Chapter Text
Hyunjin had tried, he really had.
Hyunjin stared at the tomato sauce splattered across the wood floors and the, previously clean, white cabinets. The offending pan that once held the bubbling sauce continued to rattle along the floor just to his right. The horrendous pang of metal onto the hardwood floor replayed in Hyunjin’s head as he flushed a color similar to the marinara, a mixture of embarrassment and anger bubbling up.
Hyunjin caught a glimpse of a rather amused Seungmin as he exited the kitchen in search of one Lee Minho. Hyunjin would deal with Seungmin and his uselessness later.
There were many things Hyunjin would consider himself proficient in: small talk, painting, skateboarding, even. However, cooking was not one of those things. Many people in his short life have tried to aid him to improve upon his subpar abilities in the kitchen, but each one had failed. Miserably.
Therefore, when Minho fled the kitchen a few minutes prior to greet whoever appeared to be at the front door, abandoning Hyunjin with a collection of indescript pots and pans in various states of boiling and baking, Hyunjin was quite uncomfortable to say the least.
It didn’t take more than a minute for disaster to strike.
Hyunjin knew that kitchen like the back of his hand, despite lacking ownership of it. He’d spent many late nights raiding the cabinets, many early evenings cleaning the dishes that once held the food now sat comfortably in his stomach, and many afternoons huddled around the kitchen island comparing homework answers with a fervor only a hormonal teenager with a fear of failure and a mild addiction to the video games in the next room over could understand.
The kitchen was situated in his longtime best friend, Chan’s childhood home. If it weren’t for their incompatible surnames and their lack of resemblance, one would’ve assumed Hyunjin was a Bang himself, having spent such a significant portion of his childhood within these walls. Then again, he wasn’t the only one.
Chan had invited their entire friend group to stay at his family home for a few weeks over the holidays.
“It’ll be just like old times,” he’d assured the, already enthusiastic, group of them over text.
It had been nearly three years since the group of them managed to congregate for any meaningful amount of time. The now 25-year old Hyunjin may have clicked his heels together at the idea alone. He rather adored those boys.
The last time they’d managed a get-together was likely their final year at university. The five of them, Seungmin, Minho, Changbin, Chan and Hyunjin, gathered just before graduation. Hyunjin likely remembered it more vividly than others, what with him having attended a different university than the rest of them. One that specialized in the arts.
Hyunjin had still seen them plenty, by the standards of some, but it hadn't quite been the same. This holiday meant a lot to him.
Hyunjin stumbled upon the group of them when he was around 13-years old, having just moved a few cities over. The four of them had been friends since before they knew how to spell their own names, so it was quite the surprise when they’d brought home a new addition for the first time.
Preteen Hyunjin had a certain charm which allowed him to easily slot into the friendgroup, as if a space had always been carved out just for him. That likability of Hyunjin’s didn’t go unnoticed by those outside of their bubble, however. Whether it was kiss-riddled love notes stuffed haphazardly in his locker or shameless invitations to parties or date functions or even being nominated homecoming king without nominating himself, Hyunjin received plenty of attention.
And yet, even to this day, Hyunjin never found a group that he meshed with quite like their ragtag fivesome (as Minho liked to called it, much to Seungmin’s chagrin). They were his best friends, his platonic soulmates, his family.
That being said, if you’d asked him how well he meshed with Minho, the man that, despite knowing the extent of Hyunjin’s culinary ineptitude, had once again abandoned him in the devil’s den (kitchen), Hyunjin wouldn’t speak quite so sentimentally.
“Oh Minho,” Hyunjin spoke in a sing-songy tone, as if it masked his rather evident annoyance.
Minho stood at the front door, back facing Hyunjin as he approached. Chan stood beside him, almost creating a wall between them and the perched open front door.
“You people are useless without me, I’ve been gone for three seconds,” Hyunjin could practically hear Minho rolling his eyes as he spoke.
Hyunjin huffed, fully prepared to verbally dispel such an accusation, when something or rather someone caught his attention.
The man had been standing opposite Minho and Chan, his body half inside the front door. He shifted, presumably due to the commotion created by Hyunjin’s arrival, giving Hyunjin a perfect view of himself.
The man had unmistaken blonde hair, which contrasted his tanned complexion rather beautifully. His cheeks and nose were rosy, likely due to the cold just outside the still unsealed front door. He wore a large hoodie, which morphed his already seemingly miniscule frame. He was a sight for sore eyes to say the least, and Hyunjin’s eyes felt very /very/ sore all of a sudden.
