Man - y.kh

thirty-seven.

"You're absolutely crazy!" Wonho chuckled. "It's a no brainer. You know he needs help, Kihyun."

I shook my head. "Please stop, I have a headache." This was too much to process. Hyungwon's been showing his ass to me for a while, I need time to think and time to breathe. "It wouldn't kill him to be in jail for a little while. It's not like I'll tell the cops about the bodies he has on him." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. It's been two days at home, Jooheon's been coming over to do homework since last week, even when I was at the hospital. I needed all the time I had to relax. Worrying about whether or not Hyungwon was going to jail was not my idea of relaxation. "Wonho?" I asked, sitting on my new bed in our now shared room.

"What's up?" He replied, pulling out his laptop.

I turned to look at him. "What do you know about Akira and Hyungwon's son?"

Wonho looked uncomfortable, but at the same time, he looked like there was no sense in leaving it up to chance. He could tell I wanted to know. "I have her number. You can meet up with her. Ask her to come over. But basically, she had Hyungwon in every part of preparing for Benji. But she never told him the sex, never talked about names. Never even shared ultrasounds. He helped her but she almost wouldn't take it." He texted me her number. "It broke him when he was kept out of the delivery room because of a restraining order he didn't know he had on him. She's never offered any explanation as to why he was just cut off." I nodded, tossing the idea around in my head.

I decided it was time to text Akira, getting to the bottom of it. "How does this sound?" I asked. "Hey, is this Akira? If so, I'm Kihyun, Hyungwon's ex..."

Wonho furrowed his eyebrows at me. "You guys really broke up?" He asked.

"He damn near cost us our lives, Wonho. It's pretty fucking over." I rolled my eyes, turning back to my phone. "I'm Kihyun, Hyungwon's ex. He told me about you and I really want to ask you some questions about him. It's important to me that you text me back. I have questions for a decision I need to make." I sighed a bit, gesturing to Wonho, asking for his approval.

He shrugged. "Send it." Wonho was fighting hard for Hyungwon to get the help he needed. I wanted to believe in him. Really, I did. But he needed to learn a lesson as well.

"Holy shit," I gasped, flashing Wonho my phone screen. She called me almost immediately on FaceTime. I was nervous, sure, but I needed answers. So I picked up.

Before I could even get a word out. "Are you okay?" Akira asked.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why wouldn't I be?" I looked at Wonho before focusing on my screen.

"You were in that car accident weren't you?" She asked. I nodded a bit. "I told Hyungwon I was pregnant, he was so damn happy. But I never wanted to be pregnant. Not so young. I mean, Benji is my whole world now, clearly. But being a teen mom was never what I planned on. It's no secret that Hyungwon isn't... sane sometimes. When he gets upset, he gets reckless. And as it got closer and closer to time for Benji to be born, I got more and more worried that the life of being a parent wasn't going to be for Hyungwon. I didn't want him to be hurt, or for him to hurt Benji or me. So I just cut ties, signed the restraining order and moved on."

I was believing most of it. "What about that phone call? When you asked where he was and I said "He's about to get into a fucking fight", what did you want?" I took a deep breath. I felt awful for her.

"Someone slashed three of my tires. I could only assume it was someone he knew. He's still mad about the restraining order. And when he gets mad, he completely snaps. He becomes someone I never knew or ever loved. It's like he's a whole other person." I nodded, listening to her. "Whoever slashed my fucking tires, they were smart. Since not all of my tires were slashed, I had to pay for everything, my insurance didn't do shit. That completely fucked up Benji's birthday." I gasped softly.

"Damn, I'm so sorry. I assume it was maybe Benji's second birthday?" I asked. She nodded, smiling a bit. "Did anything happen on his first birthday?"

She thought for a second. "A reservation at a party hall I made never got solidified, so we just moved it to my backyard. It's not like he remembers his first birthday." I chuckled a bit. She was honestly a sweetheart. "If Hyungwon got locked up, I wouldn't care much. But I also know his heart, and he's broken somewhere. He needs help." I nodded.

"You're the second person to say so. And I think so too. So I think I'll drop the charges," I sighed. "I still have thinking to do. But you go to bed and we'll talk later maybe?" We said our good nights and hung up. Wonho had a blank stare toward the floor. "I assume you're the one who slashed her tires and ruined her son's second birthday?" I asked. I was privy to what went on in the dark usually. It was clear to see honestly. When Wonho ignored me and laid down, I knew it was him. "Why are you pushing so hard for Hyungwon?" I asked.

He sighed, hands coming up to his face. "You have Changkyun. Jooheon has you. I only have Hyungwon. I used to have Shownu, he's a complete fucking ass. The moment someone needs him, he doesn't give a single fuck to even begin to help them. It sucks, it's worse than being alone. Because you learn to trust yourself when you're alone. When you have someone so close yet so out of reach, it kills you slowly. And he seems like he's got a deadly fear of being outed, so..." Wonho sighed a bit, sitting up. "If you didn't fucking know, Shownu is as gay as the day is fucking long. And he thinks people care an exponential amount when literally most people are wondering what they're gonna settle on for dinner tomorrow night. So any time he gets someone who wants him and loves him and needs him, he drops them. Hyungwon doesn't do that. I need that. And he needs to know he's still got someone rooting for him." I nodded, laying down in bed. "Please, Kihyun. Drop the charges. I just want my best friend, my person. To get the help that we all fail to give him. That's all. He deserves that's much." And Wonho gave his final plea. I still had a choice to make, but really? Looks like he'll be spending Thanksgiving in therapy instead of jail.