Before I'm Gone | Stray Kids FF

Mall Meet Up

Jeongin POV

I remembered that day, when Areum was really happy while we were hanging out in Woojin and my house. She seemed brighter than normal, but that all came to an end. The next day, when we went to meet up for a practice, her mood had lowered. I was not sure why. All that happened was when she walked in, her mood was already pretty bad, but as the day progressed, it seemed to worsen. Though, she was doing a really good job of hiding it.

Hyunjin had told me about how he was finally letting her go. I told him it was the right thing to do. He seemed a little sad about it, but I would always remind him to watch Areum. She did seem happier. It was odd why she was so much happier though. At least, in my opinion. Though I found it odd, I would always brush it off.

"Haneul~" I skipped over to her.

"Yeah?" She looked up from phone.

"Where's Chanie-hyung?" I sat beside her.

"Dunno." She shrugged. "He must be running late."

"How come you're not with him then?" I poked her shoulder.

She chuckled. "I'm not clingy."

"Fair enough." I nodded as I watched the cafe door.

"Why are we meeting up anyways?" She asked, putting down her phone.

"Secret santa~" I smiled. "Remember, we're gonna go shopping, all of us, then reveal it later."

"Right, but why don't we meet up at the mall?" She asked.

"Because-" I cut myself off. "Good point, I have no idea."

Shrugging it off, we decided to chat while we waited for everyone else to arrive. Overtime, the two of us became three, four, and so on. Once quite a few of us were around, we got ourselves some drinks while we waited.

"You took forever, Chan." I stated when he came by to sit beside Haneul, taking the drink she handed to him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He nodded. "Felix was being a little slow poke." He gestured at Felix who seemed to still be tired.

"What were you up doing this time?" Seungmin poked his cheek.

"What do you think?" Chan chuckled. "He was playing games and looking at memes."

I playfully rolled my eyes before looking up to see Hyunjin and Jisung coming in, followed by Woojin. When I looked out the window, I realized that Changbin, Minho and Areum were close, meaning all of us were here now. As the first three came in, we told them to get themselves drinks first, which they did. The other three came in soon after and we told them the same.

"Not you though." Jisung grabbed hold of Areum's wrist, stopping her from going to get a drink. "Here you go." Jisung handed her a drink that he had bought for her with a cheeky smile.

Areum gave him a small smile, pinching his cheek. "Adorable." She walked over to us and we waited for everyone else.

~*~

3rd Person POV

They had all split up and gone off to buy gifts. They were doing this like some kind of variety show, or game, and were enjoying it.

Jeongin wandered the mall, not knowing what to get. He just was not the best at coming up with ideas for gifts. As he walked around, he remembered that his friend was a fan of some animes. Smiling to himself, he headed towards an anime store to get some gifts for his friend.

Felix already knew he was going to get something cute for his person. He had gone into a childish store to look for things, surprisingly, he actually found something that he wanted to get for his secret santa. In the end, he was walking out the store with a cute plushie in his hands.

Jisung went around, not knowing what he wanted to get for his friend. He figured that maybe he could get some studying books for his friend. He knew how his secret santa needed to learn something specific, so he went to get something for them.

Changbin was looking around for something for his secret santa. He knew his friend well, and knew what he wanted to get. It would be something simple, not hard to find, but he knew his friend would enjoy it. He headed towards a cafe that he heard sold some really nice cheese cakes, there, he got a gift card and went on his way, satisfied with himself as he left.

Woojin had already planned what he was getting for his friend a while back. He had a set plan of what to get so he headed towards the designated store. It was a grunge styled music store, he headed towards the section where he thought he could find something his friend would enjoy. Satisfied with planning ahead, he continued his search.

Seungmin was walking around the huge mall. He was crossed as to what to get. There were two things that he knew he wanted to get, but was not sure which one. In the end, he decided on getting a gift card to a restaurant he knew his friend would enjoy, but not before he got something else to prank them too.

Chan already knew what to look for. Heading towards one specific part of the mall, he thought of what he could get for his secret santa. He already knew he was going to be getting some merch for the fan, but what kind? Going into the store, he looked around until he found the perfect gift.

Hyunjin had not known what to get for his secret santa. Sure, he knew some stuff about them, but had no idea about what they might want. In the end, he headed into a store where he knew he could find some nice hoodies that his secret santa would hopefully enjoy.

Minho sighed as he walked around. He was never a great guy at gift giving, though he tried his best. He scrambled for what his friend might like, then he remembered, there was a group that he had been talking about recently, maybe he could get some album of theirs? Minho smiled as he walked in the direction of the store he knew that he would find these things in.

Haneul laughed to herself as she went through the store with the things she knew she was going to get. She knew how much her friend loved these animals and how they even owned a few. Contently, she got what she needed and thought of what their reaction would be.

Areum walked around the store, knowing what to get already. She knew her friend was into animes, K-pop groups, and a whole bunch of other things. She knew this friend all too well. As she went through the stores, she found what she needed and paid for it with a smile on her face. As she exited the store, her smile faded. She walked out to find a few unwanted people staring at her, giving each other glances.

"And here, we meet again."

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It amazes me to see that my reads increase so rapidly. Like it is literally unbelievable.

Alright, I know that this story is practically already in December and that it is November now but close enough right? Just so you know, the climax is coming up! I am trying to time it right so that I post that chapter on the day that it takes place in the story! So if you see odd post schedules, that is why.

Thank you so much to Take2SoNa for your extremely encouraging comments. I appreciate it and it has really gotten me motivated to keep writing, especially since I had taken a break from writing this story behind the scenes for about 3 or so months. I enjoy interacting with my readers so thank you for being one of the ones who continue to interact with me!

Have an amazing day readers!