There had been something so unfamiliar about him, yet something so so familiar as well.
“Hyunjin, you remember my brother, Felix, right?” Chan’s voice acted as a sort of record scratch to the white noise that had overtaken Hyunjin’s mind.
Hyunjin blinked his eyes very hard, harder than he’d imagine one looking upon him would deem appropriate. His gaze followed Chan’s thumb which pointed towards the rather enchanting stranger.
“Your what?” Hyunjin managed.
“My little brother, Felix,” Chan laughed, his oh-so-jolly laugh. “Y’know from growing up?”
The second part of that statement felt rather redundant.
Until it didn’t.
Hyunjin turned back to the blonde man. He assessed him once more: his glossy lips, his bright wide eyes, his freckled cheeks.
his freckled cheeks
In one moment it all connected.
If Hyunjin gaped, he hadn't been fully aware. He was far too preoccupied wondering how this man stood just about a meter away with a slowly growing smirk on his ungodly mouth was the same boy that, for years, refused to make eye contact with or so much as speak more than a sentence to Hyunjin.
- chan's house. many years prior. -
An hour had passed since they were supposed to meet when Hyunjin skated up to Chan’s house. Chan wasn’t answering his phone, which was markedly out of character for the usually responsive boy. It was a warm summer day, the afternoon sun had just begun to lower as Hyunjin approached the dark front door, skateboard held in his calloused hand.
They’d only known each other for a few months at this point, however, Chan had quickly characterized himself as the responsible one, especially for a then 14-year old. Thus, when Hyunjin couldn’t reach him for nearly an hour, Hyunjin decided he’d make the 5-minute trek over to Chan’s house to do a wellness check.
They were supposed to meet at the local skate park, a common hang out spot for their group of friends, as well as many of the local teens. There was only so much to do at their age that didn’t require adult supervision or transportation.
When the door swung open, Hyunjin was surprised to be greeted by Chan’s little brother (he would’ve been around 11 or 12-years old at the time).
Felix opened the door, shoulders relaxed and demeanor calm. But it took mere seconds for him to tense up, shrinking a few centimeters in his discomfort. He clearly hadn’t expected the unexpected company on the other side of the door.
The boy appeared to attempt some sputter of a statement, but no sound left the barrier of his lips.
“Hey, Felix,” Hyunjin smiled easily, a shadow of a dimple on his cheek.
Hyunjin kept his voice low, not wanting to spook the smaller boy.
Felix appeared entirely unprepared to respond to the greeting, shrinking under the attention, so Hyunjin continued. “Any chance you know when Chan’ll be home?”
Silence. Felix paralleled an image of those small dogs that shake all the time, and Hyunjin felt awful.
“We were supposed to go to the skate park,” Hyunjin pauses to check the time on his phone, before sheepishly continuing, “about an hour ago.”
The silence that followed was thick with unease. Felix’s eyes shifted around with no clear rhyme or reason, his knuckles turning white where his hand is gripping the door handle. He contemplated slamming the door shut for a moment; it wasn’t ideal but avoidance was all that ran through his mind. Felix looked like he was trying to overcome some internal battle, Hyunjin had been moments from turning around, leaving and never returning.
“I-I have no idea,” Felix finally managed to stutter out, tucking his then dark brown, short hair behind his ear.
Hyunjin nodded, pursing his lips in thought. He was conflicted.
“D’you,” Hyunjin paused, thinking over his words, “D’you mind if I maybe wait for Chan until he gets home?”
Hyunjin could see the gears turning in Felix’s head. Hyunjin’s practically holding his breath. Over what? He’s not even sure anymore. The situation confused him beyond belief. He’d never felt so guilty for asking to enter someone’s home before; a home he’d been in plenty of times.
Felix shifted backwards, opened the door wider, beckoning Hyunjin inside, much to Hyunjin’s surprise. He sent Hyunjin a sharp nod as he passed through the threshold, shutting the door behind him.
Hyunjin wondered if he should leave, if he’d oversteped some invisible boundary that he was unaware of. He felt gross, like he’d done something wrong, but was not sure what. But he entered the home anyway and chalked it up to overthinking. Surely Chan wouldn’t be long.
“Sorry, he hasn’t answered any of my calls or texts,” Hyunjin babbles into the abnormally quiet home.
The silence makes Hyunjin’s skin crawl. He desires to fill the air with something that comforted him, not fully realizing how it had the opposite effect on the other boy.
