Find You [Monsta X AU]

v.

Hyunwoo sighed for the millionth time that day as he passed through the station. After two hours of research, all he'd been able to confirm was that Yoo Kihyun had indeed had a kidney transplant. No donor was named, but the transplant surgeon had been. Hyunwoo had called up the office, but the secretary had informed him that Dr. Stephens had left their practice. He'd have to try and track him down tomorrow.

For now, he had a class to go to.

"-to see you, it's been a while," Hoseok was saying as Hyunwoo opened the door and nodded to Dr. Lee and Hoseok. "Oh, perfect," Hoseok said, smiling and turning to face Hyunwoo as well. "This is Officer Son. He's the one who found the child."

"Nice to meet you," the unfamiliar man beside Hoseok said while simultaneously signing the phrase. "My name is Im Changkyun. Hoseok contacted me about your case."

"Thank you for coming," Hyunwoo said. He noticed that the boy was sitting at a desk that had been cleared off. "Where are his crayons?" Hyunwoo asked, oddly disconcerted at their absence.

"Oh, I have them in my bag," Hoseok said. "I just thought they might be distracting if Changkyun is trying to teach."

"Crayons?" Changkyun asked, continuing to sign while he spoke. "He likes to color?"

"He does," Hyunwoo said with a small nod, noticing that Changkyun seemed to be watching his lips while he spoke. "He likes drawing things around him. Up until now, that's only been his room, but I think he'll start drawing other things soon. And I wrote down a few words for him, and he seems to have learned those."

Changkyun hummed while he considered what Hyunwoo had said. "Let's put the crayons in front of him. It may be helpful if he has that option to communicate as well."

"All right," Hoseok agreed readily, pulling crayons and extra paper out of his backpack and setting them in front of the boy. Almost immediately, the boy snatched a green crayon and a piece of paper before looking over at Hyunwoo.

"What is it?" Hyunwoo asked, coming closer because it seemed to him like the boy was waiting expectantly.

The boy waited until he was only a few steps away before pointing with the green crayon towards Changkyun.

"Oh, his name?" Hyunwoo asked, already looking back down at the boy and gesturing toward the sheet of paper. The boy handed it over and relinquished the crayon, watching carefully as Hyunwoo wrote a new name on the paper.

CHANGKYUN

CHANGKYUN, the boy copied before looking over to Hyunwoo, who nodded. He pointed to Jooheon and looked at the boy, who quickly wrote JOOHEON. They repeated the process with HOSEOK, MINHYUK, and before Hyunwoo could even point to himself, his name joined the others on the paper.

"Amazing," Changkyun said, having watched the entire process. "And he's only been learning for a day now?"

Hyunwoo nodded, staring down at the boy's sheet with pride. He'd taught him that. "I think, in a weird way, that words are just pictures to him. I think that's how he processes things. But his recall is astounding."

"Quite."

Hoseok got Changkyun's attention after that and spoke quietly. "We appreciate you coming in to help, but I need to ask that you keep this strictly confidential."

"Of course," Changkyun said. "But can I ask why?"

"Two reasons," Hoseok said with a sigh. "First off, the boy is from a prestigious family, and the circumstances surrounding his neglect are still a little unclear. Second, there have been a few cases with some similarity in the past, and once the child had become public knowledge, they were flocked by psychologists and researchers and essentially used as a public experiment and object of study. I would like for this boy to not have that experience."