The radio played softly, and Felix lightly sipped on a slushie purchased from a drive through restaurant.

A gorgeous stranger sat in the seat next to him, the one who had purchased the drink, along with a baggie of fries (as promised) which sat in between the two.
They were currently stopped in a parking lot, having gotten the food only a couple minute prior.

The long haired boy took and ate a fry, switching through radio stations to lessen the silence of the car.

"So, Felix," the stranger spoke, saying the other boy's name for the first time.

Felix's attention was piqued instantly at this.
"Yeah?" he questioned, finding it rather startling to hear his name come out of the boy's mouth.

"Are you like... in high school? Or what?" he questioned, leaning back against the headrest as he took a sip of his own drink.

Felix nodded. "Yeah! Or, well, I was anyway. I haven't been since I left home."

The other hummed in response.
"I dropped out. I'll go to college when I'm old enough and stable," he explained, Felix listening intently.

"I'm still stressed over missing schoolwork, even though I know I won't be going back," Felix commented, lightly laughing at himself.

"Oh god, right?" the other boy agreed. "It took me months to stop having nightmares about missing essays and shit."

"Why'd you even run away?" Felix asked lightheartedly, genuinely interested in the reason.

The stranger pursed his lips.
"If I told you, you'd probably think I'm crazy."

"Oh, come on,"
Felix urged him.
"Try me."

The stranger crossed his legs, before speaking hesitantly.
"I think my family is trying to kill me."

Felix blinked.
"Huh?"

"Yeah, see? I told you it sounds crazy," the stranger sighed, taking a couple more fries and popping them into his mouth.
"But I swear to god, they are."

"Why... what makes you say that?" Felix stuttered out, surprised at the whole notion of it.

"I was constantly sick for like a whole month and didn't know why," the boy elaborated. "So I stopped eating anything my parents gave me, and suddenly I was fine?"

"Hm," Felix agreed. "Yeah, that's weird. But like, why would they even want to do that?"

"I dunno. All I know is that they were doing it," the boy continued. "And now that I'm gone, they've even sent private detectives after my ass."

Felix silently took another sip of his drink as he thought about the situation. Thankfully his family was nothing like that. He didn't even think his parents could afford private detectives.

"Ah, shit, here comes some police patrol car," the stranger spoke as he saw a vehicle pull into the parking lot they were in.
"I'm not in the mood to deal with that, let's go."

Felix almost questioned it, momentarily forgetting the fact that the two of them were technically fugitives.
Within a moment they were driving out of the parking lot, Felix still calmly eating his fries as he looked out the window.

"Where have you been staying? I'll drop you off," the stranger spoke up after a minute, eyes focused on the road as he was driving.

Felix hesitated.
"Um. Nowhere, really. I don't have a place to go..."

The boy glanced at him, giving him somewhat of a confused look. "Not even a shelter? Where have you been sleeping?"

"You know," Felix almost cringed at the memories as he stated it. "Park benches... grass..."

The pretty stranger ran a hand through his hair, his expression darkening as if he were contemplating something.

"Fine," he decided, reaching over to turn down the cold air conditioning of the car.
"You're coming with me, then."

"What?" Felix questioned as the vehicle picked up speed, the driver changing lanes as he mentally mapped out his destination.
"You mean, like—"

"My place, yeah. At the motel," the other replied. "We've already exchanged secrets, it's not like this could make it worse for either of us."

"I don't even know your name..." Felix spoke quietly, causing the driver to go silent for a moment.

"Hyunjin," the boy answered. "That's my name."

Hyunjin. Why did that name sound so familiar?

Felix leaned his head against the car door, watching the spacing between tall buildings become more distant as they traveled towards the city limits. Cement pavements gave way to tall grass and trees as the bright city life was left far behind them.

Felix glanced over at the stranger, Hyunjin, who drove silently, occasionally checking the car's gas level or adjusting the radio station.

"Is the motel that far?" Felix asked briefly, sensing that they'd been driving for a good while now.

"Yeah. You think I could find one cheap enough to pay for within the city?" Hyunjin responded, monotone.

The boy only shook his head in response, taking a sip of his now near-empty drink. He hadn't really been thinking about it, to be honest. This Hyunjin guy seemed like way better of a planner than he was.

After a short while, the view of a small building came into view. The car turned off the road and into the parking area up front, fitting into a spot near the entrance.

"Alright, we're here," Hyunjin announced, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car as soon as he'd swung his door open.
The other boy followed suit, his backpack swung over his shoulder and hands full of bags of snacks.

Felix couldn't help but feel way out of his element here. The taller boy walked towards the doors with a comfortable gait, showing he'd been here many times.
Felix, however, couldn't help but nervously scan over the whole area, the dimly lit motel's signboard grabbing his attention.

"Um... how much does this place cost exactly?" Felix questioned, the whole area looking kinda sketchy. He subconsciously walked rather closely behind the taller boy, who held a room key between his fingers.

"Twenty dollars a night," Hyunjin replied as he swung open the door to the lobby, gesturing Felix inside before him.

The sight of a receptionist asleep at the front desk made Felix softly smile. He definitely related to the tiredness... he doubted he'd gotten a decent night of sleep all week.

The two padded down the halls to a room far from the lobby. Hyunjin stuck the keycard in the door as to unlock it, although it took a couple of hard shoves to push it open.

"Well. Here you go," he stepped into the dark room, switching the light on as Felix walked in behind him.

The room was rather small, as expected of a $20 per night motel. And yet, it was absolutely riddled with signs of being lived in.
Piles of snacks laid on the counters of the kitchenette, among various utensils and dishes. On the nearby table, pencils and paper laid scattered alongside what appeared to be a stack of novels, all bookmarked in different places.

"Sorry, I'm messy as fuck," Hyunjin's quick apology grabbed the attention of Felix, who had apparently been standing and staring at the various objects strewn about the room.

"No, no, it's fine," Felix tried to reassure him, awkwardly setting his bag down near the entrance.

Hyunjin wandered across the room towards the bathroom, flicking on the light switch.
"If you wanna take a shower or something, there's shampoo above the sink," he commented, gesturing inside.
"It's probably a good idea if you've been sleeping outside for a week. Just saying."

Felix felt slightly embarrassed at this.
"Yeah..." he agreed, following the other towards the bathroom. "You're right. About the clothes though..."

Hyunjin gave him a look as he sat down at a chair near the kitchen.
"You don't have any extras?" he inquired.

"No, I do, it's just that I've worn everything by now," Felix explained.

Hyunjin stared at the boy for a moment, before letting out a short sigh.
"God, okay..." he started. "Right, I can take your shit downstairs to the laundry if you want. I have a few sweatshirts in the wardrobe."

"Sure... thank you," the shorter boy responded, feeling halfway grateful for the other's offer, and halfway guilty for needing so much help.

"It's nothing," Hyunjin responded as he knelt down next to Felix's backpack, unzipping it as to search for his clothing items.

Deciding to place a lot of trust in the stranger at the moment, Felix stopped watching and shut the door to the bathroom, finding himself once again alone.

As he stood in front of the mirror, he couldn't help but blanch at his own appearance.
He'd honestly never seen himself look so downtrodden. It was clear that he was overwhelmingly exhausted, and his dark hair was messy and all over the place.
Hyunjin had definitely been right in suggesting that he take a shower immediately.

Quickly, he turned the water of the shower on, letting it heat up as he carefully undressed.

This would probably be the most relaxed he'd been in a while.