Man - y.kh

sixty.

Wonho was coming over at dinnertime. It was actually a perfect time to do so, actually. Dinnertime was honestly hard for Hyungwon. We would sometimes sit at the table for hours, until he ate at least half of his dinner. Tonight, it was chicken and rice. "You didn't eat breakfast or lunch, so can you try to eat a little more tonight?" I asked, making him a plate.

"I don't want it," he shrugged, looking down at his lap. I could almost hear the regrets and reconsideration playing through his mind. He was getting scared.

The doorbell rang and he flinched. I knew I was in for the long haul tonight. "It's okay. We're here. Focus on me." He looked up at me and saw his body begin to shake. "Come this way," I said, pulling him toward the other side of the table. The way he was sitting, his back was facing the living room and front door. He wouldn't have seen Wonho coming into the kitchen.

"Hi," Wonho mumbled, waving slightly. Shownu brought him, Jaesung had gotten caught up at work.

I nodded, acknowledging that he was there. I looked at Hyungwon, handing him his plate. "Baby, let's eat."

Hyungwon looked at the plate and started to gag. "Oh God," he whined. I quickly opened the back door to the balcony. "Kihyun, move!" I stepped back just in time as he ran to puke outside.

Wonho looked concerned. "What happened?" He asked.

"You guys got high, fucked, and slept. When did you have time to eat?" Wonho nodded, seeing where I was coming from. "All drugs and no food makes Jack projectile vomit." I glanced to see how Hyungwon was holding up, making sure he didn't pass out. "When you're here, you ask his permission to do any and everything. You don't have autonomy here. I assume you knew that."

Hyungwon came back inside. "I don't want to eat," he sighed, sniffling.

"Hyungwon-ah." Ms. Lee came into the kitchen. "Please just eat a few bites okay? That's all. A quarter of your plate."

He looked at the plate sitting on the table, gingerly taking a seat and grabbing a fork. He couldn't bring the food to his mouth, whining softly. "Do you want me to help?" He nodded, grabbing onto his hands after he dropped his spoon. "Okay, babe." I sat next to him and began to help feed him.

After a while, he began to fight me more. "Okay stop, I don't want it. I tried it."

Sometimes, we had to argue over it. "One more bite." I offered up some more food on his spoon. And he slapped my hand. "Hey!" I snapped quickly. "I love you, but don't hit me." He sighed softly, quickly apologizing. "Go ahead and go find something to watch upstairs, I'll clean up." He got up, quickly walking past Wonho. I chuckled, wiping up his food. "You saw a tame dinner." That piqued his curiosity.

"How bad is it usually?" He asked, coming to help.

I shrugged. "Depends. Sometimes he tries to swing on me because I don't listen and try to get him to eat more. I'm the one who deals with dinner. His mom would cry, Minhyuk would probably get too violent. And in the hospital he ate for me. So, this is what I do."

Taking care of him was certainly a job. But he's gotten better. "It's kinda lonely at home, Kihyun." I shrugged softly, finishing the dishes.

"I'm stepping outside, come here." Wonho and I walked out into the balcony and I sighed softly. I watched as Wonho's jaw dropped softly. "What?"

He pointed at my hand. "Yoo Kihyun, smoking?" He asked.

I shrugged. "It's a fucking cigarette, not a crack pipe. You're Jaesung's lead son on that one." These were my only excuses I could find to take breaks without losing my sobriety or offending Hyungwon.