Man - y.kh

sixty-eight.

I came over to Hyungwon's house a few days later, coming to take him to meet up with a counselor and Akira. "Hyungwon?" I called, walking into the house.

"I'm better now, I can handle it," Hyungwon said, sighing a bit.

Minhyuk's voice boomed. "You literally cannot listen to water running without slipping into dissociation. Do you think your kid won't take a bath? Hyungwon, you still need help."

I walked toward the kitchen, watching silently. "Kihyun would be with me." Minhyuk scoffed. "I'm sorry you're really fucking scared to drop down on one knee and propose to your baby mama, but I'm ready to propose to my boyfriend. He loves me and I love him more than I could ever imagine. I need to do this, Minhyuk." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"You cannot move out yet," Minhyuk shrugged. "Period. You are not ready."

Hyungwon sighed, running his hands through his hair. "So, I should just bring my son here, right? There's room for him here? I'm assuming you're not gonna move out again yet. Your kid's stuff, my kid's stuff, Jooheon's stuff, Luna's stuff. There's too much going on here. Plus, there's a dog. Benji's gonna want to pet her and play with her but she's not gonna be able to be played with. She has to keep her attention on Jooheon and I know a three-year-old isn't gonna get that. I just need to move out, and I'm gonna do it." I shifted back toward the front door, quietly stepping outside.

I texted Hyungwon, telling him I was ready for him. Within a couple of minutes, he came outside. "Hey, babe." He smiled, kissing my forehead.

I smiled softly. "Ready to start these supervised visits?"

Hyungwon nodded, heading to the car as he answered his phone. "Wait, what? What do you mean? Okay wait... is she okay? Does anyone know where she's at?" I turned to look at him. "Wonho's got Benji, he's been at Akira's since last night. He offered to babysit while she went on a date and she hasn't come back from it." I started to get sick to my stomach. We don't trust men in this town. And Hyungwon and I both knew exactly what that could've meant.

I called the mediator. "Akira's not with Benji. Lee Hoseok is with him, and he said he's been there since last night. He was babysitting while she went on a date. Said she never came back from it. You're gonna what? Okay... how do we fix this though? How do you find her? She's basically an adult, we can't really put out a high profile alert on her. Wait, she still qualifies for which report? How do I file it?" I waved Hyungwon over to the car. "Tell Wonho not to touch her things, grab Benji and meet us where we were meeting the mediator."

Hyungwon told him and then hung up to send the address. "What's gonna happen next?" He asked.

"Well," I sighed. "Mediator's gonna call Mari and talk to the judge about getting you temporary custody, with daily check-ins. This isn't how you wanted to do it, I know. But you're getting custody. We're gonna go file missing persons report because Akira is newly 18, she's not even 18 and six months. Plus, do you think she's in danger?"

Hyungwon nodded softly. "You don't think Changkyun knew someone who would take her out, do you?" I shook my head. Changkyun was a lot of things. Crazy even, but not "hire a hitman" crazy.

"Let's just go get Benji, and then we'll figure out the rest. I just hope Akira's okay. She may be a manipulative bitch, but she doesn't deserve anything like foul play." Hyungwon nodded, looking at the booster seat in the back.

Hyungwon sighed a bit. "This isn't how I wanted to get custody of him. I wanna know where the fuck she is." You and me both, Hyungwon.

When we went to pick up Benji, he was partially saddened but mostly excited. He was a kid that trusted people easily. "Here is his EpiPen, his favorite stuffed animal, his backpack. He's good on potty training and he has an appointment with his speech therapist tomorrow and I will text her the address," the mediator sighed.

"Do we get like a custody pardon? Like, what the fuck is going on here?" Hyungwon asked under his breath.

The mediator nodded. "They're filing the reports and starting to look for her. I've put a call into the judge on your case. You're gonna take care of him until we find her and determine if she's okay." As he left, Hyungwon sighed. He had no idea what was okay to say to Benji and what wasn't, as far as being his dad.

He took a deep breath. "Call my mom," he called out to his phone.

"Hi, Benji." Benji smiled at me. "My name's Kihyun. That guy and I are gonna be taking care of you for a while." He nodded, not really understanding.

After I put him in his booster seat, I closed the door and played with him through the window while Hyungwon was in the phone with him mom. "Eommie, I have him now and I don't know what to do. I don't know where Akira is but I feel wrong doing this without her. I feel like I'm stealing him. He can't talk much, he's probably so scared and confused. I'm scared and confused and I'm losing my fucking shit, Ma. I'm losing it, I can't lose it, I have my son in the backseat, I cannot afford to lose my shit." I put his phone on speaker as I set it down on the hood of the car. I held him tightly, trying to get some pressure on him.

"Hyungwon, you're okay. It's not like you're doing this alone, okay? You have right now to fall apart. You are not stealing him, you are stepping up. You are being a man, being the father you never had and always needed. You are being present in your child's life." Ms. Lee took a breath. "You're gonna come home, you're going to spend time getting to know him, you're going to be his dad. DNA makes a father. Time, effort, unconditional love and care makes a dad. Any guy can be a father, but it takes a man to be a dad. And you've grown into a fine young man, Hyungwon. So wipe your tears, come home, spend time with Benji, put him to bed and then we'll all sit down and talk." Hyungwon nodded before saying goodbye.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Hyungwon sighed softly, wiping his tears. "I have to be okay." As he got in the car, I sighed a bit. I wanted to make sure he could handle this, but I wasn't sure anyone was ready.