A Little Help?
My Perfect Stranger
Though me and Minho resolved our issue, I was still bothered by what had happened. I mean, I know I'm pretty bossy and don't ask Minho about things most of the time, but it's only because he's ok with most of decisions anyway. Whenever I usually ask for his opinion, his response is always, "Well, I don't know?" "What about you?" "Whatever you want." I never want him to feel as if his opinion doesn't matter.
Though Minho gave me the ok to have Jonghyun at the wedding, I could tell that he was still against it, which I totally understand now. I'm not sure how I would respond if Minho ever wanted to invite an ex to the wedding, an ex with a psychotic past at that.
So I've just been thinking and thinking for that past few days. I really needed someone to talk to, and the only person I could think of was my dad.
As crazy as it sounds, he's actually the perfect person to go to for this kind of talk. He and Minho have become very close this past year and sometimes, Minho ends up telling my dad more things than me. So maybe I can get something out of my dad. Maybe he can help me discover what it is I need to do to make my fiancé feel important.
As biased as my dad is towards Jonghyun, I needed his advice, and words of wisdom is what he's good at. I just hope I'll be able to bear his judgment against Jonghyun.
We met at one of my favorite childhood fro-yo spots in Seoul. That place is the best! Too many favors my poor taste buds can handle.
After fixing our monstrous bowls, applying heart-stopping toppings, and finally paying, we headed to a table in the store before sitting and enjoying our frozen yogurt.
Dad chuckled as I attacked my bowl. "Remember when we used to come here when you were little?"
I nodded, "Mmm, how could I forget?! This place is still awesome. I should bring Taemin and Jongin here one day."
"Yeah. By the way, how are they?"
"They're great. Taemin's getting ready for middle school. I can't wait for him to meet new people in a new atmosphere."
"What about Jongin?"
"Oh, Jongin's a bit sad."
"About the move?"
"Surprisingly, no. He and Taemin are going to be at different schools. Taemin will be in the 6th grade while Jongin will be in the 5th grade. They've never been separated before."
"Oh, really? That must be tough. You raised those boys to become very close, which is a good thing. I just don't want one of them losing it because the other is away."
"Yeah, you're right. Oddly, Taemin's not as affected by it. I think he's actually happy he gets to be on his own for awhile."
"Well, he is 11 now. Maybe it's puberty."
That word struck a nerve. "No way! There's no way my innocent little baby is going through puberty already. There's no way I would put up with it."
Dad laughed, "I'm afraid we're not in charge of saying when our child's puberty strikes. By the way, have you given your sons the birds and the bees talk?"
My cheeks flared, "Appa, you didn't even give me the talk."
"And you see where that's gotten us."
I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha. Very funny. Anyway, I don't even know how I'm supposed to open up a convo like that."
"Well, you better get to thinking. You and Minho. You don't want a repeat of your situation to happen to one of your boys do you?"
I sighed. "Of course not, Appa. I would never want them to experience the pain and suffering I had to endure."
"Which is why you need to talk to them. Have you figured out whether not one of them can get pregnant like you can?"
I nodded. "The doctor told me at one of their yearly checkups. I just don't like having to think about it?"
"Which one is able to have kids?"
"Taemin. The doctor said his hormones, like mine, are unbalanced with more estrogen than testosterone. Jongin's hormones were just fine."
"How long have you known this?"
"Since a couple of years ago. This is one of the reasons why I was so worried about Taemin going through puberty. The doctor said he should be able to bear children in his teens when his puberty kicks in. I don't want him getting curious and experimental like I was."
"All the more reason to sit your boys down and talk to them. Talk to them together so they can feel comfortable, then talk to Taemin alone about his particular circumstance. That's the best advice I can give you."
I nodded. "Thanks, Dad."
"I'm just trying to look out for you, son. Now, let's get to the real reason why you brought me here. What's going on?"
I took a couple more spoonfuls of my frozen yogurt before I responded. "Well, it's about Minho."
"What happened?"
