[CONTENTID1]Chapter 59[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Surprise[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

"Okay, bye mom," Kris hung up.

That's weird. His mother had just called and said that she and Mei Li’s mom were going to eat out and wouldn't be home until tonight. Maybe she wanted to give us alone time with Mei Li and Anne before we leave.

Kris went back to Anne who was completely absorbed in the Korean books he showed her.

"Hey, your mom and my mom are going to eat out and won't be back until tonight. After breakfast, how about we all go to the mall?" he suggested.

"Jeongmal?" She exclaimed, giggling at her own accent.

"Haha, you’re a fast learner. I must be an amazing teacher," he smirked.

"Pfft," she stuck her tongue out, "or I must be an amazing student."

Kris rolled his eyes. "Anyways, is that a yes?"

She nodded repeatedly and grinned.

"Breakfast is ready!" Mei Li called.

They went to the kitchen and Anne sat down. "Mmmm, smell's good, jie jie!"

"Hopefully it tastes good too," Mei Li smiled.

"Luhan, go upstairs and wake Xiumin and Tao, I'll get Chen and Lay," Kris told him.

He stood up but Mei Li stopped him. "No, I'll go. Luhan's getting a cold."

"Okay," Kris replied, but later changed his mind. "Wait, you get Chen and Lay, I'll get Xiumin and Tao." Tao has ruined our image enough, haha.

"Okay?" Mei Li answered, confused.

After everyone finished eating, they changed and got ready to go. "Christmas shopping?" Lay whispered to Kris.

"Yep,” he replied.

"Great idea, hyung," Lay grinned, holding a thumbs-up.

 

 

 

They got on the bus and surprisingly, it wasn't that crowded. "Everyone's on vacation in some other city or something probably," Kris explained.

As they were all talking, Tao noticed that Anne was speaking in Korean every now and then. Whoa, how many 'lessons' has she had with Kris already? He sighed.

"Yah, Tao," Chen tapped his shoulder.

"Huh?"

"What are you going to get her?" Chen asked.

"Uhm, I don't know. What does Anne like anyways?" Tao wondered aloud.

"Uh...I was talking about Mei Li but okaaaaay there," Chen laughed.

Tao blushed. "Oh, uhm, I meant to say Mei Li."

"So you're telling me you don't know what Mei Li likes? Are you kidding, she's your precious Mei Mei noona," he imitated Tao’s voice, mocking him.

Tao glared at him and he backed down. "Relax, I'm kidding."

Soon, they arrived at the mall and Mei Li and Anne's expressions immediately brightened. Girls and their shopping. I wonder if there's a gucci store here. Tao surveyed the area.

"Where to first?" Lay asked.

"How about the food court?" Xiumin suggested.

Kris slapped the back of his head. "You just ate, you pig."

"Owww, I was just kidding..." he pouted.

Anne suddenly gasped. "Look, jie jie! 75% off at Forever 21!"

She dragged her sister over to the store and marvelled at all the clothes. "Well then, I guess we'll split up then!" Kris yelled out to them.

Tao’s jaw dropped. What? Split up? How am I supposed to know what Anne likes then!

"What? Split up already? Shouldn't we—"

Anne covered her sister's mouth. "Okay! Let's meet at the food court in 2 hours!" She quickly dragged Mei Li inside the store and they disappeared.

"That was easier than I thought," Kris stated.

"Why are we splitting up?" Tao asked innocently.

All five of them looked at Tao like he was an alien. "Seriously, maknae? Don't you remember that we're leaving in two days? We have to buy them presents before we go!" Lay explained.

"Leaving in two d—" Tao pouted, realizing it was already the twentieth. "Oh yea."

"So are we all going to combine our money and buy a gift for each of them together or do this individually?" Kris asked.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure Luhan is going to get something for Mei Li by himself, whether or not we do a group gift," Xiumin pointed out.

Luhan smiled sheepishly and Chen spoke up. "And Tao's going to buy something for Anne, too."

"Yah!" Tao yelled.

Kris and Xiumin glanced at Chen in confusion while Lay and Luhan seemed to share a look of understanding.

Aish, stupid hyungs. Tao shot daggers at Chen, but Chen just shrugged. "What, you didn't deny it."

Tao rolled his eyes. "What are we going to get for Ayi?" He changed the subject.

"Which Ayi?" Lay asked.

"Both," Tao replied.

"Well Kris should know what his mom likes, but as for Mei Li's mom..." Chen trailed off.

Xiumin spoke up. "Let's start with Kris's mom first then."

They all turned to Kris and he thought about it. "Jewellery?"

"That's kind of general," Luhan noted.

"Earrings I guess," Kris added.

Hmmm... "How about we get the Ayis matching earrings then?" Tao suggested.

Xiumin nodded and put his hand on Tao’s shoulder. "Whoa, the maknae actually has a good idea for once."

Tao stuck his tongue out at him. "Look who's talking."

"Sounds good," Kris agreed.

They proceeded to the nearest jewellery store in the mall and Kris picked out silver triangle-shaped earrings for his mom. It was expensive, but they didn't mind the price. After all, his mom had done so much for them.

Then they picked a pair of earrings for Mei Li's mom, except that instead of being triangular, they were circular.

The boys split the bill and paid.

"What now?" Lay asked as they walked out of the store.

"Uhm, I'm going to go there," Luhan said, pointing to a dress shop.

Kris smirked. "Well thanks to Luhan, I guess we're all buying the girls' gifts separately."

"Hm, maybe I'll get Mei Li a winter hat or something; I remember that she kept going out with only a winter jacket," Lay thought out loud.

Luhan scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I bought her one about a week ago."

Lay groaned in frustration. "Ah hyung, if you buy her everything, what are we going to get her!"

