Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
•
•
•
[only within quotation marks, aka dialogue] korean, english
"question one," announced zane as he pulled out a slip of paper from the small box, which contained twenty of them. "name a fandom you're in. i'll go first - i'm a total potterhead. and before you ask, i got sorted into gryffindor."
"i'm also a huge harry potter fan," hummed elliott, "but i really like all of rick riordan's series. i took the riordanverse test; i'm apparently a child of apollo. kiki got hades, no surprise there."
"i like anime a lot," added akira, softly. he wasn't one to talk a lot.
jae went last, "my current, favorite fandom would have to be anime too. more specifically, my hero academia. eli introduced me to it and now i'm addicted." he pulled out the next question, gliding up to zane on his skates. the three of them had been to the rink with elliott before a few times, so they could manage not falling. "dogs or cats? i'm a cat person. can't betray kuro, y'know."
"i'm also more of a cat person," nodded elliott, "don't get me wrong,i love dogs but, like parkie, i own a cat right now so . . . yeah."
"i can't choose," answered akira plainly and zane declared he liked dogs more. the japanese boy pulled out the next question and read out, "what's your most used social media app? instagram, i think?"
"same," agreed zane. "and youtube."
"mine's twitter," mused jae, and they all turned to the youngest, waiting for him to expose himself.
elliott sighed, "i spend a few hours everyday on wattpad. been reading and writing fanfiction since 2014." throwing up a peace sign, he picked the next question. "favorite quote - i like shakespeare's, 'awake, dear heart, awake. thou hast slept well. awake.' it's from the tempest, i think. i don't fully understand it but it sounds nice."
"ah, yes," deadpanned zane, "our maknae reads shakespeare. is there anything you haven't done, eli?"
"i've never asked for your opinion, farmer boy," shot back elliott, and akira smiled proudly - he had taught his best friend well. the more time elliott spent together with akira, the more sassy he got.
"ouch, eli, you wound me. aren't i the yee to your haw anymore?"
"you shall always be, but sometimes i tend to forget - forgive i, my lovely yee, for i never meant to hurt you!"
"i'm sorry," apologized jae to the camera, as well as to the man behind it who was trying his best to not burst out laughing at the comedic duo who kept getting more and more dramatic in the background. "not all of us are like this, i swear."
just a few miles away, four males who were watching the live also chuckled. the stray kids' members were resting a bit before an interview. of course, watching deck skate down the venice beach broadwalk while playing twenty questions on v-live was their go-to pastime.
felix and christopher were easily keeping up with what they were saying, while hyunjin and jisung had a bit of trouble understanding the fours' fluent english.
"all of them speak so well," noted jisung, "they all know japanese, too."
"they're pretty cool," added felix, "and they're the same age as us . . . they debuted three years earlier, though, right? when elliott was about fourteen?"
"why does it matter?" asked hyunjin.
felix sighed deeply before admitting, "it's just, we are the same age, but they went up the popularity charts in a flash in 2014, immediately after debut. and they keep producing such great music, and they're just so much more successful than us. it makes me really jealous."
christopher bumped him playfully with his shoulder.
"we produce good music too, lix. and they've been in the industry three years longer than us, so i think it's fair they're more popular. and you know how i used to be close with zane when i was a trainee? he told me himself that he loves our songs."
they chatted for a while more while simultaneously watching the live (in which elliott and zane were now having an intense ballroom dance battle while spouting dramatic, broken shakespearean), before christopher's phone rang with a call from their manager, jiho (this is made up; author couldn't find his name anywhere).
"hello?" asked the leader, putting the device to his ear, "what's up, jiho-nim?"
"j.y.p. has gotten you a collaboration opportunity with deck," came the reply, "i just found out a few minutes ago, and wanted to call to ask and see if you wanted to do it."
"deck?" repeated christopher incredulously, "as in zane's band? we can collab with them?"
"yes. they have a way tighter schedule than you guys, so i have to get an answer to their manager by this evening - can you ask the others and call me back as soon as possible?"
"o-of course."
the call ended and christopher was immediately bombarded with questions from the other three, who had been eavesdropping. he explained and they all scrambled off to find one other member each, figuring it would be easier and take less time instead of christopher looking for them all by himself.
soon felix and changbin were screaming as they returned to the room, which belonged to hyunjin and jeongin. speaking of hyunjin, the male also came running back with his roommate and target, who looked very confused. in a few minutes, jisung and minho were also there, and christopher finally arrived with an extremely puzzled seungmin.
"right, straight to the point - do you guys want to collaborate with deck?" asked the leader as he stood up, already knowing what their answer was going to be.
"yes!"
"deck? as in the band kira is in?"
"for real?"
"hooooooly mooooooly!"
"don't pretend to be surprised, jisung, you already knew."
"shut up, yongbok, you have to learn how to respect your elders!"
"but you're barely a day older than me!"
"that's still older! when you were learning addition, i was learning multi -"
christopher escaped the screaming and dialed jiho's number again. he relayed the information, and the call ended in a while. the others had also gone quiet - well, as quiet as stray kids can get - and he told them to get ready.
"we're going to the broadwalk right away to meet deck."
