things did not get better.
joking, they did.
one thing however that absolutely did not get better was felix's raging feelings for chan.
their relationship was interesting.
yeah, they were boyfriends but they weren't "official" boyfriends.
they were in their.. pre-debut era.
and felix was still mustering up the courage to plant a phat one onto chan.
and chan was being careful not to overstep any boundaries because he knew what felix had went through.
he didn't ever want to be another doyoung in his life so while he was openly affectionate with the other, he still didn't want to make felix feel uncomfortable.
felix noticed that as well and found it so sweet.
chan, obviously being the biggest troublemaker to roam the hallways, still inevitably skipped class.
and while felix wanted to flourish with perfect scores, attendance and a clean record, he couldn't deny how much his heart melted when he'd see chan stood outside the classroom window.
with the cheekiest, most lovey dovey grin.
flashback~
felix was actually paying full attention to korean history - a rare occurence.
perhaps it was the fact he got a good night's sleep for the first time since he was twelve or that he became a history enthusiast in the span of three months but he was all ears.
or maybe it's because he suddenly became really good at korean history, flying through all the lesson with possibly the highest grades in the class.
definitely a felix thing.
but that's when chan's fist came rattling at the window and felix could not believe his eyes when the boy - looking ever so adorable with his messy curls from the outside breeze - was holding a bouquet of pink roses.
mr lim peered towards felix and let out his iconic sigh of disappointment before spoke up.
"open the window" mr lim drawled as everyone began to giggle at the common occurrence.
everyone was getting used to seeing chan and felix's antics around the campus.
and this definitely was one of them.
"afternoon, sweetheart~" chan serenaded, a charming, dimpled smile on his face as felix bubbled with laughter.
"what's this for?" felix queried, leaning over the window ledge like he was rapunzel ready to let down his hair.
while eugene and chan may be different, they were still both mischievous lil' shits.
so maybe they weren't too different.
"hmm, just wanted to see that pretty grin of yours and looks like i did.." chan replied, slowing down as he continued to gaze lovingly at felix.
"nevermind reporting you to the principal, get a room you two!" mr lim bellowed, amusement in his voice as felix was quick to whip his head around.
giving his teacher a flushed and sheepish smile, he tilted his head.
"may i go with him?" felix asked hesitantly which caused mr lim to break out into the biggest gasp of his asthmatic life.
fun fact - mr lim's been asthmatic since he was nine years old.
"i can't believe you just asked a teacher to skip class" mr lim shook his head.
"and he did it in quite possibly the cutest way possible" chan sighed dreamily.
mr lim visibly recoiled with disgust.
"yeah, just go with your loverboy, quickly, you're making the entire class gag" mr lim ushered, which began a string of protests from his students.
he rolled his eyes.
"felix has only been here for like three months and with his knowledge, you'd think he founded south korea - and he's aussie for crying out loud!" mr lim defended.
"so am i!" chan called, helping felix jump out of the window.
"okay? and?" mr lim retorted sassily.
"was i not your favourite aussie?" chan pouted, acting as if his heart was ripped into smitherenes.
"you were up until the moment you started misbehaving - you're lucky you get good grades or you would be my least favourite" mr lim replied, circling back to the front of the desk.
"am i your favourite then?" felix shouted over chan's shoulder.
"always will be! run along and don't get hurt!" mr lim replied, eliciting a loud chuckle from felix and a loud groan from chan.
the older shut the window immediately, grumbling to himself as he grabbed felix's hand (gently) and began dragging him away from the campus.
of course, mr lim had favourites, all teachers do.
but he wasn't going to let the rest of his students go through the rest of the lesson just because the aussies got a free pass.
"good work guys, go spend the rest of this period doing whatever you want - my treat" mr lim grinned as everyone cheered, jumping out of their seats.
man, he loved teaching.
he loved it enough that he didn't even bat an eye at the realisation that he'd have to make up an excuse for felix and chan skipping.
shrugging, he leaned back in his seat.
he'll do that later.
"thinking about your loverboy again?"
felix gasped, almost smacking his forehead on the open door of his locker as he stared wide eyed at the taller.
"jinnie! when did you get here?" felix gaped at the blonde, who leaned against the lockers, bag looped over one shoulder.
