“Even if the whole world stops listening, I only need you to hear me.”

  -Tablo

♦♦♦

Daehyun

  Day 1:

  I wake up early in the morning and find myself on the floor. I don’t know how I got here, but I’m laying flat on my face while my blanket and pillow are still on my bed. I try thinking how I got here, but nothing pops in my head. Strangely, I didn’t wake up from the fall!

  I sit up and groan. It’s another day of winter break, but I have no idea what I want to do. In the meantime, I should grab something to eat. I get up and head downstairs to the kitchen where I find a note on the refrigerator door. It reads:

  Daehyun,

  I had to leave early this morning because some of my co-workers took a week off. I’ll be home by supper. For now, you can cook something or buy whatever you want just don’t spend too much money.

  Love,

    Auntie <3

  I take the note down and throw it in the trash. I search through the fridge, but find nothing to eat. I sigh. Time to head out and buy from the nearest café. I get ready and head out the door, money in my pocket.

  It was so cold outside and I hated it. I close my jacket and stuff my hands in my pocket. I wish I had gloves but I lost them last year and never got the chance to buy new ones; I kept forgetting to ask. Well, at least my face is warm with my mask.

  As I’m walking down the street, I spot someone in the near distance. I didn’t care so much about who that was since people usually walk to go to places since everything was so close together. But since that person was in front of me, I couldn’t help but watch as that person was slipping on the sidewalk. I look down and find it practically dry. I look where that person was and realize it was icy. Ah, now I see.

  Suddenly, he slips.

  Out of instinct, I run towards him, wanting to help, but I, too, slip and fall straight on my . I let out a gruff, “Oof!” and try standing up without him noticing.

  Of course he does and his eyes grow wide. “You!” He suddenly shouts.

  I look at him. He still was on the ground, but on his hands and knees, staring straight at me. I point at myself and tilt my head. Me?

  “Yes you! You’re Jung Daehyun! You go to my school! You’re my neighbor!”

  I’m not sure why he’s saying those things, but whatever. I scratch the back of my head and speak to him in sign language. I don’t care if he understands or not. I’m he, but what do you want?

  He blinks a couple of times before replying. “Uhm… I’m Yoo Youngjae.”

  Does he understand me or does he not? I’m not asking who you are!

  “Well, don’t people always start with an introduction?”

  My eyes widen. You understand me? I ask in sign language. I’m trying to see if he really does understand me or not.

  “Yes.” He nods his head, but still didn’t leave his eyes on me.

  I am getting uncomfortable because he is staring at me too long. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I didn’t like the fact that he's talking to me like this. How does he know sign language in the first place?

  “You must be wondering how I know what you’re saying…”

  My eyes trail.

  He smiles. “I’ve learned some of the basics from my mom because she works at the hospital and works with deaf patients. I’m kind of glad I asked her to teach me because now I know what you’re thinking.” Youngjae laughs, “Oh, and I can tell by your face that you’re very shocked about it.”

  What does he know? We’ve only met for like a minute and he acts like he knows everything. I get up and stare down at him. How is he not cold from this weather? Sure, he’s wearing a thick coat and gloves, but I can tell he’s shivering a bit. Why are you still on the ground?

  I could tell he was caught off guard. “Oh! Yeah…” He tries standing up, but slips, grabbing onto my arm and causing me to fall with him.

  What the heck?! I bet my will feel sore tomorrow because of all this falling! What was that for?

  He laughs nervously and scratches the back of his head. “Sorry, it’s reflexes.” Youngjae bites his bottom lip before asking, “Where are you heading?”

  To the café.

  “Me too! Let’s go together!” He gets up again and holds out a hand for me to take.

  I just look at it and get up by myself. I don’t want to trip again while he’s around. I feel like if I’m anywhere near him, I would get hurt. Without another wait or answer, I walk pass him.

  He tags behind me and asks questions. “So, how long have you been living here?” I didn’t reply, but he continues, “I just moved here a year ago, but it feels like I’ve been here my whole life! The people here are really nice and warm unlike the weather.” Youngjae chuckles at his own joke. “And the school is really nice, too. I found some clubs to join and things to do. Yeah, I really like this place.”

  The whole time he speaks, I give him no reply. There was nothing to say since he kept going and going. I don’t even know if he realizes I’m not listening.

  Soon, we hit the café and step in. I'm hit by the strong scent of coffee and the warm blast of the heater. I sigh in content and take off my jacket like everyone else in the café. I glance at Youngjae and see him doing the same. I head to the counter and find Himchan there.

