𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 stray kids

5: the final key

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The stars shone, far too bright a contrast against the ink of the sky.

Lee Felix decided that tonight was the time to finally let Jeongin down from the cage; if the boy refused a gentle fall then by all means, the traveller was more than happy to give him a harder blow.

He had over the past few days done some observing of each of the gang member's oddities, discovering that...

Hyunjin was that of a siren, having the ability to manipulate a person simply by looking into their eyes. Oh... and he was at best an amateur flyer.

Jisung could see people's intentions, lingering about them like a bad smell - much like Felix could see the cloud of panic around Chan upon their first meeting atop that building. The blonde however, also had the ability to block his intentions from view - meaning the squirrel-like boy couldn't see in no matter how hard he tried. All he would see was a dull, soft emotion and mistake it as safe.

Felix's block would have put serious strain on Jisung's eyes, but the boy had yet to complain about it - given he had to relubricate them with special drops every couple of hours anyway - things mustn't have felt much out of place.

Chan had a location oddity, that made him very good at finding things, as well as an ability to file every piece of information he'd ever heard into his brain, rather like one massive filing system he could access at any time he needed.

This made him embarrassingly smart, for a man who acted so arrogantly.

Seungmin's voice made you feel incredibly sleepy, often causing fainting spells if you weren't used to it, which quickly answered Felix's question as to why the boy rarely spoke. And yet, he also possessed a healing oddity, able to heal a range of wounds from paper cuts to missing limbs.

Minho was very talented at any sort of sporty requirement, having endless stamina, super speed and many other talents that proved to be extremely useful in stealth.

Changbin could become invisible, and also teleport - as well as possessing super strength and the ability to communicate with animals of all kinds. He was most likely the closest thing to an all rounder that the group could have, bar Felix of course - but none of them were to find that out just yet.

And Jeongin? He was an expert at hacking any sort of supernatural technological system you could possibly imagine, and was able to read, write and speak every single language in existence.

Yet it didn't take Felix all too long to figure out that the "weird" boy Chan had been conversing about on the night they met, had turned out to be Jeongin.

And on top of all of his oddness - no pun intended - he had to go and be stubborn? Well, the traveller simply couldn't have that now, could he?

And so, on that effortlessly starry night, he lured his Fox-boy out of the headquarters by begging that he was needed for something very important.

The pair had - with Jeongin dragging his feet in a painfully slow, reluctant protest - walked all the way to the city's core, where several very modernized shops were selling all sorts of trinkets and all kinds of strange food.

"Why are we here, of all places?"

Finally, it speaks! Felix thought to himself coldly, maintaining his innocent smile on the exterior.

"Because we need ice-cream, silly!"

The latter's mouth hung open in pure shock, a wave of emotions coming over his face all at once so that he was left with a rather dumbfounded expression.

"And... you chose to drag me along... why?" He queried through gritted teeth, quite obviously fighting to keep his fury at bay.

Perfect.

Everything was playing out exactly as the blonde had designed it to. Whether his companion was aware of it or not, he was finally being herded into the array.

Instructing a rosy hue to flush from his neck all the way up to his cheeks and ears, Felix looked away for a mere second to ensure his composure, lest he give anything away. Jeongin was undeniably perceptive, after all.

Then, he looked back at the attractive face of the boy before him, and looked slowly from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes again, before shyly responding at last.

"Well I... wanted to finally be alone with you, you see? We... haven't talked all too much and it upsets me so... admittedly it even makes me think that maybe I have done something to cause you to dislike me?"

Upon the last sentence he lowered his voice in perfect sorrow, taking gleeful note on the inside at how a cloud of panic and confusion and a slight twinge of excitement began to cloud around Fox-boy.

"No, no!" He fumbled, making panicked haste to try and find the right words to say.

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize. I may very well just be expecting too much. My mother used to say I was lovable when she was alive, but that was a long time ago and people change... I guess I've finally-"

"Felix, I don't dislike you at all! Please don't misunderstand!"

Oh?

The blonde chuckled silently in his mind, forever prideful in the way simple lies could be spun so effectively to get what one desired.

"Then you think of me as...?"

Successfully catching the one who stood before him off-guard, he locked eyes with the ravenette fiercely.

Tell the truth, he sing-songed as Jeongin's eyes glassed over slightly in the subtlest of trances.

After spending some lovely bonding time with Hyunjin, as the beauty had become interestingly fond of Felix, he had been graced with many an opportunity to initiate small forms of physical touch between the two.

And therefore, he could also now manipulate through eye contact - another oddity to add to his endless collection.

"I don't trust you as far as I can throw you, but god can you stop looking at me with those eyes?" Jeongin muttered pitifully, his head lowered in embarrassment even through the bewitchment.

His mortification had to be strong indeed, to overpower such things as hypnosis.

Regardless, Felix smiled softly while he stared oh so lovingly into the eyes of the man before him.

"I'm afraid I cannot, sweetheart. You're just too gorgeous for me to look away."

And as Jeongin was released from a physical bind, his mind became encased in the array of a very pleased conductor, his cheeks a rosy red hue.

The final thorn had been weeded out of the rose garden.

Felix's orchestra was perfectly tuned at last.

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