BLXE

Part Twenty-Eight

*insert rather large time skip here, as we are now just before the 5-Star Album Comeback*

"So what do you guys think?" Hana asks with a nervous smile after playing a demo track she just finished.

"I love it!" Hitomi says after a moment and Hana's face immediately brightens.

I clap my hands in excitement, "It's perfect!"

"Yeah, show us the rest!" Young Mi says excitedly.

Penny sits up, "Please tell me I get to choreograph this one!"

"Of course you do! How could you not?" Hana responds making them both laugh.

"Come on! Show us the rest of them!!" I playfully hit her.

"Ok! Ok!" she giggles excitedly and grabs her laptop again, "Let me pull them up!"

~ ~ ~

"Are you gonna miss me?" Hyunjin's hand trails down my arm before he gently interlocks our fingers. Stray Kids is leaving Korea for couple weeks to film parts for their new music videos.

"Of course I will!" I jump up and hug him. He stumbles a little before hugging me tightly around my waist.

"I'll just be gone two weeks," he chuckles.

"That's way too long..." I pull back and look at him sadly.

"I know, but we can talk every night, don't worry!Plus you have a new comeback to focus on; you won't have time to miss me. It'll go by fast and I'll be back before you know it," he smiles and pushes my bangs out of my face.

"Oh, quit being all strong man, I know you're sad about it too," I nudge him and he frowns.

"Ok, ok. I'll miss you a ton," he says, switching to English, "All day. All the time. In filming, I will only think of you!" Despite his efforts, I can tell he's only half-joking.

"You're adorable," I cup his face in my hand, drawing him in to kiss me, but just before our lips touch-

"Hyunjin-aaah! Come ooon!" Changbin's voice rings out from the hallway outside my group's dorm.

"We're gonna be late!" Minho's voice adds.

"Coming!" Hyunjin calls back then turns to me, "I've gotta go."

"Ok. Be safe," I smile sadly and let go of his hand, "And call me when you get there."

"I will," he opens the door only to be met with the rest of the group, all in their classic airport sweats.

"Bye, guys! Have fun!" I wave and they all respond in their own way. I close the door with a sigh.

Suddenly, it opens again and Hyunjin comes towards me.

"Did you forget som-" he cuts me off with a kiss. His lips linger on mine for a moment before he pulls back and smiles at me widely.

"Bye," he hurries back out.

"Bye," I whisper with a smile after he closes the door, still surprised.

~ ~ ~

"So lemme here you say."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"그래서 크게 소리쳐."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"뭘 들었어? 서둘러 외쳐."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"Come on now. 해사 rap and roll, now!"

"Stop, stop!" Hana holds up her hand from the recording booth and the music cuts, "Min, you're saying it wrong. It's not 해사, it's 해보자. You just said 'marine affairs rap and roll now.'"

"Oh, sorry," I laugh nervously, "I get the letters mixed up sometimes."

She sighs, "It's ok, let's just go again from the top of that chorus into your's and Young Mi's rap."

~ ~ ~

"Marine affairs?" Hyunjin laughs, "What does that even mean?"

"I have no idea!" I exclaim with a laugh, setting my phone down on the counter to open the fridge to get Young Mi's leftover kimchi that she said I could eat. I make sure to prop it up so he can see me move around the kitchen.

"So other than that, how did the rest of the recording session go?"

"Great actually! I nailed the high note in the chorus and it's so fun to do. We start dance practices tomorrow morning," I take a bite of the kimchi and immediately run to the trash can and spit it out.

"Are you ok?" Hyunjin asks urgently.

"Mm-hm..." I pick up my water bottle and down half of it.

"Wow..." I hear him say under his breath.

"Way too spicy..." I look down at the bowl of kimchi, "Who would be able to eat that?!"

"Where did you get it?"

"I don't know where it's from. Young Mi brought it home earlier and said I could eat the rest of it, but oh my god... This has to be some sort of prank," I sigh, "And I really wanted kimchi, too..."

"Aw, I'm sorry, 천사," he chuckles and rests his head up on his hand with a grin.

I turn around to look at him.

"천사?" I frantically search my mind for what 천사 means in English, but I can't find anything.

"I'm sorry. Is it ok if I call you that?" he suddenly looks worried and I realise I'm taking too long to respond.

"What does it mean, exactly?" I ask him, a bit embarrassed. This happens occasionally. There are several words in Korean that I still don't know.

"Ah," Hyunjin clears his throat and thinks for a moment, then says in his adorable English, "It means 'angel'."

I suddenly find myself smiling and cover my face to hide any blushing that is bound to happen.

"Min-soo?" he chuckles nervously.

"Hm?"

"Is it ok if I call you that?" he asks again, this time in English.

I try to compose myself and clear my throat, which is still burning a bit from the overly-spicy kimchi. "Oh, um... Yeah, I guess so," I say, attempting to sound casual and not like there are 10,000 butterflies in my stomach and they're all doing the dance to "Feel Special" by Twice.

"Good," he smiles and his voice starts to sound more confident, despite him not speaking Korean, "I will call you my 천사. Angel."