Chapter Text
“We’ve got a kid that needs a place to stay, is there any chance you could take him?” Yoongi’s voice spoke through the phone. Namjoon had accepted the call from Yoongi the moment it came through.
Yoongi was their assigned social worker. Namjoon and Seokjin had applied to be foster parents about a year ago, and were approved months later after confirming they were fit to be foster parents, and their house was safe for kids to be in. After that, they’d not heard very much, which was understandable.
“When will he be here?” Namjoon asked as Seokjin walked into the living room from the kitchen.
“We need him somewhere tonight. I’m sorry it’s such short notice, but we have a file for him. His last foster home told us today they couldn’t look after him anymore, and we thought of you guys straight away,” Yoongi explained.
“What’s going on?” Seokjin whispered. Taehyung put the phone on speaker and held it between them, shifting to sit a little bit closer to Seokjin.
“So, he’ll be here tonight?” Namjoon repeated Yoongi’s words, just so Seokjin would get a chance to hear exactly what he’d said.
“That’s right. You guys said that you’d foster kids with disabilities, and he’s mainly non-verbal autistic. He only says a few words, and we think he only talks when he’s stressed. Which he is right now, so he might talk a little when I drop him off but he won’t say anything later on.” Namjoon could hear a tiny, panicked voice in the background. He couldn’t make out what was being said, but he knew it was one repeat word over and over again.
“Do we need anything sorted for him?” Seokjin asked, resting his chin on Namjoon’s shoulder.
“Nothing really important. Just be aware his senses are really sensitive and he might communicate in ways you find odd, but that’s just how he talks,” Yoongi spoke. “Can you take him? It’ll probably be a long-term placement.”
Namjoon and Seokjin exchanged a look with each other, and Seokjin was already nodding his head. He had an autistic brother, so he was already mildly equipped to have the child stay with them. Namjoon, on the other hand, was incredibly underprepared. He trusted that Seokjin would be able to guide him.
“We’ll take him,” Namjoon told Yoongi, and Seokjin breathed out a sigh of relief.
“That’s amazing, thank you, both of you. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
Once the phone call was over, both Namjoon and Seokjin rushed to one of the spare rooms in their house to make sure it was appropriate for the child. There was nothing they could instantly see that would set off anyone’s sensory problems, that was the last thing they wanted.
They purposefully kept the rooms clear just in case any of the kids they ended up with wanted to decorate however they wanted. When they were certain the room was okay to stay in, they returned downstairs.
Seokjin put a pause on cooking, he could go back to it once the kid had settled in. They waited anxiously on the couch for the doorbell to ring, which took much less time than either of them were anticipating.
They both rushed over to open the front door, almost tripping over each other in the scurry.
The door opened, and an exhausted Yoongi stood holding a file and a black backpack in his right hand, the other holding onto the child’s hand as he cried. Namjoon’s heart ached seeing him, and he wanted to give him a hug and reassure him that he’d be okay. He knew not to do that, though, so he kept his distance.
“Hi, thank you guys so much for this,” Yoongi exhaled, guiding the child forwards and into the house. The child shook his head and cried even harder, harshly flapping his free arm.
“Is there anything we can do for him?” Seokjin asked as Yoongi passed him the file and bag.
“I don’t know. We don’t know that much about him, and his previous foster homes didn’t have any coping mechanisms for him. He just cries and flaps his arms around for now,” Yoongi explained as he let go of the boy’s hand. He didn’t run away like Namjoon was afraid of, he just stood on the spot, doing exactly what Yoongi said he would.
“Thanks for bringing him, Yoongi,” Namjoon said gently and crouched down next to the boy. “What’s his name?”
“Kim Taehyung. From what I know, he’s a good kid. He just has meltdowns and doesn’t speak, so… families tend to struggle.”
Namjoon’s heart broke at the thought of Taehyung being sent from family to family, but he couldn’t let that show. Taehyung had his head reclined back and his shoulders raised as if he was trying to get them to touch.
“Listen, I’ll leave him with you now. If you need anything, just let me know. Anyone you’ll need to contact for him is in the file too. Thanks again for taking him,” Yoongi said with a kind smile. “See you around, Taehyung.”