Hyunjin walks into the living room and settles onto the couch he’s seen many times, assuming Felix is right behind him but not bothering to check. He scans the crown molding above and then glances at the rug that covers most of the floor, looking for something to spark a conversation or distract him. He runs his nails over his skateboard, picking at the edge where the sandpaper-like material has begun to lift.
“Do you also skate?” Hyunjin attempted to create light hearted conversation, “Like Chan?”
Surely the mention of Chan, who Felix was quite close with from his understanding, would ease some of tension in the room. It doesn’t. If anything, the tension only grows. It lasts long enough that Hyunjin almost turns around to check if he’s actually alone.
“N-No,” Felix says, barely above a whisper. His voice shakes and cracks from lack of use. He appeared just as spooked as Hyunjin was by the timbre of his own voice..
Hj cannot place where the discomfort in the room is coming from, he worries it’s due to his own awkwardness momentarily. He’s never had this much trouble talking with someone in recent history and he can’t help but desperately want to make the boy appear relaxed like he did for that split second when he first opened the door. He’d always been taught that to be a good guest in other’s homes and he feels like he’s never failed so badly at doing so before now.
Hj opens his mouth, about to speak once again when he hears the front door open. Hj turns around on the couch just as Chan appears behind Flx. Hj is about to greet his friend, desperate to fill the quiet air with the relaxing banter he knows he can expect from his friend, however, he quickly notices the look of panic on Chan’s face, so he remains silent.
Hj watches Chan immediately directs his attention towards Flx. He also notes the way Flx’s shoulders seem to lower just a little bit, as if the presence of his brother has improved his level of comfort significantly. Hj feels almost like he’s intruding on something, so he goes to face away from the two and allow them their privacy.
“Hey Hj, what’s up, what’re you doing here?” Chan asks, a sense of absence in his voice, as if not fully paying attention to the words he’s saying.
Hj bites his lip, guilt pooling in his stomach, questioning why he felt it so important to show up to Chan’s in the first place. However, there’s a small part of his brain that wonders why him coming over unannounced was seemingly such a problem? He tries to ignore that small curious part of him, sensing he’d overstepped in some way and knowing it wasn’t his place to decide the validity of the boundary he’d disrespected.
“Hey, Chan,” Hj clears his throat, fiddling with his fingers to distract himself, “The skate park? We were supposed to go a while ago?”
“Oh shit Jinnie, I totally forgot,” Chan appears next to Hj, guilt seeping into his face as well as his tone.
Hj resists the urge to glance behind himself, vaguely hearing the pitter patter of feet running up the stairs, assuming it was Flx returning to his room. Of all the times Hj had come over to Chan’s the past few months of knowing him, he’d only actually seen Flx a handful of times. Otherwise, it appeared the boy preferred to remain somewhere at the top of those stairs that Hj was not privy to.
Chan ended up sitting down on the chair opposite where Hj sat on the couch. The air between them slightly strained, thick with confusion and guilt on both of their accounts.
Before Hj even fully knew what was happening, Chan was informing him that this was a fairly common occurrence with Flx. For whatever reason, Flx struggled with fairly high anxiety, especially with socializing, and it resulted in him being effectively mute around most people outside of their family.
Hj recalls the way Chan spoke about his little brother with so much care and love and it made Hj’s heart clench deep in his chest. Chan had this way of talking about Flx’s boundaries as just that – boundaries – rather than defects or limitations. He never spoke about Flx like he was less than a full person, as if missing some part of himself that everyone else around him seemed to possess. It was sweet and loving in the purest way.
Hj has to physically shake himself from his thoughts, from the memory, clearing his throat as if to buy himself some time to process what is happening.
“Flx, you remember Hj right?” Chan cuts in, attempting to fill the silence he did not expect Hj to allow to sit for this long.
Flx’s gaze travels from his brother over to Hj, allowing the two to make direct eye contact. It feels like everything is happening in slow motion as Hj watches Flx’s smile widen as his gaze travels down Hj’s figure and then back up, landing securely on Hj’s lips.
“Of course, how could I forget?” Flx practically purrs, his voice flowing like honey, sounding so much deeper than Hj recalled.
Hj cannot help but flush under the other boy’s attention, laughing nervously as Flx bows to him in greeting. Hj tries to be casual about the way he wipes his hand on his pants, feeling his palms begin to sweat, as he bows back.
“I’m gonna head back to the kitchen to finish dinner before Minnie lets this place burn down,” Minho grumbles, walking back towards the kitchen, sending Flx a small wave.
