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It had been a long month and all the boys could feel it. They were on the very end of their promotion circuit for their newest album and frankly, everyone was exhausted.
It was also one of their more brutal comebacks. The music and dances were harder than ever, but everyone worked their asses off giving it their all every performance.
Felix notices the vibe of the group is off pretty quickly.
The feedback was mostly positive.
Keyword: mostly.
Now Felix knows they’re not going to please everyone, it’s not possible to. Normally all of them do a good job of drowning out the haters and naysayers.
But this time around…
He had seen the comments, the questions, the wave of people outright dissing their concept and music. It was by no means small, and what makes it worse is almost all the haters had something bad to say about each member.
Felix knew everyone was feeling the heat, feeling like they should have done x, y, and z differently. Felix knows it wouldn’t have made a difference. Someone was always going to hate something that the group did.
So… he was determined to get his boyfriends out of their funk, and quickly.
He first started in the obvious place, not hesitating as he knocked on the studio door.
“Go away!” He hears faintly through the door. He knows better than to listen, instead turning the door and walking inside.
There inside the studio, he found Chan, Changbin, and Jisung glued to their computers. They were editing away at new songs, their eyes holding severe eye bags. Felix had already been aware the boys hadn’t been back to the dorms in quite some time and he was finally done with their shit.
“You guys have been trapped here all day and night, you need to take a break and stop,” Felix states.
None of the three hyungs pay any mind to the younger boy, still entranced in their work. With a heavy sigh, Felix knew he only had one choice.
His first target was Jisung, he crept up beside him before grabbing onto his wrist, freeing the mouse from his hand. Luckily with his superb gaming skills on pc, he was able to move fast, saving all his progress before shutting the computer down.
“Hey!” Jisung whines.
Felix doesn’t pay him any mind as he moves over to Changbin repeating the same process. By the third time around Chan had been clued in to what Felix was doing. Reaching out to stop his hand in its tracks.
“Do not touch my computer,” Chan says, pulling on his leader voice.
Felix lets out a sigh, quickly getting his hand from Chan’s grasp and spinning on his heels to turn his attention back to the other two boys.
“You.” Felix says pointing to Changbin, “Go outside, get some fresh air, and get all three of you some food since I can guarantee you three haven’t had anything of substance to eat in a while.”
Changbin opened his mouth to argue, only getting a glare back from the younger boy. If he knew anything, he knew not to test Felix when he got pissed off. So spinning on his heels he made his way out of the studio, following the young boy's wishes.
“And you.” Felix says turning his attention to Jisung, “Go back to the dorm, get some changes of clothes for you three, and take a fucking shower, you guys reek of coffee and B.O.”
Jisung was also not one to test Felix, only giving a small nod before getting out of his chair and heading out of the room. Now that two of the problems children have been dealt with…
Felix turned back to Chan, who had refocused on his computer. The good thing about Chan, he had a habit of periodically saving, the bad thing about Chan’s desk:
After saving his current progress Felix just so happened to ‘accidentally step on’ the power strip that was connected to his computer, causing everything to turn off on the leader.
Chan freezes in shock as his computer screen goes back before turning to shoot a glare at Felix.
“Oops.” Felix feigns innocence, “Looks like you have to take a break.”
“That’s fine, I brought my laptop, I can just finish there,” Chan remarks back.
As he pulls out his chair to get up and get his bag Felix stops him, taking a seat on his lap and essentially pinning his Hyung in place.
“Sorry, it looked too comfy to pass up, now what we’re you saying again?” Felix offers a mischievous smile to the older boy.
“Felix, I need to work on new songs.”
“How long have you been in here?”
“Not that long…” Chan trails off.
Felix reaches a finger under Chan’s chin, forcing him to look up at the boy, “I need an exact time, Hyungie.”
Chan tries to avoid eye contact as he mumbles out his answer.
“I don’t know… I lost track after the first 24 hours.”
