Chapter Text
Chan didn’t notice the alert that told him the front door to the building had been accessed, nor did he hear when the door to his studio was opened, too engrossed in his latest project to bother paying attention. So he had no idea how long it had been by the time he looked up and found Felix lounging on his couch, phone in hand undoubtedly scrolling TikTok.
“Uh,” he greeted lamely, surprised to see the other man.
Felix looked over at him with a wry grin. “Sup.”
Chan furrowed his brow. “I thought you were in France?”
“Got back yesterday,” Felix corrected. “I’ve got almost a month before I need to go back.”
“Nice,” Chan nodded as he slipped off his headphones and dropped them onto the desk. While he’d been fairly stationary the last few months, years really, since they had temporarily relocated back to Australia, Felix was always jetting off somewhere and it was genuinely hard to keep track these days. With the rest of the members completing their military service, Chan and Felix had been at a little bit of loose ends for a while before they each dived into solo projects: Chan took on writing and producing for other groups, along with a few tracks for himself and Felix, while Felix got more involved with Louis Vuitton and the fashion industry. He’d been busy with some training program or apprenticeship, Chan wasn’t entirely sure the specifics, as he spent more time behind the scenes with the design team in Paris than modeling. “Everything going well?”
Felix hummed in answer, carefully shifting into an upright position. “Just a few more months left.”
“That’s great,” he enthused. “Anything new you can tell me about?” Felix was always so excited to talk about his work.
But Felix only smiled and shook his head. “Nothing all that new, really, just getting to shadow some of the designers and get to know their processes.” He stood up. “When was the last time you ate?”
Chan didn’t even bother checking the time. “No clue,” he admitted. He didn’t bother protesting when Felix immediately urged him to his feet and out the door.
They made idle chitchat as they walked to Felix’s favorite hole-in-the-wall a few blocks away, catching up on everything they’d each been working on. They texted often, but there was always more to talk about. Chan noticed as they walked, though, that Felix’s focus was only half on their conversation: he nearly ran into a pole absentmindedly stepping out of someone’s way, his mind elsewhere. He said nothing as they walked, content to wait until they’d gotten some food.
The chatter slowed to nothing as they neared the restaurant and ordered.
“Felix,” Chan finally said when their food had been delivered and Felix didn’t react.
Felix blinked and looked at him then down at their food, his eyes widening a bit like he was surprised to see it there. “Yeah,” he replied then paused. He met Chan’s eyes evenly. “Later,” he promised.
“Okay,” Chan agreed easily. He tried a few times to start another conversation, asking after Felix’s family and his friends in Paris, but after a while he let it drop. Felix wasn’t brushing him off but it was like he was barely even hearing him, the words taking twice as long to compute. When they’d finished eating, Chan started back towards his studio but Felix turned in the opposite direction. Both stopped when they realized and looked at each other silently before Chan conceded with a shrug and followed after Felix. They walked in comfortable, if a little anticipatory, silence until they neared the waterfront. Felix turned and they walked alongside the water’s edge for a while until they came across a bench.
“Lix,” Chan questioned quietly when Felix still didn’t say anything.
Felix didn’t look at him, his eyes fixed on the water. “I’m not-” he stopped and swallowed. “I’m not planning anything and I don’t want you to think I am, I just-” he stopped again. “I’m looking into options and to do that, I need to know what my options are,” Felix finally said, his words coming slowly like he was choosing them carefully.
“Okay,” Chan replied slowly, the anxious feeling from earlier coming back with a heavy side of wariness.
“You don’t need to answer now,” Felix added. “I don’t need an immediate yes or no, I’d rather you take the time to get me a real answer.”
“Okay.”
Felix took a deep breath. “Could Stray Kids function without all of us in Korea?”
Chan froze. Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t that. “What do you mean?” He asked, speaking equally carefully.
Felix still wasn’t looking at him. “I mean, what if the eight of us didn’t all live in Korea? Would it be possible for us to continue?”
