Volcano | Bangchan

Permission

Chan's POV

I woke up the morning after, feeling really good. I yawned and sat on the side of the bed, stretching. Lix came out of the bathroom, brushing his teeth. He jumped scared when he saw me awake. He gave me a confused look and checked the time on his phone. "Mate. Are you okay ?". I frowned, wondering why he was looking at me as if I was an alien. He saw my reaction and explained : "I came back past 1 AM yesterday, and you were dead asleep. Today it's currently 8 AM and you are wide awake. And look at your face ! You look... Well you look awake. I mean as a normal being should.". I giggled and shrugged : "I fell asleep really quickly and slept well. It's been a while since I slept this good actually.".

Felix went to the bathroom to finish washing up and came back in the room, sitting lotus position on his bed. He looked at me with a grin on his face. "And how come you suddenly don't have trouble sleeping? Did something change recently ?". I started fidgeting with the sheet, a slight smile on my face. "Maybe.".

He tilted his head to the side, curious. "You seemed to have changed your mind regarding her. We're talking about her, right ?". "Yeah. This girl is driving me crazy.". He excitedly hit me with his pillow. "I knew it ! I knew you would fall for her ! I want to know everything !". I thought about it for a moment. I didn't want to tell the whole story to the boys, but with Felix it was different. He was like a brother to me. So I told him everything, and I mean the whole story. And Lix being himself, he reacted like he would have reacted to a K-drama : gasping, hugging his pillow tight while fighting the urge to cry, sighing in frustration, and finally smiling genuinely.

"Mate. It's even better than a romcom.". I giggled, relieved. I didn't need to hide it anymore, it felt good. "Yeah... And here we are now. I just have one last step.". "TWO last steps.". I raised an eyebrow. Two ? Lix was way more serious now, which worried me a bit. He looked into the void, searching for the right way to say it. "Now that I know about the kiss between Hyunjin and Sooki, I understand things better. But, even if I'm pretty sure it's not the case anymore, back then your teammate had a crush on Sooki. You told me you wanted to make things right. So, if you want to confess and maybe build something with her, I think you should talk with Hyun first.".

I blinked a few times, speechless. He was damn right. I eluded the little background story between those two. Of course, I must have Hyun's approbation before doing anything !

I exclaimed : "Of course, I should! How come I didn't think about that ? Thank you Lix.". He leaned on his elbows and smirked : "Anytime bro.". "This is the second time one of my kids has taught me life. First Seungmin, now you. Since when are you adults ?". I wiped a fake tear and he giggled : "We've grown up since predebut Old Man.". I threw myself on him, forcing my Aussie bro in a big hug. "My babies are growing up so fast.".

Lix and I continued talking for about an hour. I didn't want to wake up Hyunjin with a serious topic, that's why I waited a bit before heading to his room. I knocked and entered cautiously, still afraid to wake them up. But instead I found Hyun on I.N's bed, messing with his hair while the poor baby bread was fighting for his life. I leaned on the frame, giggling at the scene. Those two really had sibling energy.

I pitied our Maknae and ended up interrupting the aggression: "Hyun let the poor boy breathe.". They both froze after hearing my voice. Hyun sighed but let go of his non-official brother who put his hands on his hair in an attempt to flatten it. "Thank you for the rescue Hyung. You wanted something ?". "Yes actually. I wanted to have a word with Hyunjin if you don't mind.". I.N and Hyunjin exchanged a look before turning to me worriedly. Jeongin didn't ask further questions. "Okay.. Hum... Imma go see Lix hyung then.".

Once he was out, Hyunjin straightened up on his bed. "Did I do something wrong ? Am I in trouble ?". I walked to I.N.'s bed and sat in front of Hyun. "No Hyun, not at all. If someone is in trouble here it's me.". My teammate was looking at me with a mix of curiosity and worry in his eyes. I took a deep breath and started :

"Hyun. We never really talked about the incident a year ago. We both kissed Sooki. I wanted to apologize for not taking your feelings into account at the moment. That wasn't a leader's behavior.". Hyun's eyes softened as he interrupted me. "Not true.". I glanced at him, a bit confused : "What ?". "You telling me you didn't care about my feelings. That's not true. I know you retracted yourself and told Sooki you would support us if we got together.". That... was unexpected. "How do you know that ?". He winked : "I have my source". I sighed. Bin. "Okay. Yes I might have distanced myself. But my feelings for her never disappeared. And now, I'm ready to take my shot. But I won't do anything if you don't feel comfortable.".

Hyunjin passed his hand in his hair, the corner of his mouth slowly turning up. I was fixing him, a bit nervous. Why is he taking his time to answer ? "Hyung, Thank you for coming here and asking for my permission. I had my chance with her and we were just not meant to be. It took me a while to realize it, but now I'm fine with being friends with her. And in the end, I think you two have a special bond. It's not really easy to put it into words, but I can feel it. We weren't meant to be, but I think you are. So go for it, and I will support you no matter what.".

I couldn't put my thoughts into words. I was moved to the core, unable to express how grateful I was to have a friend like him in my life. So I did what I did best. I hugged him. Hyunjin was a bit surprised at first. From all the members, I was one of the most secretive about my feelings.
So it was new for him to see me emotional (in a place other than on stage I mean).

He patted my back as I whispered a simple "Thank you.".