Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You got a chat invitation from Feetlicks.

Hyunjin only stares at his phone in confusion, but the username has him intrigued so he clicks the join button and reads the message that the stranger had sent him. The eighteen year old male was just minding his own business, scrolling through his favorite amino called “K-POP amino”. Although he was supposed to study for his upcoming math test, he loved looking through that place.

Feetlicks;

Hey your pfp is hot, which group is he in?

Hyunjin knits his eyebrows together and chuckles at the stranger's question. What was he supposed to reply?

Hey, that's me!

No, no one would dig that except for the thirsty girls on amino that would occasionally spam his private messages. Maybe Feetlicks is one of them, so Hyunjin tests him.

Hyunjin;

That's me, bro.

Feetlicks;

👺 lies, i can also say the guy in pfp is me

Not gonna lie, Hyunjin also thought the guy in Feetlicks profile picture was hot. He also wanted to know what group he was in... He was totally different from any kpop idol he had seen. Just by looking at the picture, you can tell that the boy considers his cute freckles as his charming point.  

Hyunjin;

Whatever Feetlicks, it's not like i expect you to believe me. What group is the guy in your pfp tho?-

Feetlicks;

Fishy-

Bro, that's me!

Hyunjin;

I can't believe you, you said it wasn't you earlier

Feetlicks;

Hey i was being sarcastiC

Hyunjin;

Face time me bruh

Feetlicks;

I don't face time strangers

Hyunjin;

You do realize that you texted me first, right Feetlicks ?

Feetlicks;

Hey stop it with the Feetlicks,,my name is Felix ,, hyunjean

Hyunjin;

I'm gonna leave- it's hyunjin, loser

Feetlicks;

Hey don't leave me hyunjin ;(

i will prove to you that I'm really the dood in my pfp, let's just get to know each other first, k?

Hyunjin lets out a sigh and taps his foot out of anxiousness. What if Felix was someone that wanted to get his info and possibly murder him? It's not like Hyunjin is planning on giving him any information really. But what if Felix turns out to be who he really claims to be? Oh, he can't miss out on this one for sure.

Hyunjin;

Ok but i won't let my guard down

Felix;

Sure thing m8 ;)

Hyunjin;

Aussieboo

Felix;

I am Australian-

I'm also Korean

Hyunjin;

You're totally a catfish

Felix;

I can say the same thing Mr. Hyunjin. Also, i love catfish, i love red tails yk or maybe some shovelnose- oo the hybrids are spectacular

Hyunjin;

… i have no idea what you're talking about

Felix;

It's okay, I'll make sure you learn abt a lot of fish :)

Hyunjin;

I know you already-

Felix;

Ima finna hit you with my chancla

Hyunjin;

Ew keep your nasty chancla away from me, Feetlicks

Felix;

Ok :<

Hyunjin;

Sub

Felix;

Wha-

I'm a dom- you're a subby girl

Hyunjin;

bitch I- no, stfu

Ok ima send a picture of myself and you better believe me

Felix;

you'll probably get it from some ulzzang's insta. Send me their @ btw

Hyunjin;

Omg just believe me

Felix;

But yOu doNt belIeve me

Hyunjin;

Send me a pic so that i can copy it and see if google has found that image anywhere on social media or whatever

Felix;

Ok but send yours too

Hyunjin;

Ofc

Here's my selca b

Felix;

Woah cute

Hyunjin;

I'm not cute- tsktsk

Felix;

Okay here's mine bb

Hyunjin;

Woah so cute! You're totally lying

Felix;

OmG ima go search google images goodbye

Hyunjin;

Same-

Felix;

Suck my toes tomorrow if google can't find my pic. I'm nice

Hyunjin;

Ew wtf

Felix;

Mwah, talk to you in the morning! 

Hyunjin shuts his phone off and throws it into the trashcan without hesitating, he gets up and walks over to the bed but he soon remembers that he has to make sure that Felix is telling the truth. A voice note would also help prove that he certainly is who he claims to be. Maybe Hyunjin should send him a nice voice message tomorrow morning when he wakes up.

He walks back to the trash can while doing some random dance moves, he bends over and takes his phone out of the (thankfully) empty trashcan.

“Felix, who really are you?” Hyunjin whispered to himself and unlocked the screen, then quickly clicking on google, typing in 'google image reverse search'.

After an hour of trying to find the image anywhere, he finally gave up but he wasn't going to believe Felix that easily. Maybe they should have a voice chat tomorrow, how about that? Hyunjin hums and flops onto the bed, not bothering to turn off the lights because he did not want to get up again. Although he still has a lot to ask Felix, Hyunjin's pretty sure that the male has a lot of questions to ask him as well.

Chapter Text

Felix wakes up to the sound of his alarm clock and quickly shoots up, grabbing his phone from the stand, searching through his phone to see if he had received messages from his friends and/or a certain boy. He was quite different online than offline, mostly because he is quiet and shy around strangers. But that’s a different situation, one that he could care less about since the online world was just something that could not intimidate him. He had received loads of messages, mostly from his friends and some thirsty girls on amino that he ignored. Just to check in, he clicked on Hyunjin’s icon since he had saved him as a favorite member last night, he clicked the chat button and to his surprise he had not received a text from Hyunjin but a voice note. He cursed to himself and without hesitation, he clicked the play button. A raspy but soft voice filtered into his ears, making Felix form an ‘O’ shape with his lips.

He had the voice of an angel.

Beautiful.

Felix pressed down on the recording button and cleared his throat before talking in his deep voice, wanting the older to be surprised. Yes, he loves the way people react to his surprisingly deep voice.

“Hyunjin, hey bro, you sound handsome?... Is that the right word? Um, good morning. Do you believe me by the way?” he lifted his finger up, letting the voice note to take its time to load and send. His ears turned red and his face heated up due to his own cringiness. Like who the fuck sends a voice note like that in the morning. After a minute he seemed to have gotten a reply from the cute boy.

Hyunjin;

I- your voice sounds nice Felix- how does a voice sound handsome btw?

Me:

Thx bro- stop asking me thiNgs omg,, im not google boi

Hyunjin;

Shut up nnjndjrnd

So um,, i guess i believe you but

Me:

You stubbrn rat vgahd

Hyunjin:

Sh- I believe you a little but i won’t give in easily

Me:

im gonna commit toaster bathtub thank u nxt

Hyunjin:

No committing toaster bath tubs so um,, let’s get to know each other better ??

Me:

Yeah im jared, im 19 and i never fucking learned how to read

Hyunjin:

You are cancelled

bLocked

Me:

No im kidding;;;

Im Lee Felix, I was born on sept 15 and yeah,,, im a 2000 liner so yeet

Hyunjin:

Show me your ID

Me:

No wtf

Creep

Hyunjin;

I'm not a creep

You rat

Me:

Wow

😢 so mean

Hyunjin:

You're not sad stfu

Anyways

Do you perhaps live in SKorea?

Me:

I was sad for a sec but ogay

Um,,, yeah, i do. I left australia about 2 years ago or smth

Hyunjin:

Oh, where in Korea ?

