Strawberry Milk - The Bonus Sips

Felix.

- Current day, 2024 -

Felix took a deep breath as he sat on one of the black leather sofas in the backstage dressing room. Chan, who had become his producer, co-songwriter and unofficial band manager over the last two years, sat beside him, reviewing the set list Felix and his band had put together for the night.

"Makes sense that Strawberry Serenade is the encore with its recent blow-up. Are you a bit stressed about saving a more vocally challenging song until the end, though?"

"Very," Felix stood up, shaking his arms and legs to rid himself of his nerves. "That's why we're starting with Skate. Get rid of the other challenging one first." Chan nodded as Felix jumped up and down. "Fucking hell. We've never played a crowd this big. What if they hate us? Thousands of people hating me would not be fun."

"Why would people buy tickets to your show if they hate you?"

"I don't know, to throw a shoe at my head or something?"

Chan chuckled and stood up, grabbing Felix by the shoulders and looking him in the eyes. "Everyone is going to love you, now stop stressing and relax or you won't be able to perform as well on stage."

Felix was about to reply when a knock at the door cut him off. Both boys turned to look as a timid face peered around the corner. "Sorry, am I interrupting anything?"

"Not at all. I was just about to leave to talk to the other band members anyway. Felix is all yours," Chan smiled at Jeongin on his way out of the dressing room, leaving the two alone.

"How's it going?" Jeongin asked, stepping further into the room and taking Felix's hands in his own, squeezing them when he felt them shaking. "Are you nervous?"

"A little," Felix admitted, wrapping his arms around Jeongin and pulling him close. He leaned his head on his shoulder and said, "I didn't expect our max venue capacity to increase from 1,000 to 7,000 so suddenly. Overnight success is scary."

"Well, I guess you can blame me for that since Strawberry Serenade is about me."

"I do blame you. Why have you got to be such a damn good muse?"

Jeongin chuckled. "Speaking of muses, Chan's writing inspiration is here too but he's staying in the crowd to avoid running into him. He drove me," He said, tucking a stray piece of Felix's long, blond hair behind his ear as Felix looked up at him.

"Probably for the best. What about Minho and Hyunjin? Did you come with them too?"

"Yeah, they both seem a bit off tonight, I don't know what's up with them. I'm sure they'll liven up when you get on stage though."

Remembering the stage, Felix groaned. "Fuck, I'm stressed."

Jeongin kissed the top of his head. "Don't be. Think about what an amazing muse you have and how much I'll be cheering for you in the audience. Even if nobody else is, I'll be screaming your name and I'll be so happy watching you."

Felix chuckled, "Well, I suppose making you happy is the most important thing to me."

"And you're so good at it," Jeongin pecked his lips.

- March, 2023 -

Jeongin had become quiet in a way he hadn't been since he moved in with Felix, Chan, Hyunjin and Minho at the start of last September. From the start of March, Felix noticed that when he tried to talk to him, Jeongin only replied with one or two words at most. It hurt Felix when his attempts at communication were shut down, but when his attempts at getting Jeongin to sleep or eat didn't go well either, Felix no longer cared for his hurt feelings because he knew something much worse was going on.