Oddinary [Stray Kids]

22

Chapter twenty-two: An ex friend

"When is he coming to see you?" Hyunjin asks quietly while dully playing with the food in his plate, his head resting on his hand while his eyes are stuck on the fork.

"Who?"

"Felix."

"I don't know." the younger mutters with sad eyes before taking another bite out of his sandwich.

"Stop the bullshit, Jeongin. We both know he told you when he'd come back to see you." the older raises his voice along with his head as his piercing gaze sends shivers down Jeongin's spine. Hyunjin is the nicest one out of all of the members, yet the way he's been acting lately scares Jeongin more than the others do.

"I told you I don't know. What more do you want from me, hyung? Did I not help enough? Did you all not abuse me enough?" the younger raises his voice too as he stands up from the table and walks closer to the only man in this building he could call his friend. Even though Hyunjin has bullied him quite a lot, he liked to see him as a friend. Because he was the only one there for him the night his whole world crashed. He was the only one who hugged him, who held him close to himself. The only one who saw his tears and the only one who wiped them off the younger's cheeks. "Why can't you all see I've had enough? I know you enjoy making me go through every sort of pain, but doesn't any one of you have at least a bit of empathy? God dammit, you are the one who should know about it. You're the one who should understand. Yet you just act like them. You just act like you don't know. Why, Hyunjin? Just, why?" the boy yells while holding the one before him by the collar of his button-down shirt.

The older just looks at Jeongin with glimmering eyes, lips quivering and hands trembling. "I'm sorry." the man whispers and hugs the younger tightly, managing to bring Jeongin's head on the crook of his neck. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I can't stop it. I'm sorry I act just like them. I'm sorry I never show how sorry I really am." a sigh leaves Hyunjin's chapped lips before breaking the hug and looking at the one before him whilst still holding him by the shoulders. "I can't fight them all. They're too many. I have to act like them to not get myself in trouble."

A deep breath leaves Jeongin's lips before nodding. "I know."

Meanwhile, Minho, Jisung and Chan are in the living room of the building, still thinking of a plan to capture Felix. It's been days and they still have no idea how to. And it's frustrating.

"Ah, fuck him! Why do we need him anyway?" Jisung groans as he throws his head back on the couch.

"Jisung, stop whining like a freaking child and keep trying to find that shithead." Chan says in a stern voice as he makes eye contact with a wide eyed Jisung.

"Why is he even hiding in the first place? He was more than happy to help us the first time." a sigh leaves Minho's lips as he flops on the couch beside his friend while holding a beer in his hand.

"He's a pussy, that's why. He knows that if we'd have Felix we'd use him to fucking kill him." the oldest utters as he massages his temples with closed eyes. "Useless piece of shit."

"Who are we talking shit about?" Seungmin says in an excited tone before sitting down beside Minho.

Felix harshly grabs onto his own hair as a long, loud sigh leaves his mouth. He's been walking around his room for the past few minutes trying to figure out what he should do. Should he tell his boss the truth or just lie to him? Telling him the truth might end up bad since the blond would get fired, but lying would also end bad. And of course it wouldn't be as bad for now, but after a while the truth would reveal itself and Felix would still end up getting fired. Maybe he should tell his boss some things about the members? No. That's not even an option for Felix. And yes, he did think about it, but no, he's never going to do it. Betraying them is like betraying himself. He can't even imagine himself doing it in the first place.