airports (DEAf au i)

If it wasn’t because Taemin had latched onto his arm and pointed, Jinki wouldn’t have believed he was in the same room as the most beautiful man on Earth. The other man had soft black hair that framed his gentle face beautifully, his brown eyes were downcast, reading a book that was held by the most elegant fingers Jinki had ever seen. There were a pair of glasses perched on his delicate nose, sliding down slowly until the man had to push them back up again. If Jinki was to describe him with one word, it would have been other-worldly.

Jinki turned to Taemin who finally let go of him so he could sign to him. And with those words, the magic of the waiting room was shattered and Jinki felt anxiety crawl over him, drench him in ice and leave him frozen to his spot. Taemin raised an eyebrow when Jinki shook his head.

There was no way he was going to introduce himself to the man with a book in his hands and a small bag on the seat next to him.

Come on Jinki, Taemin signed and Jinki shook his head again, denying.

Jinki wasn’t entirely deaf and, with his hearing aids, actually managed to function in a world where sounds were of utmost importance, but he rarely spoke without them and he had forgotten to put his hearing aids into his carry-on luggage. Being hearing impaired had its advantages and while Jinki hadn’t intentionally taken advantage of them, it had granted them easier access to the flight, earlier boarding time and more care from the staff to ensure that miscommunication didn’t happen.

Taemin was frowning next to him and still subtly pointing towards the other man and Jinki shook his head for the last time and turned to look out of the window.

It was with horror he spotted Taemin getting up from his seat in the window’s reflection and he whipped around so quickly it should’ve caused a whiplash. Taemin was already walking towards the reading beauty and Jinki scrambled from his seat, just in time to catch Taemin’s arm and tug him back.

What are you doing? he signed angrily and Taemin sighed.

You need to talk to him! Taemin answered with more elegant fingers.

Why?

Jinki was getting annoyed with the persistence but he knew his younger brother wouldn’t let it rest until he got what he wanted. And right now that was for Jinki to talk to a stranger.

Had Jinki had his hearing aids, he may have considered it, but now, however, it was impossible to think of approaching a stranger, a beautiful one at that, and just magically hope this one would understand sign language.

Because - look at him! Taemin signed and pointed over his shoulder towards the man, that had now crossed his long legs on the chair as he continued to read.

You know I put my hearing aids in the check-in luggage. There’s no way I can communicate with him anyway and you know I’ve got anxiety.

Jinki was looking at Taemin while he was contemplating what Jinki had just signed. It was true and Taemin didn’t like it when he wasn’t right but Jinki knew there was nothing he could say to counter it.

But you need to talk to him! Taemin signed after a few seconds of silence and Jinki raised an eyebrow.

But why?

Taemin never answered his question and Jinki sighed.

Minutes went by and Taemin was frowning once again, trying to get eye contact with the other man across the waiting room and Jinki had decided to ignore him for good. There were many things one could say about Taemin, but him giving up was not one of them. There was a competitive aura around him and 30 minutes into his frowning, Taemin got up from his chair. Jinki looked at him and nodded when Taemin pointed towards the bathroom.

In the minutes he was alone, he started to wonder what could be so horrible with trying to communicate with the other man. He had done it before. Long before people knew he was hearing impaired, they had tried to communicate with him and him with them. He had spoken in sign language to many people that didn’t know a word and somehow managed to survive in the world. He had found friends, most of which was hearing perfectly fine. So what made this person so different?

Jinki took one look at him again and was stunned into his seat at the graze with which the other man turned the page in his book.

This person was so different because he was exactly what Jinki had ever dreamt of - at least appearance-wise.

Taemin sank into his seat beside him, still annoyed with Jinki’s reluctance to meet whom Taemin had dubbed The Prince.

When Jinki poked his shoulder, Taemin turned around with a frown that soon turned into wide eyes when he read Jinki’s ask for help.

Asking Taemin for help was stupid but it was too late to stop now. Taemin had started with ideas that had seemed subtle enough, sit next to him for 5 minutes or ask him what he’s reading, but Jinki had refused to say one word and Taemin’s ideas had started to progressively get out of hand.

