(ship requested by taetzukookkim)

(Concept: Taehyung and Tzuyu have been friends since highschool. Tzuyu has a medical condition that makes her unable to speak, but she can still hear)

(Taehyung POV)

"Tzuyu-ah! Over here!" I call.

Tzuyu turns around to spot me. She smiles and we walk to each other, meeting in the middle.

"I thought you were gonna be here fifteen minutes ago." I say.

"Sorry." She uses her hands to sign.

"It's alright, now come on, let's go!"

I wanted to go to the arcade with Tzuyu today. I've been feeling kind of down lately and I needed something to cheer me up.

Tzuyu's my best friend. I've known her since highschool. She immediately stood out to me, and not because she couldn't speak. She caught my attention because I found the things she did interesting.

I wanted to be friends with her so we started talking with her writing her thoughts down on a piece of lined paper. Eventually, I learned sign language to make it easier for her to communicate with me.

I had a soft spot for Tzuyu. Maybe because I had to stand up for her so many times. People are brutal. She was a target for bullies at our school. I lost it one day when they hurt her. They pushed her to the ground and hurt her and she couldn't even call for help. I was furious. I got into a fight with the guy that started it, beat him up, and got suspended for a week, but I didn't care. That guy deserved it.

Tzuyu told me I was one of the only people to treat her like that. A lot of people just avoided her or did things worse.

Tzuyu was fun to be around. People would know if they just gave her a chance.

At the arcade, we had fun playing games against each other and trying to win all the claw games.

She laughed at me when I got a little too confident during a racing game and she beat me at the end.

"Haha. Very funny." I say, sarcastically.

When Tzuyu laughs, she doesn't make any noise. She can still make noises like sighs or anything like breathing, she just can't make nosies that use vocal chords.

I've imagined what her voice sounds like; I hear a voice in my head when she talks to me in sign language, but there's no way I could describe it.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm being too loud when I'm with her, but I'm really just using my normal voice. I've gotten weird looks from people who thought I was talking to myself, but to be fair, Tzuyu gets weird looks all the time.

People don't understand.

I've heard it too many times. I'm sure she has too.

'Why don't you just talk?'

Because she can't.

They think she just doesn't want to speak, but that's not the case.

She doesn't need me to communicate, unlike what most people think. She's completely independent, but I make things easier sometimes. I translate her sign language when people can't understand so she doesn't have to pull out her phone to type something out.

We went out for dinner together after the arcade. I noticed she was acting a bit off. We were at her favorite restaurant and she was eating her food very slowly.

"Tzuyu, are you okay?" I ask.

She looks up at me, but she doesn't give me an answer. Not even a shrug.

"Is something on your mind?"

She nods.

"You can tell me if you want. I'm here for you."

"I don't know how to say it." She signs slowly.

"Just...tell me what you're feeling." I say.

She takes a deep breath and starts signing.

"You're a good friend to me. You always take care of me. I'm grateful to have someone like you."

She pauses. I look back up at her face. She seemed reluctant to go on.

"I'm glad I have a friend like you, too." I say, encouraging her to go on.

"I've thought about this for a long time. I feel strange when I'm with you. I think I know why now."

She stops again, watching my reaction.

"Why do you feel strange?"

She takes another breath.

"Because I love you."

She signed it so quickly, I barely saw it. Immediately after, she covers her face with her hands.

"Don't be embarrassed, it's okay!" I say.

She shakes her head.

"Tzuyu." I take her hands away from her face.

She looked nervous.

"I love you too." I laugh, "Why do you think I love spending time with you?"

She looks down at the table.

"I thought it was just pity."

I scoff, "What? Pity? When we've been best friends for this long? No way." I assure her.

She starts to cry.

"Ah, don't cry! I love you! That's a good thing!" I wipe the tear streaks from her cheeks.

She starts to laugh a little; I realized she wasn't crying because she was sad. She was crying because she was happy.

"Thank you." She looks me right in the eyes as she signs.

"Thank you, Tzuyu." I say, "Thank you for telling me."

I knew it wasn't easy for her to tell me how she felt.

She nods and hugs me across the table.

Tzuyu has taught me so many things over the years. We made a good team.

Don't tell her, but I've always kind of hoped this day would come.