Felix lets out a small sigh, moving his hand to stroke the older boy's cheek, “You know how I feel about you overdoing it Chan. We all just want you to be okay.”
“I know I know, I just… I want to make sure our next album will be perfect.” Chan explains.
“Is this about what people have been saying about our comeback?” Felix asks, already well aware it was the right answer, “I appreciate that baby but it will be perfect without you overworking yourself. Not to mention this album was already so amazing, it’ll be hard to top it.”
“Well, not according to what everyone’s saying,” Chan mutters out.
Felix sighs, brushing the hair from Chan’s face, “I know it seems like everyone was against this but there are so many Stays who loved it.”
“I guess. But I’ve been listening back to some of the songs and I understand what they’re talking about. I mean what was I thinking putting half these songs on this album.”
Felix was trying to be patient, understanding it’s easy to spiral into doubt and much harder to pull yourself back out of it. A thought crosses Felix’s mind before he decides to pull out his phone, opening up TikTok.
He scrolled through his likes until he landed on a particular video, it was based around one of the songs on the album, one of the ones under heavy criticism.
“Well, these people seem to disagree,” Felix says, presenting the phone to Chan. Chan at first only half-heartedly watched the video, still in his head about everything. Felix flipped through a few more videos but Chan still seemed to be in a slump.
He clicks off his phone, looking down at the Hyung underneath him. He was always going to be the hardest to get out of his funk, it’s not easy getting him to see past the negativity all the time. With a gentle nudge, he manages to get the older boy to look at him, offering him a small smile.
“Channie-Hyung, I hope you know that you didn’t fail us as a leader, you never could. You mean the world to all of us. You also mean the world to Stays, most of whom loved the newest comeback. So don’t go and punish yourself by overworking to the point of exhaustion especially when there is nothing to be punished over.”
Chan lets out a sigh.
“I just wish the negativity wasn’t so loud.”
Felix nods, sympathetic to the feeling. No matter how much positivity there was, the negativity always found a way to drown it out.
“I know, Hyungie. I wish it was easier too. But just because a few people think it’s fun to waste their time and be rude doesn’t mean that’s all that’s out there.”
Chan nods, starting to come around to the idea that Felix had some truth to what he was saying. He reaches up to play with the hem of Felix’s shirt, his eyes locking onto his desk where his computer was still turned off.
“I’m sorry I haven’t come home in a few days,” Chan mutters out.
Felix knew Chan was moving on to feeling guilty about leaving his boyfriends back at the dorm without him. He knew he probably had worried them with his actions.
Felix knew he had to shut it down quickly.
“It’s okay, baby. We’re not mad at you. We just want you to take care of yourself, we already have been working night and day on our comeback, we just don’t want you getting burnt out writing songs on top of that.”
Chan nods, leaning his head onto Felix’s shoulder. Felix could tell Chan was finally hitting the wall he had been shoving off for so long.
“Is it okay if I take you home?” Felix asks softly.
“But I need to… the songs need to…” With a heavy sigh, Chan nods, knowing there wasn’t much room for a fight.
“Good. I wasn’t taking no for an answer anyways. As for the songs, you can finish them after you get some rest, okay?”
“Okay, okay.” Chan finally agrees.
“Good, now let’s get you home,” Felix says, finally getting up from the older boy’s lap.
Chan stands to his feet, stretching his stiff back before reaching for his jacket and bag. With that the two head back towards the dorm, Chan leaning onto Felix most of the way there.
Felix had successfully gotten the leader back to the dorm and laid him down in bed. Chan was soon drifting off to sleep. Felix gives a quick kiss to the boy's temple before heading out of the room, leaving the boy to rest in peace.
One down, two to go.
Luckily the second one was already back in the dorms at least.
Felix could hear the shower running as he waited in the hall. Soon enough the water cut off and after a couple of minutes Jisung emerged from a steamy bathroom, his dirty clothes piled into his arms.
