Chapter Text
The members all gathered around in front of Felix’s laptop with the man in question holding up the flash drive.
“Are you sure about this, hyung? It’s ok if you really don’t want to do it.” Felix said, looking up at Chan in concern.
The others shot their leader similar looks, feeling guilty about what Hyunjin said earlier.
Chan felt their stares and smiled softly to reassure them, “I’m sure. But are you, Lixie? This might corrupt your laptop.”
Felix, feeling relieved seeing their hyung smile, nodded assuredly. “Yeah, we definitely can’t use your or Chanbin hyung’s laptops, and all my important stuff is backed up anyway, so I’m good.”
“Then, if you’re sure,”
Felix nodded, accepting the approval and carefully connecting the flash drive to his laptop. All eight members watched with bated breath as Felix’s laptop processed the foreign device, before letting out a collective breath of relief when nothing too drastic happened. However, everyone’s attention was quickly caught by the folder that opened in the middle of the screen, their eyes scanning the titles of every one of the video files, their intrigue piqued.
“Well, it’s as the note said; no ill intent, just a compilation of videos.” Jisung said, leaning back in his seat. Now that he knows what’s inside the drive, he looks around at his members, trying to gauge their next move.
“Do you think this will actually help us?” Jeongin asked meekly.
“The rough patch they talked about, it’s about Woojin-hyung leaving, isn’t it?” Hyunjin asked softly, feeling apprehensive about opening up about it after how aggressively he had previously brought it up.
“What else could it be, if not that. So, what do we do?” Seungmin asked, eyeing the collection of videos, focusing on a particular one titled ‘Achievements’ and another entitled ‘Edits (Thirst Traps)’. Well, that ought to be interesting.
“We watch.” The members looked back towards their leader, who was standing behind the couch, looking intensely into the screen.
Seungmin guessed he probably found the ‘Achievements’ one. It wasn’t that hard to put together that these videos were about them, especially seeing some of those titles, so it makes sense to him that his hyung would focus on the one that probably contains their achievements. But what achievements exactly? They’ve only just started. They haven’t achieved anything but lose a member.
“We watch it all.” Chan repeated, pulling Seungmin out of his thoughts, thankfully, before he could spiral.
The others nodded and ultimately decided to start with the one at the very top, titled “1. Dominate”. How could they not, when it was literally numbered? Seungmin saw a flash of disappointment cross Chan’s face before it was quickly replaced with curiosity.
“Alright, everyone, here we go.” Felix said, playing the first vid.
Stray Kids World Tour < dominATE LATIN AMERICA >
The video was immediately paused, not even 2 seconds in.
The members, wide-eyed, slowly turned to look at each other.
“What!?”
“World Tour?!”
“Latin America!”
“I know there’s a discussion going on about us going on tour, but from what I know, it’s still tentative, and it definitely had a different title. We don’t even have an album called ‘Dominate’.” Chan thought aloud to himself.
“We’re going on tour and you didn’t bother telling us about it?!” Jisung exclaimed indignantly.
“I said it’s still tentative!”
“You could have still told us! A heads-up would’ve been nice, hyung! Oh god, I’m not ready.” Jeongin groaned as he sank further into the couch.
“Guys! Are we just glossing over the fact that we haven’t gone on tour yet?” Minho said over the members freaking out.
That immediately quieted the group as they all turned to Minho in shock.
“Oh my god, you’re right.” Hyunjin mumbled, his hands coming up to cover his mouth.
“And if we haven’t gone on tour yet,” Minho started to say.
“Then what is this video about?” Seungmin questioned nervously.
They were all thinking the same thing. It was either this video was about something completely different, that they’ve done, which is highly unlikely because the title is basically screaming what it is about to them, or it really is about a world tour that they haven’t done yet.
“Quick, Lix, play the video!” Jisung said, impatiently, to which the freckled boy immediately complied.
The group collectively jumped when the intro to ‘Megaverse’ blasted out of Felix’s laptop and assaulted their ears, full volume.
The image of eight familiar, but also not, figures appeared on the screen in what looked like a stage inside a huge arena with bright lights, filled with a wave of lightsticks in the background that could only be held by fans, thousands of them.
Pause.
All eight members looked at the screen, wide-eyed, then to each other as if to say, “Are you seeing this?”, then back again to the screen. Chaos ensued.
“Is that us?!”
“Is that me?!”
“Where’s my hair?!”
“That’s the manliest fairy I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Wah! Hyung, do you see the fans???” Jisung shouts as he shakes Chan’s arm.
