Chapter Text
“They’re kidding, right?” Hyunjin gasped out. It was more so half a laugh but not because the situation was actually funny.
The Stray Kids walked into the venue, looking up at the platforms on which four of their members would be raised. Each platform looked like a metal grate, with metal poles securing each corner and waist high railings. They looked and saw that the chains from the ceilings would bring them up about 60 feet up in the air.
The industrial concept for their album was one the group was excited about…until they got to set and saw what was expected of the four eldest members. Particularly what that would mean for their dance leader.
Bang Chan clenched his jaw tight as he marched back to where several managers were. Changbin was quick to follow with the other members looking at each other trying to lessen the tension, still not over the last time their dance leader had to perform on a high place.
“I’m sure Channie Hyung will get this sorted out,” Seungmin forced a smile. “He’s bound to work something out.”
Jeongin nodded his head wearily, still eyeing the height of the platforms, currently being lowered for their members. Felix patted the maknae on the back in an attempt for reassurance, but his worried eyes contrasted his smile too much for the maknae to be convinced.
After looking at the height of the platforms, Jisung’s eyes snapped over to Minho. To everyone else, the expression would be unreadable. His calm demeanor convinces the others that he’s not worried, but Jisung knows him better. The way he sees Minho’s shoulders tense and his clenched jaw; Minho is nervous.
***
All of them remember too well what happened back then; their Thunderous performance on the helipad was one of the worst days for the members. That day, Minho fought against every instinct to not give in to the panic aching in his chest, eyes swimming at seeing how high up they were, wanting so desperately to run and hide. They didn’t even finish filming, but the production team got just enough footage to put together a clean video for their liking.
As much as you could see how shaken Minho was in the music video, it didn’t compare to the entire shoot.
The amount of times Minho stumbled because he lost focus trying to keep his panic under control. The director scolded the other members for breaking Choreo to offer a hand for Minho to hold, or something to help ground him. But worse, before they finished the final take, Minho’s knees buckled. Chan caught Minho in time before he could collapse on the helipad, but the panic consumed him completely.
The members had all seen their fair share of panic attacks from their younger members; Jisung having the most with his anxiety, Felix having his fair share, Hyunjin as well, though not as much anymore, and Jeongin and Seungmin having them but usually trying to be more private when they happen. But seeing their Hyung have one made something snap in all of the members.
Jeongin and Seungmin were mortified that Minho was so terrified. They felt so lost and helpless on what to do to try and help their hyung as he’s done for them so many times.
Felix felt such a wave of pain seeing his hyung so hurt, his sobs matching Minho’s that day. He buried his head into Hyunjin’s back, sinking into the comfort the other dancer brought.
Jisung was an absolute mess, torn between wanting to cry out of pain for his best friend and cry out of anger for what he endured. Hyunjin hasn’t seen this side of Jisung since their pre debut days, so he comforted Jisung hugging him from behind, calming the panic as best he could.
Changbin snapped. As soon as Minho collapsed into Chan’s arms, Changbin marched to management saying that what they made him do was cruel and that he and the rest of the team were leaving immediately. That this sort of thing would never happen again.
Chan would’ve joined Changbin in his rage, but Minho held onto his only hyung tight as soon as Chan caught him. Minho buried himself into Chan’s embrace, unable to stop his shaking and tears finally spilling from his eyes.
“I got you Minho,” Chan said as soothingly as possible over the arguing voices in the distance. “I got you, shhhh.”
“H-Hyung,” Minho gasped out, his voice cracking making everyone else’s eyes water. Chan immediately cradled the back of Minho's head with his free hand at the sound. His voice barely above a whisper. “P-please. G-get me d-down.”
“I got you Min,” Chan said as he effortlessly cradled Minho bridal style in his arms. “Hyung’s got you.”
Minho sank even deeper into Chan's hold, hiding as much as he could. Chan’s heart broke at the sight; despite being taller than him, Minho looked so small in Chan’s arms. Jisung pushed out of Hyunjins hold and put his hand on Chan’s back, not wanting to disrupt him holding Minho but wanting to be closer to him somehow. Chan met Jisungs panicked face, opening up his elbow just enough for the maknae of 3Racha to hold on without letting go of Minho.
“Let’s go.” Chan called back to the rest of the group. Everyone quickly shuffled towards the elevator behind Chan, desperate to get off the helipad. Chan called over to Changbin who was still unleashing his fury.
“You’ll be hearing from our Management team!” Changbin snapped, walking to follow the rest of the group.
