Still A_Stray: Living With Stray Kids (ot8 fanfic)

Chapter 25

I'm stuck with the phobia

Chan and I were called out a bit later by Changbin, telling us through the doorway that Minho and the maknaes were arriving at the dorm with takeout in a few seconds. I thanked him for telling us, then took it back and gave him a punch to the arm instead when he admitted he needed someone to set the table (not the actual table, because of course the members were going to sit around the living room) and Jisung and Hyunjin were adamantly refusing.

"You would have set it anyways," Changbin grumbled as we walked into the hallway, rubbing his sore arm—even though my fist had bounced off his bicep like it was made of stone.

"I think I hurt myself more than I hurt you," I noted, examining my knuckles. "It's times like these that I wish you weren't so into working out."

"That's not why it hurt," he retorted. "It hurt because you have no idea how to punch properly, which is actually a problem. See? Don't tuck your thumb in. You'll break it." He shook his head, sighing as we entered the foyer. "I'm making you go see Felix. You should learn how to do some real damage."

Hyunjin came over to greet the magnates as they walked through the door, but we all jumped as Seungmin bolted in after Jeongin and Felix, slamming the door so hard the hinges trembled. "Nobody move!" He shouted. "There's a snake outside!"

I yelped, leaping onto the nearest object—Changbin—to get away from the floor. "Where?"

Changbin grunted under my weight, stumbling into Chan. "Yeji, what the fu—"

Everyone startled again as a crash sounded from outside, followed by Minho appearing in the window, banging his hand against the glass. "LET ME IN—KIM SEUNGMIN, YOU LITTLE—"

"Oh, it's just Minho-hyung," said Jisung, relieved, walking over to the door.

"No!" Seungmin leapt in front of it, but too late; Jisung turned the lock, and Minho was there in a flash, a murderous look in his eyes.

"Hyung!" Jisung said happily, hugging him.

Minho blinked. Seungmin took the opportunity to hide behind the other members.

"Wait, so there's not a real snake?" I asked, peering down from my spot on top of Changbin, who glared up at me.

"No," said Minho. "Seungmin-ah is just being an ass because I—"

"He ate my fortune cookie!"

"Relax," Minho sniped, side-eyeing him from over Jisung's shoulder. "It was probably a shitty fortune anyway, and you know I like the taste of fortune cookies."

"They taste like if styrofoam and capitalism had an ugly, overcooked orange baby," said Jeongin.

"And?"

Seungmin's voice heightened. "And you ate mine!"

"Save it for Talk Time," Chan said, halting their arguments. While the members had been squabbling—and while I had climbed down from Changbin's head—he and Felix had calmly started setting out the food, Felix now bringing over bowls and dishes from the kitchen. "For now, let's eat."

I got the feeling the members would have protested more, but the smells from the takeout boxes were now wafting towards us, so they gave little complaint. "Can someone tell me why a fried chicken place has fortune cookies?" I asked, grabbing glasses for everyone. Changbin helped; we all sat down, gathering around the table.

"After you tell us why you jumped onto Binnie-hyung at the mention of a snake," said Hyunjin, raising an eyebrow at me.

"We order from what is probably the most crappy American restaurant in town because it has burgers, fried chicken, sushi, and americanized Korean BBQ, all of which kind of taste like chicken, and all of which suck—except for the fried chicken, which is a godly combination of Panko bread crumbs, oil, and diabetes," said Changbin, holding up a piece of fried chicken for me to see before stuffing it into his mouth. He continued, around a mouthful of food, "and Yeji's deathly afraid of snakes. Has been since before I was born."