Taekook Oneshots

Shut Up And Kiss Me

@InfamousGirl_05 asked for 'an au where one is mute and expresses himself through music'. Song above is the one they mention a lot, and is for context if you need clarification on why it's important. (also stan marianas trench okay bye)

I don't remember the last time I heard my own voice. 

I'm physically capable of speech, based on various tests done by doctors, looking at the state of my vocal chords and voice box, and even the health of my lungs. There's nothing physically wrong with me. But I haven't spoken a word since I was ten years old. Whenever I try, the whole thing just closes up, to the point that I can barely breathe. So I never bother to try. It's just annoying. 

I've learnt to manage, over the years. I write notes, I use sign language at home, and if there's no other resource, I'll play music that indicates my opinion on something. I have over a thousand songs in my 'Communication Playlist', and each of them has a subtly different message or idea. It can be difficult. But it's something that just...works. 

It takes me a long time to find people to make friends with, when I join secondary school. Teachers don't understand my 'condition', so they constantly call on me in class (they probably keep forgetting my name, and so didn't know that they weren't supposed to do that), and that adds to the embarrassment for me. People laugh at me, ask why I'm so dumb. But when the first assessment season rolled around in the winter of that year, I'm top of the class.

They quickly learn to shut their mouths, even if I knew from the start about what they said about me. I'm not scared to defend myself from physical attacks, so nobody bothers to try that angle after a month or two. I'm suffering, not majorly, but I'm lonely. I sit alone at lunch, and once people figure out that I can't communicate in a conventional way, I stay alone. 

I've been sitting on my own, in class, at lunch, in tutor, ever since school started.

But one day, someone appears. 

He walks over, ignores the confused stares of the people around him, sits on the bench beside me, and slings his bag under the table. I look up from my packed lunch, baffled, and he just offers a friendly smile, taking his own lunch out of his bag and zipping it open, pulling out a sandwich and beginning to eat. 

And we just eat next to each other, in total silence. For half an hour, this random guy just sits there, seemingly carefree when it comes to the reactions of students around us, who quickly forget about us, too busy in their own lives to care about anything. 

Even if my brain is burning with curiosity, I can't exactly say anything, as a result of the lack of ability to speak, so I just accept the situation. I can tell that he'd know if I was unhappy to see him, and that he'd move if I wanted him to. But it's actually quite nice to be acknowledged, for once, even if I don't know what's going on. 

When the bell rings to signify the end of lunch, we pack up our stuff in silence. And then he finally speaks. "I'm Taehyung, by the way. If you're alright with it, I'm gonna be sitting with you for the foreseeable future." When I nod at him, he tilts his head. "I actually.....are you alright with more than one person?" I nod again. "I have a grand total of five friends. Do you mind if they come along too, tomorrow?" I just smile at him, and he beams in response. "I'll take that as a yes. See you then, mysterious stranger." 

And then he vanishes into the crowd, and I'm left staring after him, my bag hanging uselessly on my left shoulder. I shake myself out of my confusion a moment later, tucking in the chairs and heading to my next lesson. I have no explanation for what just happened, nothing that would make sense, but I'm not going to question it. I don't have the mental energy for that. 

I don't keep up hope that he's telling the truth, but he appears as promised the next day, with a group of individuals that I've never seen before. Then again, I don't really see many people, I just keep to myself, so they could be just random human beings that exist in the school without me knowing.