Hj watches Minho go and kind of wishes he could trail after him like a lost, confused puppy, asking him all the questions that are spiraling in his brain, but he feels practically glued to the floor.
“I was actually just about to head to the store to pick up some stuff for dessert tonight, anything you guys need?” Chan asks, glancing between the remaining two of them.
They both shake their heads. Hj is surprised he has full motor control over his head and neck, feelings like his brain is short circuiting at the moment.
Chan nods, beaming at them, “Sounds good.” Chan pauses just as he’s about to grab the doorknob to exit the front door, turning back to face Hj, “Hey, Hj, do you mind helping Lix with his bags in the meantime?”
Hj chances a glance at Flx, only to see him already looking at him with a bright smile. Hj feels like his throat is closing, but he manages to nod despite the panic setting into his chest, “Mhm.”
Hj cringes internally at how strangled his hum sounded, caught off guard by the way Flx’s eyes shined with amusement as he raised one of his sweater paws up to cover his mouth as he giggled.
Hj’s legs might as well have been made of jelly at that moment because that was what they felt like.
Hj barely notices that Chan has already exited the home, until he hears that deep, sultry voice once again.
“I just have these three bags so you could just grab the duffle if you don’t mind,” Flx speaks at him, jutting his head in the direction of the other bag.
Hj notices how Flx is attempting to grip two suitcases, each basically half his size in either hand, already somewhat struggling without even climbing the staircase yet.
“Oh please,” Hj picks up the duffle bag, throwing it over his shoulder, then reaches for the suitcase in Flx’s right hand. “I can take that for you.”
Their hands brush as Hj grabs the handle already in Flx’s grip. He hopes Flx doesn’t notice the way Hj shivered as their fingers brushed. Hj swears Flx holds on to the suitcase a little longer than necessary, allowing their hands to remain in contact, before releasing his grip entirely. But Hj might just be overthinking.
“What a gentleman,” Flx grins, eyes sparkling with something unrecognizable.
Hj’s heart flutters a little and he wants to curse at his body for reacting so viscerally to the other boy.
Flx moves towards the staircase, lugging the suitcase along with him. Hj attempts to keep his gaze trained downwards, overwhelmed by his attraction to the other man without watching him climb a set of stairs from behind. It was best he didn’t get a mental image of that right now.
Once at the top of the stairs, Hj follows the smaller boy down the hallway until they reach a room Hj had never entered before. Hj had been in this house so much that there were few places he’d yet to traverse by this point. He recalls the doorway quite well, it remaining closed and locked in nearly every memory Hj had of it. Flx pushed it open and wheeled his suitcase inside, placing it next to the bed that sat in the middle of the room.
Hj remained in the doorway, feeling unsure if he should enter or not.
“You can just set those bags right there,” Flx spoke, back facing Hj as he pointed to the corner of his childhood bedroom.
When he didn’t hear any footsteps, Flx turned around to face the other boy.
“Hj, you still with me?” Flx waved a hand, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth at the sight of the very clearly conflicted boy in his doorway.
Hj blushed furiously, clearing his throat and shaking his head, “Yeah, yeah sorry I’m with you.” Hj pauses, glancing around the bedroom.
The weight of the duffle bag strap on his shoulder grew heavier with each passing moment, but he was distracted by the sight of the other boy’s room, which up until now remained a mystery to him. He saw the desk that sat under the large window, which had curtains half drawn. There was a desk situated below it, which appeared to be a full gaming setup, sporting two large monitors and the expensive gaming chair Hj recalls Chan having in his room as well. However, rather than the black and red color that adorned Chan’s, Flx’s chair was a pale pink and white combination.
It was kind of adorable.
Hj’s gaze traveled to the bed, which was covered in a plain white comforter, which was nothing abnormal, however, what caught his attention was the mountain of stuffed animals that covered it. Hj recalls some of his friend’s mentioning the name of the stuffed animals, something like squishmallow maybe? There was a wide assortment of them, some being hello kitty characters that Hj was familiar with and others appearing to be random cute personified foods or figures as far as he was aware.
The room as a whole felt nothing like what Hj had expected from the shy, anxious boy from childhood. It was so loud and bright, with figurines covering every surface and posters on the walls all containing characters from video games and cartoons. The more he took in his surroundings, the more he felt like it matched the bubble gum pink hoodie wearing, bleach blonde boy stood in front of him.
Oh shit Hj thought Flx.
