Before I'm Gone | Stray Kids FF

Let Me Explain

Hyunjin POV

"Areum!" I ran outside. "Wait, I can explain!"

She was running too, and she refused to slow down. I watched as she hurriedly went off, not even in the direction of her own home. She was running off to where Haneul lived. I stopped running and took out my phone, calling Chan.

"Hey, Hyunjin." Came the voice. "What's up?"

"Can you go out in a few minutes, Areum is running off... I don't think she's willing to talk to me or Minho, and she's headed to Haneul's place." I took a breath. "Please stop her and talk to her."

"Um, sure." He hung up and I was left to wait and see what would happen.

~*~

Minho POV

I watched from the doorway as Hyunjin stopped running and pulled out his phone. Who was he calling? Ignoring that, I looked onwards, to see Areum running quickly, towards Chan's house. That meant she was probably heading to Haneul's house. Sighing, I walked down the steps and looked back at the house where Felix was standing and watching me.

"Where are you going, hyung?" He cocked his head.

"After Areum," I said looking up at him.

"Don't you think you should give her some space?" He questioned.

"No..." I looked out. "I need to explain myself."

"Fine, if you say so." Felix nodded and walked back into the house.

Without a second thought, I ran. It was about a good seven minutes later when I spotted Areum. She had stopped running, but it seemed as though she had stopped just recently. She did not hear my footsteps running after her. She seemed to be lost in her own world. I felt sorry, maybe I should not disturb her. But then again, I really did need to explain myself.

"Areum!" I said, running up to her and tapping her shoulder.

She quickly looked at me, scared, but her frightened face was wiped off when she noticed that it was me. "What?"

"I..." I tried to take a few breaths "I... need... to-"

"Catch your breath first." She walked on, not asking me to follow her, but knowing I would follow anyways.

"Areum..." Again, she cut me off.

"Catch your breath." She silenced me and kept going.

After a while, I was able to breathe steadily and I had caught up to her, finally, she let me talk to her. "Can I please explain myself?"

"Go ahead." She said, not giving me a glance at all. "I'm listening."

"I'm sorry that we fought... especially in front of you." I began the explanation. "It's just... we... we've been fighting over you. I guess for your attention."

She sighed. "And?"

"We've let it go too far. I'm sorry." I tried to sound as sincere as I could. "I'm the older one, I guess I should have been the one to stop... but... my feelings..."

"I know, they take over." She nodded, finally looking at me. "It's okay Minho." She put her hand on my back. "Just... please don't fight anymore." She requested. "I don't want you guys fighting, especially over me." She thought of what to say next as if contemplating whether she should say it or not. "And... I don't want you to show that you have an interest okay?"

"Why?" I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering why.

"You don't need to know." She replied. "Just don't. Especially not at school." She walked faster as she neared Haneul's place.

"Areum!" She didn't listen as she kept walking, passing Chan, who was trying to talk to her, on the way. I walked towards Chan and we gave each other a glance.

"I think we broke her," I said quietly.

"What did you two do...?" He shook his head and looked at me. "Wait... Minho..." He looked closer at my face. "What in the world? Did you two fight physically?!"

"Maybe..." I said, looking away.

~*~

Areum POV

Jisung had just asked me to critique his dance. Then so did Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin. I was starting to get tired, but I had to help out, so I did, staying an extra hour to help out. They all kept asking me for so much. "Areum critique this." "Areum help me get this right." "Areum check this move." "Areum show me how to..." "Areum do...." "Areum help..." There was so much to do. The boys were about to go into the seventh round in the competition. This one was one of the bigger ones, they were to perform on a bigger stage with a bigger audience. By the end of the practice, the boys had been dissatisfied with their performance, but called it a night since they had school the next day.

"Noona, one more thing?" Changbin and Hyunjin came up to me.

I tried to stifle my groan. It worked. "Yes?"

"Can you help us just figure out one part in the dance? We can't figure out who's right." Changbin asked as he looked at Hyunjin.

"Sure." I nodded, watching them perform the moves. "Well..." I looked at them both. "Neither are right." I showed them the move. "Changbin, you're doing it too sharp. Hyunjin, you're doing it too slowly." I did it once more. "Do it at Changbin's speed, but with the softness from Hyunjin," I explained.

"Oh, okay, thanks, Noona!" Hyunjin smiled and walked away with Changbin to get their things.

"Areum, you okay?" Woojin put his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm alright." I nodded, looking up at him.

"You sure?" He looked down at me. "You just spaced out, everyone has already gone, except you."

I looked around. He was right, in the time I had spaced out, everyone had left except for the two of us. "I'm okay." I tried to convince him that I was okay.

"Jeongin's waiting outside." He said. "He insisted that I check up on you."

"Really?" I chuckled. "Tell him that I'm alright," I said. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Sure thing." He left me so I could get my things and follow him.

I went out to find Jeongin and Woojin conversing. Not wanting to disturb them, I came by quietly, overhearing Jeongin talking about Eunji to Woojin. I chuckled, causing him to notice me. He blushed and I patted his back, telling him it was okay to say these things. I know that even though I can be distant, I can still be trusted. I tried making sure that they all knew that. Hopefully, they do not lose their trust in me. I do not want to be hopeless to them.

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So I posted this because I will not be very active for about two weeks. I'm sorry! ;-; I thought I might post one or more chapters, but I'm running on a tight schedule right now, sorry!

Also, I'm not sure if I want to continue this... like I love writing and all but I feel like the story isn't very good and not very many people are reading it (?). Of course, it's not because I want more reads, but I'm just thinking, is there a point for me to post if no one likes it?

Thank you Lucky134340 for supporting my book!

Well, I think I'll post a few more chapters if I can!