The Marriage Pact // Changlix

二

I decided to continue this story despite Felix's elimination, I hope he'll come back to join stray kids along with Minho soon. Thank you to everyone for the support so far and I hope the angst doesnt hit you too hard in this chapter. It doesn't seem like a changlix fic right now but I swear, it'll get happier and better in the next few chaps!

一

That year without Changbin passed by in a blur. Everything seemed almost duller without him around. Felix had grew closer to his classmate from Geography class but Jisung could never replace Changbin.

There were moments where Felix would accidentally say Changbin's name before stopping himself, or brought up an old inside joke concerning Changbin around Jisung and wonder why Jisung wasn't laughing before it dawned on him harshly.

"You're still not over him aren't you? We're graduating soon and you're still dwelling on that guy?" Jisung once asked when they were in class.

His words stung, but Felix kept silent. He didn't know how to explain the bond he felt with Changbin. As he was jotting down notes the teacher was saying, the ink coming out of his pen started to fade and eventually stopped flowing.

How ironic. He felt exactly like that pen which ran out of ink - empty and useless without Changbin.

That night, Felix climbed into bed with a heavy heart. He unlocked his phone, scrolling through and ignoring all the messages from aquaintences that have been accumulating from months of not opening them. Eventually he found what he was searching for and his finger hovered over a particular name.

chang(trash)bin🐥💓

Felix could never bear with deleting Changbin's number, nor their texts. Now with Changbin moving away and refusing to give Felix his new Japan number despite Felix promising numerous times he wouldn't use it to contact him (Changbin knew he would), deleting Changbin's old number would be painful. Like losing the only connection to Changbin Felix had anymore.

He had the urge to re-read all their texts from the beginning of which Felix first texted Changbin, "Hey! Felix here, I got your number from Chan and I was wondering if you could tutor me on Biology" (Felix was using it as an excuse to talk to the elder and grow closer to him) to his last message to him, "I miss you so much, you have no idea" (The entire month after Changbin left, Felix kept texting Changbin's old number, despite knowing Changbin wasn't going to see them).

However, Felix sighed and moved his finger to press the off button on the side of his phone instead, laying his head down and closing his eyes. He would often have these episodes where he would feel extremely down in the dumps when thinking about his old boyfriend.

But at least he wasn't as bad as before. He used to lock himself up in his room and refuse meals. On the rare occasion where he did go to school, he would ignore everyone. His music playlist became infested with slow sad songs or ballads, usually about heartbreak.

Recently with the help of Jisung taking time to talk to him and patiently waiting for him to open up, secretly deleting the sad songs one by one and replacing them with more upbeat ones, and just being a good shoulder to lean on, a small part of Felix learnt how to move on and be happier. But only by a fraction.

Jisung had indeed helped Felix overcome this unscalable wall of heartbreak and depression by providing him with stepping stones, bringing him a little closer to acceptance little by little.

And Felix couldn't thank Jisung enough for being such a sincere and great friend, but he knew Jisung wouldn't be able to help him completely. He would have to overcome a big portion of it himself. It was going to be hard and would take a lot of time.

When Saturday came, Jisung invited Felix to study with his other friend at the library.

"It's just going to be me, you, and Seungmin. Finals are starting on Monday and we best study as much as we can this weekend. Seungmin's really good at History, he can help us, and he's a pretty chill guy so you don't have to worry."

To Jisung's surprise, Felix agreed. This one study date was the beginning of many others to come, and the three became good friends by the time graduation arrived.

一

"I cant believe we're free. No more school, no more studying, no more homework!" Seungmin half yelled above the noise.

Everyone was ecstatic. The entire cafe was filled up with graduated students chattering excitedly. The stress from finals had finally dissipated and everyone was spending their time happily with friends.

Felix, Jisung, and Seungmin were seated at a round table near the window, enjoying the cafe food and their freedom.

Felix was in a better state now. Without the nervous stress breakdowns from exams alleviating his anxiety and triggering his depressive thoughts of his ex, Felix thought that he was finally a few steps closer to moving on.

Graduating is a big step towards the end of a year but the beginning of a lifetime. A new year means new beginnings. No more dwelling on the past and feeling gloomy. Felix was certain next year was going to be his year.

Suddenly, a female voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Hi sorry, may I clear this?"

He glanced up to see a dark haired female, smiling at him, and pointing at his empty plate. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, not hiding any of her facial features, and her name tag read 'Jung Eun'.

She wasn't that pretty or eye catching where all guys would turn to look at her. But she had her own kind of charm in which one smile could light up a room and cause others to smile in turn.

Felix unconsciously grinned back and nodded, "Yeah, thank you!"

Jungeun nodded slightly, her smile unwavering, as she picked up his plate before turning around and walking off.

Felix couldn't help but gaze at her, but quickly averted his eyes when he heard Jisung clear his throat.

"Interesting..." Jisung smirked and Felix started blushing and stammering.

"N-n-no, stop it. Its not... it's not like that." he insisted, trying to defend himself, but Jisung and Seungmin had already burst out into laughter, knowingly smirking at each other.

As the three began blabbering on and on about their holiday plans and all sorts of activities, Felix spent the rest of the day thinking about her smile.