“You watch your tongue!” The director screamed. “You all still have two hours left to film-“
“That’s enough!” Chan’s voice was low and threatening. The rest of Stray Kids tensed hearing this side of Chan again, but yet felt so safe knowing where he was directing his anger and fury.
“We. Are. Leaving.”
Jisung won’t forget how Minho passed out at some point when they got down from the helipad. How Minho holed himself up in his room for three days after the incident from the rest of the group. Well, everyone but Jisung; he was too stubborn to let Minho give him the cold shoulder.
The next day, Jisung came to their dorm with snacks, his laptop, and pudding making Minho share his bed as they watched anime together. Minho gave up after only telling him once to leave him alone, appreciating the way Jisung didn’t force him to talk about the incident. Jisung silently comforted the elder when he struggled with nightmares the first two nights afterwards. Minho didn’t want to talk about it. On day three when the two finally became more social, Minho even confided with Chan with the bare minimum on what happened.
About two weeks passed and the routine of Stray Kids finally returned. One day after a night of both Minho and Jisung being holed up in the elder's room watching more anime, Jisung said goodbye and went to the door. Right when his back was turned, he felt arms wrap around his waist.
Jisung froze the tiniest bit, surprised at the gesture. The warmth of Minho's chest on his back made the younger suddenly feel very warm on the back of his neck. Minho had buried his head into the crook of Jisungs neck, it took all the willpower to not let the goosebumps spread on his arms and down his back.
After a moment, Jisung gently turned around to try and meet Minho's eyes, only to see him shyly looking down. Jisung took both of Minho's hands into his own, rubbing gentle circles in them. He knows Minho isn't particularly a fan of skinmanship, usually playfully dismisses all the other members' attempts of affection. However, he knew that hug meant something more than what the dancer could verbally express, so the younger patiently waited, knowing Minho was gathering his bearings on whatever he wanted to say.
A blush creeped on the younger's cheeks when Minho finally looked up to meet his eyes. Another moment and Jisung couldn’t help his breath hitch; in Minho's eyes he could swear he could see constellations. Minho was hesitating, Jisung could feel the subtle tremble of Minho’s hands shaking. Jisung offered a smile that meant to be supportive, but came across shy under Minho's intense stare. Minho relaxed at this, offering a soft smirk before finally saying.
“Thank you Jagiya.”
Now Minho has said this exact phrase to Jisung before, hell even Jisung has said this and other iterations like this back. But it was so vulnerable and raw, Minho's voice spoke nothing but sweet sincerity, Jisung wasn’t mentally prepared. Jisung just smiled, too dumbstruck in the moment to form a response.
He didn’t know what to say. What was he supposed to say?
Minho smiled afterwards, and Jisung went back to his dorm feeling…he honestly didn’t know.
Things were still normal after that, Minho went back to his normal self…but Jisung felt like he changed. Ever since that moment in Minho's room, Jisung replayed the moment over and over everyday. His flirting habits with Minho he still does on camera and off, it’s just now he goes to bed at night analyzing everything wondering what it could possibly mean. The new feelings swirling around in his chest that make it ache in a way he can’t tell is good or bad.
***
Jisung is watching Minho's shoulders rise and fall with so much tension, he comes up from behind and puts an arm on his back. Minho doesn’t flinch, calmly turning to the younger with a timid smile.
“Don’t panic yet Sungie,” Minho lightly teases. “Let’s wait for Channie to come back with news, hm?”
Jisung wants to tease back, but he can’t shake this feeling he has in his chest at the situation. It’s all he can do to nod, Minho offering him a soft nudge with his shoulder. This does successfully get a smirk out of Jisung.
“I wonder what profanity’s Changbin is using right now.” Seungmin says blandly, and that’s enough to diffuse some tension as it gets a high pitch giggle out of Hyunjin. His laughter makes the others relax slightly.
“More like how many sentences is he saying right now because he’s so heated.” Hyunjin offers.
“It’s because when he’s so passionate, he loses all sense of grammar and punctuation.” Jeongin adds with a smile. Now everyone relaxes more, poking some light fun at the rapper. Jisung looks back at the metal platforms, now finally at the floor ready to be lifted again. Jisung gulps as he can’t get the sense of wrongness out of his head. He can’t help feeling like something bad is about to happen. That something or someone-
“Sungie.”
Jisung snaps his head back to Minho who now has an earnest smile.
“Take a deep breath,” the singer then proceeded to pat Jisungs head softly. “You worry too much.”
“Or maybe not enough.” Jisung pouts playfully, shrugging out of Minho's robotic movements.
“Awww, jagiya. That’s so sweet-“
“Stop patting my head!”