“Felix, are you-”
“I’m not planning anything,” Felix cut him off, reminding him of what he’d said at the very beginning. He finally turned to look at him and there was a resolve in his eyes Chan wasn’t wholly familiar with. “I’m just asking what’s possible.”
Chan stared at him for a long moment before he turned and looked out at the water and thought about it. His immediate, gut reaction was that no, they couldn’t function as a group if they were divided between continents. But Felix had asked for a real answer, so Chan thought about it.
“I don’t need an answer now,” Felix repeated. “There’s no rush, obviously.” Obviously. The other six members were still in the military and wouldn’t all be out for another nearly 10 months.
“I’ll think about it,” Chan promised.
The corner of Felix’s mouth ticked up in an attempt at a smile. He understood what he was asking. He dropped a firm hand on Chan’s shoulder and squeezed once. “Thank you.”
They sat and watched the water for a while before Chan spoke up again. “Do I get to ask why?”
“Not yet.”
“Okay.”
---
Chan let himself into Felix’s house, the electronic lock still beeping as he shoved the door open. “Oi!” He called in greeting, kicking the door closed behind him as juggled two drinks and his phone.
“Kitchen!”
Chan followed the call towards the back of the house and frowned when he found Felix on top of the counter. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to decide which color I hate least,” Felix replied without looking at him. He had a few paint swatches in his hand and he was holding them up one after the other, one eye closed as he clearly tried to imagine his cabinets a different color.
“You’re redoing your kitchen?” Chan asked, surprised. Felix had decorated a few of the rooms in his house but, since he wasn’t here full time, he hadn’t taken on anything major.
“Nope,” he replied. “Not allowed.”
“...to redo your own kitchen?”
Felix looked over at him with a heavy sigh. “Hyunjin has opinions.” Chan stifled a smile. “He doesn’t like what I’ve done with the rest of the house and is already planning a full renovation.” Felix rolled his eyes. “Told me to pick which color I liked best out of these.” He held up the swatches.
“And you don’t like them?” Chan asked, failing to keep the amusement out of his voice. He was sure Hyunjin couldn’t wait to finally have an entire house to decorate. Felix just looked at him, deadpan, and Chan lost the battle against his giggles. Felix smacked him on the arm with the swatches before dropping them onto the counter and sliding back onto the ground.
“What’d you bring?” He asked as he reached for the cups in Chan’s hand.
“Smoothies.”
“Ooh yay,” he looked between them for a long second before wrapping his mouth around the straw of the blue one without bothering to ask which one was for him. It was the blue one. But still. He could have asked.
Chan rolled his eyes and freed his own smoothie from Felix’s grip. “Which rooms is Hyunjin planning to redo?”
“All of them?” Felix huffed. “I’ve shown him around on video chats and he is less than impressed.”
“He doesn’t like the house?” Chan was surprised, and a little offended on Felix’s behalf. Felix had stressed a lot over finding a house in Sydney that would work for the both of them even if Hyunjin hadn’t been able to participate in the house hunting with him.
“No, he likes the house,” Felix assured him. “He just doesn’t like my decorating.” He looked around them. “Or the kitchen. Like at all. It was his one complaint even before I got the place but I told him he could do whatever he wanted to it when he got here so…”
“So he’s been plotting ever since?”
“Apparently.” He took a long sip of his smoothie. “He’s narrowed it down to no more than three designs.” Chan grinned at the long suffering look on Felix’s face. “And he wants to do it himself.”
Chan laughed. “Does he know anything about renovating a kitchen?”
Felix shook his head, a fond smile creeping onto his lips. “I think that little reno show he and Changbin did a few years ago got in his head. He’s been wanting to do something like it ever since.”
“And now he has a whole house to work on,” Chan said brightly.
Felix’s smile grew. “Yeah. He does.”
Chan grinned at the look on his face, fond and wistful. “Four more months?” It wasn’t really a question, Chan knew the discharge dates of all of the members. Minho and Changbin would be finished in a little over a month, followed by Hyunjin and Jisung in four months, and in nine months Seungmin and Jeongin would be able to rejoin them. Hyunjin and Jisung were the only two that had stuck together during their service but the others had joined up at the same times to make it easier on the group.
