Fan Service [Chan]

Chapter 11

I barely slept.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the distorted faces of everyone shouting at me. I had also taken three showers but still felt sticky.

Felix had messaged to check in on me after seeing clips of me huddled on the ground crying going viral on TikTok. When I had held my knees to my chest, my underwear had been on display and many made sure to point that out in the comments as though it were the main point of the video and not the complete lack of humanity.

Felix had also found a good picture though of me laughing at dinner. It didn't feel real to me. I'd never see this as a happy evening, so having my face so permanently smiley felt wrong.

I knew when I'd laughed like that, though. Chan had shown me that photo of Felix. He'd almost seemed like a normal person in that moment.

All night long, I winced when I rolled over to my side. I'd been too afraid to look at it, but I could feel the bruises. I'd have to have it looked at tomorrow. Maybe they had a traveling medical staff.

I'd been packed and ready to go since early this morning since he'd given me no indication as to what time they'd pick me up. It was nearly 11 am now.

I headed to my kitchen and wondered if I had time to make a snack. I was starving.

Someone knocked at my door though, and I went to welcome them.

I hadn't expected to see Felix and Seungmin.

"Hey!" I greeted them each with a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"After yesterday, we figured you'd prefer to see some friendly faces," Felix smiled.

"You're so sweet," my heart swelled. "Come on in!"

I gave them a tour of my apartment which was a decent size for a one bedroom. It had a rustic vibe that reminded me of where I grew up. The colors of my major furniture were tan or white, but the accessories and wall art were colorful pastels.

I showed them the living room which had bookshelves overflowing onto the floor, my bedroom which had embarrassing pictures of me from when I was young (that I skipped over quickly), and finally, I showed them my office (which I had put in the dining space) that had CDs, cassettes, vinyl, and a record player filling up numerous shelves.

"Your collection is impressive," Seungmin complimented as he flicked through the titles.

"I spot Stray Kids," Felix grinned as he went to go through my collection of his own albums. He opened one and a photo card of Han fell out.

"You keep the photo cards in the albums?" he asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" I shrugged.

"No reason. It's just interesting."

"Was Chan always your bias?" Seungmin asked.

"Mhm," I answered, recalling the first time I'd seen a Stray Kids video. I had been scrolling aimlessly on TikTok and the Case 143 relay dance came across my For You page. The second I saw Chan's outfit and dimples, I felt drawn to him.

"What about now?" Seungmin pondered nonchalantly as he slid his finger down the spine of one of my albums.

"It's just different now. It's weird picking now that I know you in person. It's like picking a best friend out of your friend group."

"Lee Know," Seungmin said definitely.

"What?"

"My best friend in the group is Lee Know. It's not that hard," he mumbled.

Felix raised an eyebrow at him and headed back towards my packed suitcases at the door.

"Just these two?" Felix asked.

"And my backpack," I called as I left to retrieve it from my room.

"I'll take it," Seungmin offered and held out his hand. I handed it over, and he threw it on one shoulder and headed over to pick up my other suitcase.

I turned off all of the lights and locked the door, leaving my apartment behind for who knows how long.

We piled into the SUV, and my stomach growled loudly.

"Have you not eaten?" Seungmin asked worriedly.

"Chan didn't tell me what time you'd be coming, so I didn't want to leave and miss the car."

"We can stop for some pho really quickly, right Felix?" Seungmin pleaded.

He nodded and told the driver who found the closest one. We could've walked as it was just two streets over, but we soon pulled up to the restaurant.

Nobody recognized us. We got out of the car and inside without any hassle. We were seated normally and ordered from actual menus. I smiled, and they seemed to enjoy their anonymity as well.

"Isn't the security going to come in?"

"It makes it more obvious who we are with them hovering. He'll stay in the car and come if we need him."

I nodded nervously as I ate.

"You don't have to worry. We won't let what happened yesterday happen again."

"Thanks," I whispered.

"Felix and I gave Chan quite the lecture," Seungmin gleamed proudly.

"I'd pay to see that," I laughed. The idea of Chan being intimidated by either of them was hilarious, but especially Felix. His sunny demeanor couldn't be clouded by any amount of negativity.

A little girl no more than five years old ran up to the table and stared at Felix. He waved at her, and she ran away giggling. She pointed him out to her mom and bounced excitedly.

"Okay, that was adorable," I watched as she moved behind her mom and hid behind her leg while peaking out to look at him more.

He waved again, and she giggled even louder.

"What's cuter is she has no idea who he is. Kids do that all the time to him," Seungmin told me.

"No way!" I stared in shock, and he shrugged.

"He's like a walking cartoon," Seungmin explained.

The little girl looked at Seungmin. He waved at her, too, and she began to cry. Felix snorted and tried to suppress his laugh.

"All I did was wave," he complained.

"I know," I laughed and patted the top of his hand.

"Is everyone ready?" Felix asked.

Seungmin and I nodded, and we headed back to the car with no struggle whatsoever.