"I'm going to tell him." Wonwoo shot up like a beanstalk as soon as he woke up in the morning.

A sudden gush of motivation highjacked his body and he leaped out of bed. "I'm going to tell him!" He yelled even louder this time.

Something about cheering up after a low really exhilerated him; it enhanced his happy moments. After acknowledging your saddest feelings it's easy to appreciate even the most subtle luxuries in life.

Mingyu was the reason Wonwoo was so ecstatic that morning. He wanted to truly let him in on his life; tell him his deepest and darkest secrets, share every moment with him, learn his bad habits. That meant revealing a part of him that controlled everything he did and no matter how nerve wracking it would be do do that Wonwoo was determined.

So, he started devising a plan. He needed to be fully organised to tell Mingyu as it's a very huge part of his life and a very, very big deal. He would find out whether Mingyu would accept his flaw or run away from it.

Being deaf from every sound except one was somewhat unbelievable not to mention logically impossible so Wonwoo wouldn't be surprised if Mingyu labelled him a nutcase but he wanted to tell him anyway, he couldn't hide it forever so letting him know early on was the safest bet for both Wonwoo's heart and mental stability.

After fetching his laptop from the kitchen counter he slumped onto his bed again and opened a new tab.

deaf person hearing|

he searched. Wonwoo scrolled down the list of websites, skimming past several hearing aid adverts and a tumblr blog. He realised that if anybody existed out there that was going through (or went through) the same thing as him he was going to have to do some hardcore searching to find them.

deaf person with selective hearing|

An tweet reading 'I swear my husband has selective hearing.' made Wonwoo giggle but he still didn't find anything useful.

deaf person hears only one person|

No results. Too ambitious?

deaf man hears again miracle|

A single article from 1997 popped onto the screen when Wonwoo hit enter. It was titled 'Love is deaf' and Wonwoo instantly clicked it.

'Joon Wonhyun, a 47 year old man living in South Korea, has been deaf since the age of 11. During his wedding he claims to have heard his wife saying "I do" despite his deafness.

"I was a little startled at first to hear her speak but as soon as I realised what had just happened I knew that she was the one and I was making the best decision of my life." Joon says.

"He says it's because we are soulmates. It's God's way of telling us our love is fate." Continues his wife, Kim Minji.'

"Gross." Wonwoo shut the tab.

After making a mental note to never be as cheesy as that couple he opened a Word document. He wanted to plan everything he would say to Mingyu up to the last breath.

First he started jotting down basic steps:

• assure him you're not insane

• give him some food so he has to stay and won't run away

• tell him you're deaf

• don't cry

• tell him you can hear him but only him

• repeat first bullet point

Then he tried typing what he would say:

Hi Mingyu. I have something to tell you. It's a big part of my life that I don't usually share with people but for some reason I really trust you. You make me happy and you've seriously changed my entire life. You see, I'm deaf. When I was 6 I lost my hearing and I've never been able to hear since. But that day when you told be I'd dropped my wallet I heard you! It sounds insane and I wish I could prove it but I promise it's the truth.

Being deaf is a hassle. People choose not to get to know me because being my friend takes too much effort. You have to learn sign language, keep conversations minimal and short, avoid introducing me to many friends and order food in public for me. I also don't go out too often and prefer to spend all my time in my house. I get really low too and feel like sinking and never surfacing again and it's annoying. Soonyoung's my only friend who has stuck around long enough to get used to it. So, please don't leave me. You're the only person I can hear and it's honestly so important to me. I feel like you've come along and coloured a blank canvas in my head. Without you I'd be living in the dark. I think it means something too. I think it means we should stay together.

[select all]

[delete]

Wownoo frowned. It wasn't as easy as he thought and something about writing an entire script and plan felt wrong. He knew he needed to let it out naturally and wait for the right moment. Forcing it would cause difficulties.

A flash from his phone screen took his mind elsewhere.

Mingyu☕:
morning 😊❤

His stomach suddenly felt dizzy and his heartrate quickened; he couldn't help but wear a massive, giddy grin.

Me:
good morning. sleep
well?

Mingyu☕:
dreamt of you😍

Me:
your blatant flirting
makes me ill, mingmong

Mingyu☕:
you know you love it ;)
what's a mingmong?

Me:
you

Mingyu☕:
creative.
can you see the sarcasm?

Me:
shutup

Mingyu☕:
anyway, i wanted to ask
u smth....

Me:
go on....

Mingyu☕:
what's your address?

Me:
uM why?!

Mingyu☕:
i've got you a present

Me:
wHY???!1!1!

Mingyu☕:
it's our one month
anniversary

Me:
Mingyu... we're not
even dating. take it
back and spend the
money on yourself you
lemon

Mingyu☕:
i just wanted to make
u happy :((
im sad now :((((((((

Me:
you're making me feel
bad

Mingyu☕:
bc you are bad :'(

Me:
i'm sowwy :(

Mingyu☕:
i'll forgive you if
you tell me your address :D

Me:
i should've seen that
coming

Wonwoo smiled at his phone. It was obvious Mingyu only bought him a present for their "one month anniversary" in order to be invited round his house or else he would have given it to him at the coffee shop. It was cute though so Wonwoo text him his address and slumped onto his sofa.

He found himself eagerly waiting for a knock at the door. If Mingyu was coming over he could tell him what he has been wanting to say all day.

