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I’m Not That Cruel
Part Nine
Coming back from the store, brought more questions to Kihyun’s already long list of questions. Shownu had turned away from his query by changing the topic when he had brought it up. Kihyun acted like it was no big deal, although in his mind that was all he could think of.
In the car, Shownu had completely forgotten about that question and instead was boastful about what they were going to do in the kitchen, and that he was so glad that they had food in the refrigerator.
Kihyun let his question go, his hush suspicion go, and turned his focus on how well they were getting along. Shownu was a difficult man when it came to food, and soon Kihyun learned that Shownu was very protective on that area, especially when it came to the health of their unborn children.
At home, after dropping their groceries to the kitchen table, for a second, they had forgotten their realities, and went straight into a delighted kiss. After their lips had touched, they stood there, savoring and lingering their position.
A galore of butterflies burst inside his stomach in between their small kisses and after their affection. Those butterflies went on to fly, ferociously, in him as they continue to prepared food.
That night Kihyun found another side to Shownu: he was a funny man. Kihyun’s cheeks were turn up for hours, his smile never faltering. There were also glances of Shownu’s hands going down to his hips and his chin softly cupping the nape of Kihyun’s neck.
From then on he started to become comfortable in the house, even slowly calling it his home. Shownu had been nothing but sweet, and his actions showed that he was trying to change, although the did have his defaults and actions that were a mirrored of his old self back when they had never had their share of affection.
Days and nights went along with his progression with Shownu. The office became peaceful, well at the same time rowdy with gossip (there had been speculation about his relationship with Shownu, but that was never confirmed by any of them). Any commotion didn’t change his persona or the way he felt about himself. Shownu leaving him alone left him without stress, and he was having his old life back, well the most that he can say he had.
Slowly, Minhyuk forgot about his wariness on Shownu and began to have small talk with him, even hindering a smile. Kihyun has caught that moment with his own eyes when he was coming back from the restroom. Such action warmed his heart. Not only was his body accepting his new flame, so was his best friends whom he considered to be his family.
Days had never been better. Each day his belly grew, as well as the love that he was showering to his unborn children, their moving signifying the future that Kihyun would have with Shownu after they are born.
All this was great, and Kihyun deeply knew it, there was just something that was off. His mind preoccupied with the secret room that he wasn’t allowed to go. Shownu had never said anything about that room, but his actions, and his late night wandering off to the room brought suspicion.
Shownu had officially moved in with him to his room. Gradually he brought in his stuff, would lay down after work, and even bring him food when he would go to the milkshake place they had gone earlier when they were strangers.
Things started- the suspicions- to become weird for him after midnight. It wasn’t always, but whenever he felt Shownu leave the bed and silently leave the room, Kihyun would stay up, and sit there, ignoring the sensation that Shownu had a huge secret he didn’t want to tell him.
Shownu’s absence wasn’t long. Four to ten minutes Shownu would be gone from the bed, and then when Kihyun would heard his footsteps- he could still hear Shownu’s light steps- he would pretend to sleep. After Shownu would get into bed, he would hold him closer and whisper in a crying voice. He could never make out what he would say, but Kihyun was certain that his words were promises meant for their children.
Kihyun’s curiosity never settled, although it slowly diminished. There was nothing that could help him further prove that Shownu was keeping a secret even if some days Shownu would leave their room at night and then come back just as fast as when he left.
Pushing his curiosity to the aside, really helped him focus on his triplets. He was currently six months pregnant, his belly really really swollen. Kihyun could no longer see his bladder, and all he saw when he sat down was his belly. At this time it was really evident now that he was pregnant.
Wearing two over sized sweaters did not help at all anymore. His co-workers would stare, but would not say anything. They could speculate all they want, but he would never tell them that he was six month pregnant.
At this time, Kihyun went less and less to work, unable to move very efficient as he could before. He was glad that Shownu let him stay at home more days than he was at work; he would still get paid nevertheless.
Staying at home would benefit him the most since he could now focus more on his kids like decorating their room, and reading more about what to expect, and what to do in the birth of triplets.
