Chapter Text
Turns out it’s harder to create a label from scratch than they thought. Of course, going into it they knew it would be no piece of cake, but Jisung was a little guilty that it felt like they were getting no work done. Him, Chan, and Changbin had been trying their hardest to get everything in order, especially since none of them are especially great at finances, or even being educated at how to own a company.
Luckily, Suho had been helping them lately and decided to take up the challenging spot of being their entire PR team. Mostly because they felt like they couldn’t trust anyone else, but also for the sake of simplification. Suho had been with them throughout their entire ordeal with JYP Entertainment, which means he understood the most about their desperation to continue releasing their music under a new label. He still wanted to get paid, of course; and since they actually knew how to write up a contract, it was pretty easy.
He and Minho were at the latter’s apartment waiting for the others to arrive, as they were going to make some pretty big decisions today. They didn’t have a building yet, but what they did have were savings, so none of them were entirely worried about costs. Minho fiddled with the charcuterie board he had made hours earlier to relieve his stress, which displayed various cheeses and fruits that’ll definitely make the upcoming meeting less tension-filled. Of course, when the former Stray Kids members are able to see each other, it’s never awkward per se, but there are a lot of unspoken worries that they need to discuss.
Jisung’s phone beeped loudly with a recognizable tone, indicating he’d gotten a message from one of the members.
Chan
We said 3 PM, right? I’ll be there in 10. I’m driving Changbin, Hyunjin, and Jeongin.
His stomach turned as he reacted to it with a heart. They’ll be here soon. He relayed the message to Minho, who reassured him with a smile. The house basically smelled of anxiety, and after Jisung pointed it out jokingly, Minho rushed to spray air freshener around. He felt a little bad for making his boyfriend freak out more than he already is, but sometimes it’s good to do activities to relieve it. While Jisung prefers to wallow in his sweat and think about the worst case scenario, Minho is more proactive in the way he handles ‘unwanted feelings’.
It was a little relaxing knowing the worst of their stress is gone, as they are no longer under JYP’s contract. It was almost fall, leaves not yet turning color but the air is crisper, allowing it to finally be comfortable to go on walks. They decided to leave that part of their life behind and not pursue any of what happened legally, even though they were very enthusiastic about it at first.
Jisung remembers that meeting very clearly. Not long after the ending of their contract, maybe a few days, Chan invites him and Changbin to a park nearby. Coincidentally, the one that had started all this mess. Jisung didn’t think Chan knew that, or else he probably wouldn’t have chosen there. They talked about the pros and cons of attempting to sue their former boss, with Jisung putting in his 2 cents. That he was just exhausted, and wanted to keep putting out music. At the end of the day, he didn’t really have personal issues with JYP. Sure, he was greedy and sure, he did the wrong thing and he probably regrets it; but it’s not like it was him that entirely instigated it. JYP played a big role in getting the word out there through the original article, and since he’s the boss, his command allowed for the former Stray Kids to endure a lot more than they could’ve if it were just the PR team.
Chan was bitter, wishing they had the power to make him pay for the emotional damages he inflicted, but eventually agreed. Changbin was relatively silent throughout the discussion, but emphasized how much work would have to go into their legal proceedings if they wanted to really go ahead with it. Considering how passionate they were about making music, it felt like a stab in the heart to imagine spending months in court instead of at the studio. It’s not like they have any direct contact with JYP anymore, anyways.
A knock at the door startled him out of his head. “I’ll get it!” Walking over to the door and opening it up, he sees Changbin, Hyunjin, Chan, and Jeongin.
“Oh man,” Changbin swooned, pushing past Jisung. “It smells good in here. Did you guys make food?”
Jisung rolled his eyes, shutting the door behind the others. “Nice to know your priorities.”
Minho, who was in their bedroom doing God knows what, rushed in. “Hey guys. I made some snacks if you just wanna sit down for a little.” He gestured to the table that sat in their living room, which was displaying his food arranging skills. Changbin gasped and sat down next to it, gently picking at the cheese.
“It’s so beautiful. I don’t wanna ruin it…” He said in a fake-awed voice. Minho laughed, bluntly stating that ‘it was meant to be eaten’ so he didn’t really care how it went out. Changbin took that as an invitation and dug in, gesturing to the others who sat on the couch, watching amusedly.
Jeongin waved him off, giggling to himself. “Sorry Changbin, I'm not hungry right now, but I think you can finish it just fine on your own.”
Before Changbin could give a rebuttal, another knock came from the door. Jisung was stuck in between Hyunjin and Chan and as he tried to get up, he got snatched by the waist and dragged back down with an ‘oof’. Minho, who was observing from behind the couch, sent him a look and headed to the door.
He sent a silent thanks from his cramped spot as Chan was nuzzling into his neck. “Ew, why is your nose so cold.” He yelped, a shiver going down his spine. Hyunjin jumped away from the feeling, cringing. He was going to say something from the way his mouth opened but got distracted by the people walking in the living room.
Seungmin rushed in with Felix trailing behind, carrying a platter covered in plastic wrap. A big smile adorned his face as the others realized what he was holding.
“Brownies?” Minho looked over his shoulder, eyes shining. “I need one so bad.”
They walked over to the table together, where Seungmin was now resting his head on top of Jeongin. They had clearly missed each other over the break. Those two were the types to pine over each other so much even though they live 10 minutes away from each other and nothing was stopping them from visiting. “I figured you would make food, Minho. I know you too well.” He ripped the plastic wrap off, revealing dozens of warm brownies covered with whipped cream. “Do you guys have ice cream?”
Jisung praised God as he got voluntarily released to head into the kitchen to look for ice cream. He didn’t think they had any, but an excuse to get away from Chan’s clutches was good enough for him. Opening their small freezer, a blast of cold air causes him to shiver but he didn't shy away. There seemed to be an opened pint of vanilla ice cream near the bottom. Fuck it. He reached down to grab it, ruining the organized system his boyfriend had in place with frozen veggies and fruit on one side and meat with miscellaneous items on the other.
A yell from the living room. “What are you doing in there?” He froze, with one arm in the air containing the newfound ice cream. Chuckling nervously, he slowly closed the freezer. “Uhh, I found ice cream?” It was silent afterwards so he thanked the Heavens he was in the clear.
