stray kids ; changlix | crash ↺

11 | circles

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"okay mom! okay i'll do it today!" i called back to her as we cross-communicated from the kitchen and my bedroom through harmless raised voices.

felix eyed me funnily, the game controller in his hands as he lay on his stomach on our bed. closing the door behind me, i joined him, my right side completely glued to his left as we didn't do anything for a moment.

i dropped my face down onto the soft surface, deeply sighing as my eyes fluttered close. "what's on your mind?" felix murmured, clicking out of the game as he understood that we'd be up to something different today.

"i really don't like fountains," i muttered.

"did i hear you right, fountains?" the younger boy laughed, turning me around so we were face to face.

"at the beginning of the summer i promised to my mom that i'd fix the fountain in our back garden, the small one with two birds on top of it," i sighed, "but that's so much effort," i whined, snuggling into felix in hopes that i wouldn't need to complete the chore.

he laughed again, "this town sure has an odd thing for fountains," he mumbled softly, pulling me into an embrace as my hands rested on his stomach and his arms linked behind my back.

i really loved moments like these. they were warm, simple and just perfect in their own way. no words had to be said out loud, our presence was enough.

however what tugged my heart and scared me the most, was this undenying attachment to the australian boy. we haven't known each other for long, but spending so much time with each other — felt like we've been together all our lives.

i don't know how many days passed ever since felix arrived, but what i know for sure — is that these days were the best i've ever had.

sometimes we'd stay inside, watching kdrama or playing games. sometimes we'd wonder around town, taking pictures and visiting the local attractions. or sometimes we'd spend the day with the rest of the guys, eating out and simply having fun.

"right, enough lazing around," felix hummed, "as much as i'd love to spend the day like this — you made a promise, so let's go," he leaped up, making me miss his warmth immediately. 

"but—" i whimpered.

"let's go," he beamed and dragged me by my arms.

and that's how we made it outside, with the sun piercing through the cloudless skies and the breeze humming lightly as it walked by. my back garden was an open space of green, with trees at the far end that shaded over an outdoor table and my mother's flower plantations splattered all around. the beige-bricked fountain was standing alone and untouched by the far side.

it was one of those structures with a low circled-wall and a deep empty pit, so when i hopped inside — felix could only see my head.

in the past, it was the greatest spot whenever the guys and i used to play hide and seek as kids. however, most of us used to get stuck inside because neither of us were tall enough to hop back over. except for hyunjin, he was always tall and teased us for it.

i smiled at the memory, recalling the snippets of moments that i shared with the rest. like when jeongin broke his arm when he tried to climb the tree to impress jisung. or when seungmin made us search the whole town to find his grandmother's lost cat. or even when woojin and minho were learning how to drive and almost ran-over chan in the process.

"so how do we fix this?" felix broke my thoughts, sitting on the wall with his legs in a butterfly as his eyes focused on me after observing the dusted ditch.

"well," i pondered, "last time i filtered the drainage, polished the whole thing and connected the water pumps," i gazed up at the fountain's centre to where it built up to a spire of some sort — holding two doves. "we can also try re-install the lights," i suggested as felix stared at the statue.

"where do we start?" he tilted his head.

and for the rest of that whole day, we wired the lights by the walls of the fountain, cleaned the water pipes, and drowned the marble ornaments in soap and sponges — occasionally breaking into a water fight which ended up in me having my hair wet with washing up liquid and felix's clothes were completely soaked. 

so immersed by each other, we never even noticed my mother and the city woman (miss lee jooyun, i remembered her name) having a small lunch by the trees as they talked about gardening and how adorable felix and i were.

at some point i slipped and tumbled onto the base of the fountain, felix immediately running towards me with the most concerned expression before erupting into relieved laughter once he saw that i was alright. he was kneeling beside me, his shirt sticking to his body as he punched me lightly, "yah!" he called out, serious for a moment, "don't do that again, you scared me."

i stuck out my tongue at him, "you scaredy cat," i teased him and then burst into laughter, "get it? scaredy cat, felix the—"

within a split-moment, felix leaned forward and clasped his hand onto my mouth, "don't you dare say it," his voice was low and i forgot anything that i wanted to say as i noticed our proximity.

he moved closer, eyes flickering over the features of my face as his hand slowly fell down to what he thought was the floor.

but really it was the water switch. and so in the next second the two of us were attacked with an extremely cold gush of water, and whatever was about to happen next — disappeared just as fast as the thought of it.

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written: january 14, 2018 | 19:10pm