Earlier the cribs that Shownu had ordered hand made, had arrived, just before they got out of their ultrasound appointment. After they were out of the appointment, Shownu went straight to their house so that Kihyun could lie down before they start on their cribs.
Now they were in the car, Kihyun waiting for Shownu to help him get out of the car. His blood pressure had went up, and that wasn’t a good sign. His doctor advice him to no longer work and instead to stay as much as he could in bed. Kihyun thought that was the best thing to do. He could not wait any longer for his kids to come, already.
Shifting on the seat, and placing his hands on his belly while he exhales rather forcefully, he turns to stare at Shownu who was just outside of car and right in front of him as he talked on the phone.
Shownu was always busy with phone calls, which sometimes bother him. Especially right now where all he wants to do is lay in bed and relax for a few hours so he can get energy to help Shownu with the cribs.
“Fuck,” he mumbles, rubbing the place where one of his kids kicked. At first he loved getting, and being able to feel their kicks, but now he wished they were less painful. He wasn’t just getting kicks from one, but from three, and that was very painful to feel.
“I’m sorry, love. It was Jooheon with a problem in the office,” Shownu softly tells him, a slight irritation on his face, as he opens the door and slowly helps him out the car.
Kihyun closes his eyes and lets himself rest there, his legs being able to stretch. His hands are on his back, stretching it as far as he can go. Then he waddles to the house, his hand being pulled by Shownu.
Once in their house, Kihyun throws his shoes off from his feet and lets out a cry of relief. There’s no better feeling than letting his feet touch the soft, cold floor from their house.
“Do you want to go the bed or the couch?” Shownu asks him, having left the living room and then coming back with a blue t-shirt and his pants unbutton.
“Couch. I think we should start now. If I go to sleep I don’t think I’ll want to start later,” Kihyun tells him, waddling over the triplet’s room.
“Okay, I’ll bring the boxes to the room.”
The triplets’ room was the biggest room of the house. Before he moved in, Shownu had this room as his own even if he didn’t used it. Now that he was with Kihyun in his room, Shownu had decided that the triplets needed to be together and what best decision than to put them in the biggest room in the house.
A smile grew wide on his face as he entered the room. The triplets had each its own place, the names: triplet one, two and three, where position a few inches away from each other and all it needed was the cribs to be position in its own places.
The couch that Shownu had mention was next to a wall, a few inches away from the wall since the walls were still fresh with paint. The four walls were painted in pastel colors such as yellow, green, purple and pink. The wall where the names ‘triplets one, two, and three’ were,was painted pastel yellow, a color he picked when they went to the store a few days ago.
Kihyun wanted to help with the cribs. He knew he couldn’t it from all the pain his body was from just moving from place to place. Instead he went directly to the couch and positioned himself where he was the most comfortable.
His phone was with him which was a good thing because then it he didn’t have it, he would be bored just waiting for Shownu to come with the cribs. Kihyun decided to call Minhyuk and Hyungwon to pass the time. They were probably in lunch right now which meant he wasn’t really bothering them.
Kihyun grabs his phone and starts dialing Hyungwon’s phone. The two of them are always together so it’s much easier for him to just call one of them, and on this case he always calls Hyungwon first since he’s the first to always pick up the phone.
Through the phone he can hear the ringer going off, and as he patiently waits for someone to pick up, Shownu comes in with the first box, and without saying anything he leaves to fetch the other two.
On the fourth ring, Hyungwon picks up. There is muffling, and then a few seconds later Hyungwon screams a ‘hello’.
“Hey are you guys in lunch?” Kihyun bites his lips, nervous as if he’s never talked to them before.
“Ugh, yes. Finally. I was so hungry,” Hyungwon laughs, the phone becoming distorted for several seconds.
Hearing him laugh makes Kihyun smile a little, and feel a slight pang of jealousy. Shyly he asks,”Is Minhyuk there?”
“Yeah. One second.”