“Four more months,” Felix agreed, relief evident in his voice. Chan was glad. He knew they’d had it rough the last year and a half, keeping their distance even when Felix was in Korea and they were able to see each other, because of the military’s stance on homosexuality, both official and unofficial. They’d gotten by on phone calls and text messages for the most part.
“You’ll be back from Paris before then, right?” Felix’s flight was in just two days and the last Chan had heard it would be for a few months.
Felix nodded. “Yeah, this time will be for eight weeks then I’ve got some schedules in Seoul before coming back here. About ten weeks altogether.”
Chan nodded. “Might meet up with you in Seoul,” he told him. “I’m heading there for Minho and Changbin’s release and some studio time with other groups. Should be there for over a month this time.”
Felix nodded in understanding. They’d talk between now and then so there was no need to get into specific plans just yet.
“Alright.” He slurped a long sip from his smoothie before placing it on the counter and finally sliding his bag off of his shoulder. “I wanted to talk to you.”
Felix raised an eyebrow. “You mean this wasn’t just a surprise friendly smoothie visit?” He slurped the dregs of his smoothie pointedly.
“Yeah, yeah,” Chan grumbled as he pulled his computer and a file of folders free, dropping the bag to the floor once he had what he needed. He’d called Felix to let him know he was coming but only when he was at the gate to his community.
“So,” he started, turning to face Felix directly. Whatever Felix saw in his face had him straightening up. “You asked me a question a little while ago.”
Understanding dawned. Felix placed his empty cup in the bin and gave Chan his full attention. “I did.”
Chan slid the folders over to him. “There are multiple options, all with varying levels of pros and cons.” Felix placed a hand on the folders but didn’t look at them, keeping his eyes on Chan. “First, I want to preface this by saying I can only speak for Stray Kids, not any of your solo work,” he cautioned but Felix only nodded. “That being said, I can think of three ways to go about this. Number one, you stay in Australia and commute to Seoul when needed for group activities. You could use my studio here in the city for recording and we could arrange for any solo filming or photography to take place here. You’d have to come to Korea for any group activities and all live engagements but we could try to schedule those all together so you’d come for a few weeks and we’d just jam-pack it with work.”
Felix nodded slowly. “Okay,” he replied. “Option two?”
Chan sighed. “Option two,” he echoed. “Is sort of the reverse. Or maybe a hybrid. We’d do everything we could separately, you here and the rest of us in Korea, and we come to Australia for group activities. Same deal, where we’d try to maximize our time here, fill our time as much as possible with schedules to get everything done. One of the hurdles there is that in order for the others to come here for official activities, we’d need to get them work visas and for that we’d likely need to establish a corporate presence here. Either JYPE would need an Australian branch or maybe we could set something up ourselves.”
“And option three?”
“Option three is we all relocate to Australia,” Chan told him. “Stray Kids would be based out of Australia for however long we need. We’d need to go to Korea for live engagements but we honestly wouldn’t have that much outside of award show performances and a few interviews anymore, everything else is pre-filmed or done virtually. We would, again, need a corporate presence here but if we all relocated it would be an easier sell to JYPE to establish a new subsidiary, I think.”
“I’m not asking anyone else to relocate,” Felix told him.
“I know,” Chan agreed. “But you asked me if it was possible and these are the options that I’ve come up with. You wanted to know what your options were.” He hesitated. “Like I said, each of these comes with their own pros and cons so if it’s something we want to pursue, we’d need to weigh them each carefully. One of the key factors, which I don’t know, is what kind of time frame we’d be talking about. A few months? A year?”
“A few years,” Felix answered quietly. “At least.”
Chan squared his shoulders. “That’s a long time.”
Felix met his gaze calmly. “I know.”
“Can I ask?”
“Not yet.”
Chan swallowed back his immediate response. “If we need to establish a corporate presence here, that will take time,” he informed Felix.
