LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES...CHAPTER 12/?
Title: Love Knows No Boundaries
Author: tikibuddy91
Characters: EXO (minus Minseok.. YUP, WUFAN APPEARS ONCE AGAIN), BAP (minus Himchan, Jongup, Junhong), JB, B1A4 (only Dongwoo), f(x) (Qian (Victoria) and Jinri (Sulli)), SNSD (Miyoung and Hyoyeon), Beast (Doojoon only), SHINee (Jonghyun only)
Pairing(s): Baekhyun/Chanyeol
Word Count: ~4830
Rating: PG
Genre: College, AU, Crossover
Summary: College students. Blind, Deaf and Mute. Their lives deal with the ups and downs, like a roller coaster. They find relationships, and companionships. Life does not always have a happy ending but they can try to get their happy endings.
Author Note: Wufan makes a surprise visit to pick up Jongdae and meets Zitao; Zitao walks home with a companion and on his way, sees someone vaguely familiar; Kyungsoo's sister finds out about his secret admirers; Kyungsoo, his group and Joonmyeon head home; Zitao has never been happier about today.
Sign Language Guide
Families
Prologue | Jongdae | Chapter 1 | Daehyun | Chapter 2 | Zitao | Chapter 3 | Kyungsoo | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 |
After lunch, and before Joonmyeon’s group and Kyungsoo’s group go to their separate classes, Yixing is reluctant to let Jongdae go, but he trusts Zitao will take care of him. It is almost 1PM and some of the others have to either go to classes right after lunch or wait a while before their classes start at 1:30PM or 2PM. Meanwhile, a few have their last classes from 1PM to 2PM and will be free for the rest of the day; this includes Jongdae and Zitao.
Later in the afternoon, around 2PM, Jongdae gets out of class early with Zitao waiting for him outside. Unfortunately for Jongdae, due to Yixing being an upperclassman, Yixing has to focus on his dancing studies and performances at the studios offered on campus. Like this morning, Zitao has been Jongdae’s escort for most of the day, with the exception of lunch when Yixing took over.
Zitao looks up from his hands as he practices the Korean and American alphabets, to see Jongdae walking out the door with his walking stick and backpack, assisted by a fellow classmate. Neither the student nor Zitao know each other, so Zitao walks up to the duo, taking out a mini-notepad from his laptop bag and writing down “Hello, I am Zitao, Jongdae’s friend. I’m here to escort him.”
The classmate passes Jongdae to Zitao, smiling at him. “Jongdae, here’s Zitao. I’ll see you in class on Thursday. Bye guys!” Jongdae then links one of his arms with Zitao and, together, they make their way to their college’s entrance gate.
Step…step…step…there is slightly less chatter than this morning…
“So…uhm, Zitao, how did you do on the Math exam? I know we didn’t get to talk about it, but this seems a good time. Did you do well?”
With his walking stick in one hand, Jongdae’s other hand is free to take in the responses from Zitao. He feels his wrist being held and then flicked upwards, before his palm is turned upward and Zitao’s finger is making character strokes on it.
Zitao writes on Jongdae’s palm, I finished the exam in 25 minutes, and I thought it wasn’t too bad. There were a lot of students taking the test when I left. How about you? I’m sorry about what happened back there. It wasn’t in my favor the moment I came into the classroom.
“Nah, Zitao. Don’t worry about it,” Jongdae assures Zitao. “I’m actually sorry about my attitude back there. It was strange that even though my first instinct was you, I thought of Lee Junghwan-sshi. So I didn't know who to call out first. As for the exam, I think I did well too, it didn’t seem too bad.”
The duo arrives outside the entrance gates and Zitao remembers that ever since he met Jongdae a year ago, he has never been to Jongdae’s house, thus he does not know the way to get there. Jongdae notices their steps slowing down and is about to ask Zitao when a noise interrupts them.
A hum of the motor engine is approaching closer towards them…A pause in their walking pace…A really long pause…A tug on Jongdae’s arm causes him to be alert.
