The Clan Part 1: Lost (Monsta X / Reader)

Chapter 3

"There you guys are! I thought you'd bail on us!" A friendly voice laughed from far off.

The rain had stopped as soon as it had started, leaving behind large brown puddles and thick mud for you to continuously slip on as you finished making your way over to the owner of the voice. Jooheon even had to catch you once or twice, chuckling at your lack of gracefulness.

The person who had called to you, Kihyun, waved as your group approached, walking along the brick walls that had slowly been built up over time in order to keep strangers in the streets from approaching the settlements beyond. The closer you got to your destination, the farther you got from the grimy slums and the violence that came with it. Kihyun gave the four of you a warm smile and a tender hug in greeting.

"The others are waiting," he explained, jerking his head in the direction he had come from before immediately starting the walk back. The rest of you followed along, casually chatting amongst yourselves. Well... more like the boys talked while you trailed along behind them, being alienated either unintentionally or on purpose. You tried not to let it bother you, but you were certain the reason was because you tried to get them to open up about the sensitive topic from earlier. They were just ignoring you as punishment.

You could see the bridge clearly now: it was high and made of stone with dull color that was fading, overhanging the street and connecting the gravel roadways from either side on top. Underneath, there was an accumulation of old, unused furniture abandoned by previous owners including an assortment of grungy chairs, rusted metal bins, and wooden crates. From far away, you could see three young men sitting atop the furniture, deep in conversation. When they noticed your group coming along the path, they rose from their spots, waving and smiling.

"We started to get worried," you heard your friend say from in front of you as he waved back towards where the remaining boys were impatiently waiting. "Especially Minhyuk. He hasn't seen (Y/N) since this morning when he sent her to tag along with you guys, but I knew that you all would show up eventually."

You saw Shownu give a small nod in reply, "Thanks for waiting, Kihyun. We had something we needed to do first which is why we got held up."

Kihyun's head tilted slightly and his brows furrowed in confusion. "I don't mean to pry, but what exactly did you need to do?" He glanced in your direction as if he was restraining from adding, I thought we agreed not to run any of those errands with her around.

Shownu let out a sigh, mentally recalling the incident. "There were some old merchants being harassed by a group of military men so we stepped in and helped."

Kihyun froze. "Helped how?" He pressed with obvious concern lacing its way into his voice, his eyes flicking to you again for the smallest second. Shownu glanced over at you as well. You quickly averted your eyes, pretending to study the wall next to you as if you had been examining its dusty bricks the whole time. Noticing what Kihyun was subtlety hinting at, Shownu opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by approaching shouts.

By now, the five of you had reached the bridge, Jooheon obnoxiously calling names that ricocheted off the stone and running to meet up with the three other boys. Jooheon and a boy with blonde hair named Wonho collided in a hug and started jumping up and down goofily, almost knocking over an old broken television that was resting on top of a crate in the process. It was hard to imagine that he was the same guy who had challenged a military official not even an hour ago. He reminded you more of a little kid. Another friend with lighter brown hair named Changkyun had pulled you into a hug before getting yanked away by Jooheon, who was still acting insane, and Wonho shot you a wink over Hyungwon's shoulder even though he hadn't greeted you yet.