Silent Voice | Taehyung ✓

1 » mute

KWON CHAERIN

Patience.

"Oh! Look what do we have here? Kwon Chaerin who has been trending among this neighbourhood about to pass us," one of two pathetic housewives who stood near my apartment complex whispered to the other one, giggling while pointing shamelessly at me.

Breathes in and out.

Their laughter and way too obvious snickering emitted to the point where it was clear enough for me to hear them even though we stood in a quite far distance. It was not a new thing for me to receive this kind of treatment, of course. Kind of expected that coming from pathetic middle aged women who had nothing to do while their husbands out there did better things for the society.

"Must be really suck to have a mute boyfriend!" One of them spat relentlessly. Zero manner indeed. Agitated, but not surprised. What could I possibly do to restore their halved brain? Nothing. There was no cure to a broken brain, so yeah, their loss.

It was a rather chilly evening but the heat boiled from the pit of my stomach as I passed through them made me did an eye roll as a sign of my discomfort. Thankfully, I still have a healthy brain and in the right state of mind. If not, then these heavy plastic bags must have been swung to their head with hope it could cleanse their brain. (If there's a brain to clean to begin with)

Living in this neighbourhood required patience. To simply put it; many corrupted people live in this area, no ─ not as in they like to commit illegal crimes or something along that line. But hurting people's feelings was a legal crime because law could not take legal act upon this.

Words are really strong.

Using that as an advantage, they intervened my life through their gossips – in a rather unpleasant way. They always laugh at people's misfortunes, studying about them just to crush their lives with their uneducated mouths, giving sharp judgements which made me want to give them a firm slap on their face.

But surely I had no time to mingle with that kind ─ they're not worth for my time and I did not want to be seen as an uneducated person.

They're ugly and rotten, both outside and inside, to the deepest core of their being. I was sick, really sick of them.

Still carrying the heavy plastic bags filled with the week's groceries, I maneuvered my body to my apartment unit, unlocking the door with my card. Once I was in, I used my back to close the door and placed the groceries near the shoe rack to actually take a breath.

Taking off my shoes, I placed it neatly on the rack and took the plastic bags inside. There, I saw Taehyung was sleeping peacefully on the couch while hugging his sketchbook and drawing tools. His soft snores and solemn sleeping expression were everything I needed to lift my irked feelings.

Striding to the couch, I slowly lifted his folded arms and moved the sketch book to a coffee table nearby, also re-organized his drawing tools into its case before putting it aside.

Taehyung ─ everything about him was beautiful; inside out. Sometimes when I tried to recall past memories, I wonder why was I so dumb to sleep on his beauty? My eyesight was working perfectly yet I acted blindly back then.

It was really hard to restraint the urge to not touch his perfectly carved nose, I found it cute how it opened wide every time he took a breath.

My hand was about to land on his nose, when suddenly, I felt a tight grip on my wrist, causing me to flinch a little bit by the sudden movement.

Taehyung yawned as he rubbed his eyes before it shot open. He smiled at me as he released the grip and caressed my cheek. My shocked expression turned into a neutral one before chuckling.

"You startled me! Anyways Tae, how was your sleep?" He replied to my question by nodding as he slowly sat up and ruffled his bed hair. I took a seat beside him and leaned my head against his shoulder.

Yes, Taehyung is mute.

It all started from his hearings until the ill affected his speaking ability as well ─ he could speak but not clear enough for people to actually decipher his words. Thankfully, he could hear with the help of hearing aids. Taehyung has had these disabilities ever since the first day I met him ─ maybe longer but I never inquired him about it.

His disabilities made him a tender target for bullying during his school days, and he was, in fact, a victim of verbal bullying. Mocked and treated like a piece a trash, even some students were daring enough to play with his hearing aids.

And to think that I used to be one of those people, my primary school memories with him had not been the best.

🌠

a/n: foreword exists for a good reason, don't skip it.