The motor engine is getting louder and louder…until it stops, in front of them.
“Zitao, is there something wrong?,” Jongdae is concerned, gently nudging Zitao with his elbow. “I heard a ca-“
“Chenchen-ah, surprise!” A deep, rich voice calls out to Jongdae. Jongdae’s eyes widen in surprise at the recognition of his brother’s voice. Wufan gets out of the car, wearing a v-neck shirt and denim jeans, and makes his way to Jongdae.
“Gege?” Jongdae asks in confusion. He switches the walking stick in his hand over to his other hand that is linked with Zitao, and moves his now free hand around in front of him. His hand bumps onto Wufan’s chest, and he feels a warm hand enveloping his hand, and another hand softly ruffling his hair. There is a faint familiar scent of cologne emitting from Wufan. “Wh-what are you doing here?”
“What, I can’t surprise my baby brother and take him out for a small ride to the Han River on a congratulatory occasion now that you’ve finished taking the test? After studying your butt off last weekend? I’m insulted.” Wufan says in a lightly mocking tone, but his thumb grazes on Jongdae’s hand. Jongdae chuckles, knowing from the subtle gesture that his brother is joking. “Oh, hello,” Wufan lets go of Jongdae’s hand as he turns to Zitao. “Sorry for being rude, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Lee Wufan, Jongdae’s older brother. What’s yours?”
Zitao’s mind, from the moment he sees the driver get out of the car and call out to Jongdae with that smile, has gone blank and now, he cannot stop staring at Wufan. Wow…, Zitao thinks, he’s very…wow. When Wufan asks him for his name, it does not register in his head that Wufan has just asked him a question. He is suddenly shaken out of his thoughts when he hears Jongdae explaining to his brother that he is Zitao, one of his friends. He wills himself to not blush and bows to Wufan.
“Oh, I see, you’re the one with the languages and brilliant math skills that Jongdae tells me about,” Wufan beams, extending his hand towards Zitao. Blushing hard at the compliment, Zitao tries to bring himself to look up at Wufan but he cannot. Instead, he gazes at Wufan’s hand, still in a slight stupor, with one arm linked with Jongdae and his other arm just hanging limply at his side. “Nice to meet you, Zitao.”
Few seconds pass and Zitao has not done anything. Wufan is left standing there, feeling a bit awkward for not being able to shake hands, and assures the mute student, “Zitao-sshi, we can shake hands. No need to be shy.”
Zitao shyly raises his free hand to shake Wufan’s hand, and he immediately feels goose bumps and warmth all over his body. He wills himself to not shudder at the contact, only to end up having his hand trembling inside the grasp of Wufan’s hand. Zitao notices that Wufan has not let go of his hand yet, and when he looks up at Wufan, his eyes widen in slight shock as Wufan gazes at him intently.
“Are you okay?” Wufan asks him in Chinese. That seems to shake Zitao out of the reverie and soothes him from the internal tension he is having, and Zitao nods quickly. Zitao remembers, as he recovers from a slight shock upon hearing him speak Chinese, Right…Jongdae is half-Korean and half-Chinese, naturally his siblings would be too. Loosening his grip quickly on Wufan’s hand, he feels Wufan’s hand letting go and watches Wufan step back a bit with a reassuring smile.
Wufan steps a little closer to Jongdae to take Jongdae’s backpack off his younger brother’s back and escorts him to the car. “Jongdae-yah, come on! Let’s go to the Han River.” He leads Jongdae to the passenger seat and closes the door. He then turns around to face Zitao and asks him, “Thank you, Zitao, for accompanying him. Actually, do you want a ride to your place?” Zitao shakes his head hastily with a small smile, and, looking a bit nervous, he points to the direction of his house opposite of where Wufan and Jongdae are planning to go.
“Oh…er…how far is it?” Wufan looks in the direction Zitao is pointing and turns his head slowly to look at Zitao in concern, as he inquires about the distance. Zitao signals to him with a slight pinch of air, and holds up two hands.
