After The Dinner Horn and Off-screen: a CotC oneshot collection

Fast With a K

Originally posted: June 10th, 2022
I don't really like this one anymore and would change a lot, especially the first meeting bit, but y'all can still have it :)

A/N A few things before we start:
1) When a character is speaking in American Sign Language, it will be written in italics. When a character is speaking English, it will be written normally.
2) I am not deaf or hard of hearing, though my mother is hoh (not culturally though), and I was unable to find a sensitivity reader for this. If I make any mistakes, misrepresent things, overstep boundaries, or anything else please let me know! I am more than happy to make corrections and edits!!
3) I know some basic ASL, but not a ton. Most of what I'm writing is based off of research so, again, please let me know if I make any mistakes. Also, I will be changing grammar and wording around to make it make more sense in English. A very simple example of this is that "I go to the store" in English would be "I store go" in ASL, but I'll just be writing "I go to the store"

Taking a class for American Sign Language was not how Keun Sup thought he would be spending every other evening of his summer, but here he was. In a small classroom in the community center with posters covered in hands all over the walls and a nice woman behind the teachers desk. She was all sunshine and rainbows, with alphabet block earrings and bright orange herring aids that stood out against her dark skin.

"Sit wherever you want! I'll do a formal introduction of myself once the class starts. Can I get your names, just to make sure that you're all paid for?" She said. Keun Sup's mother nodded.

"Of course! I'm Chae Won, this is my husband Sang-uk, and our kids Keun Sup and Ha-Eun. All under the last name Byun. It's spelled like bun, but with a 'y' after the 'b'."

"Perfect!" The woman went to her desk and marked something on a paper. "Yep, all set!"

The Byun family sat at a table near the front. The room was full of people, but Keun Sup felt awkward and completely out of his element. He settled for rolling a pencil back and forth on the table and thinking about whatever came to mind.

~

He remembered the last doctors office they had been to, Ha-Eun playing with the bead toy in the corner while their parents talked with the doctors. Straining his ear he could almost make out the words.

"Relief... non-verbal... classes..."

Keun Sup had no idea what any of that meant, but if it meant all the doctors visits were going to stop then it had to be good. Ha-Eun always hated these places.

After they got home, Keun Sup's dad took Ha-Eun to her room and his mom took him to the kitchen.

"You know why we've been taking Ha-Eun to the doctors, right?" She said, getting them both a glass of water.

"Because she's five and can't talk."

"Exactly. But the doctor we went to today finally figured out why." She smiled. "Ha-Eun is autistic. Like your friend from school, Tyrone." Keun Sup furrowed his brow.

"But Tyrone can talk, why can't Ha-Eun?"

"Ha-Eun is nonverbal, that means she can't talk, but it doesn't mean she can't understand what we're saying, and it doesn't mean she can't communicate with us. Me and your father talked and we decided that we are all going learn sign language as a family, to make communication easier."

"What's sign language?"

~

The lights flickered and Keun Sup looked around. The teacher stood by the light switch.