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“Sweetie, please wake up, you have school today.”
Donghyuck was roused into consciousness by his papa’s soft voice. He felt his soft fingers run through his hair and found himself chasing the warmth.
“I know you’re awake, sweetie. I know you aren’t sick, please get up.” The boy groaned softly into his pillow, not wanting to start his day just yet. The young parent brushed back his son’s chestnut hair and leaned down to whisper in his ear, “You know, your dad has pancakes on the stove.”
Donghyuck cracked open his eyes and raised his eyebrows to ask the important question.
His papa let out a soft chuckle and whispered back his response, “Of course they are chocolate chip.”
Donghyuck smiled and kicked his blankets off. After all, his dad’s pancakes were the best.
The father and son duo playfully raced down the stairs to the kitchen. Donghyuck let out a quiet giggle when he catapulted himself into the broad back of his dad, wrapping his arms around his waist.
“Whoa there, teddy!” The taller man pulled back from the stove to prevent his son from getting burned on the open flame and ruffled his bedhead. “How about you two take a seat and I’ll get your pancakes.” Donghyuck watched in mock disgust as his parents shared a sickeningly sweet kiss across the kitchen island. The two separated and rolled their eyes at their son.
It only took a few more moments for the stack of pancakes to be placed in front of a beaming Donghyuck. He always loved eating a stack of his dad’s signature chocolate chips pancakes. It held a lot of meaning to him. All of them actually.
If you couldn’t tell, Donghyuck was adopted. His parents, his two dads, picked him up from his foster home when he was only a child. He remembered seeing them for the first time. He was secluded in the home, none of the other kids there ever attempted to talk to him as they didn’t know how. The foster parents had no idea either, that made it hard for him to really connect to people. For a long time, Donghyuck believed himself to be defective, even when the Jungs took him in.
He wasn’t stupud, contrary to popular belief. He knew that no one would adopt him, that he would never have a family. In fact, the Jungs came to his foster home looking to adopt one of the younger girls there. They wanted to start off their fresh marriage with a baby they could raise themselves.
***
Six year old Donghyuck knew his job when there were expecting parents visiting; stay in his room and pretend he doesn’t exist. That was the way things have always been for as long as he remembered. So when he heard the doors downstairs slam shut and that the voices were now gone, he made his way down the stairs to get his favorite juice box from the kitchen; grape.
He quietly stepped around the living room and into the kitchen. The door creaked open and he reached up on his toes to get his grape juice from the higher shelf. After getting his juice he stood in the kitchen with his tongue out as he concentrated on plunging his straw through the foil to drink his juice. It was after his third attempt, when the back door connected to the kitchen opened.
The six year old froze with his straw in his hand and stared at the man in front of him. The man was something out of an animation. He was pretty and had soft brown hair that fell over his sharp eyes. Right now though, those eyes stared wide eyed at the small boy he found in the kitchen.
Donghyuck slowly backed away from the man as he approached, “Hey little guy…” The man knelt down in front of him and gave him a cautious smile, “Whacha got there?” Donghyuck looked down at his juice box and showed it to him, “Ah… do you need help with that?” The man gently took the box from the child’s hand and then the straw. The man effortlessly stabbed the straw through the top and handed it back to Donghyuck.
He beamed and took his grape juice from the stranger and directed his smile to the man in thanks. Child Donghyuck began to make his way to the stairs to go back up to his room when the man stopped him, “Hey.. What’s your name, little guy?”
Donghyuck looked at him confused, wondering why he was asking, however before he was able to direct the man to the house directory, his house mother came in from the same door the man entered from.
“Mr. Jung, you were taking so long I thought that you may have gotten lost, but it seems you met one of our other children…” Donghyuck could tell that the house mother was displeased at the fact that he was out of his bedroom and socializing with a potential parent. “He was just leaving though, aren’t you Donghyuck?”
The fake smile that the house mother was giving him was enough to push him to his room. With one last smile to the man- Mr. Jung?- Donghyuck left with his juice box up the stairs and back to the safety of his room.
Little did he know that down stairs the handsome young man was asking his house mother about the mysterious boy he found in the kitchen.
