“Here you go.” Looking up, Ryosuke saw Yuto’s gentle smile while handling him a cup of hot chocolate. He returned the smile, and when he opened his mouth to express his gratitude, no words came out. The disappointment was evident in the older boy’s eyes, and Yuto could only sling his arms around the boy, pulling their bodies closer.

Small puffs of clouds formed while Yuto spoke. “You don’t have to talk. And Ryosuke, you’re welcome.”

A silend sigh escaped from Ryosuke’s lips, and he pulled Yuto’s hand, opening up his cenched fist and wrote, ‘Thank you for being here for me,’ on Yuto’s rough palm.

When Ryosuke was about to remove his hands from Yuto’s, the taller boy had already interlaced them together. “What is there to be thanking? It’s natural that I’m by your side at a time like this.”

The smile on Ryosuke’s lips had a little of its sadness erased, and the older boy just let himself rest his head on the crook of Yuto’s neck.

***

Hands were interlaced as they walked down the street. With his free hand, Ryosuke had awkwardly pushed his shades up and pulled his beanie a little lower. Even with all these disguising himself and a mask over his mouth for that matter, people still recognizes him.

Yuto too, of course, since the younger boy only has a cap and his glasses on. 

“Look, it’s Nakajima Yuto and Yamada Ryosuke of JUMP!”

“Yamada Ryosuke? Gosh, didn’t you hear what happened to him?”

“Ohh, about that? Who wouldn’t know?”

“Gosh, their hands.”

“How dare he steal Yuto-kun!”

Ryosuke had lowered down his head, tears brimming in his eyes. Knowing about this, Yuto brought the older boy nearer. “Don’t mind what they say, Ryosuke.” His hand was once again pulled to Ryosuke’s side, and the older boy’s fingers wrote on his rough palm. 

Not caring that they were in public, Yuto had gently kissed the shorter boy on the cheeks. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve met in this world, the most perfect one. Don’t mind them.” Yuto knew that behind the mask, Ryosuke had a tiny smile.

Without anymore words, they just continued walking towards their shared apartment.

***

It has forced JUMP to stop their activities for months. Ryosuke didn’t ask for all these things to happen. It wasn’t his fault to get disfigured and losing his voice.

The rumor of him and Yuto dating came first. The whole of JUMP was perfectly fine with that, with Hikaru stating that it was only a matter of time both of them hooked up. JUMP was supportive. With Johnny, he had given both of them his approval, stating that he wouldn’t interfere. 

Both of their parents were shocked, though none of them really mattered. Thus this leads to them being closer on stage, off-handedly flirting with each other, while the rest of JUMP would tease them.

None of them would expect a crazed fangirl would run up to both of them in the middle of the street and started to us a penknife to leave terrible scars on Ryosuke’s pretty face. Yuto had suffered from injuries on his hands, while he tried to protect the older boy, but he knew that those were nothing compared to what his boyfriend had experienced.

It wasn’t only the physical scar that Ryosuke had to suffer from, he was also emotionally scared. 

***

“He lost his voice probably due to the trauma of being attacked. We wouldn’t know when he will recover. It might be soon, though there’s the possibility he’d never recover.” Those words of the doctor were carved into Yuto’s mind.

***

With that, both Yuto and Ryosuke were send on an indefinite hiatus from JUMP’s activities. Until the day when Ryosuke gets his voice back.

***

It was hard for both of them, though their senpais were of great help. Thanks to Koyama, both of them had learnt and were near mastering the sign language. It amuses them that none of the JUMP members understood what they were talking about when the ten of them meet up once in awhile at their shared apartment for dinner. There would always be nine different voices and a silent one. 

Even though they knew the sign language, Ryosuke had greatly preferred holding onto Yuto’s hand and writing on the palm off his boyfriend. This was like as if they were telepathic, as Ryosuke had once silently joked.

***

The scars on his face had faded as days passed. Sure, there would be faint marks, but those could be easily covered by makeup. But his voice, it wasn’t back.

“Don’t worry Ryosuke, we have all the time in the world.” As usual, their hands were interlaced as they continued to laze around on their bed. ‘Do you really think it’ll come back?’ was what Ryosuke traced on Yuto’s palm. 

Turning to face the older boy, Yuto planted a chaste kiss and whispered against his lips, “Of course.”

***

News of Yamada Ryosuke and Nakajima Yuto returning from their indefinite hiatus had the fandom going wild. Nothing was said that Ryosuke’s voice has come back. Thus they would only know of it in their ‘JUMP Comback’ concert.

***

Fans screamed in delight as they saw the ten boys coming back together and performing as one again, on stage, after two years. However, they were shocked. They knew that Ryosuke was disfigured, yet they didn’t expect him to come to stage like this. His face, it was like as if nothing has happened.

The scars weren’t evident, and the limp he was sporting after the attack was gone. Moreover, his smile was sparkling. But what was glaring is that he doesn’t have a mic. 

The fans were disappointed, seeing their star still unable to sing, only dancing. But the said star doesn’t seem to mind at all. Ryosuke was dancing to his fullest, and with no doubt, the smile on his face was real.

Fans continued to look on during the MC. The arena was quiet, and the cameras were on both Yuto and Ryosuke. “Both of us are glad to be back performing. Ryo-chan, would you want to say something?” An evident blush surfaced on the older boy’s cheeks, and he raised his hands, doing some hand signs. 

“Yuto! Translate!” Ryutaro had boomed into his mic, as he complained that he doesn’t understand neither the fans would. Also, he muttered about kidnapping the oldest member of NEWS to teach him hand sign too. Looking deep into his boyfriend’s eyes, Yuto smiled at Ryosuke as he spoke into his mic.

“Ryosuke just said that he’s sorry, and to please give him some more time.” 

The crowd had started to shout and scream words of encouragements, and Yuto went to the side of Ryosuke, embracing the older boy. Unknowingly, Ryosuke’s lips were so close to Yuto’s cordless mic, and one word had changed everything. 

Everything came to a standstill. Breaking the embrace, Ryosuke had his hands on his throat. His eyes lit up, and he grinned at his boyfriend. “Yuto …” A smile broke out on Yuto’s lips, and he had immediately lifted the older boy and started turning both of them in circles. 

“He’s voice is back!”

“He spoke!”

“Yama-chan’s back!”

The fans were rejoicing, and the rest of the JUMP members had attacked the YamaJima pair with a group hug.

“What did I say about your voice coming back?”

“That it will come back?”

Their hands were interlaced, and out of habit for the past two years, Ryosuke slowly traced, ‘Thank you for being there for me.’

‘Of course, Ryosuke’, Yuto replied using his sign language.

They were just communicating through their silent words. Something that only both of them can understand.