“I could pat something else.” The brunette playfully grinned. Jisung rolled his eyes with a smirk.
“My butt is off limits, thank you.”
“But I own it-“
“How can you own something that’s mine-“
“And they’re in their own world again,” Hyunjin dramatically sighed. Minho and Jisung snapped their heads to their tallest member.
“Well now you brought them back to reality.” Seungmin said dryly, but still a smirk on his lips. “Now you’ve subjected us to the butt hunting.” Felix pulled out his phone with a giggle.
“I’ll start the tally.”
“Well then if that’s the case,” Minho said sweetly, almost too soft. Then without warning, Minho reached his left hand and smacked Seungmin followed by catching a startled Jisung off guard with his right hand.
“I knew it!” Seungmin whined, though there was a faint smile.
“I said you don’t own my butt!” Jisung scoffed playfully. The rest of the other members laughed, Hyunjin’s high pitched laugh in particular becoming contagious to the rest of the group. They heard footsteps and all of them saw their leader and Changbin returning with Manager Kim in tow.
One look at the serious expressions made the tension return tenfold. Jisung’s eyes snapped to Minhos out of instinct, noticing immediately how the elders jaw clenched. They all gathered in a circle and waited with baited breath before the manager sighed.
“I need to apologize to all of you,” he began. “I’m not sure how the approval for this venue went through, but the concert is tomorrow and there’s no time to rearrange plus…contracts for the venue have already been signed. So we have to go forward with how the operators and the concert director want to stage this show.”
Minho suddenly felt a shiver go down his spine. His jaw clenched as his eyes widened at the news. He dared a glance at Chan who was already meeting his gaze with regret and worry. Minho silently gulped as he fought to keep his composure. His mind threatened to swirl when he felt fingers interlock with his own. He didn’t need to look to know who was doing this, so Minho allowed himself to close his eyes and take a silent deep breath. His eyes fluttered open as he looked to his right to Jisung who was still staring at their manager with wide eyes. Minho gave Jisung a squeeze before looking back at the manager.
“So…Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, and Hyunjin will go up on the platforms during “Cover Me” and will be lowered back down after “Leave” so you all can do “Social Path.” First we will do an equipment check on everything, get you boys settled on the platforms up then down quickly so you all can adjust and prepare. Then we sing through the set list for vocal check, then mark through blocking of the full show before we run the full thing.”
“B-but can’t we trade?” Jeongin forced out. His playful smile was replaced with nerves and fear that sounded wrong on the youngest member. “Someone else can go in Minho-hyungs spot. I can do it-”
“The director for the concert won’t allow it,” Manager Kim sighed, cutting off the youngest. “He wants the eldest of the group above with the rest of you below for a halo effect, or some other reason.” Their manager seemed frustrated, which made everyone feel a tiny bit better seeing him hate this just as much as the rest of them; but still it didn’t take away anyone's anxiety.
“Then have the younger members go up instead!” Felix offered. “The vision or whatever could work in reverse-”
“We already offered that solution,” Changbin sneered with a roll of his eyes. “Apparently this director has a “specific vision” so we can’t switch anything.”
“Besides,” Chan said sadly, “Sungie doesn’t like heights either-”
“That’s not the same!” Jisung blurted out, his panic starting to rise. “It’s different for Minho-hyung. It’s fine! Let me switch, I’ll go up and I’ll be fine and-”
“Jisung.”
The young rapper snapped his head to Minho. Jisung felt heat rise to his cheeks seeing Minho giggling at Jisung.
“Look at you trying to protect your hyung,” Minho cooed. The tonal switch of the conversation was so sudden, yet so Minho, no one could help but relax at the banter. Jisung grew even more red; the audacity for Minho to be joking right now. “So brave Sungie.”
“D-don’t joke right now!” Jisung scoffed, “I was being serious!”
“I know,” Minho took a deep breath and faced everyone. “Let’s not make a fuss anymore. It’s okay, I’ll go up. It's not too high. At least it’s not a helipad.”
Jisung winced at the comment, and everyone else looked uncomfortable at Minho's attempt to lighten the mood. Jisung was squeezing Minho's hand, to which the singer squeezed back as Chan stepped forward, breaking the circle.
“Minho, I’m being serious. If you don’t feel comfortable-“
“Contracts were already signed. And besides, it’s only 60 feet, I’ll be fine.” Minho winced, unable to stop his voice cracking on the last word. Minho lowered his head as Jisung squeezed his hand again. Jeongin couldn’t fight back his whine at the sight.
