You're safe with me

Schedules

As I head for the kitchen, I see Felix sitting on
the sofa, looking up as I pass. "Is he okay?" he asks and I can tell he's worried. I put Chan's plait down before answering, while walking over to him. "I'm not sure, to be honest." I sit down next to him, not missing the hint of tears in his eyes. "He'll be fine. He ate and is now sleeping." I assure him. "I'm just worried." I just nod. "Me too." I look over to see silent tears running down his face. "Don't cry, I promise it's gonna be okay." I'm not sure if I'm telling him that or myself. "I just hate seeing him like this." I don't know what to say, so we just sit in silence for a while. Changbin walks by, stopping in his tracks. "Hey guys, saw Chan's finally getting some rest." he says and I just nod. "Felix? Are you okay?" he asks, stepping closer. "Yeah, I'm just worried for Chan." at this Changbin sits down next to the young Australian and pulls him into a hug. "We all are." he tells him, which has Felix crying even more. "He'll be okay. Seungmin is taking good care of him." he assures him. That's when Hyunjin comes in. He looks at me then over at his boyfriend and a look of worry and sympathy spreads on his face. "What's wrong baby boy?" he asks and I can't help but smile at the pet-name. He kneels down in front of the crying boy, taking his hands, trying to make eye-contact. "Lixie?" he tries. "Chanie-ah." Felix answers. "I know, I know angel." "Have you eaten today?" only when he shakes his head no, do I realise just how similar Chan and Felix actually are, picturing Chan doing the same if Felix was the one on the verge of collapsing. "I'm s-s- sorry, p-please don't be mad." Felix says and I'm starting to feel really bad for him, seeing how hard he's trying. "I'm not mad angel." he assures him. "Let's get you some food." he hugs him tightly, before pulling him up. After they left, Changbin turns to me, coming closer. "I'm glad Felix has someone to look after him." he says and I pull my head up. "Yeah." is all I say, my thoughts still circling around Chan. Changbin must've noticed I'm not listening, because next thing I know he's sitting next to me with his hand on my back. "What's on your mind?" he asks. "I'm just worried about Chan." I tell him. "He really needs some time off." Changbin says,that reminds me of something. "Do you think we could request for our time off to be brought forward?" I ask hopefully. "I could try but I can't promise anything." he tells me and I can't help but smile at the possibility.

Changbin's pov
In the morning, I decide to finally get it over with and call our manager.

"How can I help you?"

"I was wondering, if it is possible for us to bring forward our scheduled vacation?"

"May I ask why?"

"Because  unfortunately none of us are in a condition to be working 24/7 and we could all use a break."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, comeback is in less than two weeks."

At this point I'm trying not to sound annoyed.
What I want to say is something along the lines of, "There won't be a comeback if one of us is dead by then."

"Well, I'm afraid the preparations won't be completed by then."

"I'll get back to you."

That's the last thing I hear before the line is cut.

At JYP
"Excuse me, sir?" Stray kids manager says, as he enters JYP's office. "What can I do for you?" the man asks. "Stray kids just called, requesting for their vacation to be brought forward." the younger informs. "They have a comeback in ten days, we can't just postpone that on such short notice." JYP replies. "They said it's urgent and they won't be able to finish the album in time" their manager explains. "I could try to loosen their schedule by cancelling most of the promotions, to give them more time and bring it forward to a week after comeback." he offers. The younger man nods. "I'll let them know, thank you for your time." he says, bowing before leaving the room.

Seungmin's pov:
We're all sitting at breakfast, when Changbin's phone rings and he excuses himself. Moments later he comes back with a smile on his face. "What's up?" Hyunjin asks. "The company just called, their cancelling a majority of the promotions and our time off is brought forward to a week after comeback." he explains and I smile widely. "Why?" Chan asks and I can see both Changbin and Jisung rolling their eyes simultaneously. "Seungmin asked me to do something, about all this stress and pressure we're under." now Chan's looking at me. "Really, Angel?" he asks and I blush deeply at the nickname, seeing as everyone could hear him. "I got really worried and knew, if I didn't do something now, nothing would happen for a while." I answer "You two are adorable, you know that?" Jeongin says and now both of us are blushing. "Agreed." Jisung and Felix say in unison. Chan smiles with new found energy. "Finish up! We have an album to finish." he says. "What's left to do anyway?" Felix asks. "Nothing too much, just a bit of finale editing." Chan answers and I notice the other 3RACHA members looking at him. "Why don't you take the day of and let us do the work? You can listen to everything later and change the things you don't like." Jisung offers but Chan doesn't look happy. "I can't just sit around and watch you do the work." he says and Jisung just smiles. "You did like 70% of the work already. We're a team, let us help you." he tells him and Chan just flushes, his face turning a light red. "Thank you. Let me know if you need anything though." "Will do." Changbin replies with a smile before his phone buzzes again. "Just got the altered schedule, the rest of you are free today." there's a collective sigh of relive. After everyone's done, Changbin and Jisung leave to get started on their work, Chan leaves with Minho saying he needs to talk to him and Hyunjin and Jeongin leave without a word. This leaves me and Felix in with the dishes.