Six of a Kind

육: Can Seokjin Hear?

Namjoon shuffled Seokjin onto his lap, jogging his knee in worry as he waited for the doctor to come into the office with Seokjin's new cochlear implants, made especially to the shape of his ears.

Namjoon had managed to cut the rest of Seokjin's hair into some sort of style. It didn't look great, and Namjoon still debated shaving it all off, but he couldn't bear too. He didn't want to lose those fluffy, soft little locks. His baby hair. When they were little babies, Namjoon liked burying his nose into that hair, sniffing that warm, powdery smell. It would all grow back, but ... Namjoon couldn't face it.

The scars were still ugly, and Namjoon could see the small outline where the implant sat under his skin. It had a small magnet in, that the external implant would grip to, and transfer sound into Seokjin's head. Get him to hear. Small, tiny pricks of hair had started to grow over it already, but they were still deeply noticeable.

Seokjin sat on his knees placently, playing with the little nametag on the desk. It was metal, and made a loud banging sound when he knocked it against the wooden desk. The desk was clean, and brightly polished, and all the paperwork and photo frames were neat. Namjoon felt out of place. He was used to everything being a huge mess. Six toddlers don't do very good for your décor.

The doctor came in, shutting the door a little too loud and making Namjoon jump. Seokjin kept playing with the bar, and then jumped when the doctor suddenly came around to the other side of the desk, prying the nametag away from his small fist.

He placed the hearing aids and implants down onto the desk. They looked much too big. The cases were much bigger than his old one, due to the more technology inside. They looked like they would fold his ears in half.

"Namjoon, I know you're nervous, and desperate for your son to hear, but you do need to prepare yourself for failure. This procedure doesn't work for everyone. No matter what happens, Seokjin is still your son. There's deaf communities, and support. You won't be alone, okay?"

Namjoon frowned a little. He knew he would love his son no matter what, he didn't need telling that. In fact, he wished he could have been better to Seokjin. He wished he knew more sign language, signed up for lip reading courses, taught his brothers. At that moment, he honestly didn't care what the outcome was.

"I'll put the hearing aids on for you, but I'll let you turn them on, okay? You have control of this situation. He's your son."

The audiologist came around to the chair Namjoon and Seokjin were sitting on. The toddler was a little grumpy that the nametag had been taken from him, and he pouted at the doctor, a little amusing glare on his face. He tilted the boy's head back, and pushed the first hearing aid in, and connected the cochlear pad to the scar. It stayed firmly in place, and Seokjin didn't complain. The audiologist went to the other side, and placed the hearing aid in the other ear. Seokjin looked up at him, and then to Namjoon, confused.

"When you're ready, Namjoon, turn the hearing aids on," the doctor encouraged.

Namjoon placed his fingers on the two buttons, and pressed.

*

"I sawed it first!"

"No, I sawed first!"

Hoseok and Taehyung bickered back and forth, clutching a big toy fire engine between them. They tugged at it, desperate to play on their own, but the other not letting them.

"Get off, poo head!" Hoseok yelled.

"No you!" Taehyung shouted back. He managed to yank it away from Hoseok, and smacked him hard on the top of his head with it.

Hoseok sat there for a second, stunned, before bursting into noisy tears. He howled, his hands over his head, as Taehyung looked at him worriedly.

"Stop crying! I didn't hit you dat hard! Hoseooooook!" Taehyung's own face crumpled.