Monsta X Series

That afternoon, Minhyuk woke up before you. He watched your bare back rising and falling as you slept on. He couldn’t help but replay the previous evening in his mind. He smiled as his favorite parts replayed over and over. Had it actually happened?
As if you could read his mind, you rolled over and caught him staring at you.
“Good morning, well… afternoon” you smiled sleepily. He reached out and cuddled you close. You and he lay there for a few minutes when an unsavory thought hit you. Sitting up, you ran a hand through your hair worriedly.
“What’s wrong?” Minhyuk asked noticing the abrupt change.
“I have that party tonight”
“What?” he sat up, unsure if he had heard you correctly.
“Vernon- he invited me to a party at his place” you shook your head. This was definitely not how you were wanting to spend your evening.
“Better get ready to get to town” Minhyuk said coldly as he threw the blankets off of himself.
“You know there is no way for me to avoid this! I will tell Vernon tonight that I can’t see him anymore! But I can’t just not show up!” you tried to reason with an angry Minhyuk.
“Don’t do that on my account” he said as he had begun to get clothes on. You hadn’t even gotten out of bed.
“Minhyukkie- you are being unfair” you said in a small voice. He sighed and walked back over to the bed. He slowly sat next to you, but didn’t reach out to touch you.
“Can you blame me? After last night I can’t be happy with you going to a party with another guy” he sighed and shrugged.
“And I would rather not go but it can’t be helped at the moment.” You looked at him defiantly. You were in no position to make Vernon mad by being a no show. Despite what made you happy, Vernon had done a lot for you and Minhyuk.
“Now move so I can get dressed. I don’t want to be late” you turned over, trying to push Minhyuk out of the bed as he had a mischievous smile on his face once more. He didn’t move but instead he got closer.
“Seriously, I have to shower and change…” you were cut off when he kissed you and shut you up. You tried to pull away to protest but he only deepened the kiss, until he was on top of you.
“Looks like you are going to be late” he whispered into your neck. You laughed as he began to take off the clothes he had just put on.
At 6:15, you were walking to Jooheon’s house when you saw the town car already sitting out front. You apologized to the driver before you turned to Minhyuk giving him a hug.
“Just try to make the best of it” Minhyuk shrugged, noticing it was going to be difficult for you to hide your displeasure.
“Remember when we had to sit through all of your parent’s parties, but you were able to do it with a happy face and charm everyone?” he talked to you quickly.
“I don’t feel like that person anymore”
“But you are that person. You have mingled with Vernon’s kind of people since you were in the womb” he kissed your forehead and opened the car door for you. Sighing, you got into the back seat and waved good bye one more time.
You calmed yourself down on the drive to Vernon’s house. When you pulled up, you noticed there were cars and people lining the driveway. They all were dressed in finery and had wide smiles on their faces as they walked up the front steps and called to people they knew. They looked so happy to you, but it was a happiness that was always just for show.
When the car was parked and the driver opened the door for you, you nervously scanned the crowd for Vernon. You spotted him a ways away, and began walking up the stairs by yourself. Noting glances from people who didn’t recognize you, you held your head up high. Minhyuk was right, you used to charm people like this all the time when you were younger. It was just like playing a game.
By now, Vernon had spotted you and was watching your arrival up to where he stood. He smiled and grabbed you into a hug as you greeted him.
“I would’ve escorted you up the stairs but I just couldn’t take my eyes off of you” he flattered you. You giggled at how cheesy he was.
“Glad you made it” Seungcheol said as he walked over and greeted the pair of you.
“Sorry, got a bit held up” you tried to brush off why you had been a bit late. You felt awkward but tried to not let it show. The group of you walked inside to the dining hall where dinner was going to be served. The manners you had been brought up with came back to you immediately. The older woman who sat next to you was quite impressed that you knew the salad fork from the dinner fork.
“Good to see a young lady here with such nice breeding. I can tell” she told you. You demurely thanked her as she nodded her approval.
“Who are you here with?” she added, smiling.
“Vernon invited me” she looked taken aback. Vernon smiled from his spot next to you, which you returned.
“My dear grandson! I knew he had great taste!” she seemed pleased.
“You sat me next to your grandmother?” you turned and asked him quietly.
“She is a tough lady to please, but I knew you could do it” he winked.
As the appetizer arrived and then concluded, you were found to be making conversation with the people around you, falling right into how things used to be when you were younger. Vernon smiled proudly; everyone would agree he had done well to invite you.
“Now, Ms. y/l/n, where are you from?” someone asked you.
“I live out in the country a bit but I spend most of my time on Third Street. I have friends there that I stay with often” there was a silence that ran through the people in ear shot of the conversation. Third Street was not very classy.
“You don’t spend a lot of time there though” Vernon shook his head, and the people around you seemed to relax. He turned to face you and smiled, before dropping his voice.
