you ever just hear or see something so incredibly synchronised that it presses that "mmm, satisfying" button in your brain?
that button was pushed the moment felix threw a punch at hyunjin, choruses of gasps circulating the hallway.
felix should have known that he was going to end up in this mess but his textbook was a priority.
hyunjin stumbled back, his hand pressed against his nose to hide the fact that blood was beginning to trickle down his gorgeous face.
the aussie's lips parted, eyes training down to his enclosed fist before looking back up at an equally alarmed hyunjin.
whether this was an "oh shit" moment or not, felix had just done that.
and did he regret it?
maybe, maybe not.
but the fury in his eyes said otherwise as he glared at hyunjin.
"it's one thing to absolutely rip me into shreds but i don't take you ridiculing me about my trauma that lightly" felix growled, voice stern and deep.
another chorus of gasps.
felix was confused.
hyunjin wasn't acting like himself - in fact, felix considered it to be extremely weird.
his mannerisms were an obvious giveaway, his eyes unreadable as he gave no reply to felix's bark.
it was almost like he was second-choicing himself.
but hyunjin was too stubborn, the hierarchy being the only thing that was keeping him persistent and on his toes.
he was far too stubborn to use his words - so he used his fists.
in just seconds, hyunjin had used his brute force to throw felix to the tiled floor.
felix could sense that hyunjin was being more forceful than usual.
the tighter grip on his creased shirt to the way his nails scratched his face deeper into felix's face were things thats he took note of.
what was it that had hyunjin being pushed over the edge?
it wouldn't be felix lee if he didn't put up a fight - afterall, he did throw the first punch.
"what's.. wrong with you?!" felix managed to say, hands gripping hyunjin's shoulder as he jerked him back and forth like a rag doll.
hyunjin had the advantage, straddling felix on the floor as he attempted to get out of felix's hold.
and yet, he didn't say a single word.
the pain in felix's ribs was becoming more apparent and with his now exhausted mind, his moves were a whole lot messier.
you'd think a teacher would have stopped them by now.
too bad they wouldn't be able to stop the blood currently dripping onto felix's face from hyunjin's fresh scars.
felix kneed hyunjin in his pelvis, eliciting a pained groan as he faltered, giving felix enough time to throw another punch.
but it did nothing - the aussie had no power in him left.
eventually, felix collapsed to the ground as an evil smirk tugged at hyunjin's lips.
if felix wasn't feeling frightful before, he was feeling it now.
this wasn't the hyunjin he 'roughhoused' with.. this was someone else.
someone with a smirk all too familar but also way too foreign
just as felix was about to give in to defeat, the weight on his body was suddenly lifted as felix began to gasp for air.
the aussie didn't realise just how much his lungs were suffering during all this.
felix could barely process it as chan and changbin tore hyunjin off of him.
more gasps.
chan and changbin seemed to work together, chan being the one to pry hyunjin off as changbin attempted to drag him away from felix.
he could see the lines of frustration present on both boys' faces - felix has never seen them so mad.
hyunjin struggled against them as chan backed up and changbin took initiative as he and hyunjin rolled just a metre away from the gasping boy.
he was beyond thankful.
but felix was not expecting changbin to get involved.
despite the aches spread across his body, felix sat up and gawked as changbin pinned hyunjin to the ground.
soon, chan hovered over felix as the younger looked up to see the older crouching before him, his blonde curls matted with sweat.
his knight in shining armour.
chan's chest slumped with a heavy breath as he grinned in reassurance, managing to look ethereal despite the visible outcome of dealing with hwang hyunjin.
if they weren't in this current situation, felix would absolutely swoon.
"i'm sorry i'm late baby, we came running as soon as someone yelled about it.. i'm here now" chan comforted, encircling an arm around felix's waist.
he helped felix to his feet, arm still protectively curled around his waist as his other hand brushed the brunette's locks out of his eyes.
felix swallowed deeply, eyes sheening with a thin layer of water - he didn't know why he was feeling so emotional.
he stared into chan's eyes as the older tilted his head, almost resembling that of a dog.
a stray tear ran down felix's face and he was sure that the tears as well as the bruises and cuts on his face would surely scare anyone off.
but chan was quick to swipe his tear away with a single flick.
