Changbin POV

I watched as Areum stormed out. Haneul let out a sigh as she let her friend leave. Chan went over to her and put his hands on her shoulders as she covered her face in slight embarrassment. I looked to everyone else before following Areum out, grabbing her coat and bag, along with my things on my way out. I already knew that she was heading home, so without even trying to look for her, I went in the direction of our apartments. After some time, I got there to find the door to the staircase closing. Instead of taking the stairs, I went to the elevator. Finally, I got to our floor and went to her door.

"Who is it?" A shaky voice said aloud. Looks like she was too lazy to get up and go the door to check first.

"It's Changbin." I said, waiting for a response.

"Go away~" She said after a while.

"I have your stuff though." I reasoned as I waited. The sound of her unlocking her door was heard and she let me in.

"Thanks." She took her things and mine as well. She set my things down on a chair by a table while she put her own things in her room while I took off my shoes.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I sat on the couch when she came out of her room.

"I'm living." She simply replied as she sat beside me.

"What's making you so stressed?" I looked at her seriously.

She sighed. "Why do you care?"

"I'm your friend~" I put a hand on her arm and shook it off lightly. "Aish... you're so thin." I let go of her. "Anyways, what's got you so stressed?"

"Nothing." Her gaze dropped from mine and she looked away from me.

"Yah, stop lying." I nudged her lightly. "Seriously, what's going on?"

"Okay, well I can tell you one thing." She turned to me, probably getting tired of my nagging. "I can't stay here for much longer. That's all."

I hummed questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"Bin, I can't stay here forever." She sighed, putting a hand on mine. "I can't afford this place and I'll have to go back soon."

"When? And where will you stay?" My brows knit together.

"I'm not sure where, but I'll be going back to Canada in March." I watched her heave another sigh. "Don't tell the others okay?"

"Why can't you stay with your cousins?" I asked, trying to think of ways she can stay.

"Actually, they're going to be moving too." Her eyes wandered. "Bora is out of the house and Jihoon got accepted to a school in Europe." She paused. "Plus, my parents... or my mom at least, would want me to come back."

I leaned back on the couch and let my head fall back a little. It was my turn to let out a sigh as I closed my eyes. Biting my lip, I held back the sadness I was feeling within. Beside me, I felt Areum shifting, eventually standing up. Instead of looking at her, I let my eyes stay closed as I felt her presence leave. The sound of cups clinking and water running filled my ears. She returned and had put down the cups on the coffee table. She did not stay though. She went to the kitchen and I heard the sound of pans being taken out while she set something up.

"What are you doing?" I let my eyes open to stare at her in the kitchen.

She shrugged. "Making you dinner." Her eyes flicked to the clock. "It's 6 already."

"You don't have to." I stood to walk over to her. "I can make my-"

"You're here anyways." She cut me off. "Just sit and the food will be ready soon."

~*~

Hyunjin POV

I lay in bed, watching the stars out the window. My mind wandered. I thought about way too many things at once. It filled up my mind too quickly. For no real reason, I began to think of Kkami. Perhaps it was her barking outside my door that caused me to think of her, though it would not normally. Her barking led me to a memory of when Areum met Kkami. It was a cute interaction. Areum loved her and Kkami loved Areum back. The only thing was, Kkami took Areum's attention away from me. But it was all good. I got her attention back after a while.

Soon, my mind was wandering to the thoughts of school. I began to think of the people in my class. There were so many people in my class who admired me for some odd reason. More so, admired my looks. It always made me frustrated that no one looked at me for who I was on the inside. The guys were always watching me, knowing I was now one of the most popular boys in the grade. The girls were watching me, which was normal, because of my looks or something like that. It annoyed me. So many people thought I was just some pretty boy with the looks who could not do very much other than look pretty. Well they were wrong. As Stray Kids formed, people realized I could do more than just look pretty. I could rap and dance, choreograph, and a lot more. They finally started to notice these talents, but still, I was known as the boy with the looks.

Just today, I had gone to school and was greeted by tons of girls going up to me and trying to talk. After sometime, they were all seated because homeroom was about to start. We had a new student today and she was assigned as my seatmate. Sighing, I thought she would be like everyone else. I was wrong. She greeted me silently with a small smile. She set her things down and introduced herself to me, I did the same back. She told me that she was a fan of Stray Kids and hoped we could get along. Instead of being pushy like others who were fans, she just smiled and got down to work. Later, during a break, she brought up a conversation with me, trying to get to know me. The real me.

My mind wandered to the events after school. My smile dropped as I recalled Areum yelling and storming out. Was I really causing that much stress to her? How had I not noticed? I thought to myself as I recalled the memory. She was a great person, but the fact that both me and Minho were fighting over her must have pained her. As I thought on and on about her, I realized that she was hurting because of me and Minho. I did not want to hurt her further than I already have. It hurt me to think that I would have to let go, but someone would have to before things got worse.

Was it time I let her go?

---------------------

I'm still really sad that Woojin left but as long as he is okay and happy, then I will do my best to move on and not let that drag me down. If you guys do not know, Stray Kids has started posting again on Instagram. If they can get back up and start posting then so can I. So here I am, with a new update.

Thank you to straykids_everyday for voting and being very active on my account and with the story! I appreciate it!

Also guys, have you seen this?

https://youtu.be/CWm_PzFN8kI

It's beautiful and it makes me so emotional (???). Stray Kids did an amazing job. Like, guys, Jisung's vocals?!?!? The rap!!! Like honestly I can go on and on about this. You know, I think Woojin would have fit in perfectly if he had the chance to sing this, but I guess we will never get to see that... But I can just imagine, Woojin watching this...

"Oh, what's this?" His eyes scan the video as he listens to the vocals. "They did this? Did they really?" A smile plays on his lips as he puts the song on loop. "They're doing great... I'm so proud of them." A tear slips down his cheek. "So... proud of my boys." Suddenly, his phone rings.  He wipes away the tear rapidly. "Yes?" He says as his friends appear on the screen.
"Hey, hyung!" The sweet maknae voice greets him.
"Did you see the OST?" The deep voice that belonged to a cute boy asked.
All of a sudden, he hears eight voices talking at once and he loudly speaks, telling them to be quiet. "Yes, I saw it, just now. You guys did great. The song is amazing."
"Well, we have one thing to tell you, hyung." The shortest resounds shyly.
"What's that?" The eldest in the conversation's voice sounds shaky to the eight.
"We..." They freeze for a moment.
"We wanted you to know... that we'll never say goodbye." The leader was quiet.
"That we are one." The boy with the camera looked at the screen.
"And we'll always be by your side." The tallest fumbled with his fingers.
"Hyung..." The boys quieted as the squirrel looking boy spoke. "This song is for you."
"We... miss you... and love you very much." The dancer who held the phone while holding a bundle in his other hand spoke. "The song... we sung it thinking of you."
"Guys..." The man put down his glass while staring at the phone, seeing his dongsaengs on screen. "I am so... very proud of you."

Anyways...

I'm an emo now.

okay bye!