game over | lee felix | ✔

12

"Hey, Soojae. Do you have a minute?"

"Minho oppa? Y-Yes, of course. I don't have too much time, though. You never called me before, is something the matter?"

"Actually, yes. There's something strange going on between Minjae en Felix, they completely ignore each other and it worries me because they were awfully close before. Since you're her sister, I thought that maybe she told you something?"

It remains silent for a while but the way my sister swallows nervously is impossible to miss.

"Mmm, I don't know anything about a fight with Felix, she didn't tell me. She does seem pretty distant the past few days, though. Have you tried talking to either her or Felix?"

"That's the point here, I did and they both refused to spill anything. That's why I hoped that maybe Minjae opened up to you."

"She didn't, we aren't that close. It's surprising, they were inseparable. I wonder what happened to turn that all around?"

"I'm hoping to find out what made them turn against each other so fast. They're both unhappy and I want to fix this mess. I'm not stopping until this is okay again."

Another nervous swallow.

"Hey, I gotta go now. I'll try talking to Minjae when I see her and call you if she spills something, is that okay?"

"Ah, of course. Any help to get them back together is very welcome. Thank you."

"Okay, bye!"

With a soft click, the recorded phone conversation comes to an end and I pull out the earbuds. Frowning, I hand Minho his phone back.

"What a filthy liar," I hiss, leaning back into the leather couch in the small café we're in.

My heart is beating rapidly as I try to process the conversation I just heard. It's scary how easy the lies left her mouth, almost as if she rehearsed them for when needed. I'm positive that my cheeks are flushed with anger as I stare at the Iced Americano in front of me, my fingers clutching the paper cup with my name on it dangerously.

"She's definitely hiding something," Minho notes, taking a sip of his coffee. "We just have to figure out what."

I slowly nod a few times, letting go of the poor paper cup before taking a sip as well.

"But I have to be honest with you, Minjae," he then says and I look at him cautiously, a little nervous after seeing his serious expression.

"What's it?" I ask in a small voice.

"I just think this is going to turn out a lot more complicated than we thought. I'm suddenly a tiny little bit more worried about the Felix-and-Jangmi-together-at-lunch thingy."

I give him a dead look; that was literally my first thought when I saw them together yesterday. Today, they were there again. Together, sharing a table even closer to ours. It hurt how their hands touched repeatedly, it hurt how their combined laughter reached my ears continuously, it hurt how he didn't even spare me one single glance. It still hurts.

"Yeah, it's very coincidental that suddenly, Jangmi is all over him," I agree, slumping back into the couch. I feel defeated already. Whatever the connection between this all is, there's no way the two of us stand a chance against Choi Jangmi and her minions.

"Too coincidental to be a real coincidence," Minho adds, frowning slightly. "To be honest, I don't really know what to do from here. That girl is younger than I am and yet, I feel like I can't do against her. At least not without getting the entire school's wrath over me."

"Minho, you don't have to do anything," I speak softly, giving him a small smile. "Really, nothing in this mess is your fault and you don't have to go through such great lengths to fix this. That wouldn't be right."

"It's okay," he immediately counters, finishing his coffee. "I just want my two best friends to be happy again. I want everything to go back to normal again and if my help accelerates that process, I'm doing whatever it takes. I hate this."

I slowly nod a few times, wondering what I did to deserve a friend like Minho.

"My suggestion is to take some distance for now and keep a close eye on them to see what happens," the boy ponders, glancing at the ceiling as he thinks. "Maybe he just needs some time to digest this. I mean, he must be really hurt as well. I'll talk to him again in a few days and if he still wants nothing to do with you, then it's time to panic."

"But-" I protest but Minho quickly cuts me off.

"Minjae, imagine being in Felix' position right now. You would need some time as well. I know it's all a big misunderstanding but he doesn't know that. He really thinks all you did was one big game and forcing yourself upon him won't help at all."

I quickly swallow my words and give a meek nod. But I start to feel sick; waiting a few days means watching how Felix and Jangmi suddenly stick to each other like a disease and just the thought of seeing that all day, day in day out, hurts.

But Minho is right.

"I know plan A didn't work out but don't give up hope already, okay?" Minho urges upon seeing my defeated form. "Just give him the time and space he needs and in the meantime, we can try to come up with theories of Jangmi's role in this all."

"I've been thinking about that before we had this conversation already," I admit, taking a sip of my coffee. "I really can't think of anything. Of course I've complained about Jangmi to Soojae but they don't know each other personally, as far as I know."

"Look, I'm not entirely sure whether your sister's request and Jangmi's sudden appearance next to Felix are related or not. I'm just saying that the probability is high and it's definitely something we should consider," the boy explains and I can't help but admire how he deals with this situation.

"Yeah," I mumble, staring down at the wooden surface of the table.

"Okay, here is your homework," Minho then announces, desperately trying to lighten his tone a little. He manages, he always manages to do everything. "Don't avoid Soojae too much. I want to know what she's going to do from now on. If she mentions anything about Felix falling for you, then she still has her mind set on that. If she doesn't mention anything about it, she's probably satisfied with the outcome and then I think we can confirm that Jangmi and Soojae have been talking."

For the umpteenth time, I slowly nod. Unlike me, Minho is actually thinking this through and it's obvious that he's still able to think quite clearly. Whatever leaves his mouth about this matter makes perfect sense and you can't say that about the merciless string of thoughts that circles in my head. But then again, he probably isn't as taken over by emotions as I am. He can still think rationally, while I can only sulk and panic at the moment.

"It's not like you to give up this easily, Minmin," he then sighs, fidgeting with the paper cup in his hands. "Are you really giving up your best friend to Jangmi without a fight?"

"I'm not," I immediately counter, clenching my fists. "I want him back."

"That's the spirit," the raven-haired softly says, a reluctant smile playing on his lips. "I'm not giving up, either. If what I suspect is true, and they really think we'll let Felix go that easily, they're wrong. No one messes with my group of friends."

His hands are balled into fists as they rest on the table's surface and he seems determined. He really looks like nothing is going to stop him from make this right and I wish I had the confidence he has. I'm nothing like that; I'm skeptical and scared.

But if he's going to fight for our friendship, so am I.