Chan could only look at the screen, utterly dumbfounded.
“There’s got to be thousands in there.” Seungmin uttered in disbelief.
The others fell into silence at that revelation as they stared in awe at the crowd behind their unfamiliar counterparts.
“Wah, is this for real?” Hyunjin asked in awe, momentarily forgetting about the fact that the person who looked like him lacked his luscious locks.
“Hyungs, I think this might be our future.” Jeongin said, breaking the others from their reverie.
“What, that’s not possible.” Seungmin immediately shot down.
“No, no, I think Innie has a point.” Minho rebutted. “Look!” The others looked back at the screen where their second eldest was pointing at. “Does that scene look familiar to you? No, right? There’s also the fact that we look way different than we do now.”
“Yeah, we all look hotter, especially Jinnie. Who knew you’d look good with short hair?” Jisung said, making heart eyes at the Hyunjin on screen.
“Me? Look at Changbin-hyung! He turned into a full-course meal!”
Changbin felt heat rise up his face as he watched the younger drool over his counterpart.
“Ok, you guys do have a point, but how do we know this is our future?” The doubt slipped into his voice, causing everyone to look over at their second youngest.
It wasn’t that Seungmin was against their speculations, they've realized, the younger was just afraid to believe that this could be their future, only to end up getting disappointed. He didn’t like the feeling of hope that sparked within him when he stared at the scene on the screen.
The others fell silent at that, because deep down, they all had their doubts as well. Chan saw this and decided that enough was enough.
“Let’s continue watching, shall we?” The leader suggested softly.
Felix nodded as the others settled back down in their spots, the atmosphere feeling a lot more subdued than it was earlier.
When Felix pressed play, the music continued, and the members watched in awe as the scene switched to various aerial shots of the stadium.
It was huge, filled with thousands of people, and the stage looked absolutely insane. The lights, the design, the background, and their name, displayed at the top in big bold letters, STRAY KIDS. Then it switched to a closer shot of their fans, as the camera moved from one side to the other, going around the stadium and capturing thousands of lightsticks being held by their fans.
Accompanied by the music, all the members felt overwhelmed by the absolute scale of the concert.
All those people came to see Stray Kids. To see us.
A tear slipped from Chan’s eye as his shoulders suddenly felt lighter and his heart full. Ah, for all that worrying I did for the kids, I didn’t notice how heavy I felt from this whole ordeal as well.
Aerial shots of them performing came next, with pyrotechnics going off on stage beside them, the spotlight trained on them. Then it changed to a front view of the stage from afar. Someone who suspiciously looked like Hyunjin was on the big screen before an impressive display of fireworks went off above the stadium, lighting up the sky, just as the background music’s beat dropped.
“That was so cool!”
“The set is so grandiose.”
“Everything is so visually striking. How are the people not overwhelmed? How are we not overwhelmed?!”
“Un, deux, toi…”
A close-up of Felix singing accompanied his first lines of the song.
“Wah!” Changbin exclaimed in surprise. “Lix, that fairy was you?”
Jeongin whistled in appreciation, “Hyung, I want you to grow out your hair now.”
Felix could only giggle, feeling a mixture of embarrassment from the compliments and awe from looking at that version of himself. He does look good with long, blonde hair.
Meanwhile, Chan was already planning in his head many different ways to use Felix’s voice in the future because Felix doing the opening line is genius!
Contrasting Felix’s image was Seungmin, who appeared in all white, his dark hair shorter than how he likes to wear it now and parted in the middle, his forehead on full display.
“Ooh! Seungminnie!” Hyunjin shouted, absolutely floored.
“That’s Seungmin? Our Seungmin?” Minho blinked, bewildered, turning to look at the current Seungmin, who still had a bit of a baby face.
The boy in question noticed his hyung staring and stuck out his tongue in response, before turning to look back at his ‘future’ self. He feels like he’s seeing a different person. Not only did his counterpart look different, sharper, but the vibe he gives off is totally different. He oozed confidence and pride in his performance and his singing. Unlike me.
I.N appeared next, looking aggressive as he sang his lines. His cute image thrown out the window that the members, including the boy himself, took a while to process that it was their maknae on the screen.
“Innie?!” Felix, Jisung, and Hyunjin exclaimed in unison.
“What happened to our cute maknae?!” Changbin shouted in horror.
“He grew up, is what happened.” Seungmin said, eyeing the younger boy on the screen in great appreciation, “Grew up extremely well, too.”