Back in the living room, someone had gotten plastic plates from who knows where and distributed them to those who wanted ice cream with their brownies. Changbin and Chan were looking hungrily at the pint in Jisung’s hands.
“Woah, chill out guys…” He laughed, pulling the top off. “I don’t even know how much is in h—”
Seeing his face, Minho looked away guiltily and Felix laughed. “Uh oh, I think someone ate the ice cream.” He got a glare from the offender as Jisung turned to his boyfriend and scoffed. “Why didn’t you tell me there was none? No one else voluntarily lives here besides me so I know it was you.” Jisung pouted.
“I forgot, it was like… a few days ago.” Minho smiled, his cute teeth causing Jisung to forget why he was ever upset. Changbin rolled his eyes, muttering something about a terrible memory, before cheering up as Felix handed out the brownies.
Jisung walked over behind Minho, who was chilling on the couch, half-splayed out. “It’s okay.” He whispered, making his hands busy via back massage. Minho leaned into it and closed his eyes, only snapping out of it when a brownie was shoved in his half-open mouth.
“Alright!” Chan stood up and clapped. “We have business to discuss.” A chorus of groans filled the room. They had almost forgotten. Their oldest pointedly ignored them as he plugged a cord into his laptop, successfully connecting it to the TV. A PowerPoint slide titled ‘Rebrand Discussion’ made itself visible.
After seeing it, Jisung noticed a few of his friends looking away, having uncomfortable expressions on their faces. A few of them, specifically Jeongin and Changbin, don’t take a liking to the word ‘rebrand’. After getting pissed the first time it came up, Jeongin confessed it made him feel fake and like he’d done something wrong. Changbin just didn’t want to get rid of their team name, Stray Kids, because of how much of an impact it had on them as a unit. Jisung, Chan, and Changbin can’t even identify as 3RACHA anymore. It hurt him to know that it was just a name, and it felt as if individual identities were stripped from him when they left.
Their endearing extroverts, though, are always willing to debate on the oddest things. Chan starts. “Alright guys. Before we start this, there’s something that I discussed with Changbin and Jisung that I wanted to ask about.” He hesitated for a second, looking around the room. “We decided to not pursue JYP in a legal sense, but if anyone has anything to say against it, I'll hear you out.”
A sigh rang out across the room, and the sound of clothes rustling indicated someone adjusting their posture. Clearly, a few of them were pissed about it, but knew that it was ultimately the best decision and not something to uselessly debate about. Jisung caught a ‘why didn’t you tell me’ glare from Minho, which he apologetically returned. Chan took the silence as acceptance and continued on with his PowerPoint.
“Okay!” The second slide displayed a bold title of ‘What have we already gotten done?’ a few bulleted subtitles.
PR (Suho)
Finance control (Suho)
Savings (Us)
Connections (Us and Suho)
Where to start? Market research, choosing name, etc.
“So basically,” Jeongin squinted at the TV. “Suho is doing all of our work for us?”
An offended gasp came out of Chan, and he rushed to back himself up. “No— no. He is helping a lot though, more than he needs to. What he’s doing is helping us get in contact with someone who’ll help us get our music officially licensed to platforms like Spotify and Apple Music once we create our label.” He looked back up to what he wrote, hand up to his chin. “‘Cause we don’t know how.”
They made eye contact for a few seconds, before Jeongin backed down with a sorrowful sigh. “We need to… make a new name?”
Chan looked empathetically at their youngest. “One for the label, and one for ourselves, yeah. But think of it as something positive, we get to create a whole new identity for our music. I think it’ll be fun.” He smiled as Jeongin looked back up, trying to maintain a decent expression.
He went on to explain that the business with Suho was already conducted, and that he worked for them unofficially until they had a solid business under their belts. Of course, they still had a contract, because Chan insisted. Suho said that all they needed during their time crunch was a name for their label, so he could start reaching out to his connections.
Then after that, it would be smart to contact one of their K-pop idol acquaintances who had also created an independent label in the past, and see how they went about constructing or buying the building that their studios and dance rooms were located in. Surely they would need quite a few of those, even if they weren’t planning on signing artists under them. Chan smiled as he imagined the normalcy of going back to creating music with his friends, and glowed as the others reveled in it as well.
“Hm.” Changbin hummed. “So, name suggestions?” He looked around at uncertain faces.
“This was easier when it was chosen for us.” Hyunjin joked nervously, referring to their former team name. Jeongin nodded in agreement. “I don’t want to say something stupid.”
“For the label, I was thinking something simple but cool like Delta.” Seungmin piped up, head cocked to the side like a puppy. “Like the Greek alphabet letter.”
“Oh shit,” Minho laughed ironically from his seat. “Why was that cool?”
The others cracked up, sort-of imagining how that name would look on their imaginary building. Chan mentioned how their logo could be a bold or cursive version of one of the types of Delta in the Greek alphabet; either the triangle or the s-looking one.
“Honestly Seungmin,” Changbin was still laughing. “Best idea you’ve had your whole career.” He yelped when he got a harsh slap on the shoulder, but was still smiling.
Seungmin rolled his eyes at the sight. “Wow, thanks guys.”
“Well, we can look into graphic design if you want, Hyunjin?” Chan looked over at their signature artist, who nodded gratefully. The topic seemed to be over with so Chan wrapped up his powerpoint, telling them that he’d update Suho if anyone wanted to come to their meeting.
Most of them politely declined, but Jisung was relatively interested. First of all, he hadn’t really gotten a chance to thank Suho for all that he’d done for them, which is a lot. He’ll also never turn down free coffee, which Chan was offering to pay for. They all decided to hang out at Minho’s apartment for the rest of the night, so they got the drinks out. Now, Jisung had his own decently luxurious apartment, but most of his possessions were in Minho’s; and that included his pretty large selection of drinks. He may be a lightweight, but there’s nothing more enjoyable than drinking with his closest friends.