“Felix? Did Chan kick you out?” Jisung asks when he realizes the boy was standing there.
“No, I got him in bed sleeping, now it’s your turn,” Felix responds, taking the clothes from the boy’s arms.
Felix didn’t even hesitate to walk towards Jisung’s room, tossing the clothes into his basket and taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
Jisung appeared in the doorway a moment later, shooting Felix an odd glance. Felix just smiles, patting the spot next to him on the bed. Jisung approaches cautiously before sitting down next to the boy, unsure of what tricks Felix was planning.
But the boy had no tricks, just comfort as he maneuvers himself further onto the bed, lying down and holding out his arms for Jisung. Jisung nods, laying down and resting his head on the center of Felix’s chest. Arms wrap around the older boy, one lacing into his hair while the other draws lazy circles into his back.
“What’s on your mind, Hannie-Hyung?” Felix asked.
He didn’t sugarcoat it, Jisung had always been one to overthink and it was pretty clear he had been doing a lot of overthinking lately.
“Normal stuff I guess, our comeback, wanting to fix our mistakes, try to make everyone happy with our next one.”
“You know you can’t make everyone happy, Hyungie. It’s not possible. People are always going to have a problem, they just need to learn to deal with it, not project it onto other people.”
The sensible side of Jisung knew Felix was right. The anxious half of his brain doesn’t want to believe anything coming out of his mouth.
“But still I could have been better with my contribution, I pushed so hard to get this one song on the album and it seems like everyone is hating it right now.”
“Hannie-Hyung I’ve been seeing nothing but praise for that song. Look, do you trust Changbin and Chan?”
“Yes….”
“And do you trust them to make the right calls when it comes to music and this group?”
“Of course.”
“So why don’t you trust that Changbin and Chan agree that your song should have been on this album? Are you saying they don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to music?”
“No, of course not,” Jisung responds, hurt that Felix would even suggest such a thing.
“So that song should have been on the album. If Chan and Changbin didn’t believe it was a good song, they would have re-edited it or even refused to put it on. The song is amazing, Hannie-Hyung. You’re amazing.”
Jisung offers a weak smile, sure he didn’t always believe in himself, but Felix was right, he believed in his hyungs. Not to mention his hyungs believe in him.
“You have a point.” Jisung conceded.
“Of course I do.” Felix chuckles, “Now you’re going to lay here and get some rest. We have more work to do tomorrow and you need to be rested and healthy when we do.”
Jisung nods, cuddling further into Felix’s side. Together the two of them lie in bed, and slowly Jisung drifts off to sleep.
The next hour or so is peaceful for Felix as he enjoyed Jisung wrapped up in his arms. He could finally relax a little knowing that some of the members were feeling a little more confident about the comeback.
Then his mind flashes back to Changbin.
More specifically, Changbin probably got back to the studio to find no one there and went back to overworking himself.
Fuck.
Felix manages to get out of Jisung’s bed without stirring the boy, quick to tug on his jacket and shoes before racing to the studio.
It was no surprise when Felix made it back to the studio that Changbin was hunched over in his chair once more. A half-eaten bowl of food sat beside him as he analyzed his music.
“Changbin. It’s time to go home.” Felix says walking up to rest a head on his shoulder.
“After this song,” Changbin responds.
“No, save this song and go home. Now.”
Changbin doesn’t respond, still clicking away with his mouse. Felix was by no means strong enough to drag his boyfriend out of the studio, so he just had to be smart enough to beat him instead.
“Fine, if you won’t stop working can you at least take a look at the song Chan was working on for me?”
Changbin shoots him a look, surprised the boy had given in so quickly, “Okay, which song is it?”
“It should just read ‘Felix IP’ as the file name.”
“I’m not seeing it,” Changbin responds.
“Here let me see if I can find it.”