Taehyung watched Yoongi walk out, his arm flapping calming down a little. Once the door was closed again, he burst into another fresh wave of tears.
Seokjin crouched down too and flicked through the file to see if there was anything at all that could help Taehyung out.
“Hi, Taehyung. I’m Namjoon and this is my husband Seokjin,” Namjoon tried to speak over Taehyung’s cries before Seokjin placed a hand on his arm and shook his head.
Maybe it was overwhelming Taehyung, hearing Namjoon speaking so loudly. Instead, Seokjin passed over Taehyung’s bag. Namjoon rummaged through it as Taehyung sobbed, now stamping his right foot against the polished wooden floor.
Namjoon pulled out a heavy blanket, which Seokjin nodded enthusiastically at and mimed wrapping it around his shoulders. Namjoon did the best he could, making sure he didn’t touch Taehyung directly with his hands as he draped the heavy fabric over the boy’s shoulders.
Once the blankets was firmly wrapped around him, his tiny hands gripping the edge of the material, he ran forwards and crashed into Namjoon, crying into his chest. He was pressed his forehead roughly against Namjoon’s knitted sweater, which he couldn’t exactly imagine was the most comfortable thing ever.
“Help,” Taehyung cried. That must’ve been one of the words he could say, Namjoon was already creating a list in his head of words that Taehyung could say.
“What do you need? How can we help?” He knew Taehyung likely couldn’t elaborate past this, but maybe they’d be able to understand how he communicated. He didn’t say anything or do anything, he just continued to push his face against Namjoon’s sweater as his sobs died down. “What can we do?” He asked Taehyung.
“There’s nothing in here, really. There’s stuff about him, but not how to take care of him.” Seokjin closed the file and turned to Taehyung. “Taehyung, can you look at us?”
The boy nervously looked at Seokjin, his didn’t make eye contact with him. His gaze fell on Seokjin’s shoulder.
“Help,” he repeated, flapping his hands beneath the blanket. “Help. Help.”
“You’re alright here, Taehyung. It’s okay,” Seokjin said gently. “You’re safe here. Don’t worry. We’re gonna help you.”
Taehyung nodded and stepped back, his loud sobs dying down. He poked a tiny hand out of his blanket, bunched together the fingers on his right hand, and tapped his mouth twice. Namjoon gasped instantly, moving to sit cross legged.
“He’s signing. He can sign,” Namjoon whispered to Seokjin as Taehyung repeated the movement, jabbing his fingers against his own mouth. “You’re hungry?” He nodded his head twice, and then jabbed his mouth again. “Don’t do that, Taehyung, okay? You might hurt yourself. Can you tell us what you want?”
Taehyung held his hands out in front of him, the backs of his hands facing Namjoon, then raised them both up before dropping them.
“Toast? We can make toast,” Namjoon nodded as Taehyung clapped his hands. “Can you walk to the dining room, or should one of us carry you?” Taehyung held his left hand out, his index and middle finger on his right hand brushing over his palm. “Come on then, let’s go.”
Seokjin made the toast whilst Namjoon sat in the dining room with Taehyung, reading through his file. Taehyung seemed entertained enough simply sitting there beside him, waiting patiently for his toast.
Namjoon discovered that Taehyung’s parents passed away when he was very young, and he’d been diagnosed with autism when he lived with his first set of foster parents. Since then, he’d been around five different homes because they either didn’t know how to communicate with him, or couldn’t deal with his meltdowns and other support needs.
When Namjoon was younger, one of his siblings had been in an accident that gave them severe hearing loss. He ended up needing sign language to communicate, and Namjoon had learnt alongside him. Namjoon couldn’t sit there and claim he was fluent whatsoever, but he knew enough to get by.
He guessed that someone must’ve taught Taehyung sign language, which was confirmed when he flicked to the back of his file and found a contact for Taehyung’s therapist, who was teaching it to him. He only seemed to use singular words instead of full sentences, but he didn’t let that shake him.
It was noted that Taehyung’s therapist was attempting to get Taehyung speaking verbally too, but hadn’t gained too much progress yet. Since Seokjin didn’t understand sign language, he’d either have to learn it, or Taehyung would have to try and utilise his voice. That wasn’t their biggest concern at that moment, it was making sure Taehyung was safe and fed.
