Fair & Square (j. hs fanfic)

✎6: honour & honesty

I make my way over to mine, which - much to my utter dismay - is a few lockers way from none other than Lee Felix's. With all the craziness that has been going on since the whole bet thing with Hoseok, I've sort of forgotten the whole breakup-explanation thing that he tried to pull on Saturday.

Which means that I haven't really figured out how I feel about what he said. Or what he insinuated either. And I don't really want to, not today, at least.

"So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Rosé asks, following me to my destination. "Mind keeping me company while I do homework?"

That's what Rosé and I usually do at least once a week; chill at my house or her house and do homework. Well, she does hers and I just doodle on mine. And as lovely as that sounds on this boring Monday, I don't think I could afford to waste the presumably precious time I have left to fulfill this damn bet.

But before I can politely decline my friend's awesome offer, someone behind me clears their throat, clearly wanting my attention or something.

Rosé peaks behind me, and her eyes immediately go wide. I can tell who it is by her expression alone.

"Uhm, hey guys," says my ex-boyfriend, voice characteristically deep as always. "Can I talk to you you please, Kinsley?"

I turn around, almost in slow motion, not really wanting to look him in the face right now. I mean, clearly nothing good comes from a post-breakup conversation with him, right?

"Felix, hey," I say, giving him a tight-lipped smile. From the corner of my eye, I can see that poor Rosie wants to dip, but I grip her arm and keep her in place before she can act out on her plan.

I learnt my lesson; I'm never speaking to Felix alone in my life ever again.

"So, uhm" he begins, tucking a loose strand of his long hair behind his ear. His freckles stand out now more than ever, and once more, I refuse to admit how cute they look. "That was some party on Saturday, huh?"

"Yeah, it was... something," I reply, trying to sound nonchalant. But deep down, I'm mentally making eye contact with the camera filming my own personal sitcom.

Rosé looks at the roof, probably trying to find something to interest her while this whole conversation is going down. Felix shifts awkwardly from one foot to the other. "Look, Kinsley, about what I said, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," I find myself blurting out before I can even think about it. "It's cool."

Felix looks at me with a look of wonder and scepticism. Ha, he wasn't expecting that response, was he? Well, neither was I, so yeah. He can do with that information what he wants to.

"Right, cool," Felix says, still looking slightly baffled. He fiddles with his hands before looking up at me again. "I just wanted to make sure there are no hard feelings."

I manage a small nod, resisting the urge to lower my gaze to the floor. "No hard feelings, Felix," I repeat, feeling a lot of the hard feelings resurface from Saturday. "No drama, because you're allergic, remember?"

We both offer a dry laugh to my comment, and I honestly just want to pass out from the weirdness of it. Rosé, sensing the awkwardness, decides to contribute her own line. "Well, I've got that homework to do, so I'll leave you two to your... whatever this is."

I grip her arm a little tighter, hissing for her to stay under my breath. She still manages to break free, sending sympathetic air kisses my way as she executes her escape. Seeing as my other friends have lockers on the other side of the school, there's no way someone else will come to my rescue anytime soon, either.