Changbin nods, allowing Felix to take the mouse from him. He only realizes his mistake after the shutdown screen appears across his monitor.
He got played.
“So, now that your computer is turned off, it's time to head back home.”
“Felix, it's not funny when you turn off my computer like that. What if I didn’t save?”
“I always make sure you save before I do it, I’m not heartless.”
“Turning off my computer is pretty heartless.”
“That’s only because you’re not giving yourself healthy boundaries with your work right now. What would you do if I was overworking myself on a dance?”
“Well, I would…” Changbin starts before realizing how much of a hypocrite his answer would make him,” I’d probably shut off your music and drag you back to the dorm.”
“Exactly, so I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“You played me… twice.”
“Yes I did Binnie-Hyung.” Felix smiles.
With a sigh Changbin nods, getting up from his chair and gathering his things. Felix smiles, happy he had successfully got all three of the boys out of the studio and back home for the night.
The two headed back to the dorms hand in hand, and the walk back to the dorm was a long one. Felix could tell something was still bothering Changbin and he wanted to find out soon before the boy gets too wrapped up in his thoughts.
“So… This comeback huh?”
“You’re disappointed in it too?” Changbin asks.
“Oh, definitely not. I think we all worked hard to get to where we are. I mean Chan, Jisung, and you selected amazing songs for the album and our choreography was top-notch.
“I don’t know that doesn’t seem to be the consensus,” Changbin argues.
“Well to haters maybe not, but to Stays they are in love with our latest songs. So many people have been hyping them up and playing them on repeat. We’ve been getting so much love for our songs.”
“We’re also getting a lot of hate.”
“You’re talking about a few small voices in a crowd of overwhelming support, Binnie-hyung.”
“Yeah… small.”
“Exactly, it just feels like there is so much hate because it’s easier to focus on the things you got wrong instead of all the great things you did right. Look, are you proud of the songs you put out?”
“Of course, we went over them for hours making sure they were perfect.”
“And they are, you guys poured your heart and soul into those songs, and we’ve all been working so hard for this comeback. Just because some people like to trash talk doesn’t mean we should abandon the amazing music we’ve made. Or the sick Music Videos, or even our crazy dances.”
Changbin nods before letting out a heavy sigh, “You need to stop being right at some point.”
“Maybe it will happen someday.” Felix teases.
The boys return to the dorm, the air between them being much lighter. Changbin turns to Felix as they stand outside of his dorm, “Well, have a good night Lix.”
“You too Binnie-Hyung,” Felix says, giving him a quick kiss before retreating into his dorm.
That night Felix slept a little easier knowing all the boys were sleeping in their bed that night.
The next day brought forth new challenges, namely in the place of two dance-obsessed boys who were feeling the heat after the response to their comeback.
He was convinced he was this close to killing Minho. If he heard the boy one more time shout to stop the music and reset he was going to lose it.
Minho was not happy that people had been complaining about the dance, about how disjointed it felt, and how the members didn’t have any energy. Minho was determined to prove everyone wrong.
Felix groaned as Minho started up again about how their moves weren’t quick enough and how their timing was off every time they ran the song. By this point all of the boys were dying of exhaustion, getting their asses kicked by the Dance Leader.
Both literally and figuratively.
It wasn’t until Minho started on a rant about how the dance was horrible and that they were never going to be able to perform it again if they kept it up that Felix was beyond done.
Hyung or not, Felix did not care at this moment as he hooked a firm hand on Minho’s wrist, pulling him out towards the hallway.
Minho squirms in Felix’s grasp but Felix doesn’t let up as he finally manages to get the older boy out of the room.
As soon as Felix releases his grip Minho is rubbing at his wrist, “What the hell was that?”
Felix didn’t often fight fire with fire but Minho was being hot-heated and he had to knock some sense into him and quickly.
“I’m going to ask you to drop the attitude down a few notches cause right now you’re being a complete dick,” Felix states bluntly.