  He smiles at me. “Table for one right, Daehyun?”

  I nod, but Youngjae’s voice butts in, “Nope! Table for two for him today!”

  Himchan tilts his head in confusion. He knows me as the loner, so he never knew I would actually be with someone.

  I just glare at Youngjae, but didn’t say a word.

  Himchan leads us to our booth and sets up the menu. “You like the usual right, Daehyun?”

  I nod.

  “I would like the same thing!” Youngjae pipes even though he has no idea what I get.

  He nods his head and walks away. There was no need to write it down since I always get the same thing when I arrive here.

  Youngjae was sitting across from me, smiling like an idiot while looking at me. “Why do you always wear that mask?” He asks, reaching over.

  I pull back. No one touches the mask unless I say so. I didn’t reply to that question since it was a personal one, but I wear it because I don’t want others to see what I look like now. The whole reason why I stopped talking and started wearing a mask is because I didn’t want people to bother me. I didn’t want them to hang out with me because of my handsome features (or so what my aunt says) or because of my singing ability.

  He purses his lips. “Uhm… What do you usually get?”

  You’ll see. It’s nothing bad, but I’m not sure if he likes sweets.

  Again, he stops talking for a moment before asking, “Do you always eat here for breakfast?”

  Do you always ask questions? I back fire on him.

  He simply nods.

  I roll my eyes and sigh deeply.

  Before my head could explode with the trillion questions, Himchan comes back with two caramel lattes and two huge chocolate chip cookies.

  Youngjae eyes the two items that were now on the table and his lips. “Wow, you sure have a sweet tooth!” He exclaims and takes a sip from the latte. “Mm! It tastes good!”

  I eye him and shake my head. Whatever. I sip on my latte and take a bite of my cookie, drinking and eating in silence.

  Youngjae does the same but does it much slowly. I guess he was thinking about what to say next because after a couple of minutes, he puts down his cup and says, “So… I know you can talk, but why are you not talking?”

  Why does he want to know? I didn’t respond to that question.

  He pouts and gulps his latte all at once.

  I stare at him stupefied. What the heck just happened?

  Youngjae does his idiot smile and devours his cookie. “Okay! I’m done!”

  So? He doesn’t have to announce it because I don’t really care. If he’s planning to take me somewhere, I refuse to go with him. I take my time, but find him waiting patiently for me. What is with this guy? Can’t he understand that I want him to leave me alone?

  I put my cup down and sign language, What do you want from me?

  He continues to smile. “I want to take you somewhere.”

  Of course. I even suspected this. Why?

  “I want to get to know you more. I mean, I always see you at school, but we never really got the chance to talk or hang out. We’re even neighbors, so we should be close and have some bonding time.”

  That doesn’t even sound right, and that doesn’t even make sense! Just because we’re neighbors doesn’t mean we would be best buddies! Plus, what if I don’t want to be friends with him? I never want to add friends in my life anymore.

  “I’m thinking we could just walk around. It’s cold, but once we go in somewhere, it won’t be.”

  I really don’t understand his motive.

  “And maybe you can meet new people.”

  I didn’t pay attention to him. In fact, I decide to change the subject. You know, you’re paying for your order. I’m not going to pay for you because I don’t have enough money for both of us. That was a lie because I do have enough money, but I don’t want to pay for him since that’s his.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it! I’ll pay for both of us!”

  My jaw drops, but luckily, he couldn’t see it behind my mask. This guy is so weird! Why is he talking to me? I don’t understand! I wanted to scream at him for being such an idiot, but I hold my tongue and take a deep breath.

  Youngjae calls up Himchan and asks for the check. Once received, he pays for it and tells him to keep the change.

  I shake my head. He’s just trying to impress me so I can see that he’s not such a bad guy and we should get to know each other. Ha! Yeah, right! I’m not even going to try talking to him!

  “Hey look! You’re done!” He exclaims, pointing at my empty cup and plate. He gets up and grabs my arm, pulling me outside the café. Puffing out a breath of air, he shows how cold it was. “So, let’s go somewhere warm and talk some more! We really should get to know each other.”

  Ha! No thanks. I attempt to walk away, but his arm wraps around mine and he holds me tight.

  “Nope! You’re not going anywhere until I take you somewhere!”

  I jerk out of his grasp and walk away from him. Without turning back, I manage to get home with no disturbances. Just a couple more hours and my aunt would be back from work.