Patiently, he waits, looking at Shownu once again placing one of the cribs on the floor. Shownu takes a moment to take a breath, and before he gets out of the room again, he flashes a warm smile directed to Kihyun.
Kihyun mirrors that smile, and that action puts him a little bit at ease. “Hey, Kihyun. How did the ultrasound go?” Minhyuk’s voice through the phone brings tears to eyes. He hasn’t seen him or Hyungwon for several days.
“It went good,” Kihyun hesitantly tells him, nervously awaiting to tell him the rest. He admits that telling Minhyuk is more nerve wracking than when Shownu found out. In a way they’re both the same way concerning his well being, except Minhyuk gets super freaked out when something happens that is out of the normal health range.
Taking a huge breath, Kihyun continues, this time nervous.” Actually they told me that I have high blood pressure, and that they want to check my triplets through a deeper ultrasound. I’m also advised to stay in bed and rest for the rest of the pregnancy.”
“Oh, my god. Thank god they’re checking. You’re still early to detect if something is going wrong. I was going to ask you about that soon. I’m glad they did before I did,” Minhyuk says sounding relieved.
Kihyun is glad too. Whatever happens they can detect to find a solution, and if they can’t then they’ll do whatever it takes to deliver their babies. Just that pure thought made him squirm inside. He can’t be thinking about those things. It only brings more countless thoughts to his already worry mind.
“Don’t worry, though. Our kids are gonna be fine. Kyungri is gonna be fine. My lovely little girl,” Hyungwon chimes in, his voice louder.
“They’re not your kids, and besides she ain’t just one, there’s two more you should care about,”Minhyuk sternly lectures Hyungwon.
Hyungwon scoffs, and then they start to bicker with each other causing Kihyun to giggle. He missed hearing them argue, even seeing their facial expressions and gesture was entertainment to his eyes. Oh he really missed. Where they really that close?
“I can share my children with you. No need to fight,” Kihyun says, a short laugh coming after.
“Well I already said Kyungri is mine.”
“You can’t name a child that is not yours.”
“Well I already did. She’s my goddaughter and you can’t take that away from me,” Hyungwon raises his voice, affirming that what he was saying was true and serious.
“How do you even know he’s going to have a daughter?”
“There’s three coming, there’s a high chance he will.”
“That’s true,” Kihyun adds, nodding his head even though he’s the only one there and they can’t really see him.
It was so nice to talk to them, and hear them speak about his children like they were their own. He’s carrying Shownu’s kids, and even if the others had no part in with him regarding parenting, they are still important people that his kids are going to know. They’re going to the uncles who they will desperately need.
Shortly after that, they shifted their conversation to another topic. Shownu had came in with the last box and was now opening one of them and distributing all the parts on the floor. Then he takes a hard book and begins to flip through the pages rather quickly, more like skimming the pages.
Kihyun’s eyes never left Shownu as he continued to work on te cribs. Talking was a good distraction for him and helped him forget about the kicking and about his swollen feet.
However, his conversation with his best friends was cut short. Their lunch was over and it was time for them to get back to work. Without wanting to leave the phone, he forces himself to cut the phone call, and with some difficulty he rises from the couch.
Shownu was putting two parts of te crib together when Kihyun arrives. With the help of Shownu, Kihyun plops down to the floor and with his hands leans on the floor.
“The guy was going to come and make the cribs, but he call in for emergency and now I’m stuck doing these cribs so hopelessly.”
The floor was scattered with parts from the crib and wrappers around as well. Kihyun picks a bubble wrapper and begins to pop the little bubbles. “You’ll figure out. If not, we still have time.”
“Time flies. Yeah, I’ll figure, in weeks from now,” he whines, his face dropping to a sullen state.
“Here, I’ll help you. This can’t be so hard,” Kihyun says, picking up the book and reading the table of contents.
Piece of cake. If it was so hard they wouldn’t have gave them the instructions and instead just send the cribs already made.
Well, that’s what he’s telling himself now that he has skimmed through pages. Why is there so many?
Instead of reading through endless pages, he turns to the page where it shows the display on how the crib should look like. He picks one piece and examines it, and then looks for another one that can be the one it can connect to.