Minho’s eyes narrowed at the comment made by the younger boy, “What gives you the right to talk to me like that!”
“The same person who gave you the right to yell at every single one of us in the practice room right now! I get you’re frustrated about the comeback but taking it out on us is not the way to do it! So calm your ass down for five seconds and realize what a major jerk you’re being!”
Minho was boiling mad at this point, “Well if you’d just do it right then we wouldn’t have problems and I wouldn’t be yelling at you!”
“Maybe we could do it right if you stop cutting us off thirty seconds into the song! Maybe if you weren’t down our throats we could accomplish something!”
By this point, the tension between the two boys was getting too much. Minho was clenching and unclenching his fists a few times.
“I’m the Dance Leader, so it’s my job to make sure you don’t fuck the dance up!” Minho shouts back.
Felix can feel himself buzzing with anger. Clearly, Minho was going to be too thick-skulled about it. Well… if he won’t listen to what Felix is saying, then maybe showing him will be better.
“Okay then, Dance Leader, let’s go.” Felix once again grabs ahold of Minho’s wrist, this time the boy fighting less as they make their way back into the studio.
“Since you know best and the other seven of us don’t know what we’re doing, why don’t you show us how it’s supposed to be done,” Felix says making his way over to the computer.
“Fine!” Minho hollers, trudging to the middle of the dance practice floor.
The rest of the members stand off to the side, watching carefully between the two boys, a little scared to get in their way.
The music starts and Minho starts to dance. Felix watches him carefully as he moves through the dance. About twenty seconds in Felix pauses the music, “Your timings off, do it again.”
Minho sighs as the song starts over, starting the dance from the beginning.
Thirty seconds in Felix stops it again, “Not sharp enough, go again.”
This repeats a few times, Minho doing the dance and Felix cutting him off, again and again.
After the sixth time of doing this Minho shouts out, “Will you just let the damn song play?!”
Felix smirks, “Oh, sorry… I was just doing it how the dance leader was… my bad.”
Minho stares daggers across the room at Felix, before letting his face drop, knowing Felix had a point.
“Let’s take a water break and regroup,” Minho mutters out, heading off to the side where his water was.
Felix made his way over to where Minho was sitting, taking a seat in the spot next to him.
“You made a fool of me, are you happy?” Minho remarks to Felix.
“No. I wasn’t trying to make a fool of you, Hyungie. I just wanted you to realize what you were doing, it’s not okay for you to take your anger out on the other members.”
Minho nods, “I wasn’t trying to… I just… I see what the people have been saying about the dance, it’s my responsibility to make it perfect so people can’t call us sloppy or offbeat.”
“You’re not going to get perfect by berating your members, Lino-hyung. It’s also not just on you when it comes to the dances, it’s not like eight Lino-hyungs are dancing together. You have to trust we got this as a team, not just you alone.”
Minho nods, offering a weak smile to the younger boy.
Felix smiles back before his head drops a little, “And sorry for yelling at you earlier, I was just trying to get you to understand you were running all of us into the ground.”
“I know I was, and I’m sorry about that. But I also get why you yelled at me, I can be a little stubborn at times. I also yelled at you too so I’m sorry, Lix.”
“It’s all good Minho-hyung. I think it’s time we get back to practice. This time go a little easier on us, okay?”
“I guess so…” Minho trails off with a cheeky smile.
The rest of the practice had gone off a lot better than before. After a few more hours they decided to wrap up for the day, getting ready to head back to the dorms.
Well… everyone except a certain long-haired hyung of Felix’s.
Hyunjin was off in his corner, marking the dance in his head and for a moment Felix watches from the side. It wasn’t uncommon for members, especially Hyunjin, to hang back and work on dances.
But Felix had a sneaking suspicion this wasn’t going to be a simple or short practice.
“Mind if I hang back with you, Hyung? I want to work on the dance too.” Felix asks, approaching the boy.
