Before I'm Gone | Stray Kids FF

Crushing

Chan POV

I waited for Haneul and Areum. They were headed to Haneul's place, but since it was raining, they had to take the bus. Since our houses were close by, I asked if I could join them. Felix and Jisung were also tagging along, though, Jisung would be getting off two stops before Felix, Haneul, Areum and me.

I was quite happy to spend time with both of the girls. I had grown attached to Areum, like the rest of the boys have too. Now she was kinda distant, but she was still so important to us. I was upset that she was ending up like this. I really did like her, maybe more than I should. She was an amazing person, and I connected with her well. She is also the soul reason that Stray Kids is really Stray Kids now. The past while, I have been able to tell that she has been stressed. I can not help but feel like there is something I need to be able to do for her. I am the "leader" of Stray Kids, as of right now, and I feel the need to take responsibility. Or at least be the one to lighten her load. Problem was, she never told was what exactly was in the load. She refused to open up about it.

I hated seeing her like this. She was so down. She tried her best to be happy, but all I saw was pain. I knew that I had taken a liking to her ever since I met her. I was never sure if I liked her just as a friend or more. Whichever it was, I cared so much about her. For now, I would assume I did like her more than a friend. Though, that may cause some chaos. We already had two people who liked her. Another person liking her would probably just make it worse. I had to try and move on. At least it would not be too hard, it is not like I was certain anyways. Plus, I had recently gotten my eyes set on someone else.

~*~

Areum POV

"So, Haneul," I poked her shoulder. "Like anyone?"

"Maybe." She kept walking, actually, she was walking faster because she knew I would bug her to find out who she liked. Unluckily for her, I was going after her anyway. I kept pestering her answers but she told me that she literally could not say. I told her to whisper it in my ear, she said no. Maybe later. I agreed.

"Soooooo who is the lucky guy?" I said once we were far from the boys.

"Him." She sheepishly pointed at one of the guys.

"Oh my gosh him?!" I squealed. "Good pick!"

"Shush!" She covered my mouth. "They'll hear!"

"Aish, fine." I took her hand off of my mouth.

"Do you like anyone?" She asked. "You know, other than Hwan."

"Uhm." I shrugged. "I don't think so. They're just friends to me right now."

In all honesty, I was not sure who I liked. Some of the guys had caught my eye, but not enough for me to call them a crush. Each of them had something quite likeable about them. Something unique that made them really special in my eyes. Though, these traits were only enough for me to see their talents. Not enough to make me like them as a crush. Some of them were also just too young for me. Okay, they were not too young, but still, our age groups did not match too well. Aside from that, I thought they were great people, people would be falling for them the moment they saw them and got to know them. Actually, people are in the midst of that now too.

"Areum?" Haneul shook me awake.

"Huh?" My eyes opened and I looked around.

"You fell asleep." She shoved a phone in my face. "You slept for two hours." She turned off her phone and put it in her pocket. "By the way, the guys are here."

"Wait... since when?!" I sat up and looked at Haneul.

"Five minutes ago." She walked away, turning on the lights. "Fix your hair, they want to see you."

I scrambled up and went to the mirror as my eyes adjusted to the brightness. I fixed my hair and clothes. Taking one last look, I walked away from the mirror, out to the guys.

~*~

Areum POV

"Chan, Chan, Chan!" I ran after him, by the time I got to him, I was out of breath.

"Sorry, Areum." He took out his phone, pausing his music. "I couldn't hear you."

"All... good." I said, catching my breath.

"So, what's up?" He said as he put away his earbuds and phone.

"Oh, nothing." I looked back as we began to walk. "I just wanted to get away from the chaos. Thought I might as well walk you home."

"Oh?" He rose his brow.

"Hyunjin and Minho are kinda fighting...?" I shrugged. "I don't know what's up."

"Oh." He looked away as if he knew something I did not. I did not ask about it though, it probably was not my business anyway. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," I said quietly. "I think it involved me... I tried to ask, but they wouldn't tell me."

"Oh, okay." He nodded as we walked. It was silent, I guess there was a bit of tension, or stiffness between the guys and me. I had been distant, and harder to read I guess. It was a fair reason as to why they too had been distant with me. I decided to try and break the silence and see if he still trusted me.

"Chan?" We neared his house. "Do you like anyone?"

"I dunno." He went up the steps and opened the door, letting me in first. "I think."

"Who?" I took off my shoes and sat on the couch, he sat on the other side of it.

"I can trust you right?" He rose his brow.

"Of course." I nodded, leaning in for the information.

"Well, it used to be you." He looked to his right, then back at me. "Now... I think I like your friend... Haneul."

My eyes widened. No way. They.... No way. I looked to him and smiled, telling him it was a good pick. He looked at me confused, probably wondering why my eyes had been wide before and why I was so surprised. Instead of letting him ponder on it much longer, I looked at my phone, once I saw the time, I told him I had to go. He nodded and let me leave, asking if I was seeing Hwan. I told him that I was not tonight. Tonight, I was going out alone. He questioned where. I did not say, I told him that I would just be wandering the park to "cool down" and "take a break." In reality, I was meeting up with Duri because she had called a meeting.

I ran off to Haneul's house. She had been called to the meeting too. Once I got there, Hyunjin and Minho were sitting on opposite sides of the room, anger in both their eyes. Jisung was by Minho, Jeongin by Hyunjin, trying to get them to chill. When they noticed me, they softened a little, but not much. I told them they had to go home because Haneul and I had to go somewhere. They asked the same thing that Chan had asked, and I told them that we were going to the park to have a girl's night. Not leaving them space to ask to come with. So they left and Hanuel and I got ready to leave. Not ready for what was to come.

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Ahhh! I wake up to find my story at 1k reads! Okay, so I also realized. I started posting this story on June 27th, and it's July 27th right now... Exactly one month later and it hits 1k! Thank you sooooooooo much.

Thank you to girlpowerjb for supporting my book!

This chapter is for 1k, it's not very special.... but it is an extra chapter (because I don't post on Saturdays normally soooo)

Thank you guys so so much!

On a side note, I like being interactive with my readers, so I'd really appreciate it if you guys comment below, or dm me, put messages on my message board, etc. I just really like being interactive with readers.... aka it's summer and I'm a lonely bean.

See you in the next one!