Secret || Chanlix

Chapter fourteen.

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The next morning, after Chan had supposedly explained the situation to the members and our manager (while I snoozed, of course), everyone was walking on eggshells around me.

Changbin had woken me up with gentle pokes instead of letting Jisung jump on me and scream like he usually did. Jeongin had offered to help me get dressed, which - although sweet - I politely declined. Even Minho had shovelled mouthful after mouthful of breakfast into my mouth, despite me saying I wasn't hungry.

It was odd and slightly awkward, but I appreciated their kind gestures.

We were currently on our way to a park in Strathfield with Berry, who Chan had insisted on stealing for the day. I had taken the opportunity to bandage my chest unnecessarily tight and wear a not-so-loose button up shirt since I knew I wouldn't be able to bind like I usually did after the whole lung draining thing. Speaking of which, that was scheduled for later in the day, but I was doing my best to avoid thinking about it. I just wanted to have one normal day without worrying about every tiny little detail I could think of.

When we finally reached the park, a wave of sudden nausea washed over me. My sisters and I used to go there all the time when we were little...

"Oi Felix! Wanna race me down the slide?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and forced a grin at Jeongin, sucking in a deep breath. Just one day. Don't worry about anything. "Don't sound so confident, yongster, I eat cheat codes for breakfast!"

"Lies! I fed you porridge!"

"Shut up, Minho hyung!"

"Ahh! Stop running, Felix! You're not meant to be exercising!"

--

We spent at least two hours acting like nine year olds on crack on the equipment before Chan eventually herded us onto the grass beside the playground and pulled out a few picnic blankets. Everyone seemed to forget to be gentle with my poor fragile self, excluding me because holy shit was it hard to breathe-

"Okay kids, who wants to hold Berry while I set up the blankets?" Chan's voice was muffled in the doggo's fur as she clung to him happily. Instantly, my eyes lit up.

"I volunteer as tribute!"

"Me! I do!"

Jisung's voice overlapped with mine, making us both spin to face each other with horrified expressions on our faces. We stared at each other for a second in pure mortification, unable to comprehend the audacity of one another.

"Fiend!" My voice cracked embarrassingly as I screamed and leapt to my feet in order to strangle my almost-twin, the pitch reaching one far too feminine. It sounded like my voice before I went on testosterone - which I didn't take anymore, since I didn't trust any pharmacists in Korea to not spread rumours or anything if I were to try to get a prescription for it.

Before I could even reach Jisung though, there was a sudden voice behind me that made me freeze.

"F-Faith?"

Instantly, fear crawled through my bones. It stuck my feet to the ground as if I had cement surrounding me. I suddenly couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything.

"Faith, i-is that you?" The same trembling voice asked again. I heard the words drift into my ears, but the language sounded foreign. I wish I had just forgotten her voice. I wish she had forgotten me.

My legs were shaking with a silent warning that they were on the verge of collapsing under me as I slowly forced my body to turn around. My eyes found Rachael's.