Luhan laughed. "Well, I didn't get her mitts or a scarf."

"Dibs on getting her mitts," said Kris.

"I call getting her a scarf then," Lay added quickly before anyone could cut in.

Chen and Xiumin pouted. "Hey, what about us!"

Tao rolled his eyes. "Slowpokes," he mumbled.

Xiumin heard him and scoffed. "What are you going to get Mei Li then, huh, smartypants?"

"Secret," Tao answered bluntly. "Anyways, shouldn't we hurry? We only have ninety minutes before we have to meet them in the food court."

"Oh shoot," Luhan said, dashing off to a dress store, "See you guys, later!"

"Yah, hyung!" Lay yelled.

"Leave him be, let's go find a store that sells winter clothing," Kris said, gesturing to the escalator.

The others followed him and they got on, slowly making their way up to the second floor. Tao glanced back at the direction Luhan went and decided to follow him instead. "Hyungs, I'm going to go with Luhan!" he yelled.

Before they could stop him, he ran off to the dress store. Luhan must know what Anne likes. Mei Li has to have mentioned something about her at least.

"Hyung!" Tao shouted, entering the store.

Luhan whipped around in shock. "Why aren't you with the others?"

"Well, you were alone so I thought I should accompany you," Tao lied.

"Really?" Luhan raised an eyebrow at him, "Not because you wanted to know what Anne likes?"

Tao stuttered, "W-what?"

"Save it, maknae," Luhan chuckled, "it's obvious that you like her."

"No I don't, hyung!" Tao denied it.

"Then why do you care about her so much?" Luhan asked.

"She's noona's sister, of course we have to look after her," Tao pointed out.

Luhan smirked. "That's right, so you shouldn't get jealous of Kris when he's with Anne. He's just looking out for her."

"W-What? Who said I'm jealous!" Tao exclaimed.

Luhan sighed and started walking around the store. "No time for this, help me pick out a dress for Mei Li."

Tao followed him around in silence, glad that he ended that conversation. Occasionally Tao would hold up a few dresses, but Luhan was never satisfied. “Let's try a different store," Luhan suggested.

They ended up going through almost every single dress store in the mall. "We only have fifteen minutes left," Tao informed him as they made their way to the last dress store.

Grrr, what am I supposed to get Anne now?

Suddenly, Luhan's voice interrupted Tao’s thoughts. "This is perfect."

Tao went over to Luhan and saw him gazing at a beautiful strapless white dress. It was simple, yet elegant, just perfect for Mei Li since she didn't like flashy things.

"Finally, hyung!" Tao exclaimed. "Why did you decide to get her a dress anyways?"

"Well you know that Mei Li's family isn't really rich," Luhan explained, "so why not get her a dress? She always wears cardigans and hoodies. She's never worn a party dress before. Even at the SM Christmas party, she had worn a summer dress."

Ohhh, that's why. Tao nodded. Maybe I should get Anne a dress then...

As if reading his thoughts, Luhan spoke up. "Hey, you should get Anne a dress!"

Tao hesitated. "You getting Mei Li a dress is understandable. If I get Anne a dress..." he trailed off.

Luhan shrugged. "How about you buy shoes for Mei Li to match with this dress and I'll buy shoes for Anne? It won't seem so weird then."

While Tao was still contemplating on the idea, Luhan rushed him. "Hurry up and decide, we only have ten minutes until we have to meet them at the food court."

Without a choice, Tao trudged around the store, looking for a dress suitable for Anne. She was still a high school girl, so he didn't want to get her anything too revealing.

Just then, his eyes landed on a simple red knee-length dress with a black bow on the waistline. He went over to it and took it off the hanger. Luhan gave him a thumbs up and picked out a pair of black flats with red bows on them. They quickly brought them to the front counter and paid separately.

"Oh shoot, I wanted to get Ayi something as well," Luhan said when they stepped out of the store.

"Which Ayi?" Tao asked.

"Mei Li's mom," he replied.

"But we already bought her a combined gift," Tao noted.

Luhan nodded. "I know, but I want to get her something else too."

Tao rolled his eyes. " up to the parents, eh?"

Luhan scowled and Tao just stuck his tongue out. He checked his watch. "We have five minutes, hyung."

Luhan bit his lip and glanced around. "Quickly, over there!" he exclaimed, pointing at the nearest jewellery store.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Mei Li was confused. "Why did you suggest to split up? I thought you'd die being able to shop with EXO.”

"Unnie, you can be so clueless sometimes," Anne giggled.

Unnie? "Since when did you learn Korean," Mei Li pointed out.

"Kris oppa taught me," Anne grinned.

"Kris oppa?" Mei Li laughed, "Oh gosh, Anne."

Anne stuck out her tongue. "Anyways, let's go." She linked arms with Mei Li and pulled her out of the store.

"Huh? I thought you wanted to shop here," Mei Li stated.

"Unnie!" Anne exclaimed. "Don't you remember what day it is today?"

Her sister thought about it. "The twentieth, why?"

"And what's coming up in five days?"

"21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th..." Mei Li paused and it finally hit her. "Hehe, oops."

Anne laughed. "Now what do the oppas like?"

"Shouldn't we shop for mom first?" Mei Li noted.

"Oh, that's right," Anne smiled sheepishly.

"Anne!" Mei Li laughed.

They decided to get mom a shower set from Bath & Body Works, one of her favorite stores. They'd always buy her a gift together every year, since Anne didn't have that much money to buy separately.

They kept walking around the mall, and a store called 'Claire's' caught Anne's attention. "Unnie, can we go there?" she pleaded.

Mei Li laughed. "Sure." Sometimes I forget she's four years younger.

"Awww!" A