"We got in a huge argument the other day."
He looked surprised. "About what?"
"The wedding."
"What's so important to have you guys fighting over a wedding?"
"Well, it's not exactly the wedding itself that we disagreed over. It was one of the guests I wanted to invited."
He groaned, "Please don't tell me you want to invite Jonghyun."
I raised a brow. "How did you know?"
"Kibum, he always finds some way to ease himself back into your life. It's only logical that he would choose a time such as your wedding to make an appearance. No wonder you and Minho fought over this." Well damn.
"Appa, I didn't come here for your consent. I came for your help."
He sighed. "What do you need help with?"
"The fight wasn't just about Jonghyun. Minho thinks that I don't value his opinion, which isn't true. I care about anything and everything he has to say. But I will admit that I sometimes don't show him enough that I care. What should I do?"
"First, you shouldn't invite Jonghyun. And I'm not saying this because I don't like him, but I'm saying this because Minho is a man. Inviting your ex to your wedding with your new boyfriend is like a slap in the face. It can really make a man feel as if he's less of a man. In my opinion, Minho's done so much for you and this whole family. The least you can do is not invite Jonghyun to the wedding. If he's as changed as you say he is, then he'd understand." I didn't want to admit it, but he was right.
"So besides not inviting Jonghyun to the party, what do you suggest I do to show Minho that I care about his.....manliness."
"It's easy. Just value his opinion more, even if it's something as little as what movie he wants to watch. Also, shower him with love like I know he does you. As tough as I portray myself to be, I love when your mom dotes on me like I'm a precious being. One day, she actually took me out on a date. It was weird, but nice because I didn't have to do any of the planning for once. I'm sure Minho loves to shower you with affection, but to make him feel like he matters, it would help to do the same."
I nodded. "That actually makes sense. So doing something like dedicating my whole day to him would be good?"
"That's perfect. At least give it a try."
I smiled. "Thanks, Appa."
"Any time."
"We need to have more of these talks. It's so funny and awkward since I talk to you more than mom now."
He chuckled. "What can I say? I'm just cool like that." I rolled my eyes.
On my ride home, I thought about what my dad said. First, the boys. I need to give them the talk as soon as possible. But honestly, I'm hoping I can put that off as far as I can. I'm not ready to talk to my innocent boys about . That's just weird! Maybe next time.
So I decided to spend the rest of my day with Minho. I want him to know how much I value him not by my words, but by my actions.
When I entered my apartment, I saw the boys in the living room playing video games as always.
"Hey, boys. Where's Minho?"
"He's upstairs, umma," said Taemin.
"Thanks. Have fun, guys." Then I headed upstairs to my room.
When I opened the door, I found Minho sitting on the bed with my laptop open.
"Hey, baby," he said as he got up and kissed me.
"Hey," I smiled. "Watcha up to?"
"I had to check some emails. My phone was dead so I decided to check them on your laptop. Is that ok with you?"
I perked up. "Of course! Whatever you want, honey." I tried to play it cool.
"Um...ok. So how was the talk with your dad?" We walked over to my bed and sat down.
"It was great. We talked about a lot of interesting things, which reminds me. I need to talk to you about the wedding."
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I've been thinking about our fight-"
"Key, don't worry about it. I told you I'm ok with him coming-"
"But you're not, though. You're not ok with him coming so I've decided not to invite him."
He raised his brows. "You don't have to do that. I know how much he means to you-"
"But you mean more to me, honey. You do. And I just feel so bad knowing that I am so selfish sometimes that I don't even take into consideration how you may feel about some things. Your voice should be just as big as mine when it comes to this wedding, and I mean that. Jonghyun will be ok. You're who I'm worried about."
He smiles slowly. "You really mean that?"
"Every word of it. Marriage is about compromise. Before you came into my life, the only opinion that mattered was mine and my boys. Now you're here and I respect you so much. I value your opinion over my own at times. So when I tell you it's ok not to invite Jonghyun, I mean it."
