Obstacles 6
Obstacles
Title: Obstacles Chapter 6/?
Pairing: Jonghyun/Key, slight Minho/Taemin, Onew
Word count: 2.330
Rating: R
Genres: Romance, Angst
Summary: How would you react if you came across something totally unexpected? Something you never thought you would have to face? Jonghyun never imagined that there would come a time in his life when he would have to find a way to overcome this particular obstacle...
nbsp; Taemin stopped by Jonghyun’s favorite café. While he waited in the ridiculously long line his mind wondered back to his friend. It worried him a great deal how his hyung rarely left his room and wrote depressing music, but his biggest concern was the other’s evident weight loss. In hopes of feeding him something with the coffee, he had decided to buy him the special latte he loved so much. Even cookies were better than nothing.
nbsp; The person standing in front of him was blonde. It reminded him of Kibum. He wondered what he would do if he ever met the guy. He was angry enough to punch him; but he was well aware that he would never do it. Something like that was more Minho’s thing than his. He would probably try to get him together with Jonghyun. Or make them talk at least.
nbsp; “Welcome. Would you like your usual?” the employee’s unusually warm greeting to the guy in front of him distracted him from his thoughts. He watched as the other shook his head and pointed at the menu.
nbsp; “An iced lemon tea?” the cashier repeated the silent order to make sure he had understood correctly. A nod and a thumps up was his confirmation.
nbsp; Taemin was suddenly excited. Blond, ordered by pointing at the drink he wanted, a usual at the café…what are the odds that he came across Jonghyun’s Kibum? He ordered not really paying attention and hurried after the blonde.
nbsp; He placed a hand on the quickly retreating back, knowing that if it was indeed the deaf guy saying his name wasn’t going to do any good.
“Are you Kibum?” he asked after the startled boy turned to face him. A nod confirmed his speculations. “I’m a friend of Jonghyun’s. My name is Taemin.” he added Jonghyun’s name in his introduction, hoping to gain the other’s trust.
Recognition flashed for a moment on Kibum’s face, a small and polite smile replacing it right away.
“Would you mind if I talked to you for a minute?” Taemin motioned to an empty table.
After a brief hesitation Kibum sat down. A small sigh of relief escaped Taemin. He had managed to convince the other to stop for a talk. Now he needed to watch his words and find somehow a way to bring the two together so that they could clear what, he was sure was just a stupid misunderstanding. He briefly tried to collect his, a bit erratic, thoughts while he looked for a notebook in his bag.
“Here.” he offered it to Kibum who took it, pleasantly surprised.
Is Jonghyun okay? was the first thing he asked.
“I guess so. Why?” Taemin decided to pretend like he didn’t know much.
We went somewhere together and he left abruptly, without even saying anything! And he’s not returning my calls. Or replying to my messages.
“Is that so?” Taemin searched his mind for any memory of Jonghyun mentioning that Kibum contacted him. “Well, he has not been himself these past few weeks. Maybe it’s got something to do with that?”
Is he sick?
“No.” he reassured him. He’s love-sick, he added in his head, and it’s your fault. “Why don’t you come with me to see him? I was just about to go visit him.” he threw his bait as nonchalantly as he could and prayed the other would take it.
Sure, it’s worth a shot. Kibum consented rather quickly.
Well, that was easy, Taemin chuckled pleased. “Let’s get going then.”
***
nbsp; Jonghyun was sprawled over the couch, beer in his left hand, remote in his right one, driving Jinki crazy. He felt good making his roommate unhappy. He was sad and mopping so why should Jinki have it better than him? Friends are there to feel crappy with you when you’re feeling like shit.
“Decide on one thing and watch it! I feel like my brain is going to explode with this endless zapping of yours.” Jinki pleaded with a tortured voice.