“I’m sure,” Felix agreed. “Seungmin and Jeongin still have nine more months,” he reminded Chan. “And we’re not going to jump right into a comeback the second they’re out. There’s time.”
There was. Not much, but some. Still- “Can you at least tell me something?”
Felix looked away, his eyes skittering around the kitchen before coming back to Chan. “I need to talk to Hyunjin first.” Okay, Chan could understand that. “In person.” ...That he could understand less.
“That’s months away.”
“Yes.”
“Felix.”
“Chris.”
They stared at each other and Chan could feel himself losing the fight. Felix was generally easy going, willing to work with anyone, but sometimes his stubbornness reared its ugly head and god help anyone who tried to go against him.
He exhaled heavily. “Okay. Fine. We’ll talk about this again in four months.”
“Five,” Felix countered. Chan glared at him but Felix didn’t budge.
“Fine.”
Felix held his gaze for a moment longer before softening and pulling Chan into a hug. “Thank you. For giving me options.” Chan squeezed him gently back. “I’m not planning on going anywhere,” he added. “I’m not leaving Stray Kids or anything crazy like that.” Chan’s shoulders sagged in relief and he squeezed harder.
“You started to scare me,” he admitted.
Felix pulled back to look at him. “Sorry. I’m not going anywhere, I just- want to know what the options are if we did things a little differently this time around.”
---
“I’m getting married.”
Chan wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t just had a heart attack. Or a stroke. Or some kind of waking nightmare. His phone was already exploding with incoming messages and calls but he could barely take note of them. Slowly, he turned to look at the blonde curled up on the other end of the couch, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the screen. Around them, he distantly noted Changbin and Minho staring at Felix too.
“Felix,” he said calmly. Too calmly for how he felt right now.
Felix’s mouth snapped shut and he turned to face his three hyungs. “Chris.”
“Should I be offering condolences?” He prayed that it was condolences. Better that Felix’s boyfriend had just announced his engagement to someone else rather than the alternative. Chan would gladly take dealing with Felix’s broken heart right now over the shitstorm that was about to hit them even as he felt insanely guilty for the thought.
“Or congratulations?” Changbin offered, clearly trying to sound positive but it was weak.
“Uh...congratulations?” Felix answered. He glanced back over to the screen where Hyunjin and Jisung were continuing their live as if Hyunjin hadn’t just told the world that he was getting married. As if he, an idol who knew better, hadn’t broken their industry’s number one unspoken rule and confessed to being in a relationship and that he was getting married.
“When did this happen? He hasn’t even been out of the military for three hours.” Felix hadn’t even seen Hyunjin yet.
“Before he reported,” Felix answered, his eyes still lingering on his bo-fiance.
All four of their phones were blowing up now, the notifications not stopping long enough for any of the screens to turn dark, but they all ignored them. Minho even reached over and flipped them face down.
“Felix,” Chan exhaled, trying not to lose his shit.
Felix looked at him. He was clearly as surprised at Hyunjin’s announcement as the rest of them but he was recovering faster and that stubborn look was back. “Do you remember what I asked, Chris? A few months ago, back in Australia?”
Chan froze, his mind whirring back to the last thing they’d talked about, not sure why Felix would be bringing that up now except- “You weren’t asking about you,” he realized aloud. Thinking on it, he wasn’t sure Felix had ever explicitly said that he wanted to stay in Australia, he’d just asked if Stray Kids could continue if they weren’t all together in Korea.
“Not entirely,” he agreed.
“I’m lost,” Changbin butted in, Minho looking between the two of them but keeping quiet.
“This changes things,” Chan told Felix. He hadn’t factored the two of them publicly admitting they were in a relationship into his contingency planning.
“I know,” Felix agreed calmly. “It’s why I wanted to wait before we discussed it again.”
Chan looked at the screen they’d been watching, surprised to find it black, the live ended. “What now?”
“Hyunjin and I need to discuss that.”
“No,” he shook his head. “Hyunjin just confessed to being engaged. Are you two planning to admit who it is he’s engaged to?”
“At some point,” Felix admitted. “Not right away,” he allowed, “but at some point.”
