Felix was growing awfully tired of driving, and he was about five minutes away from losing his mind and demanding they pull over.

He and Hyunjin were on the road once again, the latter declaring it necessary to make haste in leaving the area and get as far away as possible fast. Felix honestly didn't even know what the city they were going to was called. Gangwon? Gangneung? It wasn't as if he'd been there or even heard of it before.

"Hyunjin," he spoke, bouncing his leg up and down with impatience. "Are we almost there?"

Hyunjin sighed. "You're still asking? I thought you'd be tired of it already after an hour."

"I just wanna get out and walk. Or eat something."

The long haired boy pointed in the backseat. "Then eat. We have food."

Felix swore to god, he would've slapped Hyunjin right then and there had he not been driving the car.

Well...

No, he wouldn't have. Felix sunk back into his seat, knowing he wasn't physically capable of harming anyone in the first place. If he tried to fight it would be more embarrassing than anything. In actuality, it probably was a good idea to eat something, as sometimes when he thought he was angry he was really just peckish.

"I've heard the library there is pretty cool," Hyunjin commented, not noticing the bemused look that Felix was giving him.

"Is that why you chose this place?" Felix asked incredulously. "The library?"

"No!" Hyunjin immediately responded, before backpedaling:
"Maybe? So what if I did?"

Felix let out a laugh of disbelief at this, shaking his head.
"You're unbelievable," he said.

"Yeah, unbelievably sexy," Hyunjin snorted, only making Felix burst out into a surprised laughter.

"Hmm, yeah, right," Felix played along with a grin.

"Anyway Lix, they've got computers at the library and I'm tryna buy some shit online," the elder explained.

"Like what?" Felix raised an eyebrow.

"A smartphone," he answered, startling Felix, who had never even considered purchasing a new one on the run. Couldn't it be tracked? Had he destroyed his phone and gotten a burner for no reason?

Hyunjin picked up on Felix's surprised look and shook his head, as if he could tell what the boy was thinking.
"They can't track it if I don't log into any of my old profiles or use my old number. It's safe, I've done this before but my last one broke."

Once again, Felix felt incredibly dumb compared to the boy next to him. Perhaps Hyunjin was his guardian angel, because god knows he was probably the only reason Felix was surviving.

"Hey, look, I think we're close!" Hyunjin continued talking after a moment, pointing out the windshield in front of him.
Surely enough, when Felix turned to look he was greeted with the sight of approaching small buildings, and farther in the distance, taller and more modern ones.

"Oh, thank god," Felix groaned, already itching to get out of the damn car for once.

"Here," Hyunjin spoke as he reached up, taking his baseball cap off of his head and smoothing a hand over his hair to fix it.
"You should wear this instead of me."

Felix flinched a little as Hyunjin placed the hat onto his head, tilting the visor down over Felix's face.
"If you wanna walk around freely, keep that on."

The younger nodded obediently, not finding the words in him to argue otherwise.

The city, whatever it was called, seemed to be much more of a quaint town than Seoul, or anywhere Felix had lived. Less people crowded the side streets, and buildings were smaller, with more of a personality than the often mundane and uniform urban buildings of his hometown.

"Hey, Hyun," Felix lightly hit the boy's shoulder, pointing towards a small restaurant down the street from them.
"That place looks nice."

Hyunjin squinted to read the sign of the place.
"Ramen? Now?" he asked.

"Why not?"

Hyunjin only exhaled, changing lanes as he headed towards a spot up front. Felix clapped giddily like a little toddler as he saw the other boy silently accepting his wishes, and parking out front of the shop.

"Come on," he said, turning off the car and swinging open the door. "We might as well."

Felix scurried after the taller, following him up to the door of the shop, which Hyunjin swung open.

The place carried the energy of a quaint, family owned restaurant, although whether it actually was one of those, neither knew. Felix practically dragged Hyunjin over to look at the menu, practically bouncing back and forth.

"Now, remember Lix, we are on a budget—"

"Can I get this?" Felix pointed at one of the pricier bowls of ramen on the menu. Hyunjin pressed his lips into a flat line, silent for what felt like a year.

"Yeah, sure..." he agreed, covering his face with his hand as Felix skipped over to the counter to order excitedly. Something about Felix's happy grin just made it impossible to say no, and he hoped he wouldn't regret it later.

By the time both had ordered and sat down to wait, a few other customers had arrived, making the two glad they'd gotten there before the crowd.

"So," Hyunjin spoke, stirring the drink he'd bought with a straw. "Just because I said yes this time, don't think we can afford to get ramen often. Okay?"

Felix gave him a little pout.
"Not even instant?"

The elder only rolled his eyes at this. "Well, of course we can get instant. A year's worth of it costs like $100."

"That's good enough," Felix bore a satisfied smile, leaning with his elbows on the table.

Hyunjin only gave him an amused look in return.
"You know Lix, I can't tell if you're actually pleased or just really good at pretending."

"Ahh, why does everyone say that?" Felix groaned, making Hyunjin raise an eyebrow.

Truthfully, the question was quite understandable for anyone close to Felix. Chan had always nagged and scolded Felix for being too passive.
"You need to speak up for yourself sometimes," Chan had advised him over and over again. Felix didn't necessarily agree with his best friend's words. What better way to avoid getting shot down than by not trying in the first place?

"Never mind," Felix changed the subject. "Anyway, have you finished your novel yet?"

"Lix, you honestly think I could be done with it already?" Hyunjin sighed. "No way. I've pretty much given up. I'm probably just gonna quit and read Tale of Two Cities instead."

"I haven't read that one either," Felix noted. "Although I've heard it's good."

"Yeah, well, I'll find out, I guess," the longer haired replied, leaning back as he saw the waitress approach their table.
She sat down the pair's orders, and they quietly thanked her before she left.

Hyunjin grabbed two pairs of chopsticks, passing one to Felix before breaking apart his own.
"I think this is the first restaurant food I've had in months," he commented while lightly blowing to cool down the ramen.

"You're welcome," Felix joked, before squeaking at a light kick to the ankle from Hyunjin.

The two ate in peace, making conversation occasionally. Felix didn't know why, but the cozy atmosphere was almost comforting, as if telling him that him being here was normal. That he'd made the right decision to run away. Not to mention, that he'd made the right decision to trust Hwang Hyunjin with his life.

He briefly wondered if Hyunjin felt the same. Was Felix more of just a freeloader to him? Or was the elder also experiencing this... weird sense of bonding through proximity?

"Isn't this place nice?" Felix asked softly, pointing around at the quirky little ceiling lights and wall paintings decorating the space.

"Definitely," Hyunjin agreed. "It's a little too minimalist for me though. I'm more of a cluttered-random-items kind of guy."

"You're messy," Felix teased, suffering from yet another kick to the ankle.

"Hey," he lightly kicked Hyunjin back, who immediately reached over the table to flick Felix's forehead. Felix slapped his hand away, grabbing firmly onto Hyunjin's wrist as to hold him in place.

The two held a tense eye contact for a moment, as if each daring the other to make the next move. This was the borderline between peace and all out warfare.

"Um, excuse me, here's your check,"
the waitress from the restaurant grabbed their attention, setting the paper down on the table.

Felix and Hyunjin immediately separated.
"Thanks," Hyunjin muttered, giving her the cash before she hurried back off to the till.

A short silence ensued.

"Well," Felix coughed after a moment. "Should we find a hotel?"

"Yeah," Hyunjin agreed, downing the rest of his drink before standing. "Let's go. I thought I saw one near here."

Felix only hoped they could find a place before nightfall, but somehow wasn't too confident in their luck.

Well, if all went wrong, at least they could sleep in the car.