“I need to sit down.” Chan said as he gripped his head and rounded the couch to look for a seat. “I kinda expected that from Felix, but then Seungminnie− and then Iyennie…” The leader muttered to himself in English while Minho patted his back in an attempt at comfort when the older sat on the armrest beside him.
Then all too suddenly, Jeongin stood up from his spot on the couch and promptly left the room, alarming his hyungs.
The remaining members looked at each other in confusion and worry, their eyes communicating silent questions of “What happened?”, “Did you say something to him?”, “Was it something I said?”.
Chan shook his head when he thought they were getting nowhere with this and stood up. “I’ll go check on him.”
Chan knocked on the door of Jisung and Jeongin’s shared room before opening it.
“Innie?” Chan softly called, entering the room, and finding their youngest crouched against the headboard of his bed, his head hidden in his arms where they lay on top of his knees.
The younger gave no reply and only seemed to withdraw more into himself. Chan sighed before sitting down on the side of the bed just within reach of the other, but providing enough space that it wouldn’t feel suffocating for him.
“What’s wrong?”
Jeongin stayed silent. Chan waited.
It was a few minutes before the maknae finally spoke, swayed by Chan’s persistent but patient presence.
“I just didn’t want to watch anymore.” Jeongin started. Chan kept quiet, giving him some time and space to organize his thoughts.
“I felt… mocked? I don’t know. When I saw the other me, who looked strong and so sure of himself, who looked so confident as he stood on that stage in front of thousands, I just felt small. It was like the other me was taunting me, showing me the person I want to be but amn’t good enough to achieve.”
“Hey, hey, hey. No. Don’t say that about yourself. Innie, that’s not true at all−“
“But it is! I thought I was good enough, but ever since Woojin-hyung left, and I was given some of his parts, I realized that I wasn’t. So, I practiced and trained and pushed myself, but even after all of that, I feel like I haven’t improved at all! Hyung, I’m sorry! You trusted me with all these parts, but all I’m doing is disappointing you and oomf−“
Both Jeongin and Chan were startled when a body suddenly latched itself onto the youngest.
“Oh, Innie…” It was Seungmin, hugging the younger close to him like his life depended on it. “You are good enough. You’re better than good enough, you’re you. You’re not Chan-hyung, you’re not me or any of the others, and you’re definitely not Woojin-hyung. All those parts were given to you because our hyungs wanted your voice to do it, wanted you to do it. We don’t need you to be like Woojin-hyung, and we don’t need you to improve either, because you’re already enough.”
Jeongin wrapped his arms around Seungmin and gripped his shirt tightly, burying his head into the older’s chest. Seungmin’s hand rose to caress the younger’s head when he felt tears soaking his shirt, and he fought to keep his own tears at bay as he said the next few sentences that hit a little too close to home.
“And if you still want to improve so badly, do it because you want to, not because you think we need you to. There’s no need to hurry; we have our whole future ahead of us to keep improving, so take your time. Don’t push yourself too hard. You have seven more hyungs that’ll a-always be with you, so don’t be afraid to lean on us, o−..okay?” Seungmin’s voice wavered as he struggled to finish all he wanted to say to the younger.
A hand landed on Seungmin’s shoulder, its weight and warmth a little bit too comforting, throwing his feelings over the edge as the tears finally slipped from his eyes.
“Well said, Minnie, but you ought to listen to your own advice as well.” Chan said encouragingly, finally breaking the dam as Seungmin cried against Jeongin’s hair.
“Yeah…” The youngest piped up weakly from Seungmin’s chest, “You’re the reason why I started worrying in the first place. I look up to you, you know? And when I saw you start doubting yourself, I couldn’t help but look at myself and think that if you thought you weren’t enough, then how could I feel satisfied with how I am now? This is all your fault, hyung!” Jeongin cried.
“Oh, Iyen-ah… Hyung is sorry, hyung is so so sorry,” Seungmin mumbled as he tightened his hold on the younger boy, his tears soaking the other’s hair. “Let’s take our time, yeah? We have all the other hyungs, so−.. so, let’s take our time.”
“Okay..” Was Jeongin’s tearful reply.
Chan smiled, feeling a weight off his chest, happy to see both his youngest resolve their inner turmoil. A sniff from behind him caught his attention, and he looked back to see the rest of his team eavesdropping behind the door frame, most of them crying as well from the emotional scene they’d just witnessed.
“Alright, come here, everyone. We need to have a chat.”
No better time than now, Chan mused.
The five members at the door didn’t hesitate to enter with Felix and Han leading the group, making a beeline to hug the maknaes. Hyunjin completed the group hug while the hyungs stayed back to stand next to Chan.