"don't cry, channie's got you" chan smiled, leaning in to peck felix's cheek as he lifted his arm from felix's waist to swing it over his shoulder.
chan had kissed him- well, it was only a peck on the cheek but felix was absolutely malfunctioning on the inside.
clearly, it was obvious enough on his face as chan looked at him with amused endearment.
"how come you always look so cute, hm? you're making my heart race" chan cooed, tapping felix's nose, taking advantage of this moment.
as if there wasn't a crowd of students gaping and gasping at the scene - chan didn't care for the attention.
all he cared about was to see the famous blush that would dominate felix's cheeks and freckles with its pink hue, which was a look chan adored.
while they were having their moment on one side of the hallway, on the other side was changbin pinning hyunjin to the ground.
the height different was incredibly apparent but with changbin's extraordinary strength, it was enough to keep hyunjin down no matter how much he resisted.
"snap out of it" changbin spoke sternly as now hyunjin was the one being straddled.
changbin and hyunjin never had any proper interactions, at the most they probably held eye contact.
but going from that to changbin being on top of the latter was radical.
staring at changbin with blown out eyes, hyunjin stilled as he tilted his head from side to side, seeing the feet of students planted on the floor.
his face was just centimetres from people's scuffed up shoes.
hyunjin wasn't on their level anymore, he was below them.
the hierarchy had been flipped upside down and hyunjin had finally realised it.
and he felt sick.
everything felt like it was in slow motion as hyunjin faced changbin after a depressingly long time.
changbin was probably the first person (except for yeji) to see how vulnerable the boy below him was.
upholding an image was hyunjin's main priority, he rarely, almost never faltered but then felix came along and "meddled" with it all.
because now, hyunjin was staring up at changbin with round, innocent eyes, as if he wasn't the king of the school and who is also over ten centimetres taller than him.
their two pairs of eyes stared at each other as changbin was beginning to feel his ears burn.
what was this feeling?
if hyunjin's facade hadn't broke, changbin was sure he would be teased relentlessly for his red ears.
but then changbin was thrown off.
not aggressively, almost pitifully as hyunjin scrambled to his feet and ran off to a different direction.
raising an eyebrow, changbin stared at hyunjin's retreating figure for just a moment before he sighed, getting up on his feet and began approaching the couple and jisung as if nothing ever happened.
jisung appeared next to chan and felix to make sure felix was alright - and also to profusely apologise for naively letting him go.
of course, felix waved him off.
"that's the first time i've seen hyunjin run off like that" jisung mused, catching changbin's eye as the latter nibbled his bottom lip.
it was everyone's first time seeing hyunjin defeated and run away like a coward.
that wasn't like him at all.
"he couldn't resist my sexiness" changbin joked.
"oh yeah, as if you guys weren't having a bl drama scene in front of the entire school" jisung rolled his eyes, his choice of words causing changbin to flush.
jisung turned to felix and frowned.
"you alright there?" jisung asked, hand reaching out to graze his digits over the bruise forming just beneath felix's eye.
felix smiled.
"i'm okay hanji.. feeling oddly satisfied" felix giggled as chan not so subtly ogled him the entire time.
a hum of agreement left changbin as he leaned against the locker.
"they're all staring at you" changbin noted aloud to felix as the aussie turned to stare at the crowd.
their eyes were watchful, awaiting with obedience as if they had instructions to follow.
instruction given to them by-
felix was beginning to realise something.
now that hyunjin was "dethroned", this technically meant that..
"no, no, t-this is not what i intended to do" felix stuttered in disbelief, turning to face jisung and changbin.
yeji had encouraged the boy to demolish the hierarchy but never thought about the idea of unintentionally overthrowing hyunjin himself.
it seemed that the events did take that turn.
"then establish that the hierarchy is no more, you're the king of this school now" changbin talked with nonchalance.
"you're the king of this school now"
felix on the otherhand was having a bit of a moment.
"you're even more powerful than yeji" jisung pointed out which made felix want to curl up into a ball.
the aussie knew better than to take advatange of this - especially when his fellow students were so expectant of being given an order to follow.
this isn't how a school is supposed to work.
felix cleared his throat.
this is what yeji wants, now this is what he wants.