---
Donghyuck met the man again a few weeks later. He wasn’t meant to be visiting the house that time so he was out in the living room watching cartoons with some of the other kids watching their favorite cartoons- it’s not like he could ask them to watch something else- when the man entered the room and motioned to Donghyuck to follow him.
He pointed a finger at himself to confirm that the man indeed wanted to talk to him, and when he got the confirmation he quietly got up from his spot on the floor and bounded over to him.
“Hi again. Donghyuck was it?” The boy in question nodded, still confused on why he was here, “I’m sorry I took you from the others, I just wanted to talk to you today. Our conversation a while ago was cut a bit short.” The man chuckled, showing Donghyuck a beautiful smile, “My name is Taeyong, and yours is Donghyuck.” The child nodded again in understanding, “Tell me about yourself.”
Donghyuck stood there. Listening to Taeyong’s whispered voice as he asked him questions. It dawned on him at his fifth question on what kind of foods he liked that this man- Taeyong- was not supposed to be here. And he definitely wasn’t supposed to be talking to Donghyuck. Donghyuck backed away, an action that caused Taeyong to halt his questions and immediately apologize, “I’m sorry, Donghyuck. you must be shy, I’m sorry I-”
“Mr. Jung what are you doing here?” Donghyuck snapped his head to look behind Taeyong and meet the eyes of his house mother, “You weren’t scheduled to see Yul today.”
For the first time since he had met him, Donghyuck saw Taeyong’s face morph into annoyance, “Maybe if you told me the information I wanted to know weeks ago, I wouldn’t be here.”
The house mother scoffed in disbelief, “Just trust me, Mr. Jung, Donghyuck isn’t the best option for you and your husband, especially if this will be your first child-”
“That is not your choice to make for us, Miss Ha” Taeyong stood up from his crouched position on the floor and turned to the house mother, “We have asked about another child and you have been refusing to give us the information we want. We will come by next week to have a formal meeting with Donghyuck and you better have his information ready or we will have to file a formal complaint.”
Taeyong left the house leaving both Donghyuck and his house mother in shock They want to meet me?
---
Sure enough, next week came and Donghyuck was pulled from his room by a reluctant Miss Ha to be brought down to the playroom where expecting parents meet the kids they want to adopt. Donghyuck had only ever been in the playroom during hours where visitors weren’t coming. This time however, when he walked into the playroom, he saw Taeyong and another man he hasn’t seen yet, sitting on the floor with their hands interlocked. The man next to Taeyong smiled at Donghyuck, giving him a clear view of his dimples. He noticed that the stranger was also young, not that that was uncommon as it was usually young couples trying to adopt that were usually in the foster house.
Donghyuck was ushered in by his house mother and told to sit down in front of the couple, “Donghyuck this is Mr and Mr Jung. They have been looking to adopt through us for a while now and they wanted to meet you.” Donghyuck nodded and began to play with his toys that were brought out for him, “They are Taeyong and Jaehyun and they will like to speak with you.” Miss Ha sounded as if she was struggling to say the words, like this whole issue was a dirty secret or something, he wasn’t sure, but all he knew was that she hadn’t mentioned anything to these wannabe parents and that that was the only reason he was here with them.
Suddenly feeling upset about the situation, Donghyuck stood up and went to his house mother. He looked at her expectantly, she needed to tell them. He wasn’t about to sit here and be given the hope that he would be adopted when the major blow hasn’t even been delivered yet.
The two stared at each other while the couple watched visibly confused. The child and house mother continued their stare for several moments before Miss Ha sighed in defeat, “Fine!”
The couple looked at each other then back at the other two. Miss Ha sat down on the floor next to the couple and dropped the very thin, basically empty manilla folder in front of the two, “This is Donghyuck’s file. There’s not much, mostly because there is not a lot of information on him”
Taeyong looked at Donghyuck with his eyes furrowed before taking the folder in his hand. As the pair looked at the only two papers in the folder Miss Ha continued, “He was dropped off in front of a fire station when he was 8 months old. He never cried and he never babbled so it wasn’t too much of a shock when his physical came back that he was mute due to a pregnancy defect. Judging from the note that was left on him, his parents didn’t want to deal with it so they left him there.” By that time Donghyuck had continued to play with toys while listening to his house mother explain his past, “He’s been here ever since. He’s six years old, born on June sixth, and his name is Donghyuck. That was all that was in the letter.”
