"Now remember, yo-"
"I can't tell Changbin I know about his sister. Okay, I got it."
Felix nodded nervously as he looked out the bus window. He had insisted on being on the inside today for a reason Hyunjin couldn't figure out.
"Sorry, Jinnie. It's just-"
"Only you and the school counselor know and you don't want him getting mad. Gosh, Felix, calm down!"
"But Jinnie, you don't understand! He-"
"I highly doubt he'll kill you and if he tries, I'll be there to protect you." Hyunjin wrapped his arms around Felix's shoulders. "Okay?"
"Binnie has muscles," Felix mumbled while chewing his ever-shrinking thumbnail.
"Will you stop that?" Hyunjin pushed Felix's hand away from his mouth, "next thing you know we'll be seeing blood!"
Felix scowled and deliberately began to chew on his other thumbnail. Hyunjin sighed and looked away.
Resting his head on the back of the seat, Hyunjin stared down the aisle. They had been sitting at Changbin's stop for almost five minutes now, and Hyunjin just wanted the boy to get on so Felix would stop freaking out.
"There he is!" Felix curled into a ball and hid his face in Hyunjin's chest. Hyunjin shook his head at Felix and looked out the window to see the normal, frazzled, morning version of Changbin.
His attire was kempt for once. Their uniform of a white button up, dress pants, and black shoes securely fastened with his traditional black hoodie covering it all up and his black beanie almost pulled down to his eyes. If it had been a smidge darker, he might have disappeared.
Hyunjin watched Changbin's quick footsteps and noticed that he kept glancing back at his house like he had forgotten something. Halfway to the bus, he fully turned around and walked backwards. He glanced once at the bus to avoid hitting it and crossed the street, eyes still glued to the house. He walked to his seat sideways, close to tripping quite a few times. He didn't sit down right away, just propped one knee on the seat and stared at the house.
"Changbin? Everything alright?" Changbin lifted his index finger to stop Hyunjin from asking more questions.
Hyunjin turned to look at the house as the bus started to move. He heard Changbin's breath hitch and the slight crunch of seat fabric. They got a few feet when a light flickered inside. Hyunjin heard Changbin release his breath and rotated his head to see the boy fall onto the chair. Changbin threw his backpack towards the window and fully relaxed into the seat.
"What was that about?"
"Not much," It was then that Changbin noticed Felix being a small ball, "is Lixie okay?"
"Yeah, he's fine." Hyunjin chuckled and patted Felix's back.
"You sure?" Changbin leaned towards them, elbows on his knees.
"Lixie?" he poked Felix's head, earning a whine, "you okay?"
Felix only looked up enough to make eye contact with Changbin before quickly stuffing his face back in Hyunjin's chest. Changbin scrunched his eyebrows together.
"Baby, what's wrong?"
"Nothing!" Felix squeaked.
Hyunjin wasn't sure what version of
Felix Chan knew, but this one was not a good liar.
"Come on, Lix! I know that's not true!" Felix whimpered.
"Leave him alone, Changbin. He's just worried."
"About what?" Changbin observed Felix, who was back to biting his nail, "come on, Baby. You can tell me."
Hyunjin almost erupted into laughter.
After thirty seconds of tense silence and gentle coaxing, Felix broke.
"I'm so sorry, Binnie! I didn't mean to! It just slipped out after I called you!" Felix was now on his knees, desperation and panic in his eyes.
"What slipped?" Changbin's voice held a warning tone, making Felix's eyes increase in size and his breathing grow heavy.
"Um..." Felix's voice got small, "your s-"
"STUFFED ANIMAL COLLECTION," Hyunjin all but yelled.
"My what now?" Changbin's eyebrows were about as far up on his forehead as they could get.
"Uh..."
"Why would he tell you about something like that?"
"You actually have one?" Now it was Hyunjin's turn to act surprised.
"He told you didn't he?" Changbin gestured towards Felix who was now hugging Hyunjin's arm for moral support as his breathing evened out.
"Well yeah, but I didn't expect it to be true!" Changbin contorted his face to show his disgust. Hyunjin giggled at the grumpy boy.
