opaque ↜ lfl

꧁ twenty four

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Nara groaned, her eyebrows knitted. She could tell wherever she was at the moment, it was bright. Her head was throbbing from the lights. However, Nara forced her eyes open. This time, she wanted to know where she truly was. The few times she tried waking up was very painful and she gave up.

As she pried her eyes opened, her vision was blurry as usual but within a few seconds, her pupils managed to adjust to the lighting. White, was the colour that greeted her. She was in a room that was awfully typical of what a hospital looked like.

She looked next to her and saw the ECG machine. It was beeping and she could tell her heart rate was calm. Her senses finally kicked in and she didn't feel numb anymore. She also realised she had an oxygen mask over her face. However, she still couldn't tell why she was here. Her head was still throbbing for her to recall her recent memories.

Her eyes wandered everywhere around the room until they finally landed on a figure next to her bed. It was a boy, his head was hung low. From the calming rate of his breathing, he was asleep. Nara felt numb but she forced her fingers to move and release his grip on hers.

As she pulled her hand away from his touch, she noticed that he slightly moved, probably waking up. She watched him raise his head as he looked down on her. The first thing that caught her eyes were his gaze. She knew those soft pair of eyes so well, and his glad smile that she recognised immediately. Her lips parted to call out his name but before the words could come out, nurses started rushing to her side, pushing him out of her room.

Nara didn't bother to look at them, she had her eyes fixed on him instead as the nurses came to aid her. After a few checks, she noticed he was still not there. Eager, she wanted to call out his name to see him again but her throat was burning for her to speak. Instead of a name, she let out a cough.

Giving up, she lied on her back and faced the ceiling. Nara removed the oxygen mask from her face and tried to inhale on her own. Everything was white and bright, it made her feel safe but she was still uneasy as she didn't know what truly happened to her.

The anxiety was eating her alive and she was so unsettled to a point she fought back the tears of fear from falling. She hadn't realise that her heartbeat was accelerating to a point the machine beep loudly. She closed her eyes and was prepared to cry as she couldn't think of anything else to calm her down.

"Hey, hey. What's wrong?"

Nara heard a familiar voice. She opened her eyes which was currently shinning and filled with tears as she looked at him. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around him and cried in his embrace. Nara couldn't stop the tears and continued to cry as he stroked her hair. She knew she looked pitiful and she hated looking so weak but at the moment she had no strength to continue looking so tough.

"It's alright, you're safe now." He softly whispered and kept her tight in his embrace. After crying out the lump in her throat, Nara finally felt calmer. She stayed in his warm embrace for a while and her heart eventually felt ease. Nara pulled away slightly from him as she took a look at his face.

He pulled his lips into a thin smile, a reassuring one. Nara brought her eyes from his face and down to his figure, it was only then she realised he was wearing the hospital outfit as well. The tag on his wrist confirmed her suspicion. She pulled away from his touch to get a good look.

"Felix, you're hurt." Nara said softly, although she couldn't find any bandage on him. "I'm fine, you don't have to worry." He smiled but Nara wasn't buying it. "Shut up, I want the truth." Her eyebrows knitted, she wasn't going to take another lie.

Felix kept his smile on her although he refused to look her in the eyes. "It's not your fault." He said simply. Nara shut her eyes for a while as she felt a sudden pain in the head and that was when she recalled everything that happened. From her being sold, to being chained up and hanged.

"Did they get him?" Nara asked and Felix nodded softly. He too, refused to recall the scene of watching Nara clinging for her dear life. He felt completely useless because he couldn't save her from the pain. He felt like a fool when he held her cold body after the police came. He was completely unsettled when the operation took 3 hours before they gave him the news that she made it.

Nara was everything to him, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her that. They drew a line that they were just friends, just rivals. Felix tried numerous times to confess but she would never get the hint. She labelled him as annoying and a dear acquaintance but never more than that. This time, he was utterly sure that she wanted no part of her life with him after Felix almost become her cause of death.

"I'm sorry." Felix sighed. Nara brought her eyes from the bedsheet and towards him instead. Before she could even ask why, he continued. "It's my fault you almost died. If I was more careful and I paid attention to the threats he would have never know about you. I should've been honest when you ended up in my house. That was the most terrifying threat he had ever gave me." Felix said and looked at her.

She recalled the party and meeting the man who drugged her. Luckily, she was left untouched and only used as a bait. "I was so scared of losing you, I started acting on my own. Despite being a scorer in school, I was actually stupid to care about the people around me. Had I known better, you would have never been involved in this. Your heart would have never stopped, and I— I didn't have to watch you to die." He said, his words were becoming softer after one another.

"I thought I would live in guilt forever, no, I would never forget what I've done to you. You— you stopped breathing, and you didn't answer me. I was so scared—"

Nara didn't want to hear his apologies anymore and all she could think of was to shut him up. She grabbed his face by the cheeks and lightly kissed him on the lips. She knew exactly how he felt, the fear of losing someone he truly cared. When Chan told her how he planned to murder Felix, Nara was terrified. Just imagining Felix dying right before her eyes were horrifying. It was only then she realised her feelings for him, why she felt so empty without him and why she wanted him to live.

She planned to pull away and apologise to him instead, when Felix wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her deeper into the kiss. Her hands went from his cheeks to wrapping themselves around his neck. She felt her heart fluttered as their kiss went deeper. She pushed her ego away and she didn't care what anyone else had to say but Felix had the rights to know her feelings for him.

Nara tilted her head slightly as Felix pressed his lips harder on hers. His lips felt soft on hers and she hadn't realise she automatically had her eyes closed. She felt secure being this close in contact with him, she could feel him confessing over the kiss as well and they weren't planning on pulling away. Nara gasped between the kiss as Felix pulled her by the waist, closing the distance between them until their chests collided. Eventually, they both had to pull away as they were running out of breaths.

Their eyes were locked as they catch their breaths. Nara grinned at him as she quickly pecked him on the lips and rested her head on his shoulder afterwards. She could hear him chuckle as he hugged her tightly with his head lightly rested on top of hers.

"I'm sorry—"

"Felix, shut up for once would ya?"

꧁꧂

🐾I had to stop so many times while writing this because man, FEELS
but hsjsjsjs I CANT DO THIS TO HYUNJIN 😩