-not proofread bc it is too cringe for that <3-

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Mrs. Park came back about 5 minutes before the bell rang and peeked her head through her door, smiling once she saw Jisung sitting in his usual spot and Minho with a small grin on his face.

"Hi," She greeted casually as she walked back into the classroom.

"Hello," Jisung greeted back, jokingly glaring at her.

"So, are you still transferring out of my class?"

"...No," Jisung replied and she laughed in response as the bell rang.

"Thank you," Minho signed quickly as Jisung grabbed his hand and lead him out of the classroom to walk him to his class as he used to.

"See you after school Min," Jisung said once they got to Minho's house as he walked away with a smile on his face.

~~~~~~~~

"You seem...happier?" Hyunjin commented, noticing the younger's sudden change in attitude since he was somewhat aware that something had happened with Minho. Not that Jisung himself had actually told him about it but he had a strong guess. "Where did you go durring lunch?"

"I got locked in my sign language class with Minho."

"You what?!" Hyunjin yelled, earning a few glares from other students around them.

"Mrs. Park locked us in her room together durring lunch so we would talk things out," Jisung explained.

"Work what out? What even happened? You missed a week and a half of school and your mom said you slept nearly the entire time."

"I was just feeling really sick."

"Then you didn't sit with Minho the day you came back. Were we right about him being mean? Did he do something to you? Maybe you sh-"

"Hyunjin," Jisung said, holding Hyunjin's shoulders to get him to look at him. "He was just dealing with some personal stuff and we had a misunderstanding. Everything is okay now, alright?" He asked his overly concerned friend.

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm, we're going on a date after school."

"And you aren't begging us to help you again?"

"There's not really much you could do considering the fact that it is right after school idiot."

"What are you doing?"

"Going out to eat,"  Jisung explained quietly.

"But you hate eating in public places. Whenever we all go out somewhere you just drink water and order something to go."

"We went somewhere to eat last time we went on a date so I think I'll be okay."

"You did?" Hyunjin questioned, a smile spreading across his face.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"I'm proud of you, stupid," Hyunjin responded as he dramatically wrapped his arms around Jisung for a hug while the younger laughed a bit at his enthusiasm. "You should really introduce us to him soon though."

"I'll ask him about it today."

~~~~~~~~

Another thing Minho had learned and began to practice in his first few sessions of therapy is that he had a habit of holding back his laughs. Similar to how he did with his smiles which he had also previously been unaware of.

He was told that along with humming responses, allowing himself to laugh is another thing that could help get his vocal cords used to talking again.

However, Jisung was still completely unaware of the fact that Minho was even going to therapy in order to eventually speak again.

This is why he was shocked when he heard a small giggle after blurting out something stupid like he always does.

He looked up at Minho with wide eyes though he was starting to convince himself that it wasn't actually Minho who he heard. They were in a small cafe and there were a couple of other people around them so he assumed he just overheard someone else.

He and Minho both ordered food, Minho occasionally offering Jisung bites of his food every so often.

"Minho, do you wanna sleepover at my house again?" He asked as Minho smiled thinking about how he wouldn't have to go back to his silent apartment which, although he was happy to have one at all, he truly hated it.

"Sure, is your mom okay with it?"

"Mhm, I already texted her earlier," Jisung explained. They quickly paid for their food and got up to leave.

Jisung swung their arms back and forth as they walked though he couldn't stop glancing at the small ring on Minho's pinky. He recently noticed the name engraved on it which made him even more curious about the accessorie which Minho never removed.

Minho noticed his stares which is why he decided to address it once they finally got to Jisung's house and sat down next to each other on his bed.

"It was my sister's ring." Minho signed and Jisung looked up at him, a bit embarrassed about how obvious he had made himself.

"Her name was Soomin?" Jisung asked hesitantly, not wanting to push too much since he was now aware that it was a sensitive topic.

"Yeah...I promise I'll tell you everything eventually...Just maybe not right now." Minho signed since he truly was planning on telling Jisung why he went mute. He just wasn't entirely sure how to yet. He knew he wasn't going to be able to sign it without having several breakdowns and Jisung being slightly confused about some signs, he definitely wasn't going to be able to verbally tell him anytime extremely soon, and he didn't want Mrs. Park to explain it to him especially since not even she knew the full story of what had happened.

"Only if you're comfortable enough telling me," the younger reassured.

"I am. I just have to figure out how," Minho explained before laying onto Jisung's bed, the younger replicating him and smiling softly as Minho moved his arm around his waist loosely.

They both stayed there in silence for a while. At some point, Minho had closed his eyes as Jisung continued running his fingers through his hair. Both of them were simply enjoying the other's company since they both missed it a lot.

"Hey, Minho?" Jisung asked, wondering if he was still awake.

"Hmm?" Minho hummed in response, not thinking much about it since he had been doing it a lot in therapy.

When Jisung didn't say anything in response, Minho opened his eyes and saw Jisung looking at him with a small smile on his face.

He previously hadn't noticed that he had made any progress at all due to the fact that he was starting to think that he had truly ruined things between him and Jisung but suddenly it clicked in his mind. Talking; something he had been terrified of doing for so long because he had convinced himself that no one listened anyway...it now didn't seem so scary.

Well, at least not when he thought about talking to Jisung specifically because he knew the younger would listen. No matter how quiet or soft his voice came out, or how stupid or serious some of the things he might say may be...he knew Jisung would listen no matter what.

Jisung shook his head a bit as he recollected his thoughts. "I was wondering if maybe you would want to umm...meet my friends? I could help with the communication issues and they've been wanting to meet you for a while. You don't have to if you're not comfortable enough to yet though."

"I would love to meet them." Minho signed which caused Jisung to let out a small laugh of relief.

"Do you want to go wit with them tomorrow durring lunch?" He questioned, earning a small nod in response.

They eventually ended up watching a movie since they had caught each other staring a couple of times until Jisung finally got embarrassed enough about it to turn something on the tv.

Jisung had fallen asleep first and once Minho noticed, he turned the tv off and moved even closer to Jisung, softly caressing the side of his face as he admired his features lit by the dim moonlight shining through his bedroom window.

"I love you," Minho said quietly though he was aware of the fact that Jisung couldn't hear him.

It still felt nice to say it out loud, even if it was just for himself to hear...for now.

♪