunity?

I then think back to Minho and that stupid cast that cost more than he could afford. The tone that seeped through the words of my dad's text. He wants him to pay in full, as if it were some sort of test for Minho.

Hyunjin was right: why did we need to pay when we already made so much money? I was well provided for and never once did I get into any trouble. So why couldn't he do this one thing for me? Why can't a small percentage of his million dollar wage be forgotten?

I take the keys and shove them in my jacket pocket. Busting through the gym doors, I'm relieved to be hit by a rush of cool air. I've been in that damn gym for too long.