“Let him do what he wants.” Eungyo sighed, putting a comforting hand on minwoo’s shoulder that had grown tensed after his assault. Minwoo relaxed his shoulders and then nodded, giving Youngmin one last despicable glare before turning away. Now not only did they have to coax Jangmi with her hearing problems, but they had to help her get over her first short lived relationship. Somehow Eungyo had to admit she saw this coming from a mile away. They never spared Youngmin another glance and continued on their way until they reached Jangmi’s house. The feel was different to Kwangmin than the first time he visited, walking her to school on the first day. He took the lead, pushing on the glowing door bell with the other two positioned worriedly at the front steps. Jangmi’s dad opened the door almost immediately and let the three of them in, showing them to her room. He wasn’t in the mood to talk much; he just wanted some quiet time to let everything sink in. Eungyo walked first to her room and saw that the door was locked tight after a quick nudge on the doorknob. With a gentle knock, Jangmi answered,

            “Yes, Appa?” Eungyo was flustered. Wasn’t Jangmi deaf? How did she hear the soft knocking?

            “It’s Eungyo,” She replied, and Jangmi unlocked the door right away. She was surprised to see Minwoo and Kwangmin here with her, but happy that they came to visit. She didn’t need an explanation as to why Youngmin was absent, and she wasn’t in the mood to talk about him.

            “You… can hear now?” Eungyo asked, carefully mouthing her words in case her assumption was wrong. Jangmi nodded in response, earning relieved sighs from the guys.

            “So you’re okay?” Minwoo asked for another confirmation. If she were then Youngmin would probably only regret his hasty actions later on.

            “For now, I guess.” Jangmi smiled; her cell phone still in his hands. Eungyo watched her carefully, seeing her content expression with no signs of previous crying. Did she not check her text messages?

            “What do you mean for now?” Kwangmin asked, already having the diagnosis in his head. He had been contemplating the possibilities of her being completely deaf or not and the severity of her handicap all afternoon.

            “I have tinnitus.” She shyly admitted, turning away. She didn’t want to be seen this weak and helpless. She didn’t want people to pity her but now that she was like this it was hard to avoid.

            “Tin, what?” Eungyo asked, knowing that probably everyone in the room knew but her. She didn’t specialize in Science so she didn’t take her stupidity to heart.

            “It’s a form of periodic hearing loss. Patients will tend to hear different unpleasant sounds such as loud ringing or screeching during those times.” Minwoo explained in a brief nutshell for her. She nodded, turning her attention back to Jangmi. In all honesty she looked perfectly fine right now. Who would ever guess that she had tinnitus?

            “Is it permanent?” Kwangmin asked, trying to dig out every detail he could. Out of the three, he was clearly the most worked up about this. Jangmi could only shrug,

            “They can’t tell for sure.” Kwangmin’s questioning reminded her of the questions she had earlier on her way to the pharmacy. She glanced over to her closed MacBook on her desk and debated whether she should find her answers now or wait until her guests leave so that they wouldn’t worry.

            “So the symptoms only came once so far?” Kwangmin continued; keeping the thoughts and puzzle pieces he was putting together in his head quiet from the rest. No one ever remembered Kwangmin expressing interest in becoming a doctor or even entering the medical field but there would be no doubt that if he did he would succeed with ease. Jangmi nodded, the fear of not knowing when they’ll come back creeping up her spine slowly. The screeching and ringing was by far the most unbearable sound she ever heard, and she remembered during that time she hated it enough to want to die.

            “Jangmi, did you ever check your cell phone?” Eungyo suspiciously questioned; almost certain that she hadn’t done so because if she had known Youngmin broke up with her, there was no way she could be speaking so calmly right now. She fiddled with her cell phone’s dangling charms for a brief moment before sighing,

            “I did.” Eungyo had confirmed it; Jangmi knew. Minwoo was just as curious as to why she wasn’t bawling her eyes out. He suspected that she probably already had given up hope in him after the amusement park incident. Either that or she was trying too hard to be head strong and holding it in to let it out after they all left. He remembered Eungyo expressing her desire to be cupid for Kwangmin and Jangmi and decided to help out. Maybe this was a good time for them to open up to each other. Minwoo admitted he didn’t know too much about women except for the fact that most of them liked things that smelt nice and tasted sweet, but he knew that girls tend to fall for guys who are there for them when they’re at their limits. He didn’t know Jangmi too well either, but he would take a guess that she was probably dying to shed some tears.

            “I’m sorry Jangmi, I have to leave now.” Minwoo bowed politely, turning towards the door without giving an explanation. He didn’t need one, because he knew she wouldn’t ask. Eungyo, still feeling attached reported that she would see him out and the two of them slipped out of the room. When they got to the front door, they saw that her father had fallen asleep on the sofa with the television running.

            “Eungyo, let’s let those two be together for a while.” Minwoo suggested in a quiet whisper. Because the house was dead silent, he felt the need to keep his voice down.

            “Oh, that’s a great idea.” Eungyo agreed, nodding at Minwoo before she headed back to the door of the room.

            “I have to go home to prepare dinner for my grandparents before they get restless. Mianhae, Jangmi.” Eungyo called in her regular indoor voice and then glanced out the living room window, “It looks like a real rainstorm’s coming soon so I’ll have to rush. I’ll come visit you again soon.” The house was quiet enough for her voice to travel effortlessly through the door.

