“Mute?!” Ravi gawked at Hongbin, shocked. Hongbin, however, was really confused. He made sure to tell N that he could not speak, so he wondered why he hadn’t passed that information along.

“So, it’s not a problem. Therefore, it is of no consequence.” N said, alluding to the fact that he knew Hongbin was mute. “Taekwoon, be a good boy and show Hongbin where he can put his things in the room and where he’ll sleep.” N shooed both men to the room and turned to face Ravi.

“So, why didn’t you tell us he couldn’t speak?” Ravi immediately questioned.

“Because then you all would have tiptoed around him, trying your best to not offend him. It was best because now he got an actual welcome, not one where everyone is choosing their words carefully.” N gave Ravi a look that dared him to say that his words were false.

“………touché.”

“Even though you now know, I expect that you would treat him just like you would everyone else. Got it?” N made eye contact with the three before him, getting a nod from each of them. “Great. Now we have another problem: dinner.”

While N was trying to get Ravi, Ken and Hyuk to decide on a few options, Hongbin was waiting for Taekwoon to give him directions. He looked at the elder expectantly. “So, this half of the closet is yours, this dresser is yours, and you’ll sleep on that bed.” Leo spoke curtly. He told N that he didn’t want to room with anyone, so he wasn’t sure why the elder had specifically chosen to get another roommate forcing him to be with someone else.

Looking over, Taekwoon didn’t think Hongbin would bother him too much. He watched as the younger quickly and quietly unpacked his things and put them away in a very neat fashion. He went and sat on his bed to wait for Bin to finish so that he could go out with him. Knowing N, he would fuss and nag at him for leaving Hongbin behind. He let his mind wander as he waited.

Hongbin has always been a clean person, so his things were packed away in a way that would let him put them away quickly. There was something that he was wondering about, so he wrote out his question and looked over to where Taekwoon was sitting. His hyung was spacing out and Hongbin was hesitant to interrupt, but he didn’t have much of a choice.

Leo was brought out of his thoughts by the light touch of Hongbin. His eyes focused on the younger that was holding up his whiteboard.

Why did N hyung call you Leo earlier? Hongbin was looking at him with big, curious eyes.

“Most people call me that. It’s my nickname.” Leo could see another question burning in the younger’s eyes, so he answered it. “You can call me whichever you prefer.”

Hongbin’s eyes widened for a moment before a big smile crossed his face. He was surprised that Leo could see the question he had in his eyes. The only people he knew who could do that were his two sisters. Perhaps it was a sign that Leo would mean something special to him one day.

“Forget it! Hongbin!” They both heard N yell moments before he burst into their room. “Those three can’t decide on what to have for dinner, so you choose.” Hongbin looked surprised before he scrunched his face in concentration. His face suddenly lit up and he started writing on his board.

Can we have jajangmyun? Hongbin had a sparkle in his eye when he held up the board.

“Uh, sure. But why do you want something so simple?” N asked.

It’s been years since I’ve had some and I miss the flavor. Bin blushed as he let the two hyungs in the room read what he wrote.

“Alright, jajangmyun it is! Ravi, call the restaurant!” N flew from the room to get Ravi to obey his order. Hongbin silently giggled at N and thought he would enjoy living with these five men.

* * *

His new friends wanted to take him out for some fun that night, but Hongbin had somewhere important to go the next day so he convinced them to hold off on the party until the weekend. Early the next morning, before any of the others were awake, Hongbin climbed out of bed to start his day. As quietly as he could, he got ready and left without disturbing his roommate, Taekwoon. He had no other way to get there aside from walk or taking a taxi, so Hongbin carefully followed the directions he printed out before moving to the city.

The crisp morning air refreshed and awoke him as he moved through the city. Being the polite person that he is, he smiled at those who looked his way causing many girls to blush. After about 45 minutes of walking, Hongbin reached his destination and excitedly walked into the building. The woman behind the counter smiled and looked up at the sound of the door opening. Following standard procedure, she both spoke and signed to Hongbin.

“Welcome to the Super Hero Institute for the Deaf, Mute, and Blind, how may I help you.” Hongbin placed his whiteboard and pen in his bag before signing to the woman.

My name is Lee Hongbin. I’m the new upper division student and teaching assistant. She entered his name into her computer before smiling up at him.

“I see that you are mute. Please have a seat while your mentor makes his way here.” She gestured to the clean leather chairs in the room.

Thank you. Bin smiled before taking a seat. He only waited for a few minutes before his mentor came to meet him. He was a slender man that was a little shorter than Hongbin.

“Hello, my name is Park Hyoshin. I’ll be both your teacher and your supervisor as you stay here.” The man gave off a warm feeling and Hongbin knew that he would enjoy working with him.

It’s nice to meet you. My name is Lee Hongbin, please look after me.

