MiCha was sitting in her room when the door opened loudly with a bang that had made her jump up in surprise, and her book was yanked away from her hands. She looked up to see Yixing standing in front of her, his face neutral but jaw set.

‘What the hell are you doing!’, she wanted to yell but she didn’t. She can’t. Instead, she got up from her chair, glaring at him.

“Enough,” Yixing said.

MiCha raised her eyebrows before holding out her hand and waited, her gaze defiant. Yixing clenched his teeth in frustration before slinging her book across the room.

“Enough of your pity party.”

 MiCha’s eyes widened and her jaw went slack in shock. She bared her teeth in fury and quick as lightning shoved Yixing backwards until he hit the wall behind him. He didn’t even flinch from the push, and his calm feature angered her even more. She raised her balled up fists to punch his chest repeatedly, hitting wherever she could and still Yixing didn’t do anything. Finally she let her hands down in defeat.

 “Are you mad?” Yixing asked calmly.

 Her entire body shook with anger and pain and frustration and loss and she had to blink to keep tears from leaking out. She pulled air through her teeth in angry hisses, trying desperately not to cry.

 She did anyway. Yixing waited for two more tears to fall before raising his arms up to crush her against his body, refusing to let go even when she struggled to escape until finally she slumped tiredly into his embrace. Slowly he lowered them until they were both sitting on the floor, still keeping her in his arms.

MiCha cried in wheezes and gasps, sobs noiseless and airy. Yixing rubbed her back in circles, whispering quietly in her ear.

 She pulled back, took his hand with shaking fingers. ‘We used to argue about what movie to see’, she drew slowly into Yixing’s palm. I want to yell at you- she couldn’t continue when Yixing pulled his hand away, shaking his head.

 Frowning and sighing with frustration, MiCha stood on wobbly legs to get a pen and a piece of paper. She got back down on the floor and slapped it in front of Yixing.

I want to sing, she scribbled furiously. I want to be able to go to karaoke so we can fool around singing cheesy love songs like we used to.

“You can’t,” Yixing said simply.

MiCha’s grip on the pen tightened until her knuckles turned white. She resumed writing, words almost illegible.

I want to be able to call all of you when I need you.

“Your family and I would never leave you.”

I want my life back.

“You still have your life, it just slightly changes.”

I want to be able to talk again.

“Words are cheap anyway.”

I want to have that option!

“You can’t have what you just can’t, MiCha.”

MiCha’s tears splattered loudly onto the paper. I want to be able to talk to all of you.

“We’ll find other ways to talk,” Yixing sighed, cupping her cheek with his hand.

I want to tell you that I love you and have you hear it from my own mouth! MiCha drew two lines under the sentence before glancing up, just waiting to be defied.

Yixing leaned in and kissed her, a little desperately, a little perfectly, running his thumbs across her cheek and brushing away the wetness. He stared into her eyes until they slowly slide shut, his every feeling poured into a simple touching of lips. He didn’t stop until MiCha pulled away, gasping for breath.

He panted slightly before pointing to the underlined sentence on the paper. He looked at MiCha dead in the eye, leaned in, and stole another kiss.

“I can hear you loud and clear,” Yixing whispered against her lips.

MiCha fisted her hands onto his shirt and fell forward until they were both tangled around each other on the floor. Tears still fell from her eyes, but it wasn’t bitter and scalding her skin like before. When she finally fell asleep from exhaustion, Yixing’s arms still safely wrapped around her and his murmurings a soothing lullaby, it was the first peaceful sleep she had after the accident.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

MiCha took sign-language classes between the busy preparations for her wedding. Yixing came along on those classes with her, claiming that he wanted to learn to so that they could communicate faster. She let him tag along, but shook her head and pouted whenever he tried to sign to her.

‘I love hearing your voice,’ she signed to him.

Yixing raised an eyebrow. “Is that your way of saying that my skill in sign-language is bad?” He chuckled when MiCha hit him playfully, before leaning down to kiss her.

So Yixing continued to talk to her like usual, never forgetting to tell her he loves her every chance he got.           

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They got married in a small church by the seaside, their families and friends all around them. Her father walked MiCha down the aisle, gripping her hand tighter with every step they took down the aisle. When they reached the altar Yixing had the biggest smile on his face, deep dimple grazing his right cheek, eyes sparkling in joy and wonder.

“Take care of my little girl,” her father told him as he put MiCha’s hand on Yixing’s outstretched one.

He nodded solemnly, his body angling towards her father but gaze never leaving hers. “I will, sir.”

The older man nodded before turning to her, kissing her cheek. “I love you, MiCha.”

Her smile was watery as she held her hand over her heart, before putting it over his father’s heart. ‘I love you too, Appa.’

The old man raised his hands up to sign to her. ‘Be happy, my child,’

His low chuckles rang as he saw her astounded face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When the ceremony was over they moved to a reception hall where the wedding party was to be held. The guests cheered and clapped when the new couple entered the hall, and they spent a long time circling the room, accepting congratulations left and right.