Ignoring him, Jonghyun continued to abuse the ‘next’ button. TV was of no use to him; he just wanted to get on Jinki’s nerves. He didn’t want to watch anything. He was tired of crying, tired of lying in his bed, tired of writing depressing music, tired of his friends trying to cheer him up. He was tired of everything and most of all he was tired of wanting to see Kibum, to see the smiling face that was haunting him. And so he didn’t know what to do with himself. He had thought of ending this stupid, depressing behavior but he secretely liked the extra attention he got. It is not every day that your friends listen to all of your whims without any complaining (Minho’s protests were silenced by Taemin). Plus, he still felt awful and wasn’t ready to be the usual Jonghyun again.
The bell rang in Taemin’s distinctive way and Jinki jumped from the couch relieved. Taemin knew how to deal with all this; he didn’t.
Jonghyun scoffed at his roommate. It was so easy to pick on him. He heard Jinki’s loud greetings. Taemin had come yet again. It is a given now that Minho’s complaining, about how his boyfriend spends more time with him rather than with Minho, is awaiting him in the near future.
“Hey. How are you?” Taemin’s voice came from behind him.
“Good.”
“Beer. Again?”
“I just wanted to drink one damned beer. Is it so bad?”
“Whatever.” Taemin sighed. He hoped that bringing Kibum was the right choice. “There’s someone here to see you.”
“Don’t tell me Minho came?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Why don’t you see for yourself?”
Jonghyun grumbled as he got up. He was so not in the mood for visitors. He would greet them and go back to his room. The timing was perfect as he would need his sheets to write down the tune that was starting to form in the back of his head. 'It will be about a…' he stopped midsentence and stared at the boy he wanted to see the most and the least at this moment.
Oh yes, the song will be about an excruciatingly beautiful boy who makes his day with his laugh, his humor and witty responses, who makes him see things under a different perspective, who makes him appreciate stuff he wouldn’t even notice by himself. It will be about the boy that is standing in front of him right now, feeling adorably awkward about the way he was stared at disbelievingly. It will have a slow, sweet tune. Not too happy, not too sad but perfectly balanced. Like Kibum.
“What…” Jonghyun trailed off, scared that he might have started imagining things.
“I ran into Kibum while I was buying your favorite latte.” Taemin gave him a cup Jonghyun hadn’t even noticed he was holding, “and invited him.”
Kibum waved hi and smiled at him. Jonghyun’s heart skipped a beat. God, how did he miss this breathtaking smile. But he didn’t forget about the curious audience his two friends made.
“Let’s go to my room.” he told Kibum and pointed at his room. He glanced warningly at the other two, giving them a silent promise that whoever dared to disturb them wouldl suffer according punishment and closed the door loudly.
“I’m calling Minho.” Taemin was already texting his boyfriend. “He can’t miss this.”
“I’ll make the popcorn.” Jinki volunteered happily, a huge grin on his face. His days of hell were over, or at least he hoped so. They all did.
***
nbsp; Are you ok? Why did you leave so suddenly? Did you get sick? Kibum cut straight to the case with a worried face as soon as Jonghyun turned to face him.
“I’m fine.” Jonghyun averted his eyes. He didn’t want to see the other’s concern on his overly expressive face.
nbsp; Really? Then why did you disappear from the exhibition?
nbsp; What can he say now? It’s because his eyes finally saw the harsh reality? Because he finally understood how different Kibum was from him and that he would never be able to understand him completely? And most importantly, because he felt bitter and sad at the thought that theywould probably never be anything more than friends? “Long story.”
nbsp; What a coincidence. I don’t have anything else to do today. And I like long stories. Kibum kept pressing. Knowing him, Jonghyun was sure he had something planned for tonight. He wasn’t the type of person to quietly sit home. Him canceling, means that he won’t be leaving without a decent explanation.
nbsp; “Fine. I’ll tell you. Just gimme a sec.” Jonghyun sat on his chair and put a hand over his eyes, as if not seeing the other would help him think more clearly. He wondered what to say. Should he invent some story or should he just go with the real one? What should he do?
nbsp; He felt a light tap on his knee. Did something bad happen after all? Kibum was worried again.