Me:

😎 seoul bouy 🤙🏼

Hyunjin;

What? Me too!!

Me:

Yeet,,, although i wanna meet, let's just do something so that we can get a little fun out of it

Hyunjin;

Wtf

Wdym?

Felix:

Honestly im not sure

I sounded like a creep omg

Hyunjin:

Ok but i have to get ready for school

Me:

Ok ttyl

Felix didn’t go to school, ever since his parents had left the world, he dropped out of school and went straight to seoul for their funeral. He didn’t cry, he was just left with bitterness in his heart, he knew that his dream was now ruined, thanks to their death. He wasn’t left without money of course, to make things better, his parents owned a big business in south Korea. They owned a big fish store that would close down due to their death, but Felix wouldn’t let easy money to slip through his hands. He took on his parent's business, it’s just fish, it can’t be hard. It resulted in him leaving his friends behind in Australia and moving into his parent's house in Seoul. Fish are fish, it would be easy.

Wrong, he was completely wrong, He knew nothing about fish and the employees called him a fish killer. Something in him had the urge to fire them but he wouldn’t, he can’t. Or else, he was going to bring the whole business down, get bankrupt due to his lack of experience. But if it wasn’t for an employee who was also the same age as him, he wouldn’t have known what passion for fish keeping was. It made Felix stay up late as he was determined to research on many fish species. It all made sense, why people were so in love with fish. He enjoyed watching youtubers who shared facts over the hobby. He loved this even though it had him all stressed.

He sighs and gets off the bed, the sound of fabric rustling and falling against the floor was familiar, he never bothers to pick anything up unless he has time, but he doesn’t have much time before opening the store. Quickly, he rushes to the closet and picks out a T-shirt and a pair of black jeans to wear.

After he finished changing, he ran out of the apartment. Yes, he didn’t lock the door since he assumes that his roommate is still there. Yes, he has a roommate, one that he never really talked to since they were both busy. He owned a business as well, but not a big one, mostly because he was just starting out. Felix only offered to share the house with him because they shared the same interest in dancing, but mostly because the other male’s parents kicked him out for coming out as a homosexual, and he felt bad for him.

Ridiculous, Felix thinks to himself. Sometimes parents get in the way.

When he arrived at the store, a few workers were already gathered around and Felix bowed, apologizing before he opened the store, politely holding the door open for the employees. Felix followed after everyone and looked around the store, checking tanks to see if any of the fish had not made it through the night, he also checked to see if the heater, filters, wave makers, and other equipment were still working. He also assigned jobs for the day, but something kept distracting him, maybe he was thinking about a pretty boy that was behind the screen in his pocket.

He wouldn’t say that he had a crush on Hyunjin, he’s just very curious about him. Like, what does he love to do? Is he secretly dating someone? What are his kinks? What is his sexuality? Does he want to meet Felix? Did Felix’s voice make him blush? Is he virgin?- He shakes his head and curses under his breath for being a dirty bitch.

“You seem to be having a mental fight with yourself? Is this business getting too much for you?” A dark blue haired boy asked as walked over to his boss, but he Felix doesn't like being referred as one. Felix huffs and shakes his head, he walks over to the fridge and takes out some frozen blood worms.

“It shouldn’t concern you, Jisung.” Jisung nods and fills up a cup with some hot water and places it next to the light brown haired male. Felix whispers a soft ‘thank you’ before placing a few frozen cubes into the cup.

“Actually, it does concern me, Mr. grumpy pants. Tell me, did you finally ask out your hot roommate? Did he reject you?” Felix blushes and kicks Jisung’s shin.

“I don’t like him!” Sure, Felix had been crushing over Lee Minho for a while but his small crush on him started to fade away for some reason, the older male just did not interest him as much as he thought. Jisung groans and grabs the turkey baster from the side and hits Felix with it.

“Then what has you so grumpy?” Something buzzes in Felix’s pocket and he takes his phone out just to see that he had received a message from Hyunjin, quickly, he taps on the message and a smile fades on his face.

Hyunjin:

Heading to school

Totally not thinking about you, have a nice day today!

“He’s hot, your boyfriend is hot.” Felix yelps and drops his phone on the tile floor. Quickly, he picks his phone up and growls at Jisung.

“He's not my boyfriend... You’re being cashier today.”

“No, I’m sorry, please don’t make me cashier,” Jisung pleads and gets on his knees, creating a big scene in front of everyone. Felix pulls Jisung up and whispers into his ear.

“Shut up or I’ll fire you, you’re really embarrassing me.” Jisung squeaks and walks behind the counter, getting into his position as a cashier and Felix just giggles at his friend’s cuteness. He goes over to pick up the cup and proceeds to feed some specific species of fish with the bloodworms, using the turkey baster that Jisung had hit him with.

Today felt longer than any day, maybe because Felix was itching to text a certain boy and of course, it does not go unnoticed by Jisung and it annoyed Felix how that boy never lets go of anything. Once it was Jisung’s break time, he quickly walks up to Felix and becomes bit touchy with him, hugging him and nuzzling against the freckled boy, and it makes him really uncomfortable so he just shooes the emo boy away and to his surprise, Jisung doesn’t whine and happily skips to the other side of the store.

weird.

Closing hours had arrived and all employees, except for Jisung had left. They don’t close down right away but they do have the closed sign up. This was normal, every day after closing hours, they would order some Chinese food and eat while talking over a lot of things, mostly over business things like they both owned the store.

“You know, we have a lot of orders are coming in and some people complain that we take forever to ship out their fish, or plants.” Felix nods and takes a sip from his cup full of water. He knows that things are starting to get hard since they are getting way less customers and losing employees as well. “We need to make some orders as well… We’re out of many fish. Many were asking about cherry shrimp as well-”

“Jisung! I know,” Felix cuts him off and places his Styrofoam cup down. “We need to promote for new customers and new workers. Also, I’ll make an order tonight, don’t worry.” Jisung nods and reaches into his pocket, taking out a familiar device and Felix soon realizes that it’s his phone. “What the heck? Jisung, I swear…” He snatches the phone away from him and the blue haired male just laughs.

“Sorry Felix! I have to get going now, take care.” Jisung quickly cleans his mess up and rushes out of the door, leaving the light haired male behind. Honestly, Felix didn’t like being left alone, Jisung would always walk him home but that was not the case today. Quickly, he got off the seat and cleaned up all the food, throwing it into the trash. He was much scared but he turned off all the lights before pulling the metal frames down and closing the door, locking it before walking off into the streets.

It was only six p.m and it was already very dark, he was totally not walking home. Oh, Jisung would soon pay for this. Felix thought about making him work as cashier for the rest of his life. Sighing, Felix took his phone out from his pocket and a lot of messages popped up onto his screen. He opens kpop amino up and notices that he had been invited into private groupchat. It wasn’t just a normal groupchat. It wasn’t long until he realized that Hyunjin and Jisung were both in it along with six other people.

That sneaky bitch,

Gay squad

Hyunjin:

No way, you know felix irl?

