Sound of His Heart

Chapter 4

AN: The bold parts are in sign language

Glancing at his watch, Taehyung huffs as he wonders what's keeping his brother. As he takes his phone out to text the older boy, he feels a tap on his shoulder, making him jerk in surprise. He turns his head to see the dimpled smile of his older brother, Namjoon.

"Hyung! You're late! You had me worried."

The older gives an apologetic look at the younger boy, "Sorry Tae, work was busy."

A server comes and takes their orders, with Namjoon placing their order since the server couldn't sign. After the server is gone, the older turns to look at his younger brother. "So how's school going?"

Looking down at the table, Taehyung briefly considers telling his hyung the truth. But he knows the older male would be upset, and he doesn't want his brother worrying. Namjoon has enough to deal with.

Their parents had kicked their older son out the moment he told them he was gay. They had forbidden Taehyung from having anything to do with Namjoon, but his hyung was the only one who really cared about him. His parents refused to support his career in art, insisting he get a degree in business and follow their footsteps. But Namjoon knew how talented the younger was, and supported him no matter what. His parents had also refused to learn to sign, expecting him to perfect his lip-reading, because he couldn't expect business partners to work around his signing. Meanwhile, as soon as he learned his little brother was deaf, the older had gotten tons of books on sign language, and secretly signed up for an online class. As intelligent as he was, it wasn't long before he'd become an expert.

Seeing that Joon was still waiting on his answer, he gave a small and artificial smile, "School is fine."

Namjoon gives a searching look at the younger. He knows Tae better than anyone, and he can tell the smile on the other's face is forced. "Are you making any friends?"

Tae freezes at the question, the memory of Jungkook's friendly, bunny-like smile rising in his mind. Looking away, he shrugs, "Maybe. I met someone who seems nice so far." Wanting to change the subject, he quickly signs before the older can ask more questions, "How are things with Jin-hyung? What's he doing tonight?"

Namjoon smiles happily at the mention of his fiancé's name. "Things are going great. We've been really busy getting everything planned for the wedding. And you better come. Just come up with some excuse if Eomma and Appa ask questions." Taehyung smiles, knowing his parents would never ask where he was. So long as his grades are high, and he pretends to be straight for them, and they believe he's shunning his brother, they don't care where he goes.

"Jin was going out his younger cousin tonight. They're really close, and he's attending university too. Oh, he wanted me to tell you hello and that you better be eating and getting rest."

The younger nods and grins, a genuine smile, the boxy shape lighting up his face. "How's his signing coming along?"

Namjoon chuckles, "Really well. He's determined to catch up with me. He's even trying to rope his cousin into taking classes with him."

A giggle bursts from the younger's chest, knowing how pushy Kim Seokjin can be. "I feel bad for his cousin if he tries to refuse."

The older laughs. He adores his fiancé, but he pities anyone who tries to resist the man's demands. "His cousin actually goes to the same university as you. Maybe the two of you could become friends."

Tae smiles, not giving an answer. His university has a lot of students, so he doubts that he knows Jin's cousin. And even if he did, it wasn't very likely the guy would want to be friends with the gay, girly-looking, quiet freak.