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Getting hit by lightning had been more annoying than Minho had thought. There was the burns, the scars and the constant itching of his skin, but that wasn’t all. Ever since the excruciating ringing in his ears had subsided, Minho had been struggling to hear things.
It wasn’t like he was completely deaf, he knew when Thomas was yelling at him for stealing his sandwich or when Vince was scolding him for going out in the rain without a coat, but it all sounded underwater.
Wicked had picked up on this first, but didn’t help. Why would they? It didn’t effect the torture and simulations. Someone else who noticed and did care however was Gally.
The guy he had supposedly killed but was cool with him, that Gally. “..then he…Minho are you listening?” Gally sighed. Minho continued sharpening a stick he had picked up without any reaction.
“Minho?” Gally repeated, this time feeling concerned. Minho didn’t respond yet again so Gally kicked him.
“Hey! What was that for?” Minho yelped. Gally stared at him blankly. Minho glared at him “I said what was that for-“
“Is your hearing okay? You’re shouting.” Gally quickly hissed and tried to hush Minho.
“I’m…not shouting..?” Minho stared back at him.
“You are. Is your hearing okay?” Gally said again.
Minho scratched the back of his neck nervously, “Yeah?” He phrased it like a question which made Gally groan internally.
Minho had an annoying habit of struggling with something but never raising an alarm about it. “Don’t lie shuckface. What’s up?” Gally huffed and crossed his arms, turning his body fully towards Minho.
Minho looked away, scraping away with his knife again, but he looked thoughtful. “I..uhm, you know I got hit by lightning right.” Minho murmured.
A sour taste filled Gally’s mouth but he nodded, he had heard the story and seen the array of scars that littered Minho’s skin like vines.
“Well after that, I kinda…klunk.” Minho bit his lip.
“Well?” Gally pressed.
“My hearing started going. I didn’t really notice at first, I mean - I was fighting for my life so it wasn’t top priority, but I realised it when I was with Wicked. They said-“
“Woah, wait a goddamn second,” Gally waved his hands around to stop Minho’s rambling, “you realised when you were with Wicked and never told any of us?”
“…Yes.”
“You’re such an idiot.” Gally face palmed before meeting Minho’s eyes again, “How bad is it? You can hear me now huh?”
“Mhm, but it sounds muffled and like background noise.” Minho shrugged and focused back on the stick he was sharpening.
“You need to ask for help when you need it,” Gally reached out and seized the knife, “there’s doctors here who can give you shucking hearing aids!”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Then what was I talking about before I kicked you the eh?”
“You were talking to me?”
“Thank you for proving my point.” Gally threw his hands in the air exasperatedly.
“There’s injured and ill people here, I don’t want to waste the med-jacks time.” Minho snatched the knife back.
Gally yanked it off of him and chucked it across the floor before grabbing Minho’s arm and dragging him to his feet, “We’re getting you some help.”
Gally had to practically haul Minho across the Safe Haven as he refused to walk. “Minho I will pick you up and carry you if I have to, move your useless legs!”
“I don’t need hearing aids! I’m fine-“ Minho was cut off as Gally scooped him up and hurled him over his shoulder.
“Put me down you lunatic!” Minho shrieked and smacked Gally’s back.
“Nope. You weren’t cooperating so I’m using force.” Gally rolled his eyes and continued walking. He wasn’t weak, his job as a builder gave him great upper body strength, so carrying Minho wasn’t hard.
Gally reluctantly put an irritated Minho back into his feet when they were outside the medical hut before ushering him inside. The hut looked larger on the inside and Minho peered around as he walked through. A couple of doctors milled around, one treating some kid’s wound, but someone approached them.
“How can I help boys?” She smiled politely. Minho grumbled, stepping back, “It’s nothing. Gally let’s go.”
“No chance. Sorry about him, my friend is struggling with hearing but refuses to seek help.” Gally clenched his jaw and elbowed Minho in the side.
“Ah, I see.” The lady concealed a laugh as Minho subtly elbowed Gally back, right in the ribs.
“Well I’m no audiologist, but I do believe we had a range of hearing aids we brought with us from Denver. Do take a seat.” The lady walked out of sight and Gally put a hand on Minho’s chest, forcing him down into a chair.
“I hate you.” Minho grumbled.
Gally smirked, “No you don’t.”
The doctor returned with a box and stood in front of Minho as she opened it. “These are all we have, can you try them onto me? I’m not a hearing care doctor so this is the best I can do.”
“Sure.” Minho finally gave in and reached out to get the first aids.
After a few trials and errors, they finally all agreed upon a pair that fit Minho. They were a stormy grey that slipped on and off easily. The boys said their thanks to the doctor before heading out. “See? It wasn’t that hard.” Gally grinned, leading Minho with an arm around his shoulders.
“I guess.” Minho sighed. Truthfully, he was delighted. He could hear the trees rustling in the breeze, the far away chatter of people, the scrapes of his and Gally’s jackets against each other, Gally’s humming-
“You alright there?” Gally looked down at him skeptically.
Minho grinned, “Yep. And stop worrying about every damned little thing, you’re doing my head in!”
“I’m just trying to look out for you because you don’t care about yourself.” Gally retorted.
The boys kept quiet for a moment before they broke into laughter. “I think I might start taking these out when you annoy me.” Minho gestured to the hearing aids after the giggles had died down.
“How dare you!” Gally put a hand on his heart in mock defensiveness.
The boys walked happily side by side as the sun set. The hut that Gally was building for them was the closest to the sea and Gally watched as Minho’s eyes lit up in a childish excitement when he realised he could hear the sea as they passed it.
“It’s nice right?” Gally smiled gently.
“What, the sea or that building site?”
Gally rolled his eyes, “That building site is gonna be a great home soon, just you wait. And, I was talking about the sea.”
“Tch, sure. But.. it is nice I guess.” Minho nodded, staring out at the vast expanse of water.
“Want to go closer?” Gally jokingly shoved his shoulder.
Minho swatted him, his eyes drifting back to the beach, “..Yeah.”
And so they walked in unison along the sands, and Minho shut his eyes as he heard the ground crunching under his boots.
A seagull squarked overhead suddenly and Minho jumped, causing Gally to laugh again.
Minho went to reprimand him, scowling as he slicked his hair back, but stopped himself. He could hear Gally’s chuckles clearly now, because he wasn’t also laughing, and the sound was music to his ears.
A warm sensation filled his chest and he beamed. “C’mon shank, let’s go back now.” He said quietly, admiring Gally.
“Sure.” Gally wiped his eyes and patted Minho on the back as they ambled back to their respective huts.