            “Gomawo, Eungyo.” Jangmi answered back, smiling even though Eungyo could not see her face right now. Eungyo then scurried back to the front door and slipped on her shoes. Minwoo was already outside waiting for her outside in the wind and cold. That morning’s sky wasn’t super clear but no one had expected the weather to change so drastically in about six hours. Storm clouds overruled the scarce patches of blue above, invading and dominating their space rapidly enough for human eyes to see that the clouds were moving fast. The wind itself was accelerating and after seeing goose bumps form on her arms, she ran to Minwoo’s side and they sprinted towards the closest bus stop. It was strange that they never noticed how close they lived to each other. By the time the bus came the rain had begun falling, starting out gentle and then picking up speed as the wind pushed it in every direction. This rainstorm was going to be a violent one for sure.

~~~

            The moment the two left together, an awkward silence filled the room. Jangmi couldn’t help but look away to avoid the tension, her eyes gazing through her window. The outside was stained with raindrops, violently attacking it and the wind whistled spookily in a tone loud enough to travel into her room. Though the heater was on, she couldn’t help but let an involuntary shiver slide. Her attention was brought back to Kwangmin when he coughed, clearing his throat to speak. It was a habit—or more like a necessity—to always clear his throat before beginning a sentence because he would spend such a long time not saying a word that phlegm would build up to clog his vocal chords.

            “Gwaenchanah?” He asked a short and sweet question, one simple phrase that held so much more meaning. When he asked if she was okay, he didn’t mean whether she was okay just for the moment. It was a silent call from him to know exactly what has been going on in her mind, and though he and she both knew he was bad at advice giving, he would always listen. Slowly dropping her defensive barrier, the two of them sat relatively close to each other on her bed as she shook her head.

            “Ani, neomu museopda.” She muttered, expressing her fear that she had been trying to push away. No matter how strong she wanted people to see her, she herself knew how vulnerable she was. To her, everything had become terrifying. Every passing minute, now knowing when the deafening sounds would return she could only worry, wishing for them to come sooner so that she could know she was safe from them for a few more minutes after before she would start worrying again. The thought of living the rest of her life like this in fear was agonizing. She didn’t need to explain it to Kwangmin; he was always quick to understand her heart. Socializing wasn’t his forte, and he had terrible people skills but when it came to things he was good at, other than science there was only understanding Jangmi’s heart. Perhaps it was because she was the only person he ever cared enough to try to comprehend.

            “Are you sad?” Kwangmin asked, expecting her to be able to interpret his very broad question. She knew he was asking about Youngmin. She expected it to happen, but her heart told herself to hold on. Only now did she realize how stupid she was, and because of her stupidity she became like this. She wanted to punish herself for being so arrogant, but thinking and regretting like this would only drive her into a deeper depression. She did not want to be clinically depressed.

            “How can I not be?” She rhetorically uttered. Her hands rested casually on her lap as she stared down at the floorboards unable to find the courage to look at Kwangmin’s face. Kwangmin stared at her left hand, palm facing upwards. It was the most perfect opportunity to grab her hands and tell her it was going to be okay, but he couldn’t find the boldness or the courage to. Evidently, he let the opportunity pass unnoticed when she crossed her fingers together.

            “Gomawo, Kwangmin-ah,” Jangmi suddenly thanked out of the blue. Her abrupt expression of gratitude caught Kwangmin by surprised.

            “Waeyo?” He asked, not sure why he suddenly started talking so formally. She finally decided to stare him in the eyes as she smiled,

            “For not saying things like ‘I told you so’ and for just… listening.” Jangmi explained with a weak laugh. The more she thought about Youngmin the more she wanted to discipline herself, but it wasn’t easy to just kick him out of her mind.

            “Jangmi-ah,” Kwangmin smiled back, a genuine smile that he finally managed to form on his face after so many years of being closed to people and society. It had also been quite a while since she heard him call her name, and the way her name slid past his lips like liquid caught her ears.

            “You know I’ll always be here to listen,” He reminded her as his mind flashed back to their childish memories from eight years ago, “Because whether we’re it was nine years ago or now, I still like you the most.” The last words that escaped Kwangmin’s mouth shocked even him. He had not planned for a confession, especially not in a situation like this but a part of him felt relieved and almost prideful that he had said it. When he finally had the courage to make eye contact again, he saw that tears were welling up in Jangmi’s eyes, one droplet slowly gliding down her blushing cheeks. He honestly couldn’t tell whether she was blushing or just red from crying. Before he could think of anything else to say, Jangmi pulled him in for a gentle but lasting hug, her cheeks rubbed against his shoulders as her tears formed moist patches on his shirt. Her arms gripped together against his back, locking him in her embrace. Though he couldn’t get his hopes up knowing that she had never thought of him more than a friend, he hesitantly raised his arms to pat her gently on the back. Even though he couldn’t say much to comfort her, he would always be around to just listen.

A/N: Ooooh finally Kwangmin's having the spotlight ^^! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter (: The story's finally going somewhere haha.

Ani, neomu museopda - No, I'm really scared.

Waeyo - formal way of wasking why

Gwaenchana - Are you okay?

Gomawo - Thanks

Mianhae - Sorry