“That may be dangerous,” Minho finally spoke up. Between general Korean attitudes about same-sex relationships and the number of stalkers Felix and Hyunjin each had, he wasn’t wrong.
“Here,” Felix agreed. And Chan suddenly understood, everything coming together instead of just the pieces that had been collecting in his mind.
“You’re moving back to Australia. Both of you.”
Felix looked at him. “That’s the plan. It’s not set in stone, but…” But Felix had bought them a house and Hyunjin already tons of plans for renovations and decorating and Felix had asked for options that involved the two of them returning with Stray Kids without returning to Korea.
“Option three,” he sighed, his mind whirring. When it came out that Hyunjin and Felix were in a relationship, that the two men were queer, it would alienate a large portion of their Korean fanbase. Setting up a new base in Australia and leaning more into the Western music scene would be their best bet professionally. “It’ll have to be option three.”
“That’s not up to us,” Felix replied, reminding him that there were five other people who needed to be consulted before a decision could be made. And that wasn’t even factoring in JYPE. “We made our choice, it’s not up to us to make anyone else’s for them.”
The front door swung open and Hyunjin and Jisung spilled into the apartment. Hyunjin didn’t even bother removing his shoes before he was across the room and pulling Felix into a tight embrace, the two clutching at each other desperately. Chan heard soft murmurs and turned away.
Jisung was still by the entrance, pulling his shoes off and tucking them away neatly. Two of their managers had come in behind them and neither looked happy but Chan ignored them easily.
Minho beat him to Jisung’s side so Chan waited patiently for Jisung to be released so he could hug him himself. When he let go, Changbin swooped in for his own hug, lifting Jisung off of his feet briefly.
“Ooh you got muscles,” Changbin crooned as he dropped him back onto the ground. They all looked him over, noting that he had bulked up quite a bit. Changbin reached out and squeezed a bicep playfully. “Almost as big as mine.”
Jisung laughed and wrapped his arms around all three of them again for a brief hug before stepping past them. “Okay, stop hogging him,” he called over as he crossed the room to the couple still wrapped up in each other. Hyunjin’s face was pressed into Felix’s neck, a position that could not be comfortable given their height difference, but still managed to shake his head.
“All mine,” he replied, his voice muffled.
Felix laughed and squeezed him tight. “Always.” He pressed a kiss to the side of Hyunjin’s head where he could reach before disentangling them, Hyunjin letting him go with a ferocious pout. He stepped into Jisung’s already outstretched arms with a bright grin. “I missed you.”
Jisung squeezed him tight enough that Felix almost squeaked. “Missed you too, Sunshine.” He nodded at Hyunjin as he finally stepped back. “He’s unbearable without his regular doses of Yongbokkie.”
Hyunjin didn’t even bother to pretend at defending himself, looping his arms around Felix’s waist and pulling him back in. Felix put his hands over top of Hyunjin’s and linked their fingers together. “Well, I’m happy to take him off your hands.”
“Permanently, yeah?” Jisung winked.
And just like that, the air in the room shifted and everyone quieted. Manager Kim stepped forward from where he and Manager Park had lingered by the door. “About that.”
“Maybe we can discuss that later?” Changbin suggested quickly. Kim, Park, and Chan all ignored him.
“Was that really the best idea?” Chan asked, turning to Hyunjin.
“It wasn’t the plan,” Hyunjin admitted. “But I couldn’t help it. I’m done hiding.” Felix shifted his grip so that he had a hold of as much of Hyunjin as he could while the other man stood behind him. “We’re not going to announce I’m marrying Felix, don’t worry.”
Chan looked at Felix. “Did you not tell me that you’re planning to tell everyone it’s you?”
“At some point,” Felix reminded him. “Probably not for a while. Let people get used to Hyunjin being in a relationship before we throw the whole gay thing at them, too.”
“Or,” Kim spoke up, his voice giving nothing away, “we could not do that. I don’t need to tell any of you that the news that two members of the group are in a relationship with each other will not go over well with fans.”
“We know,” Felix agreed.
