Off guard

The school week had begun, and Kim Minho's uncle was set to arrive in Country Z from Country V that day. His uncle had stood in for his mother to handle certain tasks in Country V since his mother had an urgent meeting to attend to in a different country.

The school day had eventually come to an end, and the crazy four decided to accompany Minho to the airport to receive his uncle. Once they arrived, they waited in the lounge that was booked in advance, and in no time, they saw Minho's uncle draw closer to them.

"Uncle Chan!", Minho beamed as he hugged him. "How's my favorite nephew? It's been so long, geez, how do you keep getting more handsome?", Kim Chan jested, hugging Minho back and Minho just let out a slight chuckle. The rest of the crazy four gathered round Kim Chan in greeting, before they all boarded the cars waiting outside for them.

"Ayra sends her greetings to all of you", Kim Chan started and when they all nodded, he continued. "It's good to see you all again. Zane, I hope you've been taking care of them and keeping them all in check?".  "Yes, however I suppose I might've become too lenient", Zane replied glancing sidelong at Minjun while Minjun only rolled his eyes making Kim Chan shake his head with a smile. He really missed them.

He then shifted his gaze to Minjun. "I hope you've been behaving and not causing trouble". He knew just how mischievous Minjun could be at times. "Of course. I'm a prince after all, so I'm always well behaved", Minjun replied, and Auston who'd been quiet the entire time, immediately started to cough. Minjun turned to glare at him, but seeing Auston's neutral unbothered expression made him think that he'd probably coughed for real and not to mock him. 'Tch, this statue'.

"Auston, you've been more lively these days I suppose", Kim Chan asked. "Sometimes....it depends", Auston replied casually, and Kim Chan smiled. Auston answering him with more than one word was enough of a good reply for him.

And lastly, he turned his attention to his nephew. "Did your mum call you already?".  "Yeah, she called earlier this morning and later on in the afternoon".  "Good, so you know you have to work extra hard to wrap up your school work early. You'll need to travel with her soon to meet with officials. They've been requesting to meet with you for a long time now, but you know how protective your mum can get".  "Yeah I know", Kim Minho replied, and after a few more talks on certain details pertaining to his next departure, they carried on with random conversations.

Kim Chan decided to stop by and check on YJ Globals hospital group. It was a large hospital branch built and owned by the Yangs. He'd partnered with Frederick Yang to establish the hospital in Country Z, so once in a while, whenever he was in the country, he would occasionally visit the place.

By the time they arrived, it had already started raining, so they alighted with umbrellas and some bodyguards in tow. Kim Minho's eyes widened slightly at the crowd of people standing outside one of the hospital's clinic. Most of them didn't have an umbrella and were drenched, only a few had their raincoats on, but it was still cold outside. "How come they're standing out here like this?, won't they get a cold if they keep this up any longer?", Minho asked and his uncle attention was instantly drawn to the shivering crowd. 

"Ugh, if they wanted to wait outside, they should've at least checked weather forecast". Kim Chan signalled to one of the men with him. "Get them all inside now, and instruct those inside to attend to them. Show the security and any staff there this on your way in", he said handing the man a note with his signature on it. "Also, tell the head security that next time the people should wait inside when it rains", he instructed firmly, and with a bow the man quickly left to do as he was told.

Kim Minho on the other hand, turned away from his uncle and faced the crowd again. His gaze lazily roamed over the people, when he spotted a familiar figure emerge from the crowd. He narrowed his eyes on the drenched figure, and when he saw her push back her long wet hair that clung to her face, he smiled slightly. From the direction she was headed, it was obvious she was leaving so he decided to hurry over to her.

"Uncle Chan, I'm going to go greet someone real quick". "Alright but don't go too far. Ralph's going to keep an eye on you just to be safe. We'll be inside the hospital chairman's office, so you'll know where to find us".  "Okay I got it", Minho replied and made his way to the crowd.

...

Astrol felt really exhausted, she had been waiting amidst the crowd for a long time now. Earlier that day, she woke up to get ready for school when she discovered that Nanny Yu was terribly sick. She'd wanted to stay home and take care of her, but Nanny Yu insisted that she went to school.

Astrol was already familiar with Nanny Yu's bad fever and she knew the medicines that would help her feel better. So, the moment school dismissed, she headed straight to YJ's clinic which was directly beside the main hospital. The clinic was really popular for selling quality drugs at a cheap cost that could be affordable for people like her. So, Astrol was not surprised at the large crowd already waiting in line. If only she'd arrived an hour or two earlier. 

