Sound of His Heart

Chapter 3

Taehyung gapes, shocked to recognize the boy from the night before. Seriously, what were the odds that out of all the people in Seoul, he'd end up sitting next to him the very next day? Seeing the dark haired boy recognize him and call him "V", he straightens, eyes wide and shaking his head.

Jungkook frowns, confused as he sees the hooded boy shaking his head, looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. "Oh, is that not your name? My name's Jeon Jungkook."

The boy stares at him for a moment, before sighing, "Kim Taehyung."

The ravenette blinks, the boy's voice was surprisingly deep, totally at odds with his delicate appearance. But it also sounded a little muffled. "Taehyung, that's your name?"

The other nods. Jungkook smiles, sitting forward, "That was really cool what last night! Why did you run away like that?"

Taehyung frowns, pulling out his sketch book and gesturing towards the teacher to indicate they still had to complete their assignment. "Oh, sorry," the raven haired boy grins, his smile reminding the other of a bunny, "I'm just excited, I was hoping I'd get to see you again."

As Jungkook gets his sketchbook out, he looks at the other boy. His eyes are as wide and beautiful as he'd remembered, with golden skin, full soft looking lips, and a gently sloping nose. Seeing Taehyung glance up at him, he clears his throat nervously, "Um, could you take your hood down? That way I can see you more clearly for the portrait."

The smaller carefully watches his face as he speaks, his intense gaze making Jungkook shift awkwardly. 'Is he looking at my mouth?' After a brief hesitation, Taehyung pushes his hood back, revealing caramel hair and a slender neck.

The smaller feels himself blushing as the other boy's midnight eyes flick over him. 'Ugh, this is embarrassing! The sooner we finish our portraits the better.' Ducking his head, he begins to sketch the outline of the ravenette's face, making sure to catch his chiseled jawline and friendly smile. Although Jungkook is sitting next to him, he chooses instead to sketch the way the dark haired boy had appeared as he'd stared at Taehyung's art the previous night. He was so lost in his work, he forgot to be embarrassed, his teeth chewing at his pink bottom lip.

Jungkook smiles as he sees the way the smaller boy's teeth dig into his lip, totally unaware that he's drawing attention to his mouth. After a moment, the taller boy starts sketching. He finds himself frustrated by his inability to capture the other boy's eyes though. While Jungkook isn't terrible at drawing, his skills run more towards his dancing and singing. Catching a glimpse of how Taehyung is doing, his eyes widen at how quickly the other boy has managed to draw a detailed sketch of Jungkook.

Unaware he's being watched, Taehyung finishes up his drawing. Remembering what the professor had said about including their first impressions of each other, he remembers when he'd first set eyes on the dark haired boy. Writing along the sides of the sketch, he marks down, 'Exuberant', 'Not shy', 'Curious'.

Jungkook inwardly chuckles at the description Taehyung has written. Looking down at his own sketch, he ponders what to put. Eventually, a soft smile graces his features as he writes, 'Talented', 'Interesting', 'Quiet'. He catches himself just as he's about to put down 'Beautiful', not wanting the boy to see it and be weirded out.

Just as he finishes, the teacher goes around and collects their work before dismissing the class. Standing, Jungkook turns to ask Taehyung where he's headed, only to see that the boy is already exiting the door. 'That boy's pretty good at sneaking away quickly!', he muses to himself, quickly dashing after him.

"Hey, Taehyung!" The ravenette sees the smaller boy weaving through the crowd, but he doesn't turn or react. "Taehyung, wait up!" Catching up, he reaches out, grabbing a hold of the other's slender shoulder. But Jungkook is shocked to see the way the smaller flinches and ducks away, turning terrified eyes on the ravenette.

Raising his empty hands, Jungkook rushes to apologize,"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was calling your name. Didn't you hear me?"

Taehyung breathes hard, recovering from the scare he'd gotten. He'd assumed the person grabbing his shoulder to stop him was Jackson again. Staring up at the taller he frowns, unsure what the other boy wants.

Jungkook answers his unasked question as he smiles, "Where are you headed now? Are you going to eat in the canteen or get something from somewhere else?"

The smaller blinks, confused. Why would Jungkook want to know where he was eating?

Fortunately, the boy seems to read his mind, "I figured maybe we could sit together. You know, get to know each other?"

Taehyung's eyes widen in surprise at the strange request. No one had ever wanted to get to know him. Debating with himself, he briefly considers saying yes. It might be nice to try making a friend. But the thought is quickly dashed by the thought of how the other boy would react if he discovered Taehyung was deaf.

The best case scenario was that he'd feel uncomfortable and withdraw from the deaf boy, or treat him like he needed pity. The worst case scenario, he could tell everyone, leading to the smaller boy being mocked and ridiculed even more than he was. He didn't need to give Jackson and his group another excuse to taunt and beat him.

With that thought, he shakes his head, before dashing away, leaving the ravenette standing in the hall, a confused expression on his face. Why had Taehyung run off like that? Had Jungkook accidentally done something to upset him? He'd really hoped he could spend lunch talking to the quiet boy.

Taking a breath, the dark haired boy narrowed his eyes, determination filling his gaze. Taehyung may be shy, but Jungkook wasn't going to give up and let that stop him from getting to know the ethereal, fascinating boy. 'You can run Taehyung, but I'll figure you out eventually.'

AN: A reminder, I do not own any art I include in this story. I can only dream of being that talented 😂

I've always kind of enjoyed stories where people have to find new ways to communicate with each other, be it because of someone being deaf, or just speaking different languages. Where I live, a lot of older people don't speak much English, but we managed to find ways to talk anyways, using a few jumbled words of English and Spanish, along with gestures, etc. They would be all excited whenever they saw I was having a baby, and they'd happily laugh and cuddle with my babies when they arrived. And when one of them lost her grandbaby, she cried on my shoulder while showing me his pictures.

I don't really know why I find these kind of interactions fascinating. Maybe because it's a reminder that despite communication barriers, we all still have a lot more in common than we tend to think.