his EX | lee felix

9

The dreaded Monday came again even if Jieun didn't want it to. Another same old routine of attending classes. She sighed and walked towards the cafeteria. 

Like usual, her eyes landed on the orange-haired boy in the crowd. She knew she had to get rid of these stupid habits but she couldn't help it. It's like a reflex action. No matter how crowded the place is, her eyes managed to connect to those of Felix. Surprisingly, he had no one attached to his lap - not that she cared. 

She sat down at the table where Sohye, Changbin and Hyunjin were sitting. Hyunjin was feeding Changbin French fries while Sohye was fuming across them. 

"Are you finally getting back at them for what they have done to us last Saturday?" Jieun gave Hyunjin a thumb up and Sohye hit her arm. 

"What? You guys were all over each other that day. This is called karma," Jieun stuck out her tongue at Sohye. Hyunjin's chuckle reminded her of his presence and she blushed at her own childish action. Where did all her strong façade go? She cleared her throat to hide the smile and opened her sandwich. 

"Why do you eat like a baby?" Hyunjin laughed and extended his hand to wipe the corner of her lips. She unconsciously smacked his hand away. Feeling guilty, she laughed to clear the awkward tension and wiped her own mouth with the tissue. 

Her eyes travelled across the room towards the certain boy, hoping he didn't see the incident. She knew they have ended things months ago but why did it feel like she was cheating on him whenever she was around some boys? It was because she didn't want to be like him, she reassured herself. 

Hyunjin saw how her eyes wandered towards her ex when he tried to care for her. It was easier to ignore the subtle action, so he did just that. Why do all girls go for bad boys? At that moment, he wanted to absolve her of the past that controlled her. He wanted to know what Jieun would look like without an army fighting around her heart. 

~~~~~~~

'' Come on, Jieun. Let's go get ice cream,'' Hyunjin whined while leaning against the locker beside Jieun. 

'' Exams are coming up, you whiny kid. I have to study,'' the girl chuckled. ''Why don't you go bother Changbin instead.'' 

'' As if you didn't know how your best friend stole him away from me. So, now you have to pay by being stuck with me,'' Hyunjin wriggled his eyebrows. 

''I am sure you won't last more than five minutes in the library,'' Jieun smirked at the boy and closed her locker while carrying a tower of folders. Hyunjin took the folders from her arms and followed her towards the library. 

''Wanna bet?'' He glanced back at the girl and raised his eyebrows in a challenging manner. 

''Never mind, I changed my mind. You would last long when it comes to annoying me,'' Jieun stuck her tongue out at Hyunjin teasingly. He just had this aura making people around him feel comfortable.  

''That reminds me - you still owe me a favour from last Saturday, remember? Don't tell me you forgot about how you lost the bet,'' Hyunjin laughed. 

He looked back at the girl when she didn't respond to his statement. Jieun had her eyes fixated on the dark corridor. He stepped back to see what she was looking at to find Felix talking to a strawberry blonde girl. 

Hyunjin shifted the folders onto his left hand and put his right arm around Jieun's shoulder, pulling her towards the library. 

''You okay?'' He asked worriedly. The girl always seem to go into a sad trance whenever that bad guy is around. 

''Yeah, I just thought I saw something. It wasn't a big deal,'' Jieun mumbled and faked a smile. 

'' You don't have to fake a smile with me, Jieun,'' Hyunjin smiled sadly. 

''I'm sorry, ha-ha. You always have to deal with this annoying side of me,'' Jieun fiddled with her folders that had now been set down onto the desk in the library. 

''It's okay. I don't mind at all,'' Hyunjin muttered. 

''I am pretty sure I am over him but my heart just involuntarily aches when I see him. I don't even know why,'' Jieun smiled but her eyes were teary. Hyunjin was torn between being happy from her opening up to him and hearing her broken voice while talking about a guy she obviously still like. 

He wanted to shout some sense into her so baldly how he could take away her hurt. But he bit his tongue from saying she could be with her. Instead, he ended up telling what she wanted to hear, '' It's okay, it's just a phase.'' 

They both know Jieun wasn't ready for another 'boy drama' and it was so frustrating for Hyunjin. Because Felix treated her so bad and he is so good to her; it's just not fair. 

''Hyunjin, thanks for being my friend. I really mean it,'' sincerity was shining from her eyes that Hyunjin didn't even know how to reply. 

He was right in the middle of the friend zone and when was she going to realize that?