you first {minsung} DISCONTINUED

twenty-eight.

Felix sat awkwardly in the back seat of Hyunjin's car, his hands in his pockets. 

The radio was on, and Hyunjin was singing loudly as he drove, but Changbin (who was sitting in the passenger seat) was silent, too. 

Since Felix knew they were here to date-crash, he took it upon himself to make sure nothing happened during the shopping trip, but he couldn't lie and say that this wasn't incredibly awkward. 

Felix tapped his tiny fingers lightly on the window, trying to pass time, but there was a squeal from the front of the car, startling him. 

"Don't touch the window!" Hyunjin screeched. "You'll get fingerprints on it!" 

Felix scoffed. "Eyes on the road!" he yelled back, his eyes wide in fear of his inescapable doom as he turned away from Hyunjin to see a giant truck coming right at them- 

-until Changbin reached over, grabbed the wheel, and turned it sharply, driving the car through a bush and right into the parking lot of the store, not killing them in the process. 

"Fuck," Hyunjin said under his breath. 

Felix didn't know what to say. Did they just . . . almost die?? Because Hyunjin was afraid of fingerprints?? Oh, gosh. 

And Changbin . . . saved them. 

Hyunjin pulled into a spot in the parking lot, parking the car. "I'll go in and get the ingredients. Felix, you can wait in the car. Changbin, you can come." 

Felix shook his head. "Nope, I'm coming too." 

Hyunjin sighed, overloaded with stress from everything that had happened so far that day. "FINE. Just don't be too annoying." 

Changbin sighed heavily, not saying anything. 

The three boys got out of the car and went into the store. 

Hyunjin checked his phone and started walking towards the spice section, Changbin following behind him like a lost puppy. A very cute lost puppy. 

Felix wandered toward the section with instant ramen, wanting to restock his stash. He figured he could leave Changjin alone for a few minutes . . . they were in a public place, anyway. 

Felix browsed through the many beautiful flavors of ramen. Chicken, pork, soy sauce, sausage, roast duck, eggnog, onion, salami, rice, sugar cereal, and many other organic confections. 

*chefs kiss* 

After picking out a few flavors, he carried them to the front of the store to pay for them. 

The lady who was the cashier was really nice to him, but Felix was also onto her flirting. 

When she asked for his number, he kindly declined. 

"I'm gay," he said apologetically. "You're very pretty, though." 

The girl smiled sadly. "It's okay. Thanks anyway." She waved as he walked away. 

Felix went to the aisle he had last seen Hyunjin walk towards, but neither of his soup-friends were there. 

He realized that since it was later in the day, there weren't a lot of people in the store, so his friends shouldn't be hard to find. 

He trailed through the different rows of food, glancing down different turns, but Changbin and Hyunjin were nowhere to be found. 

Until he turned down the aisle that held the makeup and fishing supplies. 

Hyunjin had Changbin backed up against a shelf of dog toys (huh, there were dog toys in the aisle too), and he was practically eating his face off. 

Felix couldn't decide if Changbin looked happy or miserable. 

Felix tiptoed towards the disgusting face-chomping display, tapping Hyunjin on the shoulder awkwardly. Hyunjin whipped around to face him, his eyes angry. 

"Do you need something?" Hyunjin asked furiously. 

Felix glanced at Changbin, whose lips were swollen and his hair was messy. Changbin refused to make eye contact.

"Didn't you see the sign in the front of the store?" Felix asked. "No cannibalism allowed here." 

Hyunjin snorted. "You're just jealous." 

"Um, no," Felix answered, laughing. "That's gross. Anyway, seems like you have everything, so let's go." He pulled Hyunjin by the wrist to the cute (but not in a weird way) cashier girl. 

"Can we get all this?" Felix asked, handing the girl the basket. He glanced back at Changbin, who still wouldn't look at him. 

Felix grabbed Hyunjin's wallet out of Hyunjin's pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, handing it to the girl. 

The cashier giggled, watching Hyunjin with her cute (again, not in a weird way) eyes. "Um, could I get your number?" she asked shyly. 

Felix obviously expected Hyunjin to immediately decline, but he was shocked to hear the tall boy's answer. 

"Sure," he said, giving the girl a look that was not PG and quickly scrawling down his number on a sticky note. He winked as he gave it to her. 

The girl giggled as they left. 

And what was even worse was that Changbin didn't seem surprised. 

"What the hell!" Felix said as they got back into the car. "Why did you do that?" 

Hyunjin shrugged. "I'm bi. Not gay." 

"You also have a boyfriend," Felix pointed out. "One who you were making out with like four minutes ago." 

"So?" 

Changbin frowned but didn't say anything. 

"I- never mind." Felix wasn't in the mood to fight, especially not with someone he didn't even really know. 

The car ride back to Hyunjin's house was silent.