Jisung couldn't sleep all night. Well, technically he did get some shut eye between 12 to 3, but then he woke up when he heard someone moving outside. And then, he couldn't fall asleep again. 

All his thoughts were preoccupied by Areum. He missed her already, to no bounds. She may have been dating Felix, but she was still Jisung's best friend. And he missed her laughter, and her stupid jokes, and the times when the two would go on shoplifting sprees in the middle of the night. The two of them were as thick as thieves, they knew literally everything about each other. Heck, she was the first person that knew about him being gay. 

And her not being there anymore felt like a part of him had been ripped away. He couldn't bear it. He needed her with him, safe and sound. But instead, she was gone, and by the looks of it, she had chosen to leave. 

When he had first joined Stray Kidz, he was a mess. A psychopath. A maniac. Back then, he was a wanted serial killer. He used to be so alone, so desperate for a sense of longing, that he couldn't bear to watch other people, people so happy and into their own lives that they didn't give a fuck about what others might be going through. So Jisung would kill anyone he saw happy. Yet he would never kill a child, not wanting them to go through the same childhood that he did. 

But then he found Stray Kidz. A family that he always wanted but never got. And everyone there had a sad and heartbreaking childhood just like he did. Even after joining Stray Kidz, he couldn't stop killing. Somehow, it still pained him to see others happy. He would go into a frenzy and kill a few people in one night. And Areum helped him get over the obsession he once had. She would stay with him throughout the nights, and call him when she was not with him to make sure that he was fine. Till finally, he overcame his obsession. Ever since then, the two had always been by each other's side, up until Areum started dating Felix. And Jisung was fine with that, he was so happy to see someone make her happy. 

But now she was gone. 

He turned to his other side in frustration, freezing momentarily as he came face to face with Minho. 

Minho, Jisung thought. Just looking at Minho would make Jisung's heart flutter. And right now, as Jisung stared at him, there was nothing more perfect than him in the world; Areum being missing or not.

Jisung just gawked at him. The rhythm in which his chest slowly rose and fell, His sun kissed skin, his big eyes that were set close together, his beautiful long eyelashes, his long nose and his high nose bridge, his sharp, angled jawline. And his lips. His beautiful lips. The way his upper lip protrudes out and covers a bit of his lower lip. And the way those same lips go upward every now and then, revealing his gummy smile and rabbit teeth. Jisung sometimes had the urge to just grab his face and-

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE, PEICE OF SHIT, DICKHEAD" Minho shouted, his eyes still closed serenely, him showing no signs of being awake, except for the outburst he just had. 

"Oh so I'm the dickhead now?" Jisung softly asked, using his only tactic for whenever Minho sleep-talked. 

"Yes. The biggest dickhead I ever saw." Minho mumbled in reply. 

"Oh really? Fine then. I'm leaving now." Jisung softly replied, looking at Minho with so much care.

"Bye Bye" Minho mumbled.

Jisung slowly got out of bed, and walked towards the door. He slowly opened the door, careful not to make any sound as walked out. He went into the kitchen, thinking of making himself a cup of coffee. 

(A/N: i ain't describing his coffee and shit cuz i'm too lazy)

Once he was done, he took his cup and went out into the porch. The sun had already risen, its shine covering the white porch in beautiful shades of golden. Jisung looked downwards, at the purple-headed boy sitting on the steps. 

Felix? What's he doing here?

Felix's body was leaning on the right post, his figure slouched, as his body kept rising and falling in a rhythmic way.

Jisung's lips curved upwards as an idea lit up in his mind. He moved towards Felix swiftly, not making any noise. He squatted down right beside Felix and moved his mouth to Felix's ear as he screeched, "WAKE UP SLEEPYHEAD!" 

Felix jerked awake and jumped up. He jumped as he turned to face Jisung, standing in awkward squat position with his hands in front of him. His eyes were all puffy, and his hair were falling on his face. 

"Oh. It's you." Felix mumbled in an unnaturally deep voice, even for him. He sat back down beside Jisung, looking out into the unknown.

"Good morning to you too." Jisung smiled, sipping his coffee. 

"Why'd you do that?" Felix asked, glaring at Jisung's side profile.

"Cause everyone is sleeping, and I'm too lazy to wake them all up, and I want to know Areum's boyfie better" Jisung smirked, moving his shoulder behind Felix to push it forward, making Felix hit his head on his knees. 

"You wanna get to know me? For starters, stop doing that!" he muttered, still glaring at Jisung. 

"Hmm. So tell me. What was it like? Dating Ari?" Jisung asked, turning to look at Felix. This time Jisung said something, Felix was surprisingly not annoyed, mainly because he could see the genuine curiosity in the former's eyes. 

"Pure heaven. We always understood each other. When we were not even in each other's presence, we could always sense if we needed each other. Movie dates, mall dates, shopping sprees, and then those days when we'd just go to each other's house and laugh all day at stupid jokes. Small hugs and kisses every now and then was all we needed." Felix chuckled, remembering all the good times he'd spent together with Areum. 

"Sounds nice. We also used to do something like that. Except the only thing that could even be called a date between the two of us were the shoplifting sprees we went on." Jisung spoke, taking a big sip from his coffee. 

"Dates? Did you two date each other or something?!" Felix asked, his tone getting more aggressive by the second. 

"Ari definitely wasn't kidding when she said that you're overprotective of her." Jisung chuckled. "But no, we didn't date each other, we're besties. Besides, I'm gay." 

"Oh you're gay? Wait, you're Ari's best friend? Ari talked about me?" Felix questioned, his curiosity finally spiking. 

"Hmm. She talked about you a lot. Like too much. She cared about you a lot. We all have been waiting to meet you for so long, but Ari promised to let you meet us only after she told you about Stray Kidz. But she never did get to tell you, did she? She was always afraid of what might happen if she told you." Jisung said, wiping his mouth with the edge of his sleeve.

"There's a lot she never told me, isn't it?" Felix acknowledged. 

"Yeah. But don't worry, she always told me and Hyunjin to be there for you if she wasn't. That's why I'm with you right now, and that's why Jinnie was the one who did all the talking yesterday. No matter what, Lix, she always kept your safety in her mind. I know right now that it seems like she's betrayed all of us, but the truth is, she always reason for everything she did. So don't beat yourself up over her going missing. Okay?" Jisung said, looking at Felix in the eye. 

"Hmm. Can we go in now?" Felix asked. 
"Yea" 

The two got up and walked back into the house, meeting a very chaotic Stray Kidz. 

"THERE YOU TWO ARE! COME ON! FOLLOW ME TO THE LIVING ROOM! Yura found something about Ari."

~°~

Hey guys
Not one of my cheery messages this time, but I want to ask you guys something.
Do you actually like this fic?

Cuz someone sent me a hate message in my dm, and it hurts becuz i work rlly hard while writing this.
All the haters out there, you people really dont have the right to judge anyone's work, mainly becuz u're the ones who're choosing to read this. If u dont like my work, dont read. At least dont make the writer feel bad. 

Cora