The Whole World With You

WON

MONIQUE

It is dark out. I finally got out of the house. As I stepped foot out the door, the outside greeted me with a cooling breeze, brushing past my fallen hair as I felt the cool wind on my neck. I smoothed a wrinkled part of my clothing with my hand. Deftly, I tied my shoelaces into a knotted ribbon. I had paired my shoes with my choice of clothing, a checkered blouse tucked in jeans. Other than dresses, it was the best I could find. It's been long since I stepped out. Since I went out in the dark. It's only a matter of time before I can see them. I spun around and looked behind the door.

"Marissa!" I shouted, trying not to wake the neighbours. "Do you not want to see them? I doubt they'll wait for us."

Marissa, also known as my best friend, stepped out of the dark hallway. With dark hair and pale skin, she could wear anything and still look perfect in it. Well for me, it's a rather different case. She is rather taller than me, considering her long legs. Guys usually go for her. I'm not surprised if someone at the concert feels attracted to her. Kind, naive and pretty, who wouldn't?

"I'm sorry, Monique. I'm having a slight headache right now. The long hours at work just added more fuel to the fire. And I'm hungry." She looked at me with her big eyes, expecting me to give in to her pain.

"We'll eat on the way. I brought more than enough food for us, or rather you." I patted the bag hanging over my shoulder. She grinned back at me. I know my best friend well enough. She is always hungry. It's a wonder how she is still so slim. "Come on," I ushered her onto the pathway.

The building holding the concert is just a few feet away from our house. Both of us worked hard to afford the house we now live in. Actually, no. We only worked hard on our part time jobs to afford the amount of food we have stocked in that house. With Marissa's big appetite and our will for survival, and to afford concerts like these, we saved a pile of money from our different part time jobs and refusing the urge to buy new clothes the moment we got our hands on our monthly salary. And we succeeded.

The house was given by our parents, rather. Ever since they died, we decided to share a roof and limit the expenses. And mostly because my parent's house seemed much bigger at that moment. Better to have a roommate than live alone.

It's only 2 hours till the concert starts and the building is only a walking distance ahead. When we reached there, we happened to arrive half an hour earlier than I expected. Guess our 'slow' walk was faster than normal.

Honestly, this was the first concert I ever attended. I never had the money since most of my savings went to preparing food for us. Food is always important! Even though I may have given Marissa more of my share, it still is.

I gulped down a bottle of water as I stepped foot inside the building. Marissa eats more of the food and I drink more of the water. My throat tends to get dry quite easily.

Kind of fair, isn't it?

I walked over to the counter with Marissa trailing behind. "Hello. Um, tickets for Monique Crescent?" I voiced out. I must have caught the lady by surprise because she looked up as if expecting a ghost... or she may have been doing something else since the other customers didn't approach her counter.

"Ah, yes." She stood up and walked over to the room at the back. We waited for awhile while examining the stadium. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shop. Not just any shop, those that I would try so hard to find. A Korean shop.

I nudged Marissa with an elbow, though she just brushed me off. "Here are your tickets." The woman came back with two strips of colours. "Thank you for participating in the contest." She gave me a smile without any more details before Marissa shoved me aside. I touched the concert tickets within my fingertips. Rough, long papers.

"So this is what a concert ticket feels like..." I murmured. I guess my voice was too loud when I said that.

"Yo, are you alright? Did you get hit somewhere?" She waved her hand in front of my face once we stopped walking. "Or are you just dreaming about how you'll see them in person, in those skinny jeans that would end up torn while dancing every now and then?" I could sense her lips forming a small smirk on that pretty little face of hers.

"S-Shut up." I knew she would say something like that, given the kind of person she is, but I couldn't help feeling red in the face.

"Hoho, did I hit the jackpot?" She laughed to herself, though a part of her seemed confused. "Hold on, you were actually thinking about that?" She must have realized what she had said because her face turned red instantly.

I grabbed her neck, holding her at the inner base of my elbow. "Only you would think like that and 'fess up, brat." I may be shorter than her, but that doesn't mean I'm not stronger than her. "I-I can't breathe, idiot." She began slapping my forearm continuously before I finally let go.

"A pot calling a kettle black..." I muttered to myself. "Says the one," she replied. She re-adjusted her collar before pulling me away from the crowd of fans.

"Riss-"

"Didn't you wanted to go to the shop?" I looked up and adjusted my sight into the view up ahead. It's the shop that I tried telling her about. Did she notice it before I did? And here I thought my eyesight is sharper.

I underestimated you, Marissa.

I smiled to myself as we walked into the shop. So many merchandises. The first thing that I saw was the one thing I have longed to hold, a SHINee lightstick. The fact that I'm finally able to hold one is like a dream come true.

I picked up the lightstick from its shelf and gazed at it a bit longer. It's so pretty. SHINee were the ones who inspired me to continue from where I came from, and they're the ones who brought me here, along with my best friend Marissa. I looked back to find her doing the exact same thing, though towards a different merchandise, an EXO lightstick.

Great minds think alike.

I laughed softly to myself, before being distracted at yet another merchandise. A beautiful SHINee chain bracelet. It's really beautiful. I reached my hand out to it and began caressing the letters. I could never find something like this ever again. And then I looked at the price tag.

"E-Expensive." I stuttered out.

"We might be able to give it to you at half the price, considering what day it is." An employee appeared from behind.

"Y-You could do that?" I flustered at her sudden appearance. I'm not sure if I have enough money on me, but dropping the price to a half would be a great help.

"Of course. And I see your sister there doing the same thing at a different bracelet." She pointed out. I looked at where Marissa had been and where she is now. She really moves fast.

"Thank you!" I bowed to her before rushing over to Marissa. An EXO chain bracelet came into view. I snatched the bracelet and lightstick from her hands and walked over to the counter, meeting the lady once again.

"Ya-"

"I'll have this four, thank you," I smiled at the lady. After scanning the items and packing them, she took out two posters from the counter and passed them to me. "Come again."

And before I could even take another step, someone pulled me out of the shop with their fingers grasping my arm. "You... You,"

"Bought your precious bracelet and lightstick. Your welcome." I stuck my hand into the bag and dug out the EXO bracelet. "Hold out your hand."

I began approaching her, though something knocked me over. Or I should rather say, someone.

----

Hey, guys! Thank you for reading my story. I wanna dedicate this story to my best friend, putwi1188 , who actually helped me with writing this story and who is also Marissa. I really appreciate you reading this story. Thank you.

I am sorry for updating very slowly and also for any mistakes in the story. This is a remake of the previous chapters. Thank you once again for reading my story.