Meant To Be | Lee Felix

safe haven | part 22

-------(FELIX'S POV)-------

It's starting to get very cold. It's 9 a.m., and morning seems like a chilly evening. December wasn't this under the weather. February is giving it.

I slept at home last night; our dance practice was cancelled. It was me who urged it to be so because Hyunjin has caught a bad cold and might fall sick if our hectic schedules keep burdening. 
Our upcoming album NOEASY is lagging because of the preparations for Kingdom Legendary War. The shoots for the MVs aren't done yet but the deadline is near.
Sometimes I wish I was a normal person. 

My head does the blackout thing when I go downstairs. I see balloons and confetti here and there. Dad and Mom are dancing while blasting "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran in the hall. 

"Yongbok! Film us, please?" Mom says hugging Dad. They didn't have to ask, I was about to do it either way. 
It makes me happy, to see Mom giggle and Dad holding her tighter with every move. When the chorus part comes he lets go and takes out a necklace from his pocket.
I gasp at how beautifully it fits Mom's neck. 

"Yeobo- daebak! This is magnificent..." She admires it like it means the world to her. "Aw, come here-" Her kiss melts Dad. And me too.
There's nothing compared to having loving parents like this.

"Why, Bok? Jealous?" Dad points out. Mom is piggybacked on him now. Ah, he must've noticed me daydreaming.
"Don't worry, one day you'll find a woman to dance with on mornings like this." 

Oh Dad, I've found her already. 

-----(CHAE'S POV)------

(TIME SKIP)

It's 4:00 p.m. Mom has still not gone for errands she said she'd go. I thought that'd be the best chance for me to escape from her. Nothing to worry about since no one in the house cares to enter my room unless necessary. They'd probably find my body rotten for 6+ hours if I ever killed myself here. 

The two dresses lay open in front of me. The irony of "NEW DROP" by Don Toliver playing in the background is real. 

When I think of it- lix's reaction to the lilac one was catchy. For the blue one, um- I don't think I'll ever be able to comprehend that. 
After brainstorming for a brief 15 mins, I choose the blue one. 
It's the colour of Lix's eyes, and which makes me obsessed. 

My phone rings. It's Lix. LIX!

"Hello?" 
"Hi, you ready?" Why is his voice way deeper on the phone, wtf?
"Yeah, sorta. Just waitin' for mum to get busy, gotta be smooth with the escape, you know." 
"Oh man, please don't get caught, Chae. I can't see you down after they've rebuked you."

"Don't worry, I've got this. You- remember the spot you dropped me off earlier?"
"Uhuh, on the day we kissed. Yeah, of course, I remember."
The flashbacks bring heat to my cheeks. I gulp to keep my voice stable.

"Be there. Don't come any further, okay?"
"Roger that, darling." Holy Jesus.
"Alright, see ya."
"Chae wait!"

"Yeah?" I hear him clear his throat.
"You make me wanna be a better man. Happiest Valentine's Day, my love." It's Jack Nicholson mimicking which gets me giggling. 

I realize am lying on my bed gazing at the stars like they're his freckles. Damn right, real love craze this is. "Happy Valentine's Day to you too, Lix. I love you so much at this point, I swear I could-"
"Stop, I will go crazy. Don't say lovely things when am not with you. I get desperate for your touch."

I giggle like a little girl. So this is what it feels like to be in love.
"Come over, then."
"Am already wearing my shoes, girl." I can't stop giggling and blushing and kicking my feet in the air. 

We hang up and I clutch the phone near my heart.
I swear I can't love more than I do right now but I know I will tomorrow. It's the connection I can't explain. 

"Those Eyes" by New West plays on my speakers in the background.
Suddenly, all the love songs are about him. 

****

"Oh right?! You know how she raged at her husband the other day-"
Mom is on the telephone in the kitchen while peeling pomegranates. It's a part of her daily routine to gossip with her girlies over the phone every evening. Maybe she's forgotten about errands. 

This is my chance. It's now or never. Gripping my duffel, I tiptoe downstairs. I had thought I'd run out the backdoor, but for that, I'd have to cross the kitchen. 
The front door makes a click when I open it, but Mom's too into Miss Selena's tea about her husband getting to know that she's lesbian to notice it.

As soon as am out, I put on my shoes. Miss Selena's husband, who's jogging, waves at me. The poor guy doesn't know he has a whole controversial talk running about him inside. 

"Out in this chilly weather?" He's right, the cold condensed breath is visible too. 
"I have a pr-" Shit. "Pre-semester exams class, for- um, math. I barely pass in math, hehe."  

To avoid any further interaction with this human species, I walk away, leaving him hanging. He has a lot to worry about in his own life than worry- why would I have pre-semester at this time of the year? After all, his wife is into girls now, bro.

Felix stands there leaning on his bike, sun-kissed. Sunshine in sunshine is one of the best things in the world.
Oh, does this man even know how much he means to me?

"Get on! QUICK!" I say rushing.
"Don't tell me someone saw you-" Firing the ignition of the bike brings an echoing uproar; my neighbourhood's always been too silent. He hands me a helmet while putting his on.

"They did! NOW HURRY- take a Uturn, we can't go from there." I settle myself behind him.
He takes a sharp U-turn and speeds and speeds until we're out of the neighbourhood. 

There's something so soothing and comforting to be like this with him. I could fall sound asleep here, for I know if there'd be any arrows shot at me, my safe haven would take all of 'em. 

The way the evening air whips against my face carrying his faint cologne scent almost makes it look like the rest of the world is disappearing. I look at our shadow on the pavement between which the sun dances.

It's perfect. A girl. A boy. But yet one. I reach for his jacket and grip it. 
There's a strange safety in his closeness. And I never want to let him go, because how could I ever? 

He lets go of one hand of the handlebars and clutches my hand. 
"Where to miss?" 
"To the stars." 

I rest my head on the very shoulders which carry my entire world like the lightest fleeting feather, and my mind drifts into a world completely belonging to him.