Jisung:

yes, he's my bossy boss :>

Chapter Text

Gay squad

Hyunjin:  No way, you know felix irl?

Jisung:  yes, he's my bossy boss :>

Me:  Jisung i-  how?-

Jisung:   Sorry, i couldn’t resist

Chris: And that’s the tea sisters

Minho: i wheezed-

Minho: Ofc Jisung’s nosy ass can’t resist anything

Woojin: Language! My child is in here

Changbin: bet he can’t resist your dick, Minho.

I.N: im not a ChiLd

Hyunjin: wait wait what?? :0

Minho: Ew Im Str8

Me: Jisung, you’re casheir

Me: for the rest ofmyour ;ife

Jisung: we aint talking abt his smoll pp-

Jisung:ok but those typos are at another lvl… ArE yOu druNk lix?

Minho: you haven’t even seen my big pp

Hyunjin: Im ConFused OmG

Woojin: one does not need to be enlightened, my child

Minho: hyung, what?

Me: sHUT UP Im not drunk!!

Me: Im just really scared stfu

Me: Whyd you leave me jisung?

Woojin: we’ll discuss this after this dramatic scene, share your popcorn

Hyunjin: Ha youre scared? Your bf is an asshole

Jisung: Im not his bf and im not an asshole ,,,,,

Jisung: Sorry Lix, if you make me cashier, ill have to quit the job and you will have no one to rely on

Me: Both of you shut up,, im like really scared.

Me: What if i get humped and stabbed to death?

Me: *Jumped   ,,okay that was a typo-

Seungmin: tough

Hyunjin: i

I.N: what a wild imagination

Changbin: im choking on my croissant, hrlp

Jisung: omg thats scary, getting humped and stabbed to death,, Minho, pick his chicken ass up

Hyunjin: drink water changbiN

Chris: I leave for a few seconds and this chat is a disaster

Me:  meanies , and

Me: p;ease do pick me up hyung

Minho: what do i get out of it?

Me: a happy and alive felix

Minho: nah, chris you should pick him up

Chris: no garcias

Chris: Actually yes, i must meet my children

Hyunjin: it’d be cool if all of us met up-

Me: Oh, then i suppose minho will send you the address of the store?-

Me: And no hyunjin

Minho: sure did

Hyunjin: why not?

Seungmin: i cant stand this, i definitely dont want all of us to meet up

Hyunjin: come on minnie, itll be awesome

Jisung: yeah, let’s see if felix isnt shy around yalls

Me: hey stop exposing me

Me: Ill beat you up

Minho: honestly, he hasn’t talked to me for 2 months straight

Hyunjin: woah, i didn’t think felix was that shy

Me:  No meeting up

Hyunjin: why not?

Me: don’t want to meet up with losers

Minho: shut up loser, you’re one of us

Jisung: Wait why is minho in the gay chat if h e is str8?

I.N: kiCk hiM

Changbin: Only gays allowes\

Minho: dont kick me out-

Hyunjin: Youre Gay ChAngbin?

Changbin: yes,, why do u think i keep touching your lips each night?

Jisung: Welp, there goes Felix’s man

Me: stfu, he’s not my mans

Hyunjin: we're not dating hujhh he's just weird

Changbin: shut up, i just like touching thicc things

Jisung: you should totally touch minhos thicc thighs

Minho: put your head between them and you'll suffocate

Changbin: okay that's not what i meant-

Me: But we should totally kick minho out

Minho: NO Im gsy ok

Woojin: all my children are gay wdym

Jisung: we know papa

Seungmin: we all know that Minho is a whipped gay

I.N: whipped hehe kinky

Changbin; I

Hyunjin: How did this even happen?

Felix looked up from his phone when he heard a horn like sound. Thankfully, he didn’t jump and make himself look like an idiot in front strangers. Just to make sure, he looks around just to see of anyone else approached the black car, once he notices that no one neared the black automobile, he decides to walk up to the car, grabbing the handle, carefully pulling the door open, slightly crouching as he peeks in, meeting the blonde’s gaze.

“Chris?” The male nods and gestures felix to come in and he does. He plops down the passenger seat and grabs the seatbelt, pulling it over across his lap to secure it. He gives the oder male a shy smile before closing the door.

“You can call me Chan,” he says, a familiar accent in his tone that surprised the australian, making him gasp.

“I’m Felix!” he says happily, already feeling closer to the older male for some reason. The older male knits his eyebrows together and laughs. The younger male supposes he was being too childish and sighs, looking away. He was childish in a way but not everyone hated it, everyone he knew was kind of childish too. 

“I know, i could see it in the groupchat.” Chan says, starting to drive away from the stop. Felix hums and wonders back to the group chat, remembering things that he didn't mind at first, but something. Something had his heart clenching and suddenly he felt sad. Of course, he doesn't want to seem obvious so he asks the obviously older male a question.

“How'd you meet Minho?” Felix asks as he fiddles with his fingers, looking at the other male's expression, noticing how he pressed his lips in a thin line, looking somewhat silly.

“We are best friends,” he answered happily after a minute, keeping his gaze focused on the road. Despite waiting so long for a simple answer, Felix was satisfied and relaxed against the leather seat, shifting himself towards the window, looking out as he watched houses run past him. “You know,” chan started as he stopped at the stop sign, looking both ways before he decided to keep going. “You’re really quiet, you seem quite noisy in the group chat.” Felix straightens his back and looks at the older male who was still focused on the road. It was something he could not help, he was a very shy person and he knows that he’ll have to overcome that so he inhales sharply.

“I’m pretty noisy in real life,” Felix huffs, building his confidence a little by little.

“Prove it.”

“How?” Felix asks, raising an eyebrow up as he questions the older.

“Talk to me about your passion, love.” Felix blinks and thinks to himself for a few seconds.

Felix really had a passion for dancing but now, he realizes that he had learned to love fish keeping. He sighs, remembering that he has a lot of things to do that night. “I love fish, they are really fun, relaxing… and making sure they are living their best life is totally worth it…”

Chan chuckles and starts decreasing the speed when he nears Felix's neighborhood. “That's cute, you own a business or a store? You're a boss right?”

“Yes, I own a business and a store I guess… We're having a crisis to be honest. The fish that local farms ship to us isn't enough and they don't have the fish that people are looking for. So, i have to order fish from other farms that are probably located somewhere far away. I hate that because not every fish is guaranteed to make it safe or alive,” Felix speaks, making weird hand gestures as he explains. It is true, one could waste a lot of money on a fish but when the package arrives, the innocent animal would probably be dead, it's truly a shame.

Chan pulls up into the parking lot and switches the handle before turning off the car. “That seems pretty stressful, how do large chain stores even do that?” Felix shrugs and opens the door, stepping out and Chan does so as well.

“Not too many people trust chain stores anyways. Their feeder fish are not trustworthy, and all of the fish they sell as well. Most of their fish come with parasites that will eventually kill the fish unless it's treated. Let's just say that the people ordering and buying from those stores are not too much or little, then i guess you'd call that balanced? I'm not sure,” Felix continues and walks towards the door opening, allowing the blonde haired male to go in first.

