Stray Coven

Part 1

Han Jisung had just returned to his home country after living abroad with his family for several years. His parents had hoped that eventually he would settle in and acclimate to the new culture and make friends, but he never did. Thus after years of struggling, his parents had finally agreed to allow him to return home to live with his aunt.

Jisung's aunt, Hyo-rin, lived alone in a small town that seemed mostly comprised of trees and rain as far as Jisung could tell. He had only visited her a few times when he was very young and as such, had not been able to recall much about the town he was now set to live in for the next two years.

He had hoped that returning to his own country would expand his opportunities to make friends but so far this place felt just as foreign as the place he had left. At least there he had known his family and was accustomed with his classmates. Here he didn't know anyone. Even his aunt, who he always got along with, was fairly unfamiliar to him as they usually only saw each other once or twice a year.

Now he sat alone in the cafeteria questioning whether he had made a mistake coming here. Yesterday had been his first day and despite smiling and politely greeting his curious new classmates, he had spent most of the day quietly observing and trying not to get lost. With yesterday's rare sunshine now replaced with rain, Jisung fell even further into his contemplation about his uncertain future.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the boy that slipped into the seat beside him until he saw a hand wave apprehensively in front of his face.

"Hey, you ok?" the boy asked.

Blinking himself back to the present, Jisung answered "Yeah. Hi. Sorry. I was just trying to remember where my next class is."

"Ohh what class do you have?"

Jisung pulled out a slip of paper with his class schedule and locations on it. "Gym?" he replied uncertainly.

"Hey me too!" the boy exclaimed. "I left school early yesterday for an appointment so I wouldn't have seen you in class but we can go together today."

"That would be great," Jisung smiled gratefully.

The boy smiled back then said "I'm Jung-hoon by the way. I'm guessing you're Jisung?"

Jisung nodded "I suppose I'll eventually get used to everyone knowing my name...".

Jung-hoon conceded, "In a school this small, it's hard to fly under the radar. Especially when you're the talk of the town. We don't usually have much excitement here and a new person moving in is big news."

Jisung groaned. He wanted to make a few friends but fundamentally he was extremely introverted and disliked being the center of attention. Yesterday and today he had felt like he was being watched everywhere he went, so to hear his suspicions confirmed only created an influx of anxiety.

He was about to direct the conversation back to Jung-hoon when he was suddenly distracted by four people walking into the cafeteria. Except they weren't ordinary teenagers. They were the most beautiful people Jisung had ever seen. And although there were clear differences in their features, they all somehow looked similar in a way Jisung couldn't put his finger on.

Jung-hoon noticed Jisung's distraction and said "I guess you haven't met the stray kids. Not that you would have had a formal introduction since they aren't exactly known for being part of the welcoming committee."

Tearing his eyes from the newcomers who were settling themselves at a table, Jisung questioned, "Huh? The Stray Kids?"

Jung-hoon chuckled, "Well that's not their name or anything. It's just kind of the nickname people have given them because they're all adopted and part of one family. I don't know if any of them are actually related other than Jeongin and Minho because they don't really offer information about themselves. But as far as I know, Chris adopted his nephews, Jeongin and Minho, when they were really young after their parents died. Chris is the Dad of the whole family and is also a doctor at the hospital in town. So anyways, Chris then met Seungmin who already had Hyunjin and Felix living with him from when they were young. It's not clear if Chris and Seungmin are a couple or just best friends but either way they are life partners and are the parents of the family even though they are both really young. Oh and then there's Changbin who was also adopted by Chris but I don't know when that happened or if they are related or not.

Basically it's a complicated backstory that no one knows the exact details about but they seem like a bunch of stray kids that Chris has formed into a family so that's why we call them that."

"Ok..." Jisung said while trying to process the convoluted family structure. He wasn't sure if he had understood anything Jung-hoon had said about the family of stray kids but he couldn't take his eyes off them.

Seeing Jisung's continued fixation, Jung-hoon continued "But don't get your hopes up. They're all paired up in couples." He subtly pointed to the painfully gorgeous blonde one and said "Felix is with Changbin" and indicated the ridiculously brawny one who's muscles seemed far too defined for a teenager.

Jung-hoon then indicated the tallest, more lanky one who's movements were as fluid as water and said "That's Hyunjin, and he's with Jeongin, the one who looks a bit like a fox but with cheekbones that could cut you."

Jisung nodded in acknowledgement, trying to commit these names and facts to memory.

"The only one who isn't here is Jeongin's brother, Minho. They are all always together so I'm sure he'll turn up at some point." Jung-hoon explained as his eyes scanned the cafeteria for the missing family member.

As Jisung's eyes searched too he asked "I didn't see them at lunch or in any of my classes yesterday."

"That's probably because of the weather." Jung-hoon explained. "Chris always takes the whole family out camping on nice days since they are so infrequent."

"Oh. That's nice." Jisung murmured, trying not to think about how infrequently he would see the sun.

Before he could slip too far into despair, the bell rang indicating lunch was over and with that, Jisung got up to follow Jung-hoon to gym class.