Han Jisung honestly couldn't have cared less about whatever his teacher was droning on and on about, her voice so dull and monotone that it practically lulled him to sleep.
It was a rather regular school day for the boy, and he was currently sat in his first period lecture, passing the time by doodling all over his own hands and wrists. The only source of entertainment in the class came from watching a pretty boy who sat in the front row, a popular kid who Jisung admittedly had somewhat of a crush on.
Not that he'd ever actually talked to him, but a boy can dream.
He glanced at the desk next to himself, empty as usual. Felix had used to sit there in this class, helping Jisung survive first period with his jokes, banter, and passing notes.
He'd always thought Felix's presence was akin to a cup of coffee in the morning; something to brighten your day and keep you sane despite the mundane work forced upon you.
Now that Felix was gone, an empty void occupied the space instead. Jisung gently laid his hand on the chair next to him, gazing down at the unoccupied seat with a sort of melancholy.
"Hey... Jisung?"
A sweet voice grabbed his attention after a while, and the orange haired boy glanced upwards, wondering who'd called for him.
He found himself frozen in place as he realized that the Lee Minho, most gorgeous boy in the class, was standing in front of his desk, hands in his pockets as he waited for Jisung to respond.
"Um, yeah?" was all Jisung could say. He couldn't help but scan over the other boy's features at first, having never seen his high cheekbones and pretty eyes this close before.
"Sorry about Felix," Minho spoke, rocking back and forth on his heels.
"I know how hard it is... losing your best friend..."
Jisung, barely able to breathe from both his confusion and being a little too whipped, just nodded in response.
"Thanks...?" he mumbled, having no idea where the pretty boy was going with this.
"Anyway, if you need someone to sit with, at lunch, or study hall or whatever, I'm here," Minho gave the boy a tiny smile, pointing at himself.
"Just giving you the option!"
Minho gave him a little thumbs up before waltzing back over to his desk across the classroom, leaving Jisung sitting there in complete silence.
Holy shit, if only Felix had been here to see that happen. Jisung had only rambled about how cute Lee Minho was to his best friend about a hundred times, to which Felix had always optimistically ensured Jisung that "it would work out" if he tried.
And yet at the same time, Jisung felt like he could cry tears of joy. Little did Felix know he was still doing Jisung a favor despite not even being there!
He leaned back in his chair, already thinking of how he was going to totally overthink the three second interaction they'd had and rant about it to Chan over text. Not that Chan was any stranger to Jisung's ranting either... he'd been there for the last million crushes Jisung had anyway, and somehow survived through it all.
It felt just a slight bit selfish, but Jisung couldn't help but be a little mad at Felix for the effect his stunt had on Chan. He was honestly tired of having to console a crying Australian everyday, and although he tried his very best, he knew that nothing could truly fix Chan's mood more than knowing Felix was okay.
Of course, Felix was very okay at the moment.
Unbeknownst to Jisung, the freckled boy was currently miles away, sitting at the table in a hotel room, laughing happily at something another person had said.
"Come on," a male voice scolded Felix playfully. "You can't move your Rook like that. It can only go up and down!"
Felix scoffed despite the grin on his face, refocusing on the game board sat on the table between him and the other boy.
The pair had found another cheap motel in a small city a few hours into their drive. They'd decided to stay the night, and quickly discovered that the concierge provided free games and activities for the guests.
So, Hyunjin was currently teaching Felix how to play chess. It was a complete disaster, to put it nicely, and Hyunjin could barely stop giggling long enough to even explain to the younger boy what he was doing so horribly wrong.
The long haired boy stared, wide eyed, as Felix began to attempt moving a different piece.
"No!" he whined, covering his face with a hand as if in agony at the sight. "Bishops only move diagonally! You can't put that there—" he groaned as he saw Felix burst out into laughter, clearly messing with him.
"Yeah, I know. Like this?" Felix said, moving the chess piece across the board and capturing one of Hyunjin's own pieces with it.
Hyunjin stared blankly as he lost the piece, seeing Felix actually start winning the game.
"Hell no," he said, straightening his posture as if to show he was serious now. "No way I'm losing to you, I'm not gonna help anymore."
