TW: mention of abuse
"oh, hey yeo—uh, is everything okay?"
the teen had just walked into the house. seonghwa had been sitting on the couch on his phone, and quickly took notice of the boy's shaken up, fearful-looking state.
yeosang tried to tell seonghwa what was wrong, but couldn't seem to get the words out.
"what's wrong?" seonghwa asked a bit more anxiously. he watched as yeosang opened his mouth, and tried to explain, but nothing came out. not even a sound.
it was a familiar feeling for both of them, one that they didn't think they'd ever experience again.
yeosang couldn't speak.
he couldn't remember how to form the words, which caused him to get even more upset.
seonghwa stood up, as all the memories of how bad yeosang's speech problems used to be came flooding back into his mind.
as the the parent walked up to yeosang, the teen signed 'i can't breathe.'
"okay, okay, just—come here..." seonghwa muttered as he pulled the panicking boy into a hug. yeosang was shaking, and breathing heavily, yet not a sound came out of his mouth.
while this happened, san walked into the room, immediately rushing over as soon as he saw his upset brother.
he rubbed yeosang's back while seonghwa hugged him, and slowly, the boy calmed down. he pulled away from the hug, taking a few steps backwards, and the three stood there in silence, as san and seonghwa waited for an explanation from yeosang.
the boy opened his mouth again to speak, but still no luck.
his eyes went wide.
'i.. i can't.. i can't speak..' he signed.
seonghwa paused, before saying "it...it's just because you're overwhelmed, i'm sure.."
'no.. i.. i can't..' yeosang signed slowly, tears welling up in his eyes. he looked as if his whole world was falling apart, it broke the other two's hearts.
"yeo, don't cry.. i'm sure it's temporary.." san tried to reassure his older brother.
'no, i.. i can't remember how to..'
he slowly took some steps backwards as he signed, finally beginning to cry.
"wh.. what caused this?" seonghwa asked.
'it's hard to explain..' yeosang responded, then covering his face with his hands and crying harder. even crying as hard as he was, there was no vocal sound coming from him at all. just heavy breathing.
san pulled him into a hug, while seonghwa stood, feeling shocked, confused, and worried sick.
eventually, yeosang went to his room to calm down. seonghwa quickly told hongjoong, while san told the others.
"so?" hongjoong asked eagerly.
it was currently the morning after the incident, and seonghwa had just tried to help yeosang speak.
"any luck?" the younger parent asjed, his hope immediately becoming drained as he noticed the defeated expression on seonghwa's face.
"he can't..." the older said softly.
"is it because he can't remember? did something just snap randomly? or—"
"i-it's his trauma.. memories before he was taken into care and then adopted.. it's because of trauma.." seonghwa said, his voice shaking as he was on the verge of tears.
