My Heart, My Peace | HYUNLIX ✔️

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen
•••

HYUNJIN | FELIX

Waiting by my car for the others to meet me after school, my mind was stuck on Felix once again. This time, it was purely admiration for his hidden attributes. For starters, his voice was something that definitely caught me off guard. The deep, raspy tone that came out of a soft-looking face such as his didn't make sense to me. If someone had their eyes closed and heard a voice like that, there's no way in hell they would picture a visual such as him.

Then came his dance performance...

From what I've observed of him from yesterday, his personality came off as shy and introverted, especially with his speaking that sometimes came off as a stutter. Therefore, my expectations for his ability to even dance was below average, as I thought his performance would be hindered by nerves and awkwardness. However, he changed from being shy and turned into nothing but confident, and his dancing showed his true strength without fail.

Thinking that it was just a fluke, I tried to start up a conversation with him afterwards to 'apologize' to him about my behavior. In my mind, I expected him to respond back in his stuttering form, confirming my suspicions of the temporary spark of confidence.

Boy, was I wrong...

Not only did he not stutter, but he even managed to get a rise out of me by teasing. My breath hitched when he leaned inches away from my face, being so close that I could see his freckles and long eyelashes on full display. Something within me started feeling warm, but I was able to play it off with a laugh and divert the conversation to mentioning the party.

I already knew that he was planning on coming, but I needed to play it off and come off as nice for a moment by formally inviting him.

A sign of good gesture, if you will...

Although, I knew deep down that my facade was slowly fading, as I realized he was already starting to grow on me.

"Hyunjin... Hyunjin.... YA!" Minho yelled, snapping his finger in front of my face.

Shaking out of my thoughts, I noticed three out of the four boys were standing in front of me. "Sorry, what's up?"

Jongho raised his eyebrows. "You good? We've been standing here for like...five minutes."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's San?"

"He got detention for talking too much in Art class, so he's stuck for two hours." Minho sighed. "How's your plan coming along?"

I smirked. "I'm making progress. We actually had a full conversation today without any snarky remarks."

"Really? That's surprising." Seonghwa snorted.

"Whatever. All I need to know is that he's coming to the party, and he confirmed it himself."

Minho titled his head curiously. "So, the plan of embarrassing him there is still on?"

"Of course it's is. I wasn't planning on staying nice for long."

With that, we bid each other goodbye and went our separate ways home. After dance class, all I wanted to do was shower and relax. Dance always made me sweat, and with upcoming practices for the club starting next week, I need to cherish this free time while it lasted.

The drive didn't take long for me to reach, but I noticed Mother's car parked outside and not Father's. Parking my car next to hers, I stepped out and made my way to the front door eagerly. Unlocking it, I saw Mother cooking in the kitchen, humming to herself with her earbuds in while chopping up vegetables.

"Eomma, I'm home!"

She quickly turned her head, pulling out one of her earbuds and smiled at me. "My sweet boy, come here and give me a hug."

Dropping my backpack on the floor, I walked to her with the same smile and kissed her cheeks instead. "Sorry, but I'm sweaty."

"I don't care. I am too, now hug me."

Rolling my eyes playfully, I pulled her into a tight embrace, receiving light giggles in return. Curious, I started to ask her, "Why are you home so early? Is everything alright?"

She nodded, resuming her work of chopping. "Everything is fine. I'm just using one of my free days to escape that nightmare of an office. How about you go shower, and by the time you're done, food will be ready and you can talk to me about your first two days of school, hmm?"

"Sounds good. I won't be long, I promise."

Placing another quick kiss on her cheek, I grabbed my backpack and dashed upstairs to shower as instructed.

•••

"So, let me get this straight before you move on..." Eomma paused, recalling what I told her this far, "you say there's a new transfer student from Australia named Felix? He's also Chan's cousin?"

I nodded, chewing one of the pork dumplings in my mouth. Free from food, I continued, "Yeah. He also dances and we kind of talked today. I invited him to the party on Saturday."

Eomma nodded, but a slow smirk grew on her face. "..Do you think he's cute?"

"W-What?" I stuttered, feeling my chest get warm again from the question.

"I take that as a yes. You're blushing!" She giggled.

Placing a hand to my cheeks to feel them, I scoffed harshly. "I'm not blushing, mom. You just caught me off guard with such an offensive joke. He's a nerd, and I don't associate myself with nerds."

Now she rolled her eyes. "If you say so, dear. Well, moving on then, describe him for me."

"Well he's shorter than me, has blonde hair...brown eyes with freckles..." I paused, pondering on more details . "He has a surprisingly deep voice, but his laugh is loud and he tends to squint his eyes a lot too."

"Mmm...I see. Well, at least you were being nice enough to invite him to the party." Eomma smiled, ruffling my hair. "I'm proud of you."

I smiled. "Thanks, mom..."

"Now, about your classes. I noticed yesterday how you told your father about your career choice for college. How long are you going to pretend that business is something you truly want to pursue?"

"How can I tell him the truth when all he does is scold me and talk down on my dreams? I rather just start college in business, then switch halfway through my first year. Therefore, there's nothing he can do to stop me."

She sighed. "Your father is annoying. Sometimes I question why I'm still married to the man..."

Now I rolled my eyes. "It's because you love him, Mom. That's why."

"Sometimes, love isn't enough sweetheart. It's about the peace you get within your heart when you're with someone that truly matters most..."

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