“Maybe keep it to a minimum of how much time you spend in the undesirable parts of town” he said uncomfortably.
“But I’m there nearly every day” you shook your head.
“But people don’t need to know that” he patted your leg. It felt as though he was patting a dog for being well behaved. You didn’t enjoy the feeling.
“So lie?” you asked him. He didn’t disagree but wasn’t going to tell you to lie outright. This was another shade of Vern you disliked. You opened your mouth to excuse yourself, but a man at the end of the table stood up and cleared his throat. You had heard his gruff voice before, but couldn’t place it.
“I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. It means a lot” you listened as this middle aged man gave his speech, trying to recognize his voice.
“Let me not bore you with a speech of how grateful I am to be given this promotion- long time coming…” he joked. People laughed.
“I appreciate how my coworkers…” he gestured to the room.
“Government officials…” he gestured once more.
“And the rest of you people who I don’t know…” he paused as more haughty laughter followed his joke.
“I’m just glad you all have seen how hard my men and I have been working squashing the rebellion out of our wonderful town” he now had your full attention.
“With the new strict measurements we will be taking, any wrong doing will certainly be chased out of town for good. There will be a zero tolerance policy for bribes- yes, there have been bribes.” There was a surprised murmur around the room.
“And there will be stricter jail sentences for repeat offenders. You can’t just pay your way out anymore, unless, you are among us tonight” he winked to the room and they all smiled.
“Rebellions like the one happening soon in the west will be taken care of before they even start. I daresay I will no longer need to catch someone at a rebel meeting to arrest them for treason! The inside information I have shall be damning enough. Within a few months, if I can make so bold a statement, there will be nothing left of a rebellion!”
“If you continue to talk all about business, I am taking this party elsewhere” a well-dressed woman spoke up. The way this man looked at her, you assumed it was his wife. Minhyuk looked at you that way. You pushed this thought from your mind and returned to listening to what this man had to say.
“My wife is right, isn’t she always? Shall we just dig in to this wonderful dinner our staff has prepared? My wife, my son, and I thank you for being here” you noticed the way he had gestured to Vernon when he said ‘my son’ and put it all together. Vernon’s father was getting a promotion and this was a celebration of that. You were literally dining with the enemy. You had to get this information back to everyone tonight.
“My father has such a way with words” Vernon said to you as the waiters brought out the first course.
“Your mother seems to have a better way with words” you retorted. He laughed.
The rest of the night, you were doing your best to keep charming the people around you, but you had been growing anxious to get home. When dessert rolled around, you were dead set on getting this night over very quickly.
“I was thinking perhaps we could walk for a bit after dessert?” Vernon asked.
“Of course” you agreed. There was no leaving early from a party like this. What would people say?
When you and he were walking along the back porch, he would stop and converse with nearly everyone you passed. You were beginning to feel like the only point of your walk with him was to be arm candy. No one ever addressed you.
When you rounded a corner of the house to the side, someone called Vernon over. He grabbed your hand as he escorted out over to where his father and mother sat side by side on a white swing, surrounded by guests.
“There’s my boy!” his father said proudly as he walked you over.
“Enjoying your evening?”
“Of course” Vernon nodded.
“Who is this lovely lady you have with you?” he asked. His stern features studied your face, like he had seen them somewhere before. You tried to calm yourself by reasoning he had probably seen you round town, just couldn’t think of it because he sees so many people daily.
“This is y/n” Vernon introduced you. His father reached his hand out for yours and grasped it gently.
“Nice of you to join us. So, Vernon tells me he met you in town?” he continued, seeming like he wanted to pry for information.
“He did, sir” you agreed. You wanted to say as little as possible to this man. You didn’t trust him.
“Pretty girl like you should be careful wandering through town” he added, looking away.
“I hardly think I am in danger when we have guards like Vernon all over the place” you smiled disarmingly.
“Those boys don’t see everything. Just the other night they let a group of rebels leave the city. I would’ve arrested them all right then and there for just being out after curfew- but the new rules coming into play will change all this.” He glanced around at the people listening making sure his tone hit home.
“Where do you live, y/n?” his father asked out of nowhere.
“Out in the country a bit. A smaller house along the road” you quickly replied.
“Vernon say you have friends in the slums?” he continued, lighting a cigar.
“Her brother does” Vernon answered for you. If he could associate you as far away from an unwelcome parts of town, he was going to do it.
“You don’t live near that old mansion on the hill do you?” his father asked after letting out a long puff of smoke. This was a loaded question.
“Not too far, sir” you told him. You didn’t like where this was going.
“You know the story behind that old house, don’t you?” he added.
