Secrets - Chanlix

Scene 16

Now Playing: Hear Me - Imagine Dragons

30 minutes until showtime. The second night of the show. As probably expected, Chris and Felix had avoided eachother at all costs all day and were most likely going to stay that way all night too. Everyone just hoped the show would go as well as it did the previous night, and gain just as many positive reactions as it did from the audience. Just had to hope no last minute disaster strikes. There's no way something could wrong before the show two nights in a row, right?

Somehow, for these guys, it can.

Now this problem, to most people, wouldn't mean a thing. But to Hyunjin, it was an absolute disaster. He had to perform, especially with his fairly significant role and the fact that his parents were in the audience that night. The same parents that only really believed in his sister, not believing he'd make it in the theatre scene because he's deaf.

Unfortunately that was the very thing that caused such massive problems for him that night. The batteries in his cochlear implants (CIs) ran out and the case that he kept his spare batteries in, was all the way back at his dorm.

Despite the fact that with his CIs he still can't hear 100% of sound and not the same way as others, his sudden recognition that the sound he could hear around him was no longer there, brought him distress.

Leaning against the wall, somewhat near the side of the stage, he knew people were already filling the seats of the auditorium. And that his parents could arrive at any given moment. He took a few deep breaths, trying to ground himself from the panic he felt growing in him. He was desperate to prove to his parents that he was capable of making his dreams reality, deaf or not.

"Hyune?" Jisung asked, recognising that his boyfriend wasn't okay. "Is it nerves? It's okay, you were amazing last night!" Jisung tried to reassure the male, but Hyunjin didn't even look in his direction. So Jisung waved a hand in front of his face. "Hyunjin? Jinnie? Hello??"

"Oh! Jisung. Jisung, Ji!" Hyunjin scrambled to get the boy to stop speaking, able to tell from the obvious movement of his lips. "I can't hear you!"

"Wait, did you just say you can't hear me?" The squirrel-like boy stopped, somehow subconsciously making the way he shaped the words clearer.

"Yes, can you find Yeji for me? And come back with Minho!" Hyunjin ordered, trying to keep himself calm and quite impressed with his success of reading his boyfriend's lips.

"Okay!" Jisung put two massive thumbs up in front of Hyunjin and dashed away in search of (who he hoped) was to be his future sister-in-law.

Leaving a panicked Hyunjin, who was feeling his other senses kick into action and help him feel more grounded. Until soon, he felt the vibration of Yeji's sharp footsteps coming towards him.

"Hyunjin!" She called out, running in front of him and placing her hands against his upper-arms, to grab his attention. She moved her hands, to sign something in BSL (British Sign Language) which they were both fluent in. [signing will be in italics] "Hyunjin, it's okay. I'm here! Did your batteries run out?"

Hyunjin merely nodded, feeling comfort in his twin's presence and being able to understand what she was communicating.

"Should Minho and Jisung go find the spares? They're in that small black case on your bedside table? Right?"

Hyunjin nodded again, watching as Yeji turned to his boyfriends and explained to them what they had to do. They then dashed away, obviously heading straight for Hyunjin's dorm room. His twin sister then turned back to him.

"It's okay! We've got 15 minutes still until showtime! They'll be back by then and it will be all fixed, so you can show Mum and Dad how strong you are and what a star you are! Prove you can do anything! Disabled or not!" She signed, watching him grin at the reassurance. He felt okay, he felt it was gonna be okay.

"Thank you. You really are the best sister ever, even if you drive me mad!" He signed back, smiling.

Sooner than expected, Minho and Jisung came running over. With a familiar black case in their hands.

"This it?" Minho asked, stopping in his tracks and realising how strong his accent was as he said that.

"Oh thank god!" Hyunjin almost yelled, taking the case into his hands and sorting out what he needed to sort out and for his CIs to work again. "Thank you so much! I love you!"

"You love us?" Minho did a double take.

"Of course, I love you." Hyunjin grinned. "That means I lo-"

"We know. We love you too." Jisung replied, before they both signed in sync. At that moment Hyunjin decided he was gonna marry those guys and that he was living his dream love story.

The show then went on, smoothly again and just as beautifully as the previous night. Earning the same amount of love and appreciation from the audience again, if not more. And at the end of the show, Hyunjin and Yeji went to say hello to their parents.

"Well wasn't that incredible!" Hyunjin's dad smiled, seeming very impressed by the performance. "I have to ask, who wrote the musical? Was it a professor?"

"Me. And my friends. And my boyfriends." Hyunjin replied, almost sheapishly.

"Well it was absolutely amazing, and both of you are insane on the stage! Consider me impressed!" Their dad chuckled, patting his daughter on the arm.

It was obvious what their mum had heard though, "Did you say boyfriend? You have a boyfriend?" She asked, a giddy expression on her face.

"Well, two actually." Yeji corrected, earning an elbow to the ribs from her brother who would've preferred to say it himself.

"Oh my gosh! Can I meet them?" She grinned, Hyunjin knew she wasn't gonna end up taking 'no' for an answer.

"I-uh- sure!" He scrambled to get the words out, surprised by the question and annoyed with Yeji. Mainly because she was already beckoning them over.

When they arrived by Hyunjin's side, they gave each his parents a handshake.

"This is Minho and this is Jisung." He pointed at each of them, so knew which was which. "And I love them."

"And we love him! It's mutual, I promise, Mrs Hwang!" Jisung , who was somehow being his loud, bubbly self at first meet, grinned at the two parents of his lover in front of him.

"I couldn't be more pleased." She signed, making Hyunjin's eyes fill with tears. He felt so extremely loved that day, he knew he was gonna feel a lot of that for a long time.

"I honestly thought you didn't believe in me!" He chuckled, earning a pat on the arm from his sister (who denied that narrative time after time after time from the male).

"We were worried for you but we always believed in you."

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Can nobody hear me?
I've got a lot that's on my mind,
I cannot breathe,
Can you hear it too?

- Hear Me

SCENE 16