He hugged me and kissed my cheek. "What has gotten into you lately? Are you really Kim Kibum?"
I chuckled. "No. I'm the future Choi Kibum and I would like to keep it that way."
"Mmm, I like the sound of that. Is there anything else on your mind?"
"I'd much rather not talk about myself for a change. Let's hear about you."
"Not much goes on in my life. That's why I like hearing about your day and your feelings so much."
"Really? Well, I talked to my dad about the boys today. He suggested that it's time for us to give them 'the talk'." I shuddered.
"Oh wow. I haven't even thought of that. He's right."
"He is?"
"Your parents never gave you the talk?"
"Not really. Maybe if they did a good job, my life would be a tad bit different."
"Well, when I was in 5th grade, we had a class over it, but we weren't told the details. So my parents gave me the talk when I was in 7th grade I think. To be honest, I really wasn't interested in having anyway around that time, so it wasn't really that awkward."
"Whoa. So when did you lose your ity?" He looked at me bewildered. I shrugged, "What? I'm just curious."
He chuckled. "Freshman year."
"Damn!"
He burst out laughing. "What?! It's not that bad. I have friends who lost their ity in middle school."
"But still, freshman year in high school?"
"Oh, since you're so innocent, when did you lose yours?"
"Near the end of sophomore year."
"Oh, wow. Only a year apart," he said sarcastically.
"Let's not be an now."
He chuckled. "Have you ever topped anyone?"
I shook my head. "One, I'm used to being a bottom. I really don't feel like switching up anytime soon. Two, I don't have the stamina. Much respect to you guys who can go all night. What about you? Have you ever bottomed?"
"No way. I haven't had many relationships, nor partners for that matter. Plus most of them were women."
"You've dated girls before?"
"Yeah, but not many. Like I said before, I've never really been in a relationship. I mean, they were technically relationships, but they never lasted more than a few months."
"So how many have you dated?"
"Three. One was in middle school. Two were in high school. Then after junior year, I was done with relationships. They were just a waste of time for me at the time because I was so focused on soccer. I couldn't risk ruining any chances I had in front of scouts."
"Aww, you were more worried about priorities. That's kind of y."
He chuckled. "Have you ever dated a girl?"
I rolled my eyes at the memory. "One time-"
He gasped. "Really?!"
"Don't get your in a knot. It was in elementary school. This girl let me hold her crayons then we called each other boyfriend and girlfriend. Then the next week she did the same to another boy. Then I got mad and told her I wasn't her boyfriend anymore."
It was silent before Minho burst out laughing. "And you still remember that?!"
I groaned. "How can I forget? My parents will not let be live it down."
"That's so cute though."
"So was I your first boyfriend?"
He nodded eagerly. "Yeah. I mean, I always had a feeling I liked men, but I never really gave myself a chance to explore since I was so caught up with soccer. Then after I got on the team, I began to explore my options. I went on a couple of dates and knew by then that I was definitely not straight. But I never found anyone worth dating. That is.....until I found you."
He looked me in a way that caused me to blush. I leaned forward and pecked his lips. "How did we even end up talking about this? We were originally discussing having the talk with my children."
He chuckled before kissing my temple. "I guess we just get so carried away when we talk."
"But on a more serious note, we need to have this talk with them. I don't know when, but it's not something we can forget. It needs to at least happen before Taemin hits puberty."
"Why specifically Taemin?"
"Because.....he's like me." He seemed confused before giving me a knowing look.
"You mean he's able to get pregnant too?" I nodded. "Does he know?"
"No. It's not that easy to explain. I'm sure he'll have plenty of questions. I know that they taught him in school about why and how men are able to have babies, but it's just different when it's yourself. That's why I'll need your help."
"Ummm, help with what?"
I smacked his arm. "You know what I mean. I need help with giving them the talk."
He smiled. "Of course I'll help when the time comes."
"Thanks, honey."
More stalling before the end lol. I hope you like what you've read. Comment my babes! ^.~
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