long A/N is long.

First: Thanks to all the subscribers! I saw many familiar faces and a bunch of new ones too, so WELCOME!! <3 *throws confetti*

You know I said 'one-shot', but I knew I won't be able to stop myself once I started. Honestly I don't know how many chapters it's going to have. Not many, maybe three. I could continue writing and then post it in one big giant wall of text, but I don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer, since I usually update every day.  See this chapter as a 'long teaser' xD
And maybe you didn't notice but I erased the 'fluff' tag, because I noticed that I'm drifting into angst at the moment. But I promise fluff for the future~

Enjoy~ :3

explanatory notes:
passages like this are thoughts/memories
'....' are notes or sign language
Memories from 7 years ago

[SUNGGYU]

“Come on, Sunggyu-hyung! You can’t stay in your room forever!” Dongwoo said and grabbed his friend’s arm to pull him down from the bed.

Sunggyu pushed Dongwoo’s hands away and firmly clutched his blanket with no intention of letting go. He didn’t want to go outside. He didn’t even want to open his eyes. Sleeping was all he wanted to do for the rest of his life. The bed felt so comfortable right now and Sunggyu wouldn’t trade it for sunburns and headaches. Dongwoo probably thought he was too scared to go outside. Truthfully, he was frightened, but above all the older man was simply too lazy. His friend pulled on the blanket with more force but Sunggyu was too entangled in it, which resulted in a painful groan when Sunggyu hit the floor. Dongwoo used this chance to roll the dazed hamster away from his blanket. The brown-haired man was now lying with his back on the floor and Sunggyu’s face showed his obvious dislike to the current situation, because the air outside his blanket was too cold. But neither did he move or open his eyes. Just go away, stupid dinosaur.

Dongwoo sighed and gave the lifeless corpse a light kick to the waist. “It’s already 3 pm, Sunggyu-hyung. Please wake up! Your parents will kill me if I don’t drag you outside today.”

Tired, Sunggyu raised his hands and gave his friend some quick signs. ‘You can just lie to them. I’m fine with staying here.’

“No, I can’t! They want a picture as proof, because we lied last time. Come on, hyung. I’ll buy you your favorite sushi!” Dongwoo grabbed his left arm and started dragging him out of the room.

Sunggyu threw his right arm around aimlessly to stop his friend. He couldn’t find anything to grab though. Angry, he opened his eyes and looked up at Dongwoo. He wanted to sign him something, but the dinosaur had his eyes somewhere else. Sunggyu huffed when his back hit the doorstep. He clung to the doorframe with his free hand. Dongwoo pulled harder, but the painful expression and the red color of his friend’s face caused him to stop. Finally, he let go and Sunggyu retracted his arms.

The blond man knew from the color of his face that Sunggyu was pissed off. He expected – damn, he wished – the other man would start nagging and screaming at him like he used to, but the other kept his silence and signed him instead. ‘You want to kill me? I’ll go, but you better pay for everything!’

After about an hour of preparation, the two men finally left the house. Sunggyu groaned when the sun hit his sensitive eyes and he fished out a pair of sunglasses from his bag. Dongwoo linked arms with him playfully. “Because you might run away.”

The walk to the sushi restaurant went by pretty fast. Dongwoo kept the conversation going by himself, though he tried to include Sunggyu multiple times. The older man knew his friend wanted him to speak, but he just couldn’t shake off the power that one particular memory had over him. Although he lived by acting like the incident had never happened, it still affected his daily life greatly. Sunggyu couldn’t control the reactions of his mind and body in certain situations – he hated it.

He didn’t like being alone. Even if it was in his own house, someone else needed to be there. Sunggyu was unable to interact with strangers or let them touch him. It was already hard enough to endure the touch of someone from his family or his friends. The worst part was probably that, although he loved music, his body reacted violently to it. Quiet music was still okay, but his mind and body shut down if it got too loud. It was one more reason for him not to leave his house. Music was everywhere; it was blasting from headphones of passersby, stores played it 24/7 and Seoul was full of musicians playing on the streets. Dongwoo knew about Sunggyu’s fears and guided him carefully through the streets while avoiding such threats.

