Before I'm Gone | Stray Kids FF

Valentine's

Jeongin POV

"What are you doing for Valentine's?" I asked Areum while we sat and ate some snacks.

"I dunno." She shrugged. "What is there for me to do other than give you all hugs and chocolates?"

"Confess to someone?" I nudged her.

"Yeah, no." She chuckled. "There's no one to confess to either."

"There's nine of us!" I exclaimed. "Well, I like someone, and another is taken but my point still stands."

"Yeah no thanks." She shook her head. "I'm good."

"Come on, Noona." I shook her arm.

"No~" She replied while ruffling my hair.

We continued going back and forth. In the end, we ended up in a fit of laughter. At this point, some of the others had arrived and had started a movie too.

The movie was still going but more than half the guys had fallen asleep, Haneul too. I looked over to find Areum half awake beside me. Looking around, I noticed that everyone was asleep or falling asleep (A/N: yes, that includes you Chan. Yes, I'm looking at you. Get some rest!) Chuckling, I reached for the remote and turned off the tv while all my hyungs and noonas drifted off to dreamland. Getting up, I went to turn off the lights but as I did, I heard whimpers coming from someone.

"Jeongin?" A small voice from the couch spoke out.

"Yeah?" I went over to Areum. "I'm here, why are you awake?"

"I..." She mumbled. "I just... bad dream." She stuttered out.

"Want to go to my room?" I put out my hand, which she took gratefully and let me lead her to the room. "What did you dream?"

"It's the same thing all the time." She sat on my bed. "It's always about that night."

"Hey, it'll be okay." I sat beside her. "That's in the past... things are okay now... right?"

"I guess." She sighed. "It's just... I miss them Jeongin. A lot." She paused. "I guess you'd know what that feels like."

"I do." I nodded, leaning back at the wall. "It'll be okay Areum." I nudged her. "You have us, we're your family now."

She smiled and nodded. "Let's sleep, okay?" I agreed and let her fall asleep beside me as I too, fell asleep.

~*~

Changbin POV

I was sitting outside when suddenly I heard the door open next door. A delirious Areum stumbled out and sat down on one of the chairs outside. She rest her head on the table and took deep breaths. I silently watched until I knew she was calmed down. Standing up, I silently made my way over to the railing.

"What's going on?" I asked as she looked up, startled at my voice.

"Bad dream... and you?" She rose a brow.

"Uh ... insomnia?" I shrugged.

She sighed and looked at out towards the stars. It took some time, but after me asking her about some stuff, she finally opened up about the bad dream. She told me she was taken back to that night. She jumped but before more happened, she woke up. She also told me that a lot of things were bothering her too.

"When will you tell them?" I asked.

"Someday." Her head hung low. "I just can't bring myself to tell them I'm leaving."

"You'll have to soon." I tried to convince her to. "It's not good to hide it too long."

"I know." A little bit of bitterness was in her voice. "It's just hard." She looked up at me. "I will, I promise. I'll do it this month. I promise."

"Good." I nodded and looked at my watch. "Let's head in."

She said her goodbyes and walked inside while I walked away, trying to shake the fact that she would be leaving us.

~*~

3rd Person POV

Haneul ran out of the house and quickly headed to the park. She was running a little late, but that was because she had been up all night making her gift for the guys. She and Areum were working together to do Valentine's gifts. Being the artist she was, she drew out cute cards for all of them while Areum went out to buy chocolates and candies. On top of that, she had to go the extra mile to make something for Chan. Of course, she ended up falling asleep and oversleeping instead.

"Took you long enough." Areum chuckled when she saw Haneul coming by. "You're lucky, all the guys are running late too."

"Oh, well, I'm in luck then." She opened her bag and handed everything to Areum. "Can you organize those? I need to finish Chan's gift."

"Sure." Areum started putting all the chocolates and candies in jars and putting cards with them, making them look pretty. Meanwhile, Haneul was putting the finishing touches to her gift box for Chan.

"Ahh!" Areum and Haneul yelped as they felt hands on their shoulders.

They both turned around to find Jisung and Seungmin laughing at the girl's reaction. They smiled and sat down in front of Areum and Haneul once they finished laughing at the two.

"What's this?" Seungmin asked, taking the jar from Areum.

"It's Valentine's, what did you think we were going to do?" Haneul chuckled, giving Jisung's jar to him.

"You weren't going to wait until we all arrived?" Jisung smiled as he read his card.

"Nope." Areum shook her head. "You're all late, so this is how it'll go."

"Alright then." Seungmin smiled and they continued their conversation until everyone showed up. They were playing games, and it was all fun and games until Minho took Areum's hand and took her somewhere else with a serious look on his face.

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So I am totally off with the dates.... they don't align.... shushhh

So close to 12k... I can't believe it... is that real?

Also I've been trying to learn Chan's rap in Start Line.... I am making progress (???)

See you next time!