The older male smiles and walks into Felix's house, not bothering to look around since he's already been here when Felix was at the store. “That makes sense… Well, your fish are trustworthy?”

“I hope so, we quarantine them first before putting them out for display. We also check the fish everyday… Do you want something to drink?” Felix asks as he feels himself become shy again.

Chan nods his head and takes a seat on the couch, reaching into his pocket to take out his phone. “Yeah, let me have a water bub,” he says contently.

Not many seconds passed until Felix returned with a water bottle for the older male. And not too many seconds passed until Minho had ran down stairs to greet the two. Felix thought this was his chance to sneak away and text Hyunjin, to possibly clarify any misunderstandings. But he had been stopped by his house mate, Minho. His hyung grabbed his arm and gave him a smirk.

“Go get ready, we’re going to the dance studio. Chan and other people from the group chat will also come. It will be fun!” Felix shakes his head and taps his foot against the ground. The idea fascinates him, really. But his business and store is what is more important right now.

“I own a business and manage a freaking store hyung, I can't just go waste my time when i have to figure things out,” he comments, pulling away from Minho's grip. That male was really strong and Felix took note that he won't be able to forget that again.

“i also own a business, lix.”

“a small one. My parents left me a big ass business to take over-”

“Stop fighting, babies. King Felix will come next time, just let him get things done,” chan cuts the freckled boy off and grabs Minho's hand, dragging him towards the door. Minho only nods and follows Chan out of the door, leaving the freckled boy behind without any words.

------

“We're here!” Hyunjin busts into the dance studio and looks around for someone, someone who was not there.

“hey little bro, ” Chan says as he walks up to the tall male, grabbing his hand and bringing him towards the group of people. Hyunjin only nods and bows, introducing himself politely and Jisung bursts out laughing.  

“Who said you have to be polite? A friend's friend is my friend,” Jisung says, walking up to the taller male and slaps his butt. Minho only facepalms his forehead and kicks Jisung's ankles.

“A great way to greet the newbie, he's probably older than you idiot… I apologize Mr. Hwang.” Hyunjin laughs and shakes his head

“It's okay, really.” The smaller male next to Hyunjin clears his throat, catching everyone's attention.

“Shall we dance?”

“Of course Changbin hyung.”

While they were having the time of their lives, Felix is glued on to the computer, looking for farms online so that he could get in some shipments. He was gonna lose money if he didn't finish things in time (not that he was already losing some). Maybe he should just close the store tomorrow so that they can have a meeting and spend their time packaging fish to ship out. That is, if people haven't cancelled their order. A few probably did anyways.

He snapped out of his thoughts when a familiar vibration caused the wooden desk to sing.

Great. Jisung the bitch was calling him. He picked his phone up and swiped his finger over the screen, answering the call, putting the speaker on as he continued to search the web.

“Oi Felix, why didn't you come? Hyunjin is here bro.”  few giggles were heard in the background, and an obnoxious laugh was also heard. He rolled his eyes, he didn't want to seem obvious because he really wanted to see him. He really did.

“Jisung, you do know what I'm busy with,” Felix said in his deep voice just in case if Jisung had turned the speaker on.

“Stop flexing man, you can worry about the store tomorrow, you should come.”  A few ‘yeahs' were heard and Felix bit his inner cheek, thinking about it for a while before replying.

“Sorry bro, i really can't… But tomorrow we're having a meeting with all of the staff and I'll closing the doors.”

“Felix, I'd love to figure things out right now but I'm here so… You know what, let me tell you something. You shouldn't close the doors tomorrow, we're already having a financial problem and we can't risk anything. We can have a meeting after or before the doors open, yes.” Felix hums and agrees with his best friend after he gave it a thought.

“Alright, thanks for the advice have fun-”

“Wait!” A familiar voice says from the background, the obvious noise of having the phone snatched out Jisung's hand was heard. Felix giggled and answered with a soft “hey”.

“ lil bro, say hi to your mans.” The freckled boy blinked at Minho's request and suddenly had the urge to hang up.

“He's not my mans, Minho hyung. But hey hyunjinnie~”

“Um you sure abo-”

“Hey Lix! Please come~”

He took a deep breath and shook his head, he really wanted to meet the male. He's all he's been thinking about lately, perhaps he's really addicted to him in a way and that scares him. Perhaps, maybe… he should never meet up with him.

“I'm sorry, but i can't. Really. “ he says in a shy tone, feeling his cheeks heat up maybe because he's not good with talking to people for the first time- A soft gasp was heard through the other line, just a soft noise that explained hyunjin's true feelings towards his words.

“Oh okay… Take care, lix,” the older male replied softly.

----

“So… You look like you had trouble sleeping,” the squirrel boy said as he stuffed his cheeks up with grapes. Felix only huffed and crossed his arms against his chest, leaning back against the chair. He looked out of the window from store he owned.

It is true, he had trouble sleeping at night but that's how it gotta be. Not only that, he had woken up extra early for the meeting, keeping Jisung's words in mind. Of course, the employees were grumpy, their looks made it obvious. They had only talked about ideas, proposing ideas for growth in the store and business. One of the employees said something about attractive men attracting the ladies. Jisung and Felix agreed even though they both hated the statement.

“I mean… I guess that means I'm more dedicated to this job more than you.” Felix looked into the emo boy's eyes and gave him a lazy smirk.

A pause.

“Bet,” jisung replied, standing up as he leaned down, leaning close to Felix's face, hands clutching around the table's rim. The freckled boy pushed the blue haired male away quickly once a lady walked in, bowing slightly and jisung had done so as well. She seemed young and really attractive, but none of the two boys were straight so she didn't perk their interests one bit. The tall girl only bowed awkwardly and hurried towards the substrate aisle.

“Shut up, you're always embarrassing me. But sure, you're on loser,” Felix whispered. Jisung was the one huffing this time, finishing the last of the grapes he had before hurrying outside and Felix only watched, raising an eyebrow up as curiosity filled him. His attention was soon interrupted by the girl, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she placed the white substrate on the counter. The male could not risk to lose any customers by giving them a bad experience so he smiles at her, asking her about her day as he scanned the bag. Yes, he was working as “cashier” for today.

“It was good, thanks for asking… are you and that man dating?” She asked, acting as if she voiced out her thoughts, placing her hands over her mouth. Felix chuckled at her and shook his head as he screams internally.

ew.

“No, I'm not dating anyone. Anyways, that would be twelve dollars and fifty cents.” the young woman nodded and searched her purse for the money, placing a few crumpled dollars on the counter along with the fifty cents. This was sad. She looked embarrassed and Felix only felt bad for her situation. She looked like she rich by the way she was dressed nicely but, her purse says she's having a hard time, perhaps struggling like someone.

“Ah okay! See you next time oppa!” She said, grabbing the substrate before running off. When she exited, Jisung entered with a tired look. Felix only blinjed and shook his head.