After excusing himself with a knowing look to his boyfriend, he headed to the minifridge that sat inside of their pantry. It’s main purpose was to hold alcoholic beverages, but since Jisung had a little bit of a coffee addiction, it also had some of that in case he was too lazy to order in. So basically, the fridge is his own unhealthy drink supply. Unopened liquor has an unbelievably long shelf life, so sometimes he feels like they’re there for show.
As he was greeted with the icy air of the fridge, a bottle of whiskey in the back corner caught his attention. A lot of them don’t prefer wine, which is a lot of his supply. Thank God he had something they’d all enjoy besides cheap beer. Smiling, he snatched the glass out and examined it. Seemed about a liter, which is more than enough. He’s considered a lightweight, so he would’ve never been able to drink this on his own. Chan was sitting in the kitchen when he walked back out, rifling through their cabinets.
“Minho told me you were getting drinks. Do you not have any shot glasses?” He frowned, then looked down at the bottle and gaped. “Oh! Whiskey? Can’t say I’m not surprised.”
“We don’t really need shot glasses for this, right?” Jisung laughed, holding the bottle up. “We can take swigs.” The glass cork at the top seemed a little too precious to just yank off, so he gave it to Chan so he could manhandle it.
“I guess we could,” Chan drawled, thinking for a moment. “We would just look a little… unrefined.” Both of them knew that ‘unrefined’ was a very accurate word that would describe them as a group, so they laughed it off. Jisung closed the cabinets behind them as they followed the sound of chatter back into the living room.
Most of the food was already gone, the remnants being fruit and bread that most of them weren’t in the mood for (but that they were probably going to need considering the upcoming drinks). Changbin sat on the couch with Seungmin in his lap, and Jeongin on the floor in between their legs. Their conversation was unintelligible over the debate Minho was having with Hyunjin and Felix about the best type of wine. While none of them even preferred it, Jisung knew if ‘it was expensive enough’, Minho liked sweet Rosé wines. The other two were debating that white wines tasted fruiter and therefore had less of that signature bitter wine flavor. What Jisung got out of it, though, is that they mutually agreed that red wine is disgusting.
While Chan busied himself with the cork, Jisung decided to hold the base of the bottle so nothing goes flying when it eventually comes off. It looks expensive, especially since it’s clearly made of thick glass.
“Is that whiskey?” Jeongin asked incredulously, leaning closer like he couldn’t believe his eyes. “I could’ve sworn you only drank wine and beer, Jisung.” He grinned widely, throwing his hands up in the air with a ‘gimme’ gesture.
“Honestly—” Jisung almost shit himself as the cork came flying off after Chan pulled on it a little too hard. Luckily Seungmin, who had the higher ground, caught it mid-air. Eyes wide and mouth agape as if he didn’t expect to have caught it, Seungmin just silently handed it back to Chan which allowed Jisung to finish his sentence. “Uhh, I just wanted to find something we’d all drink. I know most of you don’t like wine and really like whiskey.”
“Thanks, you’re a Godsend. I need a drink.” Changbin sighed from his spot behind Seungmin. “Do we have glasses?”
Chan uttered a comically timed ‘about that…’ and the living room went into an uproar. Most of them were pissed about not being able to drink when they want, but Hyunjin (rightfully) worried about breaking the bottle while he’s tipsy. Honestly, don’t ask him what he and Chan were thinking when they decided to open up a large bottle of whiskey in a nice furnished living room with 8 men occupying it without glasses.
“I’m just gonna get some plastic cups because I know for a fact you and Minho don’t have anything fancy in here.” Felix stood up and headed for the kitchen, Hyunjin in tow who yelled over his shoulder: “Yeah, all you guys do is order in!”
“Yah!” Minho piped up. “That’s not true, I take pride in my cooking.” He crossed his arms and looked to Jisung pointedly to validate his statement. Panicking under the short notice, his two neurons fire up a sad excuse for a defense. “Uh— yeah, he cooks all the time!” Seeing Minho facepalm in his peripheral vision, he just laughed guiltily. “Sorry.”
He got a beckoning gesture in return, so he slunk from one couch to another, opting to lay his head on Minho’s lap until it was time to drink. To be honest, he’d gotten a headache from all the serious talk, which seems to happen a lot nowadays. As if he was a mind-reader, Minho brought his hands down and started rubbing Jisung’s temples mindlessly. Leaning into it, he almost accidentally let out a blissful groan before realizing he was also in the room with all his other friends. That would’ve been embarrassing.
“Here we go!” A yell from the kitchen made him open one eye in irritation. “I knew you guys had something.” A second later, Hyunjin and Felix came back, with colorful, obviously kid-marketed cups in hand. In his defense, Minho had bought those, not him.
“I cannot believe we are going to be drinking hard liquor in these stupid cups.” Seungmin scoffed, but still took one gratefully and examined it. “How much do you use these? They’re so scuffed.”
Jisung looked up and met eyes with Minho. They broke into simultaneous laughter, before the former muttered a ‘guilty as charged’ and looked away, squishing his cheek into Minho’s thigh.
“He makes his coffee in them.” Minho clarified fondly.
A chorus of ‘ohhhh’ surrounded the room, and suddenly it made sense. Seungmin shrugged because he probably didn’t care in the first place and started pouring himself a shot. He took a deep breath with a smile, submitting himself for a world of pain he’ll wake up to tomorrow.
“Cheers, fam.” Jeongin said in monotone but with a large smile on his face. The others joined in and clinked their plastic kids cups together.
While the rest of the night was basically a blur for Jisung, the best he could remember was a vague memory of Changbin yelling outside the window of Minho’s apartment, causing a huge disturbance. No one had yelled back, because it was super late into the night, but the sound of silence spoke volumes. ‘The city was so upset they had to have a moment of silence for the silence’. Hyunjin laughed until he cried when Jisung said that, even though it wasn’t that funny. Sure, it was not the smartest thing to do, but if they got in trouble, they’d blame Minho himself who dared Changbin to do it.
There was also the comfortable murmur of separate conversations as each of them settled into their maximum alcohol intake for the night, which Jisung can admit he fell into first. He may be the worst at keeping his alcohol, but that just means his hangover is the least life-destroying in the morning. Which he could understand now that he had woken up.