The sushi restaurant had always been one of his favorite places. The owner knew him since his middle school days and they were good friends. He also knew about Sunggyu’s condition, which was why he always took special care of the younger. When they entered, the owner immediately looked up and smiled happily. He stopped the music that was playing in the background. “Sunggyu. Dongwoo. It’s been a while.”

Dongwoo rushed to the counter and gave the old man a big hug. “I missed you, old man!”

Sunggyu took his seat calmly. He gave the owner a bright smile. ‘Dongwoo is paying for everything today. Dish up the expensive plates.’

This was another reason why he liked this place: the old man knew sign language because his daughter was deaf. “Oh, is that so? I hope your wallet is prepared then, Dongwoo.”

The owner and his friend exchanged a meaningful glance. Meanwhile, Sunggyu scanned the place for other customers. There were a lot of people but they were sitting at the tables across the room. He could see families, couples, and friends enjoying their food. Though the restaurant was actually quite full, the atmosphere was calm and quiet. Noise was something that rarely filled this place. The quietness was something that came naturally to every visitor. No one raised their voice here. Sunggyu couldn’t explain how it worked. Maybe it was something in the air or in the interior – or just the owner’s intimidating aura warning them to stay quiet.

“I want to introduce my new assistant to you guys. I couldn’t handle all the customers alone anymore. You will like him, I promise. He’s quite the looker.” The owner said and Sunggyu snapped out of his thoughts just in time to see the older man wink.

Dongwoo laughed and looked in the direction of the kitchen. “I hope you’re not ually harassing him! Right, Sunggyu-hyung?”

Sunggyu’s face darkened at his words and Dongwoo knew he had made a wrong move. Before the mood could go down any more, the owner clapped his hands. “Woohyun!”

A moment later, a younger man stepped out of the kitchen. Sunggyu didn’t raise his head to look at him since he was too busy staring a hole into the wooden counter. He was mad at Dongwoo for cracking such a joke. His friend knew that Sunggyu wasn’t good with references to ual things. The older man was unable to deal with the topic because it reminded him of the incident. He didn’t want to remember that memory.

The assistant stepped closer to them and bowed slightly. The old man patted his back. “This is Nam Woohyun, my new assistant. Woohyun, meet my good friends. You will see these two guys pretty often.”

Dongwoo smiled widely and reached out for a quick handshake. “I’m Jang Dongwoo, nice to meet you!”

His friend nudged Sunggyu, but the older man simply shot him a glare. ‘Stop pressuring me to talk!’

The younger man frowned and looked at Woohyun again. “Don’t take it personally, he’s not good with strangers.”

“Kim Sunggyu!” The owner grabbed his chin and forced him to look up. The old man knew Sunggyu disliked getting touched, but he still did it anyways. “I won’t serve you a thing until you greet him.”

Sunggyu eyed the stranger behind the counter. He had to admit that the other was good-looking. Woohyun had short black hair and his eyes had a certain depth to them that made Sunggyu shudder. Their eyes met, but Sunggyu was quick to look away. ‘What good is a greeting he can’t understand? You want me to show off my disability that badly?’

Dongwoo and the owner sighed. Sunggyu knew they probably wanted him to at least smile and shake his hand, but he didn’t like strangers. His friends were only trying to help him get over his fears, he knew that, but there was a difference between knowing and being able to do something. He felt Woohyun’s curious stare on himself and Sunggyu shifted uncomfortably on his chair.

“Why don’t you take care of them today, Woohyun? I will serve the other guests.” The owner suddenly said.

Sunggyu scowled. Dongwoo gave his hand a quick pat. “Remember, hyung, I’m paying for everything. Also, the owner trusts this guy, which means he can’t be a bad person.”

He looked at Woohyun again who smiled brightly. The younger man gave t