It's never best to assume things based on appearance.

As the saying goes, one is never to judge a book by its cover... With that being said, however, one glance at a certain kindly older woman would give you certain ideas of what her house could possibly look like... and all of them would be completely right.

Tonight's lady in question was a smiling waitress from a roadside diner, and alongside her, standing awkwardly in the doorway of her home, were two boys of similar age, both glancing around nervously.

Felix swore he'd never seen so many balls of yarn and knitting needles strewn about a living room before in his life. Meanwhile, Hyunjin was more astounded at the fact that the relatively large home they stood in (two floors tall at least), could manage to appear so incredibly cozy from the inside.

"Well," the older lady slipped off her coat and hung it at a rack near to the door. "Here we are! I'll show you two to the spare bedroom."

The pair only silently nodded, too preoccupied with scanning over the countless trinkets, antique lamps, and avant-garde art pieces hung on the walls. At one point Felix found himself so busy trying to understand just what the hell one painting even was of, that Hyunjin had to tug the boy's sleeve to follow along with them towards the room.

The hallway through the interior wasn't any less decorated than the rest of the house, aside from one closed door, bearing a simple "keep out!" sign scrawled on a sheet of paper and taped to the handle.

"Sooo, what's that about?" Hyunjin asked, glancing dubiously at the sign in question.

"That's my grandson's room," the lady answered with a sigh. "You won't have to worry about seeing him very much, probably. The kid's kind of a hermit. If you ask me, I say he should get out more, but he always says he's fine with his video games," she ranted in a typical motherly fashion.

"Anyway, right over here is the room!" she gestured as she strode towards a door at the end of the hall. "I'll leave the front door unlocked so that you two can bring in your luggage. Sounds good?"

"Oh! Actually, that's okay," Felix began responding on instinct. "We don't have—"

"Thanks," Hyunjin cut off the younger boy's sentence, and Felix instantly felt a tight grip on his wrist. "We won't be long."

The lady seemed to pick up on something being off, but chose to ignore it, and instead gave them a warm smile.

"Great. If you need anything, you can find me in the kitchen. Feel free to join us later for dinner," she declared, and gave a small wave before she gracefully exited the area.

The very moment she was gone, Felix found himself being yanked sideways into the spare room, and looked over in alarm to see Hyunjin pulling him in there.

"What?" was all Felix asked as he saw Hyunjin shut the door, and then proceed to give Felix one of the most bewildered looks he had ever seen in his life.

"Don't just...!" Hyunjin struggled to even put his thoughts into words. "Don't tell her we don't have any stuff! She would think that's so weird!"

"Ah," Felix nodded slowly in understanding. "Got it. Sorry."

Hyunjin simply let out a tired groan before strolling over to the bed and letting himself fall down onto it, the mattress accommodating his weight well.

"You're strange today, you know that?" Felix commented with a half-amused tone. No reply was received from the elder, so the boy casually took a seat on the mattress as well, looking over the contents of their temporary room.

The space lay quiet for a moment.

"Do you think we should actually join her for dinner?" he mused, lightly drawing a circle on the bedsheets with a finger.

Still no reply came, and so Felix looked behind him at the elder boy who laid silently on his back, gazing at the ceiling.
"Hyunjin?" he spoke gently, not seeing any reaction from him. "What are you thinking about?"

Hyunjin briefly glanced towards him, before looking back at the ceiling.
"Everything," he responded with a sigh. "I can't really answer that."

Felix furrowed his eyebrows at this, and scooted further onto the bed, to where he was sat cross legged and facing the boy lying down on the mattress.
"Well, something must be bothering you, so what is it?"

"I wouldn't know where to start listing," Hyunjin gave a half hearted and sarcastic laugh at the statement. Yet as he turned his head and found himself meeting Felix's gentle gaze, a nervous urge to actually answer began prodding at him.

"You know you can be honest with me," Felix encouraged lightly. "After all, who would I tell?" he joked softly.

Hyunjin gave him a tiny smile.
"You better take my secrets with you to your grave," he responded in turn.

"I'll have to know your secrets first in order to die with them," Felix reasoned. "So you've gotta start talking now."

