Chapter Thirty-Nine
•••

HYUNJIN | FELIX

After dropping Felix back home, my mother and I drove back to our house in a comfortable silence. However, she was the one to break it, as a smile formed on her face before speaking. "You really showed him your art in your room?"

I nodded. "If I'm being honest, I completely forgot that my art was in my room. I guess I was caught up in the moment...but I don't regret it."

"That's good. By the way... I'm divorcing your Father."

My head snapped toward her, who sighed in relief as she settled into the passenger. "Eomma..."

"It's fine, Jinnie. I think it's for the best. He didn't cheat on me or anything, but I realized that I'm not happy. We're divorcing on civil terms, so nothing to worry about."

We reached our driveway and with a slow stop, I parked and turned to her. "So...what happens now?"

She smiled, looking at me with confidence. "Well for one, I get to keep the house since it's in my name and it's paid off. Everything else will be settled evenly. That means you can pursue the career that you truly want to do, son..."

Finally...

Clearing my throat, I gave a slight nod before grabbing one of her hands gently. "Are you sure you're okay, though?"

"I never felt better. Now let's go inside. Just because you had a date, doesn't mean you can skip school tomorrow." She said teasingly while pointing a finger at me.

"Yes ma'am."

Stepping out and strolling inside the house, a sudden idea popped into my head. Quickly pulling out my phone, I sent a message to Yeji with the need of assistance to carry it out.

•••

Waking up the next morning felt different than the other days. As someone who used to dread going to school, I now had a new source of motivation to get up and tackle the day.

Felix...

"Aish...you sound crazy. Relax..." I mumbled to myself.

Hopping out of bed and breezing through my shower routine, I dressed myself in a simple black sweater and matching jeans before heading downstairs for breakfast. As I stepped into the kitchen, I noticed a covered plate of food with a yellow note on top.

"Work called, so I made this for you. Make sure you eat, love you- Eomma."

Smiling, I did as told and ate the food, making a mental note to come home and make dinner later for her in return. It didn't take me long to finish, mostly because I wanted to get to school as soon as possible.

Grabbing my backpack and keys, I stepped out the house and locked the door before strolling to my car. Once inside, I started the engine and sped out the driveway toward school. While driving, I got a notification on my phone from Yeji.

"All good with my end. Good luck."-Cousin Yeji

Smirking to myself, I continued pulled into the school grounds. I noticed Felix's car wasn't in the lot yet, so I parked in my usual spot and stepped out. Minho and San's with Jongho car entered inside next, followed by Seonghwa's car behind. Leaning against my car, I watched as the three parked near mine before making their way over to me.

"Based on how you look, you seem like you're scheming something. Spill." Seonghwa said sternly.

San raised an eyebrow. "You can tell that from just looking at him?"

Minho sighed. "You're hopeless, I swear."

"It's nothing bad. It's actually something to help Felix."

"Oh?" Jongho asked curiously. "What is it?"

"I reached out to Yeji to basically tell the school that we're dating and to keep their mouths shut." I answered confidently.

Seonghwa chuckled. "You reaching out to your step-cousin is the surprise of the year."

"YA! What is that supposed to mean you-"

"Hey, there goes Felix's car." Minho ignored me and nodded his head to the car entering the lot. The four of us watched as the silver vehicle pulled inside and parked, with the four other boys stepping out.

San grinned. "Let's go over there. I miss my boyfriend."

Nodding in agreement, we all walked over to the males with smirks on our faces before dispersing to our person s. "Good morning..." I said softly.

"G-Good morning..." Felix greeted shyly.

I intertwined his hand into mine with a smile. "There's no reason to be nervous. No one will say anything to us, I promise."

He raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I was nervous?"

"I kind of picked up on how you hate attention...and I may or may not have Yeji warn everyone to keep their mouths shut."

"Seriously...?" He asked surprised.

I smiled and nodded, placing a soft kiss on his temple. "Yes. We may not claim to be family publicly, but we have our moments of getting along. Plus it wasn't hard to convince her, since it was you we are doing it for. Now, let's go inside."

Leading the group of guys inside the building, I could see him anxiously waiting for whispers to go around upon noticing us. However, as we entered, the majority of the students were engrossed in their own conversations, with some glancing their smiles toward us as we walked. I could see how he visibly relaxed at the sight, as the grip on my hand softened.

"See?" I whispered in his ear. "Nothing to worry about..."

Squeezing my hand in appreciation, Felix smiled. "Thank you..."

We had reached my and my friend's lockers first, so he let go of my hand. "You get your stuff, I'll see you in class."

"I wanted to walk you to your locker." I pouted playfully.

Returning the playful gesture with rolling his eyes, he placed a peck on my cheek. "Hyunjin, I still need to maintain some type of normal. It's not like I'm not going to be seated next to you anyways since we're partners."

I nodded, watching as he waited for his friends to say their goodbyes before walking away to their own lockers. Opening my own to grab my books, San sighed. "I'm so happy..."

"Me too. Never would've thought we would actually get along..." Seonghwa muttered quietly with a smile.

Minho scoffed, pointing to me accusingly. "It's because of this pabo here that wouldn't do it publicly."

"Whatever, at least we all have someone to call our own." I said with an exaggerated eye roll. "We now have boyfriends."

Jongho cleared his throat. "Yeosang and I aren't actually dating..."

The four of us shut our lockers simultaneously and stared at him suspiciously. "What?" San asked confused. "You're lying!"

"No I'm not. We're not dating...at least not yet. We want to take things slow, unlike some people." He teased, pointing to the four of us. "Horny dogs."

I tilted my head curiously. "Are you happy about that?"
Jongho nodded with his signature gummy smile, causing the rest of us to smile back. "Good, that's all that matters."

"Alright, let's head to class." Seonghwa instructed.

We all departed to our home room classes, with Minho and I going to our shared one. Stepping inside, Yeji walked up to me with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest. "You better be grateful I actually did what I did."

I rolled my eyes, ruffling her hair playfully. "I am, so thank you. It worked."

She scoffed teasingly. "Of course it did! No one wants to get on your bad terms and everyone actually likes Felix. Plus, people actually listen to me. I'm just surprised he wants to date you."

"That's quite hurtful to the person who helped you get Ryujin." Minho said with a smirk.

A blush grew on her cheeks, but she played it off. "Whatever. We will still keep the facade of 'hating each other' for the school, cool?"

"Cool."

The three of us gave each other respective nods before making our way to our seats. Placing my books down and sitting, it wasn't long before I saw Han and Felix step inside the classroom. Felix exchanged a small conversation with Yeji before locking eyes with me. I smiled at the blonde, receiving a smile back in return before he made his way over to me.

Part of me felt like I wasn't deserving of having someone that brought me warmth, but another part of me was grateful for the comfort, not realizing that it was the one thing truly missing in my life.

Never would I have thought I could find my peace...

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