Apparently (in the US) it's Interpreter Appreciation Day! This would have been a good time to do the Seokjin chapter, but since I only found out today, I couldn't write that up in a few hours lol. (It will come later though!)

Anyway, here is the controversial CI chapter. It's important to know that this chapter is biased on the Deaf side of things. I'm portraying how Deaf people see the CI debate. This is not me trying to convince you that CI's are the enemy or whatever.

In my own opinion, I have no problem with CI's, or any hearing technology. But I do have a problem with parents making the decision for a newborn baby/young child. It's a really long thing to talk about so I will just write some notes at the end. (Edit: okay "some" notes is a lot of notes. Buckle up for a long ride)

Please keep an open mind while reading this chapter. Please also note that everything the audiologist says in this chapter is not made up. These are things either said to me, or to other D/deaf/hoh people. 

This chapter is done in Jimin's POV for a reason. He's the hearing parent, and he's stuck in the middle, because both sides (a Deaf person and a specialising audiologist) are saying different things. I'll talk more about it at the end.

When: twins are a few months old 

Jimin sat anxiously in the waiting room. The twins were at home with Hoseok and Jungkook, who were babysitting them while he and Yoongi came to the hospital. Jimin wondered what it was about. It was only a few days ago when he’d received the letter asking him to come in and discuss Yunsoo’s hearing. He didn’t know what it meant, what the audiologist wanted to discuss, and he was kind of anxious about it.

Yoongi gently nudged him with his shoulder to get his attention. -Stop worrying.-

-I’m not worried- Jimin told, smiling.

Yoongi shook his head. -When you’re worried, you stare at the floor and your eyebrows scrunch. Stop lying.- He smiled at him, trying to assure that it was okay.

Seokjin was here with them both, ready to translate for Yoongi, and he didn’t seem too comfortable, either.

“Why do you look worried?” Jimin whispered. He hated excluding Yoongi but he knew that Seokjin knew something.

“I think I know why we’re here,” he whispered back. “I’m just worried about Yoongi’s reaction.”

Jimin didn’t know what he was talking about, but before he could ask, the receptionist called their names.

“As you can see, Yunsoo’s hearing sits in the profound range of hearing loss. In both ears.”

Jimin looked at the audiogram on the screen that showed his son’s hearing. He didn’t really understand it, but it seemed Yoongi did.

-His hearing is a little better than mine- he explained, and Jimin nodded slowly in understanding.

The audiologist cleared , reaching for something on her desk and holding it out for them to see. Jimin noticed the way Yoongi’s smile wiped off.

“This is a cochlear implant.”

Jimin inspected it closely in her hand. He knew what a cochlear implant was, but he’d never seen one before.

“This is a device that can fix your son’s hearing. We strongly recommend that you get him implanted so that he is able to hear and can live normally,” she told, smiling.

Jimin felt something in his heart jump. He turned to face Yoongi, who was sat stiffly, nostrils flared and chest rising and falling heavily. He looked pissed.

He didn’t agree with what she said, and he knew that Yunsoo could live a very, very normal life while being deaf. Yoongi did. So could Yunsoo. They didn’t need cochlear implants.

“No.” His voice was stern, and he reached over to hold Yoongi’s hand. “There’s nothing wrong with my son.” He felt Yoongi squeeze his hand while Seokjin translated.

The audiologist opened to speak, but Yoongi began signing. -There’s nothing to fix. He’s perfect the way he is. Why would we want to change him?-

“I think this way is the best way,” she explained when Seokjin finished translating. “This way he can go to a normal school. We can give him the latest version. New technology is always coming around. Yunsoo could really benefit from this.”

-We don’t want your technology- Yoongi signed. -You are not implanting my son. He’s too young. He didn’t give his consent, how could we allow this?-

“The younger we do the implant, the more effective it will be. If we put him on the waiting list now then he could have one by the time he’s two. If you wait until later on then it could be more difficult, he would need more speech therapy, it would just be easier if we did it now.”

Jimin frowned. He didn’t know what to say, honestly. He didn’t know what was best. If the audiologist thought that this was best for Yunsoo, then he wanted to do it. But Yoongi was so against it, and he couldn’t hurt Yoongi. Instead, he kept quiet. It wasn’t his place to say anything.

