The Clockmaker's Son #1: Renounced (Lee Jooheon of Monsta X x Reader fanfic)

Part Twelve: Sincerity

Only Minhyuk and Changkyun were in the Idol Clubroom today. Apparently Hyunwoo and Kihyun would be turning up later, and Hoseok was currently training at Spaceship Entertainment's practice rooms.

'And Hyungwon?' Jooheon asked the pair.

'Hyungwon...?' Minhyuk hesitated. 'He hasn't... Well, he hasn't really been turning up to practice.'

'Neither here nor at Spaceship,' Changkyun added. 'We stop by and see him every day but... He just doesn't seem... right...'

An unsettling silence befell the four of you. Perking up, Minhyuk immediately asked what was up with the two of you.

'I haven't seen either of you around in ages,' he pitched in, forcing cheerfulness. 'Something happen?'

Oh, that's right. They didn't know about Jooheon having been hospitalised and that whole ordeal. Instead of coming clean about that, Jooheon instead lifted our interlocked hands.

'Well, Y/N and I are dating now,' he said straightforwardly.

J-Jooheon! Wasn't that already implied by our hand-holding?! You thought, panicking.

'Oh yeah, we noticed that right away,' Changkyun replied, looking almost painfully unimpressed. 'Congratulations I guess.'

'No need to be so salty about it,' Jooheon teased him.

'Who's salty?!'

The pair bickered back and forth as you fixed your gaze on Minhyuk. They had all been seeing Hyungwon day after day? This was definitely friendship. You wondered if they had organised a sleepover with him to keep him company during his time of need. You know, the same way you'd done for Jooheon. You asked Minhyuk this, unintentionally cutting off Changkyun's sentence.

'Sleepover? Yeah. We've asked him plenty of times,' Minhyuk answered dejectedly. 'He keeps turning us down with this goddamn smile. It's so obvious to see he's not alright but... We can't seem to get through to him...'

'He must be lonely...' You murmured.

Another sombre silence filled the clubroom. Jooheon suddenly clapped his hands together, shouting that they shouldn't be getting down because of something like this.

'Obviously we're doing something wrong then, if he keeps turning us down,' he pitched in matter-of-factly. 'So we've gotta change our approach.'

'And how're we doing that, genius?' Changkyun sighed, looking weary.

With a familiar grin full of mischief, Jooheon declared:

'Obviously we pack our bags, pick a time then rock up at his place! He can't say 'no' if we're already there.'

Wasn't forcing Hyungwon to accommodate you all counter-productive?

'Huh, you might be on to something there...' Minhyuk mumbled thoughtfully.

'He'd definitely let us in to cuddle him and shit if we've got all our junk at his place already...' Changkyun agreed, stroking his chin.

Ah... Well, these guys were better acquainted with Hyungwon than you were, so who were you to judge? And so the plan moved forward without any further input from you. Insisting that the sooner they could get this done was better, Jooheon and Minhyuk sent out texts to the remaining individuals yet to arrive. Kihyun, Hyunwoo and Hoseok. Once they were up to date with the plan, and cheerily agreeing with it as if this whole group shared the same single braincell, you all split up to prepare for the planned attack that was to occur later this afternoon.

Jooheon and Minhyuk had talked you into joining them for this sleepover. Something about your soft-spoken demeanour likely having a soothing effect on Hyungwon.

'It's a nice contrast to us,' Minhyuk had pointed out with a bubbly smile.

'Yeah. We're pretty fucking chaotic,' Changkyun had added.

So now here you were in Jooheon's room, re-packing your duffel bag. You took a moment to wonder if you were ever going to be moving back into your own dorm. It was a tad bit difficult to focus on classes with all of this going on after all.

'You got everything Y/N?' Jooheon asked you, hefting a body pillow up over his shoulder. 'We've got twenty minutes until it's time to rendezvous at Hyungwon's.'

'Ah, yeah. Almost.' You refolded the long-sleeved shirt you'd accidentally rumpled. Neatly packing it into the bag you pulled it over your body, gently smiling at your companion. 'Alright! I'm ready.'

Excitement buzzed in the pit of your stomach as he smiled charmingly at you. As the two of you left the locked apartment, he casually slung an arm over your shoulders, saying:

'Let's go cheer Hyungwon up, yeah?'

'Yeah!'

Out in the carpark you were met by Changkyun and Kihyun standing by his car. Kihyun brightly greeted the two of you, followed up by Changkyun who simply stated:

'You sure took your goddamn time.'

'Oh don't be so dramatic,' Jooheon scoffed, grinning away. 'We're here now ain't we? C'mon just get in the car.'

He gave Changkyun a playful shove into the driver's seat as I giggled and circled around to the backseat behind Kihyun. Once the four of us were safely strapped in, Changkyun started the engine. It roared to life and you were soon on the road, driving towards Hyungwon's home.

'So where does Hyungwon live?' You ended up asking.

'Do you know where the local clocksmith's is?' Kihyun asked you.

'Yes.'

'He lives there. There's a home extension above and behind the workshop.'

'Whoa really? That's super cool!'

'Yeah! It saves them having to travel to and from work too.'

You glanced across at Jooheon, about to ask his opinion on such houses, but his expression silenced you. It was a solemn look, one full of the deep anguish you thought you'd already seen the last of.

'...It saves Hyungwon from having to travel to and from work,' he quietly corrected Kihyun.

Having caught his flub-up, Kihyun fell quiet himself, opting to awkwardly gaze out the window. Ah, the atmosphere has gotten strange all of a sudden. You personally didn't think that Kihyun had done anything wrong, and you didn't think that the others thought he did either. It was just... It was just that you'd all been abruptly reminded of what had thrown Hyungwon into this position.

For just a split-second you heard the sound of screeching wheels and the horrendous impact of two vehicles. Bile churned in the pit of your stomach as sweat trickled down your back... You were going to throw up.

You noticed Changkyun glance back at the two of you from the rear-view mirror. With an expression remaining passive as ever, he clicked on the radio, turning up the volume and filling the vehicle with more of #GUN's atmospheric flows. Sucking in a breath, you tried to calm yourself down.