“Do you remember what our names are?” Namjoon asked Taehyung gently. The boy nodded and spelled Namjoon’s name out with his fingers, followed by Seokjin’s. “That’s right, well done. And what’s your name?” Namjoon asked even though he already knew. He figured that getting Taehyung to introduce himself might make him feel more comfortable.
Taehyung only signed the first three letters of his name, stopping after pointing to his index finger on his left hand.
“Your name’s Tae?” Taehyung nodded and tapped his hands against the table. “How old are you?” Taehyung showed the back of his right hand to Namjoon and tucked his thumb in, leaving the rest of his fingers up. “You’re four? Woah, that’s so cool.”
Taehyung pointed at Namjoon, which was likely his way of asking the same question.
“I’m twenty-eight,” Namjoon signed as he spoke. Taehyung watched his hands intently, then did his best to copy what Namjoon was doing. Just as Taehyung had almost gotten the hang of it, Seokjin brought through a plate of toast and set it down in front of Taehyung.
The toast was cut into four triangles and wasn’t coated in a very thick layer of butter, just enough to give it a bit of taste. Taehyung sniffed it before he touched it, and once it passed that test, he picked it up and took a bite. The two men nervously watched him eat, just in case it would send him into an overload.
Taehyung touched his chin with his right hand and then lowered it. The sign was directed to Seokjin. Thankfully, from Seokjin spending so much time around Namjoon’s family, he had picked up some sign language, and the sign for ‘thank you’ was one that Seokjin was certain he knew.
“You’re welcome. If you ever want something to eat, just let us know. I might not know what you’re saying, but I’ll try my best,” Seokjin smiled.
Taehyung hummed to acknowledge he’d been spoken to, then went right back to eating his toast. Once he was done, he looked at Seokjin and strung together an entire sentence in sign.
“More food please,” he signed and then pushed the plate towards Seokjin. Namjoon saw that Seokjin only recognised ‘please’ and stepped in.
“You want something else? Or toast again?” Taehyung repeated his sign for toast and Seokjin returned to the kitchen after whispering a quick thank you to Namjoon. “Hey, Tae. Me and Jin don’t know a lot of sign, so we’ll be learning with you. If we don’t know what you’re saying, do you think you can try and explain to us?”
Taehyung looked confused, so Namjoon tried again. He tried to sign along as he spoke, but even he knew it appeared broken.
“For example, we might not know a sign for a food you want. So maybe you can find it in the kitchen and show it to us so we can learn it?” Taehyung nodded as he watched Namjoon’s hands. He then pointed to the fork on the table and showed Namjoon the correct sign. “That’s right, exactly like that. You’re so clever, Tae.”
Taehyung clapped his hands at the compliment and then pointed again at Namjoon. He wasn’t sure if he was calling him smart too, but he didn’t sign anything else after that.
Seokjin returned with a new plate of toast and Taehyung thanked him again before eating. Once that plate was gone too, Taehyung repeated his ‘thank you’ sign and then yawned.
“Tired,” he signed at the two of them. Seokjin looked confused and Namjoon translated for him.
“Alright, let’s get to bed then. We’ve got a room made up for you, so we just have to move your things in for you. We can do it now, or tomorrow. What do you think?” Giving Taehyung control of the situation would make the change a bit easier for him, Seokjin thought.
Taehyung signed “now” and then shook his head wildly. He once again repeated the sign, lowering both arms near his waist and then shaking his head wildly. He mustn’t have known the sign for tomorrow, Namjoon realised.
“You wanna do it tomorrow?” Namjoon spoke and signed, putting emphasis on ‘tomorrow’ so Taehyung would pick the sign up.
“We can do it tomorrow,” Seokjin agreed. “Tomorrow, we can give you a proper look around the house, we can set up your room too. But, right now, we need to get you to bed.”
“That’s right. One of us can make sure your room’s all nice, and one of us can brush your teeth. Who do you want to help?” Namjoon asked. Taehyung pointed at him. It was probably for the best, Seokjin was far better at making sure rooms were clean and tidy than Namjoon was.