Hyunjin let out a slow breath, as if calming himself before trying to gather his thoughts.

"I just..." he started speaking hesitantly. "Really fucking wish we didn't have to live like this, to be honest."

Felix pursed his lips, pondering over how to respond to that. "In what way?" he asked in return.

"Driving for hours every day," Hyunjin named off, his voice monotone. "Worrying about running out of money all the time. Finally finding a place to stay and then having to leave without warning. Knowing that this is the only way because if I go home, I'll die."

A thick silence cascaded over the room as Felix processed what he'd just heard.
"I understand," he said eventually. "It's a lot and you're stressed. You don't have to hide that from me, you know? I care more than you think."

"I know," Hyunjin insisted, pushing his bangs back out of his face. "I know you do, and I never know how to answer any of your questions because no one else ever actually just asks me how I am."

"What do you mean by that...?" Felix asked with a dim curiosity, looking down at the feeling of Hyunjin's fingers lightly brushing against his own on the mattress.

"At home it was always just," Hyunjin began to speak rather heatedly, "Stop crying. You'll look bad in front of the guests. You're overreacting," he recalled as if reciting a mantra to himself.

"When you ask me that kind of thing, I never have any idea of what to say," Hyunjin rambled on. "So I say I'm fine, and you're smart enough to know that I'm not, and it almost scares me that for once someone can tell I don't have everything under control."

By now, Felix's smaller hand was entirely under Hyunjin's, and being squeezed tightly as if alongside the weight of his emotions.

"That's just a part of trust, isn't it?" Felix mused positively. "Letting someone see when you're vulnerable?"

"That's such a you thing to say," Hyunjin commented quietly, lacing his fingers in between Felix's as he spoke. "And you're right, I guess. I'm just not used to that kind of thing."

"I'll get you used to it," Felix spoke with a little grin. "Promise me you'll let me help when you're feeling bad?"

"Only if you promise the same, sunshine,"  Hyunjin answered, and the younger boy just rolled his eyes at the words.

"I'll only agree as repayment for saving my life back then," Felix stated, eliciting a laugh from the older boy.

"That's interesting, because I'm pretty sure you're the one who saved my life that day," Hyunjin corrected, enjoying the confused look on the other boy's face.

"I would've starved and died on the streets if you didn't bring me home," Felix said matter-of-factly, as if to argue his own correctness.

"And I would've been arrested for shoplifting and sent home to be killed if you hadn't stepped in," Hyunjin debated the point. "So touché."

"Well, you're the one still driving and paying for us both 'til this very day..."

"Felix," Hyunjin cut the argument off immediately, giving him a rather serious look.

"What...?" Felix asked hesitantly, picking up on the subtle shift in his tone.

"Cuddle with me," the elder stated directly, making Felix's eyes widen at the upfront request.

"Ah... um, okay?" Felix obeyed anyway, knowing that he wasn't against the idea at all in the first place.

Hyunjin just gave him a dumb grin as he held his arms open, and waited for the younger to eventually lie down close enough for him to grab.

"Turn the other way," Hyunjin ordered, and Felix, despite a small scoff at the instructions, did as told anyway, rolling over to face the opposite direction from him.

"You're really into back hugs, aren't you," Felix commented as he felt Hyunjin's arms wrap around his waist, and the elder only gave a light hum in response.

Felix had to admit to himself that he loved the sensation of being held by the boy. Personal feelings aside, Hyunjin was rather warm and welcoming to the touch, and although he had the younger firmly in his grasp, it wasn't so tight as to prevent Felix from leaving if he so desired.

Not that he would ever leave in a situation like this, of course.

"I wonder if that lady has any novels she could spare me," Hyunjin mumbled mostly to himself, and Felix burst out into giggles at the comment.

"I love how that's the first thing on your mind," the younger said, his laughter laced with disbelief.

"Unless you have a better hobby idea, I'll be reading my historical romance novels in peace," Hyunjin responded, squeezing Felix's waist playfully as if offended.

