hoodie season || stray kids

5 - chanseo forever

1 YEAR LATER

"So, when's the big date, Bam?"

"PD-nim said any time in the next month!"

"Really?!"

"Yes!"

Bambam, Chloe and Chan were sat at a table inside the JYPE café, immersing in conversation and enjoying their break period, as they had made a habit of over the past year. 

He had rushed to tell his best friends of his upcoming debut the second he had been told. As in, pulling them out of their classes and dragging them to their spot in the café. "We're gonna be the biggest boy group in Korea!"

"So, what's the group name gonna be?" Chloe asked. 

Bambam let out a loud snort. "It's the stupidest name ever."

"What is it?"

"Got7. Got7 is our group name."

Chloe sighed. "Did you, by any chance, suggest that name?"

"No! it was Jackson hyung! Our new manager said we should brainstorm ideas for our group name, and his dumb ass said "Okay, so we got 7 group members" and PD-nim was like "Bingo! That's perfect! Got7!" and im very close to asking Jay hyung to kick him out and make us Got6."

"Damn. I kinda expected that from you, I'm not going to lie."

"Hey, I'm not that dumb!" Bambam argued. 

"Remember last Thursday? With the juice boxes?"

"Okay, maybe i'm a little bit on the sillier side," he mumbled, accepting his defeat.

"Nope, you're totally bonkers."

"But that doesn't matter. What matters is I'm debuting!" he cheered. 

"Good on you, hyung," Chan commented from the side. It was at this point Chloe realised he had been very quiet the whole time, unlike his usual bubbly personality. 

"Thanks Chan-ssi!" Bambam, unfortunately, didn't seem to hear the sadness laced in Chan's tone. "Anyways, I have to go, kids. Debut preparations await!"

"Who you calling kids? I'm only 3 years younger than you!" Chloe exclaimed in mock anger. 

Her reply seemed to fall on deaf ears as the boy grabbed his stuff and zoomed out of the café. "I guess we'd better get going, too," she shrugged. 

Chan looked as if he had zoned out once more, eyes glazed as he stared at nothing in particular. "Hey, Channie? Are you okay?" Chloe softly asked, picking up her bag and motioning for him to do the same. 

"What, me? Yeah, I'm fine." 

"No, you're not. You barely spoke all break, and you've been zoned out the whole time. Are you sure you're okay?"

With a look of worry set on her face, she picked his belongings up and held her free hand out for him to hold. As he grabbed her hand, she led him back to the company building and into an empty storage room. 

Not just any storage room, though. This was Chloe and Chan's secret hideout, a room that (for undisclosed reasons) she had the keys to, and she took advantage of that. The pair had met up many times in this room if something was bothering either of them, or if they just wanted to chat without anyone seeing or hearing them. 

And through these secret moments, their bond had grown and blossomed into something beyond a mere friendship. It was as if they were siblings, a small family of two. As if they had known each other for decades instead of the one year it had been since they met. 

Chloe locked the door and sat on a small table beside the door. 

"Chan, you know you can trust me, right? Please tell me, I hate seeing you sad."

The Australian sighed in defeat. "I'm- it hurts, you know..."

"What hurts, Chan? You can tell me, it's okay."

"Just seeing all my friends debut, and I'm still stuck here, it makes me feel so useless." he began. "I remember when Bambam and I first met, and the instructors were tellling us we would debut together. I guess I took that seriously. I was so hopeful that maybe we'd go on this amazing journey of success and following our dreams that I forgot the reality. I'm super proud of him and the other boys for finally being able to follow their dreams, but it feels like everyone I come to befriend and bond with just leaves me, a vicious cycle of hope and realisation that i probabaly won't make it. even Sana is debuting soon, and there's a chance you probably will too, and-"

Chloe cut off his rant. "Channie, I'm not leaving anytime soon. I'm only 14, so I know for sure I won't be debuting soon. As for got7, i know how close you are with them, especially Bam and Yugyeom, but it's not like they're leaving us, or the company. And as for you, well fuck that. If you're not the next to debut I'm suing JYP's ass. You can sing, dance, rap, produce, compose, and you're only what? 16 years old. Your talent and worth is beyond a debut date, Chan."

Noticing a single tear streak its way down his cheek, Chloe pulled him towards her. "come here." 

She held him silently for a few minutes, the shoulder of her shirt getting wetter by the second as Chan softly cried. 

"Thanks, Hyunseo." Chan wiped his nose with a tissue Chloe had handed him, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for rambling like that, and I- I guess the stress really got to me."

"It's nothing," Chloe smiled. "If anything's bothering you, just come to me or Bam. Don't bottle it up, or you'll only end up hurting more." 

The pair stood for a moment, smiling at each other. Not a word was uttered; their eyes saying more than words could communicate. 

Just then, the bell rang for the third period of the day. "What a way to ruin the moment," Chloe huffed. Chan giggled at the girl's words, his mood seemingly lifted. He ruffled her hair, earning a grumble from the younger, before standing up. 

"Well, we'd better get going, or Mr Choi is gonna be mad at you,"

"Who cares about Mr Choi?" she retorted. "We're skipping class and getting ice cream!"

"But class-"

"Mr Bang," chloe tutted. "Classes are temporary, but us? We're forever!" she announced in a rather silly sounding voice. "Chanseo forever!"

"We don't need a ship name," the elder grimaced. 

"Yes we do, now come on! My favourite ice cream spot should still be open. Let's go!"

-----

A/N: guess who's back? back again? ( it's me lol )

after life gave me a thorough kicking up my ass, i decided i'd seize the day and finally get round to writing this book again. yay me!

i gave you guys some emotion for this one, and bambam's finally gonna debut so 😋 you're welcome. 

hopefully i stay motivated to write the upcoming chapters 😔

see you guys next chapter!

-lena xoxo