stray kids reaction: they call you clingy
chan goes mia often—regularly, you could even say. and that never really bothered you; you knew what you signed up for when you started dating the leader of an idol group. but you still worried about him, and so you sent him a few texts every day to check up on him and make sure he’s taking care of himself. usually, he was more than excited to reply, sending you lots of pictures of the members doing stupid things and telling you about his day, but today, he was acting out of character. despite sending him multiple texts asking him about his day and if he’s been eating, you hadn’t gotten a single response all day. not knowing what else to do, you give changbin a call.
“hey y/n, everything alright?” he asked right away.
“yeah, all good. have you talked to chan, though? he hasn’t been answering me all day.”
“oh, yeah, I just saw him. he’s been in the studio all day. you should go visit him, I haven’t seen him get up even once and it’s already evening.” he encouraged.
you decided to take his advice and packed a lunch, hoping you could drag chan out and into taking a walk at the han river park after having a little makeshift picnic in his studio first.
you arrived at his studio door in no time, knocking before letting yourself in. chan didn’t even notice you coming in, only realizing it when you put your jacket and the food down onto his couch. you smile and wave, not wanting to make him take his headphones off in case he was in the middle of something important. he glanced at you for only a second before going back to his work.
ten minutes passed before you decided to speak up. you shake his shoulder a bit to catch his attention, making him let out an exaggerated sigh as he paused the track he was working on to face you.
“yes?” he said in an irritated tone.
“I know you’re busy but the food’s getting cold. you’ve been craving pumpkin porridge, right? I made some for you.” you said gently, ignoring the harshness of his voice.
“I’m busy, y/n. just leave it there and go, I’ll eat it later.” he mumbled, turning back to his computer.
“chan, come on. I know you haven’t eaten all day and changbin said you haven’t left the studio all day. we could eat and take a quick walk and then you can come right back and keep working.”
“you asked changbin about me? y/n, what the hell, I’m not a kid you have to constantly check up on!”
“oh well, I’m so sorry I care enough to make sure my boyfriend isn’t wasting away in his studio all day. who the hell am I to worry about you? your girlfriend?” you scoffed, finally getting annoyed at his attitude.
“were you always this clingy? for fuck’s sake, just leave me alone!” he yelled loudly, startling you.
you left without another word, too pissed off and hurt to keep fighting with him. you didn’t even bother to grab your things, rushing out of the studio and almost knocking straight into changbin.
“hey, what’s wrong?” he questioned, seeing you red in the face and teary-eyed.
“nothing, I have to go.” you said quietly, trying to control your voice so it wouldn’t waver or crack.
“y/n, it’s already dark out, is chan not taking you home?”
you just shook your head, pushing past him and heading out into the night, walking quickly away from the building as the cold air hit your face and made you shiver. if chan wanted you to leave him alone, you would do just that.
lino liked his personal space. and you knew that, so you respected his boundaries, no questions asked. but you were unlike lino in this way; you wanted to be smothered in affection, something he wouldn’t do even if you begged and pleaded with him. you didn’t mind though, as long as he let you do it to him instead and you got a cuddle back in return.
you were in one of those moods when he got home tonight, immediately wrapping your arms around him as soon as he walked through the door. usually, he’d playfully whine before giving you a little peck on the forehead and dragging you to the couch for a proper cuddle, but seeing that he practically threw you off of him, you could tell he wasn’t happy with your affections. you tumbled backwards, knocking over a vase of flowers he’d brought home the day prior from the coffee table.
“shit, could you be anymore clumsy, y/n? as if I don’t have enough on my plate.” he groaned loudly.
“hey, it’s not like I did it on purpose. you pushed me off of you and I bumped into it.” you said meekly, not wanting to upset him anymore than he already was.
“maybe if you weren’t so desperate for my attention, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” he muttered, rolling his eyes as he threw his jacket and bag on to the couch. “stay out of my way so I can clean this properly.”
“no, I’ll do it.” you say, making a beeline for the kitchen to grab the broom and dustpan.
“what? so you can hurt yourself more?” he scoffed, following you into the kitchen.
“minho, I can clean up my own mess.” you said, growing increasingly irritated with his tone.
“I told you to stay out of my way, y/n. seriously, can I not even clean up a mess without you clinging to me?” he sighed in exasperation.
“I can do it, move.” you mumbled, trying to grab the broom out of his hand.
