fourth wheel | changlix

02

So in the end, we ended up calling for nearly two hours. While it started as discussing a serious plan to get me and Changbin to talk, it ended in my rambling about the boy shamelessly, which amused Chaelin and Hyunjin to no end.

However, we did come up with a plan. Kind of.

It's currently lunch break, and we're hiding in the bushes near Changbin's usual lunch break spot. My two friends weren't too amused about the idea of first, but I used all my charms and other convincing qualities and now they're here, crouched down next to me. They still aren't too happy with the current situation, but hey, at least they're here.

"Felix, why the heck are we in the bushes, watching Changbin?"Chaelin asks, giving me a troubled look. Though our position here isn't really comfortable, at least she has a boyfriend to lean against –which she gladly does. While she's more focused on Hyunjin, I keep my eyes on the bench Changbin usually sits on with his friends, though he isn't there yet.

"I don't know, it seemed like a useful thing to do?" I mutter defensively.

I haven't seen him for the entire summer break, and sadly I didn't run into him while walking through the hallways yesterday. This means I'll see him for the first time in a few minutes, a thought that makes my heart race rapidly.

"What even–"Chaelin sighs, her tone dripping with amusement.

"You know, if he shows up, you should just approach him," Hyunjin suggests, and I can see on his face that he's just trying to get at least something useful out of this situation. But I frantically shake my head, not really prepared to do stuff to that extend.

"He might be the most adorable human being on Earth, but he's still kind of scary with all those black clothes and–" I sigh, and chuckle awkwardly. "You get the gist, maybe I'm just slightly intimidated by him. In a good way, of course, but–"

I stop my embarrassing rant when a genius idea suddenly pops up in my head. Smiling widely, I turn to my best friend, and the girl gives me a look of concern in return.

"Chaelin, I think you should approach him."

"What?" she blurts out, genuinely confused. "He's your crush, why should I do that?"

"He looks intimidating and you look the most intimidating out of the three of us. That makes the communication easier, you know?"I try to reason with multiple unnecessary hand-gestures, that only cause the frowns on my friends' faces to deepen.

They exchange a look, before Hyunjin chuckles softly.

"Lix, you didn't see his new hair? He looks anything but intimidating right now."

My eyes widen upon hearing this new piece of information. Changbin dyed his hair? Now that's something I didn't know yet. Does that mean he's not the slightly scary, hot-and-cute intimidating boy anymore? What color did he dye his hair?

"Look, it's your man," Chaelin dryly remarks, straightening her position to get a better look.

I jolt up, almost tripping over as Seo Changbin himself enters my vision. He laughs heartily as he approaches his usual bench with his two friends –Chan and Jisung, and my heart skips a beat as my ears are blessed with the beautiful sound.

And his hair–

He dyed it a soft, light shade of brown, that makes him look absolutely adorable, even more adorable than before. It makes me want to run up to him, pinch his cheeks, kiss his nose and hug him while crying because he is too adorable. But at the same time, I don't, because I'm a huge scaredy-cat who would never have the guts to do such a bold thing.

So I do what I always do; staring at the perfection in front of my eyes with bright red cheeks and a way-too-high heartbeat, that's probably audible over the entire campus at this point. Oh lord, is this the effect of seeing your crush for the first time after a whole summer break? Man, it hits hard.

Next to me, Hyunjin heaves out a sigh, before he pushes himself off the ground. "This ain't working," he mutters, stepping out of the bushes before I even have the chance to protest. He gets a few weird glances from people around us, but he ignores them and beelines straight towards the bench Changbin is seated on.

I suck in a sharp breath, before flopping down onto the dirt with a shriek. Small branches stick into my back uncomfortably, but I'm too far gone in stress-land to be bothered by it. Did Hyunjin just– What is he going to do? This is definitely not good for my anxiety level. Too scared to look, I close my eyes, even though they were directed towards the sky.

"Lix, you good?" Chaelin questions, lightly poking my stomach.

I flinch, but refuse to open my eyes. "No, I'm not," I huff, drawing a laugh from the girl.

"I should take a picture to show to your Changbinnie," she innocently says, and surely, I hear the soft click of the camera on her phone. Instantly, I sit up, practically diving onto her to commit picture-deletus. It's a struggle, and despite my efforts, Chaelin doesn't give up her phone that easily.

We freeze when two familiar shoes appear in our vision, and we both sit up, smiling sheepishly. Leaves and branches poke from Chaelin's hair, and I can only guess my hair isn't looking much better.

"You two are a bunch of chaotic idiots, Changbin hyung even asked what was going on here," Hyunjin scoffed, but his amused smile gives him away. Then, he hands Felix a piece of paper, the smile turning in to a smug grin. "Here, it's his number."

Everything happens at once; my eyes widen, my heart skips a beat before freaking out, and my mouth falls open in shock. Did I hear that correctly? Is Hyunjin giving me Changbin's phone number?

"What? How-" I stammer, extending a dramatically shaking hand to grab the paper.

My best friend shrugs. "I told him there was a cute guy that wanted his number but he was too much of a coward to ask. Then he asked if it was the one with orange hair and when I nodded, he gave me his number without hesitation."

...........

Waaaaait a second...

okaywaitifchangbinspecificallyaskedifitwastheguywithorangehairdoesthatmaybemeanhespecificallyaskedforme?ohmygoodnesshelp. That's when my brain basically freezes over, and I can do nothing but stare at the slip of paper between my fingers, that actually has numbers on it. The small picture-incident is long forgotten at this point.

"Jinnie, I think he is malfunctioning," Chaelin comments, waving her hand in front of my eyes.

"I'm not even sorry," Hyunjin replies, sympathetically patting my back. "Say, now that you have your man's number, can we go inside? These bushes aren't very comfortable."

"On top of that, students keep staring at us," the girl adds, glancing around. "It's a bit embarrassing."

I nod slowly, but make no moves to actually get up and walk towards the main building. My eyes are still glued to the phone number on the slice of paper, and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.

"Oh God, we really broke him," my best friends mutter in unison, and a sheepish grin spreads over my face as I force myself to look up. No matter how hard to try to face my friends, it's as if a strong magnet pulls my vision towards Changbin immediately.

Well, at least the first step has been made.

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a much-needed translation of Felix's thoughts earlier this chapter:

"okay wait if changbin specifically asked if it was the guy with orange hair does that maybe mean he specifically asked for me? oh my goodness help"