Talk Nerdy to Me

Chapter 22: A Visit From Jungwon

Summary:

Ra receives a visit from Jungwon that spirals into more D&D.

Chapter Text

Filming the music video started at What The Fuck O'clock, as Lee Know called it. Chris got a better night's sleep after carrying Ra to her bed. She had changed clothes on getting to their room the night before, so thankfully it wasn't with the suit on. He had awoken to the others coming to get him, a first for him as he usually was up long before they were. He let them in to talk on the couches in the suite, checking on Ra before they left with staff for the filming.

It was mid-morning, long after they'd started filming, that Ra texted to say she was up and not to worry, but she was going back to bed. During a lull in filming, he texted back, trying to make sure she was okay.

I am fine, I've just got a headache.

A few minutes later, he got a text image of his own face rendered in pencil, followed by the text: I think I'm about done figuring out the composition of this. It's surprisingly difficult to find topless photos of you.

Chris laughed, and responded: Yeah, JYP is pretty gatekeepy over our nude bodies which is why this is weird.

She sent a laugh emoji. Well I guess you guys will have to do some modeling for me at some point.

I'm getting called back for filming. Stay safe!

Chris put his phone away, trying to school his face into the "dangerous man" that Ra saw glimpses of. He still wasn't sure what to make of that characterization of himself. The cuts at his side were a reminder that he could be... given the right circumstances.

Ra studied the sketch she had made from the photo. It was technically good in its own right, but she made these kinds of sketches before paintings to catch the things she needed to improve, not as final pieces. She pushed her pencil lines this way and that, darkening finalized lines, rendering out hair in fine detail. She loved to draw hair, especially shorter styles that were thick like Chris had because of how the skull worked against it, creating depth that was easy for young artists to hide under longer styles of hair.

Who was she kidding. She was enjoying drawing him, the man himself, and she didn't know what to do with that information. On the plane, she had only drawn the ones who were sleeping, which had never once been him.

Ra had rarely had this kind of connection with another human being, and it only seemed to grow deeper by the day, sometimes even by the hour.

Ra was not a woman who had strong bonds with others. She was the one unnoticed in the corner, quiet and obedient for her own safety, and having even one friend was a strange, alien experience to her. Having... She paused in sketching, thinking. She had eight friends in the Stray Kids. And then Bada and Mari. Lily, now. Possibly Jungwon, though that remained to be seen.

Involuntarily, she shrank back into the couch where she was sitting. Hanging out with the guys was so easy and natural until she stopped to think of how many of them there were.

The guys would be gone until late in the afternoon. Ra spent the majority of the morning either in bed in the dark trying to stem the headache at least a bit, and drawing from the rehearsal and concert photos.

By lunch time, however, the headache had taken a turn for the worse. She drew the curtains in her room as tightly as she could, shutting the door against ambient light and sound, and buried her head under the pillows.

Her phone notification went off, and she stared at the text for several minutes before sitting up slowly.

Hello, Sarai. Where are you, sis? Worried.