Before You

Welcome Back

Chan kept his conversation with JYP to himself. He did not want to plant the idea of a potential return in the heads of his friends and future members if it ended up not happening.

It had been 3 days and Chan was starting to believe that keeping it to himself was a smart idea, given that he had not heard anything from JYP or gotten any inkling to a potential surprise during interactions or rehearsals.

Chan was glad that Jisung and Hyunjin seemed to be on neutral terms. They were by no means the best of friends, although Chan had to laugh everytime one would complain about the other because they are a lot more alike than they may want to admit.

The other 2 contestants (that I didn't bother to name... oops) had been eliminated. Leaving the 6 friends as the group that would debut. The final elimination had not been revealed yet but the 6 now official members had been notified.

That night they went out to celebrate, and by "went out" they meant go to Chan's place and eat all the junk food they could stuff into their bodies knowing that they had a break for 2 weeks to visit their families before officially moving into the new dorms they would be staying in and discussing their official schedules as members of Stray Kids.

They were celebrating drinking their sodas and eating their donuts when Chan received a phone call. The members had not received their official positions yet but Chan had been labeled the leader, technically due to his long tenure as a trainee but in the heirarchy because everyone had started to view him like a dad. He was always there to take care of them and keep them in check, that kind of respect had long been earned and nobody else could claim it.

"Ok... yes of course.... yes we are actually all here, no need to notify them.... yes I can let them know now... thank you sir." Chan hung up the call and looked at the group of boys in front of him, clapping his hands out of habit, not necessity, as all of them had stopped in their tracks when Chan answered the phone and heard his formality.

"We have been called to the studios tomorrow, apparently JYP wants to talks to us. I'm guessing to give us our information and maybe room assignments..?" All of them hesitantly nodded, knowing they would have another meeting before move in day.

The boys all shrugged and went back to their celebration, consisting of all of them getting a sugar high and dramatically dancing along to some of their choreography to let loose.

*the next day*

The 6 boys got to the studio early to stretch, there was no saying what JYP could have in store for them today. Chan had an underlying hope that it may have to do with a certain freckled boy and an intimidating softie of a dancer, although he was certaintly not going to get his hopes up.

The door opened and JYP stepped in, immediately the 6 scurried over in line and bowed at the man in front of them that would give them their dreams.

"Congratulations on surviving and becoming a part of Stray Kids." The 6 beamed with pride, excited to see what was in store for them.

"As you know, you all have a 2 week break to visit family, get your affairs in order, and move into the dorms to start working toward your debut date. I am going to pre-emtively give you some choregraphy videos to get familiar with. I still expect you all to remain in shape for your return, the practice rooms are available for you to use at any time." JYPs assistant started handing the boys giant packets, they briefly flipped through them, stating all the rules, regulations, and a thick section of their upcoming schedule for the next couple of months.

The lights switched off and they turned to the TV that was rolled into the room, it was just like being back in school but the boys were so excited knowing that this would be the choreography for their debut song.

The boys looked at the video in awe but their faces were overcome with confusion. The dance they were currently watching was for 8 people. Not wanting to call out their boss this early on, they all just went with it, JYP seemed to know what he was doing. Chan's face immediately lit up. He knew what this meant.

Once the video ended they all clapped somewhat confused causing JYP to break out in laughter.

"The video showed 8" Chan finally pointed out, he just simply couldn't wait anymore. He wanted to keep the surprise for the others so did his best to hide his gleaming smile.

"Exactly..." JYP nodded and headed to the door, opening it.

Jisung thought that this man must have gone crazy and all of them looked at him with concern at this point. That was, until they saw a figure come around the corner.

All of their faces lit up immediately, walking one after the other were no other than Minho and Felix. They could barely contain their excitement at the sight of the 2 boys.

"Gentlemen, I would like you to meet your final members of Stray Kids. The public had spoken and without them, Stray Kids would be nothing. They have gotten a second chance at their dream.

JYPs words drifted off for 2 people in the room. Hyunjin and Felix just smiled brightly at eachother. Hyunjin hadn't realized how much he had missed the sunny Australian until he saw him again.

He looked so pure and so happy. He was getting his dream to debut. There was a long road ahead of them and a lot of preparation but the smile made all of that dissapear for a split second.

After taking in enough of the smile of the younger, Hyunjin was finally able to return back to reality, super hopeful, and gave Minho the same bright smile, who returned with a slightly lower one, but an impressive one for Minho. Although, Minho's smile was tinged with sass, compared to Felix's smile of genuine happiness and pride.

The boys chatted and caught up with eachother. All sitting around in a circle to hear Lix and Minho share the stories of how they received the call, including a segment of Lix dramatically reanacting him unpacking his suitcase while jumping around the room. Of course, Jisung hopped along with him, Hyunjin would normally cringe and be aggravated by the noise but he found it endearing to see the happiness radiate from Felix. He could see a tinge of the same expression from Minho, which was unusual. Hyunjin was cold and distant but he was bad at hiding his feelings, Minho, on the other hand, could remain completely emotionless without a second thought. To see him look soft like this was a first. They all decided to go out to eat to celebrate their new members and bond before breaking up for the next 2 weeks to get their things in order for their new journey.