It was silent for a while. The young couple seemed to be in shock. It took several minutes before Jaehyun cleared his throat and finally spoke, “So, how does he communicate?”
Miss Ha shook her head, “He doesn’t really. If he needs something he will po int it out. We feed all the kids at the same time every day and all the snacks are accessible in the kitchen. He usually just stays in his room and plays in here or watches tv with the other kids.”
Taeyong and Jaehyun shared a look with each other and Donghyuck. Donghyuck shrugged at them in response. Honestly, it wasn’t so bad. He was used to being by himself and he could do a lot of things by himself so it wasn’t an issue. Although, judging from the couple, it was a pretty big deal, “What about school? You said he’s six and there isn’t a school record in here.”
Miss Ha squirmed in her seat, not willing to announce to the couple that she didn’t want to deal with the accessibility of getting him into school, “Well… it is quite a-a hassle to get him accepted”
Donghyuck had heard about school before. He knows that that’s where the other kids go during the week when they leave. He hasn’t had the luxury of going, he barely even gets to leave the house. It’s not like he has anything to do outside anyway.
The child was in his own head, completely missing the couple giving his house mother glares and demanding that she get the forms for the couple to sign to take him home.
From that day forward Donghyuck’s life had completely changed.
Next thing he knows, he is being moved out of the only room he has ever known, into a spacious room with a big bed and colorful walls. That night he got the best sleep he had ever had in his life. When he wakes up, it's to the smell of something delicious. The boy padded down the stairs trying to keep silent as he rounded the corner to the kitchen. His two new parents are bumbling around the kitchen, flipping pancakes and setting the table.
Donghyuck brought it hand up and knocked on the threshold of the door. The two adults halted their activities and looked at the boy in the doorway. Taeyong was the first to speak, “Donghyuck, good morning! We were just making some breakfast. Jaehyun makes some mean pancakes if I do say so myself.” He giggled at his embarrassed husband while Donghyuck entered the kitchen to see what kind of pancakes he was making.
“Chocolate Chip. They are my personal favorite and I thought it would be the best first meal with us.” Jaehyun suddenly stopped his whisking and turned to fully face Donghyuck, “Unless you don’t like pancakes or chocolate? Do you like those ? I know you can’t actually say you like them but-” He was cut off but a soft, almost silent, laugh from the small boy in front of him. Donghyuck decided to save his new dad from his worries and point at the pancake batter and make a heart shape with his hands, “Heart. So you like them?” Donghyuck smiled and nodded, “Okay..” Jaehyun shared his smile and continued his cooking, “They will be done in a few minutes.”
That morning was by far the best meal he had ever had. The company only made it better.
The next week he is brought to a big building that Jaehyun, or Dad as he wants him to call him, told him was going to be his new school. He was nervous and terribly shy. This was going to be the first time he was ever going to be around other children that weren’t his housemates and knew of his situation. Not to mention that he was going to be immediately put into special classes and he was already a year behind the other students of his age. Luckily Jaehyun-Dad-was there to comfort the small boy as he was introduced to his class and his teacher. It was different, but Donghyuck liked it. He found that he loved learning. He loved it so much that he overheard his teacher telling his dads that there was a big possibility that he would be able to move up to his proper grade next year if he kept it up.
It was 5 months into his new life as Donghyuck Jung when his parents had taken him to a class. He was confused on why his dads were excited to go to this class and wondered what it meant that they were waiting for months to attend it. He found out that night that it was a Sign Language class.
He was staring wide eyed at the teacher the entire class. Someone was telling him that he could talk to people and communicate and learn with just his hands ! He didn’t need his voice to live like other people. For the first time in a while, Donghyuck was excited .
Donghyuck Jung discovered a whole new life after that night. A life where he could hold conversations and make jokes. One where he could ask for things and have people understand him. A life where he could tell people what foods and cartoons he liked and they would let him watch them and cook his favorites for him.
For the first time in his life, Donghyuck felt completely and utterly happy .