Chapter Twenty-Four
•••

HYUNJIN | FELIX

"Wait, you're not going on the date with Jake anymore?" Woo asked again for the third time since our Calculus class started.

I sighed and nodded. "I don't want to anymore..."

San made his way over to our table with a smirk, plopping down in an empty chair near us. "What's going on?"

Wooyoung rolled his eyes. "Just because Felix knows about our date, doesn't mean you can come sit here and disturb us Sannie."

The nickname peaked my interest, with me raising an eyebrow towards the male in front of me. "Sannie, huh?" I teased.

His face turned red, causing a laugh from both me and San together. "It slipped out..."

"Wait...are you two dating?"

Now this time, San smiled. "Not yet. I'm the one who wants to work and earn him. One date isn't going to be enough to do that."

Wooyoung's face only got a deeper shade of red. "Stop it."

I giggled. "You two are adorable."

"No seriously, what's going on?" San turned to me and asked. "You two were having a conversation and I heard 'date'?"

"I'm not going on the date with Jake anymore."

"Did something happen between you two? It's only been a day."

I shook my head. "Hyunjin kind of got in my head, and now I just feel uncomfortable around him..."

"Well," Wooyoung sighed, "Based on how you reacted this morning, I'm completely on your side with this decision."

San raised an eyebrow. "What happened this morning?"

"He came and put his arm around my shoulder as we walked to my locker..."I said quietly. "He even asked me for a brownie."

"I'm so glad you gave your last one to me! He doesn't deserve your food." Wooyoung huffed.

San sighed. "Just don't based your decision based on Hyunjin's words. Maybe Jake has changed."

"You would say that. Gosh, you sound just like Hyunjin..." Wooyoung and San stared at me with smiles on the faces, causing me to raise an eyebrow back. "What?"

"Lixie...do you like Hyunjin...?" Woo asked curiously.

A blush rose to my cheeks at the question, causing San to gasp in shock. "Oh my gosh, you do!"

"Shhhh!" I hissed. "I don't know if I like him. I just...think he's attractive...."

Woo rolled his eyes. "That basically means you like him, Lixie."

"Not necessarily," San sighed. "However, at least you're on your way there. I support it."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"What I mean is, if you two ever ended up together, that would actually be a good thing. I've never seen Hyunjin so keen on even trying to protect someone, and that person just happened to be you."

"Whatever." I sighed. "I just want to attend his party tomorrow and have fun. This week has been stressful enough."

"I'm so excited! Remember our plan to go shopping afterschool, Lixie. No backsies!" Woo pouted.

I smiled. "Don't worry, I remember."

•••

The rest of the day progressed smoothly, and now the end of my last class was near.

"Alright my lovely students, the Winter Dance Competition will be the first week of December. You can either do a solo, a duo, or a group dance performance for it. It will also be an extra credit assignment if you choose to participate in it. I hope you all will!" Instructor Lia said smiling.

With the class bell ringing, Yeosang quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the studio with a smirk. I almost stumbled on my feet at the sudden pull, causing me to whine. "Sangie, why are we running?!"

"The faster we get out of class, the faster we can head to the mall. I don't need to hear Woo's complaints." He answered, not stopping our pace as we made our way to our lockers.

Right, the party is tomorrow...

Finally reaching our lockers, the other three boys were waiting for us. Wooyoung whined. "What took you two so long! The shopping mall gets packed on Fridays!"

Yeosang and I exchanged knowing looks before ignoring the male and grabbing our stuff for the weekend. "Calm down, Youngie. We're here now, and we can go." I reassured, wiggling my car keys with a smile.

"Has shopping always been this exciting for him?" Han whispered, watching Yeosang and Wooyoung bicker in front of us.

Hongjoong only rolled his eyes. "If you don't stop him early, he would buy the entire mall if he could..."

I giggled, starting the group walk towards the doors to leave school. "Let's just go."

Han and Hongjoong followed closely behind silently, ignoring the two males who continued their bickering while trailing in the back, with no clear sign of it potentially ending.

Once stepping outside, I saw Hyunjin standing with his group of guys by his car, all of them focusing their attention on my friend group with curiosity. His eyes were piercing my face, causing me to quickly turn and hide my rising blush on my cheeks. Hongjoong, however, must've noticed because I could hear him silently gasp.

Leaning over into my ear, he whispered. "Lix, I saw that..."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Joong..." I murmured.

All he did was hum teasingly. "We'll definitely talk about this later."

Great.

Piling into the car, Wooyoung cheered. "The mall, here we come!"

The mall was one of the first places Wooyoung took me to when I first arrived in the states, so I already knew how to get there without any help. It was one of the largest shopping centers in the city, with every store you could possibly think of. From the school, it was a short ten minute drive and we reached rather quickly.

"Lix, are you sure you don't want to buy anything?" Yeosang asked as we stepped out of the car.

I shrugged. "I'm not really looking for anything. Plus, I don't want to just recklessly spend money when I don't have to."

"Well then," Wooyoung hooked his arm around mine with a smile. "I'm finally spending money on you today. No buts!"

"Woo..."

Han yelled. "YA! You're already spending money on me with the promise of buying me pants!"

"I know that!" Wooyoung yelled back.

Walking inside the gigantic four-level structure of a building, we were greeted with a skylight above that shine the sun brightly inside, created a very illuminated space filled with shoppers of all kinds. Some were foreigners looking for products to bring back to their home countries, while others were locals that leisurely wanted to find things for pleasure. Not to mention, the smell of the food court that gave off scents of delicious entrees on the ground floor beneath us.

"Can I get a cinnamon roll first before we start?" I asked the group.

Wooyoung grinned and nodded eagerly. "Anything for you, Lixie! Come on, I'll buy it!"

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