“I don’t. I moved here a few years ago so I don’t know much of the history”
“There was a family of traitors that lived there. There was weekly rebellion meetings that were held there. The whole lot of them were taken care of once we found out. The mother, daughter and all the servants. I ran the traitorous father through myself” he said this and let it sink in as he read your facial expression. His gruff voice came unbidden back into your mind.
Your living nightmare all those years ago repeated in fast forward through your mind. You felt your hands shake and your breath was shaky, but you did your best to suppress it all before responding.
“I am sure to give that place a wide berth when I pass it then” you nodded. You and Vernon’s father did not break eye contact. You knew he had realized where he had seen you before. You were becoming the spitting image of your mother as you got older.
“It is getting late, perhaps we should have to younger people call it a night?” his father added as there were agreements and disagreements from the company around him. He smiled and waved Vernon away. You knew this meant the conversation was over you tried not to let it show that you were rattled. You had just had a casual conversation with the murderer of your family. You had dined at his house. It looked as though you were dating his son.
And he knew.
“That’s my father’s way of saying it is time for my friends to go home so he can have some time with his friends” Vernon smiled as he walked you to one of the town cars.
“Tonight was very fun. Thank you” you said as you wrapped your arms around him in a friendly hug.
“I’m glad you made it” he said as he broke the hug. You saw him lean in for a kiss, but dodged it by pretending not to notice as you grabbed for the car’s door handle of the back seat.
“Good night.” You told him as you got into the car. He held onto your hand as long as he could before he reluctantly let go and allowed you to close the car door.
You opened the window to wave good bye as the car started up and began driving away. You let out a deep breath as you leaned against the back seat. You were unable to control your shaking.
You told the driver to take you to Jooheon’s house and he was reluctant to enter into that part of town this time of night. He ended up dropping you along the outskirts of the town which made you walk the rest of the way. Your dress did little to shield you from the cold night air.
Walking up to Jooheon’s front door, you knocked twice before Minhyuk answered.
“So how was it?” he asked. You grumbled in response.
“That bad?”
“You have no idea. Where is Shownu?” you asked wandering into the kitchen.
“He is out. Why?” Minhyuk asked.
“I need to fill him in on a few things”
“What things?” Jooheon asked as he entered the kitchen.
“At the dinner I was at tonight, they said there was going to be crack downs on rules.” You began filling Jooheon in on everything you had heard.
“They know about the uprising and the bribes…” you concluded. Jooheon leaned back in his chair after you had finished, digesting the information.
“Guess we need to lay low for a while.” He said placing both hands behind his head.
“I know you don’t like it, but you seeing that guard benefits us immensely” Jooheon added. You knew where this was going. You heard the front door open and heard Shownu and Changkyun enter. Jooheon called them over and filled them in on everything you had just told him. You sat in silence and listened to what Shownu had to say.
“Doesn’t sound like there is much we can do right now. I will send a messenger to the west and let them know to lay low for a while” he said.
“Y/n, we really need you to keep seeing that guard” Changkyun added. You sighed. This wasn’t a part of the plan.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to”
“The information you gave us tonight is invaluable and if you can get more that means lives could be saved.” Jooheon told you. You heard Minhyuk fidget behind you. Taking a frustrated breath, you glanced around the room from one face to another. This seemed unfair.
“Great plan: have sex with Minhyuk at night and then date Vernon during the day” your anger let this phrase slip. You gulped as Shownu and Jooheon seemed speechless and awkward, while Changkyun said something along the lines of ‘things he didn’t need to know’.
“Anyways, I guess I can keep it up for a while” you agreed in a small voice. You looked at Minhyuk briefly who nodded. He knew this was a good position for you to be in, but he didn’t like it.
“I’m off to bed.” You shook your head and stood up, heading to one of the spare bedrooms. Minhyuk followed.
“Keep things down in there” you heard Changkyun tease as you and Minhyuk exited. Your face grew red as you closed the door behind you.
“Well, that wasn’t exactly how I had…”
“Sit down there’s more I have to tell you” you cut across Minhyuk. He didn’t say anything, but his face was concerned as he sat down next to you on the bed.
“Vernon’s father is the guard who murdered our father” you told him and let this sink in.
“You can’t pretend to date Vernon then. It is too…”
“I have to. Jooheon’s right. The information I could get is important.”
“But you could be unsafe.”
“Only if he realizes who I am” Minhyuk reached up and lightly rubbed his thumb along your cheek as you spoke to him.
“That won’t be difficult... you look like mom” he said simply.
“I’ll be fine” you said, trying to put his mind at ease.
The tension was broken as Changkyun walked by the door of the bedroom and shouted at the two of you.
“I sleep next door so don’t keep me up tonight, love birds!” he joked. You and Minhyuk laughed as your face turned red.
“I just hope you have better tact when it comes to Vernon and his family.” Minhyuk said pulling you down onto the bed with him.

Notes