The Man Who Could Not Stop Time (Monsta X Fanfiction)

Chapter Sixteen: Dinner From Hell

After mustering up the courage to come out of the room, I found that Jisoo had buddy-ed up with the boys. They all sat at the couch now, laughing and talking together while a variety show played in the background.

When I exited solemnly from the bedroom, heads turned in my direction.

"There you are Areum!" Minhyuk said, "You and Jisoo both used to work at coffee shops, isn't that funny?"

I nodded, trying to force a smile.

"I like your dress." Jisoo smiled at me. This was the first time she spoke directly to me.

I looked down at the white dress I had worn for Wonho, and hated it now. I was sure I would never wear it again.

"Thanks..." I replied, forcing a smile.

"We've decided to go to an early dinner." Hyungwon said to me, grinning uncharacteristically. "We want to celebrate somewhere nice."

I was sure Jisoo was ignorant to the whole time travel thing, and must have thought we were just celebrating their engagement. But we were supposed to celebrate the success of the watch. I really wasn't up for pretending to be happy, but knew I would have to come along.

"Great..." I said, standing at a distance from them.

"What do you want to eat, Jisoo?" Jooheon asked.

"I don't know..." She replied coyly. "You guys pick."

Normally I would have found her cute, but this was just annoying. Probably only because she was Wonho's fiance.

Otherwise we might have been able to be friends.

"I want steak!" Hyungwon proclaimed, "We should go somewhere nice, after all. This is a momentous occasion."

Hyungwon was be smirking at me nonstop. He seemed proud that he was right about Wonho changing.

He seemed smug about my unhappiness.

Hours later I found myself sitting at a large table in a high end steak restaurant. I hadn't found a way to get out of the dinner, and somehow ended up sitting right across from Wonho and his fiance. I stared blankly at my glass of water, watching as the condensation on the outside of the cup slid down and onto the table.

"So, what are you going to college to major in?" Jisoo asked.

I looked up to see she was talking to me. I was lost for a moment before saying, "Uh... I haven't decided on a major yet." I replied. I wasn't passionate about much, and was usually embarrassed to admit I was just trying to get my prerequisites out of the way. There wasn't much I was good at, so it was hard to pick one thing to tie myself down to forever.

"Jisoo's majoring in business." Hyungwon cut in, smirking at me, "She's quite a smart girl."

Smarter than you. I was sure he was trying to say.

I got the message.

I felt a hand on my thigh and followed the arm to Shownu. I was so zoned out that I hadn't noticed he sat next to me. He gave me an apologetic smile and whispered, "Be strong."

I smiled at him, trying to pull strength from his soothing energy.

I wanted to be the kind of girl that could appear confident in front of her ex. I wanted to be unbothered about petty things. I guess I wasn't that girl yet. I needed to be stronger.