Before I'm Gone | Stray Kids FF

The Neighbour

Areum POV

I got out of the taxi and headed to the building in front of me. A large apartment building stood in front of me and I started to head inside. Pressing the code to get into the building, wondered how nice it would be to live here for real. I went to the elevator with all my things and went up to the seventh floor. Heading out of the elevator and down the hallway, I went to apartment number 709. I rang the doorbell and waited for the door to be open.

"Areum!!!!" The door swung open and I was immediately embraced in a hug.

"Bora!" I smiled, returning the hug. She rushed me inside so I could see my aunt and uncle.

I bowed a little and smiled at my aunt and uncle. "Hi Auntie Darae, Uncle Chansol." They waved me over to the table which was set for dinner.

"How was the flight Areum?" My aunt asked.

"Good... where's Hoon?" I questioned, sitting down in my seat.

"Ah, Jihoon is in his room doing... who knows what? He must not have noticed that you came." Uncle replied, walking into the hallway to get Jihoon.

A few minutes later, Jihoon appeared. It had been two and a half years since I had seen him but he had changed. He obviously grew, he got a new hairstyle and his overall vibe and style changed. What once was black hair, was now brunette. What once was a 4'7" boy was now he was a "5'4" boy. He sat down beside Bora and we began dinner.

~*~

"Your mother did tell you that you will have your own apartment yes?" Aunt Darae asked as she cleaned the table.

"Yes, Auntie." I nodded as I cleared away the dishes. "Building 5, Apartment 903," I stated from memory.

"Good, now go off. You should go to your apartment and get some rest. Tomorrow is your first day at school." She said, shooing me away while handing me my bag and luggage. "I'll get Jihoon to help you."

"O-okay." I stood awkwardly outside the door.

In a matter of minutes, Jihoon came out and took my luggage from me. He led me to the elevator and to Building 5, which was two away from his. I observed my little cousin. Well, not so little anymore.

"Thanks, Jihoon," I said as we reached my building. "I can take it from here."

"Nah, I'll help you." He said, going in.

I shrugged and let him. "So, how's school, Hoon?" I started a conversation as we headed up the elevator.

"Good, it's getting harder but it is good." He said as he played with his fingers.

"You've changed, y'know Hoon?" I said, staring at him.

"Yeah?" He looked up at me. "Did I change badly?"

"Of course not!" I smiled. "You're just not the same, but not in a bad way."

"Oh... phew." He said. "I thought you were going to hate how I changed."

I chuckled at his statement, and just as the conversation ended, the elevator door opened for us to go through to find my apartment.

"Right here Jihoon." I pointed at my place.

"Oh... you're neighbours with..." He stared at Apartment 905.

"Jihoon?" I frowned. "Who is in that Apartment?"

"Just a few boys in your grade." He replied. "I don't know his name though."

He said his goodbyes and left me to wonder who my neighbours were. I shrugged it off and headed into my apartment. It was a nice one, simple but still kinda fancy. I went through the rooms, I found the master bedroom and decided I'd settle in there. The other room in the apartment would be a guest room and the other very small room would be my workspace/storage place. I brought my luggage to the master bedroom and set it down. Luckily, the apartment came with some furniture so I had a place to put my things and sleep. I decided that I would go out to the balcony and enjoy the night sky. It was only 8 o'clock anyways. I would go get ready for bed at 9.

I opened the balcony door from my room and headed out. I watched as the sky was starting to get much darker than it had been a few minutes ago. Sighing, I leaned on the railing, looking out at the stars. Alone, at peace, I thought about everyone at home. I wondered how my mom was doing, how Jordan was doing... and how Jeonghui and Yeongsoo were doing. My gaze dropped as the thought of them appeared in my mind. They were my brothers. Keyword: were. They were great brothers, and I missed them dearly, but they were no longer around. I let all the memories rush through my head and let my tears fall. Before I knew it, I was sitting on the ground rather than just leaning on the railing.

"Hello?" A voice said from my right side. "Miss, are you okay?"

I lifted my head slowly and looked in that direction. "Oh, I'm sorry." I stood up and bowed. "I didn't mean to disturb your evening," I said quietly, wiping away the tears on my cheeks.

"Don't worry about it." He said coldly. "Just... go inside, it's almost 9 and we have school tomorrow." He turned away and walked away.

I wiped the last bit of my tears away and watched as he left. He turned back to lock his balcony door and saw me staring. My eyes widened as I had been caught staring at him. He smirked and waved, giving a slight nod and he let his blinds down, closing them so that I would no longer see him. I blinked and turned away to go into my room.

I thought of who I had just seen, I wondered why he had said that we had school. Maybe he assumed? Well, whatever it was, he was not wrong. I began to get ready for bed and once I was done, I crashed onto my bed. I could not keep myself awake anymore, I was so dead tired, so I just let myself fall asleep.

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I hope this is okay? I think my stories aren't that interesting and sorry for a bit of a slow start. It gets better, I promise. 

Yes, I know, I posted 2 chapters in one day. This is just so that there is something a bit more interesting to read and more than just a bit of an intro.

Hope you're enjoying!

Update 5/22/2020: Since I have so many people supporting my book (THANK YOU) I will be doing the shout outs in chapters that came before when the shout outs started. Thank you <3

Thank you Bunnyzyaa for supporting this book!