As he looked around, taking in the absolute wreckage that is now Minho’s living room, he just sighed in defeat. They accepted that this would happen the moment they brought out that whiskey. The man who owned this apartment in question was face planted on his lap, hands wrapped around the small of his waist. It was difficult to tell if he could even breathe down there, but Jisung chuckled lightly as he saw Minho’s back rise and fall. Thank goodness, he would need Minho to clean up this mess.
Hyunjin, Jeongin, Changbin, and Chan had apparently moved the living room table under the mounted TV, and got Minho’s large storage of blankets spilled onto the floor. They made their own makeshift bed-pile and slept there instead of on the couches, one of which Jisung and Minho took up. The other couch contained Seungmin’s long and lanky figure accompanied by Felix curled up halfway on the arm. They were all still asleep, the only one obviously snoring being Changbin and his boyfriend, interrupted by small bouts of sleep-babble.
The dull headache and jellyness of limbs that encompassed the ever-so familiar feeling of a hangover were there, but could easily be remedied with the correct technique. Those techniques, thank goodness, Jisung knew extraordinarily well. Slipping himself slowly out from under Minho’s harsh grip, he trudged to the kitchen to find the stash. Now, some would call his methods a little bit… unorthodox, but when they work wonders no one will question him.
In America, they call this ‘The Hair of the Dog’. In simple man’s terms, it means to keep drinking until the hangover effect is lessened. Now, he isn’t a madman, so Jisung isn’t going to force another whiskey bottle onto all of his friends. Grabbing one of the cheap beers from the minifridge, he equally split it into eight cups, allowing everyone to get at least a little bit. This is so the effects are still there, but can be lessened by the presence of alcohol still in the bloodstream. Jisung’s no science major, but after doing it enough times he’s pretty sure it works that way.
Of course, that’s not all he’ll do. Opening an upper cabinet above the stove, plenty of bottles showed their faces. Out of those, maybe 75% of them were just standard painkillers for Jisung and Minho to share (mostly Jisung). Don’t ask him why he’s in enough pain at random times of the day to be needing this much painkillers. He blew a sigh out his nose, rifling through the cabinet. A lot of them were empty and he just decided not to throw the bottle away, apparently.
“Oh!” His eyes widened as his fingers met the cap of an unopened bottle of painkillers. “Gotcha.” The childlock was a little hard to get through, though, and as he struggled to take the lid off (as always) a swift hand took the bottle.
Minho kissed the top of his head. “Here.” His voice was gravelly with the morning, and as he usually was at this time, a man of few words. He eyed the beer on the counter with an amused expression but didn’t mention it.
“Thanks.” Jisung leaned his head against Minho’s back, in between his shoulder blades. He smelled so good, like their home. “Should I make coffee too or just stick with the beer?”
Minho hummed. “If I were awake earlier, I would have advised against the beer, but since we’re already here…” Turning around and allowing Jisung to slump against his chest instead, he laughed. “Let’s not do two drinks, but I don’t want to waste the beer, either.” Jisung closed his eyes in bliss as Minho’s chest rumbled against his ear.
“Yeah… I probably wouldn’t have worked that hard, anyway.” Jisung smirked tiredly and moved away from his boyfriend. He started rationing the painkillers next to each cup, so that no one gets lost.
Minho followed him like a lost puppy, probably looking for something to do. “Can I have mine now?” With a nod of confirmation, he grabbed a cup and downed the beer with the pills in one swig. After a moment of thought, he scoffed and looked back down into the empty cup. “Aren’t we not supposed to mix alcohol and pills?”
Jisung froze for a second, thinking it over. “Uhh, since it’s not too much of either? I think it’ll be fine? Hopefully?” He laughed nervously, but got calmer after a minute. “I’ve done this before with more beer and I was fine, so it should be okay.” Minho laughed at his initial reaction, which caused Jisung to swat at his shoulder with an eye roll. “I forgot, okay?”
“I trust you.” Minho sounded surprisingly genuine for this early in the morning, which caused Jisung to look at him skeptically. “And no, I don’t want something.” He snorted and looked at the stove clock, which told him it was 11 am. No wonder he was hungry, but he honestly expected to wake up later than this considering the stuff they got up to last night. Opening the fridge, he decided to do something that’ll help everyone else wake up, especially since they have work to do. They only had about a half-carton of eggs left, so someone would have to share.
“Oh wow, are you making eggs?” Jisung gushed as Minho fetched a pan. A blush was noticeable on his face as Jisung kept acting surprised about a normal act of kindness. Surely he isn’t emotionless and indifferent that often, is he? Jisung was posted up behind him, tittering on. “They’ll be so happy to see you’ve made breakfast. Thank you, baby.” He got a wet kiss on the shoulder and a genuine wide smile from his boyfriend who then turned around and continued to perfect his ‘hangover cure’. From what he could see, there was another drink, this one of cloudy-looking substance. Jisung had clearly disregarded his advice for ‘not more than one drink’, but he’s not surprised.
The man in question seemed to have noticed Minho looking ungratefully at the mystery drink and decided to clarify. As Minho was flipping the egg, he explained thoroughly. “It’s water, but i put a packet with a bunch of electrolyte powder in it. I’ve never done this one before, but I heard it’s good… so…” He trailed off, seeming suddenly uncertain. It makes sense that he wouldn’t want to be sending their friends to their graves with his unconventional techniques.
But he was feeling a little risky. “I’ll try it first.” Grabbing one of the cups, he downed it in seconds and immediately scrunched up his nose. It tasted like shit, but what was he supposed to expect? Jisung bursted out laughing at his face, pointing as he covered his nose to quiet the snorting. He got a scoff and an embarrassed look in response, as Minho tried to play it off as something he did on purpose, but Jisung knows him too well.
“You’re so cute.” Jisung caught his breath, holding onto the counter. “Well, at least we know what it tastes like.”
“Dude.” A voice from the other room causes Minho to jump, tripping into Jisung which ends up in them both toppling into the refrigerator. Jisung groaned under the weight, trying to stay upright to keep them safe from the blatant fire hazard which was their stove. All Minho could do was utter “Shit…” as he pulled himself up and offered Jisung his hand, who took it. They smiled at each other for a second, before the offending voice came back, having apparently watched that whole spectacle. “Sorry. That was cute, though.”