“Channie-Hyung, can’t we-“
“Listen Minho,” Manager Kim stepped forward next to Chan. “It’s not ideal, but we will follow your pace of how we run this rehearsal. Whatever we need to do to make you feel safe, we will. We’ll take our time up there, or rush! It’ll be your call, okay?”
Minho forced himself to look up and meet his manager's sympathetic eyes. He gave a quick nod and a soft “okay” before letting go of Jisungs hand and walking towards the platforms. Chan was quick to follow while everyone else jumped to try and be as optimistic and positive as possible.
As set workers helped get the hyung line set up on their platform, the younger members sat off to the side, unable to ignore the way Jisungs knee bounced.
“Hannie,” Felix whispered, bringing a tentative hand to Jisungs shoulder. “He’s gonna be fine.”
But Jisung wasn’t convinced. He knows Minho too well, even with his facade, Jisung knows how much this is affecting Minho. And he hates how Minho tried brushing it off like it was no big deal just to not make the others worry as much.
“But he hates heights,” Jisung whispered harshly. “You all remember what happened last year. And the fact that he has to do this again-“
“It’s different!” Seungmin tried to reassure, “It’s definitely not as high as the helipad. And there’s safety precautions being set up.” Even as the vocalist said the words, he didn’t quite believe them either.
“And he won’t be alone,” Jeongin smiled. “Channie And Binnie hyung will be on both sides of him.”
“On separate platforms.” Jisung spat. The youngest member winced while Felix placed himself directly in front of the panicking Jisung.
“I need you to take a deep breath with me before you start panicking, okay Sungie?” Felix said calmly. Jisung grimaced, but followed the soothing low voice of Felix counting. While he felt calmer, that “warning” feeling still lingered in Jisungs stomach.”
“I know it's terrifying, after what happened last time, but it is different. Definitely not as high up, and look,” Felix motioned for Jisung to look at the platforms, when the maknae line all observed, they saw that their elders were all copying Minho and holding the rail on both sides, matching Minho. In the distance, Minho looked calm. Nervous, but calm. “It’s not ideal, but the circumstances are better. At least he has something to hold onto-”
“Unlike last time when he couldn’t hold onto any of us.” Jeongin muttered bitterly.
“But it's something,” Felix emphasized. “And at least they're allowing the rehearsal with the platforms to be at Minho's pace.”
Jisung didn’t want to relent, he still couldn’t shake this feeling in his stomach that something was off. The four younger members silently watched, albeit anxiously, as the platforms with the older members started to raise. Felix took Jisung’s right hand into his own and rubbed circles. Seugmin placed a comforting hand on Jisungs left shoulder while Jeongin scooted closer to Seugmin. No one moved as they watched all four members get raised to the ceiling.
***
“Okay, this is 30 feet.” Chan stated with a forced smile. “Halfway to the top.”
“How’re you doin hyung?”
“The same as the last ten times you asked,” Minho snapped, though all three other members heard the tremble in his voice. Minho grimaced as he kept his head up, not daring to look down. “S-sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Chan assuredly said. “We can ease up. As soon as you’re ready, I’ll give the thumbs up and we can head to the-uh-um-“
“It’s fine, give the signal.” Minho forced out, jaw clenched. Chan didn’t hesitate giving the thumbs up below, still apprehensive about the whole situation in general.
“It’ll be okay!” Hyunjin called out on the far right platform. “The sooner we are at the top, the sooner we can get back down!”
“Jinnie, stop saying top!” Changbin yelled out, clearly stressed. “You’re making it worse!”
“No, keep yelling. It’ll drown out the voices telling me to freak out.” Minho said, forcing a chuckle. Chan kept an eye on Minho the entire time; his head was up, his voice didn’t tremble but his shoulders did slightly. The eldest dancer's knuckles were white on how tightly he was gripping the railing. Chan hated how Minho was forcing everyone to believe this facade that he’s okay.
All four platforms finally came to a stop at the top, Minho gasped out loud at the way the platform shook when it clicked into place. He put all his focus on breathing in and out slowly, focusing on his breaths so as to not give in to his panic building.
“It’s too quiet, someone say something.” Minho gasped out.
“Ah, we- I really l-love you guys!” Hyunjin stammered out in a panic. The speed at which Hyunjin tried to come up with something surprisingly made all the members laugh loudly at the top. Even Minho giggled softly at the attempt to help, still keeping his eyes up, but daring to look over to where Hyunjin and Changbin began to playfully bicker.
“That’s the best you got!”
“But I do!” Hyunjin whined. “Are you saying I’m a liar!? I don’t love you all!?”
“Oh I’m not saying that!” Changbin teased, lowering his voice so only the elder members could hear. “I just think you don’t love us all equally .”
