game over | lee felix | ✔

38

Act normal, Minjae. Act normal.

That's what I keep telling myself as I walk over the school grounds, fighting the urge to run like a madman. Still, I can't manage to keep the bounce out of my step and the wide grin on my face isn't really helping either.

It's obvious that some students are staring at me when I approach the school building but honestly, I couldn't care less. It's been weeks since I've felt this happy and a few weird looks aren't stopping me now.

I feel like I'm floating, now that nearly all the weight of worries is lifted from my shoulders. All the mysteries are unraveled, Felix knows the truth and we agreed on slowly accepting each other again. Sure, we still have a lot of talking to do and it's naive to hope that everything will return back to normal as if nothing ever happened. I'm not expecting that; I'm just really glad that he's willing to work on it again.

The only worries I have left are for Felix, how he's going to get out of this. I saw him breaking down after hearing the recorder and even though he seemed to be relatively fine after that, I can't help but worry about how he is now. But I also know there's nothing I can do; he said that he needed some time alone and I'm going to respect that.

When I enter the main building, I waste no time to get to the cafeteria. Of course I'm going to tell Minho as soon as possible. He deserves to know it as much as I do and even if that wasn't the case, there's no way I can keep this for myself while I'm basically exploding of happiness at this point.

To my surprise, I see him leaning against the doorpost of the cafeteria entrance, munching on a sandwich while glancing around the area with a bored expression. His head snaps up when his eyes find me in the crowd, relief washes over his features when I smile widely, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Please tell me that your smile means good news," Minho greets me, almost pleading.

I give him a confused look, lightly tilting my head. "A smile usually means good news, Minho. Don't worry. I am not this good at faking convincing smiles."

"So it went well?" the older asks, and I nod.

"It went okay, I guess?" I reply, smiling wryly as I imagine Felix' pained expression again. "Of course, he was shocked and surprised and I think he had a little breakdown after hearing the recording-"

"Wait, what recording?" the older questions, giving me a confused look.

Oh, of course. I never told Minho about the plan.

"I might have provoked Jangmi a little to make her say the truth so I had it on record," I hastily reply, leaving out the details about all the risks I took while doing that. It all turned out exactly the way I wanted so he doesn't have to know, right? He'll probably murder me for taking such a huge risk.

Minho gives me a doubtful look but he shrugs it off, causing a relieved smile to wash over my face.

That smile quickly turns into a brighter one. "We're both willing to fix everything again. I think we might get our best friend back soon, Minho."

The raven-haired breathes out a laugh and I swear I can literally see the stress leaving his body all at once. Facing downwards, he pushes his hair back a little while shaking his head, as if he can't believe that it's finally happening.

When he looks up again, he narrows his eyes at me, an amused glint in them.

"Our best friend? Suddenly, you aren't worried about friendzoning him anymore?"

I feel my cheeks flush with embarrassment, remembering how I basically confessed to Minho that I have more-than-friends feelings for Felix in the heat of the moment. So I quickly avert my gaze and mutter, "look who's talking, it takes you and Jisung forever, too."

"T-That's different!" Minho quickly counters.

"I was just joking," I chuckle, satisfied with my comeback. "Anyway, Felix went home for today because he needed some alone time, which is absolutely understandable. Don't worry, I think he'll talk to you soon."

The older just mutters something under his breath, quickly stuffing his mouth with a bite of his sandwich. I give him a curious look, did my comment really make him that flustered? Well, that's new, I guess?

"Where's Jangmi?" I ask a moment later, suddenly reminding the girl. I glance around, as if I'm really expecting to see her chilling around somewhere in front of the cafeteria. Of course, I don't see her and suddenly, I'm worried that she might be visiting Felix at his home or something else to bother the poor boy.

"I don't know," Minho shrugs, closing his lunch box and stuffing it back into his bag. "Changbin and I managed to keep her here for a while but she suddenly started to scream and ran off. I heard someone saying that a janitor sent her to the principal but I don't know whether it's true or not."

"Sweet," I comment, the idea of Jangmi making a fool out of herself awfully pleasing.

It remains silent for a while and I can only guess we're both enjoying the moment in which all our worries and all the drama slowly glides off us, just like rain glides off an umbrella. It's finally over, huh? Whatever the future is going to bring, at least Felix knows the truth about Jangmi now and I can only hope for the best, which is the friendship between the three of us being restored again.

Automatically, my mind wanders back to the remark Minho made earlier, about friendzoning Felix. Honestly, that is the least of my concerns now. I can live with those feelings, they aren't that important. What comes first is to restore everything that's broken and I know confessing so soon is out of the place and completely unasked for -if I'm ever going to do it at all, maybe I'll just keep them for myself forever.

No, at this point, it's about Felix and his wellbeing.

"You know, I suddenly begin to understand why Felix is so fond of those fortnite dances," Minho remarks out of the blue, mindlessly glancing at a group of loud freshman passing by. "I mean, I suddenly feel the urge to do a happy dance or something, out of pure relief. You get me?"

I just stare at my friend, completely dumbfounded before I heave out a sigh. Can I blame him? Not really. Do I want to see him dancing Orange Justice in the middle of the hallways? No, not really, either. Somehow, Minho and fortnite don't match well in my head and I'd like to keep it that way.

"Yeah, okay. I think it's about time for me to go to class now," I mumble, earning a chuckle from the older.

"I guess you're right," Minho admits, flinging his bag over his shoulder. "If I was a cuddly person, I would've hugged you right now because it's been a while since I've been this happy. But I'll see you around."

"That makes no sense, Minho," I snort. "See you later."

"Life isn't meant to make sense, princess," the older counters, shooting me a wink before walking off.

I can't help but chuckle. Everything is really going back to normal, isn't it? Now we just need Felix to join us again and it will be exactly like it was before. Just the idea of that makes me happy and I almost skip to my next class. It's finally going up again, and no one can drag us down anymore.

Later, during class, I see Jangmi sitting a few rows in front of me. Even though I can't see her face, I can tell that she's quite worked up and tired, exasperated even. Usually, I'm not that mean but this time, I can't say that she doesn't deserve this. Naturally, a small smile creeps up my face. One that I quickly hide behind my hand as the girl turns around in her seat.

I can't help but sing a little victory song in my head as I see her defeated expression.

When I use my phone to check the time, I see a notification that makes my heart jump. It's a message from my texting app, informing me that Felix unblocked me. I can't help but smile widely after stuffing my phone back in my pocket, earning a strange look from my history teacher.

There's finally a real light at the end of the tunnel and we're about to reach the exit, leaving all the darkness behind.

--

Sorry, just a short chapter that lacks inspiration lol