“Oh, ten minutes? That’s not too bad for you then, eh?” Zitao shakes his head. “Okay, well, thanks again. I hope we’ll be seeing each other soon, Zitao.” Wufan gives a little salute to Zitao and jogs to the driver’s side of the car before getting in. There is a noise of windows sliding down and Jongdae faces his head to the right. He reaches out for Zitao’s hand and Zitao obligingly extends his hand to meet with Jongdae’s. Jongdae wiggles it gently in a comfortable manner.
“Zitao! Thanks for helping me get around today; I really appreciate it. I’ll take up on that offer about learning Morse Code, it sounds quite useful! Get home safe, ok?” Jongdae beams at him, and he feels the upward flicking motion of his wrist from Zitao’s response. He chuckles and lets go of Zitao’s hand before waving. “Bye, Zitao!”
Zitao smiles and sees Wufan looking at him, giving a little nod and a grin. The car takes off and heads towards the Han River.
For a moment, Zitao feels slightly hotter than before, as he reflects on his actions from the moment he saw Wufan get out of the car. He bites his lower lip in worry, wondering why he has acted like that. Before he can think any further, a shout interrupts his thoughts. He turns around to face the shouter.
“Heeyy, Zitao! How are you? Feeling alright today?” Shin Dongwoo walks up to Zitao and claps Zitao’s back, giving him a smile. Zitao smiles back and nods, thankful that the blush has gone away due to being surprised at the shout.
“What’s going on with you for today? Are you finished with class for the day?” Dongwoo asks. Zitao bobs his head and points to the direction of his house, like how he did with Wufan earlier. Dongwoo exclaims, “Walking home that way? Ah really? My house is also in that direction. Mind having company?” Zitao shakes his head, gladdening at the thought of walking home with a friend. Together, they make their way home, passing by stores along one side of the street.
Although they walk in companionable silence, there are a few times when Dongwoo asks Zitao some questions that do not need too much explanation, Zitao will either gesticulate, or shake his head in a “yes” or “no” response. In return, Dongwoo gives Zitao his own answers to the same questions he asks Zitao, as if Zitao is asking him the same question. Dongwoo and Zitao get to know each other more, with the way Dongwoo has planned out the talk.
As they are walking in silence once again, Zitao catches the sight of someone familiar walking across from him. The person is lean and lanky, with smooth, silky, neck-length hair that sweeps across half of his face, concealing the right side of his face. Unfortunately for Zitao, the person is wearing sunglasses. The lean face gives him almost an androgynous feel, but even so, the person looks really pretty. He walks with a light gait, almost with dignity. As Dongwoo looks around, enjoying the view, Zitao steals glances at the person passing by them. He cannot help but be bothered at why this person looks so strikingly familiar. He racks his brain to remember a name and whom the person resembles, but none are coming to him. When the person walks past them, Zitao gets one last look at the person behind him and frowns, telling to himself that he feels like he should know this person from before.
A few minutes later, the duo stops at Zitao’s apartment building. It turns out that it is not just Zitao’s apartment building when Dongwoo exclaims, “Hey! You too?! This is my apartment building as well! What a coincidence, hahaha. Wow, daebak.”
As Zitao and Dongwoo enter the building, they take to the elevator, legs already tired from all the walking around school. Dongwoo asks Zitao which floor he is in, and Zitao points to the top floor button.
“FLOOR SIX?!” Dongwoo blurts out as he wheels around at Zitao, “Whoa…that’s all the way up there. Man, do you walk down the steps in the morning or any time of day?” Zitao gives him a casual nod with a shrug of shoulders. Dongwoo stares at him in disbelief and shakes his head, “Wow…you are incredible. Me, I just live on floor five, the floor below you. What’s your room number? Mine’s Room 506.” Zitao holds up his hands and signals to Dongwoo, 6 - 0 - 5. Dongwoo pushes buttons 5 and 6 and the elevator starts with a jolt before ascending.
