Two brothers, Yuki and Aman, stood at the counter of a cafe, deciding what to order. The worker behind the counter was mesmerized by their beauty and found herself almost lost in admiration. The manager, noticing this, cleared his throat to bring her back to reality and prompt her to take their order.
The worker asked, "What would you like to have, sir?"
Yuki just smiled and glanced at his brother, as if they were communicating silently with their eyes. The manager, assuming they were foreigners, awkwardly tried speaking in broken English, "Can I help you?"
Yuki, feeling a bit embarrassed, smiled kindly but remained silent.
The worker, watching them, said to the manager, "I don’t think they’re foreigners. Maybe they’re from Japan?"
The manager, unsure, called over a Japanese worker who was fluent in the language. She approached the brothers and greeted them in Japanese, "Hello, sir. What would you like to have?"
However, Yuki and Aman began communicating with each other in sign language, leaving the staff to believe they were deaf. The manager, realizing this, gently approached and, mouthing the words clearly, said, "Excuse me, you can write your order if you'd like---
Yuki interrupted the manager, saying, "Add a lot of whipped cream and caramel syrup to the double espresso frappé, and make it a large. We'll also take a large mocha java chip frappé." He said this all at once and gently smiled at the manager, who was too stunned to speak.
The manager, still confused, simply said, "OK," and directed the workers to resume their tasks, as they were also shocked by Yuki's voice.
After leaving the café, they both sat on their bicycles. Yuki signed to his brother to put his headphones on using sign language. His brother was a bit annoyed, as usual, because he wouldn't be able to hear anything, yet Yuki was still insisting.
Calmly, Yuki signed to his brother saying , "You’re so clueless. You need to put them on so cars know you can't hear them and will drive around you instead of honking."said this
Saying this, Yuki put on his own headphones and, with a smile, told his brother, "Looking cool is a bonus too."
They then started riding their bicycles toward home. As they rode, Yuki began reminiscing about their childhood and how they used to ride bikes together when they were younger.
Yuki had a flashback to his childhood and thought to himself, "My brother is deaf." Soon, they both arrived at their house, greeting everyone nearby as their parents owned a small chicken shop and restaurant. Young Yuki took a light and waved it near his parents, indicating that they had returned home.
"My parents are also deaf, but I’m not. I can hear, I can talk," Yuki thought to himself.
Afterward, Yuki began helping his parents by serving chicken to customers. His mother signaled him to clean a table she pointed at. As Yuki was cleaning, some of his relatives approached and started praising him.
Relative 1:
“Wow! Look at you, Yuki! Helping your parents again today?”
Relative 2:
“Goodness, you’re such a sweet boy,” she said, gently pinching Yuki’s cheeks. “I hear you’re getting good grades too!”
Yuki:
“Kind of,” he replied with a soft smile.
Relative 1:
“I could raise ten sons like you...”
Relative 2:
“Right!”
Relative 1:
“Wait a moment… here, take this,” he said, offering Yuki some money.
Yuki:
“Oh no, Uncle. My dad will scold me if I accept this.”
Relative 1:
“Just take it,” he insisted, slipping the money into Yuki’s pocket. “Just give me two bottles of beer in return,” he added with a wink.
Yuki:
“I can’t do that... If you get drunk, you might cause an accident. Everyone gets only one drink, but I’ll make sure to fill it up,” Yuki said quietly so only the relatives could hear.
The relatives smiled at Yuki’s cuteness and said, “Okay.” Yuki then continued cleaning the table.
While Yuki was cleaning the table, he noticed the vegetable delivery had arrived and called out, “Delivery, delivery!”
Yuki:
“Hello, Uncle.”
Delivery Man:
“Hello, Yuki! How are you?” he said while placing the delivery on the ground.
Yuki went to inform his mom about the delivery, and she began inspecting the vegetables. She quickly got annoyed by the quality and started communicating with Yuki through sign language.
Confused, the delivery man asked, “What's wrong? Is something wrong with the vegetables?”
Yuki:
“She told you to take them back this instant,” Yuki replied.
Delivery Man:
“What? Really?” he said angrily.
Yuki:
“She said if you continue bringing us leftover produce, she won’t buy from this supermarket anymore,” Yuki explained seriously.
Delivery Man:
“When did I ever do that?”
Yuki’s mom interrupted again, using sign language to give Yuki more details.
Yuki:
“She said she cooks for people with physically demanding jobs, so she needs fresh produce and wants you to stop bringing bad-quality vegetables.”
Delivery Man:
“Gosh, that woman is unbelievable! Me? When did I ever bring bad produce?”
Yuki:
“Just because she can’t talk or hear doesn’t mean she’s stupid. She told you to stop trying to trick her. She’s let it go for my father’s sake up until now, but she won’t tolerate it anymore. She’ll settle the tab for this month’s ingredients based on what you bring tomorrow.”
Delivery Man:
“Why does it feel like you’re scolding me? You’re not making up that last part, are you?”
Yuki just glared at the delivery man and walked back into the restaurant.
The scene shifted to night as the four of them were sleeping quietly. Yuki woke up to the sound of a prayer. He went to his window and saw that it was snowing. He was delighted by the view, and his mom wished him Merry Christmas through sign language while gently caressing his hair. Yuki smiled and replied with a sign, Merry Christmas, Mom.
Yuki's Mom:
“Why did you wake up?” (in sign language)
Yuki:
“The choir was singing, and I could hear the sound of the snow falling, so I woke up.” (in sign language)
Yuki's Mom:
“I thought snow didn’t make any sound.” (in sign language)
Yuki:
“I can hear it, Mom.” (in sign language)
Yuki's Mom:
“How does it sound?” (in sign language)
Yuki:
“It’s just like the laundry you dry in the sun… it warms my heart to hear it,” he said with a smile (in sign language).
Yuki's mom smiled at her son's sweetness and signed,
“Snow is cold, but its sound warms your heart?”
She gently patted Yuki’s hair.
“I guess you’ll be a poet when you grow up, Yuki,” she signed with a smile, looking lovingly at her son
Suddenly, Yuki’s dad, Sven, gently patted their heads and signed, “Oh, it’s snowing! Let’s go outside and make a snowman!”
The four of them went out and had fun playing in the snow. Yuki watched as his parents, Sven and Zara, happily played like kids while building a snowman. He felt so happy seeing his parents enjoying themselves.
Suddenly, a metallic sound interrupted his thoughts, and his gaze shifted toward his brother, Aman, who was playing under a bunch of metal beams tied above a newly constructed building. Yuki panicked and ran to help his brother, but the snow caused him to slip and fall. He tried to scream Aman's name, but it was no use since Aman couldn't hear him. Desperately, Yuki used a laser light to signal his parents.
As his parents didn’t notice the laser light at first, Yuki felt like the world was about to end in those few moments, overwhelmed with fear for his brother.
