Who will piece me back together?
word count: ~1100
warnings: angst, hateful online comments, self-doubt and hate, comfort at the end
summary: Even the strongest fall sometimes, but there is no shame in that.
Please let me know if I left a warning or anything out, I will add it in! Reblogs, likes and feedback are greatly appreciated!
!I don't condone anyone stealing my work and posting it anywhere without my permission, or feeding it to AI!
!This is just fiction, my interpretation of Stray Kids. By no means is this how they are and how they behave in real life!
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He was just browsing on his phone, as a means of winding down from a hard day of practice, before getting some much needed shut eye in. All he needed was some mindless scrolling, really; but a news article caught his eye and he quickly found himself falling down a rabbit hole of hateful threads and comments.
How he was just a visual, or how his voice was a sad attempt at copying Felix. He could ignore comments like those, he was used to them by now.
The cuts weren't deep enough to really hurt him, no, those remarks were easy to brush off. The ones that called him fake, a pretender, now those jabbed straight into his heart.
Why?
Because he hated his two-sidedness more than anyone. But he had no choice, the company gave clear instructions: keep up the icy prince play.
No matter how much he wanted to hug his Chan hyung back or accept Lee Know hyung's offered food with a smile (and offer back one in return), or how much he ached to let Changbin cling to him, along with Felix and Hyunjin. Or maybe even playfully chase around and hug the two youngest ones, when they were a bit too cheeky with their words.
He wanted to do these occasionally, even against his shy personality, but no.
He couldn't do any of these in front of a camera, in front of the eyes of the world.
His vision blurred the more he scrolled down, the words becoming unreadable, just despicable blobs of white on a dark screen. Feeling a sob clawing its way out of his chest, he tightly bit his lip and stilled his breath. If he wasn't breathing, he wouldn't disturb anyone with potential sobs; it was only logical.
Just like the comments' reasoning.
They were all true, he could not deny any of them. He was a pretender, after all and his accusations weren't like any of the other members', no.
They were true, through and through.
A knocking sound broke him out of his haze, chest shuddering as it was allowed to move again and he had to bite back a sob so hard, he thought his jaw broke.
"Bae hyung, can I borrow your mouse, please? Mine broke and I need something to play with until I can get a new one tomorrow." - the deep voice of Felix, who just invited himself in, like usual, and invaded the room, gently bouncing off its muted walls.
It never bothered Bae before, when the others invited themselves in, but did he regret it at that moment.
"Sure, you know where it is." - he answered, voice a bit muffled as he was turned away from the door and his guest, face only half hidden in the pillow to not seem too suspicious. Maybe Felix wouldn't notice and think he was just tired. God, he hoped so.
He intently listened to the younger's enthusiastic 'Thanks' and shuffling noises, as he was trying to get his desired object in the dark.
It was suffocating, quite literally, to wait in silence. His chest felt like it wanted to combust, the urge to let out the sobs crawling up his throat almost winning.
A curse left the younger's lips, a question he didn't quite catch hanging in the air. He wanted to say a simple 'Sure', but instead a quiet, pathetic sound left his lips and the air stilled. His fists tightened around the sheets, chest feeling tighter than ever.
"...Hyung, what's wrong?"
He broke, that disgusting sob rattling his whole ribcage as it finally ran free, leaving destruction in its wake.
The bed dipped as a new body joined his, gentle hands guiding his body into a comforting hold. Hands immediately clasped onto Felix's pyjama shirt desperately and he could feel the boy's tense form.
He knew the younger wanted to ask questions, to get answers and to try and help, but he couldn't answer. His throat was unable to form anything besides soft whines and sobs, no matter how many times he tried to form a single word. Felix seemed to have noticed, because he merely continued running gentle fingers through Bae's long hair, slightly rocking them side to side.
Soft vibrations left the freckled boy's chest as he hummed, knowing the older well enough that he enjoyed them. It was a desperate attempt to calm him down, one that worked, even as the younger boy's own voice choked up sometimes, unable to hide the freshly shedded tears anymore.
