Stray Kids ¹⁸

None of us knew when everything had changed. When we stopped being friends and started seeing each other differently. Perhaps it was an accumulation of small things, seemingly harmless, but they stayed with us.

I remember the first few days of practice with shyness, how we all ate together, laughing and excited for our debut. There was a quiet tenderness that filtered between us.

Chan was the first to worry about everyone, Hyunjin lent me his headphones even if he needed them, Changbin was the one who kept the balance, Minho loved in silence, Seungmin lent me his sweatshirts, Jeongin leaned on me when he was tired, Han was the one who made us laugh and Felix left me colorful notes with a "Have a nice day :D".

The first time everything changed was after a rehearsal, we were all lying on the floor tired, and from one moment to the next we were all hugging each other.

No one talked about it, but we all knew that things had changed, an "us" had formed.

Felix said it best while we were having a little moonshine party on the rooftop: —I don't think there's anything wrong with that. We're where we want to be, together.

—Are you really okay with this? I asked, not quite sure who.

—As long as it's real, yes. Seungmin answered with a flag in his mouth.