Hyunjin’s cheeks went red as his eyes widened. Chan and Minho chuckled at the sight as Changbin wailed his high pitched laughter. Hyunjin chanced a quick look at the maknae of the danceracha down below, before shaking his playful fist at Changbin.
“You can’t say that here!” Hyunjin hushed.
“No one heard me!” Changbin said earnestly. The two dancers' relationship was a secret to the rest of the world, only known and shared with the members. And while he likes to tease his members, he would never actually do anything to reveal their relationship to management or the world to hurt them. The other members know this too, so they four understood that no harm was done.
“I just like seeing my Jinnie all flustered-“
“Knock it off!” Hyunjin tried to look mad, failing to bid his laughter.
“Flustered Hyunjin! You look so cute like that.” Changbin sucked in a huge breath before screaming at the top of his lungs:
“MARRY ME HYUNJIN-AH!”
The bold declaration got both the hyung line and maknae line to erupt into laughter, easing Jisungs anxiety significantly.
“See, Minho Hyung is in good hands.” Felix giggled.
“I’m not sure “good” is how I would describe Binnie hyungs tactics” Jeongin teased.
“Let’s get back down now,” Chan said with enthusiasm. Minho nodded eagerly. As much as the playful banter helped, he was still 60 feet in the air. Chan gave the thumbs up to go down when suddenly the platforms jerked harshly. All four members on their platform winced, while Minho couldn’t help but whimper at the motion.
Chan tensed as Minho clenched his eyes shut. Changbin immediately leaned over to his right as far as he could to whisper assurances to Minho with Hyunjin worriedly looking at his dance leader. Chan leaned away and called down below, loud but calm as to see why the platforms wouldn’t lower, remembering the freaking metal sound it made that jarred everyone.
“You gonna lower us down now? We’re ready to head down!”
“Give us a minute!” He heard a voice call out below, “something is up with our system-“
“Work faster please!” Chan said firmly, glancing back to Minho who looked like he was trying to stop himself from trembling.
Minho's bottom lip wouldn’t stop shaking as he tried to continue and take big and slow deep breaths.
You’re fine. You’re fine. You’re fine .
That’s what he kept repeating to himself, trying to ignore the voice in his head that wants to panic and crumble at the fact that he is 60 feet up in the air. He took another gulp, forcing more oxygen into his lungs, when the platforms all made another jerking motion. It made all four of them up there stiffen, a yelp escaped Minho's lips before he could fight it.
All four of the members gripped the railings tight, also scared at what the jerking motion meant when finally the outer platforms with Chan and Hyunjin on them started lowering with ease.
“Wait! What about Minho hyung!“ Hyunjin gasped out, eyes wide.
“Hey-“ Chan called out angrily below. He cut himself off however seeing that the younger members were already at the control booth releasing their anger on what they witnessed.
As soon as the maknae heard the technicians say something was wrong, the anxiety within them all returned. But once they saw Minho so scared again when he cried out, the youngest members snapped and went to action. Jisung didn’t hesitate racing over to the control booth where they saw two people hastily working on their monitors.
“Why aren’t you lowering them!? They gave the signal already!” Jisung snapped. Manager Kim raced to the booth next to them and was startled at how angry Jisung sounded already.
“Lowering platforms one and four now.” One of the technicians, a slim figure in glasses, said calmly, ignoring Jisung.
“What about the other two!?” Jeongin asked, bewildered, seeing that Minho and Changbins platforms hadn't moved yet. A thicker man with dark black hair snapped his head to the maknae group, an annoyed scowl on his face.
“You kids need to calm down,” he said a bit too nonchalantly. “Hydraulic system for the platform is wacked. The system for some reason was programmed incorrectly. We can raise the platforms up at the same time, but it looks like we can only lower the platforms outer than inner.”
“What kind of solution is that?” Seungmin said, irritated, peeved at the tone the man called them kids.
“It’s the present solution.” The man sneered.
“So you screwed up and now we pay the price for it, is that it?” Jisung growled. Everyone’s eyes went wide at the venom Jisung had in his words.
“Donghyun,” Manager Kim called out. “Is there a way to fix the programming for the next run at least that they all get lowered at the same time?”
“The hell is going on!?” The director Changki called out, rushing over. “My platforms should be lowering at the same time.
“I’m not sure what happened. But it’s too big a computer bug to reprogram and fix the sequence. We’d have to start from scratch and type in a new program. It’s not something that can be fixed on time for the concert tomorrow.”
