I feel nothing.
I hear my heartbeat.
Why is it so steady?
Am I dead?
I feel something soft and firm behind me.
I'm trying to move my fingers.
It isn't working.
.

The room was cold. An industrial air-conditioner was blasting freezing air through its vent. White walls, white sheets, white desk, white door. Everything was white. Save for the shivering body struggling to keep its insulation on the bed.

The beeping monitor had a slow yet steady heartbeat in the form of a spasming green line zig-zagging on the brightly lit screen. There was a tag on it with neatly printed words in childish handwriting.

Name: Oh Sehun
Age: 19
DOB(dd/mm/yyyy): 12/04/1994
Blood Type: O
Height: 181cm
Weight: 117lbs
Nationality: Korean

The body laying on the soft, stuffed mattress twitched. Little by little, life seeped into the boy's aching and cracked bones. Colour reappeared to turn the boy's feverishly pale skin to a dull tan colour and his cheeks a faint rosy red. His eyelids fluttered and the monitor started beeping just a little quicker.

The first thing he saw was a blinding white that forced him to crack his eyes open slowly, and allow his irises to adjust at a snail's pace. His breath came in shallow pants. He felt high- was he on drugs? Kai, that little -and his skin felt tingly all over.

Something hard and plastic-y was strapped tightly over his face and around his jaw. Some kind of rough material dug into the cheeks that he spent hours moisturising and touching up harshly. It felt like that thing people wore in the movies- to regulate their breathing and stuff. He thought it was called a ... Ventilator? Something soft was around his ears. His left leg felt like it weighed a hundred pounds and- Was he wearing gloves?

Oh Sehun was regaining his consciousness ever-so-slowly, trying to piece together the current state of his abused body and why he felt sore in almost every inch of his ing self. He tried to sit himself upright- and promptly realised doing so was incredibly painful and stupid. 

He had shifted just and inch to his right and wOW MOTHERERs pain had to explode everywhere. Sehun wondered whether it was a magic trick and and started laughing loudly before clutching his sore-as- stomach in pain.

But he still felt like laughing so he ended up half-laughing, half-crying on the bed while wondering what he ever did to deserve such pain. His incessant laughing began fogging up his ventilator thingy and suddenly he was coughing violently. 

He couldn't breathe. 

With every cough he let out pain shot through his chest and his head. Aish screw this plastic crap I'm gonna rip this off seriously why is this even on my ing face 

The coughs filled the otherwise silent room and Sehun felt his vision alternating between dark and light. The monitor to his left started beeping terribly quickly, till it reached a speed where a small alarm got set off- almost merrily- through the room and down the hallway.

Sehun brought a- gloved?- hand up to his chest in an attempt to steady his shaking body. To his side he caught a flicker of movement and glanced in its general direction.

A boy had burst through the room's door and was staring intently at the monitor Where did that come from? and rummaging through bottles of pills and pointy needles that were- or used to be- neatly arranged on the counter next to it. The boy seemed to have found the bottle he was looking for and swiftly filled a cup full of lukewarm water, courtesy of the automated water dispenser handily placed beside the bed, and approached Sehun.

He tried soothing Sehun's violent shaking briefly with a pat on the back before stripping the ventilator off his face and gesturing for him to take a couple of white pills, and to down it with the water. Sehun obeyed, and immediately felt a sense of calm and relief wash over his entire being- the pills had an immediate effect. His coughs died down to tiny whimpers and after taking a deep breath Sehun felt as good as new. Well, if you excluded the throbbing of his leg and his head, that is.

Sehun's eyes travelled to the boy who was standing next to him. He looked young- maybe around his own age- but was dressed to impress Did I just think that to myself wtf what is wrong with me Jongin's cheese is rubbing off on me . A primly ironed doctor's coat with dark pants and a pale dress shirt made up the bulk of his outfit. A silver tag was pinned to his left pocket. It read 'Kim Joonmyeon'.

Joonmyeon stared at Sehun for a few seconds before breaking out into a sincere smile hesitantly. He sighed before leaning forward to pat Sehun's head softly. He shifted to check on the monitor that was now beating regularly, much to his relief. It was then that Sehun noticed the two girls standing to his right, observing his movements and writing notes on clipboards quietly.

His eyes scanned the ceiling of the room that was void of emotion and colour, coming to rest on his body. Sehun craned his neck and observed himself. The slightest movement sent rings of searing pain through his damaged body, so lifting his hands up was out of the question. He gently brushed his fingers together while keeping still on the mattress. A coarse, dry material was wound tightly over and over around his palms, wrists and forearms. They weren't gloves- the material was all too familiar to a Sehun who'd spent his childhood falling off trees and chasing squirrels through forests- They were bandages.

