Sanity vs. Soulmate | JeongCheol x SVT

2

Believe me when I say, I tried not to look for the mysterious person who spoke to me. I really did try. But it didn't necessarily work all that well... All week I was being overly jumpy while constantly starring at everyone around me. It's not like I would recognise that guy anyways. I never saw more of him than his black cloak and some boots.
Besides, I heard him speak which is a clear sign of my growing insanity!! I'm deaf, in case you haven't noticed. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to hear something. But at the same time I can't seem to let it slide that easily. I think I want to believe it. The logical thing would be to just ignore it. My mind is playing tricks on me. Nothing more. The only thing is, I spent so much time without sounds, words, everything... i desperately cling to this one possibility. Yes, logic commands it to be an illusion. But what if it isn't. There is this very small, very not logical possibility, that maybe, just maybe, I could be able to hear something again. Someone.
But then again: I got nothing. Nothing! I haven't heard anything for the last two weeks and I'm starting to give in to the reasonable part in me. Maybe, it really has been an illusion. Maybe, I really am going crazy. Maybe, I should sleep more.

Just when I was about to turn left into one of the smaller lecture rooms, I stopped cold in my tracks. There it was again. The voice!!! THE VOICE!!! "...or we'll be late again." I poked myself to make sure I wasn't asleep. This was no illusion. This was not a trick of my mind. I am not going crazy. I can hear someone. The rest of the world is still silent as ever. No noisy students, no shuffling, no brushing of clothes against clothes. Just his voice - well i still don't know if he's a he. I should really stop referring to them as "he". "Mingyuuuuu. Come on you slow potato or I will leave you stranded here after classes and you cam kiss your ride goodbye!" Their voice was heavenly. Okay no, it wasn't. It was rough and barely audible, completely different from last time. They were probably having a cold right now. That, or they've been partying too much... "I don't care! Move your ass here and leave Wonwoo be. You can continue ... this ... afterwards!" Finally my brain managed to unfreeze itself and started working. We found the voice person. We can hear them again. We are not insane. We are still standing in a semi-empty hallway. We still don't know what that person looks like.

Brain to body: Turn around.
Body to brain: You're sure about this?
Brain to body: Yep. Turn around.
Body to brain: Fine. This one's on you if it goes wrong.

I turned around. Slowly but steady. And then I saw them. Probably around the same age and height as me, dark hair, neither too long nor too short, squinted eyes, soft skin, white shirt, jeans, black boots and a guy in a headlock next to him. I stared. For what felt like ages I just stared. That human being in front of me was beautiful. And they were about to suffocate the dude next to them...

"Let him breathe for god's sake. And you still haven't apologised!"
Yeah. Those weren't his words. Those were mine. And to say the guy looked at me dumbfounded would be an understatement.
I do admit my words were not that nice, especially since they had no clue who I was and how important they already were to me. But come on, I wasn't that rude!! They could really start collecting their chin from the floor in the near future...

My foot tapped on the nearly empty hallway floor impatiently. It probably sounded really annoying but what did I care.
"Now? Could you let him go?", I repeated myself. Still dumbfounded they did as I said. The other guy rubbed his throat and grimaced before sparing me a half smile. "Thank you." Yep. definitely still deaf. I didn't hear a word they said. All I could do was read their lips. Once again. I smiled back at him and nodded. I've never felt comfortable talking to people who didn't know about my lost hearing. It felt weird. So I mostly avoided verbal answers.
Things were different for my Voice-Person though. I could hear them. I didn't mind talking to them.

"Why do I owe you an apology?"
Really? Those were their next words to me? Fine. I probably couldn't expect an explanation for my selective hearing from a guy, who didn't even know about it in the first place. "You pushed me from the stairs into the dirt two weeks ago and made me question my sanity. And you permanently ruined my favourite white jumper. It's got a hole in the front because of that accident!"
You can't say I wasn't direct.

They just looked at me. Their
mouth was still wide agape and they still seemed to be processing my words. To be fair, I was surprised by myself. Normally I am not the outgoing, extrovert type. I get hyper and talkative once I know people but at first, when they are still strangers, I like to keep my distance, observe, be quiet. Not today though it seemed.

Then, finally, they managed to close their mouth, swallow and open it again but this time to talk, not to look, quite frankly, stupid: "That was you back then?" Their phrases are getting more and more intelligent by the time... not... I sighed. If the conversation keeps going like this I'll probably regret having gained my hearing back for, as it seems, one specific person only. "Yes. That was me. Otherwise I wouldn't have said it. Now, how about you apologise so we can move on from this topic? What's your name anyways? And your pronouns?" For the last two questions I let my gaze wander between both guys in front of me.

The mind of the one without superpowers works definitely quicker. He stepped a bit forward and extended his hand while grinning from ear to ear. "Hi, I'm Mingyu and I go by he/him. What about you?" I took his hand as I replied. "Jeonghan. All pronouns are fine with me but I mostly use he/him." It's not like I could answer with a simple nod this time. But seemingly I did everything correctly.
"It's nice to meet you. You made Hyung release me and you made him speechless, so I already like you." That boy seemed nice enough. I spared him another small smile before I returned my attention to Mr.Superpowers.

As expected their brain was still processing everything so I decided to be kind and repeat my question once again: "And what about you? What's your name?"

They blinked once. Twice. "Seungcheol. My name is Seungcheol. I go by he/him as well. I... Sorry for... for pushing you the other day..." More like the other week but I'll let it slide because he looks really adorable stumbling over his words. And because I can HEAR him stumble over them. Damn did I miss hearing words. I could listen to him all day!! He should take more care of his voice though. How can he talk to me for hours if he mistreats his voice like this? It really is barely more than a whisper.

"I didn't want to push you... I... I really am sorry. I didn't want to leave you laying there either... but... I really was in a hurry to... ah... an important lecture and my train... uh... yeah. Anyways... I am sorry. I'll buy you a new jumper soon. So sorry about that too." He sheepishly scratched his ear and looked UTTERLY ADORABLE!!!

I must be insane. I am not just hallucinating about a guy that can TALK to me. Nope. I am also turning from completely annoyed by his stupid questions into completely whipped for him within SECONDS.
Please get help. Anyone!

"It's alright. Apology accepted. You don't need to buy me a new jumper though. But I won't say no to a nice cup of tea. I don't like coffee that much."
Oh no. Oh no! Oh no no no no no! What did I do!!! I am normally introverted and shy. I haven't spoken to people other than my parents and my aunt in years! AND I BASICALLY JUST ASKED THIS GUY OUT??? He's going to hate me. I know it. He's going to reject me. And he doesn't even know about my hearing yet!! But he'll hate me. Either because I'm gay or because I'm deaf or because I'm weird or because I have no friends or because I just asked him out after talking to him for about two minutes! He is going to hate me. There is no other way. And then I will be alone in my silent world again. No. No! This can't be. No no no no!!! Why do I always mess things up??