“Nice, the switcheroo numbers that we have going on here, I like it. Zitao-yah, consider us good friends, since you and Jongdae are on good terms with our Sunwoo. You can refer me as Dongwoo-hyung, or Shinwoo-hyung if you already know someone else who also goes by the name of Dongwoo, hahaha.” Dongwoo chuckles, and the elevator then makes a ringing sound, announcing that they have reached the fifth floor.
“Here’s my floor. Well Zitao-yah, it’s been real fun talking with you on our walk here. Glad we’re friends now. See you later!” Dongwoo tilts his glasses in salute towards Zitao, before stepping out of the elevator. Zitao waves and presses the close button before the elevator jerks again to rise to the sixth floor. When the doors open to the sixth floor, Zitao steps out and heads into the U-shaped hallway to the fifth room.
Four taps. Pause. Two taps.
Zitao does a special knock on the door that only Qian and Jinri know before using his key to enter. He comes in to see his older sister watching a drama on television, and waves at her.
“Good afternoon, Zitao-yah! Come sit and watch with me! Tell me how it went with your exam!” Qian says cheerily. Zitao smiles and gives a thumb up. He holds up a finger, signaling her to wait a moment so that he can put away his backpack. He takes out a notepad and pencil before leaving his bedroom to join his sister in the den.
Zitao gives Qian a hug and then scrunches his face. Qian looks at him, slightly offended, thinking that the scrunch of the nose is regarding her. Zitao flips open his notepad to write the details of what happened after his exam. Qian looks over Zitao’s shoulder and understands now why Zitao did the scrunch. She breathes out a giggle of relief at the end and pats her brother’s head. Qian coos, “Ah, these things still happen, yeah? Well, you’re all used to this anyway. So you’ve made new friends now, huh? These ‘Shin Dongwoo’, ‘Jung Jinyoung’, ‘Lee Junghwan’ and ‘Cha Sunwoo’ people? That’s great! And aww, you’re so kind to escort Jongdae around. You’re such a caring person, Zitao-yah.”
Zitao laughs soundlessly, and remembers that he has learned a new language. He writes to Qian about how he met Kyungsoo, Daehyun and their group of friends and siblings, about Kyungsoo and Daehyun being deaf, and about how they would teach him sign language and he would teach them Morse Code. He then demonstrates to his sister the letters of his name. Qian looks at him in shocked awe, and says, “I wanna learn it too! That looks so cool, whoa~!” Zitao tries his best to teach his sister the alphabet, often being a little unsure with his hands but he knows he’ll be practicing with his friends from now on. The thoughts of Wufan have been buried away deep in his mind unbeknownst to him, waiting to emerge.
- - -
That late afternoon, their 2PM class’ professor releases Kyungsoo, Daehyun and the rest of the class 45 minutes earlier than the lesson should have ended, around 3:15PM. Kyungsoo and Daehyun leave the auditorium with their interpreters, Doojoon and Hyoyeon, trailing behind. Their professor has assigned them a journalism project due at the end of term.
As the group walks outside of the classroom, Kyungsoo, Daehyun and the interpreters wander aimlessly while discussing about the possible issues for Kyungsoo and Daehyun to write about. Hyoyeon wants to know more about what happened with Joonmyeon, only to find out from Daehyun that Kyungsoo has not one, but two people chasing after him. Doojoon whistles, looking at Kyungsoo. [Lucky, you, K. Who other? Girl? Guy?] “Lucky guy, you are, Kyungsoo-yah. Who’s the other one? A girl? A guy?”
When Daehyun informs the interpreters, Doojoon widens his eyes and Hyoyeon lets out a playful shriek. Few students are looking at the group as they walk by, surprised or curious why the lady has just shrieked.