“Not when you’re the one who screwed up the programming.” Jisung muttered. Donghyun snapped his dark eyes to Jisung, who gulped at the action. For all his anger and confidence he had, now Jisung gulped in fear for how menacing the man Donghyun was. The bigger man turned and stepped towards Jisung and towered over him, the young rapper grimaced, shrinking into himself with the other maknae following suit with how threatening the man was being.
“Now you listen here-“
“That’s enough!” All eyes snapped to Bang Chan who immediately placed himself in front of the maknae line, a sneer on his face. Hyunjin was close behind, putting one hand on Felix’s back, the other pulling Jisung closer to him.
“I can see tensions are high, but there’s no need to snap at my members.” Chan said lowly. Donghyun scoffed, stepping back to his desk.
“Then tell the kid to mind his business and let the grownups deal with the tech issues.”
“Yes, let’s have the grownups discuss why my platforms aren’t programmed correctly,” Changki snapped.
“No, first lower the platforms that still have two members on them now!” Manager Kim yelled out. The programmer rolled his eyes with a loud groan.
“You people aren’t observant at all, it’s an automatic system, as soon as the outer platforms landed, the other two platforms began to lower already.” Donghyun emphasized his annoyance with every word. The rest of the Stray Kids members snapped to attention to see that thankfully, the other two platforms were now halfway down. Jisung didn’t hesitate as he sprinted back towards the platforms with the rest of the members in tow.
Finally, both Changbin and Minho got to the ground and were able to get off the platform. Changbin rushed over to Minhos' side whose knees were shaking. Minho forced a smile as the group surrounded him.
“You were right Channie, quick and easy.” Minho forced a smile.
“Hyung.” Jisung gasped out, finally taking Minho's free arm and holding it tight. Minho's expression softened as he met his eyes before looking out at everyone who wore similar expressions.
“I just need a moment to breathe, but I’m fine everyone. I wasn’t up there that long anyways, and I won’t be up there that long later…but what h-happened with the platforms?” Minho cringed inwardly at how his breath hitched at the end, clenching his jaw trying to get himself to calm down. Changbin gave another grounding squeeze to Minho’s shoulder.
“Some tech issue,” Chan scoffed, looking back at the technician table. “I’ll be right back and see what answers they have for what happened-”
“Technically nothing bad happened,” Minho sighed, now gently shrugging out of the comforting arms of his members. “I just thought we’d all go down together, and the jerking motion up there just startled me is all-”
“Hyung,” Jeongin whined, “You don’t need to act like it wasn’t a big deal-”
“As long as there’s no surprises next time, I’ll be fine. Let’s go do that sound check now, okay everyone? Then we can finish rehearsal and then relax tonight with a family movie night.”
Minho looked sharply to Chan with a silent plea:
Please let us move on.
Chan knew Minho was deflecting. As much as he didn’t like how Minho was dismissing the situation, the leader made a promise that he’ll pull Minho aside to check in with him later about it. Chan nodded his head, making the dancer relax. Minho knew he’d revisit the topic later, which he’ll worry about when Chan goes leader mode during their private talks. But that was fine, he just doesn’t want to worry the other members anymore and be fawned over; it made him feel small which he despises.
At the nod of their leader, Chan takes off back towards the control booth. Minho then approached the youngest member with a teasing look in his eyes.
“But I appreciate the concern Innie,” Minho giggled, playfully ruffling Jeongin’s hair. “So sweet you wanting to protect your hyung.” The maknae’s cheeks went red at the motion, which made all the other members coo on the spot.
“Hey! Don’t!”
“Don’t want the affection of your precious hyung now?”
“Actually, no.” Jeongin pouted, which made Seungmin laugh.
“But look how red you are now!”
“Am not!”
“Aww look how cute!” Changbin cooed loudly, wrapping the youngest member in a tight hug, much to Jeongins protest.
“You can let go now!”
“But our maknae is so precious, look at him!”
All the members laughed and teased Jeongin on as they all collectively made their way to the center of the extended platform where their mics and chairs were waiting for the sound check. The other members were quick to give playful distractions at the request of their dance leader, but Jisung was still not convinced.
He stuck close to Minho’s side, absolutely hating how much Minho was deflecting. He hated how scared Minho looked up there. The sound of pure fear when the platforms jerked. The look of panic he had. How he keeps trying to act like everythings fine. How Jisung can’t shake this feeling of wrongness in his chest-
“Jagi?”
Jisung snapped his eyes to the dancer who was looking at him fondly. He took a shuddering breath, Minho recognizing the signs of panic all too well. Wordlessly, Minho took Jisungs hand and held two of his fingers to the inside of his wrist. Jisung’s shoulders slumped, flattered and embarrassed at how Minho knew exactly what he needed at the moment.
