𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 ୨୧ chanlix

cuatro

no other than lee felix. i shivered out of surprise and glanced at minho's direction with a shocked expression.

"what're you doing here?" i asked blankly. "working." he replied blankly as well, shrugged his bony shoulders and turned away from us. minho tried to suppress a chuckle and was the first to answer to his question. "we'd like two cups of latte macchiato. medium sized, please." without wasting any more words and therefore energy felix completed our order and handed it to us, taking our money in return. suddenly the personal door opened and an elder, heavy and wide built man walked up to the counter where felix was standing, seemingly bothered by our presence. minho and i exchanged looks again and walked towards the entrance, a cup of coffee in each hand. once we were outside i turned to him. "what was that?" "i swear we keep having such bad luck, what a fucking coincidence!" a few moments later a high pitched scream rang through the door of the bakery we had just left behind. something was definitely fishy. a weird feeling started spreading out in my guts. as much i didn't want to go back, i just had to check what was up with that scream.

i couldn't leave this place, yet.

quickly handing my coffee minho, i ran back inside the bakery. i looked around, no one was there. so i opened the door for the personal and followed the dark hallway that said door had revealed. the similarity of this hallway to the one in my dream made my stomach uncomfortably turn.

in a corner, almost no light reaching it, i vaguely noticed felix lying on the floor, sobbing loudly. i kneed down, reaching out my hand, caressing his soft hair. "hey... hey. everything's okay now. whatever happened, you're safe now, alright? let's get you outta here." in a matter of seconds i easily picked him up due to his light weight and carried him outside of the building, sitting him down on the sidewalk. the sunlight revealed a few bruises on his face and arms. some were bloody red, some purple and green. what hurt me the most was looking into his eyes that looked back at me, terrified and disturbed. "what... what happened?" minho almost whispered. "i don't fucking know! it was so fucking dark inside and he just laid there like this!" the way i screamed at my best friend made me nearly not be able to recognize myself. "it- it was him. but please. please don't tell anyone," felix said coughing with all his strength, then passed out on the walking path.

when his breathing finally got more even and his eyes flattered open i sighed in relief. i had brought him to my house and laid him down on my bed so now he was facing the ceiling and staring at the posters of my favorite bands mixed with a few playboy ones that the walls were covered with. "where am i?" he asked, i was able to hear the fear in his voice. it was higher pitched than usual. i assumed due to anxiety. i hovered over him so he could look into my face and be sure it was me and not the man from earlier. "in my room. you don't have to worry anymore, whoever did this to you isn't here." i fixated my look on his wounds. "i tried taking care of your injuries, but i'm no doctor. it'd be a good idea to go for a visit in the hospital before your situation worsens. and probably the police too."

all of sudden felix sat up, took my arm and shook it. "you don't even know him!" he yelled, his deep voice had reappeared. "he's dangerous! i can't just go to the police. you know, he's the only one who i can live with and he could kill you or me in no time. i would be homeless if it wasn't for him, i'm turning 18 next month!" i stayed silent, i couldn't find the right words. what was i supposed to answer? "he's my uncle. my only family left. why did you save me? now you're one of his targets as well!" at a loss of words and hoping to somehow calm him down i simply threw my arms around his slim torso and hugged him tightly. "i'm so sorry." i breathed in his scent. he smelled good, like vanilla mixed with cinnamon, despite having had such a rough day. the movement of his thorax slowed down and his breathing was more regulated again. i never had pictured myself being this close to another boy other than my friends before but hugging, touching felix had something addictive. the warmth going out from his skin, his fragility in my strong arms, providing strength and stability to him.

eventually i let go of the boy and smiled at him. "i'm aware i've done really, really mean things. i hope you will forgive me someday and that i can pay back for what i did, so if you want to you can stay at my house until you find an own apartment. i promise, your uncle will never come near you and harm you ever again." he started sobbing. "mhm. thank you." we looked at each other in silence, the only sounds in the room were his little sobs every now and then. "sowwy if dat sounds weird... but can we cwuddle again?" breaking eye contact he shyly looked down at my striped bed sheets. his high pitched voice was back. i tried to downplay my confusion and surprise since i didn't want to hurt his feelings by laying on my back and opening my arms towards his direction. immediately he jumped onto me, seeing him smile for the first time after our date made my body release tons of serotonin. "wittle lixie is vewy tired, wants to sleep agwain," he mumbled into the crook of my neck. i was tired as well, after minho left me alone here, worried and having to keep an eye on him, the last few hours had exhausted me enough. felix snuggled as close to me as possible and we both closed our eyes and relaxed our bodies. goodnight, i thought to myself, still hoping this day would turn out to be a fucked up fever dream, because that's what it felt like.