donewithlifefornow
Before the ring hits the hardwood floor, before six voices freeze in stunned silence, there's a slow unravelling no one notices. Families don't break in a single moment - they wear down in quiet places, in small ways, in the spaces between laughter.
Lee Chan has always been the dependable maknae, the one who bounces back, the one who laughs even when the joke is about him. It's easy to assume he's fine. It's easy to miss the signs when he isn't.
None of them sees the crack forming. None of them realise how close he is to breaking.
Not until the moment it finally happens.
This is the story of what leads to that break - and the way seven people learn how to hold each other together again.
[Cross-posted on AO3 under the same username]