namgi one shots

polka dots can tickle

credit: peppermintPJM

Namjoon was born blind. The moment he was born, he was rushed away by multiple doctors and nurses, no matter how much his parents pleaded to get him back in their arms. When they did, a small moment later, with him wrapped up in a small blanket - the medics broke the news. A genetic mutation, they said. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kim had been carrying a gene, and when they made Namjoon, it combined into something not quite right. They had wept right there, crying for their baby boy’s eyes that could do nothing for him. They were scared that this would force him to lead an unhappy life. Would people make fun of him? Take advantage of him? How could they stand their baby never seeing their faces? The sad fact that he was blind took their focus away from almost everything.

Still, it didn’t stop Namjoon from loving the world.

For as the little boy grew up, he wanted to learn everything about … well, anything. He asked questions ever since he learned how to talk, grasping a pretty flower and asking, “What’s this?" Or, he would lie on his mother’s lap and ask things like, “Why does the Earth spin, mama?” Learning was his way of connecting. And even if he couldn’t see the things he connected with, he was still desperate to know it like the back of his hand.

So, naturally, he spent most of his time outside.

The outdoors were magical. Every time Namjoon took a step, he was thrust into a world full of aromas and tinkling sounds like he was constantly in a circus. He adored feeling the hot sun on his skin, or snowflakes trickling down from the sky. Every time a gust of wind blew past him, he couldn’t help but giggle as it tickled his skin. With every sense that he grasped, it painted a mental picture of what life looked like. It made him feel as if he could see it too. As if he could see the airplanes whooshing by, way up high.

As if he could see the way the moon glowed in the night sky. As if he could know where people are and smile at them just to make them smile back at him too!

Yes, he loved outside.

This was why every time his parents asked if he wanted to go to the park - Namjoon could never say no.

“Namjoon-ah, Joonbug, here- I’ll help you.”

The boy nodded, a bright grin growing on his face, as usual, two deep dimples digging into his cheeks. He felt his mother’s arms on his shoulders, letting her guide him to the couch so he could sit down. He swung his legs, his mother having to catch them so she could tug his tiny boots on. “Are they the polka dot ones Mommy?"

His mother sighed lightly. But Namjoon knew she was smiling. “Yes, baby, they’re the polka dot ones. Polka polka!”

Suddenly, two fingers came out of nowhere, poking his tummy again and again and again. He let out a giggle, poking out his tongue in his mother’s direction. “No pokes! No no, no polka!”

Namjoon had no sense of color. But, that didn’t matter - polka dots didn’t have to have color, and he knew what those were! When he was three, his father bought him a dotted blanket, one that was fuzzy and comforting. The dots, though, were plastic on the outside, so he could feel them as much as he wanted to. His parents had explained polka dots were a pattern of tiny circles, like little pokes. And every time they said Polka, they would give him a little tap until it turned into tickles and he felt like he had Polkas-Polkas all over!