[N-O. W-A-Y. K, serious? True?] “NO. WAY. Kyungsoo, are you for real?! For real?!?” Hyoyeon faces Kyungsoo and asks him. [D tell truth?] “Is it true what Daehyun says?” Kyungsoo could only nod, his face reddening and looking downwards to the ground.
Then a voice cries out behind Hyoyeon and Doojoon.
“Yah, Hyo- I mean, Ms. Kim! Mr. Yoon!” Miyoung walks up to the quartet. “Oh hi, Kyunggi- I mean, Park Kyungsoo, and Jung Daehyun. Is anything the matter? You guys seem a little too happy today.”
“Oh, he’s got two Rome- oops,” Hyoyeon catches herself from spilling the rest but Miyoung is smart enough to know of any halted pronunciations of “Romeo”. Miyoung looks at her brother with raised eyebrows, “Two, Kyungsoo?”
Kyungsoo can only stare at his sister-slash-teacher with the “deer-in-headlights” look as Miyoung walks closer to him. The others start backing away, uneasy about what Miyoung plans to do.
Miyoung suddenly hugs Kyungsoo in a flash and lets go quickly. “I’m so happy for you, Kyungsoo-yah! One is good, but two is even better. Details when I get home, okay? I have to head to a staff meeting, but your sister and I will stop by your place tonight, as usual. See you guys later!” She waves to the group as she walks away. The group watches her retreating back in shock, thinking that Miyoung was going to do something bad to Kyungsoo.
Hyoyeon walks up behind Kyungsoo and pats him on the back, looking apologetic about her behavior. [Happen *She snaps fingers* Sorry] “It just sort of happened like that, I’m so sorry.”
Kyungsoo assures his interpreter, [Fine, she find-out will. Anyway, “two-of-us” need leave, I think B-H, Y-J, other end class-class. See-you-all-tomorrow?] “It’s okay, she’s bound to find out anyway later on. Anyway, Daehyun and I should get going; I think Baekhyun, Youngjae and the others are finished with their classes. We’ll see you guys tomorrow, yeah?” Daehyun nods, and they all wave to each other as they leave in two different directions, the interpreters in one way, and the deaf duo in another.
Around 3:30PM, Kyungsoo and Daehyun run into Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Youngjae, JB and Yongguk, who were apparently waiting for them before heading home. On their way, they run into Joonmyeon. He informs them that his friends have dance practices and they will not be getting out until later that night, and that Jongdae and Zitao have already left for home, so it is just him alone. He asks if they would not mind one more companion, and they all shake their heads, welcoming him in. They all head to the entrance gates and are about to split up in different directions, the Park twins in one direction, the Kim brothers in another direction, the Jung twins in another, and Yongguk walking with JB to their neighborhood nearby the college campus. All three pairs of siblings live further from the school, but in different areas of their home district.
Trailing behind the group, Chanyeol pulls Baekhyun towards him and gives him a back hug, whispering in his ear, “Babe, I don’t wanna leave you just yet.” Baekhyun softly giggles and squirms at the ticklish feeling in his ear. He watches as his brother is awkwardly walking in between Daehyun and Joonmyeon, who seems to be relaxed and unbothered with Kyungsoo’s nervousness. Daehyun also notices this but keeps quiet about it, storing this in his memories under “Things to tease Kyungsoo with” list. Youngjae and JB are chatting once again in a mixture of discussion topics from Starcraft to their compositions. Yongguk can only watch them in half-disapproval and half-amusement, shaking his head.
When it is time for the group to split up, they all wave to each other and leave in groups. Just before that, Joonmyeon gives Kyungsoo a hug and grips one of Kyungsoo’s shoulders on the side. Kyungsoo smiles shyly and he feels a thumb grazing the soft spot on his shoulder before his eyes glance at the moving thumb. He looks up at Joonmyeon who is grinning at him with sincere eyes.
“Walk home safely with your brother, okay, Kyungsoo-yah?,” Joonmyeon takes his hand off Kyungsoo’s shoulder and pats Kyungsoo’s head. “I’m glad to finally have met you this morning. Anyways, good night, kid. Let me know when you get home. Don’t forget, you still have my number.”
