Aamu's point of view:
If you don't live in Finland, I don't know how to explain rye bread to you. I also didn't know how to explain it to Stray Kids.
"What's this?" Felix asked, pointing at the rye bread.
We had sat down around our kitchen table. I was seated between Salla and Hyunjin, and on the other side sat Han, Felix and Bang Chan. My mind was still trying to accept what was happening, so my emotions were a bit stronger than usual. A lot stronger, actually. That was maybe why my confidence seemed to spike up.
"It's rye bread. You haven't tasted it?" (A/N: If you remember the face Bang Chan made in the Eric Nam interview when he heard that Felix didn't sing in the audition, Aamu made a similar face. I had to clarify)
"No."
"Salla, get me out of here. What is wrong with other countries? Finns are alive because of rye bread. There is no other bread that includes as much fiber and...well, I don't know. Something. This is the soul of Finland."
"Is our country's soul a bread?" Salla chuckled.
"Yes! At least it's a really important part of it. Can you imagine Finland without it?"
"Maybe we should pass this conversation now and continue it later. You have to eat", she sighed and pat my shoulder.
"Oh, right. Sorry", I facepalmed.
We started eating silently. The members were chill and seemed to enjoy our food, which I was really relieved for. Finnish food was for sure different from Korean. On the other hand they surely had eaten in other countries too, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal.
As everyone was focusing on their own meals, I had a chance to secretly stare them. Even though they seemed really happy and positive, I could sense the tiredness. It made me feel bad, because we kept them up.
"This is really good. What's rye bread in Finnish?" Han asked.
"It's ruisleipä", I told.
"Say it again, slower."
"Ruis-leipä."
"Ruis-?"
"-leipä."
"-leipa."
"There is an Ä. It's pronounced 'ÄÄÄ.' Like you're screaming."
"Leipä?"
"Yeah! Ruisleipä."
"Ruisleipä."
"Did you decide to learn the whole Finnish vocabulary or what?" Bang Chan laughed at Han.
"What? I'm just curious, because we are in a different country. I want to know the basic words", Han said, defending himself.
"It's really flattering that you're trying, I gotta give that to you", Salla noted.
"Oh, thanks. That's the point of me being here, to be flattering."
"I knew this self-promo was gonna start sooner or later", Felix rolled his eyes theatrically.
"Sorry for being the most handsome in the group."
"Boys, cut it. Remember that Stay will see this stuff", Bang Chan whispered, as me and Salla hadn't been there.
"Right. We're best bros with Han, he's my Seoul-mate!" Felix exclaimed with a wide grin and put his hand around Han's shoulder.
I glanced at Hyunjin sitting next to me. He was watching the situation with a spark of joy in his eyes while trying to eat yogurt. It was clear that members nagging at each other wasn't a new thing.
After all of us finished eating, we gathered back in the living room. I was a little shy to sit down on the couch with the boys, but Salla made me sit next to Bang Chan. We were going to start a little house tour before going to bed.
"Why did we have to sit down if we are gonna stand up right away?" I questioned.
"I thought it would be the best option to get the boys' attention", Salla told before switching back into English.
"We are going to do a quick tour around the house before winding down. And since I don't live here and I don't really know anything about Aamu's home, Aamu herself will show us."
We got up, and I spun around while thinking where to start. I figured it would be the easiest to start from the closest room, which happened to be the book shelf room.
"Alright. This is our so-called book shelf room, where you're gonna be sleeping. Feel free to flip through the books, even though I'm pretty sure they're all in Finnish. The window in the corner can be opened, and it opens inward. Just saying, it would be a shame if you broke the whole thing."
"You're saying it like you were sure they would break it", Salla commented from the door.
"I said it just because I once broke a window handle in someone's house, because I thought it was meant to open inward. In fact it opened outward, and my mom had to pay for the fixing. So this is just a precaution."
"Hyunjin, should we talk about what you broke at the JYP's building?" Han teased pushing the latter.
"No, please move on."
I smiled and led the boys to the kitchen.
"Okay this feels stupid to introduce as we just were here, but this is the kitchen. We're gonna go to the store with some of you as soon as possible, because we didn't know what to buy. The fridge is almost empty, but when we fill it up you're welcome to eat whenever and whatever you want. And if you can't find something, ask me."
We moved to the hallway, where there was four doors to be seen.
"These four doors hold back the following rooms: the first one is my big sister's room, which we're not gonna go into. She'll kill me if we do. The second is our toilet. Then there is my bedroom and my parent's bedroom. We can visit my room very briefly, because it's really small."
My room, indeed, was small. I opened the door and walked in as far as I could, and it was still hard to fit the remaining five people in. The most floor space took my bed and my desk. Other than that there wasn't much furniture.
"This is really nice, I like the wallpaper", Felix admired. The wallpaper in question was white with ivies printed on it.
"Thanks, I really like it too. We decorated the room with my dad a few years back, and I spent hours trying to find the perfect one for the wall."
We exited the room and went across the house to the utility room.
"This is where we wash and keep our clothes. And from this door-" I said pointing at the door next to me, "-you get to the bathroom and SAUNA."
"You have sauna at home?" Bang Chan asked, confused.
"Yes! We have approximately two million saunas in Finland. And note that we have only 5,5 million people in here, so almost everyone has an access to sauna every day", I explained.
"I think I'm gonna move here", he said with a smile. I smiled back.
-----------------------
Here you go!
It's been a while since the last update, I know. I've been busy with stuff, as I'm writing a book in Finnish to my other account AND I have a job. It's hard to balance between multiple stories and my actual life, but I'm doing my best here.
Hoped you liked this chapter. It was more like a fill-in, but hopefully you still enjoyed it. Comments are very welcome, I love interacting with my readers. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can, but I can't promise you anything. Sorry. 🥲
Lots of love, remember to drink water! ❤️
The name of the next chapter: "Breakfast with a taste of floor"
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SKZ-TRAVEL || Finland
FanfictionStray kids have released HUGE news: they're going to pick two fans, in whose houses they'll live for two months. 16 years old Aamu can only dream about participating, because her mom doesn't like the thought. However, in a normal January day she get...