"i've been here for like two minute now but you seemed to be in some kind of trance.. is maths really that interesting to you?" hyunjin raised an eyebrow, stiffing a chuckle.
to hyunjin, felix must have been staring straight at his textbooks, unmoving like a mannequin.
"as if, maths is my arch nemesis" felix scoffed, eyes twinkling up at hyunjin.
"what brings you here?" felix finally queried.
the blonde shrugged his broad shoulders, blowing a loose hair out of his face.
"nothing much, just don't really know anyone else in this school"
felix was surpised to say the least.
"then who were the people that you always hung out with?" felix asked, slightly confused.
whenever hyunjin would parade around the school, he'd have at least five people follow behind him in a similar fashion.
shrugging, hyunjin tilted his head towards felix to gaze at him through his long eyelashes.
"they were dickheads at the end of the day - so was i but even towards me, all they wanted to do was leech off my "popularity" and take advantage of me" hyunjin replied.
"you mean to say you didn't.."
"nah, i didn't force them to hang out with me, they just followed me around and i was too socially awkward to ask them to leave me alone" hyunjin explained.
huh.
honestly, it made sense.
"i've been sitting with yeji and her friends, at least they're nice" hyunjin mumbled.
felix recalled yeji being friendly with almost everyone but mainly stuck to a group of four girls.
jisu, chaeryeong and ryujin were a constant presence at the lunch table, sometimes joined by yuna, a freshman.
supposedly, they "adopted" the younger.
that's what yeji says.
biting his lip, felix turned to hyunjin.
"do you wanna.. eat with my friends and i today?" felix asked slowly, eyes scanning the older for any unusual reactions.
a wave of shock washed over hyunjin as he stared wide eyed at felix.
"a-are you sure?" hyunjin queried with a stutter, seeming to find the question the younger asked completely bonkers.
"why wouldn't i be?" felix quirked an eyebrow.
visibly, hyunjin gulped as his hand flew to rub the back of his neck.
"you don't remember me pouring lucozade over jeongin? he's bound to hate me for that" hyunjin replied uneasily, guilt laced in his tone.
"then apologise" felix responded nonchalantly, causing hyunjin to button his lips.
"it really is that simple, jeongin would probably forgive you anyway and let me tell you.. that apology is overdue, brother" felix whistled off to the side as hyunjin stood and stared.
"you think so?"
felix slammed his locker door and smirked.
"i know so"
-
"you did that?"
a tumbleweed had passed by.
hyunjin was bewildered, flabbergasted even.
"i- uh, yeah?" hyunjin stuttered, almost speechless.
"he really did, innie.." seungmin nodded, looking over at the younger, who only wore an expression of utter confusion.
jeongin was so lost.
"i honestly can't remember you doing that but i forgive you" jeongin smiled, deciding to lift the burden off of hyunjin's shoulders.
the blonde didn't know whether jeongin was lying for his sake or that he found the situation so traumatising that he blocked it from his memory.
he will never know.
the eight of them sat squished around the circular table of the canteen.
clearly, it was not designed for eight people but like stray kids say - 8 is fate.
the newest addition was squished between felix and minho, who paid little to no attention to him.
not in a bad way or anything but minho had priorities and his priority was to demolish whatever dishes they were given at lunchtime.
or if you were han jisung.
he was a food critic at heart, despite rating the same three or four lunches they offer every week.
a sigh of relief passed hyunjin's lips as he quietly continued eating his food.
it wasn't only felix that was fascinated by him - so was the entire table.
either hyunjin was that oblivious or he chose not to say anything but everyone in the table was openly staring at him.
once again, not in a bad way.
the boys were curious and seeing first hand that hyunjin really was a quiet person threw off their image of him.
"you know hyunjin.. i don't really know much about you, what's your major and minor?" changbin asked, breaking the silence.
everyone glanced at changbin before fleeting their gazes towards hyunjin.
now that hyunjin was at least aware of the seven pairs of eyes staring at him, he did not look one bit thrilled at the attention.
"i major in dance, minor in art & design" hyunjin replied timidly.