Seokjin had no objections to this, mainly because even if Taehyung wanted to tell him something, he wouldn’t be able to fully understand. He had tried really hard to learn sign language at first so he could speak to Namjoon’s brother, but he ended up telling him that he didn’t have to since he could lip read fairly easily. His brother could still speak too, and even though he signed to everyone else, he used verbal speech with Seokjin.
Seokjin brought Taehyung’s blanket and bag up to his room as Namjoon led Taehyung to the main bathroom of the house. He grabbed one of the toothbrushes they’d bought when they were first approved to be foster parents, along with a tube of children’s toothpaste.
Namjoon didn’t want to bother Taehyung by lifting him to sit on the counter, so he crouched down in front of him once he’d squeezed the toothpaste out onto the brush. He tried to bring get Taehyung to open his mouth and he did, but only to let out a piercing scream.
Seokjin ran through to the bathroom carrying Taehyung’s bag in his hand.
“What happened?” Seokjin asked as he dropped down to the floor too. Taehyung was sobbing, waving his hands in front of his body.
“Hurt!” He shouted.
“You’re alright, Taehyung, it’s okay,” Seokjin reassured, glancing over to Namjoon and seeing the toothbrush and toothpaste still in his hands. Seokjin dug through Taehyung’s bag to see if there was anything they could use to calm him down.
He pulled out a tube of toothpaste, an entirely different brand from the one that Namjoon and Seokjin used themselves. More importantly, it was unscented and didn’t have a particularly strong taste.
“Tae, did the smell hurt?” Namjoon asked as he stood up, washing the toothpaste off the toothbrush so he could pass it to Seokjin.
“Hurt!” Taehyung nodded. “Help!”
Seokjin stayed on the floor with Taehyung as he dashed around to the boy’s new bedroom and grabbed his blanket, bringing it back through to the child to wrap him up in it.
“I’m really sorry, Tae, I didn’t think about it. We’ll keep using this toothpaste instead, alright?” Namjoon apologised as Taehyung’s sobs died down. It seemed the best way to calm him down was the blanket, and he was thankful that Seokjin had picked up on it so quickly. “Do you want Jin to brush your teeth instead?”
Taehyung nodded and stood in front of Seokjin. As he brushed the child’s teeth, Taehyung repeatedly spelled out ‘Jin’ in sign, getting used to signing it. Neither of them had a sign name they could teach Taehyung, and it didn’t seem that he did either.
Taehyung had stopped crying by the time Seokjin was done with his teeth. He wasn’t flapping his hand around either, instead they were gripping onto the blanket for dear life.
“There, all done,” Seokjin said with a smile in the hopes Taehyung would copy. He didn’t, but nodded along. “Ready for bed now? You’ve had a busy day.”
Between them, Namjoon and Seokjin got Taehyung ready for bed. The only pyjamas he had were worn and a little too big for him, but he didn’t complain at all. In fact, it probably helped his sensory sensitivity for them not to be too tight.
“Right, if you need us in the night, we’re in the room directly across from here,” Seokjin explained as he tucked Taehyung into bed. He had his weighted blanket too, just in case he needed it. Taehyung nodded and drew a square in the air with both hands. “What did he say?”
“Room,” Namjoon answered. “Goodnight, Tae. We’ll see you in the morning.” Taehyung nodded and then did the sign for morning as his eyelids fluttered closed.
They sat in silence with him until they were certain he was asleep. They slowly left Taehyung’s room, making sure to not close the door the entire way. They silently changed for bed in their own room instead of returning downstairs, just in case Taehyung woke up and needed them.
Namjoon wrapped his arms around Seokjin once he was in bed, resting his head on his shoulder. Seokjin ran his fingers through Namjoon’s hair, neither of them saying a word.
“I didn’t mean to upset him,” Namjoon whispered, his voice on the verge of breaking. What if Yoongi found out and decided that Namjoon was fit to be a parent? What if he found out and decided to send Taehyung to yet another house? What if Taehyung said he wanted to leave?
“I don’t think he was upset at you, Joonie. I think the mint smell was too strong for him,” Seokjin said gently.
“But kids toothpaste isn’t even that strong.”
“It is for him. But we fixed it, he ended up being okay. Don’t worry,” Seokjin whispered and kissed Namjoon on the forehead. “We’ve had him for about two hours, we’re not gonna be experts after two hours.”
