That day after school, Hyunjin and I lazily launch on the bench, hidden away in the shadow of the huge oak tree that stands next to it. It almost becomes a tradition, meeting up here after school. Luckily, it's a lot cooler today than the past few days. The sun is still shining brightly but its sunrays bring a much more pleasant temperature down on us.
"I really wonder what Felix has in mind," Hyunjin muses, sitting back with a content sigh. "I hope we can become friends, all of us."
"Yeah, that would be cool," I reply, grinning as I see Minho and Felix approaching us, separating themselves from the crowd that marches towards the main gate. Felix waves enthusiastically and I see Minho chuckling at his friend's happy greeting.
"Hey guys," Felix greets us in English as he plops down next to Hyunjin.
"Yo." Minho lazily waves his hand, offering me a soft smile as our eyes meet.
My heart does a backflip and it doesn't go unnoticed by Hyunjin, who discreetly nudges my arm with a smug grin. Sighing deeply, I ignore him before I lean forward to face Felix.
"So what are the plans?" I ask him and a smile makes its way to his face.
"Minho orders pizza's, there's a good deal in a pizzeria near his apartment. Then we go to his place and have a movie night or something like that," he shrugs. "Sounds good, huh?"
"Wha-" Minho protests, but he gives in as Hyunjin and I nod enthusiastically.
With a soft growl, his shoulders slump and he shakes his head ever so slightly. "Unbelievable, now my friends even make plans in my house and my money without my consent."
"I think this the price for coming with us," Hyunjin points out, sticking out his tongue and Felix and I stifle a laugh.
"Ah, fair enough," the oldest sighs, mockingly defeated. "What's the pizza deal, Lix?"
The Australian immediately takes out his phone and after a few movements on the screen, he reads aloud, "Buy one, get one free. Goes for all flavors and sizes so that's pretty neat since there are four of us. It's only for pickup, though."
"Maybe you should call ahead," I suggest the older. "By the time we get there, the pizzas should be done."
Minho nods and takes out his phone from his bag before opening what I assume is the Domino's app because apparently, everyone has the pizza store's app on their phone nowadays. We sit in silence as the oldest places the orders and with a satisfied expression, he stuffs his phone inside his pocket.
"I was actually craving pizza," he admits.
Taking that as our cue to go, I jump up from the wooden bench, actually grateful to finally leave the hard seat. It definitely isn't comfortable for your back and butt, just like our other usual place inside the school building.
"Thank Jisung, if it wasn't for him you wouldn't even be with us right now," Felix jokes, even though we all know Minho would tag along eventually, with or without our consent. He isn't the kind of person that would give up that easily.
"Thanks, baby," the older happily states, wrapping his arms around me in an embrace that's literally breathtaking. Suddenly, I lowkey regret leaving the bench because Minho-style hugs are a little too enthusiastic sometimes, for the sake of my ribs. Still, I awkwardly hug him back, trying my best to ignore the presence of our best friends.
"Right in front of my fucking salad," Felix mutters and Hyunjin sighs.
"That's my line."
"Let's share it then, I guess we're going to use it a lot."
"You don't even like salad, Jinnie," I sigh, slowly letting go of Minho and distancing myself a little.
Felix exaggerates a gasp, covering his mouth with his hand. "Han Jisung, get your memes together! Hold my-"
"Okay Ji, this is our cue to leave," Minho quickly interrupts, grabbing my hand in order to drag me away. "He'll start spouting memes and I don't want your brain to end up infected as well."
I gently remove my hand from his, looking at him earnestly. "Listen, son. In this world, it's either yeet or be yeeted."
It takes all that I have to stop myself from laughing and it's impossible to keep a straight face as Minho's expression slowly changes to one of disbelief. Behind me, Felix bursts out in laughter and even Hyunjin snorts.
"You guys are impossible," Minho mutters, shaking his head in utter disbelief. "I'm going to get our pizzas, stop attacking me with your memes."
Then he proceeds to walk out of the main gate and the three of exchange a look before we regain our composure and follow after the oldest male. With his hands stuffed inside his pockets, he looks grumpy and annoyed. But I know better, because that little twinkle behind his pretty eyes always tells me the truth.
