Henry let a week pass until he was certain he wouldn't get much better and neither much worse anytime soon before he contacted Sungmin again about the Christmas shopping. Sungmin said he was currently extremely busy, though, so they pushed the date further away. When Henry visited Zhou Mi during that week, the other also seemed to be incredibly busy. He had never noticed Christmas could end up being such a hectic season...

It was finally on the first Saturday of December that Sungmin called him again to see if they should go Christmas shopping the next day. Henry instantly agreed, feeling well enough to do that and for sure excited enough as well. He already knew what he wanted to get, so he at least wouldn't have to look around too much.

It was still morning when someone rang the door bell on Sunday. Henry hurried to get to the door and open it, grinning at a warmly dressed Sungmin. "Good morning~"

Sungmin laughed. "Good morning sunshine! Are you ready to go?"

"Almost. Do you want to come in for a minute?"

"Sure. It's freezing outside! Make sure to dress accordingly."

Henry rolled his eyes. "I will, don't worry. Rmember I know those kinds of temperatures from Canada and from having lived here for three years already."

"I'm sorry."

"Honey, is that Sungmin?" Sooyoung called out from the kitchen.

"Yes, it is," Henry called back.

"Hello, Sungmin," two people replied and a moment later Kangin also appeared in the door way to greet Zhou Mi's best friend personally.

Henry got ready while he listened to the two men talk, smiling happily because they got along so well. He just closed the zipper of his jacket when his mother, too, came out of the kitchen. "Please excuse the inconvenience, Sungmin. I was already preparing lunch."

"Already? Isn't it too early to do so?"

"Not necessarily. If you two are back in time, why don't you stay for lunch, Sungmin?"

"Sure, I'd love that! There's nothing better than a mother's home made meal!" Sungmin replied enthusiastically and Henry could see he definitely meant what he said, making him smile. The other was probably lonelier in his apartment on his own than he let anyone see.

"Great! Now take care you two, alright?" Sooyoung replied with a smile that was the happiest Henry figured he had seen in a while. Especially after she had found out about the deadline she had been extremely sad. Henry was glad to see his mother still knew how to smile.

"We will," he promised and looked at Sungmin. "Ready?"

"Ready. See you later, Mr. and Mrs Kim," he said cheerfully and bowed at them. Henry simply waved at his parents, then they left. They hadn't gotten far yet when Sungmin seemed to realize something else. "Henry, you brought your wallet, didn't you? And do you have a card for the subway?"

The younger man chuckled but nodded. "I do, don't worry. I'm not sure how much money is still on it since I rarely ever use it, but if necessary we'll just put some more money on it and then I'm sure we'll be fine," he replied with a warm smile.

Sungmin nodded in relief. "That's great to hear! Do you already know what you want to get today?"

Henry nodded once again. "I do. At least kind of."

"Oh really? What is it?"

He blushed. "Stuffed animals, actually... I figured it would be nice when... you know, when there's something that'll last. Something you can hold on to and that will always be with you."

"As much as that makes me sad, I actually like that idea," Sungmin replied quietly.

Henry sighed softly. "I know..." He had thought a lot about that during those past two weeks until he had figured this really was the best decision.

"Do you already know what kinds of plushies you want to get for whom?"

The younger man nodded. "Yes, I actually do. I didn't have much better to do than think about that, after all, did I?" he replied, realizing as he spoke that his voice sounded more bitter than he had intended it to.

"I'm sorry..." Sungmin looked down. "I know this must be really hard on you."

"It's fine," Henry replied quietly. "I wouldn't want to ruin Christmas for you all, after all..."

They were quiet as they went down the stairs to the subway and eventually got to the right platform, waiting for the train to arrive. Neither of them felt like saying anything else about that topic. Henry couldn't help but recall again how close everything was, how little time he had left... And how much he knew the doctor was right about his diagnosis. He knew the end was near. He could feel it. It was clear with every day that he realized how difficult eating had gotten, it was obvious with every day he wanted to spend hours practicing like he always had and instead had to take breaks in the end, and he knew it by how much time he spent sleeping lately. And he hated his body for all of that. His only highlights lately seemed to be meeting up with Zhou Mi and Sungmin and his emails with Ryeowook - due to the time difference and his progressing disease they could hardly ever do video chats, after all.

Without having realized it, they were suddenly at the right stop and left the train. When they took the escalator upstairs and then only had to walk a few more meters until they entered the nicely warm shopping center.

"Do you know where to go?" Henry asked and looked around. He hadn't been at the mall in a very long time and he didn't think he had ever found his way around this place.

Sungmin shook his head. "No, I actually don't. Let's check what their map says."

"Sounds like a plan. Do you know what store name you're looking for?"

"I do."

"That's good."

They went towards the stairs and Sungmin took his time studying the plan of the building while Henry looked around with little success - everything he could see were a bunch of clothing stores, small restaurants, booths in the middle of the hallway, and one drugstore. There was no store for stuffed animals in sight.

Eventually, the older male turned to him. "I finally found it! It's around the middle on the second floor. Let's go and find more escalators~!" he said enthusiastically and, without waiting for an answer, took Henry's hand and walked with him. The younger couldn't help but laugh softly at his friend's behavior as he went along, grateful the other was cheerful again. "May I ask what kinds of plushies you want to get?"

Henry nodded. "I thought about... Well, this will sound boring, but maybe a teddy bear for Zhou Mi... and couple bears for my parents, if I find any that I like?"

"Any what? Parents?"

"Pabo!" The younger man shook his head, but he could help the smile that sneaked onto his lips. "And I thought about getting a giraffe plushie for Wookie."

"What about me?"

"You don't seriously expect me to tell you what exactly I'll get you for Christmas, do you?"

Sungmin pouted. "You're right..."

"I know I am, silly~" They finally got to one of the escalators and rode it up to the first floor before getting onto the next one to ride it up to the second floor. "What about you? Do you already know what you'd like to get?"

Sungmin shook his head. "I'm still looking for inspiration," he replied and shrugged lightly. "But obviously stuffed animals can't be on my list anymore."

"I'm sorry~"

"Don't be. Really, I love your idea."

"Thank you. I'm glad you do. Will you help me look for everything, though?"

"Sure. That's what I'm here for, after all, isn't it?" They smiled at each other.

Getting off the escalator again, they looked around for a moment unti