“I’m sorry, what did you say again?” Hj blushes, suddenly remembering he was not alone and had been asked a question.
Flx eyes twinkled with amusement, shaking his head in disbelief as he repeated, “I said you can put those bags over there.”
Flx squinted at the other boy as he shuffled into his room to put down the bags he’d been carrying. He observed the way his cheeks were tinted pink and the way his eyes would only meet Flx’s own for a few moments and he couldn’t help but be chuffed.
“It’s been a while,” Flx says, sitting down on his childhood bed, pulling his legs up into a criss-cross applesauce position.
Hj turns around after putting the bags down, scratching the back of his neck as he turns around to face Flx, “It has.”
A silence falls over the room, remaining for an uncomfortable few moments, making Hj’s skin crawl more than it already was under the watchful eye of the other boy.
“Jeez, Hj, your conversational skills have really gotten worse since I last saw you,” Flx jokes sweetly. “And this is coming from me,” He emphasizes with a laugh.
Something about Flx referencing his past self and the way it juxtaposed his current personality brought Hj some level of comfort. He felt himself relax at the mention of Flx’s younger self, feeling like confirmation he wasn’t going crazy and hadn’t imagined everything.
Hj laughs softly, scratching the back of his neck, “Yeah, sorry.” He pauses to collect his thoughts, “I gotta admit, I’m not used to you saying this many words to me. I think you’ve spoken more in the past 10 minutes to me than you did in my first 10 years of knowing you.”
Hj didn’t expect the bright, sweet laugh that fell from Flx’s heart shaped lips as he nods in agreement, but it kinda made Hj’s heart melt a little bit.
This boy is so cute holy shit Hj can’t help but think.
“Yeah, I guess most of the time our talks were pretty one sided,” Flx blushes a little bit, sending Hj a look of what appeared to be sympathy mixed with a hint of appreciation.
“You could say I was just continuing the tradition then,” Hj suggests jokingly, relaxing a little, his tone maybe a little flirty (if you asked him, he’d claim it was unintentional).
Flx shakes his head, squinting at Hj in a fake glare, “Touche.”
A silence falls between them once more, this time a little more comfortably. Hj allows himself to stare at the boy once again, this time noticing the cute little freckles that covered his cheeks. Hj recalls the boy always having them, but never quite so many and never looking quite so lovely as they do now.
“You look good,” Flx states matter-of-factly, causing Hj to basically choke on his own spit. “I really like the long hair, it suits you.” Flx continues nonchalantly.
Hj’s eyes widen, reaching up to run his fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck instinctively at the mention of its length. He can’t help but blush uncharacteristically, entirely thrown off by the comment.
When did Flx get this blunt? Hj wonders.
“T-Thank you,” Hj manages to stutter out, blushing harder and looking down at his shoes, attempting to hide his rosy complexion.
He’s usually never this flustered by flirting or compliments but this situation as a whole is making him feel completely out of his element.
“You, uh, you too,” Hj clears his throat, “You look good…too.” Hj manages to finish the sentence, groaning internally at how awkward he sounds, shuffling his feet nervously.
Flx positively beams back at him, leaning back on the bed a little and scrunching his nose cutely, “Oh god, Hj. My younger self is having a field day right now.”
Hj tilts his head and frowns at Flx, “Huh?”
“Well I mean us talking alone was at least a few of my birthday wishes,” Flx shakes his head with a soft smile on his face, sounding nostalgic, “let alone you complimenting me. And in my room for that matter, jesus christ I was quite desperate wasn’t I?”
Flx giggles as he looks over Hj’s face, a soft smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, eyeing him in a way that makes Hj wanna remove some distance between them but he stops himself. Hj tries to process what Flx had just said, but can’t help but feel disoriented, thrown off balance and confused. Flx must pick up on his squinting eyes and the way his mouth opens and closes, unsure of what to say.
Flx raises an eyebrow skeptically at the other boy, scoffing, “Y’know, because I had a massive crush on you growing up.”
Hj is surprised he didn’t black out or faint at how bluntly Flx said that. His brain feels like it’s short circuiting a little bit.
Yes, Hj admits he had his suspicions growing up. Hj never had too much trouble romantically, regularly having admirers especially throughout middle and high school. Therefore, he knew the tell tale signs that came with someone crushing on him.