"What? Embarrassed that I found out about Mr. Fluffy?" Felix squeezed Hyunjin's arm.
"Jinnie, stop." He whispered.
Hyunjin looked at Felix and gave him a reassuring smile. Sure, Changbin's muscles were twice as big as his, but what's the worst he could do?
"Stob it! Binnie doesn't wike that!" Felix and Hyunjin's eyes widened before they slowly turned their heads towards the strange, childlike sound.
The expression on Changbin's face was unlike any they had ever seen. Here was Changbin, pouting, bottom lip protruding in an almost comical way. His eyebrows knit together as he glared at Hyunjin. To add to the effect, he hugged himself tightly at the waist. The whole pose was even deadlier than the punch Hyunjin had expected.
Hyunjin swallowed and opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out as his eyes stayed fixated on the boy in front of him.
"Uh...Binnie?" Felix seemed to get the idea that Hyunjin didn't know what to say.
"Hm?" The boy lowered his hands so they were resting in his lap and met Felix's gaze. His voice sounded higher-pitched than normal, but Hyunjin could have been imagining it.
"You alright?" Changbin studied Felix for a second before responding.
"Yeah, of course. Why?" His voice was normal and so was his expression.
"It's nothing."
"Okay..." then he turned to Hyunjin, "he didn't tell you anything else, right?"
"What else would he have told me?" Changbin sent a strange look at Felix that resulted in Felix's legs contorting back into a ball.
"Don't know. Just wondering."
"Well he didn't tell me anything, so don't worry about it."
"Mm, alright. If that's all it is, I'm going to sleep." Changbin leaned his back against his backpack and snuggled sideways into the seat.
"Night, night, Binnie." Felix called over Hyunjin, but he only got a grunt in response.
Felix cuddled back into Hyunjin's side in an attempt to get a few minutes of sleep as well, while Hyunjin stared at Changbin for perhaps a little longer than necessary.
The boy fell asleep fast. Out in less than a minute and snoring softly soon after.
Hyunjin smiled. One more thing to add to the list of things he knew about the mysterious boy in the black beanie.
It didn't take long to get to school. Hyunjin had miraculously managed to stay awake the whole time, but now came the worst part: waking up Felix.
"Baby~" Hyunjin sang into Felix's ear, "Baby it's time to wake up~"
Felix pushed Hyunjin's face away.
"Lix, you can't do this today."
"I can do whatever I want." Felix mumbled against Hyunjin's shirt.
"You're right," Hyunjin got close and whispered the next part, "but so can I."
With that, Hyunjin stood up and Felix fell sideways on the seat. Hyunjin snickered at him and turned to leave.
He glanced over, expecting Changbin to be gone, but there he was, sleeping soundly. Thinking it would be a fun joke, Hyunjin hit Changbin's knee.
"Hey, Bin, get up!" Changbin groaned and curled up even more, "Changbin, we gotta go!"
"Don wan to, Jinjin!" Changbin's eyes opened, wide with innocence, catching Hyunjin off guard. He moved closer to Changbin to get out of the way of other students wanting to get off the bus.
"Jinjin doesn't want to either, but we have to, okay?" Hyunjin adopted a parent-like tone and gave Changbin an unsympathetic look. Changbin stuck out his bottom lip, but put his hands out anyway.
"See ya, Jinnie!" Hyunjin leaned into Felix's short shoulder squeeze.
"See ya, Lix," his voice laced with affection as he watched Felix leave the bus.
Turning back to the needy boy in front of him, Hyunjin grabbed Changbin's hands and pulled him up.
Noticing Felix was already outside taking his morning selfie, Hyunjin got an idea.
"Wanna walk to class together?" Changbin raised an eyebrow at him and scoffed.
"Why would we do that? Get out of my seat." Hyunjin's eyes met the ground as he backed up to let Changbin pass. The boy scoffed again and exited the bus.
Following behind, Hyunjin scrutinized Changbin's back.
There was something Changbin wasn't telling him. Probably a lot of things.
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I stumbled upon someone on Youtube who actually does quality Stray Kids piano covers, and it's all I've been listening to for the last two days.