NINETEEN | CHANGLIX

YEAR SIXTEEN

THE SIXTEENTH YEAR they loved one another.

Perhaps it was a simple sentence that roamed amongst the usual cliches that were often dismissed until they were truly felt. However to say that Felix and Changbin 'fell' in love would have mislead you quite far from the truth.

The truth in this case was something far simpler, despite the year not made to be an easy one. For where the mind of fifteen years hardly changes overnight, Changbin suddenly felt overwhelmed by new responsibilities that he scarcely feel any the wiser to possess. Turning 16 placed him with ID cards and put power into his signature for letters he still need him mum to scan over the contents of. It was a year not made to be an easy task, for where every direction beckoned him to try its possiblities, there were too many possibilities to feel any sense of direction.

Yet while the year took both males for a ride, the love of Lee Felix and Seo Changbin was not something that had to move over distance to be acquired. There was no falling into a place that was completely new ( although the art of kissing certainly was), both boys knew deep down that the love had always been there and the year was one that gave them an opportunity to express it in all the forms they could bring themselves to.

They had always loved one another and what better time than sixteen, where life seems to be ending all while nights seem endless, than to love a boy because you've grown to love him your whole life.

__

It definitely took some time getting used to.

Despite both boys sharing mutal feelings they could not avoid the clumsy fumbling and shy smiles that appeared simply by the other standing awkwardly five metres away. It was marvellous, how open feelings could thicken the air around all while making someone feel so loose inside, the tight nots of apprehension soon coming undone and weaving themselves into bundles of joy.

It started with movies on the bed with Changbin's wonky laptop and Felix's mismatched socks. The latter had suggested the familiar activity, gifting Changbin a huge relief in knowing that not much had changed. While the guns and fake blood should've been the cause for Changbin's heart to race faster than the police cars, it turns out that Felix's arm casually next to his was a marvellous stimulus. The warmth of the other matched that of the late afternoon's sun, as it lazily smiled at them from the corner of his window, its rays radiating across their bodies.

"Are you okay?" Changbin asked, trying not too sound concerned, yet concerned if asking the question was something he should be doing. He had found himself at the hands of overthinking, contantly trying to ensure nothing could wrong. Cursing himself softly, he forced his muscles to relax, assuring himself with the fact that had bought enough popcorn to last the next two hours and this activity had been done an uncountable amount of times.

Felix nodded, his eyebrows furrowed in a way which displayed his concentration on the film. It was a view Changbin would've much rather observed and in order to catch a few more seconds of it he equired the boy again.

"I have more drinks downstairs if you want -- or ice in the fridge if your drink is too warm?"

Felix smiled gently and shook his head and with a sigh as soft as silk he turned back towards the screen which now displayed a scene filled with cigarettes and machevillian faces, "You worry too much."

Changbin bit his lip. Had he been that obvious? As his cheeks became warmer he couldn't help but utter a string of unintentional words, "I just want to--"

However before he could even finish, Felix had lifted his arm from where it had sat anxiously fiddling with a lose thread on the bedsheets and bought it so it hung across his shoulder, entertwining his smooth fingers with Changbin's own and snuggling closer to the older.