Kyungsoo blushes, remembering that he had sent him a text earlier at lunch today. He slightly nods, quickly looking away. Suddenly, he feels tongue-tied and does not dare to say anything. He hears Joonmyeon chuckling before dropping his hands to his sides and stepping away from Kyungsoo.
[Hey, again. Really obvious, know-that? L-o-l. Anyway, fun today, think? Meet-meet new friends!] Daehyun walks up to Kyungsoo and signs to him as he nears. (Yah, you’re doing it again. It’s getting really obvious that you like him. Hahaha. Anyway, it was fun today, right? We met a lot of new friends today!)
Kyungsoo smiles contently at the memory of meeting Chanshik, Dasom, and Joonmyeon’s group of friends. He nods. [Long day. “Look-look-forward” tomorrow, maybe “from-now-on” term.] (Yeah, it has been a long day today. But I’m looking forward for tomorrow, maybe even the rest of the term, actually.)
Daehyun smirks and raises his eyebrow, [“For-for?” Wait, because J-M, right? J-I too?] (Why do you say that? Oh wait I know, it’s because of Joonmyeon, right? And Jongin too?) He snickers as Kyungsoo glares at him.
Kyungsoo acts indignantly. [Not! Leave-me-alone, D! Shush. They will know, not need. *Kyungsoo shakes his head* Confirm yet. But why H-Y tell my sister class finish?! “Come-to-us” ask H-Y and D-J about “us-two”, H-Y blurts out that I have not one R-o-m-e-o, two! She need not know yet!] (No, it’s not! Whatever, Daehyun. But shush, the others will know about this and they’re not supposed to know yet. Nothing’s been confirmed. But Hyoyeon told my sister after class! Geez, all my sister did was walk up to us outside of our classroom, asking Hyoyeon and Doojoon about you and me, and the first thing that comes out of her mouth was that I have a love issue, with not one Romeo but TWO Romeos!] He ends his rant with a defeated sigh. Realizing that he might have made quite a soundless outburst of hands, he peers around at his group, and sees them all staring at him with raised eyebrows and pursed lips in shocked awe. Biting his lip, Kyungsoo catches Baekhyun’s gaze. He tries to pull off a casual wave and an innocent smile. He suspects Baekhyun must have seen what Daehyun has just said because there is a smug look on his face.
Kyungsoo’s face drops. [Saw everything, you?] (You saw everything, didn’t you?)
Baekhyun does not hesitate to nod and lifts his hands up in surrender. [Promise not spill. Although C-Y know too, two-of-us talk-finish this before.] (I promise not to tell anyone. Although Chanyeol knows; we talked about this possibility between you and Joonmyeon.) Baekhyun snickers.
Kyungsoo makes a face at Baekhyun, and the others, except for Yongguk and Youngjae, are left wondering whether if it is important to know the conversation between Daehyun, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, or not. Yongguk and Youngjae, though they understand the dialogue, are watching the trio with a slight confusion on their faces; they are not exactly sure what is going on with Kyungsoo and how this concerns Daehyun. Nonetheless, they shrug it off after seeing Baekhyun promising Kyungsoo he will not tell a soul.
The groups then part and bid each other goodbyes. Baekhyun walks with Kyungsoo, his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders; Chanyeol and Joonmyeon walk side by side; Youngjae and Daehyun play around while walking to their home; Yongguk and JB chat about whatever happened at campus.
When Kyungsoo and Baekhyun arrive to their place 25 minutes later, after walking up several flights of stairs, Kyungsoo pulls out his cell phone and flips it open, about to send a text to Joonmyeon when he notices that there is a text from him from 15 minutes ago. He realizes that his cell phone was turned to silent since lunchtime, and so he facepalms himself before he opens the text.
