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It’s home tournament, he had things to do, and he was supposed to just zip in and out and make it quick.
How the hell is Felix supposed to make it quick when someone was absolutely losing it on the crusty bathroom floor?
“Hi?” he tries.
There’s no response.
Felix kneels down, reaching out a hand. The other doesn’t flinch away– Felix takes that as a win. It’s almost instinctual, the way his fingers drift to the other’s hair, smoothing it down in gentle motions.
“Hi,” Felix says again, once the boy in his arms is no longer trembling.
“Hi,” the other says. His face is flushed. “Sorry,” he adds weakly, trying to extract himself out of the hug and off the floor. “About– that.”
“Don’t be,” Felix waves it off. “As long as you’re okay now,” he pauses, looking down at the boy’s jacket. “Jisung?”
“Um. Yeah. That’s me– I’m good. Yeah.”
Felix smiles. “Okay. You’re from–” another glance at the jacket. “TOP! Isn’t your showtime soon?”
“Oh. Yeah, I should probably go back to warm-ups. They’ll be upset.”
It would've been hard to miss the tremor in Jisung’s voice.
“You sure? It’s okay, if you want to stay a bit longer. Say I kept you.”
There’s another pause. “No– no, it’s fine. Really.” Jisung tries for a smile. It comes out looking more like an odd grimace.
“Then at least let me walk you there. For my own peace of mind,” Felix says. “Can I give you my number, though? Again, just in case. For me, really.”
“Oh. Okay– I really don’t want to get you in trouble.”
“I don’t mind, really. What are they going to do, kick me out of my own school?”
Jisung lets out a loud nose exhale as Felix scribbles his number on his arm, where the gauntlet of his costume covers it up. Felix takes that as a win.
The walk back to TOP’s warm-up area feels long. It makes Felix wonder why Jisung was halfway across the school when there was a bathroom closer. The two stay side by side, but Jisung moves with a formal stiffness that has Felix questioning things even more. Felix can spot the guard already lined up.
“ Where the hell were you? ” The voice itself sounds annoying.
Jisung fliches. “Um.”
“He was with me,” Felix says firmly. “No need to yell, sir.”
“Well– you! What the hell are you doing with my performer?”
Felix moves a step closer to Jisung, a hand brushing his wrist. Jisung’s fingers curl around Felix’s hand. “We had some business to take care of with registration,” he lies smoothly. “He happened to be the first person from your school I saw.”
“Get over here,” the man barks at Jisung, before turning back. “You done interfering?” Felix gives a squeeze before he pulls away, watching Jisung scramble to shed his jacket and grab his equipment before joining the end of a line.
“Yes, I received all the information our registrar needed,” Felix says. “Good skills tonight.” He meets Jisung’s eyes a final time before turning away.
***
“Where were you?” Hyunjin demands, the instant after Felix puts a foot back into the guard room. “TOP is performing– like, now– and I want to see them. Apparently their show’s really good. They have a really cool theme, and the work is complex too.”
“Got caught up in some stuff,” Felix says. TOP. “TOP? Let’s go.”
True to Hyunjin’s word, the show is good. It’s tricky, well designed, and perfectly clean– Felix hates to think of what went on behind the scenes, now that he’s caught a glimpse of it. Jisung is perfect. Felix cheers for him, loud. He could almost feel the coach glaring at him.
“Who’s Jisung?” Hyunjin asks, as they’re walking out.
“This guy from TOP,” Felix says. “Met him in the bathroom while doing the rounds– that’s why I was gone so long.”
Hyunjin raises an eyebrow. Felix flushes. “Not like that! We just talked a bit, I walked him back to warm-ups. He’s really sweet.”
“O kay .” Hyunjin doesn’t sound convinced, but he drops it, snatching Felix’s phone to take selfies.
“Genuinely!” Felix says indignantly. He ducks down in the camera frame, only for their faces to be covered by a text appearing.
unknown number: hey, just wanted to say thanks for earlier.
“Oh?” Hyunjin lowers the camera, tapping into the message. “You don’t have the number saved.”
“That’s him, I think. Jisung from TOP.”
felix: it’s no problem! ^^ hope ur doing ok!!
“Wait, did something happen?”
Felix sighs. “I mean, TOP is a really good guard. But I don’t think it’s a very good environment. Didn’t you see? Their design and execution was all perfect, but it didn’t really look like their heart was in it. You can tell, face-wise.”
Hyunjin nods thoughtfully. “I think I know– like the expressions? They didn’t look very genuine, even if they were smiling and projecting.”
“Yeah, exactly!” Felix says. “And so I walked Jisung back to warm-up, right, and he just started getting screamed at? No warning? No hey, there you are, where were you? And clearly the guy– a coach, probably, which definitely isn’t a problem at all, of course not– had no qualms going off at me , either–”
“Hey, take a breath.” Hyunjin’s arm wraps around Felix’s shoulders. He’s grateful for the touch, leaning in instinctively. “That’s awful.”
“And we can’t do anything about it,” Felix whispers.
“You can support him from here, yeah? Save his number.”
“Okay.” Felix takes his phone again.
jisung!!: yeah :)
“See?” Hyunjin nudges him. “Maybe we’ll see him at a show again, sometime.”
Felix nods.
***
3 months later .
sungie!!: and it’s like. yeah, it’s been a problem
sungie!!: but i guess the others don’t care that much?
sungie!!: so they’re doing okay.
sungie!!: and it’s probably my last season with them anyway
lixie!!: wait what
lixie!!: you’re quitting???
sungie!!: moving
sungie!!: unfortunately, i like guard too much to quit
sungie!!: so on a completely unrelated note
sungie!!: when’s your band camp?
lixie!!: OH MY GOD
lixie!!: no way