game over | lee felix | ✔

36

During all the morning classes, I'm nervous as heck.

No wait, that's a massive understatement.

Anxiety is surging through my veins during all the morning classes. It's partly my own fault; I took a massive risk when I told Jangmi about Soojae's confession. God knows what she's going to do with that information, even though she didn't seem to care that much. But it was the only way I knew to get her to talk. I had to provoke her in some way and this was the only plan that seemed like it could work.

I wouldn't have done this if I wasn't in the same morning classes as either Jangmi or Felix. I could keep an eye on at least one of them. So far, I haven't seen them communicating in person, nor did I see them on their phone long enough to send a message. I'm missing complete lectures because of this and I really hope it's worth it in the end. 

Jangmi seems awfully relaxed through all the classes I share with her and Felix is completely oblivious to what's happening. However, I did notice that the glances in my way stopped. After that kiss, he refuses to acknowledge my presence at all. That might be a problem but I'm not giving up that easily.

Somehow, I feel like Jangmi's confidence is a good thing. It's the careless kind of confidence, the one that you feel when you think you completely control the situation without doing anything at all. I just hope Jangmi is so confident in her little game and her power over Felix that she becomes careless.

That's a stupid thing to rely on but sadly, I always realize stuff like that when it's already too late.

So yeah, that's basically the reason behind my anxiety. I'm suddenly glad I didn't tell Minho about my plans; he would've locked me up to prevent me from doing a stupid and reckless stunt like this. But I know from experience that sometimes, stupid plans are the best plans.

The last minutes before the start of lunch break seem to go agonizingly slow. My legs are wiggling restlessly and I already packed my stuff -too early, gaining a disapproving glance from Mrs. Lee- and I'm ready to go as soon as the bell rings.

I have it all planned out; Felix is in the back of the class, I'm in the front. I leave the classroom, pretend to tie my shoelaces and wait until he passes by. Then I follow him until he is where I want him to be and approach him. Then I'll just act depending on his reaction.

Eventually, the bell rings, its shrieking sound signaling the end of the morning classes. Immediately, all my senses are on sharp as I jump up and exit the classroom without a second thought. Then I sink to one knee, leaning forward to fidget with my shoelaces a little while I wait for a certain orange-haired boy to exit the classroom.

And when he does, I jolt up, my heartbeat speeding up to an alarming rate as I follow Felix. I feel it hammering against my ribcage with every step I take. Mentally, I prepare myself for the worst. The boy most likely doesn't want to talk and just like usual, he will try to get away as soon as I'm near him.

Yeah, I'm not allowing that today.

I can only guess he's heading towards Jangmi so I can't afford to lose him in the crowd. Once he meets with Jangmi, my chance is over and I highly doubt I'm getting another one soon now that I basically spilled the tea. It was the kind of card that can only be played once.

Forcefully pushing my way through the hallways, I follow him. A lot of students curse at me, outraged whispers following me wherever I go. I'm most likely a little bit hated after this but I couldn't care less at this moment. All I care about is Felix.  

More and more students enter the already crowded hallways making it harder to follow him. He often disappears from my vision, sucked up by the mass of students. If it wasn't for his bright orange hair standing out massively, I would've lost him the first time.

Finally downstairs, I make sure to walk straight behind Felix, staying as close as possible. Scratch my earlier plan; I'm not going to risk anything and just act like he's planning on getting away from me. Fortunately, it's so crowded that he doesn't even notice my presence, not even when I bump against him at full force after stumbling forwards when someone bumps into me. Everyone bumps into everyone and it's a common thing.

It's like my heart is in my throat, that's how nervous I am at this point. The crowd of students becomes smaller as we near the lockers, since most of the students visit their locker at the end of break and head into the cafeteria now. Well, the fewer people to witness my not-so-wise way to get Felix to listen to me, the better, right?

As soon as Felix reaches out to open his lockers, I suck in a deep breath. Then, I jump forward and in one swift movement, I grab his shoulders, turn him around and push him up against the lockers. He yelps in surprise and with a thud, his back collides with the bright yellow metal locker doors.

"M-Minjae?" he mutters, looking at me with wide brown eyes.

Catcalls and whistles echo through the locker hall but I choose to ignore them, solely focusing on Felix. He seems frozen, uncertainty in his eyes as my hands rest on his shoulders. I soon realize that I don't even have to hold him in order to keep him here; he shows no signs of running away. Yet, my hands remain on his shoulders, for reasons unknown to me.

It's a simple eye contact that causes tons of thoughts and feelings to run wild. It goes from, wow, is he really standing in front of me without running away? to the urge to hug the life out of the poor boy. But I mentally scold myself, since it really isn't the right time to do that.

I have to settle some things first.

"Felix, we have to talk," I firmly state, swallowing the lump of emotions that formed in my throat. "And no running away this time, I'm done with that. I'm fed up with how you run away like a childish brat every time. This could've been fixed weeks ago, if you weren't too stubborn to listen to me the first time I tried to talk to you."

I give him a wry smile. "So today, you're going to be nice and listen to me, okay?"

The orange-haired boy just looks at me, the same look of bewilderment in his eyes. And then he nods. It's nearly invisible, nothing more than a faint movement. But I saw it and I feel my heart flutter. Once again, I want to fling my arms around him so badly.

It's really happening, I can't believe it.

There's considerably less frustration behind my actions as I let go of Felix' shoulders and take his hand in mine instead. I know I should've taken a hold of his wrist and not his hand, that this is way too intimate after all the shit we've been through. But I can't help it. I just want to hold his hand in mine, like the old times I miss so much.

Slowly, I start to drag him out of the locker hall, ignoring the whistles as we approach the entrance that leads us to the outside area. From my peripheral vision, I see Jangmi appearing next to Felix' locker. My heart skips a beat as she frantically runs after us but suddenly, Minho and Changbin appear in front of her, preventing her from going any further.

"Felix!" she calls out, her scream silencing nearly the entire hall.

I see the boy looking back over his shoulder and I give his hand a gentle squeeze, almost as if I'm begging him not to go after her. And then he squeezes back.

"I'm not going to her," he reassures me in a soft tone.

It's as if a heavy weight is being lifted from my shoulders and I can't help but smile in relief. And even though he doesn't smile back, Felix' expression clearly softens and I feel my heart swell in delight.

This is so much better than what I was hoping for.

And for the first time since weeks, I genuinely feel like I can get my best friend back.

--

fun fact: the entire plot of this story just popped up in my head when I was sitting on the back of my (now ex)boyfriend's motorcycle lmao