Part 15 | STAY, we're sorry

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The next morning, the news of the death of the five beloved idols was shared, erupting a number of questions that went unanswered by the company and the boys who weren't ready to.

Their fandom broke into pieces and everyone sent their condolences for the surviving three.

A secluded place.

Five tombstones.

Three males in all black, carrying ten roses each.

five black and five white.

Together, each black and white pair resembled life and death.

Light raindrops fell from the sky as if the heavens were mourning their friend's deaths too.

Their families joined in on the burial and even after everyone else left, Jisung, Minho, and Chan couldn't bring themselves to leave even if they were slowly being soaked by the light cold rain.

The wind whispered so many things in their ear but every sound and everything they felt and saw reminded them of only one thing now; that they'd eventually end up next to their brothers.

And by eventually, it means very soon.

They wanted to deny it all.

They wanted to deny their friends died.

It's like they could still hear Hyunjin's loud cackle, or see Felix's bright sunny smile. It's like they could feel Seungmin teasing them for crying so much, or Changbin giggling after they all woke up from this nightmare, or even Jeongin right in front of them, giving them that dimpled smile that they missed so much already.

All of that... All of them... were gone.

They were no more.

Erased from the world and would remain as nothing but a painful memory.

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Later that day, the boys were signing off their contract with their company.

They were supposed to be a group of 8- so with five of their loved members gone, what can the three of them even do?

The company, who knew everything happened, felt bad for the boys and of course, granted their wish of leaving.

Stray Kids were officially no more.

It was a shock to everyone.

So many people did not know how to respond and so many Stays flooded the company with emails, angry about it, not even knowing the whole situation.

It was chaos... and the company didn't want the three boys to be there to see it all after everything they'd been through.

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Minho looked at the clock with a blank face, seeing time ticking.

A more dangerous clock was ticking and that was what he was actually focussed on.


Jisung and Chan were on the bed, looking at the male with sad eyes.

Minho had eerily become quieter and quieter as the hours passed in the hotel they chose to stay together at.

They wanted to talk, they wanted to hold each other one last time before everything goes down again, but they couldn't bring themselves to ask Minho.

Wouldn't that be selfish?

Minho had the least amount of time left now.

It was up to him to decide how he should spend it.

Not them, no matter how badly they wanted it. 

Minho sighed quietly, standing up from the floor and turning to the two on the bed. He saw that equal pain was written all over their faces, much like his own.

He walked over to them, sitting beside them before scooting closer to Chan, wrapping his arms around him, and burying his face into his chest.

"Thank you for being my leader.." Minho whispered, breaking into a cry at the end. "Thank you for choosing me... and helping me grow" He went on, the dried tearstains yet again being replaced by a new river of tears.

A lump formed in Chan's throat as he held the younger as tightly as he could.

Maybe... maybe if he hold Minho like this, he would be safe. He thought. 

But he also knew that it wasn't how it worked.

It didn't matter where they were or who was holding who. 

You can't help anyone escape, and no one can help you either. 

That broke him. It broke them all. 


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