"ouch." izumi hissed in pain, the boy glancing up at her in worry, mumbling a quiet apology as blowed on the wound to ease the sting. "it's fine." she breathed out, sending him a reassuring smile. the boy nodded, returning to attending her hand as he was extra careful in applying antiseptic on her wounds.
silence enveloped the two as izumi stared at the boy, watching as he was concentrated on taking care of her injuries, blowing on it gently so she would barely feel the sting of the alcohol. she wondered what was going through his mind at that moment ― did he regret what he was about to do? or did he hate izumi for interrupting him? "we've met before, haven't we?" he questioned, bringing her out of her thoughts, processing his words before answering.
"hm? we have?" she questioned, acting dumb. she didn't want to involve herself further with him, if something went wrong then she only had herself to blame. however, she couldn't help but be surprised at the fact that he was able to recognise her considering how short their encounter was.
"at the convenience store." he reminded, hoping she could recall the event. izumi simply shrugged, avoiding his eyes, hoping that he wasn't able to read through her act. he sighed, nodding his head in defeat, realising that their encounter wasn't enough to leave an impression on her. "okay, forget that," he began, fiddling with the bottle of antiseptic in his hand as he hesitated to finish his sentence. "what about saving me? why'd you do it?"
he just wanted to hear the words that he had been unintentionally craving for. something to convince him that the girl before him acknowledged him and cared for him. even if she was a complete stranger, at this point he didn't care about who it was, just as long as there was someone. someone to tell him that it was in fact good for him to live a little longer. that he was wanted in this world.
"because you needed time." he looked up at her, raising a questioning eyebrow. "everyone has a purpose to find, you're just someone who lost their way." he nodded, although he didn't understand what she meant by a purpose. instead he glanced back down at her wound and grabbed a plaster from the bag of medicine he had bought from the pharmacy, peeling the back off before placing it on her hand.
the girl cursed herself for getting involved, but she could see it. the way his eyes yearned for her to ask him to stay, to give him a reason to continue living because he feared death. he wanted to escape, but not in such a helpless way. he had hope and izumi couldn't just bring herself to ignore that.
the girl mentally sighed, her eyes softening as she stared at him. she probably sounded crazy to him, but her words did have an important meaning. "what's your name?" he questioned, looking up at her. a smile graced her lips as their gazes met, somehow instantly brightening the once depressing atmosphere.
"park izumi." she answered. "yours?"
"lee felix." he returned her smile with his own awkward one. she radiated an energy that he was unfamiliar with, but all he knew was that he felt warm seeing it.
"well, felix," she stood up from the bench, surprising felix from the sudden action. felix expectantly looked up at her as she turned to face him. "i hope to never see you on that bridge again." she held out her hand, waiting for him to take it. he hesitated, staring at it for a few extra seconds.
"only if you be my friend." their eyes met and the young girl smiled, nodding her head. taking her hand, izumi pulled the boy up to his feet. "that's a deal then." he smiled, their hands still holding onto one another. izumi couldn't help but fall into that smile of his again. it was a real smile, that also seemed to hold genuine feelings. she was sure that he didn't know it, but it radiated warmth every time she saw that smile.
izumi finally snapped out her daze and pulled her hand back, tucking both hands into the pockets of her jacket. "i should get home, before my dad finds out i snuck out and kills me." izumi lied. she knew that once her father was asleep, he was out, not even a bomb going off could disturb that man's sleep.
felix wondered why she would be sneaking out so late at night, was there something bothering her also that kept her up? however, the thought that she snuck out for him also creeped up, but he immediately waved it off, finding the idea impossible. she didn't even remember him from the convenience store.
"i'll walk you home." felix offered, there was no way he was going to let her walk around in the middle of the night by herself, even if they were total strangers, he could never let a girl walk home alone. izumi was surprised by the gesture, but simply nodded, the two beginning the walk towards izumi's house in silence.
felix was staring at the ground as he walked, trying to process the situation. just seconds ago he was ready to end his life, he was determined to finish it all in that moment. however, as he stared at izumi and thought about what she said, he couldn't help but feel a sense of hope. hope that maybe he can fix himself.
he suddenly chuckled at his stupid thoughts, shaking his head. izumi looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "what's so funny?" she questioned.
