"So, Mark, do you really not recognize me or are you just ignoring your childhood best friend?"
When her best friend moved to Korea to become an idol, their contact died down and they soon started living lives completely separate from one another...
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The Christmas spirit was settling into the city and its people, Gyuri noticed as she walked through a shopping mall. Everywhere she looked, she saw Christmas decorations lighting up the place and making it feel cozy. She liked this time of year when people got together with loved ones and spent their time joyfully.
A few days after the phone calls with their parents, Mark called her to let her know their parents had gotten together to work out the details. Both families ended up booking flights as their schedules allowed them to travel to Korea for the holidays. Mark and Gyuri had been through the roof, not believing their luck. Getting to spend Christmas with both of their families together; it felt like a dream.
They had immediately gotten down to plan as much as they could; from picking everyone up at the airport to the Christmas dinner as well as some outings to do on the other days. After some brainstorming about restaurants and other places to eat, they had settled on eating in Gyuri's apartment. It was the easiest thing to do, and it would allow them to cook together and have a good time. Besides, it was the most comfortable since it ensured more privacy than eating somewhere else.
Obviously, since there were a lot of people coming to provide food for, the dinner needed good planning to ensure everything worked out. From having enough food to having enough chairs, Gyuri was running around town trying to get everything ready in time for the holiday.
Mark came up with the idea of buying each other gifts, and everybody was on board with it which is why Gyuri was strolling around the mall trying to find gifts for everyone. Since she had to buy something for two families now, it was an even bigger challenge. She already found it hard to pick something for her own family, let alone Mark's, who she hadn't seen in ages. She had some ideas but wanted to check the stores to see what she'd run into. You could always find some surprisingly good gifts in the most random stores.
She hadn't spoken to Mark over the last few days, but she guessed it was because of his tight schedule. With the many award shows coming up, as well as an unexpected comeback for NCT DREAM, the boy was insanely busy and didn't have a lot of time to text or call. Instead of contacting him and waiting for him to reply during a small break, Gyuri decided to just give him some space to focus on his work. They'd see each other soon enough, so Gyuri took a step back and did her own thing while he did his.
She roamed around a random store she thought looked cool and picked up some pieces to look at them closely. It was a store full of small, self-made jewelry and other gifts. The design of the store had drawn Gyuri in, with its fairy lights and plants it looked very homey and welcoming. It wasn't busy inside with only a few teenage girls roaming around in the back of the store.
She browsed through the shop for a little while, eventually finding something for her mom as well as for Mark. The owner was a really sweet girl in her twenties who ran it with one of her friends. There was also a cat walking around the place, making Gyuri smile. She bent down to the floor and held her hand out for the feline to sniff it curiously. She softly stroked its head and the cat closed its eyes comfortably, rubbing its head against Gyuri's hand. The cat seemed to like her as a soft purr came from the small animal as it closed its eyes comfortably.
