Clutching a cheesy gift bag with tissue paper sticking out of it and ribbons stuck on every square inch, Sanghyuk pushes open the door of the meeting room. And what he sees is an absolute storm. Aimee is clinging to Leo with all of her strength as he drags her around, looking extremely annoyed. N is squealing and waving around tickets to a Sunmi concert; Ken is screaming even louder, clutching a Nami body pillow to his chest; and Ravi has attached himself to Hongbin's leg and is cuddling with it.

"Um....hi?" Sanghyuk asks tentatively, questioning the sanity of his fellow council members. No one responds except for Hongbin, who gives him a weak smile and a small wave. Shrugging, Hyuk drops his backpack off near the door and walks up to a slightly relieved Leo. "Merry Christmas, hyung." He hands him the gift bag shyly.

Blushing, Leo shakes Aimee off and goes over to sit in the corner. Carefully picking out the pieces of tissue paper, he gently removes a teddy bear and a $20 gift card to his favorite café. As he hugs the stuffed animal, the most adorable smile spreads across Leo's face. He looks up at Sanghyuk, his cheeks red, and mouths a "thank you". Sanghyuk can't help but beam.

"Oh, yeah!" A previously pouting Aimee bounces over to her backpack and hands a package to Sanghyuk. The gift is so elegantly wrapped that Sanghyuk doesn't know how to open it, or for that matter, if he even should. It's wrapped in plain brown paper, but pinecones and even cinnamon sticks have been tied neatly to it, arranged quite creatively. Cringing, Sanghyuk slowly undoes the twine tying the package up and sets the entire array on the table, all to the unhelpful tune of Aimee's snickering. Trying his very best not to rip the wrapping, over the course of 2 minutes, he carefully unveils the $130 gaming headset he'd been fanboying over for the last month or so.

A deafening shriek fills the air as he drops to his knees, holding the box to his chest like one would a newborn baby. Everyone interrupts their own bouts of fanboy/girl-ism to stare awkwardly at him.

"Noona!" Hyuk cries, lunging towards Aimee and engulfing her in the tightest hug he can muster before she's able to escape. "I love you!"

"Someone kill me, please," she mutters, words muffled by Sanhyuk's left armpit.

Winter Break only lasts so long, and it just so happens that half of the group was gone for most of it. So, to commemorate the last few days of freedom, N has organized a trip to the mall and forced everyone to go. He has allowed absolutely no exceptions, not even Aimee, who arrived from the States late yesterday night (technically, early today morning) and has to be extremely jetlagged and exhasuted. As a result, Hyuk is awkwardly waiting alone in front of the entrance at 10:16 in the morning, having arrived quite early.

"Hi." Aimee blinks up at him tiredly, smiling wearily. Although she's as neat as ever, not a hair out of place, there's dark circles under her eyes and she seems....underdressed. Usually on their outings, she wears perfectly tailored, designer clothing. It's almost weird seeing her in skinny jeans and a t-shirt.

"Woah," Sanghyuk says, doing a double-take. "You look like...."

"Like ?" Aimee laughs grimly. "Yeah. I know."

"You should've said no, noona," Sanghyuk says in disapproval.

Aimee shakes her head. "Nah. School starts in less than a week, Hyukkie."

"Still..." he begins. As much as he hates it, he really does care about his friends.

"Don't worry about me, Sanghyuk," Aimee says kindly, patting his arm.

"Woah, noona, you look like you're dead," Hongbin blurts upon greeting them. Ravi nods in agreement.

"I'm fine." Aimee smiles bleakly.

"What's 9 times 4?" Ravi asks.

"," Aimee whispers, turning away.

"See?" Ravi says pointedly. "You should've stayed home or something."

"Don't worry, Ravi," Aimee assures him. "I'll be more alert soon."

"That's what you said 15 minutes ago," Sanghyuk hisses in her ear.

"Shut up, Sanghyuk," she hisses right back.

"Hi!" Suddenly, a wild Ken appears, bounding towards them energetically. With a large grin on his face and a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he looks like the exact opposite of Aimee. "Wow, you look like crap, noona!" He proclaims loudly once he notices her. She rolls her eyes and walks away, presumably to stop herself from throwing at rock at him. Ken just shrugs it off and begins gossiping about things such as Hyomin's new hairdo and the rumor that Hara and Jinwoo are dating. Eventually, it gets to the point where everyone else begins drifting away out of boredom—except for poor Hongbin, trapped because Ken's gripping his arm.

Finally, a saviour (well, two) comes in the form of N and Leo. As enthusiastic as ever, N's antics are able to distract Ken, although he doesn't let go of Hongbin's arm. And as annoyed as ever, Leo shuffles away and hides from N. 

"Oh my god!" N shrieks suddenly, rushing towards a half-asleep Aimee.  She jerks awake, looking immensly startled and confused.

"What?!"

"You looks like death!" N cries, poking at her. She just glares darkly at him, completely unamused. Sanghyuk realizes that he has never before noticed how cold and terrifying Aimee's resting face actually. Appropriately whimpering it fear, N flees.

About 4 hours later, N has gotten most of his shopping done and everyone is arguing about whether to stay or to leave. Sanghyuk himself is on the 'stay' side—admittedly, he loves spending time with his dorky friends. Luckily for him, the 'stay' side (himself, N, Ken, and Ravi)  wins out against Leo and Hongbin, and they've won themselves more time to go gossip, eat, and shop.

"Hey, uh, do you guys mind if I just stay here?" Aimee pipes up, nodding towards a café. Everyone jumps and immediately looks guilty, especially after realizing that she didn't actually participate in the debate. She seems even more exhausted than she was 4 hours ago, to the point where it wouldn't be surprising if she were to pass out right then and there.

"Uh, we could leave if you want," N backtracks hurriedly.

Aimee shakes her head. "Nah, you guys go have fun. I'll watch your bags and all."

Exchanging worried glances, the rest silently agree to her suggestion. They send her off with slightly condescending pats on the head and reminders to call them if she needs anything.

A few hours later, the six boys troop back towards the café, having reached an unanimous decision that they should probably go home. N is ready to surprise Aimee with the the things he'd bought her, since she would be missing a great opportunity to expand on her already-impressive wardrobe (Sanghyuk's never seen her wear the same thing twice, except for the mandatory school uniform), but when they arrive, they notice that's she's fast asleep. Hongbin pokes her arm gently, but she doesn't stir.

"Awww," N coos softly, looking like a proud mother.

"Wait," Sanghyuk says. "What do we do now?"

"Don't worry," Ravi assures them. "I got this." Ever so delicately, he picks her up bridal-style. With his size and her stature, it looks almost like he's carrying a newborn baby. Giggling to himself, N snaps photos, presumably as revenge for the pictures she took of him and Key at the Winter Dance. As Sanghyuk gathers up his bags, smiling to himself at the cuteness of it all.

Well, it's cute until Ravi stumbles and and drops her on the pavement, and she ends up flailing and smacking him in the face.