-But he doesn’t need it- Yoongi explained, angrily. -What use is it? In our family we use sign language, we go to Deaf club. Why would we want him to be implanted?-

“We’re not doing it,” Jimin added.

“You can think about it for a while if you need to,” she offered, still smiling. She reached behind her and pulled out some leaflets, handing them to Yoongi.

Yoongi just threw them back at her. -We’re not interested.- He stood up quickly and walked out, and Jimin followed him quickly, a little startled from his sudden movements. He tried to hold Yoongi’s hand, but he snatched it away, huffing and storming out from the reception, slamming the door on his way out and alarming a few receptionists and people in the waiting area. Jimin watched in disbelief, his stomach twisting.

The atmosphere was tense when he turned back into the room. Seokjin was picking up the leaflets that were on the floor, and the audiologist was scribbling something in a notebook.

“I’m sorry,” Jimin whispered, apologising for his husband’s sudden outburst. “He’s not normally like that.” He began collecting his things, putting his coat back on and reaching to grab Yoongi’s.

“Honestly I don’t understand why you would not want to give your son his hearing back,” she said, frowning. Jimin felt his stomach twist even more.

“Come on,” Seokjin muttered, pulling at Jimin’s arm. He had the leaflets in his hand, but he seemed desperate to leave. Jimin bowed politely to the audiologist as he walked out.

“He might resent you if you don’t do it!” She called just before the door closed. It made Jimin’s heart stop.

Seokjin barely said a word as they hurried to the carpark. He just gave the leaflets to Jimin and told him to hide them. “Consider all of the options,” he advised. “What went on in there was two opposite opinions, two biased opinions.” Jimin gulped and nodded, hiding the leaflets in his pocket.

They found Yoongi waiting besides Jimin’s car, a deep frown on his face.

-Are you okay?- Seokjin asked.

-I want to go home- Yoongi signed, still frowning.

-Do you want me to call the deaf counselor and arrange an appointment?- Jimin asked, worriedly. He hated seeing Yoongi like this.

Yoongi shook his head. -I want to go home.-

Jimin frowned, unlocking the car and watching as Yoongi climbed in, slamming the door shut. He crossed his arms and stared ahead of him with a slight scowl on his face. Jimin turned to Seokjin for help.

“It’s a sensitive area,” Seokjin explained. “Cochlear implants are really controversial in the Deaf community, you need to understand that. I know that we’re not deaf, so we will never truly understand, but you need to listen to him.” He sighed deeply and looked at Yoongi in the car.

“I don’t want him to resent me when he’s older,” Jimin whispered. The thought of Yunsoo being angry with him when he was older, it was terrifying.

“That will definitely not happen, Jimin.” Seokjin sighed again. He seemed frustrated. “Look. I know someone in the Deaf club that can help you. She used to have implants when she was younger. You should speak to the counselor too.”

Seokjin left after Jimin thanked him, and Jimin climbed in the car with Yoongi. The older sulked all the way home.

As soon as they stepped through the door, Yoongi hurried over to Jungkook, who was holding Yunsoo in his arms. He gently lifted the boy, staring lovingly at him as he walked to their bedroom. He kicked the door closed with his foot, gentle enough to not disturb the twins, but hard enough that even Jungkook and Hoseok knew something was wrong.

“Is he okay?” Jungkook asked.

“What happened?” Hoseok added, still holding Jisoo.

Jimin sighed deeply as he slumped into the seat next to Hoseok. Truthfully he’d hoped that he and Yoongi could discuss it when they got home, but it made sense that he wanted to be alone with Yunsoo. He probably needed that time to be alone with him anyway, so Jimin decided not to go in and disturb them.

“Cochlear implants,” he muttered, stretching his arms out to reach for Jisoo. She gurgled slightly and smiled when she recognised him. Jimin held her in his arms and gently kissed her forehead. “Did you feed them?”

“Yeah ten minutes ago,” Jungkook told.

“What happened about cochlear implants?” Hoseok asked.

Jimin frowned. “Yunsoo is eligible to get one.”

“That’s great!”

“Is it? I’m not even sure. Yoongi was fuming. And the thought of him having a surgery like that at so young, it terrifies me,” Jimin explained.

His friends fell into a