Felix was always very empathetic and soft, breaking out in tears whenever someone cried.
Bae slightly lifted his head, the gentle motions in his hair stopping and giving him space to move. He looked up at the crying boy in front of him and wiped the flowing tears away, a wobbly smile forming on his own face.
"Thank you, Lixie, but don't waste your tears on me."
"It's not a waste! You were, are, still crying, Dal hyung! You, who always puts up a strong front for us all. You said it yourself to us at an award show, that crying is not a sign of weakness. So please, hyung, tell me what caused this and let me help you!"
It all bubbled up out of the boy, taking the older by surprise.
Was that really how they saw him, someone dependable?
Another, now adoration-filled sob broke through his chest (god, and he thought he finally calmed down enough); the real cause, the comments, the threads all stumbling out of his mouth.
A part of him unravelled in front of the boy, an inevitable thing, really.
But it was fine.
Felix was there to pick his parts up and slowly, but steadily put him back together.
"When you first hugged me back on stage years ago, you made me the happiest person that week. And when you started initiating simple touches with us we were all so proud. What does it matter what the company wants? Changbinnie hyung is right, you shouldn't care about it. If you want to behave like that for yourself, then by all means, that's fine. Lee Know hyung isn't a touchy person either, yet we love him all the same and he loves us in return. Dal hyung… be who you want to be. For yourself."
Silence followed the heartfelt speech, only quiet sniffles breaking it occasionally from both occupants of the room. There was no real need for an answer, the weight of the words heavy to bear.
Felix just took Bae’s vulnerable form in his hold once again, his real objective long forgotten as he comforted one of his hyungs.
It would all be fine.
He would be fine.
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something bad happened to you, and you died, and you came back wrong.
not wrong all the way. the little ways. you forget important dates, stopped going out with friends. it's harder to make you smile. you're apathetic towards things you used to love, afraid of places you used to go to cheer up. quieter. flinching. different.
you came back for love. you're still here for love. what pulled you back was a brightness so loud that even death couldn't outshout it. death heard the call and smiled at you and said okay. go home. somebody is waiting for you.
but you came back different. like lot's wife; you've turned into salt. you used to chirp through life in hops and skips; but now you lose skin just standing up. you have to move slower, skimming across this world without-touching-it. most things feel dull - until they're suddenly all-too-much. life, and being alive just rushes up and over you and you get hopelessly crushed.
you try to explain it to them: it is ugly, but this is what you are, now. the huge golden hoop of your halo now a little bronze ring. you are still watering your plants and wearing the same clothes. after all, you worked hard to come home. this life; so odd and off-color, now that you are wrong.
but they waited for you - it's just that they wanted the "you" that happened before this. the "you" that could sing in the show and hug people tight and look at a blade without breaking down to cry. the you with a smile in pictures. god, holyshit, it's like looking at a completely different person, isn't it. that other-you; the one they actually wanted.
you are the consolation prize. you are the body that forgot the ghost. you are the memory of the bad thing, and the death after; like you are wearing that memory as a banner. you are a fragment, an assembly. simulacrum. you don't make eye contact in mirrors, afraid the light will glance off and your true nature will flash back at you.
you hear them talk about it in their hushed, desperate whispers. sometimes they even admit it to your face; harsh and violent, acid thrown at christmas dinner. god, can you just fucking be normal again. you do not remember what normal is. you had to climb so far to get back here; you are far too exhausted. you want to open the glass door of your heart and show all the gears. can you help resolve whatever got messed up?
you try so, so hard. you came back for them. because you believed they would love you, even when you were so horribly broken. because you believed they would be patient. because you believed unconditional meant "without exception." you cannot do things the same way. you just get tired too quickly these days.
you want to put them on a couch and pour them the tea with hands that shake more than they remember. you want to line them up and draw them a map of where you have had to wander. you want to show every bruise in a backsplash; the little helpless ant of your soul carrying all that weight, over and over. you want to say: yes! it is different! but i did it for love!
you want to say: "i'm not the same, but i'm yours and i'm here. can that be enough?"
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