"i don't really know how else to go about this but.. you shouldn't feel inclined to follow orders from someone just because they're "popular", we're all trying to be the best people we can be - it doesn't matter who you are and what you do because at the end of the day, we're all just trying to pass"
changbin snorted.
"that's why i'm saying this now - i'm officially putting an end to the hierarchy"
students began to murmur amongst each other, looking as if they were being spoken to in an alien language.
the reaction was expected but felix felt like he was going to shrivel up and pass away.
thankfully, jisung and chan were there to give the boy a reassuring squeeze on both his hands.
"don't feel like you can't approach people because they're more "popular" than you, it's on them if they are picky with who they want to be friends with - we're not in secondary school anymore" felix continued, air quoting the phrase "popular".
popularity.. something that needs to be destroyed.
it baffles felix how much emphasis is placed on a person's social status to the point where you feel as if you need to have some level of recognition to befriend someone.
people began to look at each other, mostly comtemplating felix's words.
it must feel so foreign for them to be told something as simple as this.
in a way, it made felix's heart ache.
nonetheless, they turned to felix with looks of understanding, willing to take his word on it.
felix beamed.
"alright then, let's all go eat now; i'm fucking starving man"
a few laughs passed the air as the students began to file out of the hallways, making their way to the canteen.
feeling like a weight was being lifted off his shoulder, a smile tugged at felix's lips.
"the confidence!" jisung praised with a cheeky grin, poking the dimple that formed on his bday twin's cheek.
"nice one, kid" changbin smirked, lifting himself off the lockers to join the other three.
"i never want to do that again" felix sulked, unconsciously slumping against chan's side.
chan drew felix closer and nuzzled his nose into felix's cheek, causing felix to giggle and the other two to cringe.
"adorable but gross" jisung waved them off.
"i wonder where hyunjin has gone" chan trailed off, raising a question that everyone else seemed to be thinking about.
"he's in the bathroom"
everyone turned to the familiar feminine voice of hwang yeji, who walked towards the quartet with a smile.
even now with the hierarchy abolished, she holds charisma and grace in her walk.
perhaps yeji is just a natural at being a woman of elegance.
chan visibly perked up at his good friend while the other three returned her smile with shy ones of their own.
"oh? did you see him run in there?" chan mused, tilting his head.
yeji hummed.
"i don't feel like it's right for me to approach him, i've already said everything i needed to say to him.. plus i can't exactly go in there" yeji laughed.
felix frowned.
"he's all alone then.. at least someone should be there to comfort him"
everyone fell silent, not really knowing how to respond to his words.
hyunjin was a complicated person.
he was blinded by the concept of approval from others', thus majorly misleading him through a road of nothing but ignorance.
but felix knew that was just the surface.
so while his comments from earlier hurt, felix couldn't be fully mad at him.
because hyunjin is just a teenager with a lot of pent up emotions.
chan was the first to break the silence, breaking it with an unexpected suggestion.
"you want to go talk to him, lixie?" chan questioned the latter, eyes now drawn to him with surprise.
even felix was surprised.
"ironic, i know but i think he would listen to you the most out of all of us" chan continued.
felix began to process chan's words.
he wouldn't mind talking to hyunjin because if chan's right, the aforementioned would listen to what he has to say.
if felix was a cat, he'd be dead by now with how much of his curiousity was killing him.
felix wanted to know more about hyunjin, from hyunjin himself.
however, there's also the outcome that hyunjin would absolutely refuse to take his word and shoo him away.
this would lead to a rocky closure, felix wouldn't even call it closure if they were left on bad terms.
"only one way to find out, i'll see you guys in a bit" felix announced, departing from chan's side and waved at 3racha and yeji.
he knew he was taking a risk but he wanted to hear fron hyunjin's side as well.
felix was willing to give hyunjin the benefit of the doubt.
as he jogged down the corridor, chan watched his retreating figure with nothing but fondess.
he turned to the other three, who were already staring at chan in disbelief.
they all looked at him like he was a lovesick puppy.
because well, he was.
"that's my boy" chan cooed with nothing but admiration in his tone.
"god, you're so down bad" jisung sighed.
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