He waited and waited but it seemed like Mingyu was taking forever. Then he heard a muffled voice through the door.

"Wonwoo? Are you in there? I've been knocking for ages."

It suddenly struck Wownoo that he, of course, couldn't of heard the knocks so he quickly sprung off the sofa and sprinted towards the door.

"Sorry! I didn't... hear you knock."

"Don't worry." Mingyu flashed a soft smile and held out a glittery present bag. "Happy one month!"

Wonwoo chuckled a "Thanks" and took the present.

Inside where two clumsily wrapped parcels, he opened them carefully with a grin.

The first parcel was so badly wrapped that some of the tape was on the present rather that the wrapping paper but he didn't mind.

"Mingyu...I..." Wonwoo didn't know how to tell him a pair of headphones weren't a very good present for a deaf person.

"I always find that listening to music clears my mind and cheers me up. And I've noticed some nights when we're calling you sound like you've been crying. I know that you don't want me to help or talk to you about it so I thought maybe listening to music would help you out instead."

Wonwoo's heart burst. He swore he could physically feel it exploding into tiny bright sparks inside his ribcage. Mingyu was so thoughtful it made subtle tears of joy layer his eyes which he tried to blink away as fast as possible.

"Mingyu, that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me." It was a pity Wonwoo could never use them. He had never heard music before and would do anything to listen to even just a second of a song.

"Open the other one!" The tall boy sounded like a small kid on Christmas.

The second present was a new wallet with his initials on the front.

"Your last wallet landed in a puddle."

Wonwoo chuckled and so did Mingyu. Then they made eye contact and Wonwoo's stomach did a pirouette.

"I haven't bought you anything!" He suddenly realised.

"It's ok. I only used our one month as an excuse to come over."

"I knew it!" Mingyu laughed as Wonwoo pointed an accusing finger at him. "But I still feel like I should give you something. Is there anything that you want?" Wonwoo had never been good at present buying so he preferred to ask.

Mingyu shrugged and smiled "I want to pick the movie we're watching tonight!"

Since when did Wonwoo agree he could stay to watch a movie?

"Tonight?"

"It's cold outside." Mingyu pouted and rubbed his arms as if he was trying to warm up.

"That's an awful excuse. The DVD's are in the cupboard under the TV."

Mingyu chose 'Lights out', a horror movie about a girk who appeared whenever the lights turned off, which Wonwoo was happy to watch but wasn't sure if Mingyu knew what he was getting himself into.

"Minghao told me he watched this. He said it was quite funny." Mingyu grinned at the front cover.

"Mingyu, I think Minghao was-"

"How does your DVD player work? I only use netflix. You're so old."

"I'm 21." Wonwoo chuckled.

"Yeah. And I'm 20 so you're old."

After showing Mingyu how to work the DVD player the both sank onto the sofa. Wonwoo assumed Mingyu would be ok with a horror movie, despite the fact he thought it was comedy about a tattoo artist named Katrina (Minghao must have been a good liar) but Wonwoo realised how wrong he was when a tall boy starting clinging onto his arm and screaming:

"Ew whats that?!"

and

"Oh my God, save the children!"

and

"Argh! Kill it! Kill it!"

and Wonwoo's favourite,

"I'm scared, Wonwoo. Hold me."

to which Wonwoo replied with "Ew, no. You're gross." but still wrapped his arm around Mingyu's cowering shoulders.

Eventually the movie finished and Mingyu opened his eyes. They sat in silence for a bit whilst he composed himself. Great, so Wonwoo now had two friends that were wusses.

"No way am I walking home in the dark." Mingyu stated.

"You're only saying that so you can stay here." Wonwoo could see right through him.

"You're a mind reader."

"No, you're just really obvious."

The boy smiled showing off his pointy canines and Wonwoo was certain he saw him blush.

"Can we make a pillow fort?" Mingyu's eyes suddenly lit up.

"No." Wonwoo replied but still found himself walking towards his bedroom to get his bed covers with his friend trailing behind.

They spent an hour building a house of blankets in Wonwoo's living room. Various different covers engulfed the sofa, TV and half of the room. Mingyu taped the Wonwoo's blue sheets to the wall (after promising to repaint it if the tape took off the colour) and together they built a floor of cushions.

Wonwoo chose the film this time with Mingyu's fear of horror movies in mind. They sat on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn between them watching 'Finding Nemo' and sharing subtle glances.

Half way through Wonwoo was still occasionally looking over at Mingyu until he eventually lost all interest in the story unfolding on the TV screen and ended up inspecting and appreciating every millimeter of Mingyu's face. He got completely lost in his dark eyebrows and honey skin; letting his eyes through each hair on his head and every crack in his lips as if he was reading his favourite novel.

"Wonwoo I can see you staring at me." Mingyu's low voice struck him from his thoughts and he blushed a violent pink all the way down to his Adam's apple

"I'm not." He replied after quickly looking over at the TV as if he had been all along.

A giddy feeling in Mingyu caused him to he pick up the bowl between them and put it on his lap before pulling Wonwoo closer with his arm around his shoulders. Wonwoo's eyes widened when their thighs touched but he didn't move. Instead he breathed in through his nose exploring Mingyu's scent; vanilla and honey ice cream on a summers day.

"Wonwoo." Mingyu looked down at him.

"Yeah." Wonwoo met his shining eyes.

"Thanks for being a really good friend."

Ouch. Friendzoned.