Earphones• Vkook

3

Jungkook walks in as Taehyung whispers for him to come in. He sees the tv on but at a low volume.
"Sorry if im intruding", Jungkook says as Taehyung closes the door behind him. Taehyung didn't hear him.
"Please make yourself at home", Taehyung says as he sits on his blue couch. Jungkook sits down next to him and they make eye contact.
"Would it be okay if I turned up the volume?", Jungkook asks and Taehyung nods his head, Jungkook takes the remote from the coffee table in front of him and turns up the volume from a two to eight. A comfortable level for his hearing abilities. Taehyung reads the captions finding out what players are where. Jungkook doesn't even comment about the captions being turned on.

"What team do you want to win?" Jungkook asks but since Taehyung wasn't paying attention he fakes a cough. 'He must be really focused on soccer, I'll just keep to myself' Jungkook thinks to himself. He looks at the screen not paying attention to anything that's happening. He watches the grass under the players feet, thinking about how quiet Taehyung is. Every small moment between them in the past 48 hours, Taehyung didn't speak much, he was quiet, 'he must be shy' Jungkook thinks again for the millionth time since he's met him.

The game ends at a tie and at that point it wouldn't have mattered which team they wanted to win since neither of them won.

"Well that was some game" Jungkook says, no answer. Silence. Taehyung nervously picks at his pant leg feeling the fabric between his fingers. Jungkook starting to feel awkward looks at Taehyung wishing he could read his thoughts.

A light starts flashing and Taehyung jumps up he runs to the door and opens it seeing his mom there, she came days early. In his head he hopes Jungkook didn't notice the annoying red light that could ruin and save his life. Ruin because people could connect the dots and find out he is deaf, but save because he cant hear and those lights replace those sounds he would need to hear.

"Mom" Taehyung says and Jungkook sits up straight as he hears that, he looks at the door to see a lady not too tall but not overly short, she is holding three containers with food, "I can help with that" Jungkook says getting up and taking them from her, "Hello I'm a friend of Taehyung"

Taehyung stares at Jungkook's side profile not knowing a single thing he had just said, but confused on why Jungkook would help his mom.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm so glad Taehyung made a friend" She walks in and Taehyung closes the door, Jungkook and Taehyung's mom walk to the kitchen and Jungkook puts the containers down on the counter.

Taehyung looks at them both as they talk.

"He's quiet, I'm surprised he made a friend so quickly" she says and Jungkook smiles

"Mom" Taehyung says and Jungkook looks at him, I said Mom look away, taehyung thinks to himself as he waves to his mom to speak with him in private, out of Jungkook's view he signs that she cant bring up that he is deaf, he doesn't want anyone to know.

"Someone should know, they could help" She signs and he shakes his head.

They both go back and Jungkook helps her cook some food.

Taehyung goes to turn the TV off. He lays on the couch with his eyes closed. Wondering why Jungkook showed up at his door, Why his mother came days early. Why he almost wants to tell Jungkook he is deaf, why does he feel like he could trust this random guy who he doesn't know well.

Taehyung opens his eyes at what feels like a few minutes later, "morning sleepy head" Jungkook says as he looks over the older boy.

"Where's my mom?" He questions sitting up straight, keeping eye contact with Jungkook but having to look down at his lips to read what he's saying.

"She said not to wake you and that she will try to visit you on the 25th, we made some food, if you want some"

Taehyung wasn't sleeping and his mom knew that, but when he rests like that, he cant hear anyone so she used the excuse of 'hes a deep sleeper' Per her sons request that she tells no one he is deaf. Just like Taehyung his mom felt that Jungkook was trustworthy and told him to watch over her son for her.

----

The 25th came faster than Taehyung imagined it would, between the day Jungkook first came over and now, he's been over two more times, they exchanged numbers, barely talked, watched TV and ate together. It was comforting for Taehyung having someone there to just enjoy company with, no talking, just being there together.

"Merry Christmas" The text reads across his phone screen the vibration in his hand waking him up, he looks at his vibrating phone and smiles to himself as he reads the text from Jungkook.

"To you too, have a good day" he texts back with some emoji's of trees. His texts say, its an important happy day, but in reality its a day of nothing for him. His apartment isn't festive, he has no tree, no gifts. The closest thing he has is the lights that flash in his apartment, but those go off almost every day.

His mom texted the night before apologizing for not being able to see him, the weather is bad where they live and there's no way she could get to him. He has to spend the holiday alone. So he thought.