The plain notebook with the pointy, evenly shaped and simply the best handwriting he had ever seen, made his head go blank. He looked at it for a couple of minutes, not being able to take his eyes from it. And then he was angry. So very angry. Rage started boiling in him. He grabbed and threw the notebook as if it was his worst enemy.
“Why do you have to use it to communicate with me? Why can’t we just talk like normal people? If it wasn’t for your effort to read my lips and write all the time, I wouldn’t be able to understand one thing you’re saying to me. And no matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to fully grasp what it means to be deaf, will I? I’m going to be always a step behind, missing something.” he almost shouted. Jonghyun knew he was talking too fast and grimacing a lot but he couldn’t stop it. He knew it is harder for Kibum to read him like this but he was too angry. Angry at the boy that had to be deaf, at himself for feeling hopeless, even at fate for playing such cruel tricks on him.
The blond boy got up from where he was sitting on his bed and started signing. Jonghyun was taken back at Kibum’s agitated expression and quick movements. Why in the world was the other so frustrated? And why is the other signing at him?
ldquo;I don’t know. I don’t understand. I can’t sign like you. This is exactly what I was talking about!” Jonghyun exploded shouting. It was maddening to him. He is the one that’s supposed to be angry; not the other way around!
“I’m saying that you’re stupid!” Kibum shouted also, the high volume slurring the words a bit, but leaving them understandable enough. “Calm down and let’s talk!”
Jonghyun was staring at the deaf boy. Kibum shouting was the last thing he expected to encounter today. Honestly, he never thought he would hear it in his life actually. It was hard enough to make him say a few words but shouting…wow.
Minutes passed and Jonghyun was still standing open-mouthed, resembling a retarded fish. Kibum was the one that took the initiative again. “Can we talk now?” he sighed loudly.
Jonghyun nodded, still feeling like a stupid gaping goldfish. He watched as the other retrieved the discarded notebook.
ARE YOU AN IDIOT? was written on it now, the capital letters making him cringe. He was still unable to utter a word and just blinked.
Who put this bullshit in your head? Huh?
“No one…” Jonghyun whispered.
So this is all you? How in the world did you come up with it? Kibum smacked dramatically the notebook with the purple pen.
“At the exhibition, you were talking in sign language with someone. And then that old man came and you… you changed.” Jonghyun got finally off his chest the observation that was burdening him for days.
Changed?
“I don’t know how to explain this. You tensed, didn’t talk much. Something like that.” he searched his vocabulary for some more fitting words but found none.
He heard a loud thud and lifted his eyes from the floor. Kibum had smacked his forehead, completely exasperated by his lame explanation.
Dah, of course I will. This is the way I communicate. How I live. Why in the world would you worry about that? If I found it annoying or didn’t want to do it I simply wouldn’t. I would stick to deaf people only and refuse to associate with hearing people. So stop this ridiculous fit. You worried your friends and me both. Kibum all but shoved the notebook to his face.
“But… but…” Jonghyun read again and again the words. Taemin had told him almost the same thing countess times in the past few days but they never struck home like these did. Is it because Kibum is the one saying them?
Ok? the other grew impatient.
“Yes. Ok.” Jonghyun smiled for the first time since that night. It is definitely because Kibum himself said them. Those were the words he needed to hear. Said by Kibum and not someone else.
And you won’t behave like an idiot anymore?
“No, I won’t.” he reassured him. “And thank you. I don’t know what came over me.”
“Nah, it’s ok. This is what friends are for.” Kibum spoke aloud for him yet again and the semi-forgotten tune in the back of his head changed. The rhythm quickened and was filled with color. The earlier careful balance was replaced with the happy and celebrating quirks of a guitar. It was decided then that the second verse would tell a story about a sea shore with stars, countless stars, under which the sun is dancing excited even though it is the middle of the night; and the earth watches it delighted, awaiting the time when its burning rays will be directed only towards it.
Chapter 5 Chapter 7a________________________________
I kept my promise. A fast update for you guys and it is the longest chapter yet in obctacles. More than 2.000 words yay!!!
I really hope this chap clears any confusion you had. If it doesn't.... well, I messed up badly what else can I say? *le sigh