Hyunjin was peering over the couch that he and Jisung had inhabited, chin in hands. “You guys are just so fucking loud.” As he slunk off the couch, he stretched his arms up over his head and let out the loudest groan in existence, probably louder than Minho and Jisung ever were, and made his way over to the kitchen. “Whaddya got for me?”
At this point, Jisung had already forgotten his fall and was back in a good mood. “We have all these goodies for you, your hangover will be gone in no time!” When Hyunjin looked at the drinks and pills skeptically, as if asking why in hell he should trust a setup like this, Jisung added. “Made with love!”
Hyunjin shrugged, hugged Jisung good morning, and gathered up the pills. As he drank all the beer in one fell swoop, taking the pills down with it, the way his eyes widened was telling that he absolutely was not expecting another alcoholic beverage this early in the morning. He coughed as soon as he swallowed, wiping at his mouth. “What the fuck, Jisung.” He whined. “Why the hell am I drinking beer right now?”
“It’ll help lessen the effects, trust me.” A pat on the back along with reassurance and Hyunjin was back to his normal self, looking curiously at the final drink. He muttered something to the effects of ‘vodka’ before getting scolded by Jisung. The cloudy clear drink went down a lot smoother, and he seemed satisfied with that. Clearing his throat and turning over to Minho, who had been minding his own business up until now, Hyunjin approached coyly.
“So? Can that egg be mine?” He tapped insistently on Minho’s shoulder, which he knew pissed him off.
“We’ve been awake longer,” He replied, turning around to look at Hyunjin’s pout. “Since you’re third, you can have yours after me and Jisung. Good news is: you also don’t have to share.”
He got a gasp in return, then a haunting laugh. “Someone has to share? That’s not good.”
“Yep. Not enough eggs.” Flipping this egg one last time onto a plate, he called for Jisung who whistled approvingly as he took his food away. “Last people’ll share.” He cracked a new egg onto the pan, watching as it sizzled. It was silent as Hyunjin also watched, the two of them entranced by something as simple as an egg getting cooked.
“Mmmm…” Jisung was at the island, absolutely scarfing down his food. “Jesus Christ.” When Minho finally turned around the egg was gone, the only evidence of its existence being all over Jisung’s face. He and Hyunjin broke out into a fit of giggles as Jisung tried to figure out exactly where on his face the food was. They tried to tell him, but the only way he understood was when they gestured to the entirety of his face being the ‘problem area’. They just got a resigned scoff in return as Jisung decided to let the mirror tell him instead.
“Hey.” Minho turned around unsuspectingly to see Hyunjin’s serious face, and looked around weirdly. “Uh… Yeah?”
“I just…” Hyunjin hesitated for a moment, before looking down sheepishly. “I haven’t been able to see you guys that much since we left JYP. Has everything been okay?” He probably felt bad for the situation and wanted to know nothing was different between them, so Minho decided to reassure him. “We’ve been okay. It was a little tough to get used to, since we had to abandon our identity and all of that, but… emotionally-wise? Actually pretty good.” He spoke truthfully.
He got a relieved smile, and a hopeful tone in response. “I’m so glad. I can’t wait until we figure all of this out and we can go back to how it used to be.” Minho hummed in recognition and turned back to his egg. That, they can both agree on.
Jisung observed the kitchen after his quick trip to the bathroom, watching Hyunjin and Minho having what looks like a serious conversation, which he’d love to avoid. From the looks on their faces, Hyunjin’s being one of guilt while his boyfriend just looks vaguely confused, as always. Jisung isn't the best communicator of all time, and because of that, knowing what will happen if and when he joins a conversation is a good skill. He slunk past the doorway and headed back to the living room where most of his friends were still asleep. The clock mounted on the wall read 11:30 am, which was way past the times they’d usually sleep in until. Though most of them will be pissed to be woken up, they need to get some nutrients in their systems. With that, Jisung whistled loudly and gently shook the nearest sleeping bodies.
Felix, his first victim, groaned loudly and kicked out his legs which alarmed Seungmin, his couchmate. It took them a second to remember where they were, most likely the effects of the alcohol, but they got up one by one.
“Oh,” a call from the kitchen Jisung recognized as Hyunjin’s. “Is everyone getting up now?”
“Yep.” Jisung responded, albeit a little quietly because he knew a few of the newly awakened were not morning people. Seungmin shot him a glare at the noise and he just scoffed, pointing towards the kitchen as if to say ‘didn’t Hyunjin just yell?’ with a bewildered expression. He was ignored as Seungmin and Felix walked past him to head to the kitchen. On the way, Felix smiled and pat Jisung’s head. “Good morning.” His morning voice is as terrifying as it is satisfying.
“G’morning.” Jisung looked towards the sleeping pile on the floor, who seemed to be awake but hardly functioning. Jeongin noticed his two hyungs gravitate towards him in their sleep and was attempting to push them off, but when Chan has random urges to be cuddling someone, he can’t be fought off. Chan seemed to be the only one laughing as they rolled around on the floor with no apparent goal because they needed to get up anyway. Changbin, however, was taking the hits, still dead asleep. Jisung rolled his eyes and turned to go back to the kitchen. They’d be done soon.
Meanwhile, Felix was bugging their residential cook, asking insistently when his egg’ll be done. Minho was ignoring him, probably for his own sanity. Jisung laughed softly as he led their dimly-lit ray of sunshine to his setup.
Felix didn’t seem to mind that the array of pills and drinks looked awfully suspicious, but Jisung is trustworthy enough to not get questioned about it, apparently. He took the swig of the cloudy water with a tired smile on his face. Seungmin, however, looked at Felix with a horrified look.
“Do you even know what that is?” He stared down into the cup at the cloud-colored drink.
Felix was silent for a second, tongue flicking around as if to identify the substance. “I have no idea, it tasted pretty bad though.”
“God…” Seungmin grabbed the cup of beer and took a small sip, only to start coughing. “What the fuck? Why are you making us drink again?”
“It’s a strategy!” Jisung defended himself, Hyunjin nodding in a half-assed agreement.
