Confident || Changbin

Salt & Lime

"...And as much as I'd love to be able to tell you yes, I just don't know if we will need the extra help once our regular artist is well again. But I'll definitely tell the staffing team to keep your information on file for any future temp work."

Youngjae looks at me apologetically. The answer is no.

I feel my face flush and my ears go hot from embarrassment. What was I thinking?! This is the whole reason why I never put myself out there. Why I don't take risks or make big changes. Rejection.

Walking back to my table in defeat, I make eye contact with Changbin. He raises an eyebrow in question but I just shake my head. I don't want him to know that I failed. Bang Chan tries to talk to him about something, but he's only looking at me.

"What was that between you and Changbin?" Lily asks me when I sit back down. "Is there something going on between you two?"

"Um." The whole table is looking at me, wondering the same thing. Suddenly I feel very shy and nervous. "It's probably nothing."

"No way. You have to tell me." Lily persists.

"Really, it's nothing. I mean, we've had a few conversations and stuff. We hung out the other day, but that's it." I choose not to indulge everyone on the fact that Changbin was at my apartment and that we've kissed multiple times.

"Yeah, right." Heather says. "He wouldn't hang out with some random makeup artist he doesn't know."

As if on cue, Changbin walks to our table, pulls up a chair, and sits down right next to me. He puts his arm around my shoulder—casually—but it's just enough to pull me out of my slump. He's here now and that's enough.

"Work is over, ladies and gentlemen." He beams at us. "Let's go out."

Everyone at the table seems to be an equal mixture of surprised and excited. It's my guess that the members of Stray Kids don't get many opportunities to relax, especially with their staff and coworkers. It appears that the invite extends to everyone at the dinner, but only people of similar age seem to be joining along. Changbin, Seungmin, Felix, Minho, and Chan are rallying the group together while Hyunjin, Jeongin, and Han say their goodbyes for the evening. I get the feeling that the three of them aren't quite as outgoing as the others. Lily links her arm through mine and rocks back and forth on her heels. She's happy.

Youngjae decides to tag along, of course. Hajoon and Heather are also joining. I begin to wonder why Heather wants to come since she always seems so miserable, but then I tell myself not to let her ruin my night. I still don't know what's going on between Changbin and I, but I get to hang out with a bunch of idols tonight and I know that I just need to enjoy the moment.

Somewhere behind an old hotel and down a concrete ramp lit up by neon lights, Youngjae finds an amazing club. They were hesitant to let us in due to our ratio of seven guys and three girls, but Youngjae pulls out his business card and it's enough for the bouncer to open the rope. The club has dark floors, velvet curtains, and crystal chandeliers. The dance floor is packed and a popular EDM song is blaring through the speakers. It's loud and crowded and out of my comfort zone. Changbin must notice because he grabs my hand.

"Let's go get a drink." He starts to lead me to one of the bars and I look back at Lily, signaling that it's okay for her to follow. I'd hate for her to feel left out when she's made me feel so welcome. Instead, I see her talking with Seungmin. They have their faces close together so that they can hear each other speak, but they're both smiling shyly and they look really cute together. I decide that she should be okay in his company.

Changbin orders me a drink called Young Lust. I laugh after hearing the name.

"It's the first drink I saw that doesn't have whiskey in it." He explains. Young lust. How fitting.