Felix jokingly pouted at this.
"I thought you wanted me to learn?"
"Stop being better than me first," Hyunjin lamented as he planned out his next move on the board.
The two continued playing for a couple of rounds, Felix decently improving from the other boy's instruction. Truthfully, Hyunjin was way better at the game, but for a first timer, the freckled boy didn't play that badly.
"Checkmate," Hyunjin announced as he cornered Felix's king piece on the board, winning the game.
"Ah, fuck," Felix lightly hit the table in frustration. "I'll win next time! Go again?"
Hyunjin only laughed at this, shaking his head.
"Can't we play Uno or something?" he proposed instead. "Chess reminds me too much of home."
Felix nodded slowly, grabbing a pack of Uno cards from the side as he thought about what Hyunjin had just said.
"Why does it remind you of...?"
"My parents had me join Chess Club when I was younger," Hyunjin explained as he grabbed the deck of cards from Felix, shuffling them.
"They said I had to join a club, and they made me choose between that or book club, so..."
"I thought you liked reading," Felix gently teased as the boy passed him seven cards, counting them out for the game.
"I do now! But back then all I wanted to read was like... fanfiction and shit," Hyunjin admitted, his tone sounding totally embarrassed at the fact.
Felix couldn't help but cackle at this, not expecting him to say that at all. "God, we would've been such good friends in middle school," he commented, looking over his cards.
"Yeah, although I doubt you would've liked my school very much," Hyunjin agreed.
"Why, was there a lot of work or something? Bad teachers?"
Hyunjin only pursed his lips as he thought about how to answer, setting the stack of extra Uno cards in the center of the table.
"Nah... it was a private academy, so... everyone there was kinda snobby."
"Ah," Felix said understandingly. "Rich assholes."
"Hey, wait," Hyunjin lightly laughed. "I was one of them, don't... we weren't all bad."
"That sounds like something a rich asshole would say," Felix blatantly teased the older boy, enjoying Hyunjin squirming to try and defend himself.
"I wasn't the worst of them, okay?" the long haired boy explained anyway. "Some kids literally brought their maids to school to carry around their shit.
I carried my own backpack."
"Wow, you carried your own backpack? Impressive," Felix said with a sarcastic grin, paying more attention to Hyunjin's flustered expression than the card game.
"Felix," the older boy said threateningly, setting his cards face down on the table.
"I changed my mind. No more Uno, we're going to do some sparring," he rolled up his sleeves as he stood, Felix giving a small squeak and backing away in fear.
"Come here, brat," Hyunjin beckoned as Felix got up and dashed across the room towards the door. "Fight me if you dare."
"No!" Felix called back as soon as he saw the elder running after him, a playful yet murderous look in his eyes. "Spare me, I didn't mean it—"
As Felix fumbled with the lock on the door, the other boy caught up to him, easily manhandling Felix and pushing him down onto the nearby couch.
"You're gonna regret messing with me," Hyunjin said as he pinned him down, tickling Felix's sides mercilessly.
"Heyyy, stop," he giggled, swatting at the unrelenting elder.
"Hyunjinnie PLEASE," Felix whined despite a huge grin, weakly hitting the boy on top of him with no intent of hurting him at all.
"Am I 'Hyunjinnie' now?" he teased without stopping the onslaught of tickles. "You cannot use my affection to save yourself. Nice try," he said, the younger boy shaking with laughter beneath him.
"Oh my god," Felix practically wheezed out, trying to pry Hyunjin's hands off of him.
"I'm sorryyy! I give up, pleaseee!"
"You really sorry?" Hyunjin asked with a grin.
"Yes!" Felix nodded hurriedly. "I am!"
"Good," Hyunjin said after a moment, letting the younger boy free and crawling off of him. "You better be."
Felix laid on the sofa in a daze, still breathing heavily while Hyunjin walked off to get a drink, fixing his hair.
For some reason, despite the relief, he suddenly missed the feeling of the other's weight on top of him, still exhilarated from the moment.
Maybe, Felix thought, he should start trying to piss off Hyunjin more often.