Chapter Text
"I'm sorry." You stare down at where your hands are twisting together in your lap. "I don’t really know how to say this. But these are going to be the last few weeks that I'm going to be working with you."
You're met with no response and when you dare to look up, all the members are staring at you in disbelief.
"What?" Jooyeon finally breaks the silence in a small voice. "Where are you going?"
"I'm not going anywhere, but I'm being transferred,” you reassure them. “I was asked to join the Stray Kids team, a lot of their future work is going to rely heavily on communication with companies that only speak English and so they want to support the translators as much as possible."
The room bursts into noise at that. It's a bit of relief, the lighthearted threats of demanding that the members of Stray Kids hand you over, the declarations that they're only going to speak English from now on to force you to stay. You get to laugh instead of cry, even though you still have mixed feelings about your new role. It'll be a fantastic opportunity and you know you'll learn a lot, but you're still not sure if it's worth how much you'll miss being a part of the Xdinary Heroes team.
When the group quiets down, Gunil shuffles closer and takes your hand.
“Thank you so much for working with us for so long. We will miss you a lot, but don’t worry, we’ll make sure to work hard so that we can go on tour and steal you back! Fighting!” The rest of the members echo his words and suddenly pull you into a group hug. You blink back tears and try to bask in the warmth of their arms, already missing them.
“It has been an honour working with you. I’m so proud of all of you and am very excited for what the future holds. I still can’t believe you’ve accomplished so much, I still remember when you were still trainees and looking like babies.” You stop to clear your throat but end up having to hold back a laugh when there are immediate protests.
“Hey!” Jungsu whines, pulling back. “You’re not even that much older than us, noona. Gunil-hyung is older than you so you can’t call him a baby!”
“You guys are all my babies," you say affectionately. "You always will be. I’m so glad I got to watch you grow so much.” You ruffle his hair playfully and ignore when he swats away your hand. "No matter what happens I'll always be on the sidelines supporting you!"
You tug everyone back into a hug and smile wistfully when you notice more than a few misty eyes. Xdinary Heroes will always have a special place in your heart, not only as the first group that you were a manager for, but also for their bright personalities and unwavering determination. Not for the first time, you wonder if you’ve made the right decision. All you can do is hope.
—
Although nothing has been announced officially yet, there are enough transfers within JYPE to subtly signal big things in the works for Stray Kids. On your first day, you’re relieved to find that you’re not the only new member of Division 1, nor are you the only one coming from Studio J.
The orientation finishes quickly as most policies and procedures are company-wide so you and the other transfers are already familiar with them, although it still takes up the bulk of your morning. The only highlight of training is a short break where all of you are filed into a practice room and are shocked to find yourselves face-to-face with Stray Kids themselves. Introductions are done in a flash, each person basically only has enough time to bow, quickly say their name and a greeting, bow again, before they’re all led out.
While you’ve worked at JYPE long enough to not feel star-struck in the presence of celebrities, you still found yourself caught off-guard by the eight pairs of eyes that had been on you during the brief moment that you had spoken. Of course, you had seen the members in the building before, but that had been more like passing by in the hallway instead of actually having a conversation. Chances are, they had never given you anything other than a perfunctory glance.
After lunch, you’re brought to your new team where more introductions are done and the specifics of your new role and responsibilities are explained. You’re focusing on reading documentation that details all the work that has already been done for the tour when a hand suddenly clamps down on your shoulder, making you jump and let out a little scream. You turn quickly to find a familiar face that’s crinkled with laughter.
Eunsung was one of the first friends that you made at JYPE, back when you were still an intern. He had also been young and new to the company, so it was easy for the two of you to gravitate towards each other even though you worked in different divisions. One of the things you had been most excited for when transferring was the chance to finally work directly with Eunsung after so many years of knowing each other.
“Always so focused, Y/n-ah. It makes you so easy to scare,” he teases.
“Yah!” You stand and smack his arm in response. “It’s my first day here Eunsung-oppa, if you’re too mean to me then I’ll report you to HR for harassment.”
“You’re the one hitting me! And it’s not your first day, if it were then wouldn’t it be your fifth first day or something?” he says, clutching his arm dramatically. “Someone please call for a first aid attendant, I’ve been wounded!”
“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re one of the team’s attendants. I’m sure that you can treat yourself,” you sniff, turning away.
“Hey, but really, I’m glad to have you finally join the team,” he says genuinely. “I won’t bother you any longer, I know you have a lot to catch up on. Have fun!”
You give him a goodbye hug, then settle back in your seat as he leaves. As much as you enjoy bantering with Eunsung, you’re conscious that it would look bad if you talk too long, especially since your team lead, Yonghwan, is only a few desks away and can likely hear what you’re saying. You feel a bit better when Eunsung stops at Yonghwan’s desk and they exchange a friendly greeting. When Eunsung gestures towards you and they both look over, you smile and wave, a bit sheepish that you were caught watching them.
