God, this one has been written forever....

I'm so glad that I can finally post this one up!  So you know those chapters that I use to explain a whole crap ton of their lives all at once....?  Yeah, this is one of those.

Enjoy!

#66 – July

July was one of those amazing months just halfway through the year.

It’s a time when one has worked so hard already over the course of the year and you can finally begin to see all of it taking shape.  But at the same time, if the year is going badly, there is still enough time to stand back and look at what had gone wrong and manage to turn everything around.

And it was Key’s favorite month.

Most would think that it would be September, the month he was born, or December, when he could celebrate Christmas – his favorite holiday, or February, when he was able to enjoy the wonder of Valentine’s Day with the love of his life.

But it was July.  July was his favorite month of the year, every year, and for very good reason.

Taemin’s birthday was in July.  It was in July when the person that he loved with his entire being was first brought into the world.  And Taemin loved to celebrate his birthday with their friends and family.  He would have a smile stuck on his face for the weeks leading up to the day and Kibum loved seeing that the younger man could be so happy.  It was a contagious kind of joy because Kibum would find himself just as happy and excited for Taemin, even though it wasn’t his own birthday. 

It was when Key and Taemin finally stopped dancing around each other and actually came together as a couple.  To Key it seemed he had two separate lives: pre-Taemin and post-Taemin.  And it was during this month when they finally came together and stopped denying the feelings that they had had in their hearts.      

It was during July, two years after the attack that Taemin’s parents finally got over the shock that their son was gay and came to actually embrace the man that Taemin loved.  Not that they had been horrible or cruel before that, it was just something that they had clearly been uncomfortable with and were still trying to wrap their heads around.  But after those two years they were finally able to coincide the views that they had been taught their whole life with their son’s happiness and were finally able to see Kibum as a part of their family too.  Now Mrs. Lee was known to call over at the apartment looking to talk to Kibum just as much as Taemin, in fact she commonly spent longer on the phone with Kibum as the two really loved to talk and gossip over the phone. 

It was during July, five years into their relationship, when Taemin and Key became the first to move out of the SHINee dorm and into their own apartment.  It made their relationship seem just that one step more solid.  They were undertaking a big step – making a home together with each other.  They both invested their money, their time, their energy and their passion for each other into this place that they would call their home for many years. 

It was the first time when gay rights were brought up during a political debate on a national level, as presidential candidates openly discussed the issue.  While it wasn’t necessarily a positive discussion, it was enough at the moment that it wasn’t being swept up under the rug anymore.  Politicians were taking a stand and actually talking about it for once, and to Kibum that meant that there was a possibility, there was some hope for their future in the country that raised them.  In other countries acceptance and understanding only really happened as the issue was openly discussed by those who had some power to do something about it, and it was almost always negative at first.  But societies can come around, people can change, and for the better too.  One day it would be alright, maybe not within his lifetime, he had thought at the time, but there was still hope.

And it was in July, Kibum had found out later, when Taemin had begun to plan for the night months later when he would get down on one knee, holding a glistening, custom-made ring in front of all of their friends, declaring to the world that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kibum.

It was in July when their daughter Jinae was born.  A squealing mess of muck and screaming at the top of her lungs, she was still the most beautiful thing either of them had ever seen in their entire lives.  She was healthy, and she was there.  Their hopes and dreams all culminated in the existence of this glorious child.  That was a month of a lot of firsts that year.  The first time they held her, fed her, kissed her, cleaned her, dressed her, read to her, and much more. It was the most glorious time of their lives up until that point.

And it was in July when the law was finally changed.  A bill had finally made it through the South Korean government that made it illegal to deny rights or discriminate against someone based on their ual orientation.  Essentially, it made marriage between same couples legal and all other matter of wondrous things were suddenly open to gay couples, things that heteroual couples had always taken for granted.  The call had come late at night, from the office of the President of South Korea.  The most powerful man in the country had just signed it into law.  It wouldn’t go into effect for another month, but now they were legal, their relationship was legally sanctioned – the first Asian country to do so, and they were the first one’s to know. 

As a result of that law change, Kibum and Taemin were able to marry – the first homoual couple in South Korea to do so.  It also allowed Kibum to legally adopt his daughter Jinae, who until now had been Taemin’s daughter only, at least on paper.  It also made it perfectly legal for the couple to adopt another child if they wished – which they did a year later in (surprise, surprise) July.  Their amazing bundle of joy Munhee joined them in the month of July. 

Yes, Kibum thought idly, glancing in the living room and seeing Taemin sitting on the couch, a child tucked into each side, watching The Little Mermaid on TV, it was truly the best month of the entire year.

I hope it was as adorable as I intended it to be.

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