Him - Monsta X Short Story

sixteen.

Kihyun had about a two month wait for his next surgery, even a month after his last. The tumor hadn't grown since they'd spotted it first, and they gave him the first opening they had. Everything was fine it seemed like. Minhyuk and Kihyun weren't being romantic or anything like I'd previously seen. I don't know, I couldn't understand those two nowadays. They acted like they were going back to the way things were. And I didn't understand it. They both had love right there in front of them and they're stent going to take advantage of it? Crazy if you ask me.

"Do you want me to take Benji to school today?" I asked, taking his plate to the sink.

Kihyun thought for a second. "That would actually be great, thanks Joo." He walked over to Benji, wiping his hands and face off. Kiddo could never be trusted with maple syrup. "Go get your bag so Joo can get you to school, Bubba." Benji nodded happily, running upstairs.

Minhyuk passed by him on the stairs. "Whoa, slow down speed demon." When he got to the kitchen, he seemed to freeze. "Good morning," he smiled softly.

I furrowed my eyebrows as Kihyun didn't reply to him. "Okay... what's going on between you two?" I asked. "What happened?"

Kihyun shrugged, finishing the dishes. "Nothing. There are just times we don't speak? Is that not allowed?" I threw my hands up in defeat.

"Not my battle, not my loss." I grabbed my keys. "Alright little buddy, your chariot's leaving!"

Benji laughed coming down the stairs. "I'm here silly!" He ran to hug Kihyun and Minhyuk goodbye. I took his hand and led him to the car. "Joo?" Benji asked lightly?

"What's up?" I asked, helping him into the car and buckling him in.

He shrugged softly. "Are they like Wonho and Mama?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "Well... Uncle Min is Uncle Min. Wonnie is my uncle too right?" I nodded, slowly getting to the point he was making. "Does that change sometimes? Like Wonnie loved Mama, Uncle Min loves Dada. Does that change?" No wonder they didn't wanna do anything about their relationship... Benji saw it just as clearly as we did.

I put his bag on the floor. "Uhm, you know what Bubba, I don't know. We'll have to ask them later, okay?" Benji nodded, sitting back as I closed the door.

His school was about 20 minutes away, so that gave me 40 minutes to try to think of a way to talk to them before I got home. I didn't know what to do. It's not like he didn't already know something was going on between them, right? God why is our family such a mess? It's like a telenovela or something.

After I dropped him off, I began thinking harder about how to tell them. It wasn't devastating news or anything, it was just difficult. Everything about our lives was difficult. My phone started to ring as I was around the corner from home. I answered it through my car system. "Hello?" I asked.

"Jooheon!" Elizabeth yelled.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She was screaming, then going silent. No, she wasn't. "Are you going into labor?" I asked again.

Elizabeth took a second to answer me. "Yeah. My water hasn't broken but I've been calling Minhyuk and he won't reply."

I sighed softly. "He might be at work," I said pulling up in the driveway. "Uhm... no hold on. He's still here. Let me call you back." She hung up and I got out of the car quickly.

I walked into the house and heard... ungodly sounds. "Oh Jesus," I grimaced. I went upstairs to Kihyun's room and opened the door.

"Oh God, Jooheon!" Kihyun groaned, falling onto the other side of the bed.

I rolled my eyes. "Anyway you horn dogs, to catch you up on today's daily news. Elizabeth's in labo-"

Minhyuk's eyes widened. "What?!" He yelled getting up.

"God, dude, your junk, please. Go... think of Nana or something and get your ass to Elizabeth's house. She's been calling you." I covered my eyes as he rushed past me to get all the clothes he'd discarded downstairs.

Kihyun sat up, sighing softly. "Was there more than that?" He asked, slipping his boxers back on.

The front door closed before I spoke again. "Benji knows something's going on with you two. He knew it before I did."

Kihyun's face dropped. "What'd he say?" He asked, getting up.

"He asked if you two were like Wonnie and Mama. He asked if someone being his uncle sometimes changes because of relationships. He recognizes that Wonho was his uncle, but was dating Akira. And now, Minhyuk is his uncle, but he's dating you." Kihyun sighed, running his hand through his hair.

He was holding something back and I could tell. So I stared him down until he told me. "He's not dating me," Kihyun bit his lip.

I scoffed, leaning against the doorframe. "You- are you shitting me? I just caught y'all banging it out, there's no way that's just lonely sex. You guys are-" He cut me off before I could read him the Riot Act.

"Married!" Kihyun yelled. My jaw dropped, in disbelief of what I just heard. "We're married, Joo."

I felt my heart break a little, but mostly out of confusion from being kept in the dark. "How? When? Why? How did this happen, when did this happen, and why did you hide it from me?" I couldn't help but feel hurt.

Kihyun had put on his pants and a shirt by now. "Because this is a brain tumor, Joo. We went to the courthouse one day when you were out and while Benji was at school. It was a week after I came home, so we've been married for almost a month now." He sighed, leading me downstairs. I followed behind him and he sat on the couch.

"Did y'all fuck there too?" I asked before sitting down.

He shook his head and pat the seat next to him. "I don't think I ever told you. But during the surgery for my chest, I woke up. They didn't notice at first. And i freaked out when I woke up after surgery. I said something like giving up if I panicked during the scan. And Minhyuk asked me what I wanted to do if something happened and I needed life support. I wrote a directive afterwards and was going to give him it and just label him my proxy. But he told me Jaesung would probably fight him every step of the way. Legally, a spouse is next of kin in life or death decisions. Then he proposed. It wasn't romantic, it was a business decision almost."

I bit my lip, my eyes watering up. "Do you love him? Because if that's all that paper signing was for you, I swear to God I'll never forgive you." Kihyun shook his head.

"I love him so much, Jooheon." And now he was crying. "I couldn't imagine anyone other than him being my husband. We've gone through hell and high water together, I love him. He's watched over me and taken care of me better than I ever thought I deserved. I wouldn't have married him if I didn't love him, please believe that." And I wanted to.

I hugged him softly. "I do believe it. You haven't talked this way about anyone since Hyungwon. Not even Josh."

We pulled away as Kihyun sniffled and wiped his eyes. "Now... now he has a baby coming home in the next couple of days. And I don't know what to do. We didn't even think that far. I don't think I have any right to be a stepparent to his daughter. I don't think I should be super involved. He's going to go to Elizabeth's for the next month, that was always the plan he had. There's a crib in his room. This is real now. And we didn't even think about it." He sighed, holding his head in his hands.

"No, no you didn't." I chuckled rubbing his back. "You just thought about that newlywed fucking."

Kihyun laughed pushing me away from him. "You asshole." I smiled softly. "What do I do though? I don't know how to do this. And I don't even think I want another kid between us. Not that I'm sure I'll even be alive to experience it."

I shrugged. "Nothing gets done by just guessing," I said. "Talk about it." Kihyun nodded, getting up to begin cleaning. My family was still complicated, but we all had each other's backs, that's for sure.