“No, not at all,” Hyunjin replied.
Together the two boys continued to work on the dance and other dances for the next two hours. Felix was feeling the fatigue hit him as he paused for a moment to get a drink of water.
Hyunjin doesn’t seem to hesitate as he runs the song again. Felix could tell the boy’s movements were getting sloppier, the fatigue hitting him too. What Felix seemed to be worried about looked like it was coming true.
Felix watched as Hyunjin continued to drill the song, not stopping for a second to get a drink or even breath for that matter. He hadn’t seen Hyunjin spiral when it came to dances in a long time. He had always been so much better about pacing himself and not wanting to overdo it.
But he’s sure the comments from their last comeback were getting to Hyunjin and of course… this is how he decides to react.
Felix lets it go on a little longer, hopeful that Hyunjin will know his limits and back off when he was pushing too far. But it started to become more and more clear that Hyunjin had no intention of stopping at his limit, on a fast track to pushing far past it.
It was time Felix stepped in.
Felix didn’t even bother with the music, immediately making a B-line to Hyunjin. Felix wraps his arms around Hyunjin’s waist, picking up the taller boy and carrying him off to the corner where the couches were.
Hyunjin’s whines and wiggles were to no avail as Felix takes a seat, having Hyunjin sit in his lap. Felix locks his arms around the older boy, waiting patiently for the boy to stop fighting his grasp on him.
“Felix, we need to practice,” Hyunjin states, slumping in the boy’s arms.
“No, you need to sit down and take a break before you pass out.” Felix corrects him.
“I’m not going to pass out.”
“I can feel your heart beating fast from here, Jinnie-hyung. You’re taking a break.”
Hyunjin squirms again in Felix’s arms but still, he’s not able to break free of his grasp.
“I can’t take a break Felix, this dance needs to be perfect.”
Felix sighs, “You and Minho both are so worried about this dance being perfect. It already is, and even if you make a mistake it’s okay, it’s only natural you get tripped up from time to time.”
“But the fans already think my dance moves are sloppy,” Hyunjin mutters out.
“No, they don’t. Haters will say a lot of things but Stays love to commend you on your dancing. They love watching fancams of you and so many of them love to hype up your little dance moves during relay dances.”
“But some of my dance moves have been getting sloppy, I need to get them down better.”
“Hyunjin, out of everyone you are in this studio the most, working and reworking different dances. You do not need to fix anything and you sure as hell aren’t sloppy.”
Hyunjin nods, agreeing with the fact that yeah, he’s in here a lot.
“I mean yeah… I may have been pushing myself a little too hard this time around.” Hyunjin confesses.
“It’s okay, at least you’re aware of it. But I think this is a good time for us to head back to the dorms and get some rest, we still have a variety show we have to film for tomorrow.”
“Okay okay, I guess we should call it quits for the night.”
Felix nods, finally releasing his grip.
Hyunjin smiles down at the boy before leaning in and kissing him, “Thank you for knocking some sense into me.”
“Anytime, Jinnie-hyung.”
The two gather their things and head out of the dance practice room. As they make their way down the hallway Felix can swear he hears singing. Pausing for a second he glances over to where the noise was coming from. He peeks his head in the window to find Seungmin in one of the vocal training studios.
“You coming, Lixie?” Hyunjin calls back to the boy.
“Go on ahead, I think I have another boy I need to drag home first.”
With that Hyunjin nods, continuing his way down the hall. Felix reaches for the doorknob, thankful that it wasn’t locked as he pulls the door open.
With the creak of the door opening Seungmin glances back to find Felix walking into the room.
“Oh hello, hyungie. What are you still doing here?”
“Hyunjin and I just finished practicing a little extra on the dance. What about you? Why are you hiding out in here?”
“Oh, I was just practicing hitting my notes, didn’t want to stumble over them tomorrow on the show. Speaking of which will you listen in and make sure I sound okay?”