“Damn, advertising is hard. I thought i looked hot.” Felix giggled and sat down on his high chair.

“You can't just go out there and be like; wow I'm hot so please buy from us!” Jisung rolled his eyes and walked towards the counter, eyes skimming the surface as a paper caught his attention. Attentively, the Australian boy watched his actions and made eye contact with the slightly older male.

“That girl gave you her number?-”

“Go check if any customers need help before i fire you.”

“Yes sir.”

Chapter Text

jinnie

 hey felix, are you okay?

 you haven't talked to me all day

not that i care but

don't overwork yourself

pls

Felix stared at the screen, the corner of his lips lifting up as a fond smile plastered on his face. He thought the older was sweet, very sweet. Well… sometimes. Hyunjin would tease the freckled boy, ridicule him and throw insults at him just for fun. Felix didn't mind because he was identically tantamount and that's how he relished his friends. In fact, he's like that with most of his friends, especially jisung. Felix met Jisung who had been working at the store way before him, you could have thought he was the store manager at first glance. Well, not really, he was just a mundane worker. Felix doesn't know if he'd be friends with Jisung if he hadn't been doing fortnite dances while he was waiting for the bloodworm cubes to defrost. The blue haired male couldn't hold his laughter in and knew that Felix was someone who he could get along with... Most of the time.

It's midnight, the room would be pitch black if it wasn't for the phone in his hand and the computer screens in front of him. He sent emails to his employees, and customers, and read responses. 

A buzz. 

He looked back at his phone. This time, it was Jisung who had sent him a message. He tapped his finger against the notification on his screen, hoping it'd be something related to work since that's all that is swimming in his thoughts right now. 

emo b

you're such a bad bf >:(

He tilted his head to the side as another message popped up. Felix knows Jisung was talking about Hyunjin, which made him feel a bit concerned. 

emo b

 he's crying

bcz you're ignoring him

Lix

you're lying…

emo b

ok so maybe he isn't crying 

but he won't stop talking about how he misses you

 i even tried to talk about porn but like,

 he won't stop talking about you

Lix

 idk how to feel atm

me in the topic of porn- 

emo b

 we even took the bdsm test uwu

he was just wondering abt your kinks so uh yeah 

i told him you had a toe fetish 

Lix

oh my goodness, i do not

for the rest of your life, you're being cashier

yeet

emo b

 you're being overdramatic 😤

sorry for not being a perfect pure frenD

Lix

 okay but- hyunjin said hedidnt care avt me :<

emo b

omg drfu,, you guys haven't seen each other and yall are like girls in love 

Lix

 nO stOp, im str8

emo b

weall know that's a lie

 Lix

okay go to sleep cuz we gotta wake up earlyagain 

emo b

 same to you gn

Felix clicked the 'x’ on the left top hand corner of the illuminated screen, sending him back to the home screen. He tapped his finger on Hyunjin's contact and decided to text back before getting under the sheets. 

Lix

Hey jinnie, I'm sorry :<

im ok dw 

… loser

jinnie

HeY yOu callEd me LoAwr wtf 

Lix

sorRy.i missed u 😳

jinnie

sksks it's okay,,, i missed you too 

no homo

Lix

 i would have believed that if 

 you didn't involve me in your bdsm convo eith Jisung

im fLew

Jinnie

 i-

 iam noT a perv 

pls 

Lix

mhM

we can't be friends anymore 

jinnie

no pls I'm sorry 

Lix

omo you rlly wanna stay friends

oh yEet

jinnie

ofc

Lix

 what did jisung get on his bdsm test? 🤠

Jinnie

 hOLd on sis

Hyunjin: == Results from bdsmtest.org == 
100% Switch 
99% Vanilla 
94% Slave 
94% Master/Mistress 
90% Submissive 
77% Dominant 
75% Pet 
66% Boy/Girl 
66% Owner 
59% Degrader

 his results arw so plain gyhg

Lix

 oh dang hes really a switch

what's your results mr. Oh thats so plain

jinnie

 i didn't mEan iT likW that- 

Lix

 ok show me

jinnie

only if you take it 

Lix

 i

OKay fine 

jinnie

 here

== Results from bdsmtest.org == 
100% Brat tamer
100% Degrader
100% Sadist
100% Rigger 
100% Brat
100% Master/Mistress
100% Switch
99% Degradee
97% Dominant 
89% Rope bunny

Lix

wow- 

you're scary

stay awaY

jinnie

 i

sorry ?

im not gonna fuck eith you so idk what u talkin about

Lix

 mHm

jinnie

okwy show me your results

Lix

you do realize that i prolly wont send it 

Jinnie

wait what

 you pLayed me 

Lix

you trust ppl so easily pls

jinnie

 FeLix 

Lix

what

jinnie

 I'll bLock yOu

Lix

no pls,, here

100% Switch
100% Degradee
100% Brat
90% Rope bunny
89% Voyeur
87% Degrader
80% Submissive
79% Sadist
76% Dominant 
72% Masochist

jinnie

 oh my

Lix

what?

jinnie

 nothiNg-

Lix

 teLL me u creep

jinnie

I'm not a crEep pls

i thought you'd be 100% dom

Lix

well,, guEss whAt

I thought you'd be 100% sub

jinnie

ruDe,, i don't mind being sub tho

Lix

 oh pls 

 i love being dom,,, the test is just rigged

Jinnie

 smh 

go to sleep pLs 

Lix

okok but weRe stILl talkIng abt thIs tomoRrow gn

jinnie

okok im going to the dance studio tomorrow night with minho and chan hyung

pls cum

 coMe

i cri

Lix

ew tf

you're so gross wtf 😳

 idk if i can come but iLL trY 

Jinnie

sh 

 pls i wanna see yoU 

Lix

... Wow ,,do u like me?

jinnie

nO nO

you're just the only one i haven't met irl

Lix

um im into girLs anyways,,, ok ill try to go

jinnie

oh pls a straight submissive brat guy that likes to be tied up 

what a joke

Lix

heYi tOLd you, the test sucKs

jinnie

ok gn i have to wake up early

Lix

 okay, gn :)

Felix took a deep breath and placed his phone down on the brown wooden desk, he clicked out of the sites he was on before closing his laptop. He gets up from the cushion seat and walks over to the bed, laying down as he throws the white blankets over himself. Thank god it wasn't as hot as it was in Australia, he loves the weather here and he wouldn't go back to Australia to stay, if he could. 

Honestly, he wouldn't be lying if he said he actually slept like a baby in a matter of seconds. 

----- 

“Hey hyunjin, what are you up to?” The blonde-brown haired male looked up from his seat, locking eyes with the dandy boy standing next to him. The oldest of the two shrugged and  the latter sat next to him, turning to face him. “You know,” he starts. “The Felix guy seems sketchy to me..” Hyunjin raises an eyebrow up and leans back against the hard chair. The air around them turned stiff, unbelievably, Hyunjin felt uncomfortable for once.