He tried to sense everything else that was on him at the moment. His legs were heavy as . They felt stifled and bound with something incredibly tight- but soft. Something was around his head too- It wasn't a pillow. More like a wraparound cushion that fit into the contours of his head perfectly. Did someone make me a pillow that fits my head just what even

Sehun tried to speak.
In his head he planned to say Hello. I'm Sehun. What happened to me and where am I? You're.. Joonmyeon?

He did feel his cracked lips move.
He did feel his eyes crinkle into half-crescents.
He did feel the vibrations running through his chest and diaphragm.

But why, Sehun wondered,
couldn't he hear a single word?

✪

Sehun tried to speak. "Hello. I'm Se...Hun?" He paused mid-sentence. His ears felt dead. He could feel himself speaking, but nothing was reaching his ears. Funny. Why the was that?

Sehun tried again. "I'm Sehun. I'm nineteen years old. I'm a teach..er." His ears still couldn't detect a single word. A pulsating, high-pitched white noise filled his head and pounded in his ears. Nothing was getting through.

Sehun tried again. And again. And again. He tried till his throat became raw.

Suddenly hands were around him, and something wet was trailing down his face. He felt his body shaking violently and his chest squeeze as his own arms instinctively sought comfort from the person who was enveloping him in a warm hug.

I'm... Deaf?

The single thought beat through Sehun's head, and he felt himself convulse shakily as he sobbed and sobbed into the unknown person's shoulder. More hands were wrapped around him now, and he gladly let himself go and drowned in the silence that, in an analogy, was like the static on an old radio.

Why? Why am I... Deaf? Why aren't my ears ing working please ears please work don't let me down now Sehun repeated over and over in his head but nothing changed. He heard-no, felt, himself coughing again and was gently pried off the person hugging him, ripping Sehun from the only warmth he had.

The cold was overpowering him again, and he felt himself succumb to an emptiness that was slowly blossoming inside his heart. Hands were helping him take pills downed with water before hastily but firmly securing the ventilator back on his tear-streaked and reddened face.

Sehun felt detached from reality.

His eyes saw only a blank white but he knew they were open. He was recovering from his coughing fit while lying lifelessly on the plain sheets. A warm presence was beside him, cradling his ice-cold hand. His vision grew clearer and his head stopped throbbing.

With effort he looked to his right and saw Joonmyeon. why is his face so wet Joonmyeon clasped the pale hand, eyes growing sad and cloudy as he observed the frighteningly prominent veins that starkly contrasted with the skin that was no darker than the bandages that bound it. Sehun couldn't stop himself from crying. The salty tears continued streaming forever, relentless in their pursuit. They soaked his face and dampened the thin fleecy shirt he wore.

His life was... Silent. Muted. Still. He felt trapped in time.

He'd always thought his sense of sound would stay with him till the grave. But, he wryly thought, like what Yong Junhyung says, 'nothing is forever'. It was stolen from him. This wasn't fair. He was supposed to go in to work tomorrow to get his hair pulled out by Jongin, and play with his kids. The kids would be lonely if he didn't show up. Jongin would force them to run laps around the sandbox, for 's sake. A soulless smile pulled at the edges of Sehun's lips. Jongin would take care of them. Sehun was sure of it. Funny how he couldn't hear anything at all, save for the cracking of his heart.

With that, the fatigue crushed Sehun's consciousness and he fell into a dark chasm that fogged his mind and snuffed out the small, bright fire that was once his only hope.

✪

His body was on ing fire.

why the am i this sore Sehun stayed completely still. He sneezed and froze. why is it so quiet didn't i just sneezeSuddenly his mouth ran dry and his eyes widened. that's right, i'm... deaf now The blonde bit his lip as a hard lump formed in his throat. His cheeks felt oddly sticky, as if something dried up on them. Was it his tears? Probably. Sehun decided he had cried enough. He forced himself to keep his composure but that didn't stop a tiny sob from escaping his pale, chapped lips.

His eyes saw something red flash once, twice, thrice to his left. Dark pupils flickered to the corner of the empty room where he knew a door would be. Joonmyeon entered with the two nurses from yesterday. 

The girls modestly dressed in just-above-the-knee white uniforms carried clipboards, stethoscopes and 'bite-sized' versions of whiteboards in their strong arms. Joonmyeon had on the same outfit as yesterday, and his eyes were red. He looked tired and distressed.

In his left he held a whiteboard similar to the nurses', and his right a black non-permanent marker. He sat on the edge of Sehun's bed and wrote something on the plain glossy expanse of whiteboard. His eyes held an intense emotion and his hands worked quick and sharp.

Joonmyeon stared Sehun down before bringing the whiteboard right into the middle of Sehun's field of vision. Sehun's gut twisted.  why does he look so intense what is he writing is it bad

Hello. My name is Joonmyeon. What's yours? __________

Sehun frowned. Couldn't he just speak out loud? He was deaf, not mute. He said 'Oh Sehun'. He couldn't hear a single of what he'd just said, but looking at Joonmyeon's face, it seemed the doctor couldn't understand a single word that left his lips.