Felix nods, “Of course, Minnie.”
Seungmin takes his time, singing his sections of the song. Felix smiles, he always enjoys the sound of Seungmin’s singing. His heart hurts a little as he hears the strain on Seungmin’s voice as he forces out some of the notes.
He could tell the boy was working his vocal cords hard, not giving them any rest. If he wasn’t careful he could strain his voice even worse, making him unable to sing live tomorrow.
“It sounded great, Minnie. But it might be a good idea to wrap it up for the night. We don’t need you losing your voice before the show tomorrow.”
Seungmin nods, taking a seat next to the older boy. For a second the room stays silent and Felix could tell the boy was debating on telling him something.
Felix guessed he worked up the nerve when the question had arisen from Seungmin’s mouth.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I couldn’t sing live though? That way I can’t mess up the song by singing?”
Felix was saddened by the question, easily picking up the doubt that was swirling around in Seungmin’s head. Felix wraps an arm around the boy, rocking him slowly as he spoke.
“Seungmin, I adore your voice. So does the rest of the group and so do Stays. We would be heartbroken if we couldn’t hear you sing live. Also, you never once have ruined a song with your singing. You never could.”
Seungmin nods, a half-smile falling on his face.
“So you don’t think Stays were disappointed by my vocals on this album? I know a lot of people said they were really bad.”
“That couldn’t be further from the truth, Minnie. Your voice is so rich and beautiful and it makes all the songs you sing that much better. We’re lucky to have you and your voice in Stray Kids.”
By this point, Seungmin was full-on smiling, nodding as he says, “Well… I’m glad that people enjoy my singing… maybe you’re right. I should get some rest so I am good to sing tomorrow.”
“I think that is an excellent idea.” Felix agrees.
With that, the two boys had made their way out of the room and down the hall, on their journey back to the dorms. They had made it back to the dorms and soon went off on their own ways, getting ready to rest up and prepare for another long day.
Felix had just settled into bed when he hears a small knock on his door.
“Come in,” Felix calls out.
The door creaks open to reveal I.N. timidly leaning against the door frame.
Of course, the last boy Felix had yet to comfort. Felix didn’t even need to say anything as he pats the bed next to him, inviting I.N. to lie down with him. I.N. wastes no time, shutting the door and crossing the room to lie in Felix’s bed.
Felix tosses the blanket and his arm around the maknae as the two settle into each other.
“So what brings you to my room so late at night?” Felix asks, brushing a few strands of hair out of I.N.’s eyes.
“I’m just worried about tomorrow I guess.”
“What about tomorrow is worrying you, Innie?”
“I don’t know, I just want the show to go well I guess. I don’t… I don’t want to let my hyungs down.”
Felix offers him a soft smile, “Innie, you could never let us down. Why would you think that?”
“I just… this whole comeback people have just been saying how bad I’ve been doing, I feel like I’m letting everyone down and holding the group back with all my mistakes.”
“Oh baby, you’re not letting us down and you have been doing amazing this comeback, I promise. You don’t need to worry about letting us down, or doing a bad job, or any of that.”
“But everyone agrees I suck.”
Felix shakes his head, “No, haters are trying to make you feel bad about yourself by saying you suck. Stays have been loving everything you’ve been doing this comeback. They’ve been talking about how cute you are and how much they love your part in the song.”
“Really?” I.N. asked, surprised.
“Yes, You are doing so much better than you even know, Innie. I promise.”
I.N. nods, relaxing a little more at Felix’s words.
With that Felix encourages I.N. to get some sleep, making sure the younger boy falls asleep before drifting off himself.
The next day the variety show goes great and Felix is so much happier watching the boys have fun. Felix was overjoyed that he managed to get everyone out of their funk and enjoy this comeback as they should have from the beginning.
It also helped that when the variety show aired so much love came from Stays on that video, solidifying how loved all the boys were.
Which is all Felix could ever ask for.