9th member of Stray Kids // y/n

chapter 26 ~ cant lose him

"900 MILLION?"
Chan's eyes practically bulge out of his skull upon hearing the amount that Jeongin had taken from the company card. He places his hands on the table in front and leans forward, turning his head to look at the staff member.

"Are you sure? There is no way."
-
You wait outside the conference room with everyone else for Chan. Jeongin had been taken to the station for proper questioning that couldn't be conducted on company property without a warrant. Minho paces back and forth, and Seungmin is crouched on the floor, face in his hands. Changbin's mask doesn't hide his worried expression as he walks up to you from the bench against the wall.

"You mentioned a few days ago how he threw his phone across the room. Do you know what he was doing on his phone?"
Thinking back to that day, you hadn't noticed anything completely out of the blue apart from the fact he would turn his phone off as soon as someone sat next to him.

"No, but I remember he was holding his phone landscape, but I don't think he was watching a video, maybe playing a game, and he lost?"
Changbin sighs and looks away, clearly trying to think what on earth he was doing. His eyes light up, and he turns back to you.

"Perhaps he put money on a game and lost?"

"That's not a bad idea, you kn-"
Chris comes out of the room at that moment, and everyone simultaneously gathers around him. He clears his throat

"The company won't press charges as long as he can return all the money by the end of the month."
He states so fast it almost comes out as one word.

"How much is that?"
Han asks, and Chan rubs his face with his right hand before quietly muttering.

"900 million won."

"WHAT?"
Almost everyone says at the same time, shocked at the amount. Minho turns around and walks toward the wall behind us and kicks it aggressively.

"Why, why would he take that much?"

"They wouldn't tell me much, but she said that he was supposedly gambling it."
You furrow your eyebrows confused.

"Wait, so why did he ask me for 75 mil? To pay off the embezzlement or to be able to carry on gambling?"
Chan shrugs his shoulders and pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, sighing heavily.

"Out of nine of us, how the fuck is the maknae the one with a fucking gambling addiction."
Changbin chuckles at the remark and Minho punches him in the arm which shuts him up pretty quickly. You can't help but frown for the lack of information the staff member had given Chan.

"So what are we supposed to do now?"

"Go home and wait for Jeongin."

-
You slide the balcony door shut and make your way to Chan, plucking the cigarette from between his fingers with a sigh before taking a hit.

"That's a bad habit, you know."
Smoke falls out from your lips with each word. After we had gotten back to the apartment, everyone separated into their own rooms, or at least what you thought. Going to the kitchen to grab a drink from the fridge you had noticed Chan's lonely silhouette lent over the rails of the balcony out of the window and decided to accompany him.

"Didn't ask."
He takes the cigarette from you and places it in his mouth, inhaling the tobacco slowly.

"I would tell you everything is going to be okay, but now..."
You sigh not taking your eyes away from his face. The cigarette delicately hangs between his fingers, hand resting on the rail as he lifts his head up and releases the smoke from his lungs; the wind immediately blowing it away. He taps it and ashes fall down over the edge of the balcony and out of sight onto the street bellow.