“About what the doctor said, are you sure you don’t want me to work? I need to provide too.” Asking this question makes him vulnerable. He had always worked, had been working so staying at home and doing nothing made him feel useless.
“It’s for your own good that you don’t work. Don’t worry about providing any type of income. Just worry for our triplets, and let them develop without risks. Then after the birth you can go back to work,” Shownu tells him, grabbing another piece and looking for another one that connects with it.
Kihyun wasn’t sure about the situation. He obviously wanted to work, to provide as well and not have to depend on anyone. But Shownu was right. Not working is for his own good, and the good of their children. He’s still in critical state. He doesn’t think he’s ever going to get out of the critical state, not, unless he gives birth to healthy triplets.
“You’re right,” he sighs, letting go of the argument in his head. Staying low is the final verdict.
As much as that pained him, he pushed those thoughts away and turns his attention on at least advancing on one of the cribs.
Lunch had already happened and they hadn’t ate anything. To his surprise, Kihyun wasn’t craving anything, until he heard a faint rumble coming from his stomach.
“You want to eat? I can make whatever you want?”
“Yes, please. You can surprise me. I’m craving something with pasta, though,” he tells Shownu as he helps him get up.
“Alright I’ll see what I can combine with the pasta. I’m gonna take a shower first. I smell like sweat,” he laughs, pulling his shirt down to demonstrate.
“Okay.” Kihyun nods, dusting himself from the floor and waddles himself out of the room. While Shownu takes a shower he can munch on something.
“Oh,” Shownu softly shouts, stopping midway, and clicking his fingers,” I put the ultrasounds on this old photo album I have. It’s on the counter if you want to look at it.”
“Thanks,” he mumbles since Shownu had already left before he had the chance to say it out loud.
Indeed, the photo album was on the counter. The photo album didn’t look that old, and he actually liked the color: burgundy. On the front there was a small square and in it had the first ultrasound he had of the triplets.
Smiling wide, he opens the album and looks at the other ultrasounds. Looking at it gave him ideas on how to fill the entire photo album, well as much as he can before he fills it with photos after the triplets are born. He was going to put pictures of them, and of him while he’s pregnant. He should of took pregnancy progression as the months passed now that he thinks about it.
“Too late,” he says shaking his head rather in a regretful way.
The sonograms we’re inside two sheets. Seeing them again brought bittersweet memories.
His smile was still content as he closed the photo album. Kihyun had decided that this photo album belonged in the room. He already had in mind where he was going to put the photo album on.
With that in mind, he picks the photo album up and walks back to the triplets’ room, but before he can arrive there, a single ultrasound is out from the photo album.
With struggles to get the ultrasound, he squats down, and leaning on the side, picks up the tick paper. From far it looks like any of the others, except that when Kihyun examines closer, it is not his ultrasound at all.
Confused, Kihyun frowns and inspects it closer to his eyes. On the top of the ultrasound is inscribed Leticia Hernandez. The ultrasound looks like it only has one fetus.
His mind was whirling so fast that he didn’t pay attention to the timeline of the photo. All he can think about was that he already had another child. But with who? Who’s the mother? Is the child still in his life? His triplets have a half sibling? Why didn’t he say anything to him before?
So many questions that he had to stop himself on the way to his room. He was on the verge of tears, and although he knew his best friends were working he needed to call them this instant.
Closing the door, Kihyun wipes a couple of tears away with the pad of his thumb and fumbles with his phone until he finds Hyungwon’s phone number, hoping that they are both there to hear his trembling confession.
A/N:
Another update for my lovely greenappleisme I love love this one shot. ❤️❤️ I’m at the airport right now lol finally back from Mexico. I miss my land man, but excited to come back and get my life back.
Rivals’ Love Affair is next. I hope like in the next two days I update it. Ohhh and I can’t wait to see Monsta X on our ( me and my sister) birthday. I’m so excited. It’s this Friday ahh
Comments and votes are appreciated.
-Laterz Kelsi.
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