“I see that you are proficient in sign language. Excellent. Come, I will show you around the facility.” Hongbin picked up his bag and followed after the man. “You will primarily be working with the youngest of our students. Mainly the children in kindergarten through about fourth grade. The courses you will be taking involve child psychology, brail, and we are going to place you in a sign language class depending on where you place on the preliminary tests. More than likely, you’ll be in one that helps you decipher the different sign language dialects.” Bin absorbed all of this information as well as the different locations in the facility with wide, curious eyes.

Back at the house, N was going about his motherly duties and waking up all of his babies. He woke up everyone on his floor before flying down the stairs and bursting into Taekwoon and Hongbin’s room. “TAEKWOON-AH, HONGBINNIE! Time to get up!” The elder groaned before turning over and going back to sleep, but N’s attention was on the neatly made and empty bed on the other side of the room.

“Yah, Leo.” N shook his friend in an attempt to wake him. “Leooooo! Wake up!”

“What?” Taekwoon’s tone was clipped, not happy about being awoken.

“Where did Hongbin go?”

“What are you talking about?” It was then that Leo looked over and saw that his new roommate was missing. “I don’t know. His stuff is still here, so I’m sure he’ll be back. Try calling him. Now leave me alone.”

“Oh no. Since you’re the only one who doesn’t have class or work today, it is your job to make sure Hongbin is taken around town when he returns.” Leo glared. “If I come back and find out you didn’t do as I asked, you are going to room with me for a month. Also, Hongbin doesn’t have a phone.” That got Leo’s attention.  His eyes widened ant he stared at N in disbelief. N looked back with a challenge on his face.

“Fine.”

“I’ll see you later, Taekwoon!” The younger of the two grumbled and buried himself back into the sheets. He couldn’t believe N threatened him to get him to show his new roommate around the city. In reality, Leo had nothing against the silent boy, he just didn’t like that his free time was being taken away and he was pouting.

It was two in the afternoon when Hongbin returned to the house. Leo was lounging in front of the TV. Bin caught his eye and gave him a cute wave to let him know he was back. He entered their room to put everything but his whiteboard and pen away then joined his roommate on the couch. Bin wanted to start a conversation with the man next to him, but didn’t know how, so he settled for sitting in silence.

Leo was tempted to stay quiet until the others returned, but N’s threat sounded in his mind. He looked over at the younger and coughed awkwardly. “So, do you know your way around town?” He saw the younger give him a surprised glance at his abrupt question before he shook his head no. “Would you like me to show you around?”

Bin’s eyes grew wide with excitement and he hurriedly wrote on his board. Yes please! Thank you!

“Uh, no problem. Let’s go.” Leo was thrown off by the radiant smile Hongbin gave him. He didn’t understand why he was so excited, but he couldn’t deny that it was cute the way he hopped up and got ready to go. Leo followed at a slower pace before leading him out of the door. Leo mainly led Hongbin to the places he and his other housemates frequented. That included their jobs and the school they go to.

Hongbin smiled the entire time he was shown around. He grew up in the country, so everything was new and fascinating to him, but he was on his best behavior so he wouldn’t cause Leo any trouble. He found out that his five housemates all attended the same university and N and Leo were graduating after the current semester. This was Hyuk’s first year and they all had varying areas of study. Overall, he had a wonderful time and he now knew how to get from place to place.

Taekwoon couldn’t deny that he was having a good time as well. He didn’t speak often, but when he did, Hongbin responded eagerly. Leo even saw Hongbin contort his face into what would have been a laugh had the younger not been mute. For some reason, the elder felt a pang of sadness that he would never be able to hear his younger companion’s voice, but decided that if Hongbin could live like this, he had no right to be sad.

The sun was just starting to set when they returned home. Hyuk was the only one there because he just had classes for the day. He bounded over to Leo once he saw him and started whining. “Leo hyung! I’m hungry~!”

“Then go make some food.” Leo kept his poker face in place and walked past the youngest.

“Aww, hyung! Don’t be mean, remember what happened last time I tried to cook something?” Hyuk referred to the incident where he somehow managed to burn a pot boiling water. Unfortunately, Leo had no sympathy. Being out for a few hours drained him of his energy to deal with people.

Hyuk was going to complain again when he felt Hongbin tap his shoulder. I can cook you something if you want.

“Really?” Bin nodded. “Okay hyung!” Hyuk dragged Hongbin to the kitchen and showed him where everything was before leaving him to make something. There wasn’t much in the kitchen food wise, so Hongbin had to improvise. He was just beginning to mix the ingredients together, when the other three residents arrived. He soundlessly expanded the amount of ingredients for all six of them as he could hear N, Ken, and Ravi arguing about how hungry they were. The boisterous voices ceased when they saw Hongbin in the kitchen cooking.

