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Debut came and went in the blink of an eye for Stray Kids, their preparations and promotions not leaving much time to rest. Sunhee and Seungmin’s relationship had advanced into dating, according to Seungmin, and Sunhee was around as much as she could be. The boys all loved having her around, even Jisung was very close with her which made Seungmin happy. Sunhee was a surprisingly large help to all the boys as she practically made herself the group mom and everyone appreciated her help.
Three months after debuting they finally had some time to themselves; they were still working on music but they weren’t running at top speed 24/7 anymore. Chan decided to take a walk around a nearby park one warm day in June, enjoying the sounds of kids playing and the buzz of summer chatter. As he walked past the park soccer field, he noticed a group playing 2v2 battles and he stood nearby to watch for a bit. He watched two matches go by quickly and then the winning group from the first match got ready to play the winner from the second when a rather tall girl walked over to them and had a less than pleasant exchange. Chan couldn’t hear what was going on and started to lose focus when his name was called, causing him to jump and look around.
“Chan, come on, aren’t you ready?” It was the girl who was calling out and waving him over. He stood dumbfounded for a minute before walking over. The girl was very confident which made him question if he knew her. Was she an old classmate? A trainee he should know? He was going to ask if he knew her when she turned back to the rest of the group and said, “See, I told you he was here.”
“This is your boyfriend? Why does he seem confused?” One of the other kids asked snidely. Chan suddenly realized what was going on, the girl needed a partner for the soccer match and saw him standing there. She must have been a classmate he forgot about to know his name and that he liked playing soccer, how convenient for her that he had been standing there watching them.
“I was just daydreaming, hadn’t noticed it was time to play, that’s all.” Chan said suredly, having decided to play along which made the girl beam brightly and everyone else shrug.
“Whatever, let’s get playing then.” The one who seemed in charge said and they moved to their starting positions. As they turned their backs to the others the girl whispered a thanks to Chan and he just smiled cheekily.
The game went surprisingly well, Chan and the girl playing as if they had practiced together their whole lives.
They ended up beating each of the four other groups who all left rather disgruntled after the final match. Once the field had cleared, Chan turned to the girl.
“That was fun, but I have to ask, do I know you? I’m so sorry if I do and I’ve forgotten your name.”
“Ah” the girl chuckled, “no, I’m sorry. I’m Jinae, I’m a fan of yours. I know I shouldn’t have called you over like that but you seemed to be watching us and I needed someone to play with.”
“Oh right, a fan…” Chan muttered, smirking as he internally chastised himself for forgetting that he was now sort of famous. “Well I was just on a walk and got distracted by you all playing, I haven’t really played for a while. I thought I must have known you from school or something so I played along.”
“I appreciate that you did, that really was fun. You’re a good player. The whole idol thing is still pretty new to you huh?” The girl’s knowing smile made Chan chuckle and nod.
“Yeah, guess I still forget people know me now, it’s pretty surreal. Thanks for inviting me to play Jinae, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to really just let go.”
“I bet it has.” Jinae’s smile was soft, friendly, and Chan really liked that she was treating him like a normal person, it felt really nice that she wasn’t freaking out over him even though she knew who he was.
“Well Jinae,” he said, looking at his watch and realizing how long he’d actually spent out. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you but I should get going. Thank you for taking a risk and calling a random rookie idol over.”
“Thank you for forgetting you’re an idol and humoring me.” They both laughed at that and Jinae swept a strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. Chan stared in shock at the spot where her wrist had turned towards him and his chest clenched in excitement. He began to giggle uncontrollably and covered his mouth, glancing wildly around him as if to find something for a distraction.
“What’s so funny? Did I do something?” Jinae was now very self conscious, but even so she couldn’t help but catch Chan’s contagious giggles almost immediately. Chan just shook his head, but Jinae could see the blush creeping up his neck and ears. “Really, what is it?”
Chan sighed, dropping his hands and taking a few moments to compose himself. “Fate… fate thought this was a fun way to meet your soulmate I guess.” And as he spoke he showed Jinae his wrist, the mark there exactly the same as the one Jinae had flashed at him.
“Oh. OH” Jinae exclaimed, putting her wrist next to Chan’s so they could really compare and make sure they weren’t mistaken. “Well, would you look at that.”
Chan chuckled again, “Yeah. Um, bad timing but I really do have to run. Can I give you my Kakaotalk info? Message me?”
“Yeah sure.” Jinae’s smile was bright as she put Chan’s information in her phone and messaged him. “I’ll catch you later?”
“Yeah, for sure. Let’s go to lunch sometime.” Chan waved as he headed to JYP for a meeting he’d nearly forgotten about.
---
Chan was practically bouncing when he walked into the practice room, and his incredibly happy mood was one that did not go unnoticed.
“Chan-hyung, you were out long.” Minho called out with a wink to Hyunjin.
“Yeah, that was a very long walk.” Hyunjin chimed in, knowing where Minho was going with this. “Minho-hyung, doesn’t he look too happy for a man who just took a walk?”
“He does, doesn’t he? Far too happy.” Minho stood from where he’d been stretching on the floor and walked over to Chan, draping an arm around his shoulders. “What could possibly make our hard-working leader so happy?”
“Leave me alone guys.” Chan chuckled, trying to shove Minho off but failing as he tightened his grip.
“No, no, I think something happened. Don’t you boys?”
“Look, Channie-hyung is blushing!” Jeongin laughed as he pointed it out, and Minho beamed at the youngest’s involvement.