When the stranger hadn’t noticed Jinki sitting next to him and when he hadn’t noticed Jinki walking past his seat 5 times in a row, Taemin had started to get more creative.

Fall had been his initial idea and even though Jinki had refused, Taemin had tripped him, Jinki landing sprawled out on the floor in the waiting room. While it had garnered attention from other passengers and the crew Jinki had been too embarrassed and had deliberately not looked at the stranger. Taemin had been pretty annoyed with that.

Why did you look away? he signed when Jinki was seated on a chair, a bottle of water in his hand. Jinki just looked away, not wanting to tell Taemin that getting the stranger’s attention wasn’t at all costs.

Taemin was unstoppable, however, and while many of his ideas were just ludicrous and impossible, some of them were actually quite nice. Such as buying him a cup of coffee. Jinki did but when the other looked up with confusion, Jinki had been too embarrassed by his inability to explain and had left the coffee next to the stranger on the seat before he had hurried away.

5 minutes before boarding Taemin was starting to lose hope. Jinki was too but he was far more embarrassed at all the things he had done, guided by Taemin, than he was regretting his unsuccessful attempts at getting to know the stranger.

1 minute before boarding Taemin slipped a piece of paper into his hands. It was Taemin’s handwriting and it didn’t look like anything Jinki would have ever written but Taemin was gesturing towards the stranger and Jinki got the idea.

It took all Jinki had when he gently placed the paper on the book before he walked past and to the counter with Taemin. His heart was beating in his chest and his cheeks were probably red and he could only hope that the stranger hadn’t seen him when he put the paper on his pages.

They found their seats quickly and Jinki turned to look out the window in order to calm his heart. It wasn’t until someone poked him on the thigh that he turned around and got eye contact with Taemin.

Pull the curtain down, will you? Taemin signed and Jinki frowned before he signed no back. He wanted to look out the window. Taemin frowned back at him and asked him again in curse words and Jinki just sent him a smirk.

Taemin sighed deeply and then someone poked Taemin’s shoulder and they both looked up, only to meet the most beautiful brown eyes Jinki had ever seen in his entire life. The smile on the stranger’s lips formed dimples in his cheeks and his hair looked much softer.

I’m sorry but I think this is yours, the stranger signed and handed the paper back to Jinki who was trying not to drop his jaw. Taemin scrambled out of his seat and got up. Jinki could see Taemin moving his lips but was unable to read them and the stranger gently tapped his own ear, an indication Jinki himself had used to tell people he was hearing impaired.

Taemin was gaping between them before he burst into laughter that had everybody in the plane looking at him.

Want to change seats? Taemin signed to the stranger and the stranger looked at him in surprise. I would be happy to get away from him, he’s such a bore. I need new friends too.

Jinki lunged towards Taemin but he stepped aside in the small isle and sent Jinki a smirk. The stranger nodded after a second or two of contemplation and told Taemin his seat number before he slinked into the seat next to Jinki. Jinki’s palms were sweaty and his heart was beating fast but he still sent the stranger a smile.

I’m Kibum, the stranger signed. You?

It took a few seconds before Jinki eventually realized what he had read and at that time Kibum had already started apologizing.

I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have changed seats. I just noticed you were signing so I thought it wouldn’t be too embarrassing to hand the note back but I totally understand if you don’t want to talk with me, I shouldn’t have taken this seat.

Jinki put his hands on Kibum’s to stop his signing before he sent him a wide smile of his own.

I’m Jinki. It’s nice to meet you.

Kibum’s smile was so bright it felt like it was only the two of them on the plane. And as the plane took off Jinki learned a lot of things about Kibum, the most beautiful man on Earth, and Taemin was looking smug from a few rows behind them.

author's notes

This was a prompt from OTPprompts on tumblr. I think I tweaked it a little because I think it was kinda supposed to be silly, but I couldn't do that. So it got kinda romantic instead. Ah, romantic Onkey is the best. 
Kibum is deaf in this, not just hearing impaired like Jinki. What coincidence, haha. Taemin is Jinki's younger brother. In case that wasn't ... uhm, clear. I think I mention it once but still, it might slip.

If you have an idea for a title, please don't hesitate to tell me, lol.