“I wish we were,” he frowned, turning torwards Seokjin even more to hide his face. “I’m gonna learn to sign fluently for him.”
“Even if he’s not here permanently?” Taehyung’s file had said that Taehyung did have a few distant relatives still living, one grandparent and an aunt, but neither of them had wanted to take him once his parents passed away. There was still a chance that either one of them could show up and ask for custody.
“Yeah. I think my brother would appreciate it anyway, and we might have a kid who comes in and does speak it fluently. At least one of us should know it,” Namjoon explained.
“I’ll learn it too. I know the file said he’s learning how to speak too, and if he’s learning to speak like us, we should learn to speak like him. I’ll see if I can go to his appointments with him,” Seokjin mumbled.
“Good idea. I can come as well,” Namjoon offered. His eyes were fixed on the door now, he expected Taehyung to show up at any moment to demand to speak to them.
“You’ve got work, love.”
“So do you,” Namjoon reminded.
“I work from home. You work in a studio. I’m not saying you can’t come, I’m just saying that it might be a challenge to get that time off work,” Seokjin whispered. “We’ll work everything out, there’s no need to worry.”
“That’s exactly what I think. We need to take him to see a doctor too and everything. Should I take a week off work? Just so you don’t have to do all the heavy lifting at once?”
“You can, but don’t worry if they won’t give you the time off. We’ve got it. So, this is his sign for ‘toast’?” Seokjin asked, copying the action that Taehyung had done an hour or so before.
“Mhm. That’s right. I’m sure he can sign other foods too.”
“Hopefully. I only ask because toast could be his safe food. Since he asked for it,” Seokjin explained. “I just hope nothing I do upsets him. What if I cook for him a bit earlier and we can eat once he goes to bed? Or maybe there’s something we can buy that won’t make things smell so strongly? Or what if he wants to try more foods?” He rambled, absentmindedly repeating the sign for ‘toast’ as he spoke.
“Jin, he’ll let us know,” Namjoon smiled, reclining his head to press a kiss against his husband’s cheek. “We’ve got this. We’ve got nothing to worry about.”
—
Namjoon never woke Seokjin up in the mornings. Seokjin valued his sleep, and Namjoon was well aware of this. He normally ended up waking Seokjin anyway, but never intentionally. Before he left for work every morning, Namjoon would return to their bedroom, give Seokjin a kiss on the forehead or cheek - whichever was easier to reach - and whisper that he loved him and would be back soon.
The kiss more often than not woke Seokjin up, but he could never bring himself to be mad about it. Namjoon didn’t know it woke him up either, mainly because Seokjin didn’t want him to stop doing it. It was a pleasant way to wake up.
This morning was no different. Seokjin woke up and grabbed his glasses along with his phone. The first thing he checked for was emails, to see if he had any work offers. He worked as an freelance photo and video editor, and was quite a popular choice amongst photographers. He had a few offers he had to respond to before midday, since that was the time he always swore he’d have all his emails replied to by.
There were only two new emails in his inbox, thankfully. He wanted more time that day to look after Taehyung and organise all his appointments. Once he’d properly woken up, he forced himself to get out of bed.
His morning routine was never really set in stone, he only had two things he absolutely had to do. The first was to remember to take his testosterone shot, and the second was to make himself something to eat.
When Seokjin had first gone on testosterone, there were times he forgot to take it solely because it was so new to him it slipped his mind. After that, Namjoon put up a calendar in the bathroom that Seokjin had to tick off twice a day to show he’d taken it.
Normally, once he’d done that and thrown the needle away in his sharps disposal bin, he’d go and make his breakfast. Now that Taehyung was there, he was the priority.
Seokjin poked his head into Taehyung’s bedroom once he’d sorted himself out. Taehyung was sat upright in bed, his eyes darting around the room.
“Hey, Taehyung, have you been awake long?” Seokjin asked as he entered the room.
Taehyung looked at the clock on his nightstand then back at Seokjin. He held out his right hand and pointed to the side with his index finger. Seokjin had familiarised himself with numbers and letters, so he knew that Taehyung had only been awake since seven. About ten minutes.