You turn back to your computer to concentrate again. You’re already beginning to feel overwhelmed by all the files you still have left to look at and the constant emails with new information and meeting invites, but are determined to prove yourself in this new position and help the team as much as you can.
—
The first time that you have an actual conversation with one of the members of Stray Kids, it’s totally unexpected. You’re on the phone with staff from one of the venues in North America and have stepped out into the hallway so you don’t disturb your coworkers. You’ve finally settled into your job and one of your responsibilities includes the organisation of coordination meetings for the venues, something you didn’t realise would be so time consuming or frustrating.
Partway through your call, Felix passes by the alcove that you’ve tucked yourself into and does a double take when you reply to something in English. One of the vending machine water bottles that he’s balancing in his hands thuds to the ground.
He stares at you with wide eyes, mouth hanging open. Startled, you quickly finish the call, promising to email as a follow up, and bow to him.
"Hello Felix-nim," you say politely, switching back to Korean. "Did you need help with something?
"You-you’re Y/n-nim, right?" he splutters.
“Yes,” you say, surprised. “I just joined your team recently, I’m surprised you remember me.”
“There’s not too many staff members close in age to us, and even fewer are female,” he explains. “You would have stood out even more if I knew you’re so good at speaking English!”
"Ah, yes," you say sheepishly. "I was transferred to help with Stray Kids as your team prepares for your upcoming tour. They wanted more people who could communicate with the overseas companies and venues without needing a translator and I'll also be going with you to help organise things during the tour too."
"Wow! I didn't realise, now I have someone other than Channie-hyung to speak with! Do the other members know?"
Without waiting for a reply, Felix grabs your wrist and pulls you towards the practice room. The rest of the members are spread throughout the space, but all turn to stare as Felix bursts through the door and drops all the remaining water bottles onto the ground in front of them.
"Guys, guys!" he exclaims, waving the hand that was still wrapped around your wrist. "Did you know Y/n-nim spoke English?"
"Oh?" "What? "Say something!"
Ignoring the explosion of noise as they all the boys react, Felix turns back to you.
"Did you study overseas? You're so fluent!"
"Ah no no no," you say, waving your hands quickly in denial. Your cheeks are heating up quickly under the sudden attention. "My English actually isn't that good. I went to school in Seoul, but it was my minor when I went to university. Actually, this job is good practice since I don't speak it much anymore."
"Say something in English!" Han insists, using English to emphasise his request.
"Uhm, I don't know what to say," you reply, flustered.
"Explain to them why you're working with us now, say what you said to me." Felix nudges you, playfully.
"I'm working to help the team before and during your upcoming tour. They thought it would be good to have more managers that can speak multiple languages and I'm grateful to have the chance to work with you. Please take good care of me!" You say, bowing to the whole group. Inwardly you cringe at the overly formal tone that you adopted.
"We're glad to have you working with us! Felix is right, your English is very good." Chan pipes up.
Everyone else jumps to agree, commenting how impressed they are. It quickly dissolves into chaos as they start to yell out any and every English word or phrase that they know. This continues on until someone's phone chimes with an alarm and they all groan, but get up to start practising again.
"I don't want to practise!" yells Seungmin, still in English. "Y/n-nim, take me with you!"
He throws himself in your direction and maknae line follow suit, Jisung going as far as to grip the hem of your pants. You laugh, backing away towards the door.
“I wish you could come with me too, but you probably don’t want to sit through all the boring meetings in my schedule for this afternoon. So really, I think I’m sparing you.”
The last thing you see before the door closes is Chan, still sitting on the couch at the back of the room. He’s looking over the members, amused but immeasurably fond.
—
You’re quickly integrated into your new team and find that, although you were initially pulled in to help with the tour, the responsibilities of all the managers are blurred. As the tour is still almost a year away, priorities are centred around the upcoming comeback. When one of the staff calls in sick, you find yourself bundled into a van and heading to the boys’ next schedule.
Not really certain of what you should be doing, you try your best to keep busy doing miscellaneous tasks and staying out of the way. It's not your first time at a schedule, but you've always been there with a definite purpose before, not just as an extra set of hands.
You're in the middle of hanging up different outfits when the members arrive.
Felix brightens immediately when he sees you and switches to speaking English, forcing you to do the same.
"Y/n!" he calls out. "I didn't think you'd be here! It's nice to see you outside of the company building for once!"
"Felix." You bow quickly and glance around to see if anybody is staring at the two of you, slightly relieved when you find nobody is paying attention. "It's good to see you too! I wasn't originally going to be here, but someone else wasn't feeling well so I'm helping out instead."
"Will you be with us the whole day?"
"Uhm," you quickly pull out your phone and check your calendar. "Yes, I think so. Unless they decide that they don't need the extra help."
Felix's smile seems to light up the whole room. Someone from across the room calls his name and you quickly sift through the clothes you've been hanging up to find the ones with his name on the tag.