Seungmin looked to have zoned out for a second, probably channeling his rage into something more appropriate for a morning with a hangover. “You’re lucky I'm tired.” He grumbled.
“Wow, you two.” Felix slumped on the counter, eyes closed. “I had a lot of fun last night. I barely even remember what happened, though…” A focused look took over his face for a moment, before breaking out into a mischievous smile. “Did Changbin really yell out the window?”
“Unfortunately.” Minho broke in, while holding Felix’s breakfast. “I’m gonna get a complaint soon, I bet.” When Jisung rolled his eyes with a ‘it’s not that big of a deal’ look, his eyes widened with a devilish stare. “You basically live here, you’ll get kicked out too.”
“True!” Felix emphasized, mouth full. “Since your apartment is such a shithole, Minho’s not gonna want to stay with you anymore. He’ll probably move in with someone tidy like Chan.”
Jisung pouted. “My apartment isn’t a shithole…” He groaned when all he got were disbelieving looks from his friends, and clarified. “To be fair, I don’t remember what state I left it in since it’s been so long.”
“Probably infested.” Felix laughed. Hyunjin added insult to injury. “With rats and cockroaches!”
“And now I’m terrified. We better not get kicked out of Minho’s apartment now, you guys will never hear the end of it.” Jisung laughed, but quieted down when he heard a loud very Jeongin-like yell from the living room. He whistles. “Uh oh.”
“I’m not getting involved.” Seungmin deadpanned, drinking from his palette-cleanser bottled water.
“Me neither.” Felix looked away with a guilty look. “I know that yell. He probably got pissed at Chan for holding on when he wanted to get up.”
“I'll go.” Hyunjin jumped at the opportunity and dashed into the living room. It was quiet for a few seconds but a “What the fuck?” and “Get off of me, seriously!” made it very clear whose side he was on. Hyunjin won’t ever turn down an opportunity to show physical affection towards Jeongin, apparently even in situations where the anger risk is highest.
The kitchen was silent as they listened, each of their faces mirroring the same disappointment but amused expression. Jeongin eventually emerged victorious from the puddle of people on the floor, leaving them whining tiredly. He walked in, breathing heavily with a pissed off look on his face. Everyone in the room telepathically signed a pact when he walked in; say nothing to make him angrier.
Jisung slid one of the remaining hangover cure piles over to him, which he took with a grunt of approval. Jeongin may have a bright personality, but one thing ticks him off and his niceness is out of commission for the day.
Minho took initiative for the sake of the rest of them. “I made you an egg, Jeongin.” He carried a plate over to their youngest, who smiled brightly at the sight. “Oh, I didn’t know we’d have breakfast.”
Thank God. Winning him over with food. Jisung met Minho’s eyes and gave him an appreciative look. He got a knowing smile in return as Minho turned to the stove to make the remaining eggs. One for Changbin, for Chan, and himself.
“Mmm.” Jeongin groaned as he used his fork to pick up half his meal. “I was so hungry.”
“I know, right?” Seungmin, who just got back from finding his phone somewhere in the living room, sat heavily on the tile flooring. “I still am. Who wants to go with me for lunch?”
“I’m in.” Felix and Jeongin said simultaneously, then started laughing. Chan and Changbin had also made their way into the room, the former’s hair sticking up in all different directions. He looked like he just woke up, even though they all knew he was messing with Jeongin for like, a half an hour.
Chan cleared his throat, catching the attention of the full kitchen. “We are meeting with Suho today, by the way. Who said they were coming?”
“Uhh,” Jisung looked upwards in thought. “I think it was just me and Changbin, right?”
“Pretty sure.” Chan responded. “I can take over with the eggs, Minho.” He stepped over to the stove as Minho lifted an egg out. “This one can be yours.”
“Thanks.” Jisung saw Minho lick his lips with a hungry look in his eyes, and started eating the egg without any silverware. They made eye contact as the egg was almost wholly in his mouth, as his teeth poked out over the half-solid yolk, and Jisung broke into laughter. Minho made a low rumbly noise in his throat as he turned towards Jisung to mess with him. He shrieked as Minho started eating close to his ear, the sound causing him to cringe and bump into Felix.
“Ah, fuck.” Seungmin covered his ears. “Dude.”
Jisung laughed guiltily before shooting a dirty look at the perpetrator, who had just finished his egg with a smile. “Sorry.”
Changbin had been ignoring them, but piped up as a message notification came in through his phone. “Chan, Jisung, be ready by one.” They each gave him an ‘okay’ and Jisung took a look at the stove clock. 12 pm. Shit, he has to take a shower.
Jisung told his boyfriend before rushing to the bedroom, in which his clothes were strewn out in one corner. Minho’s closet was a little too small for the both of them. He snatched out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that matched enough for him to not care, and raced to the bathroom. If any of his friends wanted to shower before they left, he’d better be quick.
After an award-winning ten minutes, Jisung stepped out of the shower and changed. He startled as someone knocked on the door. A yell he can very easily recognise as Changbin rang loudly even through the large wooden blockage. “Uhh, sorry but I think most of us are gonna shower here. Might wanna hurry up.” Jisung scoffed in disbelief as he caught giggles coming from the other side. They are so immature, but he smiled as he imagined his friends huddled behind the bathroom door. He played along, even if they weren’t joking. “I’m almost done!”
He opened the door abruptly, hitting a crouching Hyunjin and Changbin square in the nose. Hyunjin leaned back onto the floor with a dramatic moan, while Changbin glared up at him with a deadly glint in his eye and hands cradling his nose. “Shit. We thought it would take you a little longer to change.” Jisung’s eyes widened at the sight and he laughed guilty. “Sorry, I wouldn't have expected you guys to be right behind the door.” He held his hand out for Changbin to take, which he did, and they watched Hyunjin writhe on the floor.
“Oh my god… my nose is probably broken now, thanks a lot Jisung.” Hyunjin held his hands out in front of him, which had lines of blood running down them. “Oh.”
