To Be Loved... (BOOK 1)

Off To The Races

December has officially started which means I only have a few more weeks to finish this painting for Felix. I'd say it's more than halfway complete.

"Wow, sweetheart!" Ms. Jung beamed, coming into my room. "This looks fantastic." She rubbed my shoulder as she admired my work.

"Thank you." I blushed.

"Has he seen it?" I shook my head. 

"I feel like I need to get him something else for Christmas, but he keeps telling me he doesn't want anything else." I sighed.

"How about tomorrow when they're at practice, we can go out Christmas shopping?" She suggested. "I'd say today, but they have their meet in twenty minutes."

"Oh my god!" I totally lost track of time.

"Hyunjin, you're not late. Kyungmin and I were just about to leave too. Do you want to come with us?"

The three of us rode in the car together on our way to their first meet. This was a stressful day for me. Why did they have to put Felix and Wooyoung in the same events?

Even though we had time to spare, I practically rushed Ms. Jung and Kyungmin to the track. I knew San and Minho were already inside waiting for us.

"Hyunjinnie!" I heard Minho's obnoxiously loud voice call out, along with San waving next to him.

"San!" Kyungmin ran ahead of me and Ms. Jung and went right to his new favorite person. San stood up and bent down to pick up the younger, then gave him a tight squeeze. Kyungmin's laugh was similar to Wooyoung's in his own way.

"You were taking forever." Minho scoffed.

"Was San too boring for you?"

"The opposite actually. He doesn't shut the fuck up. You just sit here and don't speak so your presence is nice." I laughed at his comment, looking over to see San and Ms. Jung talking up a storm with Kyungmin on his lap. "What did I say? Chatterbox." I looked down at the track to find Wooyoung and Felix laughing and having a conversation. "Yongbokie told me that Wooyoung is one of the fastest on the team." He pointed at them.

"I know he is. Felix is fast too. One time we went out to eat and we raced to the car. He was like a mile ahead of me."

"Hyunjin, you don't do anything to stay in shape whatsoever. I guarantee he ran at a normal speed and you're just slow."

"Doubtful." I denied, although he may be onto something. Either way, Felix is fast.

Wooyoung and Felix made their way over to 2 and 4 for the 100 meter.

"Let's go, Yongbok!" Minho cheered. Felix smiled, but kept his eyes forward as he stayed in position.

The starting pistol sounded as they sprinted down the lanes at full speed. Wooyoung, unsurprisingly, was going to win judging by the gap between him and the others. I looked to my left and saw San stare in absolute disbelief. I laughed at his reaction, but by the time I turned back, the race was over and Wooyoung had won. Felix looked discouraged about coming in fourth, but it was his very first meet. When he looked up at me, I gave him a big smile with two thumbs up. Wooyoung and San, on the other hand, were giving each other those 'you the man, no you the man' pointing gestures.

"Hyunjin, I didn't know he was that fast, oh my god." San smiled. He's having a very strong proud boyfriend moment, I can tell.

The 200 meter finished in a similar fashion. Only this time, Wooyoung came in second and Felix came in third.

Kyungmin popped off San's lap and came over to sit on mine. "He kept shaking his leg." He complained about San. "I thought I was going to fall off."

"Why don't you just sit on the bleachers then?"

He looked at me like I was stupid. "Why would I? It's cold and this is more comfortable."

Minho laughed at how I just got owned by a little kid. "Just like his brother." He wiped a fake tear away.

"What's your name?" Kyungmin asked.

"I'm Minho, Felix's older brother." He introduced.

"Oh." He nodded. "I like Felix."

"You do?" I smiled.

"He's nice to me. I like San more though."

Minho stifled a laugh as I rolled my eyes and smiled. Kids have no filter whatsoever.

It was time for their last event: the 4 x 100 meter relay. Fortunately, they're on the same team. Felix was third in line with Wooyoung to be the last runner.

"We could never do this." I shook my head, feeling anxious as the race was about to begin.

"Speak for yourself, I'm unstoppable." Minho pulled up his pant leg and flexed his calf muscles.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

He aggressively lowered it back down and shook his head. "Power." He whispered.

"What is wrong with you?" I laughed. He snapped his head and attempted to give me his infamous evil eye. Usually it doesn't work on me, but because I was so confused by his actions, I shuttered in fear just a little.

We looked back and noticed the second runner on the team had the baton, holding it out to hand to Felix. He took notice and started running with his hand held back. He grabbed it before the other teams, officially putting them in first. All of us stood up and stared in anticipation.

"Go, Felix, run." I said to myself, keeping my eyes on him. He was close enough to Wooyoung to where he started to move. The hand off was a lot smoother between the two of them, seemingly having more trust with one another.

"Go, Wooyoung!" San was practically having a meltdown as he watched his boyfriend sprint meters ahead of everyone. Once he was first to cross the finish line, we instantly cheered. "Oh my god." San was dramatically fanning his face. "That was stressful."

"You're literally sweating." I laughed.

"So are you, swamp boy, don't even start." San joked around, leaving me playfully offended while Minho broke into hysterics.

"Enough, you two." Ms. Jung rolled her eyes at our bickering.

I'd say San and I get along pretty well too. We're not as close as Wooyoung and Felix, but close enough. To be fair, him and I are polar opposites in every possible way, but we try. He knows I always have his back and I know he always has mine.