Make Me STAY

MIROH

Stray Kids waved goodbye to Rose as she left the room. They met a lot of people, a lot of fans, and those meetings were usually short, so this one didn't seem out of the ordinary. At least, not to most of them. It was only a few minutes later when Chan ran out of the room without a word.

"Chan-Hyung? Where are you going?"

"I'll follow him."

"Felix, don't strain yourself. I'll go."

Before anyone could protest, Changbin had run out the door after their leader. Only a few seconds later, Felix walked out of the room as well despite the others telling him to stay put. However, he wasn't going after Chan as they believed. Instead, he hoped to catch up with his new friend before she left, and he potentially never saw her again.

He would have missed her if he had been rushing. In a dark corridor off to the side, Felix spotted Rose sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, looking to be in pain. As someone who always seemed to be smiling, she almost seemed like a different person with this broken expression on her face. Not only did it alarm him, but it made him wonder what had caused her so much sadness and what he could do to comfort her.

Rose had stumbled out of the room with a million thoughts running through her mind. Needing a minute to gather herself, she rounded a corner and leant against the wall for support. She slid down until she was sitting on the ground, her eyes glazed over as she replayed the first and only words her soulmate had said to her.

None of her scenarios had worked out this way. She had been caught off guard. Her confusion had clouded her mind and led to her needing to walk out of that room, to think, but now she needed answers. It had taken her two years to get this chance. She couldn't let it be another two years before she saw him again.

Why didn't he feel it? Is there such a thing as an unrequited soulmate? But if he did, how did he not react to it? Did it not affect him?

Rose made a plan. She hoped that skinship, along with directly asking him, would answer all of her questions. She was about to stand up and march back down to that room when she heard Felix's voice.

"Rose? Noona? Are you okay?"

She scrambled to stand up and brushed down her clothes to make herself more presentable.

"Felix? What are you-? I'm fine. Just getting over the shock of meeting one of my favourite groups."

The young idol looked at her strangely. He had seen that she was upset just now before she had known that he was there, and there was also the way she left the room. She had said such happy words but in a sad, almost sarcastic way. He felt as though he was missing something.

"Really? You could've stayed a little longer if you wanted to."

"No, you must all be exhausted. That was a three-and-a-half-hour show! What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be heading home?"

"Oh, I was looking for Chan-Hyung."

"Looking for...? But he was just there with you."

"He suddenly ran out of the room, a few minutes after you left. I don't know why."

Rose stared at Felix in shock for a moment and a little bit of hope returned to her heart.

Did he run after me?

"I'll help you find him. I need to talk to him. Would that be okay?"

"Okay. Sure, I'd appreciate the help."

They smiled at each other before continuing to walk down the corridor to begin their search. What they didn't know was that Chan had already been found.