wilted flower ─ changlix ✓

five

the sun was slowly setting in the horizon, golden against the clouds. it coloured the sky with dusty oranges and reds, which then faded to gentle hues of purple and rosy pinks.

despite the bewitching sunset, changbin seemed only to notice the stark shadows caused by the light. they seemed almost alive as they stretched threateningly across the forest floor.

felix had been silent for the past few hours apart from his absentminded kicking of branches, chanbin had noticed. it was rare for felix to remain this quiet for such a long time and changbin kept glancing at him in worry.

although changbin tried to convince himself otherwise, he did rely on felix's positivity to keep him going. to help him notice the colour instead of only seeing the shadows.

as the sun dipped beyond his line of sight, changbin let out a sigh and called to felix to stop before turning around, to make sure that felix didn't bump into him again.

"hey, let's rest up here for the night," he said, dropping his bag at the base of a large tree. felix yawned loudly and nodded,

"how far until we get to the village?"

"not too long, maybe half a day's walk?"

"then let's go now! why are we stopping?"

"lix, look at your condition. you're walking half asleep. you know how many times you've walked into a tree in the past hour?" changbin replied, chuckling to mask his obvious unease.

he wasn't used to seeing felix this way, and he was slightly confused as to why he was acting like this. had he said something?

"oh shut up," felix pushed changbin jokingly, trying to open his eyes wide to show changbin that he wasn't tired, "look, i'm wide awake."

"stop that, you look like a creepy owl," changbin said with a shake of his head, sitting beside the bag. he patted the space beside him with an innocent smile, and felix huffed before plopping himself down beside him. he didn't realize how chilly the night air was until he sat down, finally still after hours of moving.

changbin noticed that the younger was shivering and immediately moved to open the bag and take out the blanket. he handed it to felix, who let out a small noise of disgust as he took it.

"it's still soggy," felix said, scrunching up his nose and dropping it, "if we use this there's a bigger chance of us falling sick."

"well, it's either this or nothing," changbin said, feeling slightly guilty as he looked at the goosebumps on felix's arms, "you prefer not using the blanket?"

"yeah, i can do without it," felix replied.

changbin nodded and stood up, picking up the blanket and looked for a branch low enough for him to hang it up on to dry. unfortunately, he couldn't properly reach any of the branches to spread the blanket, much to his annoyance.

finally, after a few failed attempts, he turned angrily to see felix watching up in amusement.

"hey lix, i'm sure you're having fun watching me bust my ass here, but i could do with some help, you know?"

"i certainly am having fun watching your ass," felix commented with a smirk, to which changbin threw the damp towel at his face, "okay, okay! i'm kidding!"

felix laughed as he stood up, pinching changbin's cheek teasingly before fixing the blanket on the tree branch.

changbin turned to sit against the tree trunk once again feeling his cheeks burning from felix's comment. he was glad he had the darkness of the night to mask the fact that his entire face shockingly resembled a tomato.

"you're still cold," changbin said as felix finished adjusting the blanket.

felix only smiled and replied brightly, "it's fine binnie, really."

changbin lay down, the soft leaves rustling in his ears as he watched felix move about, trying to warm up his body before laying down to sleep.

changbin felt guilty at the fact that he hadn't listened to felix that morning, and the wheels in his brain whirred as he tried to come up with something. finally, he bit his lip before letting out a sigh and opening his arms to felix, "just come here."

it didn't matter that there was no moon to shed light on them, the way felix's eyes lit up was enough light for changbin. a smile crept onto felix's face as he saw changbin's open arms, "binnie, are you serious?"

"come on, don't make this weird."

"oh, i would never! it's just to keep warm."

changbin couldn't help the way his heart skipped as felix didn't hesitate to settle himself next to changbin, resting his head on changbin's shoulder and closing his eyes. he turned to changbin and draped his arm around changbin's waist with a content sigh, and changbin swore his heart stopped beating.

"you know, emperor penguins huddle for warmth," changbin blurted, looking at the sky. the moonless sky looked pitch dark, apart from the occasional stars that peeked shyly from cracks here and there between the overlapping clouds.

"now who's being weird?" felix replied with a smug smile, cracking open one eye to look at changbin's face.

changbin, however, kept his gaze on night sky, trying to get his chest to heave and fall in even breaths. noticing the shift in atmosphere, felix let his fingers trail up and down changbin's waist, "what are you thinking about, binnie?"

"just looking at the stars," changbin said softly. he then squirmed and nearly whacked felix's hand away, "stop, that's ticklish."

felix chuckled but did not stop, "what tickles? this?"

"if you keep doing this, you're sleeping without any warmth!" changbin said, trying to wriggle out of felix's grasp. felix immediately stopped and pouted,

"manipulator."

"i never asked you to start ticking me, i was literally just looking at the stars!"

"blah blah blah."

"real mature."

felix reached to tap the scar on changbin's chin with a soft smile, "good night binnie."

"good night, lix."

─ author's note 🌻

we love changbin's little chin scar

also i think i might have to warn, since usually these stories have warnings. there will be angst and there may (or may not) be a plottwist! so enjoy having that on your concience when reading the story c;

─ love from melelel !