A realization dawned on Sehun, and he almost snapped his fingers. that habit. He'd once read in a book on hearing and back in high school. To put it simply, without a sense of sound, naturally one would not be able to speak as fluently and clearly as before because he wouldn't be able to differentiate his letters, pitch and tone clearly. Judging by the expression that was sunbathing on Joonmyeon's face, whatever left his lips was probably a mass of garbles. Sehun took the whiteboard from the doctor defeatedly.

He caught himself just in time after realising that his hands were hurt and bandaged- He shouldn't be moving them.

Joonmyeon noticed and quickly scrawled something on the whiteboard.

Move your hands slowly to write. They shouldn't hurt.

Sehun gave a small smile and moved his hands to grab the whiteboard and the marker. He wrote in a shaky print

Oh Sehun.

Joonmyeon nodded and glanced subtly towards his nurses, who were watching the kid like hawks and scribbling notes furiously. The kid remembers himself. That's good.

I need you to state these things.
Age:
Birthday:
Nationality:
Blood Type:

He gently nudged Sehun to take the whiteboard before watching the tired kid intently. Joonmyeon observed him struggling to write the letters with effort.

19
12/04/1994
Korean
O

Joonmyeon was relieved. He doesn't seem to have any form of brain damage. His memory's good, but there might be a chance he lost his memories.. The doctor bit his lip and thought of a simple test he could give the kid.

His dark eyes lit up and Sehun threw his walls up. why is he so ing happy i'm dying right here mister whatchu doin

Joonmyeon wiped the whiteboard clean before writing something on it.

Write me the chorus lyrics to EXO's Growl.

Sehun had to stuff the laughter back down his throat to prevent the pain he knew would torment him should a single giggle leave him.

easy peasy,

Sehun was smiling softly as his hand printed letters swiftly and neatly in lines. His kids loved this song. There was no way he'd get a single word wrong.

A dark shadow has woken up inside of me
Sparks fly in my eyes as I look at you
Everyone step away from her
It's going to get fierce from now on
(I'm growling, growling, growling) x3
If you don't back off I won't care if you get hurt

Joonmyeon could tentatively confirm that Sehun had no brain damage. If he could remember EXO's Growl, that took the whole ing world by storm, he'd be fine.

The doctor beckoned the two nurses over to the bedside and said something to them- something Sehun couldn't comprehend because boom motherers he was deaf. Growing the slightest bit annoyed the blonde turned his head away and his eyes spotted something big, sharp and definitely needle-y.

they ain't ing putting that thing in me right Sehun looked back at Joonmyeon who was taking a photo of his heart rate monitor with one of those old, corporate cameras. The two nurses were off to the side and were simply holding a stethoscope and a bottle of red liquid.

The first one had long, shiny brown hair. Sehun liked girls with dark, auburn hair that fell just below their shoulders. The hairstyle was sweet, elegant and sophisticated. It was perfect. She wore a cupcake hairclip to pin her messy bangs up, and had slender hands that were working quickly at the medicine cabinets.

The second was a blonde who had a single blue streak running down the lock on the left side of her heart-shaped face. She wore no make-up. All-natural was something else Sehun was attracted to. Though no concealer or blush covered her tiny blemishes, she was beautiful as could be. She was... wait what the why is there a ing needle in her hand what does she think she's doing? ?? The blonde held a huge needle that was screaming Happy Needle Day u r at him.

He felt his breath hitch a little and his eyes spun to stare at Joonmyeon. He lunged for the whiteboard place at the end of the bed but failed to move even an inch before his abs screamed and he fell back onto his pillow with a huff. He didn't stop trying though and this time chose to lunge for Joonmyeon's coat instead.

Pale fingers hooked onto the equally pale fabric and he tugged and pulled till the doctor turned to face him with a mixed expression of confusion and concern.

What is he doing? Is he alright? Joonmyeon held Sehun's shoulders and looked into eyes that were filled with utter fear and anger. The kid frowned and let out a small sob before pointing to Yoona's needle and making an 'X' sign with his tired arms. The kid grabbed Joonmyeon and stuffed his face into his chest. He was shaking.

Joonmyeon let a small, soft smile grace his lips. This kid's afraid of needles? Cute. The doctor's hands pet Sehun's coarse hair and came to rest at the nape of his neck.

Joonmyeon locked eyes with Yoona who nodded before wordlessly strapping a ventilator on his patient and knocking him out with gaseous sedatives. A large needle infused with healing medication was then swiftly plunged into his skin. The process was over in a matter of seconds, without a single drop of blood lost.

The kid has to take his meds, conscious or not.

✪

Over in the next room, a boy with honey brown locks and huge doe eyes let out his first breath after a long, long slumber.