“stop, stop it! just let me clean the damn thing, for fuck’s sake!” he yelled before pausing. “you know what, I’m just going back to the dorms since you can’t seem to leave me the fuck alone.” he jeered, roughly passing you the broom and dustpan before storming out of the apartment.
you’re stunned, standing frozen in the kitchen with tears pooling in your eyes. you don’t even know how everything escalated so quickly and how much lino’s words had hurt you. clingy? you always made it a point to give him his space when he needed it and to have all of your efforts thrown back in your face like that? you couldn’t believe how harsh he had been to you.
you quickly wipe up the few tears that had fallen down your face and started cleaning. you pick out the flowers first, grabbing them quickly not realizing a thin, sharp piece of glass had been sitting atop them. the glass slashed through the palm of your dominant hand, making it trickle out a dark stream of blood. you rush to the bathroom to wash the wound, grabbing a hand towel to apply pressure on it to stop the bleeding. but the towel soon became soaked in blood, making you realize the cut was too deep for a simple bandaid or two.
normally, you would call lino first in a situation like this, but considering the atmosphere around you both, you knew you couldn’t tell him, especially not after he called you both desperate and clingy and also treated you like a helpless child. you wrapped up your hand in a few towels and headed out for the hospital on your own, scared about how much blood you were losing and heartbroken over how you couldn’t even call your boyfriend in your condition.
changbin had been busy for the past few months—between tour, promotions, and creating new music, he rarely caught a day off. you both made it work though, with him coming over to sleep over at your apartment every night and you visiting him every other day at the studio. he usually loved your attention and physical affection towards him; anyone who knew changbin knew he would never say no to a good hug or a cuddle session, and that was even truer when it came to you. today, however, brought a completely different side out of him.
it was his first day off in a long time and you had planned a date night together. but as soon as he woke up, he was out of the door, not even bothering to peck you on the cheek before he headed out like he usually would, you were puzzled, but you figured he probably had other plans for his day, like meeting up with friends he never had the time to see or preparing things for your date. you didn’t mind, as long as he made sure to save his night for you. you spent the day shopping, looking for a new outfit for the place changbin had picked out for tonight—a new hole-in-the-wall a decent walk away from your home. you were excited to finally be able to spend some time with your boyfriend after so long, picking the nicest outfit without even paying any attention to the price tag, something you would normally never do.
you headed home and started getting ready. you sent changbin a text, asking him if you were going together or meeting there. without waiting for a reply, you start doing your hair, not wanting to be late for the occasion. but when you don’t get a text back after almost twenty minutes, you send him another text, telling him you were ready and waiting on him. after another while, you figured he would meet you there.
you walked to the restaurant, sending him yet another text letting him know you were there. you went into the restaurant in a rush, noticing a slight drizzle of rain coming down, and walked up to the host.
“reservation for y/n l/n?” you say with a smile.
“ah, yes, follow me.” the host said, returning your smile as he lead you to a table for two.
you sat at the table, checking your phone every so often. you noticed the texts you sent changbin were still on delivered, making your mood sour quickly.
“a drink to start? wine perhaps?” a nice waitress asked, breaking you out of your darkened state. you ordered a glass of your favorite wine, hoping it would calm your irritation. surely he was just running late, right?
but after a whole hour passed, you were beyond the point of holding back your annoyance. you could feel the eyes of all the waitstaff on you, even catching a few of them whispering while looking at you with pitiful eyes.
“would you like to order any food now?” the waitress tending to you asked politely.
you sighed, before replying, “can I just get my bill please?”
“it’s on the house,” she said gently, before continuing, “hope your night turns around.” she smiled.
you smiled back, thanking her for her kindness before leaving a hefty tip. you walked out dejectedly, coming to terms with the fact that your boyfriend forgot about you on the one day he’d had off in god knows how long. and as if you’re luck couldn’t get any worse, the rain had picked up and now it was full-on showering. you decided to give changbin a call before you headed out. if he had a shred of pity on you, he’d at least come to pick you up so you wouldn’t get rained on. he picked up, finally, after multiple rings.
“what do you want?” he deadpanned.
“where the fuck are you?” you spat out angrily.
“at the dorms, why?” he said, sounding irritated.
“our date ring a bell?” you scoffed.
“oh shit, I lost track of time. I’m so sorry.” he apologized, but you knew a half-assed apology when you heard one.
“no you’re not.” you laughed in disbelief.
“what do you want me to say, y/n? that I’m the worst boyfriend ever for skipping one measly date to hang out with my friends for the first time in so long?” he yelled.
“are you kidding me, changbin? you see them every single day. you’ve barely seen me for more than an hour a week the past few months.” you yelled back incredulously.
“you know damn well that’s not the same. fuck, were you always this clingy? it’s pathetic, really.” he drawled out, immediately making you feel small.
“I asked for one night, changbin. if that makes me clingy and pathetic, then I don’t think I can keep doing this.” you said, your voice barely a whisper as you say the last part.
“I can’t help that I’m busy, y/n. stop being so needy,” he sighed. “I’m staying at the dorms tonight.” he muttered.