“Seungmin is right.” Chan started softly, his gaze wandering over every one of his members.
Changbin and Minho gave him their full attention while the younger ones peeked over at him from their group hug on the maknae’s bed.
“Everything he said applies to everyone here.” His gaze lingered a bit too long on Minho here, catching the other’s attention.
“None of us are alone, none of us are going to be carrying the whole group on our backs, so don’t push yourself too hard and learn to lean on each other, because we’re all in this together.”
You don’t need to worry about anything else. Was left unsaid, but Minho understood, anyway. Their group will balance itself out in time. All he needs to do is what he can now, and do his best in the future.
“We still have each other, we still have each other’s backs. At least, you can be sure that I’ll always have your backs.” Chan said, his voice getting smaller towards the end.
It was silent for a bit before a loud smack was heard from Changbin hitting Chan’s shoulder.
“Agh!”
“Of course, I’ll also have your back, idiot! I’m not leaving this team, ever!” Changbin yelled indignantly.
“None of us is leaving, hyung.” Jisung said, untangling himself from the cuddle pile to hug their leader instead.
A smile formed on Chan’s face at that, hugging his first child back.
“Yeah, we’re all going to be in this for the long run.” Hyunjin followed.
“Maybe even forever?” Asked Seungmin in a small voice as they moved the group hug over to their leader.
Chan’s smile widened before he burst out laughing, “Yeah. Forever. None of you is getting out of my grasp after this.” He teased.
“As if we wanted to, anyway.” Minho sassed in reply, rolling his eyes.
Chan only beamed wider as he patted the other’s back from where he was buried beneath everyone else.
“Is everyone settled?” Felix asked, looking around.
Everyone was back in the living room, squashed into their couch to fit as many of them as possible, the rest having to just sit on the floor. After their impromptu team meeting in Jisung and Jeongin’s room, they collectively agreed to continue watching the compilation of videos sent to them. They had even upgraded from watching on Felix’s laptop to watching it on their TV now that they know the flash drive wasn’t corrupted.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s get it.”
“Mhm.”
Satisfied, Felix turned back and pressed play on their remote.
Red. The screen was filled with red. The background featured red crates, and a shiny red car was in the middle of the stage, an immediate attention grabber. Surrounding the car were the members, all wearing red formal performance jackets with black undershirts and black pants, Hyunjin front and center rapping, looking cool as hell with his black shades on.
“The set is really… uwah. Just…wah!” Jisung couldn’t even think of words to describe how incredible it all looked.
Jisung appeared next, wearing a satin, black dress shirt that was only buttoned up halfway, revealing a part of his chest. Then came Minho who−
“Oh my god, Lino-hyung lost his innocence!” Hyunjin dramatically exclaimed, making Felix laugh.
“Han-ah, you should really wear more satin shirts.” The man in question said, wiggling his brows suggestively towards Jisung.
Seungmin side-eyed the man beside him and looked at Hyunjin with a raised brow, “What innocence?”
“Okay, fair, but you know what I mean Seungmin-ah. Look at that neck!”
“Yeah, he’s right. That isn’t the neck we see on a daily basis.” Jisung piped in. Felix only laughed harder.
The next scene was another aerial shot. Thousands of lightsticks made out the outline of the stadium in the dark, and it was massive. But what caught their attention the most was the stage, its screen spelling out STRAY KIDS in big bold letters, even bigger than the stage decoration that hung up on it.
The sight left the members speechless.
What followed next was what seemed to be a compilation of clips from their shows; more crazy aerial shots of different stadiums, more shots of them as a group performing together in different outfits, and a lot more shots of the pyrotechnics and fireworks going off. All of that, as the music got more intense. Finally, the video ended with the tour’s promotional poster.
<DOMINATE NORTH AMERICA>
<DOMINATE EUROPE & UK>
COMING SOON
"Yeah, what else could that be but our future?" Changbin asked, being the first one to recover from his amazement.
"That's one hell of a future to live up to." Jeonging commented, looking slightly intimidated.
"There's an afternote!" Felix exclaimed when more words popped up on the screen.
Stray Kids DominATE World Tour
08.24.24 - 07.30.25
"That's in 4 years!"
"It is our future."
Chan smiled, "And if it isn't,"
The others turned to their leader in anticipation.
"We'll just have to make it our future."
With that, the doubt that had plagued the group for the past few weeks disappeared. Replacing it was a newfound determination. Determination to show the world that this wasn't the end of Stray Kids. They still had a lot to show the world, and they won't even see it coming when they do.
"Let's watch another one!"