Believe in fate | Lee Know

Chapter 14

The three boys arrived at the store and Soori ran to get them a cart.

"I wanna sit inside!" He explained and lifted his arms so Minho was able to lift him up into the cart.

"What about you Jonghun?" Minho asked the other.
"Can I hold your hand, Mr. Minho?" Minho cued at his shy expression and his intertwined hands.

He held his hand out and smiled when he saw Jonghun's sparkling eyes as he put his smaller hand into the older's.

"Minho, Minho!" Soori called out and the older's attention was brought back to him, "this is Ahri's shopping list. It was on the fridge so I took it."

He handed Minho a notebook sheet where a lot of items were listed, from milk over to washing powder.

"No Soori, you can't expect Mr. Minho to do the shopping for us. We are just here for today's ingredients!" Jonghun scolded his younger brother who immediately started pouting.

"Hey, it's not a problem. I'll gladly buy all of that and the two of you can each pick a snack. What about that?" Minho offered and after Jonghun heard the word snack, he didn't feel like protesting anymore.

"Oh, I want this!" Jonghun excitedly jumped up and down and pointed at a bag of candy, "the other kids in school always have that but Ahri said it's too expensive."

Minho again felt sad for the circumstances the family had to live in and therefore picked up the candy and placed it in the cart.

They bought the things on the list, the ingredients Minho would need and a few more items either the boys or Minho thought worth of buying.

In the end the cart was so filled that Soori had to get out so that there would be enough space. Minho knew that Ahri would probably feel guilty for making him buy all that but Minho already made up his mind that he would simply kiss her again if she started complaining.

"Do we have everything?" Jonghun asked, staring at the list.

"Yeah I think so. Let's pay" Soori rushed towards the cashier and already told the man that they made a shopping trip to the store.

"You have very polite sons, sir" The man said to Minho while the latter was paying.
"They are not- nevermind, thank you sir. Have a nice evening!" Minho responded, not bothering to actually correct the elder man.

Jonghun had heard their conversation and the thought of Minho acting as a father figure in his life brought a smile to his face. Earlier he had already noticed how happy Ahri seemed to be around him and both Miga and Soori were comfortable around him too.

"Mr. Minho? Do you like my sister?" Jonghun asked straightforwardly and Minho blushed at his bluntness.

"Well, yes I do. Very much actually" He responed as the three started heading home again.

"That's good because she likes you too. Will you be like a father to us then too?" Jonghun wanted a male rolemodel in his life again. As much as he loved his sister, his life somehow felt incomplete with only one parent-like figure.

"I will never replace your real father. He is still around you know? Watching over all of you, just like your mum" Minho reasoned without upsetting the younger boy.

"We know that already! Ahri always tells us that" Soori interfered altough he had been walking ahead of the other two. "You won't replace him but you will be with Ahri so you will also need to be with us. Ahri only comes in a package!" Jonghun argumented, slightly sad that the older seemed to not want to act as his father figure. "And I really want a father figure again."

The last part was mumbled so Minho barely understood his words but his heart ached at the silent wish. "Well, if you really want to and Ahri is also okay with it, then I'll glady be there for you as whoever you want me to be."

Jonghun and Soori nodded excitely and then ran ahead as they already reached their building. Ahri opened the door for them and was stunned when she saw Minho entering with several bags.

"What exactly are you planning to make?" She asked confused and took two bags from Minho to put them on the kitchen counter.

"We got everything we need! And Mr. Minho even let us have snacks!" Jonghun cheered and got his favourite candy out of one of the bags. Ahri only silently looked into the bags and saw cleaning utensils, noodles and rice. In the second one were different vegetables and fruites and the ones Minho was still carrying contained all the rest she could possibly think of.

"What? Why?" She asked and turned around to Minho who placed all the bags on the kitchen counter. "Well you said that you wanted to go shopping tomorrow so I thought why not get it done now as well. That way you have more time for other things tomorrow" Minho answered simply and placed his hands on Ahri's waist.

"How much do you get?" The girl asked and tried to turn around so she could grab her wallet. Minho just tightened his grib, "I got it covered. I wanted to treat the boys to some snacks and the rest just coincidentally fell into our cart." Minho wasn't going to rat out Soori  for giving him the list since he knew that Ahri would not appreciate him for doing so.

"I am not some charity case, Minho. I can buy food for my family on my own" Ahri was slightly irritated by Minho's gesture. She was never the biggest fan of getting or asking for help especially if it was concerning money. She didn't like the thought of Minho pitying her and thinking she couldn't even afford the necessities.

"I know and that's also not why I bought this. I just wanted to find a way to treat your family as a thank you for welcoming me in your home and getting all of this seemed like a good way to do so. I like you Ahri, so much, and I absolutely adore your siblings. I just wanted to do something nice, please don't feel the need to repay me or anything" Minho pressed a kiss to Ahri's forehead to underline his statement and he felt the girl relaxing in his hold.

"Okay, thank you. I'm just not good with accepting help especially concerning money. Still, I shouldn't have lashed out, thank you, really. Now let's unpack everything so we can start cooking. I'm sure the boys are hungry." The boys had heard her and ran into the kitchen to agree with her.

Now the four of them were cooking under Minho's lead who seemed to be careful about giving the easier tasks to the boys so that there wasn't a chance of them hurting themselves. Even when Ahri picked up a bigger knife to cut the meat he got a mini heart attack and rushed over to take it from her.

"Minho, I'm a grown woman. I have been caring for myself and my siblings for over three years now, I think I'll be able to handle a knife" She chuckled, amused by Minho's protectiveness - she found it very cute bust still mostly amusing.

"Kids, set the table. The food is almost ready" Minho announced after a while and the boys rushed to get everything ready. Ahri only looked at the scene in front of here with love in her eyes. Minho was passing the plates to Jonghun and told him to be careful and when Jonghun came back and told Minho proudly that he had set the plates, Minho ruffled his hair while laughing.

"Why are you smiling?" Minho asked directed to Ahri who only wrapped her arms around Minho's middle. "Am I not allowed to be happy?" She asked grinning while Minho leaned his forehead against hers.

"I'm glad you're happy but let's go eat something. The boys are starving and you must be too." Minho wanted to detach himself but Ahri quickly kissed him before letting him go, "Thank you."

"For what?"
"Everything but mostly for being here."

Minho kissed her again with red cheeks, feeling flustered by her comment, "I'm happy to be here. I wouldn't want anything else right now. Being with you and the three - well two and a half - rascals is all I could ever ask for."

Ahri kissed him one last time before they detached and walked out of the kitchen.

Jonghun and Soori had been watching them from the table and looked at each other smiling.

"They are already more in love than mum and dad."

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~I think I decided for an ending
~It will make you cry - or maybe it won't :)

~until next chapter
~~June