“did you not hear me? I said I can’t keep doing this. do you not care?” your voice broke but you were too heartbroken to be embarrassed.
“y/n, I want to spend time with my members, my friends. if you can’t handle me not spending more time with you, then…I don’t know.” he sighed in exasperation.
“okay. bye.” you hung up before he could say anything else that could make your heart tear open and vulnerable anymore. and you’d never been more thankful for pouring rain as you walked home, glad they could mask how truly devastated you were knowing your boyfriend was finally sick of you.
you knocked on the door to the dorms before letting yourself in. it was your monthly movie night with all of the boys and you couldn’t be more excited for it. it gave you some quality time with hyunjin as well as his friends, something you rarely got because of how busy they all were.
the members were scattered all over the dorm, doing their individual things while they presumably waited for you.
“y/n! hey, you’re early, me and seungmin were just about to make some popcorn and get the snacks ready,” felix greeted you. “oh, did you bring something too?” he questioned, pointing to the bags in your hand.
“there’s always room for more snacks! here, you can put them on the table, y/n.” seungmin said as jeongin joined him in rummaging through the things you brought.
“you guys need any help with anything?” you asked, not wanting to be a bad guest to the boys.
“we’re almost done, but you could help lix pop the popcorn so we can set up the snacks in the living room in the meantime.” seungmin suggested.
you nodded, joining felix in the kitchen.
“it’s microwave popcorn so it’s not really a two-person job,” he chuckled. “but hey, catch me up on everything, we haven’t talked in way too long.” he encouraged, putting the bags of popcorn in the microwave quickly before turning to you.
you two chatted enthusiastically, catching each other up on new friends, work, school, and everything in between. anyone could tell you and felix were great friends and, aside from hyunjin, you would even say you were the closest to him of all the members. you laughed at a dumb joke he cracked, doubling over as you tried (and failed) to catch your breath.
“when did you get here?” an annoyed voice asked, interrupting your laughter.
“oh, not too long ago. maybe fifteen minutes ago?” you answered, traces of your laughter still lingering as you speak.
“I’m gonna go see if any of the other guys need any help. can you pour the popcorn out and bring it to the living room, y/n?” he requested, his voice mirroring yours as he tried to make it go back to its normal state.
you nodded as you grabbed the bowl from next to the sink. you smiled at hyunjin before moving in front of him to grab the popcorn out.
“how are you, my love?” you asked, loosely wrapping your arms around him before you go for the popcorn. he pulled your hands away from his side, muttering something under his breath about how annoying you were.
“what was that?” you questioned meekly, hoping you heard him wrong.
“I said you’re annoying.” he rolled his eyes before walking away from you and to the living room.
you blinked blankly, confused at his outburst. you poured out the popcorn quickly, putting it on the table with the other snacks before sitting down in the only empty seat, the one next to hyunjin.
“we need to talk. you can’t just say something like that with no explanation.” you whispered, distressed at his suddenly sour mood.
“y/n, honestly, do you think anyone wants you here? these are my friends, you just seem desperate whenever you come over. just go home, this is getting embarrassing for both of us.” he said, loud enough for all the other members to hear. the room that was once buzzing with conversation and laughter quieted immediately.
“you know that’s not true, hyunjin. y/n’s our friend too, and we want them here.” felix defended you, getting a chorus of agreement from the other members, too.
“yeah, right. like she wasn’t practically holding you hostage in the kitchen talking your ears off about her life without even giving you a chance to talk about yours?” he turned to you before saying, “it’s bad enough that you cling to me all the damn time, do you have to drag my friends into your shit, too?” he scoffed.
“you’re being cruel, hyung.” jeongin said quietly as they all watched you get up from your spot on the couch. you were embarrassed beyond belief; you could feel your face burning more and more intensely after every jab hyunjin took at you. you were speechless, surprised your boyfriend of all people could say such harsh, hurtful words to you, even more so with your—or, as he’s made very clear, his—friends watching.
you hurried out of the living room, rushing towards the door without so much as a goodbye. you quickly put on your shoes, catching chan begin to scold hyunjin as you did so. felix, being the good friend he always was to you, ran after you.
“you don’t have to go, y/n. hyunjin’s just being an asshole, none of us think about you like that. and I asked to talk about your life, I promise you you weren’t holding me hostage.” he cringed as he quoted hyunjin’s words to you.
“I know you’re not like that, lix. I’m just hurt at the irony of it all, you know? you never really expect your boyfriend to be the one to totally blindside you,” you sighed bitterly. “it’s probably better if I leave now. enjoy the snacks and your movie night.” you smiled sadly, finally leaving the dorms with a heavy heart.
