Believe in fate | Lee Know

Chapter 31

"That's my mum!"

Some people laughed others looked quite shocked at the yell of the little boy.

Soori was standing on his chair, ignoring Minho wo was trying to get him to sit back down, and waved with both of his arms.

Ahri saw her little brother and waved back shyly, being slightly embarrassed but not minding too much.

All her siblings quickly adapted to calling her and Minho mum and dad, and neither of the two could deny that it made them emotional - positively now.

Ahri walked towards her head-master / professor who handed her the diploma. "I'm proud of you Ms. Ahri, I hope you will have a happy life with your family." He pulled her into a quick hug and patted her back in a fatherly gesture.

Ahri smiled gratefully once they parted and made her way to shake the hands of the other professors.

She looked at the audience and saw Minho, who had finally succeeded in getting Soori to sit back down, smiling proudly at her.
Her sibling were still clapping their little hands slightly causing Ahri to let out a giggle. Sora was sitting next to Miga's seat but the little girl was sitting comfortably on her aunt's lap.

Sora showed Ahri thumbs up and blew her a kiss teasingly when the latter went down the stairs of the stage.

On her way to her fellow grad students she passed Sooyeon who had already graduated two years prior.
"I definitely saw a tear in my dad's eye when he gave you your diploma" She whispered and lead Ahri over to her place as that was her task as alumni.

Ahri and Sooyeon had grown closer ever since Ahri started going to Yonsei. She and her parents unofficially adopted her and to Sooyeon's dad it felt as if he was watching his second daughter's graduate.

"By the way, because my dad probably forgot to tell you, he wants to invite all of you to dinner today."

Before Ahri was able to respond Sooyeon had to leave to greet the next student.

•

"You're all grown up now!" Sora exclaimed and wrapped her arms tightly around her best friend. Ahri chuckled after seeing her friend's teary eyes that she was trying to mask behind her excitement.

"You're literally just a month older than me" Ahri replied instead.

"Now I thought that we could get ice cream as celebration, for dinner we are all invited to Sooyeon and her parents."

The kids cheered and Minho came over to his girlfriend to also give her a hug now that Sora had let go.
"That's a great idea, gorgeous. You have no idea how proud I am of you, I love you so much."

He shortly kissed her, not wanting to prolong it in front of the kids, Sora and probably over a hundred strangers.

"I'll definitely join you for ice cream but I won't make it to the dinner. You know, my flight" Sora apologised but Ahri wrapped her arm around her shoulders in reassurance.

"I know, you're flying to Paris for Hyunjin's fashion show. That's also the reason he couldn't be her today, you already told me and apologised about a hundred times. It's alright, we will just go out once you're back."

Sora smiled in relief and went over to take Soori and Miga by the hand so Minho could come back to Ahri's side.
"You're a real doctor now!" Jonghun grinned while walking next to Ahri.

"That I am. And I also have an official position at the hospital now, which means that I am taking you and the other two to the amusement park next weekend."

"Am I also invited to join you guys?"  Minho asked, pressing a kiss to Ahri's temple. He was feeling a lot clingier today for some reason, he loved spending time with Ahri and her siblings or friends but he just really wanted to be close to her right now and maybe even have her for himself later on.

"Of course you can come. But then you are obligated to win me a plushie" Abri grinned teasingly, properly interlocking her fingers with Minho's.

"Our anniversary is also upcoming. I already have a few ideas in mind but is there anything particular you want to do?" Minho asked once Jonghun skipped along to join his siblings and Sora.

"Surprise me, do something you want to. Last year I already planned what I wanted to do. It's your year now" Ahri kissed Minho properly this time, taking the chance of walking in a rather secluded area behind the rest of the group.

Minho smiled slightly into the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist. So she did notice his clinginess and wanted to give him what he wanted.

•

"I'm glad you were able to make it although I forgot to invite you" Sooyeon's dad, Mingyu, said when he invited the family in.
They had originally planned to eat out but because it was already pretty late and the kids were getting tired they decided it was the best to stay in where the little ones could take a nap on the couch.

Jieun, Sooyeon's mother, also came to greet them, immediately taking the kids to show them Sooyeon's old toys she had dug out especially for today. The elderly woman missed having little kids running around so she was more than happy every time Ahri and the kids visited.
She had actually talked to her husband about adopting a younger kid and offer them a home now that Sooyeon officially moved out.

"Sooyeon is in her old room, getting the last few boxes but she should be here any minute now. With her consent we decided to clean out her room so it could become the home for someone else" Mingyu explained and led the way to the spacious living room.

Ahri smiled and nodded, already knowing about the adoption plans from Sooyeon.

"Oh hey guys!" Sooyeon greeting as she came down the stairs with a box under her arm.

The evening was filled with the most delicious food both Ahri and Minho had tasted in a while. Jieun was indeed an incredible chef.
Ahri was again congratulated for her graduation by everyone and had to promise that she would still visit as often as possible even though she wasn't going to uni anymore.

As expected Soori and Miga fell asleep on the couch sometime into the evening. And even Jonghun already had troubles keeping his eyes open.

The family decided to call it a night and bid their goodbyes to the hosts, thanking them again for the delicious food.

Minho and Ahri were carrying the sleeping ones to the car and Jonghun was stumbling behind them.

The car ride was filled with comfortable silence and once they were at home the kids almost immediately fell asleep in their beds.

After making sure they were okay, Minho finally had the Ahri-alone-time he had craved the whole day.

And he made sure to make good use of it.

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~I'm sitting on the train writing this
~only one more week of winter break :(

~until next chapter
~~ June