Astrol had even forgotten to check the day's weather forecast before leaving for school since all she could think of was Nanny Yu. The sudden rain took her unawares, and she was left shivering like a drenched cat. She tried waiting out the rain since it was almost her turn, but it only rained harder. Her chest soon felt heavy, and she was letting out shallow pants. She was quite sensitive to the cold, and now she'd have to get medicine for herself too. In the end when she couldn't take it anymore, she decided to turn around and leave to go find shelter to wait out the rain before her health got really bad. 

She couldn't do anything but mourn her space on the line as she turned away. When she'd finally gotten free from the crowd, she pushed back her wet hair that clung to her face so that she could see more clearly. First, she needed to go find shelter. Then, she needed to find another clinic else she'd be damned waiting till late night before it'd be her turn again. 

"*Sigh* I just got drenched for nothing. Now I'll have to buy both our drugs for a higher price elsewhere", she muttered to herself. She walked for a little while then stopped. She couldn't feel the downpour of the rain anymore. She creased her brows in confusion. She could still hear the rain pouring. She glanced down at her shadow, and her frown deepened more in confusion on seeing the shadow of an umbrella hovering over her. 

She slowly turned around, and her eyes nearly left their sockets at who she saw. "How?...When?...What are you doing here ?", Astrol asked in disbelief. 'Where did he even come from?', she thought inwardly. 'Could this prince really be stalking me?', she mused narrowing her eyes at him.

Kim Minho laughed a little, amused by her reaction. She looked adorable with her changing expressions. "My uncle just arrived from his long trip, and decided to drop by the hospital and greet an old friend".  "Your uncle?", Astrol asked. "Yeah, look that's him", Minho said pointing at a billboard not too far from them. Astrol turned to see what he was pointing at and gasped. "Kim Chan is your uncle?", but she knew the answer when she glanced from him and back at the billboard. 

Kim Chan and Minho both had similar features. They both had the same prominent nose bridge and flawless profile. Astrol had gotten to know Kim Chan from his work with the hospital. The hospital had done a lot in improving and helping the health of those struggling financially and she was always so grateful to the owners and supporters. The hospital had especially helped them a lot when they'd newly moved in to country Z for the first time and they'd both fallen ill since they weren't used to the country's weather.

"He is", Minho replied with a proud smile. Astrol's attention was drawn back to him, and she internally face palmed herself. First the garden and now this, why did it feel like she was the one unintentionally stalking him instead of the other way around?.

"You came here for something right?, let's go inside the hospital and wait before you catch a cold", Minho suggested. Astrol gave it a thought, and decided that going back would be the better choice. She was freezing, the drugs would be way cheaper and it sure as hell would be warm inside too. She sighed before reluctantly agreeing. 

They were seated inside the hospital's reception soon enough with a thick blanket wrapped around Astrol's shoulders. Kim Minho left her side and returned shortly with two cups of hot chocolate. He stretched his hand out to her to hand her a cup. 

"Here, for your cold". "I don't have a cold", Astrol replied stubbornly, followed by a loud sneeze as she rubbed at the now pink tip of her nose. "Sure you don't". Astrol rolled her eyes at his sarcastic tone. "Royals like you could be really petty you know, and might ask to return the favour, and sadly I can't be indebted to you again", she said straightforwardly.  "What if I told you you wouldn't have to, then will you take it?", he said as he sat down beside her. Astrol eyed the cup in his hand. 'This prince really has a way of getting what he wants huh', she thought and eventually took the cup from him. It smelled heavenly and felt so warm. "Tsk, so stubborn", she heard him mutter under his breath with a half smile, and only grimaced in reply looking down at the cup in her hands.

They stayed silent like that for a while, occasionally sipping on their drinks, when Astrol suddenly let out another loud sneeze and ended up spilling some of the hot chocolate on her face. Luckily, the drink wasn't so hot anymore. However, that didn't help with her embarrassment as all eyes were now on her. She flushed hard and looked down at her toes. She heard Kim Minho failing at trying not to laugh beside her and frowned. Did he think this was funny?. Astrol turned to give him a piece of her mind but ended up staring at his laughing face instead. Kim Minho soon calmed down and noticed the chocolate still dripping from her face.

Her flushed face along with her wet hair from the rain was really such a sight that it stunned him for a moment. He then reached out for a tissue and gently started wiping her face with it. Astrol's eyes widened the moment she felt his hand on her face. He'd even subconsciously moved closer too in the process, making her face turn a deeper shade of red. 'What the heck is he doing?!', she inwardly yelled.

"Don't do that, I can do it myself. Besides, didn't you find it funny?", she snapped at him with raised eyebrows, and Kim Minho just shrugged with a smile still playing on his lips. Astrol let out a relieved sigh as she finished off wiping her face. She was glad that she'd managed to keep her composure, his action there really caught her off guard.