The other two gasped and rushed to help Hyunjin up and into the bathroom. They don’t have an AC system installed to help with temperature regulation in the bathroom, so steam made the mirror cloud up. Thank goodness, though, because Jisung had no idea how Hyunjin would react seeing what he saw. As Changbin rushed to grab soft tissues, Jisung worked with toilet paper to get the blood off his face. He instructed Hyunjin to crane his neck to look straight up at the ceiling to avoid more bloodshed. As the man in front of him whined and groaned about how he was gonna die, Jisung calmly wet the toilet paper and wiped the blood off. Of course, he made sure to avoid any droplets because there was no way he was gonna struggle washing the clothes he just changed into.
“I’m back.” Changbin ran back in along with Minho, who gasped as he saw his bathroom bloodied. Minho snatched the tissues out of Changbin’s idle hand and brought them up to Hyunjin’s nose. “Are you okay? What happened?”
His voice was a little muffled by the tissue and Jisung’s worried hands, but he got the message through. “Jisung hit us with the door.” He ended with a pout which, of course, Minho couldn’t resist the sight of. He cooed and shushed Hyunjin’s whines and Jisung rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t even that bad. He’s so dramatic.”
Minho snorted. “Yeah, but this is the only way to get him to calm down.” They finished wiping Hyunjin’s face off and gave him a hard slap on the back. “Now no one gets to shower.”
“Oh shit—” Jisung looked around for a clock, but of course they didn’t have one installed in the bathroom. “It’s almost one.” Minho reached out to rub his shoulders and lead him towards the doorway. “He’ll be fine, you should finish getting ready… and probably apologize to Chan for taking away his shower.”
“Got it, thanks.” Jisung leaned upwards to give Minho a kiss on the cheek, who smiled with a light blush on his face. The door was open, and Jisung jumped as he realized Changbin was waiting for him just out of sight from inside the bathroom.
“J-Jesus, why are you there?” His embarrassment was obvious as Changbin reached an arm around his shoulder knowingly and led him back to the living room, where Chan was waiting for them. Compared to him, both Changbin and Chan were significantly less put-together, dressed up in what they wore last night.
He grimaced. “Sorry guys.” Chan waved his hand as they walked towards the front door and smiled. “It’s okay. Suho has seen us in a worse condition, I think.”
They decided to walk to the meeting place, which was a small park not very far away. They hadn’t seen each other in a while, so it relieved Jisung to be able to feel secure as they walked and chatted down the street. As his friends argued about whether to stop and get food on their way to the park, he was zoning out. In reality, his worry about how their lives will turn out has grown in the past few days. Maybe it was because of Chan, who decided to call him one night and complain about how much stress this was giving him; or it could just be all the events from the past few weeks finally catching up to him. When they had finally gotten out of the JYP building and their contract, he and Minho focused on catching up on their rest and quality time, basically rotting inside of Minho’s apartment. They may have spent almost every waking moment with each other in the JYP building, but he could barely count that as quality time. In fact, he found it hard to even remember what happened while they were in there.
Not to mention the absolute state they were in after the whole ordeal. He couldn’t speak for the rest of his friends, but he felt absolutely hopeless after their conversation with JYP. In the moment, and even for the drive home, he felt happy that they were able to stand up to someone who had been better than them for their entire career, someone who is also their boss. But as time went on, he had come to realize how much bigger this was than him. His boyfriend was there to comfort him, reassure him that everything will eventually work out, but his anxiety has the power to truly take over the rational part of his brain.
“Jisung?” a voice from ahead snapped him out of it, and as he looked upwards he realized he’s a few paces behind Changbin and Chan. Not wanting to make a big deal, Jisung smiled and caught up to them. The sign welcoming them to the park was standing proudly a block ahead, so they silently trekked the rest of the way, besides Chan talking to himself about all the main points they were to discuss with Suho.
“Suho said he’s already here,” Changbin glanced at his phone and tapped Chan’s shoulder. “He said to meet him at the picnic tables by the bathrooms.”
Both Jisung and Chan hummed in acknowledgement and started looking around. This park was not one they familiarize themselves with, though Jisung knew it quite well from a few days ago; when he and Minho went on their date. It was dark then, though, so he honestly had no idea where to walk. It was only when Changbin yelled something indistinct but positive, and led them over to a bench where Suho sat.
“Hey guys!” Suho, in all of his radiance, had a laptop propped on his lap and a coffee sitting next to his feet. “I’ve got everything you need to know on here— updated last night when Chan messaged me about the next step.”
“Oh yeah.” Chan looked guilty. “Sorry for all the misspells… I was, uh…”
“You're fine, I got the main idea.” Suho gestured to the seats next to him, inviting them to sit. Jisung and Changbin fit themselves on the bench, while Chan opted to sit on the floor for a direct conversation.
“So I see that you guys decided on Delta for a label name, but Chan, you never said anything about a team name.” Suho looked at them hesitantly, taking in the confused looks. Changbin gasped. “Oh yeah, we didn’t even choose one.”
“We got distracted.” Chan clarified. “I’d want to discuss that with all the members, so is it okay if we wait a little longer?”
Suho hummed, typing rapidly on his computer. “Yeah, that’s fine. I only really needed the label name for now.” He pulled up a Notepad and sat back. “This means I can start reaching out and letting people know about an up-and-coming music label. Do you want me to explicitly say that you guys are the former Stray Kids, or do you wanna…” He trailed off, letting the others put together the pieces.
After a few seconds, Chan blew a sigh out of his nose and straightened up. “I think you should. Just so people take us seriously.” Jisung nodded in agreement, even though nobody could see his opinion from where he sat. “Try to make sure they know we’re trying something new, though.”
“I think most people know we aren’t affiliated with JYP anymore, since it was… you know, all over the news.” Changbin added with a scoff. He peeked over Suho’s shoulder, watching him draft a mass email. “Are you gonna send the same thing to everyone?” He questioned, referring to all of Suho’s management friends.
“Yep, easier this way.” Suho looked away from his screen with a mischievous smile. “It’s not like they know the same thing was sent to like, 200 other people.”
200? Jisung gaped. If those people are just as important as Suho is in Korea, then their new label will be popular in no time. It was silent for a minute as the PR manager typed, with Changbin giving him not-so-useful tips about his wording.
