Little Bahng (STRAY KIDS FF)

Chapter 4

For the days following the band agreeing to Maximus stay with them they were busy, not only in the studio and practice but also setting up stuff for Max’s stay. They put a bed in Bangchan and Changbin’s room and cleaned out a little closet space for him. Everyone was still excited to have a new kid around and couldn’t wait to see Maximus.

Rooms Before: Bangchan, Changbin/ Hyunjin, Felix/ Minho, Han/ Seungmin, I.N.

Rooms After: Bangchan, Changbin, Maximus/ Hyunjin, Felix/ Minho, Han/ Seungmin, I.N.

It was around noon on Sunday when Maximus and his parents landed in Seoul, South Korea. While waiting in baggage claim Max and Chan’s mom texted Chan to tell him they had landed. The two agreed that they would meet at the front of the academy to surprise Max. An academy employee was outside and helped get the bags into the back before the group took off towards an academy. At the same time Stray Kids were loading up in their vehicle so they weren't late.

The van with Max and his parents arrived at the academy first. There were some photographers taking a lot of pictures of Maximus as he got out of the van after his parents and shook hands with the dean and coach. After a few minutes another large black van pulled up. Max looked over the vehicle away from the cameras only to be met with the sight of his older brother and his bandmates climbing out of the van. Max immediately ducked past the cameras to run into the arms of his older brother. Max hid his head in his brother’s chest and said “I missed you chris.” Chan wrapped his arms tighter around Max before saying “I missed you too Maxy.” Just those few words meant a lot to both of the Bahng boys. For Chan because nobody other than his family called him Chris. For Max because Chris was the only person to ever call him Maxy, everyone else just called him Max.

The two brothers soon let go of each other to let the rest of the members greet the younger boy. The parents explained to the Dean who the eight men were so they gave him a few minutes before saying it was time to go inside for the tour. The press was directed a different way to the room that was set up for the signing and more pictures after the tour.

Max as well as his mom, dad, brother, and brother’s bandmates followed the Dean into the main building. “This is the main building. It’s where visitors check in, all administrative offices are, as well as the guidance counselors’ offices. You won’t be in here often unless you are in trouble or for your mental wellness checks that we have every other month.” The Dean explained. “What are mental wellness checks, if you don’t mind me asking?” Chan asked. “I don’t mind at all and I am happy to answer any questions you all have. The mental wellness checks are to help catch any mental problems the students have. Being so young and away from home can be hard for young children so we like to make sure we touch base as an added precaution. We have counselors on rotations to make sure there is at least one here at all times so the students will always have access to someone to talk to no matter the time.” The Dean explained to the group.

“That’s amazing that you take such care of the students. You don’t hear about people caring this much often.” Max’s mom said. “Usually people wouldn’t care, but as an academy that puts school and youth professional sports together we have more to take into account than a regular boarding school would. We also add additional counselors during the more stressful times of the year like when we have title or championship matches as well as midterms and finals for school. We do all of this to make sure our students succeed both on and off the field.” The Dean explained as the group walked out the main building and further into the campus.

Once walking through another door the group was back outside in a courtyard. “As you can see we have a courtyard where you can hangout either during meal times or between classes and of course an open area to kick around a ball too.” The Dean said as they walked to the middle of the courtyard where he stopped. “You will have someone take you to your classes tomorrow so I’ll just point out the buildings and what they are used for. This is our math,science, and computer science building. That is our history, English, Korean, and other language building. That building is used for music and fine arts classes. That one is used for moral education and detention. Then last for this area is the cafeteria.” The Dean pointed as he spoke. No questions needed to be asked so the group quickly moved on to the parts Max was excited about.