“Feel my pulse jagiya? I’m fine.”
“I was scared for you hyung,” Jisung whispered. “I still am. And you have to go back up there-”
“Channie-hyung is gonna get answers so we know how to move forward,” Minho made Jisungs fingers trace playful circles on the inside of his wrist. “Besides, it’s not a helipad nor is it a really tall zipline. Once I know what’s going on, I’m only up there for five minutes tops. A whole ending of a song and one other song, then I’m good jagi.”
He hated that Minho made some good points, but he sighed in defeat at the words.
“You don’t have to pretend you’re okay with all of this jagiya,” Jisung whispered, unable to look Minho in the eyes. He wasn’t sure why but immediately everything felt more intimate despite the atmosphere. But he didn't want to ponder that, all he could focus on was Minho. “At least not with me.”
“You’re right.” Minho said softly after a moment. Jisung looked up to see an earnest smile, timid and hesitant. Jisung is fully aware how much Minho doesn’t like exuding any sort of weakness to anyone, so the fact that he was being so vulnerable with him made his heart swell. Minho trusts him.
“I don’t like this at all,” Minho sighed, avoiding meeting Jisungs eyes. “But we signed a contract. And it really isn't as bad. As long as the platforms don’t jerk like that next time, I’ll be okay.”
“They told us a programming error was in there,” Jisung playfully nudges Minho's shoulder as the two continue to walk towards the others. “I’m sure Channie-hyung is ensuring that they fix it so that won’t happen again.”
For some reason, the words taste sour on Jisungs tongue. The wrongness he felt in his stomach all day doesn’t let Jisung believe the words he’s saying. But he hopes at this moment that Minho can’t hear the disbelief in his tone. Jisung wants to assure Minho as much as possible, despite how both of them hate the situation.
Minho gently nudges Jisung back with a smile. Jisung pushes down his fears in order to meet Minho's gaze, puffing out his cheeks in order to diffuse the anxiety. Minho takes the bait and giggles. Jisung turns to others, about to skip off to the others when he feels Minho wrap his arms around his neck, pulling him backwards into Minho’s chest.
“Thank you Jagiya.”
And then just like that, Minho lets him go and walks towards the rest of the group without looking back at Jisung. The younger had a dumbfounded expression, to which he quickly shook off trying to jump to being casual. Minho’s tone was exactly like how he spoke all that time ago the last time he was hugged from behind, albeit more intimately than what just happened since they are around other people but still.
The sweet words had a trace of vulnerability and something warm that made Jisungs chest swell again. His cheeks felt warm as he tried to make sense of the confusing thoughts that swirled his mind.
Why did Minho calling me jagi feel deeper?
Jisung went through the motions of the sound check, unable to look at Minho’s direction without heat rising on his cheeks again. He couldn’t comprehend why he felt so confused all of a sudden. There were suddenly questions in his head that he didn’t know existed.
What did this mean to Minho? Does this mean anything to Minho? Should this mean something to me? WHy does this feel different? What is it that I am feeling?
“Earth to Jisung.”
Jisung let out a high pitch squeal when the group leader threw a loose arm over his shoulder.
“Getting lost in your thoughts again?” Chan teased. Jisung pouted his lip playfully.
“My head is as clear as ever.” Chan laughed in response before stepping in front of everyone, calling all the members back into a close huddle. Sound check went smoothly and it seemed like everyone was back on higher spirits, even Minho through his facade seemed to genuinely be more calm.
“Time for a run through, but there’s been a change with the platform formation.”
Minho tensed slightly at the words, but he kept focusing on Chan’s calm demeanor. Minho latched onto Chan's confidence, helping Minho try and convince himself that things would actually be okay and go smoother than last time.
“The programming issue has been resolved, there’ll be no more shaking on the platforms. I was told the system was checked again while we did our sound check.” This got everyone nodding at the news.
“Everything will still be as planned with one exception. All four platforms will rise up at the same time, but on the way down, the outer platforms will go down first followed by the inner two platforms. And no…our positions on the platforms won’t change.”
Minho felt a lump in his throat, but he clenched his jaw and tried to push it down. He hated how he felt when the platforms suddenly jerked up there. He didn’t want to admit how much it scared him. He’d been doing his best to try and assure everyone else it wasn’t too bad…but he’s been dreading going back up there again.
“Technicians fixed the programming issues?” Jisung said confidently, bringing Minho out of his thoughts. “No bugs, the platforms won’t shake at all?”
