LUNCHBOX FRIENDS | changlix

.18

seungmin was just behind the door when felix opened it.

"i've been waiting for you, janet wilson." seungmin's smile reached halfway into his cheeks. the way he stood reminded felix of his father before he'd vanish with his mom to another business flight: puffed-out chest and hands on hips, looking down at him like felix didn't know any better. seungmin patted an acient-looking computer. "this poor guy has been waiting as well."

felix narrowed his eyes at it like he needed glasses. maybe he did. the monitor exented far back like an overgrown tumor and its overral structure was beige and grimy.

but nonetheless, felix perused the room like some sort of specialist. he didn't want seungmin thinking he was a newbie on this job. he didn't mind the scattered piles of papers that flooded the room, neither did he let himself think too much about how a big chunk of the wall was carefully hidden under a heavy bedsheet.

instead felix diverted his focus to the computer. he caressed the aged structure and brushed his fingers over the mouse. while feeling the keyboard with his knucles, it clanked under his fingers. just for the sake of it, like a child at a store, he wrote "felix" on it, the sounds akin to a typewriter. so old as it was.

on the screen, lines of code danced uncoordinated, making felix's eyes spin and hurt. they were neon green, contrasting with the pitch-black background. in movies, this would be the nonsensical hacker scene, which was a mistake to think about since felix's body had no more available space for a growing ego. 

in the blink of an eye, his files promptly popped on the screen. they were incomplete, dating only from the time he was a small child (lyb#00028: sucks so much his thumb that'll probably need braces). the files in his phone drive were more whole and complete. it was as though someone had started but had given up mid-way. or like they'd vanished completely. a shiver shook his body and made seungmin side-eye him.

"so, you have access to the files, don't you? of the whole town?" he asked. felix nodded. seungmin went on, "then this won't take long. transfer them to this computer and we're done with your part of the deal."

well. that seemed pretty shady. as taehyung had said, seungmin worked with his dad and had info about the police. what if this was just a plot to take him and miss yang down? felix said to him: "what about your part of the deal?" because they had yet to discuss it.

however, seungmin just waved him off, saying, "it'll really just take a day. tomorrow i'll give mr kim's reports on your hands."

felix was still cautious. he pursed his lips, glancing at the black-green scene. "what are you looking for? i could just text you the files about chan..."

seungmin cut him off: "that won't do. this is a private ongoing investigation concerning the majority of the town. besides chan's, i don't know whose files i'll need. the only way is me seeing them myself."

that checked it off. felix looked down, all resolve crumbling to the ground. because there was no other way to stall the truth. "i should've said it earlier but... i don't know exactly how to transfer to... this."

"what?" seungmin snapped, punching the desk, which shook under felix's hands.

in a hurry, felix pulled out the phone, scared for his life. he offered it to seungmin like a doomed believer attempting to atone for his sins. "it's so old! i barely know how to use it. how would it work? usb cable? bluetooth? does this computer even have bluetooth?"

softening around the edges, seungmin relaxed his muscles and sighed. he took the phone from felix's hand for examination and fumbled to find his glasses. once he flipped it open, he began tapping on the keyboard with one hand, holding it upright and pressing each individual key with the other hand, like a middle-aged mom.

and then seungmin sighed once again as he gave it back to felix, and folded his glasses, putting them back inside his jacket. he'd just morphed from a middle-aged mom into a disappointed dad. "felix... i'm sorry for asking so much from you, but i fear you'll need to transfer it by hand." he chuckled devilishly. "or by finger-tapping. tap, tap, tap." he punched at the pc's grimy keyboard repeatedly.

by this time, felix felt the chair dig into his butt, and he'd been sitting there for not longer than five minutes. imagine spending hours glued to that somber y2k computer. he'd be completely flat.

oh, well. felix was already too deep into this, and what was one more reason to procrastinate his homework? as long as everything ended well.

---

it turned out that procrastination did not only affect felix.

it only took mr kim one glance toward felix and changbin's weekly report for blood to rush straight to his head.

"this is unacceptable!" mr kim screamed at the blank page. "are you two kindergarten students? can't you understand the concept of a work report?"

oh, excuse him. felix was too busy running errands for practically, like, the whole town, and had committed the grave mistake to presume that changbin, who didn't have many serious obligations from as far he was aware, would take charge of their mutual homework. guess he'd been wrong.

"it's an egg," felix snapped, not wanting to take any shit right now. "what is there to report? day 2, it still hasn't turned into an omelet. day three, still hasn't hatched. day four..."

mr kim was practically foaming at the mouth. his fists were curled tight around the paper, knuckles white. "do you take my job as a joke, felix?"

"no, sir..."

"quiet! did i ask you something?"

"no... sir?"

"silence!"

he felt changbin grip his hand. he said, "we just mixed up the date, mr kim. it said the deadline was 21/11, but we thought it was... uh... i mean..."

"11/21, mr seo? is there a twenty-first month i'm not aware about?" mr kim grinned tight, the corners of his mouth seeming as though frozen in place as though he'd just undergone a sudden botox treatment. "hell, do we even have a twentieth month, mr seo?"

changbin tried to utter some more incoherent sounds, but then gave up and hung his head down.

mr kim rubbed a finger in between his brows. he waved them off, "go sit, just sit! back to your places!"

felix and changbin scrambled off, still hand in hand, until they'd reached their seats and separated.

when mr kim distributed the reports, graded and commented on, their paper had an f , and, on the side, had written this won't slide in college.

felix should really start considering doing homework, after all.