“How so?” Seungmin shrugs, organizing his thoughts and hyunjin just sat there in confusion. Never had he thought that the younger would show his concern towards him and it made him worry. Seungmin must have eaten something weird. Well, he must have not had a good night's rest because Seungmin really doesn't eat.

“Him owning a retail business doesn't even sound real or make sense.” True. It doesn't make sense that someone like Felix would be able to take over the business, he had no experience but Hyunjin could tell that the freckled boy was very determined. 

“But he does own one so...”

“Yeah, even if he does own a retail business.. Well, I'm surprised that he hasn't gone bankrupt.”

“What do you mean?” Hyunjin asked. Mild concern flooded his thoughts, slightly fidgeting in his seat.

“Almost seems like he's trying to do everything by himself. And that my friend, is a big no no. He is going to go through a crisis.” Hyunjin rolled his eyes at Seungmin's comment. Part of him is tired of hearing his best friend's ‘nonsense’, but at the same time, part of him was really concerned for the aussie boy. He really wanted to help out felix in a way. He really did.

“Well then, should we help him?” The youngest of the two shakes his head. Hyunjin sighs and taps the grey table with his fingertips. They were in the cafeteria, it was raining non stop outside, it just wasn’t ideal to be eating outside in the rain. Obviously, it would ruin one's meal. He noticed how seungmin gave him more attention than before. Maybe he is sceptical about Felix but that's okay, Hyunjin was very skeptical about him at first too.

"Since when did Felix interest you? Seems like you really want him to succeed.'" Seungmin shrugged at the comment and didn't reply back. Hyunjin took this as an opportunity to tease the younger male. "Are you perhaps a gold digger? I see you seungmin," Hyunjin cooed as he twirled a strand of hair around his finger. 

"Shut up, I-i have no interest him. I'm just saying that you should stop distracting him with your texts, you're always on your phone." Hyunjin stops his actions and looks at a blushing seungmin straight into the eye. The taller male felt pain in his chest... maybe Seungmin, his best friend felt neglected.

------------

“Oh my! Jisung I told you to stop putting that emo makeup on, your blue hair already makes you look emo.”

“Why?”

“You’re scaring the customers away, duh!" Felix exasperates as he pushes Jisung away from the check-out counter. "I'm cashier today." Jisung deadpans and then shrugs, happily hopping to the other side of the counter. 

"I guess I should wear emo make-up from now on," he cooes. Felix only rolls his eyes, sighing before banging his head on the hard wood counter. 

"Why don't you just go to school Jisung," Felix said in a stiff tone as if he was trying to hide the fact that he was in pain from banging his table against the table. Jisung snorts at the younger male and brings his hand up against the Aussie's forehead, soothingly rubbing circles. 

"Bruh, why go to a place that gives you no paycheck? I have this place that gives me enough money to buy myself some robux." Felix snorted at Jisung's answer but supposes he was right in a way. It's just better to work for money.

Felix slaps Jisung's hands away from his forehead, dismissing their conversation before sitting on the very uncomfortable chair behind the counter, opening his laptop which had supreme stickers plastered all over it. He scanned through his emails, looking for replies from companies that were willing to help advertise his fish store. With no luck, he sighs and looks over at Jisung who was walking away towards the aquatic plant section, pouring in a small dose of fertilizer before checking on the display tank of their store. 

The display tank was obviously different from the other tanks as it is meant to attract people. It was probably the biggest tank in the store. The display tank sat by the entrance, it was heavily planted with a dense carpet of dwarf hairgrass, a large piece of spiderwood that had marimo moss balls attached to it, creating a 'mini tree' that intrigued most of their customers. It also included many crypts, ludwigia, and other high demanding plants that he had kept alive for many years. It housed many schooling fish like tetras, guppies and many more colorful fish that were fun to watch. 

He watches Jisung throw in a few tropical flakes, his eyes twinkling at the sight of the fish eating. At first, Felix never understood why Jisung was fascinated every time the fish ate but now he knows why. The freckled boy smiles proudly before he's interrupted by a customer who had been staring at him with a concerned look. 

"Head over heels over that young lad over there?" Felix blinks and shakes his head. 

"I'm straight sir," Felix answers. His cheeks flush a dark shade of pink with embarrassment. The short man in front of him smirks and places a few bottles of medication which seemed to be used for a quarantine tank, obviously. "Oi Jisung, this is Felix right?" Felix raises an eyebrow as he looks over at a surprised Jisung. 

"Changbin? Didn't know you decided to come… You should have brought Hyunjin over!" Jisung exclaims as he walks up to the pair. Felix supposes this is Changbin from the chat Jisung created and sighs. He should have brought Hyunjin- not that he wanted to see him. He doesn't want to talk to Hyunjin face to face quite yet. 

"Yeah bro, Felix is actually cute. Can see how Hyunjin thought he was a catfish. Better watch out Jisung, Felix loves eye fucking you." Felix huffs at the comment and blushes. 

"Woah Felix, you're into me? I guess my makeup does attract men," Jisung says with an exaggerated sigh at the end. Felix rolls his eyes and starts scanning the items Changbin had picked out. He's not sure if Changbin is here to just buy the items for the store's benefit or his own. Maybe both?

"Am not. I was just watching how ugly you looked when you were staring at the fish in the display tank." Jisung gasps and looks over at Changbin. 

"Hyung, beat that noodle ass boy up." Changbin scoffs and playfully punches Jisung's arms.

"I just did." Felix snorts at the duo and puts the items in a bag, telling Changbin how much he would have to pay. 

"Why is everyone bullying me!" Jisung whines and sulkingly walks back to the display tank. Felix only shrugs, knowing that Jisung will be okay because he really does not take things personally. Plus, bickering is his favorite thing to do. A hobby? You could say that. 

"He's gonna file a butthurt report on us," Changbin says as he takes his black leather wallet out. Taking out a few paper bills out and placing it on the counter, making eye contact with the blonde boy. "Keep the cash." The older male shoves his wallet back into his pocket, starting to walk out of the store. Felix watched in amusement. Changbin was probably a loser that wanted to act cool in front of strangers. But other than that, Changbin seemed like someone Felix would connect to, quickly. "Also," the short boy started. Felix raised an eyebrow up as he waited Changbin to finish off his sentence. "Hurt Hyunjin and I will chop your small dick off."

"Hurt Felix and his small dick, and I'll cut yours and Hyunjin's off!" Jisung threatened as he walked up to changbin, giggling as he pushed him and the medicines out of the door. Felix blinks and notices the confused stares the customers and employees were giving them. He quickly bowed and apologized, then they went on with their business. 

He would threaten Jisung but he had a long line to take care of...

First of all, Felix did not have a small dick, it was pretty average sized. Changbin was cool but he hated how he made him feel embarrassed in front of his customers and employees. People probably wonder how a small kid like him with no experience could even take over the business. Why would his parents want him to take over the business anyways? 

"You seem pretty stressed," one of his customers had said. Felix looked up and gave him a soft smile, shaking his head as he turned his attention back to the items the old man was placing on the counter. "A young boy like you should be living the time of his life, hanging around with girls, ya know?" The man chuckles, and Felix can't help but smile brightly. 