“Are you hungry?” Taehyung nodded as he slipped out of bed, grabbing his weighted blanket to drag along the ground with him. “What would you like?”
Taehyung made a claw shape with his hand and moved it up and down. Seokjin knew there was a language barrier between them, but he hadn’t expected to struggle so much already.
“Um… do you think you could spell it out? I don’t know that sign yet,” Seokjin requested. Taehyung didn’t seem bothered and spelled the word out for him. “Apples?”
“Yes,” Taehyung spoke quietly. His voice took Seokjin off guard. He hadn’t expected him to speak at all, especially since Yoongi said he only spoke when he was stressed.
“Alright. You can have something bigger if you want to,” Seokjin said as he led Taehyung downstairs. Once they were in the kitchen, Taehyung tapped Seokjin’s leg nervously. “What’s up?”
Taehyung put together a string of very awkward signs, even he looked unsure of himself as he moved his hands in front of him. Seokjin crouched down to get a better look. Taehyung repeated his signs again, and Seokjin didn’t recognise a single one of them. He remembered one of the signs Taehyung used the day before, the one where he bunched his fingers up and tapped his mouth.
Taehyung sighed dramatically and decided to demonstrate each movement carefully. First he tapped his fingers together and made an upwards arrow with his hands.
“House?” Taehyung nodded and ran through every other sign until Seokjin understood the gist of what he was saying.
Taehyung’s signing wasn’t advanced. Seokjin knew sign language came with a different sentence structure than spoken word and Taehyung definitely wasn’t using it. He really needed Namjoon there to help him decipher what Taehyung was saying.
“They didn’t give you big meals at your old house?” Taehyung nodded and then signed for an apple again. “We don’t work like that here. You can have whatever you like for breakfast. Within reason.”
Taehyung seemed curious, so Seokjin opened one of the cupboards to let Taehyung look inside. There were a few different boxes of cereal, and Taehyung would let Taehyung choose any that he wanted. He nervously pointed to the box of Cheerios, and then signed “please”.
“Of course. Do you wanna wait here with me or the dining room again? Like when I made toast?” Seokjin did the sign for toast, and Taehyung seemed delighted that Seokjin could remember one of his signs. He clapped his hands and giggled, bouncing up and down.
Seokjin loved to see Taehyung happy, and it gave him another motivation to learn to sign alongside him. If Taehyung would have this response every time he learned a new word or sentence, he’d do it.
Taehyung stayed beside Seokjin as he made the cereal, craning his neck back as he flapped his hands happily. Just then, Taehyung made a loud “ha!” sound that almost had Seokjin dropping the milk carton.
Taehyung had a wide grin on his face when Seokjin looked down at him. He repeated the noise again, only a little quieter this time. Seokjin realised it was probably a vocal stim to go paired along with his hand flapping.
“Happy,” Taehyung spelled out, since he’d seemed to catch on that Seokjin didn’t know what he was saying otherwise.
“You’re really smart, Taehyung. Not many kids can spell as well as you can,” Seokjin commented with a smile, picking his cereal bowl up to bring into the dining room. Taehyung was still making little “ha” sounds the entire time he followed Seokjin and climbed up into his own chair.
As Taehyung ate his cereal, he signed to Seokjin. It was mostly incoherent to him, but he nodded along anyway. The one thing that he did understand was that Taehyung wanted to be called ‘Tae’. He’d pointed to himself then spelled out the tiny nickname. In return, Seokjin pointed to himself and spelled out ‘Jin’.
“Okay, Tae,” Seokjin started once Taehyung had finished his cereal. “I’ve got to go and do some work, then I’ll be right out and we can spend the day together.”
Taehyung nodded and then followed Seokjin up to his office, peering up at his computer as he worked. He was still dragging his blanket behind him, shaking it around happily. It was such a change in mood from the previous night.
He tapped Seokjin on the leg again and spelled out “carry”. Seokjin lifted him to sit on his lap, and the boy watched the screen intently. All Seokjin was doing was responding to those two emails, letting them know he might take a little longer to give them what they wanted since he had a new kid. He emailed his other clients and informed them too, just in case they wanted to take their business to someone else. Seokjin didn’t mind, he understood that people had deadlines that he couldn’t meet.