“So, who’d you meet?” Minho prodded.
“Was she cute?” Hyunjin asked.
“Maybe it was a he.” Felix pointed out casually.
“Were they cute?” Changbin changed the question. Chan continued to try and escape Minho but failed as everyone circled around him.
“Come on hyung, did you meet someone?”
“You have to tell us! You’re acting so funny!”
“Kids, kids, it was just a really nice day.” Chan attempted, but the barrage of questions increased in volume and velocity.
“Alright, alright, quiet down.” Minho called out. He turned Chan to face him as he asked with a complete poker face, “Chan-hyung, did you meet someone special?”
Chan let out a long drawn out sigh. “Yes, I met someone… special.”
“Your soulmate?!”
Chan thought about it for a moment before deciding to just get it over with. “Yes, I met her. But I had to leave her to come to this meeting, so if we can please get ourselves together and on with it, that’d be great.”
---
Bang Chan: Hey Jinae, sorry for running off so fast.
Jinae: Hi Chan! It’s fine, of course I understand. You’re probably so busy all the time.
Bang Chan: I am, but right now less so. Would you be free to meet for lunch tomorrow?
Jinae: Sure, where?
Bang Chan: You pick the place.
Jinae: Alright let’s go to this place *sends address*.
Bang Chan: Sounds great, does 1pm work for you?
Jinae: Yes, see you then.
Bang Chan: See you tomorrow!
--
The next day Chan got up early and tried to escape the dorm before anyone could ask where he was going. He just about had the front door closed when he felt it pulled open again and Minho asked “Where are you off to, Hyung?”
Chan sighed, turning to face the recently woken, messy haired man. He knew Minho wouldn’t take any of his excuses, but since his first stop wasn’t a lie, he went for it anyways. “I’m headed to the studio, there’s a song I’m working on and I promised PD I’d have it demo-ready today.”
“Yeah, and you usually don’t get started at the studio until at least noon. Why are you going so early?” Minho smirked as he watched Chan struggle for the words for a few moments before he helped him out. “You set up a date with your soulmate right?”
“Yeah.” Chan hung his head like he was a little boy caught doing something bad, and Minho laughed at him.
“Hyung, we’re all… most of us are going to find our soulmates soon.” Both men were momentarily glad Jisung was at school and hadn’t heard Minho correct himself. “Seungmin already has Sunhee and it’s worked out just fine. There’s nothing to hide or be ashamed of.’
“I know.” Chan muttered. “But I’m the leader. I’m so busy all the time - more than Minnie - I don’t have time to take away from you guys, from us. I don’t have spare time to give to Jinae.”
“Ah, her name is Jinae huh?” Minho’s ‘nice of you to fill me in’ tone made Chan laugh.
“Sorry, yeah, her name is Jinae and we met at the park. It was so strange, she’s actually a fan of ours; she needed a soccer partner and called me over to help. I kind of forgot about the whole famous thing and did.”
“You played soccer with a random fan?”
“Yeah, I just thought she was a classmate I had forgotten or something.” He ran a hand through his hair sheepishly before turning to glance at the door. “I really should get to the studio so that I can finish in time.”
“Don’t push her away, just be open and honest, let her decide how this should go.”
“That’s… yeah thanks for the advice Minho.” Minho just smirks again and turns to head into the kitchen. Chan chuckles and heads to the studio.
—-
Chan was very happy with how the song had turned out when he sent the demo and left the studio. He took a cab to the chicken shop Jinae had picked out and made sure to arrive half an hour early so he could pick out the perfect seat.
He smiled and stood when Jinae walked in, waving her over.
“Hi Chan. You beat me, have you been waiting long?” Jinae sounded worried; Chan found it cute.
“No no, I just got here. Thanks for meeting me.” He waited for Jinae to sit before reseating himself.
“Of course, kind of have to talk don’t we?” Jinae sat straight in her chair with a mischievous smile that Chan didn’t know how to read.
“Yeah, I suppose so. Where do we start?” Chan had practiced many starters in his head over the last few hours but now that he was with Jinae he had forgotten them all.
“Let’s start with the kind of awkward situation of me knowing way more about you than you do about me.”
Chan sat shocked for a few more seconds than were normal. Jinae was extremely straightforward, clearly very confident of who she was and how she wanted to be perceived. Starting there was not at all what he had expected, he hadn’t even thought about the fact that Jinae had probably watched their survival show, followed all their content, and knew everything they let fans know.
“Oh right, yeah that’s not something I’d thought of. So I guess… What's one piece of information you think I should know first? I really only know that your name is Jinae, you’re good at soccer, and you’re a fan of mine.”
“A fan of Stray Kids.” Jinae corrects with a sly smile. Chan gives her an adorably dumbfounded look. “First thing that I think we have to get clear, you are not my bias.”
“I… oh.” Was all Chan managed to enunciate, and in English at that.
“That’s not to say I don’t like you, of course I do. Fate’s just funny sometimes, right?” Jinae flipped serenely through a menu.
Chan regained his vocal capabilities.“It is. So, who’s your bias then? That’ll tell me a lot about you, won’t it?”
Jinae smiled widely as she shook her head, loving every confused emotion running across Chan’s face. “That’s too easy.”
Chan pouted, only somewhat playfully. Jinae’s smile promised to be keeping him on his toes for the rest of the meal, and well beyond that.
But, Chan thought, I could get used to this.