Earphones• Vkook

2

  It's officially winter break, when Taehyung got home yesterday after lessons, he finished all his homework and fell right asleep. It's now morning and he gets greeted by the sun going through the window hitting his face. After blinking over and over again to get used to the light, he gets up to go the kitchen.

Taehyung sleepily opens the fridge looking for something to drink. He grabs the clear jar of milk but sees that it is empty, he puts the empty container on the counter. Frowning he goes over to open the closet, grabs his black jacket, puts it over his plain white shirt, still wearing his plaid blue pajama pants he puts on his black converse, grabs his wallet and keys from the kitchen table. He gets out of his apartment and locks it behind him. He feels in his pocket and then realizes he didn't have earphones in that one, so he goes back inside, walks all the way to his room with his shoes still on and grabs a pair of earphones from the top of his messy desk. 

In almost all of Taehyung's jackets there are pairs of earphones so he never has to look for them.

He goes out of the apartment, and all over again has to lock it. He doesn't even have a phone on him but he puts the earphones in and holds the end of them in his hand deep in his pocket where no one can see that he doesn't have them connected to anything.

Half asleep he walks down the luckily empty sidewalk and goes into the closest small market. He goes inside and straight to get some milk, then he wanders off looking at other things, chips, sodas. But he shakes his head and just ops to get the milk. Now for the part that makes him nervous, he takes out his ear buds and puts them in his pocket to be polite, there's no line at the cashier. He puts the milk on the part of the conveyor belt closer to the cash register since there was nothing else on it. He watches the girl ring it up and tell him the price. Happy there's no small talk he hands her the money and she gives him some change before putting the milk in a plastic bag and handing it out. He takes it saying a small 'thanks'. The girl just goes back to reading her magazine and he's about to leave but from the corner of his eyes sees a lady signing Korean sign language, he turns to fully face her as he watches her attempt to ask the worker for something, she's failing at talking, not comfortable using her voice that she can't hear.
Taehyung goes over to them and says out loud that he can help. 

In not perfect sign and a plastic bag on his left arm he signs asking what she needs help with. She smiles brightly at the messy haired young man in front of her. She signs that she's looking for a certain brand of rice and Taehyung tells the name to the worker and he goes off to find it. Taehyung signs that the worker would be back with the rice, the lady signs a thanks and asks Taehyung why he learned to sign,thinking he could hear. He looked down and she put her hand over his view of his shoes and signs asking if he was deaf. He looks up at her in the eye and signs a yes and she gives him a small smile. And in broken words attempts saying out loud"Y-you [will] be okay" and he smiles at her. They talk using sign language and she tells him it was nice meeting him and she hopes they meet again. He leaves her with a wave. 

Jungkook who walked in when Taehyung was telling the worker what the lady wanted, looks at Taehyung not saying a word watching him exit, he follows him out and says Taehyung's name, he sees that Taehyung has earphones in and assumes that's why he didn't hear, so he jogs over and taps his shoulder. 

Taehyung looks at the well put together early riser in front of him. Jungkook has a warm Scarf around his neck and a long brown jacket that goes past his knees. "That's so cool that you know how to sign" Jungkook says and Taehyung mumbles a lie that he learned because a family member is deaf. 

"That's nice of you, I've never met anyone deaf before to be completely honest" Taehyung holds in his laugh and manages to keep his poker face.

"They can be hard to find.uh I'll see you around" he says before nodding and walking away from Jungkook. 

Jungkook forgetting what he even needed at the store, follows closely behind like a stalker. Taehyung turns into the apartment complex walking up the first set of stairs, Jungkook walks up besides him, the wind blowing stronger. He watches Taehyung walk past rooms 210,211,213, and he stops in front of room 214, shocked Jungkook stands in place, they live in the same complex, on the same floor, its just that his room is on the other side of the awkward square shaped middle this complex has, its a square and all the doors are faced inwards. In the middle of the square is an open area where you can look down and see the stairs going up, or look up to see the sun, dreadful place to be when there's a storm. 

Jungkook takes a mental note that the new kid lives in room 214, and he walks to go to his place, room 226. Where he lives alone, but not because of the same reason Taehyung does. Jungkook moved out of his parents house because he wanted to try being independent, his family thought it would be a great idea and let him.

A few hours later Taehyung, is flipping through channels looking for something to watch, he stops it at a soccer game and turns on captions so he can read what the commentators are saying about the players.  

A big flashing light goes off and Taehyung looks over at the door, the light next to it blinking, the doorbell is ringing. Confused thinking his mom came a few days early he opens the door, to see Jungkook, no scarf, no long jacket. Standing in front of him smiling widely. 

"Hi" Jungkook says and Taehyung smiles back

"Hello" he says awkwardly 

"I know this is weird but I swear I am not stalking you, I live over there" Jungkook points over his shoulder to his apartment. 

Taehyung starts feeling weird looking at Jungkook, but he has to look to be able to read his lips. 

"Are you free? Do you want to watch TV or something together?" Jungkook asks and Taehyung feels suffocated inside with the decision he has to make. 

What if he talks to me when I'm not looking, What about the lights placed around that go off to notify me, What if he isn't as nice as he seems. Taehyung thinks all these things as the boy in front of him is starting to get cold. 

He notices how cold Jungkook is getting, and just because of that visual he changes his mind and he lets Jungkook in.