The first time

Felix told everything to his friends, who understood his discomfort and annoyance and proved to be very understanding and empathetic. They called him "bro"and "friend" and patted him on the back.

Although they were not particularly gifted with who knows what intellect, they were certainly close.

"Loyalty" is the right word.

That fateful Wednesday arrived, the day of the meeting with Hyunjin. Felix was already in a bad mood from the night before. Nanny Josefa Valera, who was the housekeeper of the Lee family and who had lovingly raised the boy since he came into the world, had made chocolate brownies, her pupil's favorite.

- Come on Felix, don't pout. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you'lllearn something new... maybe you can finally...

- Nanny, please.

The doorbell rang.

- I'm going to open. - Nanny Valera said.

- No. I'll go myself.- Felix stopped her.

- Hello, Felix.

Hyunjin greeted him naturally. And with a big smile on his face. He was radiant. His blonde hair was tied behind the nape of his neck by a white ribbon and his eyes gave off an immense light, as if he were surrounded by a set of cinematic lights.

- Come in.- Felix merely said, already fed up with that situation.

- Hello! You must be Hyunjin, right? I'm Nanny Valera, Felix's nanny...

Felix opened his eyes wide and turned his gaze to the woman who hurried to finish the sentence with something more circumstantial, and placed the warm brownies on the coffee table in the living room.

Needless to say, a deafening silence fell.

In all this, Hyunjin did not stop staring at the other who in the meantime, took a bite from a candy.

- Don't you like brownies?- He asked.

- I don't particularly like sweets. But since you care somuch... I will taste them.

Felix would've wanted to tell him that he didn't give a damn, but he was too resigned and kept quiet, watching Hyunjin's fleshy lips greet the chocolate pastry.

- Why didn't you bring books? Don't we have to study?- Felix asked after a while.

- Indeed we have. But I think you'd be bored. Besides, look around: your house is full of works of art! So here we got a...

- Botticelli, Birth of Venus.

- And here we have...

- Tiziano, 1514, Sacred and Profane Love. Exhibited in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.

- I'm surprised! I didn't expect so much knowledge from you!

-

I am an athlete, not a moron.

- I didn't say that.

- But you thought so. I've seen how you look at me.

- And how do I look at you?

- With condescension. As you do with the rest of the people who cross your gaze.

- However we have to think about how to put together your knowledge in a thesis, so that you can pass the exam, do you understand?

- You think I'm stupid. Come with me, then.

Felix grabbed Hyunjin by the sleeve and took him outside, where his personal soccer field was located.

- What are we doing here?- Hyunjin asked.

Felix retrieved a ball from the basket and replied:

- Let's play.

The two spent the entire afternoon playing. And they had fun, like two old friends.

Hyunjin was not bad, he proved to be an excellent opponent.

- Where did you learn?- Felix asked on the porch, while he wiped his sweat with a towel. He threw one at the other.

- My father. - The boy replied, looking intently at the piece of white cloth.

- You know, you would be a very good player if you decided to do this sport.

- Yes, he told me that too.

Felix noticed that Hyunjin's tone of voice had become gloomy and sad. He pulled the towel out of his hands and wiped his forehead, face, and then the neck. And that's how their gazes really met, for the first time.

And for the first time, Felix felt something new. The butterflies in the stomach, that sweet and electric feeling of the heart skipping a beat.

- It's getting late, I have to go now.

Hyunjin wriggled away from the presence of the other.

- But next time!- He exclaimed coming down the stairs and then turning around briskly.- Next time we really study! I had fun. Say hello to Nanny Valera and tell her that... The brownies were excellent.

With this last sentence, Felix saw him leave. He was bewitched and wished that time would never pass. He had felt free. Free to be a little less the same as always, a little more Felix.

- Who am I?- He asked himself that night. He noticed that his ankle didn't hurt so much anymore. He played all afternoon and felt nothing. He just had fun. For once, football was not just a prospect of life, a sport. It became something very intimate. Something new.

- He went downstairs to get some ice.

- Felix! Have you been playing all afternoon?! - Nanny Valera scolded him.

He smiled at her, like he hadn't done in too long.

- Hyunjin said hi to you. He told me your brownies were excellent!