"Oh sir, you're definitely right." Felix swears he could hear Jisung cackling from the other side of the store. The old man only laughs at the Freckled boy’s response and pulls out his debit card, swiping it in between the gap in the little machine, tapping the small screen. 

“Maybe I should introduce my daughter to you, you’re pretty hardworking,” he says fondly. Of course, all Felix does is nod in response. Felix understood why Jisung hated being cashier, but he didn’t feel bad for the older male at all. 

“Thanks for thinking so kindly of me. Have a nice day sir!” Felix says with a simple act of happiness in his tone. The old man nodded and went his way, and again Felix had to go through hell. Angry customers barking at him for the unfair prices, and mostly because the stock of most fishes were low. There were also customers that would hit on him, calling him pet names, and use dumb pick up lines, but that was okay. It was kind of entertaining in a way. Jisung however, was awfully quiet maybe because he couldn’t complain about being cashier anymore. 

Time went by fast and now they were closing the store right after checking all their tanks. Felix and Jisung sat by the counter, right across each other as they were eating some ramen, scrolling through the laptop. “Looks like one of our shipments are coming in,” Jisung mumbled, mouth full of hot noodles, the younger male could only look at him in disgust and kick his shin from under the table. 

“Gross.” Jisung huffs and gives his full attention to the food he was eating. “Is the shipment already here?” Jisung shakes his head and shoves the laptop towards Felix. Okay but that was cute, Jisung with stuffed cheeks, pushing the grey laptop towards Felix in the most adorable way ever. The aussie boy almost tears up. Snapping out of his horrendous thoughts, he scans over the email and notes that the shipment should arrive tomorrow at 1 pm. "Oh okay, I guess the shipment will be here by one, in the afternoon, tomorrow." The blue haired boy nods and continues eating like that little rodent called a squirrel.   

"Hey baby Lix," Jisung had said after he swallowed all his food, surprisingly not choking on his food. 

"I'm literally a day younger than you, what are you saying bro," Felix whines as he shuts the laptop off, closing it before pushing it to the side. 

Jisung scoffs and rolls his eyes, "okay whatever. I'm still older! Anyways, I'm seriously thinking about getting a tongue piercing. What do you think?" Jisung would definitely look hot with a tongue piercing, but it would probably hurt a lot, right? The tongue is supposedly very sensitive so… If Jisung wants to go through the pain then, alright. 

"You'd look hot Jisung, go for it."

"Wow wait- really?? You wouldn't get mad at me for getting one!?" Jisung squeaked, surprised and very excited. The aussie boy giggles and nods at his best friends outburst.

"Duh, I'm not your mom, Sungie."

"Yeah but you threaten to fire me for wearing emo clothes and shit… Like, that's nothing compared to a tongue piercing! I'm so happy, i could just kiss you. No homo though, I know you're straight for that man's daughter." Felix laughs and contemplates on what would have happened if he totally discouraged Jisung from getting a piercing. 

"You know, I'm not into people I don't know." Jisung coughs, not for reals but in that way when you're trying to make fun of someone. 

"Um yeah sure, you've only known Hyunjin for like a week and you guys are already on each other. I wonder if you guys have cyber sex, like roleplaying and stuff…"

"I bet you do that with whatever person you find online. Hyunjin and I are nothing but friends, freak off Janett." Huffing, Jisung gets up and throws his trash into the grey trash can that sat by the entrance, soon walking back to the blonde boy. 

"Guess I gave it off. I've had cyber sex with Hyunjin, he was a nice sub, just sayin," Jisung sing songs as he sits back on the stool. 

"You're lying," felix deadpans. 

"I am. Alrighty, i have to meet up with Minho hyung. See you at the dance studio later, if you're planning to come that is…" Jisung says, voice dying off as if he was about to space out,  but he didn't. Quickly, he got up and ran out of the store. The aussie boy looking through the glass panes, he hopped into a very familiar car and went on his way. And again, Felix was left alone to walk home. 

Sighing, Felix took out his iphone from his pocket, tapping the screen as how much times it took to make it into Hyunjin's conversation.  

Lix

 hey,  i won't be able to come tonight, sorry :(

Hyunjin: awh okay i thought you would make time for tonight since i told you pretty early…. 

Lix

 I have a date with my gf 

Jinnie

 you have a gf?

 she's your top priority so um

show her a nice time yk

 have fun

i gtg 

Lix

okay you too bye

Felix mentally slaps himself for just creating the biggest lie on earth. But… it was for the better, right? Sure, he was probably being selfish… Fear was all the freckled boy had keeping him caged, fear that he would become too attached to him. Felix didn't want that to affect his career, his business. 

Sighing, the aussie boy gets up, cleaning up the mess before grabbing his stuff, turning off the lights before closing the store down completely after he walked out. 

The light breeze ran past him, slightly ruffling his hair in the process. It was chilly, and very dark that he had to use his phone's flashlight. Everything about it spooked Felix and he regrets not taking drivers ed when he had the chance. Even if driving scared him, he knew it would be better than walking out in the dark. As he walked, he heard footsteps following him and he wasn't ready to die right now, he bolted and he could hear the footsteps become quicker, louder. Yup, Felix was gonna die if he didn't run fast enough. Losing his balance, he tripped over a rock, he fell on the floor and put his hands up in defense as a tiny whimper escaped his throat, tears threatening to come out.

"Oh my god Lix, I'm sorry. I didn't know I'd scare you that much…" a familiar voice said as the man knelt down, looking into Felix's eyes with worry. 

"M-minho?" Felix stuttered as hiccups filled his throat, vision a bit blurry and the darkness isn't helping him one bit.

"Yeah, it's me babe. Did you get hurt? I'm sorry baby." Felix huffs  and pulls minho into a hug, hiding his face into the dancer's shirt.

"I'm okay… let's just go home." Minho nods and they pull apart from the hug, minho picking felix up bridal style as he walked back to where he parked the car.

"I knew you would be scared to walk home. I wanted to scare you more but I didn't think you'd end up crying-"

"Shut up. I would never cry," Felix said as he let out an exaggerated sigh. Clinging onto minho as if his whole life depended on it, he wasn't sure if he should be mad or happy about this whole situation. The thought of Minho coming out of his way to pick his roommate up was sweet. But him admitting his true intentions was just… not it.

"Okay but I personally think that all this stress only makes you sensitive as fuck so, I'm taking you to the studio and that's it." 

"Don't tell anyone about this…" Minho stopped his tracks and looked down at felix, looking at him in the eye with a smirk plastered across his face. Opening the car door, minho placed Felix on his seat before leaning in. “Fucking minho, I'm gonna-”

"I won't tell anyone. Looks like you're not complaining about going though." Minho buckled Felix in, ruffling his hair before closing the door, making it to the other side. 