“I don’t care,” Hyunjin added. “I’m done hiding and lying about it.” He shifted so that he was standing beside Felix instead of behind him, his arm around Felix’s shoulders while Felix’s wrapped around his waist. “I’m not going to say it was a joke or that I was lying or whatever else you might have in mind. Felix and I will tell people we’re together when we decide to but until then, I’m going to be honest that I’m in a relationship.”
Park turned to Chan. “You approved this?”
Chan hadn’t known about this even half an hour ago, so of course he hadn’t approved of this, but they were his kids and he’d go to the grave defending them. He turned to Park, shifting so that he stood between the couple and their managers. “They will decide when and how they announce their relationship. We will deal with the fallout to Stray Kids as a group. I know you’ve all put a lot of time and effort over the years to maintain their privacy and it is deeply appreciated, but we’re in a different situation now than we were years ago and we’re going to approach it differently.” Kim and Park had both been with them for years and was well versed in the Hyunlix situation. Chan nodded his head at the couple. “They get to make the decisions here, not the company.”
When they’d signed their newest contracts with JYPE they’d eliminated any phrasing that controlled the members’ ability to date, privately or publicly. It had been a concession to the group’s success and longevity along with the lack of any scandals that JYPE agreed to and he was sure it had occurred to them that this was a likely outcome of that. The timing was a surprise, as well as the engagement, but the honesty shouldn’t be.
“We’ll need to discuss this,” Kim warned. He held up his phone. “PD-nim wants a meeting.”
“In a few days,” he agreed.
“Tomorrow,” Park countered.
“Hyunjin and Jisung were just released from their service and Seungmin and Jeongin are still unavailable. I want these two to have a chance to relax for a few days and to arrange for Seungmin and Jeongin to at least join virtually. This meeting will concern all of us, so all eight of us should be included.”
They didn’t like it. Everyone in the room knew the two managers didn’t like it, but they agreed and soon it was just the six of them. They waited a long minute after the door shut behind them before everyone whirled on the couple.
“What the fuck?” Changbin asked.
Hyunjin winced, finally looking a little apologetic. “It really wasn’t the plan,” he said sheepishly.
“No kidding,” Felix sighed.
“You definitely told me you weren’t going to say anything until you were in Australia at the very least,” Jisung piped up.
Minho turned on him. “You knew about this?”
Jisung looked at him, surprised. “I’ve spent damn near every day of the last two years with Hyunjin and you think I didn’t know about this?”
Felix snorted. His shoulders relaxed a little and he pushed Hyunjin towards the three eldest with a gentle shove. “You forgot to say hi,” he chided.
Hyunjin went as directed and let himself be wrapped into Changbin’s arms. The shorter man couldn’t quite lift Hyunjin off his feet like he had Jisung but he gave it a valiant effort. Minho gave him a short, tight hug before thwapping him gently on the butt. “Welcome back.”
Hyunjin smiled at him before turning to Chan. “Sorry?” He offered. He wasn’t sorry. He’d just caused a shitstorm of epic proportions that Chan would have to deal with but he wasn’t sorry and they both knew it.
Chan shook his head and pulled Hyunjin close. “Couldn’t have given me a head’s up?”
“We really did have a plan,” Hyunjin told him. “We were going to fill you in.”
“That’s good. Not really helpful right now, but I appreciate that you thought it.”
Hyunjin pulled back with a laugh and shuffled back to Felix’s side, their fingers intertwining.
“Okay,” Chan sighed. “Let’s…” he looked around him at his five members crowding his living room; Hyunjin and Felix looked like it would take a forklift to separate them at this point and Jisung’s eyes were drooping despite the fact that it wasn’t all that late, “talk about this tomorrow.”
Minho raised an eyebrow. “Tomorrow.”
“Yeah. It can wait.”
“Can it?” Jisung asked. His eyes dropped down to the table where Chan, Felix, Minho, and Changbin had all left their phones. The notifications had slowed down but at least one of their phones was always lit up with an incoming message.
“Yeah,” he exhaled. “I have soju?”