Briar, an average young adult queer who gets picked on, is related to the girlfriend of Stray Kids' Felix. When they meet the group, Briar gets taken under the wings of the members, and fall for their bias Bang Chan and he falls right back. But will...
I was shocked to see Briar when I got out of the car. I just thought I was Felix's driver. I didn't think that he'd try to get me to see Briar. Not that I'm mad about seeing them. Far from it.
"Well you two enjoy your time here. Sam and I will be headed out."
"Wait what?! You're leaving us alone here? With no way to leave?"
Are they that afraid of me? Or are they uncomfortable with me? I mean I'm confused too but that seemed a little rough.
"No. I'll leave your car. But you two are gonna hang together."
"But-"
"Bri. I know you're scared to be around people right now. But you need this. Maybe Chris can help you feel better. You just have to trust. Felix and I would never do this to hurt you."
"Okay."
"I'll take good care of your cousin Sam."
"You'd better Chris. Or you'll end up with me in your face," Sam says with a stern face that makes Briar and I giggle.
As Felix and Sam head off in the car Felix and I arrived in, Briar and I headed inside. And of course, I held the door for Briar like a gentleman should. It's the polite thing to do and more men should learn that. (Facts Chan)
"Thank you," Briar said with a red face.
Is it just me or was their face red? Maybe it was my imagination? No. Well I mean it is kind of cold outside and they don't have a scarf with them.
We went up to the order stand and I told the lady my order.
"And what would your girlfriend like?"
An awkward silence erupted from the two of us.
"I'm not his girlfriend. I'm not even a girl. But, I'll have an iced americano and a Boston cream doughnut please."
"Is that all?" We nodded. "Okay. That's $10.94."
As Briar reached to grab their wallet, I grabbed mine from my jacket pocket and grabbed my card to pay.
"You don't have to do that. I can pay for myself."
"Eh. I want to. Let me treat you this once."
Once we paid and got our drinks and snacks, Briar got a text from Sam.
"Sam said she's not coming back to the apartment tonight. And she said that you can stay over if you want."
"Makes sense why Felix told me to pack some clothes. I thought that was suspicious."
"Is that why you have your backpack?"
"Yep. Now can we get to the car? It's cold."
"Sure."
I opened the driver's door for Briar before going into the passenger seat. On the ride to Briar and Sam's apartment, Briar let me have control of the AUX cord. I hooked up my phone and found a random playlist. What I didn't realize was that it was a romantic music playlist. So the whole ride, we just listened to cheesy romance songs. But I could feel an awkward silence coming from Briar.
Once we walked in, we were greeted by a small puppy. Briar immediately started giving the puppy pets.
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"Hi baby! I missed you sweetie. Oh you're such a sweet girl being so cute."
The desire to take a picture is too great. Must take pictures.
I grab my phone and start taking pictures of the adorable scene unfolding in front of me. But eventually the dog wanted to see me because I'm a new person and she doesn't know me.
"Oh! Hi there."
"This is Peaches. She's my puppy but Sam keeps trying to say we share her. I was the one who adopted her though."
"What breed is she," I asked through laughter, as the puppy was now jumping around and forcing me to give her love.
"She's a corgi and a shiba inu mix. She's still young too."
Eventually Peaches let me get up and move into the apartment. It was very casual with light grey walls and random paintings hung in the living space. They were all of different K-pop groups. As I put my bag down I started to inspect them.
Very well crafted. I wonder who made these.
"Do you like them?"
"They're great. You have all the legends. BIGBANG, Blackpink, BTS, GOT7, Girls Generation, TWICE, EXO, SHINee, NCT-"
"And Stray Kids."
"Wait. You have a Stray Kids one?"
"Multiple actually. One group one and one for each member. I've been working on the last one recently."
I look over to find the group painting. It's our logo with all of our names surrounding it written in Korean and English in our favorite colors. When I drift into the hallway, I spot the individual member paintings. They seem to go down the line by age, youngest to oldest but stopping at Lee Know.
"I made it in this order so I could have Felix's by Sam's door just to annoy her."
"I don't want to be mean but where is mine?"
"That's the one I'm working on. I've been working on it for the past week now. It's the most difficult one yet."
"Oh? How so?"
"The picture I chose. It's so gorgeous. I want to get every little detail right."
"The photo is gorgeous? Really?"
There was more awkward silence between us. As if Briar was trying to find the right words to say.
"Yeah. And, dare I say, the picture takes after the subject."
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Holy cannoli. Double update! Sorry I got onto a roll and needed to get this done so I could have peace of mind and so I didn't loose the idea. Hopefully the cheesiness helps make up for the short chapter before it and the depressing chapter before that one. Still sorry about that. Thanks to all who read this mess as always!
