LUNCHBOX FRIENDS | changlix

.26

"noooooo!" felix's body reacted before his mind. while his brain screeched in denial, translating into a loud cry for the horrid sight before him, his body had lunged forward, arms and hands extended with protective anguish. he cried again, "noooo!"

it wasn't too long until felix knelt in front of the crime scene, egg in hand. to his utter horror, its previously smooth tanned shell was slashed through the middle, a straight crack through its surface.

it wasn't broken. felix let out a long exhale of relief, cradling the egg to his chest, where his hummingbird heart threatening to fly off his ribcage. the egg trembled against his shaky hands.

it wasn't broken, but at what cost? they were done for. finished. completely over. mr kim would take a glance at it and swipe their names away from the dreaded notebook, no questions asked. he wouldn't give ears to their explanations, no matter how much felix cried for sympathy.

he looked up at changbin, frozen in the same position felix found him in. "grab the crib! quick!"

despite the egg not being a mess of a ruined breakfast on the floor, there was no indication that it would not splatter along the locker room tiles.

changbin kept his stare on felix, completely immobile. felix wondered what he looked like right now, knelt on the ground in front of changbin, hands clasped on his chest. maybe it was felix's wildest manifestations coming to fruition. the affirmations whispered against the mirror sure worked.

but this was not time for fantasy. this was a critical moment. felix did not wait a second more. he yanked the makeshift crib away from changbin's frozen hands and squeezed the egg into its hole, safe at last.

when felix rose to his feet, his chest heaved and his vision blurred. that was close.

"what do we do?" he puffed out, wishing that only for a bit he could take the back seat and let someone else fix the mess of his life.

"we?" changbin spat. "do you mean we as you and i or..." he pointed at taehyung. "you and him?"

taehyung, who'd just stood there watching the scene with slight confusion, jumped at the harsh words coming from changbin. "wow, this is really..." he huffed. "i don't need to get into this. i'm out."

and so taehyung hurried away, flattening himself against the wall as to not be pinned down by changbin's glare. soon enough, taehyung was free, running through the field and leaving the entire mess for felix to clean.

he looked at changbin. "what's wrong with you?"

risky words to ask your crush, certainly. but the words thrown at himself weren't the most lovey-dovey either. he had no business standing there looking pissy when their baby project lay injured in its milk box crib.

changbin's nostrils flared as he glared at felix, but he didn't say anything. felix could detect the second changbin's mind stopped its spinning and came to a conclusion. and the conclusion, felix could assume, was their impeding failing in biology.

"oh, my god," he said, staring at the egg. "what have i done?"

yes, changbin, felix wanted to say, what have you done?

he wanted to cry.

—

"this won't work, felix," changbin said.

"yes, it will."

"you're doing it all wrong."

"yeah?" felix challenged, moving farther onto the bed. "watch me!"

"you'll just hurt yourself..."

felix snapped the tape in rage, letting it stretch until the ends met, soon becoming a sticky mess glued to felix's hands. he let it fall to the bed, just missing the damaged egg.

"so what do we do, then?" felix said. "paint over the crack? i don't have eggshell white. which i don't think it would match..."

changbin looked at it, his face contorted from guilt. "i think there's no turnaround." he looked up at felix. he sounded sincerely apologetic when he said, "i'm sorry, felix."

felix instantly softened. he couldn't afford to be mad, not with changbin. "it's not your fault," he said. "it was an accident. that happens. your hands were probably too sweaty and it escaped them, since you wear those thick hoodies in september."

changbin cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head as he said, "yeah. definitely that. my hoodie was too hot."

felix poked his cheek. boop. "cheer up," he said. "i think i have brown eggs in the kitchen."

then, jumping off the bed, now not so bothered whether it would fall off with the abrupt movement, felix skipped to the kitchen. changbin followed him.

he'd come to a new stage: acceptance.

there was no way mr kim could tell the difference. he acted like a moody comic book villain just to instill fear in their hearts anyway. it wasn't like he had actual psychic superpowers.

once in the kitchen, felix fished out a twin off the egg carton. it was the perfect replica: tan and smooth (rip), the exact shade of his now injured baby. it felt immeasurably lighter, though, as though there was just the shell. felix showed it to changbin.

"he won't buy it," changbin said.

"but he will buy the cracked one," felix deadpanned.

changbin rolled his eyes and did an awful job of concealing a smile.

felix put it down on the counter and watched it rock over the cold tile. "changbin?" he tried.

"yeah?"

felix opened and closed his mouth. should he even ask that? they'd come so far, so far into their relationship. sure, it was unconventional. they had a baby, but... after they finally kissed they'd been blessed with a second one.

he breathed hard, so hard he'd almost choked on air. "so, are we married now?"

changbin's face froze in place. was paralysis contagious? he'd been going statue the whole day. "why?"

felix blinked. "because we have a kid? and we kissed?"

changbin contemplated for a while, eyes scanning the room as though in search for a quick escape. he took his time enough for felix to question his own thoughts and beliefs. then, finally, he said, "uh, i think so?"

"then there's only one thing left to do," felix said.

changbin gulpped. "and what is it?"

"um, i think it's..." he rolled the new egg in his hand. what was the thing usually correlated with babies? silence? saxophone? oh, yes... "sex?"

now, changbin, instead of standing still again, eyes comically bulged out of their sockets, choked and sputtered. if he'd been drinking, felix realized, it'd come out of his nose. "felix—" he coughed.

"yes?"

changbin paused, and felix feared he'd be silent forever. but, once he cleared his throat, cracked his own knuckles, and huffed out an exhale, he proclaimed: "we've already done it!"

felix frowned. "did we?"

changbin was quick: "yeah! why do you think people say you're going to get pregnant if you make out? it's because it's sex!"

felix thought about it. he thought really hard while rolling the egg in his hand. "huh!" maybe it made sense. maybe? look! there was the evidence, right on his hand. he widened his eyes, staring at the egg, "am i going to get pregnant?"

changbin scoffed. "no! you can't felix, you're a boy! besides, if we use protection, everything's okay!"

felix nearly dropped the egg, just like changbin had done at the locker room. "but changbin," he said. "we didn't use protection!"