twenty one

FELIX
The empty house in which Felix is grew quiet and cold. Felix was used to it but he still couldn't help but feel some sort of longing for the warmth he felt when Kiera was around.

He's still unsure of how to bail Kiera out of jail. She's guilty, that's true and he doesn't have any clue about how strong the evidence they have against her.

He doesn't know how powerful the evidence he's battling is.

He stood in front of the room that he kept Kiera in. He still has a lot he doesn't know about Kiera yet, well, he did keep her like a bird inside a birdcage and to be fair, she tried to kill him.

Their relationship was an unexpected one and it didn't start with the best experiences. Felix wanted to make things right for her, he wanted to come clean to her, to surrender to her.

he's madly in love and he's ready to accept it and tell her even if she doesn't feel the same way as him.

He grabbed the doorknob in the room and twisted it. He let himself in and took in the scent that she left. Her scent made him want to see her, it just made his desire to have her again worsen.

He shut his eyes tight, trying his best to hold himself back from coming up with rash decisions just because of his desires.

He explored the room and stopped at the desk which was beside the bed.

The picture on top of the desk caught his attention. It was Kiera's picture, the one that was so important to her that she agreed to his offer.

It seemed like she had forgotten to take it with her. The police barged in all of a sudden so she couldn't have time to go get the picture.

"What's with this picture anyway..." he took it and stared intently at it. He never really looked at the picture with this much focus because he was too occupied with how he'll use it to somehow blackmail Kiera.

But not that he got a better look at it, the background of the picture was familiar to him,

and the man...

"Why is he in this picture?" Felix's eyes slowly widen when he recognized the man's figure.

Although the face wasn't that clear since it was an old vintage picture the clothes he was wearing were the same clothes he was wearing, the man that was close to Felix, closer than his father.

To Felix, he was like a father to him. He treated Felix like his own child more than his father did. Felix cherished the man until the incident happened and he didn't see nor heard anything from the man ever again.

-

"Felix~ look what I brought today!" The man, who Felix considered more as his father than his real one, smiled at him. His teeth showed on full display as he raised the camera to show it to Felix.

Meanwhile, Felix was crouching on the ground in his room. His feet were bleeding. "Uncle Taeuk, my parents fought again today. Father threw a vase that my mother took great care of. I got hurt standing a little bit away from mother, on my feet."

Taeuk glanced over at Felix's bleeding feet, it wasn't treated. He wondered if the maids were even doing their job.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, caressing Felix's head with his free hand.

"Yeah but uncle..."

"Hm?"

"I like the pain."

Taeuk froze, and his hands also stop caressing Felix's head. Felix was staring at his open wound as he seemed to enjoy watching blood gushing out of it, not even minding the pain.

"Does..." Felix spoke again making Taeuk look at him. Felix's eyes rested on his wound for a while before directing his gaze to his uncle Taeuk.

"Does that makes me a monster?"

Taeuk stared into his eyes for a bit. He wasn't startled by Felix's questions, he was just sad about how his environment made him like this.

"Well, not exactly." His face cringed as he thought of ways on what to say to Felix to make him understand, "You see, no one's not a monster. Every people in this world has monsters living inside them, whether concealed or not. Even I, Felix, am a monster."

"Isn't a monster a bad thing?"

"Hmm... as long as you don't hurt innocent people and do anything bad, then you can be a good monster." Taeuk scratches the back of his nape, unsure if his advice was the right one or if he should have just lied.

"Anyways! Let's treat your wound. I'll get a first aid kit, stay here okay?" Felix only nodded at him as he went out.

-

Taeuk returned after a few minutes with a first-aid kit in his possession. "This might sting a little but you're strong, aren't ya?" he chuckled when Felix breathed in and pulled his chest up, showing him he is strong.

When Taeuk gently dabbed the cotton in his wound, he hissed through his clenched teeth.

Felix felt like crying because of the pain, a pain he has felt before but was still unfamiliar with it. Felix stopped when his uncle Taeuk started to blow on his wound after he dabs the cotton ball on his wound.

Felix didn't feel any pain. He was amazed by what he was doing.

"If you blow the wound while you're applying for medicine on it, it'll hurt less. See?" Taeuk smiled at Felix as Felix also couldn't help but laugh in amusement.

"Wah! That's amazing uncle Taeuk! You're the best!" He exclaimed, joy evident on his face as he couldn't hide it.

-

"Okay, let's take a picture with the camera I brought, okay?" Taeuk says, excited to have his first picture with Felix. He ordered a maid to take their picture and also instructed her how to do it.

Felix was confused about what to do, he had never taken a picture before not even with his family. His uncle Taeuk was the first and most probably the only one.

"Alright, Felix smile wide!"

and the camera clicks.

-

How could Felix ever forget the man who he saw as a father figure in his life? He was the person who filled the void his father left. But he also left him, he did say goodbye but it was rather a quick one.

-

"Hey, little fella..."

"Uncle Taeuk? Why are you here?" It was in the middle of the night and Felix woke up because of a noise outside his room then he found his Uncle Taeuk about to leave the mansion but when he saw Felix he stopped and crouched down to reach his level.

"I'm going to go do something and I'm afraid I won't be back for a very long time... You're going to be fine on your own now, right? You're a big boy as you've always said" His uncle laughed and he ruffled Felix's hair.

"Yeah! I'm a big boy, I'm fine being alone" Felix smiled at him.

-

Felix regretted agreeing that he was fine being alone because after that day he never saw Taeuk again. His life came crashing down as soon as Taeuk left his side. He was never fine being alone.

He had more reasons to get Kiera out of jail, to ask questions about how she had the picture, how she was related to Taeuk, and who she is. He already knows that he knows nothing about Kiera and he wanted to know the truth.

(A/N)
This is such a slow burn even for me lol, but anyways this is short but I felt like I needed to update something in this book. I'm going to be a lot more busy these days since our school has decided to suffocate us with a lot of workload — and I'll be finishing that hyunjin valentines special I published.

check out this interview book of aspiring writers! I have an interview here so go read it y'all for clearer skin <333

https://www.wattpad.com/story/304493769?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details&wp_uname=hyunifilm&wp_originator=Q3R5nEr7ZZqH6uwn7LeWp5sX%2BwnGtpDspYkJ1DVYtY6BgY7X3J5Smq9QJkZP0KsXneoRxefohIBu0NCjUwLK4iU2HWcfS9O3Bj%2F%2Bvzg2ZnArkMrDUAZ6piPVgleK%2Fsmn