I suggest you listen to "I wouldn't mind" by He is We while reading this. The story wasn't really inspired by it (except for the title, obviously), but I think it fits.

When Sunggyu was born, everyone was amazed by his light brown hair. For a Korean child to be born with hair other than black was unusual, to say the least. Soon, some whispers could be heard and even the child’s father started to have some doubts. However, he was soon reassured by his wife and by the child himself, who looked like him a little bit more every day.

In kindergarten, the other children were mostly curious and amazed to see someone their age with a different hair color. Only when he got into primary school did the kids start to be jealous and sometimes offensive. Their little minds couldn’t understand why their parents didn’t let them dye their hair, but that kid could.

However, the real change came into his life one day, unexpected. He was fifteen and his older sister, who was twenty-one at the time, had been suffering from the flu for a while. The flu never really worried anyone in a normal situation, but the problem was that she was pregnant. Her condition kept worsening every day and she was growing weaker. Sunggyu could very well remember the time the doctor said that if it kept on going this way, she would lose her child – and that was the best scenario. That night, for the first time of his life, he prayed. He prayed all the gods he knew of and even those he didn’t. He prayed for someone, anyone, to give him the ability to heal.

The next day, he remained silent until he came into the hospital, sitting next to his sister. Then he let out three words, three little words that would change his life forever.

For an unknown reason, his throat felt like it was being torn apart when he managed to let the words out. He suddenly felt a sharp pain, as if someone was hitting him on the head really hard, and he fell to the floor.

He woke up the next day and saw his sister sitting on a chair next to his bed. If she hadn’t told him they were just the next day, he would have thought that a lot of time had passed, because she looked a lot better. He learned that she had been cured instantly, for a reason no one could understand. In a matter of seconds, her body was healthy again, while her brother was lying on the floor. Sunggyu smiled brightly at that and a few tears of relief rolled down his cheeks. He had no idea which one of the gods he had begged had granted his wish, but it had come true.

However, the gifts from the gods are never for free. That’s what he found out when, in his sister’s warm embrace, he tried to say something but couldn’t let out a single sound. The tears flowing down his face soon turned to ones of panic. That day, a strand of his light brown hair turned white and he lost his ability to speak, along with his normal life.

It was a month later, when he was still struggling with sign language, that his voice came back. Suddenly, he felt his throat open up and took a deep, hopeful breath, before letting out a loud ‘I can speak again!’ An old man that was passing by suddenly stopped in the middle of his coughing fit. Sunggyu stayed in a coma for five days.

Weeks passed by, then months, then years. His parents dragged him to every doctor in the country, but none of them could understand a single thing about his condition. And the rumors of a boy whose voice could heal everything soon travelled in the whole country.

That’s how Sunggyu ended up, at twenty-seven, with a comfortable amount of money and only one light brown strand of hair left. He knew it was the last one, he could feel it. The pain was bigger every time and the comas were also getting longer. Last time, he had seen a car drive way too fast on the wet road and hit a little girl that couldn’t be more than ten years old. He had run to her and told her to live and only woke up a month after.

He had stayed with his single brown strand for two years and people kept asking for his help, but he always turned them down, no matter how much money they offered him. When his sister had asked him why, he said that if he could only heal one more person, he should keep that ability for someone who was really sick and desperate, someone he would have no choice but to help. The truth however, was that he was afraid. He was afraid of not being able to say a single word more. Until then, even though he couldn’t speak as he wished, he still knew that his muteness wasn’t permanent. He could say a word if he wanted to. He was afraid to see that last tint of brown disappear, along with his last sound.

Then one day, he met him. He was sitting at his usual table in his favorite café. Not only did he like to go there because he liked the atmosphere, but also because it was easier, since the waiters all knew his order by heart without him having to write it down anymore. However, he frowned when he saw the man who was walking towards him with a wide smile, ready to take his order. The blond man greeted him and asked him what he wanted and Sunggyu just let out a loud sigh, reading the name of the little white piece of plastic pinned to his chest: Woohyun. He looked around, but couldn’t see any of the usual waiters around. And that man was still waiting, his face slowly showing traces of confusion as the seconds passed. The white-haired man realized he didn’t even have a single piece of paper with him, or a pen, since he was just going there, a place where everybody knew him. His gaze fell to the little notepad and the pen in the waiter’s hands and he carefully took it, a frown forming on the other’s face at the action. Then he wrote down his order and gave it back. The blond man’s eyes went from his face, then to his notepad, before travelling back up to his face again and a spark of understanding passed through his eyes. He smiled as bright as before and told him he would get his order right away.

The day after and all the following ones, Woohyun was there to take his order. The second time, he gave Sunggyu his notepad, where the latter quickly wrote the same order than the day before. The waiter got the message and didn’t held his notepad anymore. That was, until that one day, when Sunggyu was immersed in his book and a little notepad came into his field of vision. A simple question was written in a messy handwriting: What’s your name? Sunggyu simply wrote his name down, confused, and handed the notepad to his owner, who smiled brightly before leaving.

Every day, Woohyun asked him a question. Nothing important, really. Just little things to know him better, such as his birthdate, his favorite movie or the kind of music he listened to. Simple questions turned into conversations and soon led to dates at the movies and afternoons cuddling up in Sunggyu’s sofa; they went from strangers, to friends, then to lovers.

Woohyun never asked why Sunggyu’s hair was almost entirely white and Sunggyu never told him.