“Alright,” Suho’s loud announcement made Jisung jump in his seat. The laptop was turned around, displayed a PDF file in ‘read aloud’ mode. “Here’s what I wrote.”
To whom it may concern,
I hope you are well, and living a life of prosperity. I’m writing to inform you about a new label featuring the former members of Stray Kids, who, if you were not aware, decided to part ways with their company barely a few weeks ago. Since deciding to continue their music career, I teamed up with them to create Delta. Though most details are still in the works, I’d appreciate your help with getting their name out there. I am currently working on a website, and the hunt for their building is only just beginning. Because of their… not so accommodating disembarkment from JYP, they have found themselves feeling abandoned and disoriented. I thank you immensely for your time, and I would be in immense debt if you were to let your connections know about this label diving into the K-pop scene.
“Wait, you’re making a website?” Jisung blurted out at the same time Changbin muttered “Why are you making us sound desperate?” Suho chose to ignore the latter and instead kindly answer Jisung’s question.
“Mhm. It’s one of my many talents, apparently.” When Jisung gave him a weird look, he just laughed. “Meaning that I just learned how to make one.”
“Oh,” Jisung shot him an impressed look over Changbin’s shoulder. “Isn’t it hard? You didn’t have to do that for us.”
Suho waved him off and shut his laptop. “I sent it. What are your plans now?” Chan jumped at the chance and stood up, ready to show off his rewards from talking to himself for half their trip.
“Okay,” He cleared his throat. “First, I figured we’ll reach out to former K-pop idols who were part of a company but then decided to leave and create their own label. This is so we can get a realistic idea of what we’re getting into.”
Suho nodded along, chin in his hand.
“Then, we need to buy a building that’ll fit all of us. Also, our dance practice rooms and studios. I don’t think we should build it, because I know there’s a lot of buildings for sale around here that are just big enough for us.” He laughed tiredly. “Not to mention it’d be less work and cost less.”
“You’re right.” Suho looked proud. “You guys seem to have a solid idea of where to go next. I’m leaving that part up to you, but if you need anything, feel free to reach out.” He sighed with a smile, stood up, and held out his hand. Jisung remembered hearing from Chan yesterday that Suho was a very busy man and that they were lucky they had his help, so he decided to take this as them parting ways. After each of them shook Suho’s hand and exchanged thank you’s, they quickly made their way out of the park. Jisung was tired, even after only being outside for not more than an hour. It was probably the whiskey from last night taking an internal toll on him. His legs kind of felt like jello, and the pulsing feeling of a headache coming on was pissing him off. Usually rubbing his temples helped with this, so he distracted himself with this task all the way back home to Minho’s apartment.
As the apartment complex came closer in view, Jisung noticed no one next to him. He turned around, confused, and saw Chan and Changbin engrossed in a conversation a few paces back. He called to them. “Guys?” They seemed surprised, but Chan seemingly recovered and spoke. “We’re gonna head home, so you can get some rest, Jisung.”
They didn’t live very far from him, or Minho, so he just shrugged nonchalantly. Of course, he was a little relieved to be back home, and the feeling of sitting in bed alone was calling to him. “Okay. See you guys!” They waved at each other as Chan and Changbin started walking the opposite way. He wondered for a moment if they could’ve been talking about something serious, but after some deliberating it was probably likely that they wanted to head home just like Jisung, and were worrying that he was gonna get upset. Luckily for them, all he wanted to do was sleep.
Letting himself into Minho’s apartment, Jisung looked around to find the place in a significantly clean state. The living room was silent aside from what sounded like quiet snoring. He shut the door behind him and walked over to the couch that wasn’t visible, to see his boyfriend dead asleep on it. He snorted, contemplating taking a picture of Minho’s squished cheek up against the arm, but ultimately the cons outweigh the pros as he knew it would piss Minho off. He grabbed a blanket that was laying on the back of the couch and rested it over his boyfriend’s sleeping figure. There was no way he could fit on the couch too, so Jisung turned on the TV to a show he had already seen 100 times and went to lay down on the other couch.
Hopefully, he thought, they’ll be able to go back to a normal schedule eventually. This ‘sleep all day and most of the night’ was really taking a toll on him. But, in his defense, there’s really no work to be done. Both him and Minho are practically useless in what they’re trying to accomplish, only inserting their opinions into an already very overwhelming venture. Luckily they had each other, including Suho to build up their budding business. When would they even start creating music? The question made Jisung remember something, and he flew off his seat on the couch to fetch it. The USB drive.
He had, honest to God, totally forgotten about it. Want so Bad was something so close to his heart when they were stuck, but after Minho had taken it out of his possession, it was almost like it had been erased from his memory. He felt a little bad that he hadn’t been doing more to finish the project, but it’s a little difficult with no newfound motivation. In Minho’s room, still sitting on the edge of his desk, was the harddrive. Jisung picked it up with a huff. It’s surprising that Minho’s curious mind didn’t cave and just plug it into his computer already to see what was on it. The real question was: Where should he put it now? A place he’d remember to go back and find it when they start working on their first album as a new group, surely. He laughed out loud at a stupid idea that flew into his head.
Opening the door to the pantry, he scoffed at seeing the fridge storing his drinks. Of course, he couldn’t put it in there as that would probably destroy all the information on it; but putting it near won’t damage anything. He stood as tall as he could on his tippy toes and put it up on a shelf, behind the flavor of instant ramen only he ate. That way, Minho would likely never find it.
A little out of breath, he walked back to the living room and plopped on the couch. Startling a little at a noise, he looked over to see Minho’s eyes blink open. Overcome with endearment, Jisung didn’t say a word as he stood up and walked over to the other couch. He got a playfully warning glare but ignored it as he squished himself under Minho’s chest. Well, so much for saying both of them wouldn’t fit. He let out a satisfied sigh as his boyfriend used his free hand to scratch at the hair by his nape. It was relieving to know that they were still so close, after all this time. They had big plans, as a group, and knowing him and Minho can make it through because of the support they get from each other is giving him infinite amounts of motivation. He slowly fell asleep with the help of dialogue from a soapy K-drama and Minho’s gentle breaths fanning his head.