aligned ? monsta x

t w e n t y f i v e

kihyun laughed. "i don't think so... it's fine. they never asked me for this. they only talked about those things and i offered to help them. there's nothing to worry about." he said extending his hand through the table to grab hers.

boki felt nervous immediately since the coffee was crowded and she suddenly felt her cheeks changing temperatures.

"and if you ever need anything, i'd like you to tell me. i am your boyfriend and i should be able to help you and solve things for you."

boki's eyes widened as she shook her head. "no it's fine. i can take care of myself."

"please – he said squeezing her hand softly as he tilted his head to the other side. his intense eyes fixed into hers – i'd love to help you with anything. just tell me. i want you to be able to tell me things, alright?" he asked.

she felt as if she was in some kind of trance. his eyes and body language were extremely hypnotizing and couldn't help but wonder if that was what both hawon and wonho felt when they changed his mind about him.

"sure, i'll do." she said finally nodding, caressing his thumb between her hands.

the rest of the day boki had trouble focusing on even small tasks. she couldn't stop over thinking everything.

whenever she was with kihyun he seemed so charming and handsome, in an intimidating way that drove her crazy and she always ended up forgetting what she was doing in the moment or what she was about to say.

even if they shared a coffee together, a thought popped into her mind and it was the day he lied to her about texting jooheon.

that was definitely one of the things she wanted to ask him about but somehow he managed to distract her enough that she ended up forgetting about it.

she thought that maybe if one day the opportunity comes, she'd face him about it.

so on her way back to her apartment, the neighborhood seemed quiet, maybe more than usual. kihyun told her he had an appointment with his parents and offered to drive her home but she didn't want to be a burden for him so she rejected his ride back home.

she looked up at the sky and noticed it turned gray almost immediately, nervously she looked through her things inside her purse for the portable umbrella but it wasn't there.

she cursed under her breath as she felt the cold drops of rain wetting her coat and hair. she looked around as her nervous eyes looked for some sort of roof or some safe place like a store or something but she didn't see anything.

"yah! what are you doing? come here!" she heard a voice, familiar now, shouting at her. she turned around and found jooheon waving at her from one of the corners of that street.

she tried to pull her coat above her head and rushed through the pouring rain towards jooheon's direction. once she reached the corner, he removed his jacket and threw it on her head, he grabbed her hand then and led her a few houses down where there was a familiar restaurant.

boki felt her heart racing at the sudden and bold action of jooheon but she knew it was better to follow him since with that rain she wouldn't be able to make it home.

"aish... this rain." he said, shaking his head like dogs do. boki removed his jacket, that was now completely wet and felt guilty for a second. "you didn't have to." she said trying to squeeze the jacket to dry it faster.

jooheon glared at her with a poker face, snatching the jacket from her hands. "relax, it's only a jacket. it will dry eventually." he said shaking his head in disapproval as he walked inside, looking for a table.

"ahjumma... can you bring me one order of noodles please." he said with a sweet smile. boki walked inside with hesitant steps as she looked for jooheon's silver haired head.

she walked, hesitant steps towards his table. she was sure one thing, she needed to thank him for help her with the rain and all but she wasn't sure he wanted to spend time with her for what she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable with her presence.

"is it okay if i sit with you?" her sweet voice made him look up at her weak and trembling body. his adam apple moved softly as he drank the tea that the old lady provided him with.

"i thought it was obvious." he said with a harsh tone as he put down the cup of tea.

boki swallowed hard as she pulled her own chair and sat across him.

jooheon was definitely different from kihyun, in so many ways. of course, boki knew they weren't exactly related and she was sure they couldn't. they were simply different.

jooheon had a harsh personality, reckless and tough. he lacked filters and he was in a way, very blunt, to the point that boki also considered him as intimidating as kihyun, just in a different level.

she cleared her throat. "thanks for helping me back there." she said with a weak tone. jooheon sighed. "sure... no problem."

boki felt helpless as she didn't know what to say next, but jooheon made things easier. "i should have right? after all, you're kind of my sister in law..." he said staring now at her with something similar to a poker face.

boki swallowed hard. "i-i guess." she simply answered.

with that the old lady arrived with a big portion of noodles. "aigoo... you two shouldn't be wandering around when it's raining. i'll bring you a warm cup of tea and a order of noodles as well so you can get warm."

"no, please- boki started but soon the old lady had disappeared inside the kitchen.

jooheon glared at her with a mouthful of noodles. "you don't like this place? you look down on familiar places like this? is kihyun spoiling you already?"

the tone on his words somehow felt harsh as if he was criticizing her and his stepbrother.

boki felt slightly hurt but decided to not keep up his game. "no... it's not that, i just don't bring any money with me right now." it was the truth. she had payed for her cab on her way back since she had ran out of subway tickets.

"ah." jooheon simply said, looking down to his plate of noodles. he chew a bit as it seemed he was hesitating something. "fine, i'll pay them for you."

boki's eyes sparkled as she heard jooheon's unexpected words. "seriously?" her stomach began to grumble as she now remembered it'd be the first meal she would have in that day, besides the coffee and cookies provided by kihyun, since she left home this morning without having breakfast since she was late.

"thank you!" she exclaimed, bowing her head.

"not so fast... next time, dinner's on you." he said winking at her, showing off his dimples. 

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a/n: hey guys! i am so sorry for being so absent lately but i got pretty sick ( i still am but feeling so much better now) to the point i couldn't get out of bed. thankfully i am feeling better now and the fever is gone. thank you so much for waiting and for the support as always! 

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