"oh yeah, he's a pretty damn good dancer" minho vouched, causing the taller to flush deep red.
minho and hyunjin often crossed paths as dance majors and the older had to admit that hyunjin was brilliant.
he danced fluidly, matching the rhythm and vibe of the song he was dancing to.
it was impressive to say the least and often times, minho would forget about his reputation and stare in awe anytime hyunjin would put on a performance.
"means a lot coming from you" hyunjin responded with a small smile.
wiggling his eyebrows, minho scooted around and clicked his tongue at hyunjin.
"thanks man, i appreciate it"
jisung perked up.
"how come you minor in art & design?" the younger asked, tilting his head as hyunjin diverted his eye contact.
felix narrowed his eyes.
he's feeling embarrassed again.
a nudge to his left got hyunjin talking - blame felix.
"i really fell in love with sketching and whatnot during the summer - i'd pretty much sit outside all day and draw the view.. it's what motivated me to learn more than just sketching" hyunjin laughed.
everyone found that oddly endearing.
the boy who was once the ruthless king of the school spent his days sitting out in the field and drawing for hours on end?
"that's really.. cute" changbin mumbled, almost unconsciously as he caught himself afterwards but didn't care enough to take it back.
but hyunjin did care - once again reduced to a blushing mess.
"gosh hyung, at least be a little less transparent for his sake" seungmin said under his breath, amused at the sight of hyunjin blushing like crazy.
changbin smirked, feeling satisfied that he could make hyunjin blush even redder than minho.
though, he wouldn't admit that his heart was moments away from racing
-
"winter prom?"
out in the foyer was yeji and her group of friends, handing out leaflets to those passing by and well - felix was one of them.
yeji giggled at felix's confusion, an abundance of messy leaflets stacked up in her hands as her eyes glistened with excitement.
"as part of the school comittee, i pitched the idea of a year end party and so.. the winter prom is now set in stone!" yeji cheered enthusiastically as felix looked down at the leaflet.
he could tell yeji also took creative control of the leaflets, the a5 leaflet being of a baby blue colour decorated with white snowflakes and golden glitter.
it was very artsy and well.. pretty.
art was definitely a hwang thing, just expressed in different ways.
looking up, he noticed that more people were crowding around the girls, curiousity growing in them as they chatted away with their friends about the upcoming event.
it seemed that a lot of people were just as excited as yeji, already bouncing and bubbling about what they were going to wear and such.
"any particular reason?" felix asked further.
if winter prom was something that had to be pitched, felix was really curious about the reasoning behind it.
yeji hummed softly.
"well, school is stressful itself so i suggested the idea as something us students can look forward to - i think it would be a great way to celebrate the end of the year as a school" yeji beamed.
felix nodded, content with the response before he froze at a sudden realisation.
this was a prom.. meaning that..
"i need to bring a date, right?" felix queried the blonde.
"of course! not like you'd have a problem anyway, chris would be more than ready to accompany you as your date" yeji smiled.
if felix looked close enough, he'd see the mischief behind her smile - yeji knew what she was doing.
regardless, the apples of felix's cheeks flushed pink as he was once again reminded that chan was his boyfriend.
maybe this could be his chance to do something he's been wanting to do for ages now.
"i hope to see you there.. wouldn't be right if the school's favourite aussie didn't show up" yeji winked.
felix laughed at the blonde.
"i thought the school's favourite aussie was channie!"
"chan's fending for that title, felix.. i think you might dethrone him!" yeji giggled enthusiastically.
"we'll see" felix breathed out, close to shaking his head.
after their small conversation, he bid yeji a goodbye as he wondered away from the crowd.
he looked down to continue reading the leaflet for more details.
JYP WINTER PROM ❄️
Date: 22nd December
Time: 9PM - 12AM
oh wow.. that's quite late, huh?
only three days before christmas and felix was already feeling the christmas spirit.
he wasn't going to lie, felix was actually very excited for the prom.
he had not attended a prom (or formal) ever since he was still living in australia due to the fact his previous school couldn't afford such an event.
for a while, he missed out on it.
he missed the photobooths the school would supply as well as the crappy food they served that was still eaten anyway.
those memories he wants to hold fondly because they almost exclusively always happen during your teen years.
but now, he could finally relive the experience once again.
it was going to be different from prom in australia - now he would be attending it with possibly the greatest friends he ever made.
and with chan.
---