Him - Monsta X Short Story

ten.

When Kihyun came home, it was a quiet affair. He wanted to go home and sleep. Minhyuk and I didn't know what was going on with him, but it wasn't helping that he wasn't talking to us. Minhyuk worried that he had crossed a boundary of theirs and I was concerned that he was still afraid of me.

During class one day, I had my headphones on while I was at the kitchen table, just working with online school. Except I turned them down. If I knew Kihyun, he would never tell me outwardly something was upsetting him. They never liked to tell me anything that might upset me, but I needed to be kept in the know.

His phone rang and he was washing dishes from breakfast, so he answered it on speaker. "Hello?" He asked, turning the water off.

"Hello, Kihyun," a man answered. "Dr. Johnson calling. We have a plan to remove the mass in your left breast. We still need to come up with a plan for the tumor in your brain. We're looking at radiation to shrink the tumor, but we need a couple more scans that we'll get after we remove the tumor from your left breast."

I heard it all and froze up. "Okay," Kihyun sighed, drying his hands. "Can we schedule the removal next week? I have to tell my family still." Dr Johnson agreed and their phone conversation ended shortly after.

I took my headphones out, looking up from my work. "Does Minhyuk know?" I asked, my voice breaking. Kihyun looked up at me and rubbed his forehead.

"God, Joo..." he sighed softly. "I... didn't know you were listening."

I shrugged. "You weren't gonna tell me easily, but that's beside the point. Does. Minhyuk. Know?" I asked again, anger coming out. I wasn't angry with Kihyun, I was wondering why bad things happened to us.

After a moment of silence, Kihyun started washing dishes again. "I suppose since you know, I should tell him." God works in mysterious ways, because Minhyuk walked in the front door, irritated.

"I went to give Benji money for the book fair and realized I left my fucking wallet at home," he scoffed, running upstairs.

Kihyun finished his last bowl and followed behind him. I waited a second before getting up and doing the same. "Does he have money?" He asked, calling from the bottom of the staircase.

"Yeah," Minhyuk sighed, coming back down the stairs. "I just owe Ms. Annie ten dollars."

I glared at Kihyun, letting him know silently that he had to do it. "I have to tell you something, Min..." Kihyun was uncomfortable but this wasn't something he should keep from us for long. Especially since we've already lost too many people we loved.

Minhyuk furrowed his eyebrows. "What is it?" He asked softly, sitting down on the stairs as Kihyun began pacing slowly.

"I have cancer," Kihyun stated bluntly. "I have metastatic breast cancer, the tumor in my left breast caused another tumor to start in my brain. It's what had my headaches going and why I saw Hyungwon. I get the tumor in my chest taken out next week and we'll be looking at options for my brain tumor."

Minhyuk was dumbfounded. "And you found this out, what, two weeks ago?" Kihyun nodded, biting his lip. "After I left, huh? After I took Jooheon home, the doctor probably came and talked to you, right? And you couldn't pick up the phone and tell me?" Minhyuk was irate, and I couldn't even blame him.

Kihyun shrugged softly. "Quite honestly, I was hoping it'd kill me before I had to say anything." That bomb had been close to going off, I wasn't surprised. "Guys, I don't think you understand how fucking tired I am. I've been an adult for fucking... God knows how long. I feel like I've lived a full life. I've loved, I've cared, I've healed others, I'm so fucking tired. If they can't remove this brain tumor, that's it for me. I'm not fighting it. I'm not doing chemo, this is not a family conversation. If I die, I die."

Minhyuk got up from the stairs, losing his composure. "You're so fucking full of it, Kihyun!" He yelled, getting closer to Kihyun. "Who is Benjamin Jude Nakamura to you? Is he just a kid you take care of or is he your fucking son?" Kihyun's fist balled up at the implication.

"Ki, don't," I warned, coming to get between them if need be.

Minhyuk pushed me aside softly. "No, let him hit me if he wants to. Is that your son or just a kid you take care of? He's had both of his parents die on him, you really wanna give him a third one? If he's not worth fighting for, I should probably take him and go somewhere else, right?"

Kihyun scoffed. "Do what you must but leave my fucking son right where he belongs. And don't you ever again in your life or mine fucking infer to me that I don't care enough about him to fight. I fought longer and harder than his own goddamn father and I hadn't even met him once in my fucking life. I didn't lay down with his dog of a mother and make him, and I fought harder than the motherfucker who did. Don't use him against me ever the fuck again, do you hear me?" I sighed softly, running my hands through my hair.

"For fuck's sake, Kihyun shut up!" I screamed. "You're acting like you're the only one who's had to fight their entire fucking life! Have you met either of us? If so, get with the fucking program and stop acting like you're the only one fighting a fucking battle on the daily!" I was over his "Woe is Me" routine.

Kihyun shook his head and rushed upstairs, slamming the door. "He acts like him having cancer only affects him. He acts like him being sick only affects him and I'm damn fucking sick of it." Minhyuk grabbed his keys off the coffee table.

"Where are you going?" I asked, knowing he didn't have to work today. "Do not do what I think you're planning."

Minhyuk furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you think I'm doing?" He asked.

"Getting a hotel or staying with Elizabeth, after getting Benji from school early." That would only make everything worse and I don't think that'd be a good way to keep Kihyun sane.

Minhyuk shrugged. "I wasn't thinking of staying with Elizabeth, but thanks for the idea." With that he shut the door. I sighed, throwing my hands up in surrender. I just returned to my work and didn't speak unless spoken to.