Sunggyu never asked why Woohyun always had something to do on Fridays afternoons and Woohyun never told him either.

However, Sunggyu’s curiosity took the best of him one day. And when his boyfriend didn’t give him the honest answer he thought he would give, he decided to figure it out for himself. Only when he found himself in between white walls, in front of the door the other had just entered, on which could be seen in black letters the name of a doctor, did he understand. He didn’t barge in dramatically, neither did he go out running in the rain and disappear from the other’s life. No, real life was way more platonic and frustrating than that and he was an adult. So he just sat down on one of the plastic chairs and waited for Woohyun to come out, already writing a sentence on the notepad he always carried along.

The black-haired man almost didn’t notice him when he went out of the room and anxiousness made its way on his face when he did. Sunggyu got up and placed the notepad in his hands.

I’m going to go straight to the point and I expect an honest answer. Are you going out with me just so I can heal whatever illness you have?

Woohyun’s eyes quickly slid on the sentences before he looked up with an expression on his face that could only be described as pure astonishment.

“Sunggyu… How can you even think that?”

The white-haired man teared the notepad from the other’s hands and started to write some words furiously.

Don’t play the innocent card now, you know who I am, you know what I can do! There aren’t a lot of mute guys with white hair going around! So just answer me!

His hand stopped, trembling and hesitating. He waited a few seconds during which he knew Woohyun was already reading upside down before he wrote down the next sentences.

If you want to be cured that bad, then I’ll do it. Just don’t lie to me anymore.

He didn’t know words could hurt that bad. Words that weren’t even pronounced, words that came from himself. He felt his vision blur and, the next thing he knew, he was crying like an idiot in the middle of a depressingly white hallway, in front of a man who had probably never even liked him. He felt stupid, weak and everything in between. The bitter tears kept flowing down in silent sobs. But then Woohyun’s strong arms were around him and he blamed his weakness for the way he leaned against him, taking in as much warmth as he could.

“Sunggyu, you’re wrong. I can’t believe you’re thinking that way… Of course I know about your ability – even though I really didn’t when I first met you. But how can you think… how can you even imagine I’m only with you because I want to be cured?”

Woohyun pulled away from the other a little and Sunggyu would have protested if he could. But soon the black-haired man’s lips were on his own and his mind lost every trace of protest. Woohyun cupped his boyfriend’s face and looked at him in the eye. “Sunggyu, I love you, okay? And yes, I am ill. I have a rare type of cancer and the doctors don’t know what to do with me anymore. But I’m never going to ask you to heal me. Ever.” He dropped a small kiss on his nose, then on both his cheeks. “If you did, if you used up your last words, then god knows what could happen to you. I would rather die than hurt you. I just want to be with you because you’re beautiful, intelligent, funny and cute, because you understand me better than anyone, because meeting you just made every day sunnier.” He smiled a small, warm smile and looked at Sunggyu with that look that made him feel like he was the most precious person on earth. He vainly tried to wipe away the tears that kept flowing on his boyfriend’s face and held him tight again. “I love you so much, don’t ever doubt that.”

Sunggyu had no idea how long he stayed there, crying on Woohyun’s shoulder. However, he cried so much that he wasn’t even sure why he was crying anymore. He went from anger, to sadness, to relief mixed with pain in a couple of minutes and he didn’t know how to handle it. He felt so warm, loved and comfortable in Woohyun’s embrace, but also incredibly sad and terrified at the thought that he could lose him someday, earlier than he had even thought.

He was the one to break their hug and he looked at his boyfriend before kissing him slowly.

Then he pulled away again and took a deep breath.

He was scared, confused, happy, sad and nervous at the same time.

The words hurt more than he remembered.

When he opened his eyes, he was blinded by strong lights. He instantly closed his eyes again. He wanted to rub the sleep off of his eyes, but his arms were heavy and it took him a lot of effort to actually move. He managed to take his left arm off of the mattress he was lying on, before letting it fall again. Then he heard a gasp next to him and, with another great effort, he turned his head to see Woohyun’s handsome face. He saw every possible emotion pass on the man’s face, quickly overcome by what looked like pure happiness. Without any warning, Woohyun broke into tears and leaned down to hug Sunggyu carefully, making sure he wasn’t hurting him in any way. His voice came in between the sobs, as a whisper.

“God, Sunggyu… I was afraid you were never going to wake up… Three months. I kept worrying for you for three freaking months!” He cried some more before speaking again. “You… I told you that you didn’t need to heal me… I was so afraid, Sunggyu…”

The latter’s arm slowly made its way to his boyfriend’s face and he winced as all the muscles that hadn’t been used for so long contracted once again. At the feeling on Sunggyu’s warm skin on his cheek, Woohyun looked up, only to be faced with the other’s loving smile. Instinctively, he dropped a small kiss on that smile he missed so much.

As he stared at Woohyun’s face covered in tears of happiness, relief and nervousness, Sunggyu knew he had made the right choice.

Because it didn’t matter if he wouldn’t be able to pronounce another word for the rest of his life.

He wouldn’t mind if those words were his last ones, because they were the most important.

It didn’t matter if not a single sound left his lips anymore, because Woohyun still understood the words as he mouthed them and he leaned down to kiss him again.

It had all started with three little words and ended the exact same way.

I love you.

~ Piou0102 ~

Since this chapter is the 27th one, I couldn't resist to make it a Woogyu chapter! >w< I don't know how that weird idea got into my head though... o.O

I hope you liked it! Leave me some words! <3