"hm?" he looked over at her, realising that he must've sounded creepy or something. "oh, i was just thinking about the situation. it's a bit funny, don't you think?" he questioned his thoughts aloud. the pair stopped in front of izumi's house, standing across from one another. izumi didn't even realise how short the walk actually was.
izumi glanced up at the boy, the timer above his head had lengthened, but what made her afraid was that it hadn't even extended to a year, maybe a few months at most. "felix, all i did was give you a little bit of time. i really do hope that you use it wisely." felix tilted his head in confusion, his eyebrows furrowing.
"you said that before as well, what do you mean?" he questioned. izumi panicked, wishing that he didn't ask that since she didn't know how to explain herself. she was just hoping that he would think of it as deep and philosophical, and take it as it was.
"nothing, i'd better let you go. you must be tired." felix suddenly remembered what time it was, as he looked around him. even the streetlamps had turned off, the only source of their light being the moon and the stars.
his eyes fell back on izumi who had bags under her sunken eyes. he wondered how long she was up for to look as tired as she did. even his own fatigue began to take over his body, as his eyelids felt heavy and were difficult to keep open.
"i'll see you around then?" felix asked hopefully. izumi sluggishly nodded, a tired smile on her lips as she waved goodbye before heading into her house. felix sighed, turning away from her house and heading towards his own.
the thought of izumi filling his mind.
-
"you look like the grim reaper." hyunjin commented, leaning his head on his palm that was propped up on izumi's desk. the boy had turned around to face his best friend, watching as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"yah, take that back." she demanded, flicking his forehead.
"ow! ok, i'm sorry." he whined, rubbing his wound. "oh, what happened to your hand?" he questioned, noticing the plaster that covered her wound.
"nothing." she abruptly replied, hiding her hand.
"you know it's bad to lie." seungmin cut into the conversation walking over to the two. he set down a strawberry milk and a chocolate milk in front of the two, his own banana milk in his hands.
"thank you." the two chorused, taking their respective milks before stabbing the straws into it, beginning to drink.
"yeah, seungmin's right. we're your best friends, so it's mandatory that you tell us everything." hyunjin nodded his head, determined to get an answer out of izumi. the girl hummed, looking as if she were thinking of telling him.
"don't want to." she stuck out her tongue as hyunjin huffed jokingly.
"okay class, take your seats." the homeroom teacher entered, cutting their conversation short. however what caught the students' attention was the person following behind the teacher.
hyunjin turned back around with a defeated sigh and seungmin returned to his seat behind izumi. the young girl looked up at who she assumed to be the new student, however the familiar face caught her by surprise as she began choking on her milk.
"are you okay?" seungmin whispered as izumi muffled her coughs, turning to look out the window so she could hide her face and feel less embarrassed, although she knew her face was probably as red as a tomato right now.
"i'm fine." she whispered back, clearing her throat, patting her chest as she tried to calm herself down as quietly as possible.
"class, this is our new student, lee felix, he moved from australia so his korean isn't the best. however, i hope you all still welcome him warmly and help him when needed." the homeroom teacher, mr jeon smiled.
felix stood next to mr jeon, his face completely stoic as he avoided eye contact with the students sat in front of him. "you can take the seat next to hyunjin." hyunjin perked up at the sound of his name, waving at the new boy.
felix simply nodded, taking the empty seat next to hyunjin. "yah, izumi, do you need water or something, you're too loud." felix heard behind him. he couldn't help but turn around at the familiar name, catching sight of the girl turning around to the boy behind her and flicking his forehead before taking the water bottle from him. he was easily able to recognise the girl he had spent most of his night with.
"thanks." izumi took the water bottle from seungmin as he rubbed his wounded forehead, unscrewing the lid and downing half the bottle in seconds.
"wah, how is he so handsome?"
"the two visuals of the class right next to each other? i think my heart is going to burst."
"we're so lucky, we always get the good looking ones."
felix sighed at the lousy comments, rolling his eyes. wasn't there more to him than just his looks? it was always the same old routine, all the more reason to hate school. no one cares about each other's feelings, the better looking you are, the more privilege you had. that's how it seemed to be everywhere felix went and he hated it.
"i have good visuals too." seungmin muttered sadly, catching felix's attention as he glanced over at the boy. izumi pouted, pinching his cheeks.
"yes you do, seungminnie, and a great personality too." izumi cooed. felix felt his heart race at her choice of words.
how did she manage to always say the right things?
i just remembered i made w**jin the bad
guy in this fic before his scandal and leaving
happened askfhakshfa
do i keep it in lol