--
It's fairly quiet in the pizzeria, seeing how the clock just hit the five o'clock and many people deem it too early for pizza. However, after the terrible lunch I didn't eat, I don't really care about eating early. It's very welcome, actually.
The entire walk here was definitely something else. I found out that Felix is the human embodiment of memes and that his energy rubs off on me easily; it's been a while since I've been this hyperactive and I could see in Hyunjin's eyes that he's glad to see a little bit of the old me back.
Minho joked that he felt like a dad taking care of two hyperactive children and a playful argument arose between Minho and Hyunjin, in which Hyunjin pretended to be offended that he was assumed to be the mom since the four of us were out together.
Now that we're sitting on the barstools in Domino's, peace has returned between us. It would be a bit awkward to go all out inside a pizzeria with others around. Minho is standing in front of the counter, occasionally glancing backward and smiling whenever our eyes would meet.
It makes me feel all warm on the inside, those little smiles that are reserved for me. The softness makes me think about Hyunjin's words from earlier, is it really possible that Minho likes me?
The three of us watch how a female worker hands four flat boxes to Minho before we jump up and all take a box to unburden the oldest. Even with the boxes closed, the smell of pizza enters my nostrils and my stomach grumbles loudly. If it was just me, I would've devoured the pizza right here and now.
"Now we just have to cross the road and we're at my place," Minho states once we're outside. The city noises greet us instantly, cars rushing back and forth over the road in front of us with many people walking around, even though the older doesn't live in the heart of Seoul. It's still quite lively here.
We all wait in line in front of the broad pedestrian crossing, joining an already huge crowd that will move like one giant mass once the traffic lights flicker to green. We say nothing, everything will say will get lost in the cacophony of traffic anyway. With a ticking sound, the light turns green and we all cross the road.
"Next time we should invite Chan hyung," Felix suggests as we climb the stairs that lead to Minho's floor, and said male nods in agreement as he opens the door and ushes us inside.
Inside, we are greeted by the three cats that guard the apartment while their owner is gone. I place my pizza box on the small table and crouch down to pet the cat that approached me immediately, Dori.
"I think she likes you better than she likes me," Minho jokes as he sinks into the couch, placing the pizza box in front of him. I grin lightly, picking the cat up before I sit down next to the oldest. Felix and Hyunjin plop down on either side of us.
We stare at the black flatscreen in front of us, most likely thinking about what movie we want to watch for our planned movie night. I know plenty of good movies but I have this particular one in my mind. The only thing is, I can't really come up with the name and I sigh in frustration.
"What's up?" Hyunjin asks, and I grin awkwardly as I reply.
"I know a good movie, I just forgot the name."
"I know a lot of movies, what's the name of the main character?" Hyunjin questions, leaning forward to face me properly.
I purse my lips, lightly tapping my chin as I pry in my memories for that specific bit of information. "I think his name is-"
"Felix, no!" Minho's voice suddenly hollers as said male darts towards his best friend.
But it's already too late.
"JOHN CENA," Felix yells, playfully placing his arm over my shoulders as if to invite me to go along. Before I know it, we're both jamming to the mentioned boxer's theme and break into a fit of laughter afterward.
Hyunjin buries his face in his hands, sighing dramatically while Minho observes us with mild concern behind his eyes.
"God, you already look as if you two share a brain cell."
I nod solemnly, stifling my laughter. "I sometimes feel like I'm missing something but it's obvious that it belongs to me most of the time."
"Y-Yah, that's mean!" Felix protests, only causing me to laugh out loud this time.
"That was a burn, need some ice?" Minho snickers and Felix nods, faking a pout.
I can't help but smile widely because this is even better then I expected. Minho has cool friends and it's fun to hang around with all of us together, even though his other friend isn't here. I'm looking forward to the next time, but for now I'm just enjoying tonight.
--
Okay this was just a filler chapter, the bonding between friends ayee. It got a little out of hand, honestly. What kind of crack is this lol.
Totally unrelated to Stray Kids but I just need to vent about my obsession with Domino by 1the9. Stan talent and listen to this masterpiece!