He noticed the way Flx would blush and stumble over his words around him, however, for the first year or so he chalked it up to Flx’s shyness, assuming he did that with everyone. However, the older he got, the more he noticed the way the other boy’s eyes would land on him more than Minho, Seungmin or Changbin and the way Flx tended to blush a little harder when Hj would speak to him than when the other’s did.
That being said, it wasn’t until the others started to notice these things that Hj felt like Flx’s crush was more obvious and tangible than ever. Maybe it stemmed from when, at around 15 years old, he mentioned casually to the others that Flx sometimes spoke to him, usually not with more than a few words, but still forcing out a ‘thank you’ or a greeting every once in a while.
”Are you kidding?” Minho had responded, pausing the game of super smash bros that they had been in the middle of.
Hj whined, throwing his hand up in shock, ”Minho, what the hell? Turn it back on.”
”Answer the question,” Minho ignored his complaint, looking at him seriously.
Hj turned to the others, only then noticing that they were all looking at him with some level of surprise in their expressions, ”What do you mean am I kidding? Why would I lie about that?”
Minho glanced at Chan quickly before continuing, ”I’ve known Chan since like first grade and Flx never speaks to me.” Minho pauses, ”Like ever.”
Hj admits he was a little surprised, but still feeling somewhat annoyed by Minho pausing the game and disliking the way all of their eyes were boring into him, he huffed, ”Maybe because you’re terrifying to most of the general public, let alone him.”
Minho didn’t seem to take the bait, simply shaking his head as Changbin cut in, ”Minho’s right, he doesn’t really talk to any of us and we’ve been going to Chan’s place way longer than you have.”
Hj scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, unsure how they really got to this conversation and why it was seemingly so important. He glances over at Chan to check that what was happening was okay, feeling guilty about them so openly talking about his little brother, knowing it was a sensitive topic for him. Hj was surprised to see that Chan had a similarly awed look on his face, he almost looked happy. It confused Hj even more.
”Maybe I’m just easy to talk to? Have you considered that? You guys always tell me I’m like charming or likable or whatever,” Hj sinks into his seat on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest, feeling embarrassed by the attention.
”That or…” Minho trailed off, side eyeing Seungmin and Changbin, whose eyes both widened.
Hj raised his eyebrows at Minho, ”That or what?”
Hj watched as Minho looked at Chan for permission. Chan hesitated before sighing and nodding his head in approval to continue.
”That or Flx has a crush on you,” Minho sighed.
Hj’s eyes widened, feeling immense guilt suddenly as he thought of the small, shy boy they were discussing. The group went on to discuss their individual observations, claiming they’d discussed the concept a few times without Hj and came to this conclusion themselves. Chan chimes in saying, while he wasn’t sure if it was true, he felt it best that Hj knew so he could take that into account when interacting with Flx.
Hj felt a tug at his heart, knowing how much Chan cared for his brother and worried for his comfort and happiness. Flx was a very unique kid. There were plenty of shy or introverted people that Hj had met in his life, but none struggled quite like Flx seemed to.
From then on Hj didn’t change much about how he interacted with Flx, especially being that they didn’t do so often anyway, however, he made sure to be cognisant of how he spoke to him, never wanting to encourage him too much but also ensuring he made him feel seen and acknowledged. It was then on that Hj noticed more of the signs that Flx liked him more than he did Chan’s other friends, finding it sweet overall.
There were a few times that Changbin or Minho would take joking jabs at Hj about Flx having a crush on him, but he or Chan were sure to shut them down every time. Neither of them would stand for them making fun of the delicate boy’s possible affections for him. Sooner or later, the two stopped making the jokes altogether, much to Hj’s relief and Chan’s appreciation.
But despite the past suspicion, something about this Flx so bluntly addressing the crush, as if it wasn’t a looming question mark in his friend group for years, was jarring. It was also particularly confusing for Hj, being that he still hadn’t fully processed that the Flx he last saw was the same one sat before him.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t know?” Flx continued, quinting skeptically at Hj. “I’m pretty sure I wasn’t exactly sly about it.”
Hj opens his mouth to respond, but no words come out. He feels so unbelievably out of his element and Flx looks so pretty and he doesn’t think his brain can process anything else at the moment.
“Don’t worry though, I’m over it now,” Flx waves a hand dismissively. “I don’t wanna freak you out or anything.”
Hj can't help the way his heart sinks a little, feeling silly that his body reacts that way to someone telling him they moved on from their teenaged crush on him.
“I’m not freaked out by it,” Hj says, sounding airier than before.
Flx smirks slowly, a hint of something playful in his eyes, “Good.”