“Oooooh, Hongbinnie is cooking for us.” N gushed at the younger.

“What are you making?” Ravi asked as he curiously peeked over Hongbin’s shoulder. Because he was in the middle of cooking, Bin couldn’t write it down, so he just smiled at his friend. “Right. Well, call me when it’s time to eat.” Ravi sighed and went to collapse on his bed after he remembered that the current chef was mute. Ken was already playing with Hyuk and N leaned on a counter out of the way.

“Did Leo show you the city today?” N asked from his spot. Hongbin nodded, adding a spice to the cooking food. “Did you have fun?” This time, Hongbin looked up and smiled while he nodded. N continued to ask yes or no questions until the food was ready. Hongbin let everyone get a portion so he would know who ate how much for the future.

Anxiously, he watched their reactions as they took a bite of the food. N froze and looked over to Hongbin. “Hongbin, this is amazing. It has a food I don’t like in it and I absolutely love it! Where did you learn to cook like this?”

Satisfied that he won over the pickiest of the group, Hongbin picked up his whiteboard. My sister and I loved to cook together, so I learned from her, but I like to experiment on my own as well.

“Well good for you and your sister.” N resumed eating and the others made sounds of agreement. Leo remained silent, but he ate his food quickly, letting Hongbin know that he enjoyed what he was eating. Bin was the first one to finish so he waited for the others to finish before taking his things to the kitchen and smiling at the whines of Ken and Hyuk when N gave them kitchen duty.

Before everyone went to bed, N gathered them in front of the TV to have a group talk. He believed that it would allow them to remain close no matter what. Also, he wanted to ask Hongbin the question everyone was wondering about. “So, Hongbin, where did you go this morning? No one is usually awake before I am.”

I went to work/school.

“Why is it work/school, not work and school?” Ravi inquired.

I work where I go to school. Hongbin could see the confusion on everyone’s faces so he further explained. At a school for the deaf, mute, and blind, I teach young children in the morning and take their upper level courses in the afternoon.

“That makes sense.” Ravi nodded. “How often do you work?”

Monday through Friday.

“Omo. Then you should be going to sleep right now.” N glanced at the clock and saw it was almost midnight. N shooed everyone to bed. “See you all bright and early tomorrow!”

* * * *

Hongbin once again, left before anyone else was awake. Today was his first official day of work, so he got there early to prepare. He was only a teaching assistant, but he had never worked with children before, so he was nervous. Much to his relief, everything went by smoothly. In fact, he was sure he would enjoy working there. The children were wonderful, always positive and ready for a challenge. He was finishing cleaning up the paints they used at the end of class, when a group of people standing near the classroom caught his attention. There was one woman who stood out to him and when he processed who it was, he dropped what he was doing and ran to her, tugging on her hand.

UMMA!!! At first, she seemed shocked, but her faced morphed into the biggest smile when she saw who it was. Instinctually, she signed as she spoke.

“Hongbinnie! I was starting to worry when you didn’t call when you got here.”

Sorry, I don’t have a phone.

The woman frowned and turned to the people she was previously speaking with. “Please excuse me. This is my little brother and I would like to speak with him since he recently moved here.” She led Hongbin back to the room he was cleaning and gestured for him to continue as she spoke.

“What do you mean you don’t have a phone? Lyn was supposed to get one for you before you left.”

Ajussi and Ajumma wouldn’t give Lyn noona the money. Hongbin signed and his sister sighed. She knew that her parents didn’t like that she and Lyn brought Hongbin home all those years ago because he was mute, which is why the younger referred to them as Ajussi and Ajumma, but she and her sister vowed to take care of Hongbin. That was why he referred to her as Umma previously. On occasion he would call Lyn Appa because she was more the fighter than caretaker.

“Well, you settled in okay, right?” Hongbin nodded as he finished up his cleaning.

I’m done for today. If you aren’t busy, I can show you where I stay. Hongbin grabbed his sister’s hand and used his puppy eyes on her.

“You are lucky. I don’t have work today, so I can come, but let’s get you a phone first.” Hongbin smiled and hugged his surrogate Umma close. “I missed you too.” She chuckled before leading him out of the building and to her car.

An update!!!! I'm sorry it took so long but that's the way it is. I feel it is fair to let you know that this is going to be updated when I feel inspired to write or something like that. I can't guaruntee that I'll update often, but I'll try to make my chapters longer to make up for it..........

Leo and Hongbin went out and had fun in this chapter!

Another reason I haven't updated is, of course, because of ETERNITY!!!!!! Seriously though, WHO THE HELL LET THEM DO THIS! ESPECIALLY HYUK. I died and went to Starlight heaven.

In any case, COMMENT, subscribe, enjoy! ~ <3