Talk Nerdy to Me

Chapter 15: The Phone Issue

Summary:

In which Chris is BIG MAD over the night's discoveries, and Felix spoils Ra rotten.

Chapter Text

Two more interviews. Christopher Bang Chan seethed. His fury plain enough that the other members knew he was mad. Every time he thought he'd wrestled the demons down, another thought came to him, and the rage came back tenfold.

Were there Stays out there like Ra? He'd gotten texts from thousands of women on Bubble. There were battered women in his fandom. The thought made him snarl silently behind his mask. He felt helpless to protect them all, helpless to protect Ra, helpless to keep anyone else from seeing what Ra had seen. She was just six months older than him.

That was likely what made him so furious. He had no ability to help the other women like Ra who counted on him to make music. In a way, he wished after asking that he hadn't asked at all. Because then it had been holding her at arm's length. Changbin and Han were also both subdued.

But now he knew. He knew the extent of the damage. It pissed him off in a way he couldn't describe. What pissed him off even more, though, was how strong Ra had been. The entire time, she'd been running, helping others get out, getting away, and then getting dragged back into that hell over and over again.

It made him want to scream. Growl.

Punch something.

"Chan," Han's voice was quiet as they left the first interview. They'd asked about the injuries then, too, and Chan had given the same answers. "Chan, you've got to calm down. Stay is going to see you're pissed off, and they're going to want to know why."

Chris grit his teeth. He took a deep, bone-deep breath, the kind that flooded your belly, burned your chest, made you feel alive. The breath he released was the anger. He did that twice more, feeling his blood pressure go down.

"I was just thinking," he said as they rode to the second interview of the morning. "About how there's probably Stays like Ra."

Han nodded, his eyes wide. "I get their messages on Bubble, too. Their comments on Tiktok and YouTube. It's more real now though..."

Chris nodded. "I checked on her before we left, she was sleeping pretty soundly. I texted to let her know we'd be back for lunch at eleven."

"Do you think Felix is going to go all out on shopping for her?" Han asked, a small smile playing with his lips.

"If she's not careful, those department store jeans are going to mysteriously vanish," Changbin said dryly. He glanced out the window. Felix was in the other car. It was just 3Racha in this one. "I don't think anybody would really throw her things away, mind, but I don't think 'Lix was kidding."

"He wasn't," Chris said, shaking his head. "He's got like five thousand euros set aside just to spoil her rotten here."

Han chuckled. "If she balked at the Celine joggers and the second-hand Dior, I can't wait how she responds to five thousand euros in clothes."

Laughter rippled through the car, reducing the rest of Chris' fury enough that it wasn't eating him alive. It still smoldered in the bottom of his heart.

"It'll be okay," Chris said, shrugging. "After all... I'm her boss."

Changbin lightly punched his arm, being mindful not to bruise this close to a major show. "Yeah, yeah, tough guy boss. We get it."

"Still," Han said slowly. "Are we really sure she should be doing the kind of drawings that she's supposed to do of us? Knowing what we know now?"

"Ra wouldn't have agreed to it if she didn't think she could," Chris pointed out. "And she's fought so hard to be independent. Let her have this."