"These are for you." You hold them out for him to take. "Good luck and have fun! Fighting!"
"Fighting!" he echoes, holding up a fist. “I’ll talk to you later!”
“Sounds good, now go!” You shoo him towards the changing area. You turn to see Minho just on the other side of the clothes rack, watching Felix go with an amused look.
“He’s been so happy to have you on the team,” he says in Korean. “He doesn’t have many people willing to indulge him. A lot of the Division 1 staff have been with us for a few years and back then, even if they could, they weren’t allowed to speak English to help him learn Korean faster. So a lot of them still don’t.”
“Oh,” you say, suddenly unsure. “I- Sorry. Nobody said anything about that. I can do the same if you think that’s more appropriate.”
At that Minho finally looks at you and holds a blank stare for a full minute before his mouth curves into a smirk.
“It’s good,” he finally says. “If anyone deserves spoiling on this team, it’s Yongbokkie. We’re all glad to have you with us as well. Just know that he might end up clinging to you as much as he can, don’t be afraid to tell him if you are too busy for it. We don’t want you to get in trouble on our behalf.”
Before you have a chance to say anything, he leans forward, pulling his outfit off the rack and walking away without another word. Flustered by the strange interaction, you don’t know if you should be flattered that you seem to have approval from one of the more intimidating members of the group or worried that you’ll be scolded by Division 1 about the reason that Felix has taken a liking to you.
—
Although you only attend schedules sporadically, they are definitely your favourite part of your new position. True to Minho’s words, it becomes something of a routine for Felix to latch onto you at schedules when the other members are preoccupied with work or getting ready. He didn’t have to worry about potentially mussing your hair, smudging makeup, or getting caught in accessories. This was especially common on longer shoots, when he grew exhausted and didn’t have the capacity to be so careful about translating everything. He would speak to you in a mix of Korean and English while blinking sleepily, voice growing deeper the closer he was to falling asleep.
The skinship was gradual at first. He would lean into your side while watching something on his phone, fiddle with your hair, or play with your hands, delighted that they were even smaller than his. If the breaks were long enough, then you would let him doze, leaving him vulnerable to the other members who would constantly take pictures of him nodding off. He began to greet you with hugs, wrap his arms around you when you sat on a couch with him instead of just leaning, and the two of you had dropped formalities, especially when speaking in English.
You have also grown close to the rest of the boys, although you didn’t quite share the same level of familiarity or skinship. It had happened naturally, if Felix was slouched against your shoulder, it was easy for another member to drop onto your other side. They all perked up when you entered the room with drink trays or containers of food, knowing that you had made the effort to learn their favourites. You even shared a quiet camaraderie with Chan, from times where the two of you sat together in silence, both focused on completing as much work as you could during breaks.
You were surprised but thrilled to be so quickly welcomed and trusted by the group. You couldn’t deny that you were touch-starved and that the skinship was as comforting to you as it was with Felix. It was strictly platonic and apparently common enough for Stray Kids that none of the staff even blinked at the sight of Felix wrapped around you. In fact, it was somewhat of a running joke among the managers, one that you didn’t hear of until about a month into your new position, that sitting on the couches in a waiting room during a schedule was just asking to be glomped on by one of the members.
Even though your main responsibilities were still centred around organisation of the upcoming world tour, you were slowly becoming the go-to manager to fill in when someone else was unable to attend a schedule. As long as you continued to prioritise your work well enough to meet all your deadlines, you were even allowed to be the one to supervise member live streams or help film tiktoks. The tour was still months away, but you were getting increasingly excited for it and the chance to hang out with the group without feeling guilty about other work you could be doing.
—
You’re not quite sure how it all happens. It’s just a blur to you. One second you’re at a schedule, sitting on the couch reading through the details of a contract that you’re helping finalise during a break and the next, there’s a body crashing into yours.
Your only thought is despairing that you haven’t saved the document recently so you desperately try to protect your laptop from any damage, pulling it away before it can collide with a stray body part. As a result, you lose balance, tipping forward and fall straight into Chan, who’s sitting on the ground tucked between the couch and the low table so that he can work on his computer.
A jolt of energy seems to pass through your forehead, right when it knocks into Chan’s arm. You scramble to right yourself, rubbing at the spot where you touched while Chan does the same to himself. He hasn’t changed into the outfit that the stylists have assigned for him, instead wearing a shirt that has the sleeves cut off, leaving his arms exposed. In the background, Felix, Jisung, and some of the other members are squabbling, but you can barely hear it over the thud of your pulse.
“Did you-” you start to say.
“Feel that too?” Chan finishes your sentence in a low tone, his disbelieving expression matching how you feel.
Slowly, Chan reaches out and takes your hand in his. The second you touch, there’s that same startling jolt. You’re filled with a strange sense of comfort and you can feel an unfamiliar warmth that’s coming from where your skin makes contact with his.
You and Chan stare at each other, eyes wide.
Soulmates.