“Play,” Taehyung whispered, his tiny voice surprising Seokjin again. From what Seokjin had read in the file and been told by Yoongi, Taehyung was entirely non-verbal other than when he was stressed.
From Seokjin’s own experience with his brother, he knew that he was non-verbal when he was stressed and spoke the rest of the time. It would make sense if people assumed Taehyung was non-verbal. He’d read that Taehyung hadn’t experienced the best treatment in his previous homes and ended up being stressed more often than not.
If that led to him being non-verbal there, they’d naturally assume he didn’t speak. If Seokjin’s suspicions were right, he couldn’t make a big deal out of Taehyung speaking, he didn’t know yet what would trigger a spell of silence. If Taehyung wanted to talk, Seokjin would encourage it. He’d go to his classes with him, he’d learn sign language with him regardless of what happened. He wasn’t going to push him in any specific direction.
—
“How was today?” Namjoon asked from the bed. Seokjin stood in their en-suite bathroom, giving himself his second testosterone shot of the day.
Seokjin had tried to explain how the day went to Namjoon, but Taehyung had swiftly interjected with his incoherent mix of signing and tiny spoken words, mixed with the occasional giggle. Seokjin accepted defeat and let Taehyung ramble.
Namjoon had also been caught off guard by Taehyung’s behaviour. He was so different to the previous night, full of energy and practically bouncing off the walls. So, they didn’t get the chance to have a proper conversation until the evening.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Seokjin sighed, leaning against the countertop in the bathroom once he’d thrown his needle out. “I’m surprised he spoke so much.”
“Me too. Maybe he was too scared to speak before,” Namjoon suggested.
“That’s what I thought. But I called his therapist today and she said that he hardly speaks there either and they just focus on signing.”
“Maybe he feels stressed there too. If he was there alone with no one else to sit with, it could be scary for him.” Whatever the reasoning behind Taehyung’s occasional speech was, they certainly weren’t qualified enough to know the science or psychology behind it.
“Yeah. I don’t want him to feel like he has to speak. I want him to communicate the way he feels most comfortable. He also told me they didn’t give him big meals at his last house.” The thought of Taehyung being given the smallest things to eat broke his heart. He was a growing kid, he had to eat.
“What?” Namjoon’s expressions seemed absolutely broken as well.
“He asked for an apple for breakfast and I told him he could have something bigger. So he told me… yeah. I don’t know.” Seokjin crossed his arms over his chest. “I want him to be okay.”
“I do as well, that’s why we’re looking after him. We just have to support him.”
Seokjin sighed and nodded, he knew there was only so much they were able to do. Plus, Taehyung had only been with them for a single day. He couldn’t do everything in such a short amount of time. It was the start of the weekend in the morning, Namjoon wasn’t working. They could always spend some time together figuring out what Taehyung couldn’t do if he wasn’t too stressed.
Seokjin flipped the light in the bathroom off, and just as he slipped into his side of the bed, Namjoon spoke.
“You forgot to cross off the calendar.”
Seokjin groaned out a complaint, throwing his head back against the pillow dramatically.
“I can’t be bothered to cross it off. I’ll remember,” Seokjin promised and turned on his side to face Namjoon.
“You always say that. Then you always call me at work in a panic because you can’t remember if you took it or not. Go cross it off, babe,” Namjoon smiled and pecked Seokjin’s lips.
Seokjin was right. Every morning when Seokjin trudged into their bathroom and saw that he hadn’t crossed off the box for a second time, he felt panic rising in his chest. He was lucky that Namjoon could always remember if he had or hadn’t taken his shot. It was rare that Seokjin did actually forget to take it.
He rolled out of bed to cross the date off completely. Once he was back in bed, he wrapped himself around Namjoon. Discussing hormones was always a touchy subject for Seokjin, and Namjoon never pushed him to say anything. It had almost been ten years since he started taking them, and Namjoon never pushed him.
Seokjin realised he had to carry that attitude over to Taehyung. If he didn’t want to talk, then Seokjin couldn’t push. It was the same thing. Sort of.
“Stop worrying,” Namjoon whispered, rubbing his husband’s back.
“I’ll do my best.”