stray kids ; changlix | crash ↺

06 | times like these

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"so what's the plan?" felix tilted his face in my direction, a smile plastered on his lips as always.

at the sight of him, i almost sighed out of content. but i shook my head, collected my thoughts and began to explain the day instead. "because of the storm, the main town square is a bit wrecked. since it's a small place, people usually volunteer to help and clean up when this happens. my family always sent me until it became a habit since its for a good cause. it's mostly clearing tree branches off paths, or filtering the leaves from the fountains, or just sweeping the sidewalks."

i looked at the younger boy with a small chuckle, while his expression held both surprise and awe at the same time.

"that's such a nice thing to do.." he pondered, "is everyone here so nice?" he laughed.

i shrugged, "well, everyone except for my neighbours that own a cat zoo and a tomato greenhouse."

felix laughed again, a contagious laugh that would get me smiling immediately as we walked side by side.

"we're popping in to get my friend chan first though, he lives down the road from here."

"oh, okay," he continued hopping, jumping on his toes.

"you'll like him, he's from australia too."

felix nodded at that with a grin, and for a moment there was a short silence between us, and surprisingly it was a comfortable one where you could simply hear the rustle of the trees, and felix's light steps and my uneven breathing from him being so close.

chan's house was smaller, since his family didn't sacrifice the building for visitors like mine did every summer. but other than that, it was special in its own kind of way.

we shuffled towards the entrance, and i entered without a second thought because this house was like a second home to me. "yah bang chan!" i called out, knowing his parents weren't home because their car was gone.

with a silence in return, i sighed and felix just blinked. "this town is too trusting for my liking," he commented.

"get used to it," i patted his shoulder and made my way upstairs.

he followed me slowly, as if in a daze from the surroundings, but shyly tugged behind my back (even though he was taller) as i knocked on chan's door that was decorated with a poster of a worm doodle.

i knocked again, but without avail.

"yah bang chan!" i shouted again, pushing the door open as i entered.

chan almost screamed at the sight of me, but instead — he just slipped from out of his swivel chair and fell to the ground.

i sighed, unsurprised.

gaining back his composure, the older boy pulled off his headphones and was on the verge of cursing me out of his room. "changbin!" he exclaimed, breathing out slowly. "was that so necessary, mate?" he pulled his australian accent into the last word.

i shrugged, a typical response of mine when i wasn't bothered to say anything.

"i was so close to finishing this song and you just—" he ranted as he got up, nearing his laptop with adoration and frustration in his eyes.

i passed a look to felix, rolling my eyes about chan's musical dedication.

"did you stay up all night writing again?" i gave out to him, this boy never took his sleeping seriously and constantly overworked himself.

"uhm, yeah?" he wandered for a moment.

i shook my head with a sigh, "okay first things firsts, this is felix by the way, he's staying with me for the summer," i motioned at the younger boy who flushed a smile, "and felix, this is chan, basically korea's future number one producer."

"aish you're making me blush," chan waved me off, and greeted felix with a responsive smile.

"now, as you might not know," i faced chan, "there was a storm last night so pack up and let's go complete our duty as loyal community workers once again."

chan stared at me for a second, "there was a storm?"

i kicked his shins, "how did you not hear it—?!"

"i was busy!" he emphasised each word.

behind me, felix kind of just stood awkwardly, wobbling from foot to foot as he observed chan's room with wonder. his walls were filled with posters of his favourite artists, his digital instruments lying around in a mess, his table a mess of demos and cds. it was homey, and it had chan's feel to it.

"you've got five minutes to get ready," i told the older boy, "me and felix will wait downstairs," i called behind me as the two of us left the room and i dragged felix out by taking his hand into mine.

i didn't realise it until we made it to the bottom of the staircase and i immediately dropped the gesture, "sorry i—" i panicked.

"it's fine," felix chuckled, assuring me with his sunshine-like smiles.

but i continued blushing, rubbing the back of my neck and running a hand through my hair as i remembered how close we were last night. and just how much i liked it.

this boy will be the death of my mental stability.

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written: december 29, 2017 | 01:49am

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