To: Park Kyungsoo
From: Kim Joonmyeon
Hey, just got home. Still walking? Our place is like 10 mins away. Actually, never mind. Chanyeol just told me about the walking distance from this morn. Let me know when you’re home. :)
Kyungsoo stares at the text, feeling a bit weird about Joonmyeon. On one hand, he seems nice, thinks Kyungsoo. On the other hand, am I really something worth worrying about? It’s nice that he cares, but…isn’t this too soon for anything?
“Yah, Kyungsoo, stop blanking out and come inside. Hyung already prepared the table for dinner. [Eat, after put-away backpack and finish text-text boyfriend]” (Let’s eat, after you put your backpack in our room and finish texting your boyfriend.) Baekhyun signs to Kyungsoo in a singsong manner. Kyungsoo stares at his brother in slight irritation but feels a blush on his face. Baekhyun chuckles and pets Kyungsoo’s hair as Kyungsoo walks past him to their bedroom.
Jonghyun is about to greet Kyungsoo when he sees Kyungsoo blushing, and says nothing. He looks at Baekhyun with questioning eyes, but receives a shake of head. He cocks an eyebrow and Baekhyun replies, “I think our Kyungsoo has a secret admirer…or two. Or maybe he’s even falling for his crush…or two.” Jonghyun widens his eyes at the mentioning of “or two”s and whips his head to look at where Kyungsoo has entered the hallway, jaw dropping. He looks back at Baekhyun, who is seated at the table.
“Yah, are you serious?! You’re not even joking?” Jonghyun eyes his younger brother warily as he joins him.
When Kyungsoo enters his shared bedroom, he texts to Joonmyeon.
To: Kim Joonmyeon
From: Park Kyungsoo
Sorry for not responding earlier. Baekhyun and I were still walking home when you sent that text. Anyway, I just got home, yeah. Thanks for being caring…Joonmyeon-hyung.
Kyungsoo stares at the word “hyung” and feels a tingling sensation in his chest. He continues on.
I’m so sorry for being awkward and everything today. I really am glad that I met you, hyung…and that I met your friends, too. :) Daehyun and I have met so many new friends today, it feels like elementary school all over for us again, haha. xP I’m gonna go eat dinner now. Enjoy your dinner and have a good night!
Kyungsoo realizes in shock afterwards how long his text is, thinking of possible ways to shorten this. Trying to rid the uncertainness in himself, he decides to just press the “send” button. When it is sent, he sighs in relief and places his cell phone on his desk next to his bunk bed before he joins his brothers for dinner.
- - -
Later that evening, Qian and Zitao are finishing their last touches on their dinner cooking when Jinri comes in, announcing her arrival. Jinri goes to put her backpack in her room and joins them at the table. They all sit down on the cushions on the floor and pray, before they enjoy their meal. Jinri asks Zitao how he did in his test, and he excuses himself to get the notepad resting on the couch. He brings it over to Jinri to read the notes as they eat. Jinri comes across snippets of “exam”, “Jongdae”, “Junghwan” and “Morse code” and she looks with a mixture of giddiness and concern at the situation. When she comes across “sign language” and “Kyungsoo and Daehyun who are deaf”, she accidently swallows her food in excitement. She coughs as Qian and Zitao watch her in shocked confusion.
Zitao moves to clap Jinri’s back, allowing her to breathe. Jinri then informs him happily, “Gege, I know some signs! We had to learn some of them earlier in high school.” She demonstrates her knowledge of American and Korean ABCs, and some basic phrases, such as “thank you”, “welcome”, “sorry”, and “please”. Zitao looks at her, crestfallen that Jinri knew about this before he did. However, he is comforted when Jinri tells him that these are all she knows and she would demonstrate the signs to Zitao and Qian again. Zitao chuckles soundlessly with a shake of his shoulders. The trio’s night has never been this much fun with laughing from the girls and the look of pure enjoyment on Zitao’s and his sisters’ faces, while working with their hands to eat and practice spelling their names and different words they know.
- Anyone have a guess who is the person Zitao thinks is familiar?