time. ― ????x

― two.

"izumi~" he whined, feigning hurt. izumi chuckled.

"fine, i like you both equally. now stop whining and let me eat." hyunjin grinned triumphantly. even though it wasn't a lot, it was enough for hyunjin.

-

izumi stopped in front of her locker, putting in her combination before opening the door. immediately a folded piece of paper fell, causing izumi to sigh. she didn't have to even read it to know that it was hyunjin's crazy fangirls sending her death threats and hate. more specifically, it was cha sooji.

she was probably the craziest person you could meet, she obsessed over hyunjin and would give him gifts and send him letters. she always had parties and open gatherings, mainly in hopes to have hyunjin come, but he wasn't the type to attend those sorts of places.

izumi wondered why he never went, especially since it wasn't just sooji inviting him, but almost everyone else in the whole school. however, when izumi tried to ask him, he'd just say that he prefers to hang out with izumi and seungmin over lame parties.

"what's this?" izumi was snapped out of her thoughts as the folded paper was taken out of her hand. looking up in surprise, she found felix stood next to her, already reading the paper before she could stop him.

"it's nothing." she muttered, snatching the paper back. felix furrowed his eyebrows, looking at izumi in concern as she avoided his gaze. "how's your first day so far?" izumi questioned, changing the subject. she had a thing for avoiding the real problem.

felix sighed, allowing her to win this round. "it's been boring. i can barely keep up with what the teacher's saying and everyone keeps inviting me to go out or go to a party or something." felix pouted, as izumi mentally sighed in relief, glad that he didn't dwell on the note for longer.

she chuckled, putting her things away into her locker. "oh really? i can help out with the korean, i mean it's not great, but it's better than yours." felix laughed, nodding his head as izumi shrugged.

"where are you from? you don't seem like a foreigner." felix questioned. izumi shut her locker, turning to the boy.

"is there a certain way i'm supposed to act?" she questioned, tilting her head.

"n-no, i guess not. i just-"

"it's okay." izumi chuckled at how quick he was to get flustered. "i'm from japan, i moved to korea when i was in middle school." izumi explained. 

"oh, i see." felix nodded as the two began walking towards the exit of the school. it was already the end of the day and most students had already left with very little lingering around for clubs and meetings.

"but how come you're still here so late, i thought you would've been the first to leave seeing how antisocial you're being." felix grinned, nodding his head.

"i wanted to, but i had to speak to you at least once today." he explained. izumi could feel her ears burn at his sudden confession, wondering what he meant by it. she was probably overthinking anyway.

"really? why?" she nonchalantly questioned, trying to play it cool as she looked up at him. he shrugged, looking ahead of them as they stood at the crossroads, waiting for the lights to change.

"you seem to always say the right things when i need it the most, like last night." felix explained, looking over at her. izumi's eyes were fixed on the ground as she nodded her head. she didn't think her words would have such an impact on him. she was always worried that she was saying the wrong thing half the time.

"that's good to hear." izumi smiled, the two crossing the road as the red man became green. "but do you live this way too?" izumi questioned, noticing that he was walking the same direction as her. 

"mhm, turns out i only live on the street next to yours." felix replied, smiling down at her. izumi couldn't help but stare at him a little longer, the smile on his face always seemed to surprise izumi . it was only a smile that izumi had seen, no one else. but izumi didn't know that. "what is it? is there something on my face?" felix questioned, his hand reaching up to wipe his face.

"no, just..." izumi trailed off, debating on whether to say what was on her mind. "your freckles are cute." she said instead, feeling awkward to talk about his smile. who knows what's truly hiding behind it?

felix's fingers grazed his freckles, his heart skipping a beat at the compliment. "really? don't they look weird?" he questioned. 

"why would they look weird?" she questioned. "it's what makes you, you." she smiled, nudging his arm. felix smiled, his hand falling back to his side.

"there you go again, saying the right things at the right moment."