"wait what- I'm not going hyung! You literally just killed my knee earlier,” Felix whispered, looking to the side. Minho slid into his side of the car, turning the engine on before driving off, keeping focused, his eyebrows knitting together, struggling to see the road ahead, no one really seemed to be out which was weird in a way. Then it occured to Felix that Jisung was supposed to be with Minho, and he was not. “Where’s Jisung? I thought you came to pick him up. If you were going to pick me up too, why would you waste gas?-”

“Felix, what in the world are you talking about?” Felix turned to face Minho with confusion, and almost immediately Minho stopped the car, causing Felix to hit his head against the dashboard, groaning. “Are you saying that he got into a random car?”

“If it wasn’t yours, then yes!” Felix said, straightening his back against the seat, bringing his right hand up to his forehead to massage it in a soothing way.

“Hold on, let me call him,” Minho said with a shaky tone, taking his phone out before tapping his screen, hearing the faint sound of ringing. The scorpio male made it seem worse than it needed to be… Genuinely, he seemed worried, and it was obvious that Minho always looked after him. It made Felix feel lonely, just a bit… maybe. Or maybe he had an incident with Jisung before. He did not want to overthink it. 

It didn't take long enough until Jisung finally answered. "Yo, what's up hyung?" 

"Jisung- Where are you? Felix told me you-"

"I- Look… I'm fine, just called an uber to take me home."

"Why did you lie about that?" Felix asked, taking the phone as Minho started to drive away, looking a bit flustered. 

"Felix! Well uh… I'm working on something really important. Sorry for lying." Felix huffed and clicked his tongue. 

"Say sorry to hyung, you made him shake-

"Jisung! Why are you even calling ubers? That shit ain't 100% safe-"

"Awh look, Minho hyung is so caring," jisung cooed. With annoyance, Minho took the phone back and ended the call before he started pulling up into a lit building which Felix guesses is the dance studio. With amusement, Felix watches the older male struggling to park, wanting to ask him how he got a driver's license but he chose not to open his mouth. They get out of the car and Felix looks over at Minho, biting his lower lip because he knows Hyunjin is in there and the freckled boy is not ready yet. 

"You seem nervous," Minho commented as they got into the building, smiling softly at the younger and Felix is once again reminded why he had a crush on the older male. Minho was so caring, funny, and random even if he didn't seem like it.

"Yeah, just haven't danced in a while." Felix blushes, nervous that he might not be as good as he was back then. But that was not the whole reason to why he was nervous. “But you seemed more nervous when you found out the squirrel went missing.”

Minho ceases ambulating and turns to face Felix with a flustered face. "Look, the thing with Jisung is that, he gets into the wrong cars. It doesn't seem serious to much but it's concerning and I don't want anything lamentable to happen to him." Felix nods, taking note of the earnestness in Minho's voice. If he was marginally more proximate with him, he'd be teasing him but he opts not to. It's probably the best decision right now.

They get into a room, Felix looked around and saw… no hyunjin? He wasn't sure whether he should feel sad or happy. 

"Hyunjin isn't here lover boy. He called in sick," Changbin said with a grin plastered across his face and Felix looked at him confused. If anything, Felix was sure Hyunjin would never miss dancing for anything. That's what he had told him once. "Anyways, show us how good you are fishy boy." The freckled boy squeaked and shook his head, suddenly growing shy, cheeks tinting a hue of pink. Minho noticed the younger's behavior and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him close to calm him down. And Felix wasn't sure why he was getting anxiety but he was. And he wasn't sure why Minho was being comforting but he loved it.

"Wow Changbin. Let him get comfortable first, this isn't an audition." 

--

Honestly, Felix had more fun than he originally thought he was going to have. Everyone was so nice and Changbin didn't exactly turn out to be a mean turd, he had a cute and cheerful personality. But still, he couldn't find the courage to dance. He was scared that his moves weren't going to be as smooth anymore and the thought of just getting judging stares from people who can dance well is just nerve wracking. 

Although he decided not to dance, he really enjoyed watching the others dance, all of them learning a routine. He really wanted to be a part of it. Sighing, Felix pulls his phone out and decides to text Hyunjin, even if it was pretty late.

Lix

im at the dance studio

where are you

jinnie

something came up.

Lix

like what?

jinnie

i got a fever

Lix

mhm ik sure

jinnie

 i thought you had a date with your gf tho-

Lix

 ok i LIED abt having a gf,, idk why im sorry

jinnie

hmph 

 cant believe you lied to me 

Lix

 i said im sorry

jinnie

 ill only accept your apology if you meet up with me next week, at a restaurant 

Lix

 wait- just us? Is this a date?

jinnie

 uh idk just pls,, and yes, it's just us :)

Lix

when next week? 

jinnie

 friday or whenever you want yk

Lix

um,,, yes but can i bring jisung with me,,,

jinnie

why ?👺

are you scared? Shy? 

Lix

 im just,,

 hmph iM not shY,,

yK what,, i don't need that emo boy with me anywayd

jinnie

 ok good :))

not that i wouldn't have minded his company

Lix

you secretly hate him😳

jinnie

eye- nO

Lix

yes u do,,

jinnie

why would i? 

Lix

because he's my best friend and he's with me almost all day 🤡🥄

jinnie

um yeah sure. Go to sleep, you must be tired 

Lix

 um yeah says the one who has a fever. I'd sleep if I wasn't in the dancE srudIo tyvm 

jinnie

oK gN. You should send me the address of the place you work at so I can pick you up next Friday

Lix

gn rat I'll send it to you Thursday night

“Hey Hyung, are you texting Hyunjin hyung?” Felix turns to meet eyes with the cute boy who was just… absolutely the cutest! 

“Hey innie! Yeah, I am… or was,” Felix said as he smiled softly at the younger, reaching up to ruffle his hair in the process. 

“ah cool… are these real?” Felix blinked before he could process what Jeongin meant by poking his cheeks. 

“My freckles?” Felix asked, he forgot to put on his make up today and the weird thing is that no one brought it up. Not even Jisung, who usually talks and touches his freckles when he has the chance. 

“Yeah.”

“They are real, I guess i forgot to put on some make up to cover them.” 

Jeongin furrows his eyebrows, visually examining the older with a doleful smile. "You know," he commences. "I think you should appreciate the things that are most rare. And learn to dote them, no matter what people think of it because it's a gift! I love your freckles, don't be ashamed of them." And that's when Felix smiles the brightest he's ever smiled today because Jeongin seemed so sincere and it genuinely contacted his heart spiritually.

“Thank you so much…” Felix whispers shyly, playing with his fingers nervously. He's not sure if he should go out with his freckles but maybe he should try, it might help him be more confident about it. 

“So why don't you like showing them? You don't have to answer if you don't want to.” 

“Nah, it's okay. I just got bullied and picked on back in Australia. People called me a wannabe white and sometimes I got beat up for it, but it wasn't anything serious.” 

“Wow, that sucks. Getting picked on something that you can't physically control...” Felix nods and yawns, laying on the floor and placing his head on the younger’s thighs. Jeongin only smiled and ran his fingers through Felix's hair, making him soon fall asleep while it didn't seem like the others weren't planning on leaving soon.