“No they won’t,” Chan gave a soft smile. “I was told it would be even smoother going both up and down.”
Minho knew what Jisung was doing, answering the question he was afraid to ask out of fear that his facade he’d been building would be broken. And he was so grateful for Jisung, who was looking at Chan for his own assurance that everything would be alright. He didn’t like that he’d be up there longer, but Minho pushed down his anxiety and forced a calm smile to his members.
“Remember, movie night as soon as we are done with the rehearsal.” Minho's words got the members to erupt into cheers as everyone made their way to the starting positions for the run through. Chan was looking after his kids with fondness when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked to Jisung, immediately going to rub his shoulders in comfort seeing his first kid seeming nervous.
“Hyung, please,” Jisung whispered, glancing over to ensure Minho wasn’t looking. “Can you please-”
“I know Jisung,” Chan said soothingly. “I’ll look after him up there. I got him .”
Jisung nodded quickly as the two went to catch up to get the rehearsal started. Jisung tried all afternoon, he hated that he couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness off.
***
The run through went by quickly. The Stray Kids all hit their marks with precision and ease for all their numbers. Jisung tried his best to focus on the movements to down up the deep pit he felt in his stomach and the ache in his chest as Cover Me began to play in the stadium. Soon, Seugmin’s highnote would cue the platforms to raise up their hyungs back 60 feet in the air. To be honest, the lights and the message of the older members rising up while the younger members looked up to them was beautiful and symbolic.
It was a beautiful piece. Jisung still hated it.
But still, Jisung tried to keep focus. His hyungs will hit the top as the song will come to an end, then they’ll be up there for Leave , then come right down. Jisung was looking out at the bright lights, on autopilot as the lyrics of Leave went by a bit too slow in his mind. But finally, the song was done. The maknae were directed to walk to the center of the stage down the catwalk as the platforms began to lower.
Everything was fine.
Bang Chan and Hyunjin got lowered no problem, the platform landing smoothly as they made their way down the catwalk to the other members while the final two platforms began smoothly lowering Changbin and Minho.
Everything was fine .
But no one was prepared for what happened next.
A loud creaking sound echoed throughout the stadium causing everyone to grip their ears to try and drown the sound. The sound of metal straining made everyone look up at the two platforms that had barely moved 5 feet lower. Jisungs widened as he looked at Minho and Changbin, unable to hear what the rapper was trying to say to Minho and trying to comfort him. Jisung couldn’t help but whimper seeing Minho’s eyes clenched shut when his platform began to shake. He felt like he couldn’t move, all of the members felt frozen staring at the scene above them.
“Get me to a lift!” Chan cried out, turning to Manager Kim who was already rushing to the technician booth. “I need to get them both down!”
“You promised us this was fixed !” Manager Kim yelled at Donghyun. The man looked irritated as he lazily typed at his screen.
“It happens sometimes,” Donghyun snarled. “It’s bound to shake, it's not a big deal-”
“That’s absolute bullshit!”
“I said get me a lift so I can get my members down, now !” Chan screamed. His throat burned as his fear of what was happening was spilling over in his tone.
“Channie Hyung!” Jeongin cried out, his eyes watering, rushing to his leader's side, tugging on the sleeve of Chan’s shirt. “T-the platform! What if it-”
“You need to calm down kid!” Donghyun snapped, pointing a finger into Jeongins chest. “Let me do my damn job-”
“Don’t you dare touch one of my members!” Chan growled, pulling the maknae closer to him. Jeonging hid himself behind Bang Chan, still holding his sleeve.
“Get the platform fixed, at once!” The director screamed rushing over to the booth.
“I need a lift!” Chan yelled desperately. “Take me up there so I can get them down-”
Another sound of metal creaking made everyone snap back up to the two platforms, still suspended 55 feet in the air. Changbin was still saying something to Minho up there, his knuckles gripping the railing to be as close as he could to Minho. Changbin reached out a hand, looking like he was offering Minho to hold it out of reassurance when another metal creaking sound echoed, louder than before.
The platform Minho was on jerked again, the wires holding it up going lax as it fell one foot lower instantaneously. The shock of this made Minho cry out in fear as his knees buckled, collapsing on all fours on the platform.
“Minho!” Changbin screamed from above.
Then a snapping sound made everyone go pale. One of the cables holding the front of the platform suddenly went slack, causing the platform to tip going off balance. Minho screamed when he was suddenly thrust forward off the edge. His hands scrambled to grab the bar of the railing as he dangled 55 feet over the stage helplessly. Jisung sucked in a shuttered breath as the tears spilled from his eyes.
“HYUNG!”