22 days | felix lee

XV | bake

━━☆⌒*.

IT ALL SUDDENLY SEEMED to click, the gears in his brain spinning as he pored over the notes in front of him. Just like any other day of the week, he had his journal open, eyes carefully gazing over the mixture of his handwriting and her words. He chewed on his lip, occasionally erasing some of the things he'd previously written only to fill them in with different words.

Ever since he'd started to get tutored by her, math seemed to make more sense. It's not that he didn't understand it in the first place, but he definitely understood it better now. Plus, there was something that always drew him to study, especially after she had complimented his endless work ethic.

At the thought of work ethic, another deadline crossed his mind. Seven days until Chan hyung leaves. . . He pursed his lips at the thought. The boys had held back on hanging out, all of them busy with their own thing. That and Chan had insisted on holding back so that he could get his stuff together.

That way, they could spend a whole bunch of time together right before he left.

It would be rushed, chaotic, and insane, but there wasn't anything that wasn't like that when it came to the boys. His pencil tapped against his journal rhythmically before he fixed another bullet point in his notes, freckles scrunching as a smile shaped his lips at the sight of her handwriting squeezed right in between his words and the end of the journal.

It was cute; to him, at least. He didn't like the idea of erasing her words, always adding little markings above them before he adjusted her writing. "You've been sitting there for the past hour; aren't you bored?" His sister popped her head in, clearly bored as she resorted to pestering her older brother.

However, Felix was in such a good mood that he decided not to annoy her back. "You haven't studied like this for a second in your life, have you? Don't worry, you'll be like me when you're older." Olivia scrunched her nose at him and shook her head, arms tightly crossed together. "I don't want to be stupid."

His brow twitched and he quickly stood up, taking long strides towards his little sister. A shriek left her lips and she darted out the door, nearly stumbling down the steps as she yelped loudly. "Eomma, Felix is bullying me!" Their mother tutted, sitting lazily on the couch as a K-Drama played on the TV beside her.

"Olivia, stop bothering your brother."

"Eomma," The girl whined, watching as her mother set down the magazine only to look at her freckled son and her troublemaker of a daughter. "You didn't overwork yourself, did you?" She cast him a concerned gaze as he shook his head with a small smile, freckles scrunching up again as he looked at her.

"No, I'm fine. That one made me chase her down here," He pointed at his sister unashamedly, watching as she vehemently denied his claim. His mother didn't say anything, merely frowning at her briefly before turning back to her magazine. Olivia pouted before retreating into the kitchen to get a snack, Felix reluctantly following her.

She scrunched her nose at him, moving away. "Ah, go away. You're so annoying." Olivia stuck her tongue, acting like she hadn't just bothered him and made him chase her down the stairs. He rolled his eyes and went over to her, harshly flicking her forehead. Before she could open the pantry, Felix opened it, grabbing the leftover cat cookies that he'd made for the family.

"Felix," His mother said, calling him as he looked over the counter. He swiftly opened the tupperware, taking out one of the cookies before biting into it. The Australian chewed, swiftly shoving the crumbs to the inside of his cheek to disguise him talking with food in his mouth. "Yeah?" He hummed.

"Finish chewing before responding," She remarked, catching him instantly.

His lips formed into a pout as his little sister snickered in the corner, watching him. He swallowed, throwing her a glare before looking at his mother. "What were you going to ask, Eomma?" He asked, brown eyes gazing at her as she closed the magazine and stared at him with a studious look.

"I saw you and Olivia baking a lot more cookies, so I was wondering where those went. If you two are burning through those desserts that fast, I might have to stop buying candies and baking ingredients." She tutted teasingly, glancing at her son and then back at her daughter. Unsurprisingly, Olivia whined.

"Eomma, Felix's brownies are the best though!"

"Ah, well," Felix decided it was time to admit the truth. "Can I tell you later, Eomma?"

The kind woman nodded, going back to her magazine while Olivia looked at him suspiciously, continuing to annoy him the rest of the day about his 'secret'. It wasn't until later in the night when Felix was sure his little sister was sleeping that he crept downstairs to see his mother still curled on the couch, Crash Landing on You playing on the TV.

"Alright, what's my son hiding from me?" She wiggled her brows, making room for him on the couch. The freckled boy slipped onto the couch with ease, smiling warmly at his mother as he played with his fingers. "Ah, Eomma, there's this girl that I like. I've liked her for a long time now and Chan hyung. . . he wants me to confess before he leaves."

A bitter smile shaped his lips and he watched as his mother's eyes softened, looking at him with a warm gaze that only a mother could give. "So, I've been spending time with her. She's the one that tutors me too and she's really nice; a little private, but sweet. Y/n-ssi's just. . . a very amazing person and it's really great to be able to talk to her now."

He said, his words holding an affectionate tone as he continued his ramble about the girl and how lucky he was able to talk to her now. Not that he couldn't before, but he simply lacked the courage previously. "Hm," She said after he had finished his cute explanation. "Well then, bake all the cat cookies you want."

His head shot up at her nice statement.

"You obviously admire her and she's doing you some good with that new studying habit," She clicked her tongue with a small smile, watching as his jaw dropped at her teasing. His mother reached over, ruffling his hair before planting a kiss on his forehead. "So, keep her happy. She's making you happy and that's all I want; I want to see my son happy."