Love is deaf • Meanie

With You

Wonwoo's father was absent for the most of his childhood. He was a travelling engineer and was almost always on a plane to some foriegn country or alone in his hotel room wishing to see his family after months of silent distance. When Wonwoo lost his hearing his father was in France repairing a dangerous machine in a factory. He never called when he was working, he had no time, so he didn't  found out about Wonwoo's unfortunate event until he came home. His father arrived back in South Korea late at night long after Wonwoo's bedtime. Wonwoo had been waiting eagerly for many hours but never heard him enter through the front door or climb the stairs to his bedroom, when he opened the door Wonwoo jumped. His dad asked him how he was but Wonwoo only saw the movement in his lips. He felt cold and empty as if someone had scooped a section of his heart out with an ice cream spoon. He tried hard to listen for his dad's sobs when Wonwoo didn't reply but his ears were too stubborn, he was trapped with the image of guilty tears rolling down his father cheeks. He sat by his bed and Wonwoo patted his head "It's ok Daddy," he said. His hand was miniature compared to the untidy mop on his father's head, it disappeared under a blanket of black when he tried to comfort him. His father tried to smile but a few pats on the head could do nothing for the guilt he felt. He hadn't been there when his son needed him the most. "You have to speak with your hands now. I can't hear you anymore." He said as he felt his stomach knot and writhe. He was hurting too.

Wonwoo didn't get to hear his father one last time before he went deaf. He would give anything to go back in time and somehow change that.

That memory had played on his mind many times since him and Mingyu had broken up. He feared that one day he would meet Mingyu again and he would open his mouth to ask how he was and no sound would come out. He couldn't bear loosing Mingyu's voice and feeling that emptiness all over again.

But now, as Wonwoo stood frozen under a sky of cold rain letting the people around his splash beads of water at his ankles as they passed, he realised something incredible. God, fate, destiny or whatever controlled the happenings of his life was giving him a second chance. He wished he could've heard his father one last time but never got to. At that moment he was being given the opportunity to take back his miracle and save himself from a loss he wouldn't be able to cope with.

"Wonwoo? Is that you?" The low soothing growl ran through the rain and warmed Wonwoo from the inside out. He felt as if his heart was glowing, a tiny fire had been rekindled and flickered between his lungs.

He turned dropping his bags and met the eyes of the voice.

"Mingyu." He breathed, exasperated, and ran straight at his chest. "Never do that to me again."

"I won't," the voice that sounded like honeysuckle and strawberries was muffled by Wonwoo's hair, "I promise."

Mingyu held him tight sending a million apologies through his strong arms. With his cheek in Wonwoo's hair and hands tight around his back Mingyu's sighed, he let out the guilt, the pain, the heartbreak, and the longing that had clogged his airways for months on end into the air. He watched the cloud he breathed fade with the wind and hoped that it would carry it far away, somewhere were he would never come across it again.

"There has not been a single day were I haven't thought about you, Wonwoo."

Wonwoo nodded, "Me too. I'm sorry." He broke the hug but the feelings lingered.

He looked up at Mingyu's cat-like eyes and smiled. He had missed them, the way they turned to crescent moons when he smiled and the iridescent twinkle that never left. He looked to his mouth at the very lips that had told him "sleep well" when he thought he couldn't. Then to the nose that pointed when he smiled. Wonwoo never wanted to spend another day without them.

Three words can mean a million things, fix a thousand heartbreaks and solve a hundred problems. It took an "I forgive you" from Wonwoo which stuck a bandaid on both their hearts and an "I love you" from Mingyu that bandaged them up.

Wonwoo knew as the words danced off his lips that he never wanted to leave Mingyu again.

Love comes in many different forms; love is blind, love is mute, love is deaf. It just takes a miracle to come around and make that love possible.

Wonwoo learnt that not all miracles are perfect. Some make terrible mistakes, some don't stay around for long, some are only subtle and sometimes hard to find. His was an idiot but quite possibly the best part of his life and he would forever love his miracle for as long as he lived.

-End-