Somewhere Only We Know - Hyunlix

Maybe...

Second Thursday

Alarms blared non-stop, waking Hyunjin up. He was lying, stomach flat on his bed. The corners of his lips slowly curved upward, knowing that an angel was sleeping on the other side of his bed. Only to discover it cold, empty, and his angel was long gone.

"Maybe he didn't even visit me yesterday and I was just dreaming about the whole thing." He sighed as he fixed his bed. He looked around his surroundings; there was no food tray with beef Wellington in the room and no sign of Felix anywhere. He was about to conclude that what happened yesterday was just a fever dream, and that Felix had never visited him. Until he saw a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

Remembering the time, he consoled Felix in one of his fragile moments. "No wonder my back hurts." He leaned forward, arching his back to rub the spot above his spine, trying to soothe his agonizing back pain. Hyunjin walked towards his neglected art easel to paint another picture, while he hung the painting of him. Of Felix eating a rice ball, his nest of purple locks were cluttered from all of his ruffling. His cute button-nose all scrunched up, his pink pillow lips with rice crumbs all around them. Hyunjin found it inevitable to not trace those pretty lips, even if it's just a painting. He sighed as he picked up an empty canvas.

"I think that your face is going to fill the walls of my room, just like how you filled my heart." He mused while dabbing his elected silver paintbrush on the rich purple color on his wooden artist palette.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

With a chocolate chip cookie dangling from the side of his mouth, crumpled polo and black shacks, and at 5 feet and 10.5 inches, sprinting like a cheetah who just spotted its prey. Yes, that was Hwang Hyunjin, running late on a beautiful Thursday morning. He was never tardy for his morning classes, except the day he decided to paint what's left of sleeping Felix from his memory.

Panting and out of breath, upon reaching his university. Hyunjin took a few minutes to fix his clothes, to compose himself as the "Prince of the stars", a nickname given to him by his astronomy classmates. Probably because he was unattainable even in his middle school days and he is taking up a star-related course. Girls and boys begged to date him, but he turned them all down. Hyunjin never offered his heart to anyone, nor chased another person. He even thought that he was incapable of falling in love. Unlike what he's doing right now, running after the galaxies in Felix's eyes, submitting his now thawed heart to him, and hoping that the latter would reciprocate his feelings.

It was ten-thirty a.m. when he entered the classroom. He had already missed his first period, and was an hour late for his second period; the teacher's desk was empty, and his classmates were throwing paper balls at each other. Savoring what little freedom they have left before a faculty member comes bursting through those wooden doors. For Hyunjin, his classmates' daily havoc was his reminder to put on his earphones, listen to smooth jazz, and ignore their everyday ruckus. But not today, he couldn't keep being ignorant of his favorite professor's whereabouts; he had to ask somebody, anybody.

"Where is he?!" He kept on whispering under his breath, trying to come up with the logical explanation on why the freckled professor was absent. He needed to know now and why, to do that he needed to swallow his pride of asking someone for information. For him, asking for somebody's help was a sign of weakness, even so he had no choice but to bite the inside of his cheek. He patted the shoulder of a girl seated in front of him.

"Seong Hana, was it?" his classmate quickly turned to face him; her scowl immediately turned into a grin.

"Y-yes Prince Hyunjin? I mean Hyunjin." She stuttered a bit before composing a line of words, and showing off her braided hair. Showing him her pearly whites that had gone yellow from drinking coffee, based on how her breath was scented like roasted coffee beans.

"Do you happen to know why Fe-" He coughed.

"Why is Professor Lee an hour late?" He probed, calling the freckled man formally, and by his last name, having brought a foreign sensation to him. He waited for her answer, hoping that she would provide an answer to their Professor's whereabouts.

"Mr. Lee texted us that he will have a thesis consultation this morning, didn't you get a text?" Her phone suddenly rang; she excused herself to answer her call. He checked his inbox for any messages from him. But there was nothing from Felix. Hyunjin wanted to thank whoever her caller was. As they saved him from humiliation. She was not aware of how Hyunjin's egotistical attitude crumbled before his very eyes; how he was submerged in a pool of murky water materializing from within his soul, as clouds of bleak notions loomed inside his head.

"Maybe he left you for your muscular dean. Maybe you scared him off with your assertiveness. Maybe you're not that good looking enough. Maybe he thinks that you're weird. Maybe he got tired of you. Maybe..."

Nobody will ever love you

Those thoughts cursed his once calm and collected psyche. The poison from his new-found insecurities slowly soiled his pride. He began to take note of all of his flaws, and began to hate himself.

He hated how he had a mole under his left eye.

He hated how he became vulnerable because of him.

He hated how he asserted himself into Felix's life.

He hated how much he wanted to live beside the galaxies inside Felix's eyes

He hated how much he wanted to capture the stars that settled on Felix's angelic face

He hated how much he wanted to feel those soft pink lips against his chapped ones.

He hated how despite being rejected..

He still loved him.

Staring at the blinking blank screen of his phone for hours until dismissal, still hoping to get a text message from him. Anything, but nothing came. He sighed in dismay and put his airpods on, as he exited the room. But before he could even set foot outside, a man called his name.

"Hyunjin, bring these worksheets on top of my table. Thanks."

"Of course, Mr. Yu. I will drop them off right now." He said as he picked up the stack of papers, and walked towards the teacher's office.

Ecstatic giggling sprouted from the tiny gap, created by a partly opened door. He barged in. indifferent towards the flirting couple at the utmost corner of the room, he just needed to put the papers on Mr. Yu's table. Hyunjin was about to carefully place the worksheets on his professor's table. He didn't mean to ogle at the couple, nor give a damn about them; He doesn't like to mingle in other people's business. But then it all changed, when he saw purple curls, his favorite shade of purple. That shade of purple that was always a euphoric feast for his eyes, but right now it was nothing more than a doleful view. Felix, his Felix, no, but he was never his, and never will be. But rather Professor Lee.