Still A_Stray: Living With Stray Kids (ot8 fanfic)

Chapter 3

This is our start line, our start line

Bangchan was waiting for us in the living room.

He turned as I walked in, and I felt like it was a moment of truth—he was the oldest and the leader of Stray Kids. If he didn't like me, would any of them?

But Chan's face split into a warm, welcoming smile, and I instantly felt better as he bowed to me. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yeji-noona," he said.

I inclined my head, my nervousness gone. "You too, Bangchan. Changbin has told me a lot about you."

"Mostly good things, I hope," Chan said, flashing a subtle warning glance to my brother. I laughed, and he added, "And please—call me Chan."

"Only if you call me Yeji," I said. "I've been in the US for the past four years. I've grown used to not hearing honorifics after my name."

He half-smiled. "I'll try, but I should warn you—if you ask the same of the others, they might be more hesitant."

"That's fine," I said. "I just don't want titles to change how you all see me." Chan nodded, and we made our way to the car.

Once we were on our way, Chan said to me, "I wanted to apologize for any disruption you arrived to earlier today, Yeji. Changbin told me what happened."

I hoped Chan wasn't angry with Minho, Jisung and Hyunjin. "It's quite alright," I said quickly. "In fact, it was actually a nice surprise."

Chan raised an eyebrow at me. "They set the kitchen on fire."

"It was a surprise," I corrected. "And besides, it's not my dorm, so I shouldn't get to tell them what they're allowed to do."

"Yeah, that's supposed to be my job." Chan chuckled. "I'm not very good at it, as you can see. But I promise that there will be no more kitchens going up in flames from now on."

"Are you sure you can make that promise?" I teased. "Jisung and Hyunjin seemed pretty invested in..." I turned to my brother. "What was it? Ambush Uno?"

"Ah, so that's what they were doing," Chan said, laughing. "Jisung and Hyunjin can be troublemakers. Actually, scratch that. All of us are troublemakers."

"That's good, because I am too," I said with a grin.

Changbin snorted. "No, you're not. Up until you were twelve, you had such a moral problem with lying, you got nauseous whenever you were put in a position where you could've."

I turned to face him, brows raised. "Remember that stuffed bunny you got for Christmas when you were seven?"

Changbin blinked. "Bun-Buns?"

Chan smothered a laugh from the front seat. "Shut up," Changbin said to him. "I was seven. I wasn't very creative."

"Remember when you lost him?" I asked.

Changbin frowned at me. "I cried for weeks. Why are you bringing this up?"

I smiled sweetly at my brother. "Remember how, a few days before Bun-Buns met his untimely end, you got the bigger dessert at dinner?"

"Yeah," said Changbin. "You were so furious. And then the next day you were acting all nice and—" he stopped. "You didn't."

I turned back around, settling into the seat with a smile on my face. "I did."

"You monster," Changbin whispered.

Chan laughed. "If that's true, Yeji, you'll fit right in with us."

I felt my smile stretch into a grin, one of relief this time. That was what I was hoping for—I'd be living with these boys, after all. If Bin was friends with them, they had to be nice people, right?