It was time to cut the wedding cake; a big, beautiful concoction her mother had made herself. MiCha swiped her finger through the cake’s icing and smeared it across Yixing’s cheek, laughing in silence as he looked on dumbfounded. The guests laughed and whistled at the spectacle and Yixing could only shake his head in amusement as he fed her the cake.

When they had finally sat down her mother appeared besides her. “How did you like the cake?” she asked.

MiCha remembered the green tea flavor, her favorite. She nodded with a smile, holding a thumb up. ‘You make the most delicious cakes, Umma.’

Her mother chuckled and raised her hands too.        

‘Then you should learn how to make some for your husband,’ she signed, before walking away still chuckling, leaving MiCha staring at her back in shock.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The ritual dance started and MiCha danced with her father, smiling in fondness as he kept on looking down at his feet and tripping over them. Her smile grew wider when not too long after her brother came up to them and her father looked absolutely relieved to be replaced.

“I had to cut in,” Minseok explained as he twirled her around the dance floor. “Appa looked like he’s sweating bullets back then.”

She laughed silently as she looked over to their father, before turning back to Minseok to shrug and shook her head fondly. ‘You know he doesn’t like to dance, oppa.’

Minseok grinned. “I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but I’m glad he didn’t pass down that particular ‘two-left-feet’ gene to me. Otherwise how would I get the ladies’ attention?”

She rolled her eyes at that and he raised an eyebrow in mock arrogance. “Don’t worry sis, I won’t leave you yet, you still have all my attention at the moment.” He stopped his waltz and took his hands away from her to sign.

‘Because I’m dancing with the most beautiful girl in the room right now.’

Minseok grabbed her again to continue the dance, smirking at the flabbergasted look on her face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Everything okay?” Yixing asked when he led her to sit down after finishing their dance.

MiCha pulled him to sit down beside her. ‘They learned sign language for me,’ she signed to him. ‘Appa, umma, and oppa; they learned to sign for me even though I never mention anything.’

Yixing just raised an eyebrow and looked at her like he just said something stupid, and after a few silent moments MiCha thought that perhaps she did say something stupid.

He smiled and intertwined their fingers together. “Yes, you are stupid for being surprised by that.”

‘Why?’ she signed again.

Yixing leaned in to kiss her nose. “Because they love you.”

She wriggled her nose in mock annoyance, and was about to sign some more when Yixing suddenly stood up. “Wait here, I have something prepared for you.”

She watched as he walked to the small stage where the musicians were playing, and whispered something to them before taking the microphone. He tapped the mike a few times and people turned to stare at him.

“May I have everyone’s attention, please?” Yixing waited until the room was silent before he continued. “There are a few things I would like to say. First, I would like to thank everyone for coming and give us their blessings. Thank you very much.” The guests clapped loudly as he bowed in gratitude.

“Second,” he continued, as he turned to look at her straight in the eyes. “I would like to express my gratitude and love for this wonderful woman, who has given me the greatest happiness today by becoming my wife.”

He turned to the musicians and at his cue, they began to play their instruments and Yixing opened his mouth and sang.

            ‘It's amazing how you can speak (*)
            Right to my heart
            Without saying a word, You can light up the dark
            Try as I may I could never explain
            What I hear when
            You don't say a thing’
           

She clapped her hand to , tears already pooling at her eyes. Yixing winked at her and blew her a kiss.

            ‘All day long I can hear people
            Talking out loud
            But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd
            Try as they may they could never define
            What's been said
            Between your heart and mine’

A hand clasped her shoulder and she turned slightly to see her parents behind her, her mother smiling through her tears as her father had an arm around her shoulder. Her brother came to stood near them, and she knew without seeing that Minseok have a teasing grin on his face

            ‘The smile on your face lets me know
            That you need me
            There's a truth in your eyes
            Saying you'll never leave me
            The touch of your hand says you'll catch me
            Whenever I fall
            You say it best
            When you say nothing at all’

The song ended and Yixing bowed to the applause from the guest, before getting down from the stage and walked towards them. When he was finally in front of her he had a small grin as he reached down to pull her out of her chair, before kissing her deeply.

He broke the kiss after sometime, though his mouth still lingered over hers. “I can always hear you loud and clear,” he whispered softly, leaving a peck on her lips before leaning down further to kiss the scar on , the one that he insisted to not be covered up.

She glanced sideways to see her mother smiling fondly as her father looked on in amusement while her brother pretended to gag. She turned back and Yixing was still looking at her with that same burning emotions in his eyes.

MiCha thought that he was right; they all hear her more now than they ever did before.

(*) Song used for this is "Nothing At All" by Ronan Keating, the soundtrack for 'Notting Hill', one of my fave film coz I'm a sappy fluff underneath it all xD