"Boooringg! Unless you're into 300 pages of people sitting around and drinking tea," Felix teased him— a big mistake, apparently, as the elder began viciously tickling his sides for making that comment.

"You know I'm right!" Felix struggled to pry the boy's hands off him, but felt compelled to endure it just this once to make a stance. "If I was wrong you wouldn't have to do this!"

Choosing a new tactic, Hyunjin sat up, and swiftly swung a leg over the other boy, kneeling above him ominously before Felix could even recover from his little laugh attack.

"I'm going to force you to read Pride and Prejudice if it's the last thing I do," Hyunjin threatened, reaching his hands back down towards Felix's stomach.

"You can try," Felix grabbed both of his wrists, "but you won't succeed!"

At these words, Felix took the pillow from next to him and swung it towards the elder, who instantly reached up in surprise to block the item. While he was distracted, Felix took the opportunity to pounce, sitting up and shoving Hyunjin onto his back.

"HEY!" was all Hyunjin could say as he found himself falling backwards into the bed, and sent a startled glance up towards Felix, who now had the upper hand.

Felix couldn't help but crack a grin at the sight of Hyunjin beneath him, the boy's hair messy and getting in his eyes from all of the roughhousing. Instinctively, he reached down, brushing the boy's hair out of his face just because.

Yet, as he made eye contact with Hyunjin, who seemed to have gone entirely silent at the gesture, it was then that Felix realized what exactly he was doing.

"Oh, sorry..." he pulled away sheepishly, noticing the way that Hyunjin now stared at him.
"I was just—"

A soft knock at the door interrupted Felix's sad attempt at explaining himself, and he was almost thankful for the interruption.

"Yes?" Hyunjin called out to whoever it was, propping himself up with his arms. Of course, with the elder now sitting upright, a unique sense of embarrassment flooded Felix's system as he now was basically just sitting on the boy's lap— and directly facing him, to make it worse.

"I left my charger in there. Can I get it really quick?" a male voice came through the door, and the two in the room instantly shot each other a surprised glance.

Felix climbed off of the elder to spare himself from embarrassment, and padded over to the door, swinging it open.

"Thanks," spoke a boy with short, black hair as he barged into the room. The kid appeared to be around the same height as Felix, although his age was rather indeterminable.

The pair silently watched as the intruder crouched down near a wall outlet, and unplugged what appeared to be a laptop cable from the wall. He shoved it into the pocket of his oversized hoodie as he stood up, finally taking the time to look over the wary faces of the travelers.

Hyunjin stood incredibly still as he felt the kid just staring at him for a moment in silence, as if contemplating something.

"You look familiar," the newcomer stated outright. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Um," Hyunjin gave a nervous laugh. "Probably not...?"

"Hmm," the kid looked him over for a second. "Whatever. Sorry about the charger, my grandma didn't tell me anyone was coming today. Sometimes I use this room because it has better wifi than mine."

"Oh... it's fine, don't worry about it," Felix chimed in, still probably sounding a little timid.

"I'll leave you alone then," the black haired boy started, rocking back and forth on his feet. "The wifi password is just '12345' if you need it," he added, turning to walk towards the door.

"Thanks, uh..." Felix trailed off, realizing he didn't know the boy's name.

"It's Jeongin," he added, picking up on the pause in the conversation. "If you need anything, my room's right there. It's nice seeing some non-old people staying in the house," he said, pointing at the door closest down the hallway.

"Right. Thanks, Jeongin," Felix corrected himself, and the kid gave a sort of mock salute before turning on his heel and striding out the door, off to attend to his own business.

A few seconds passed by before Felix or Hyunjin dared to say anything.

"God we are so fucking awkward," Hyunjin broke the silence, at which Felix broke out into a sort of cringe-based laughter.

"Oh my god! What is wrong with us?" Felix agreed, burying his own face in his hands. "We've been in isolation for too long."

"We're gonna be completely incapable of interacting with the outside world if this goes on for much longer," the elder jokingly lamented, walking over to Felix and nonchalantly rubbing the boy's back in reassurance.

"My friends would roast the shit out of me  if they saw what just went down," Felix groaned, and Hyunjin bit back a laugh at the idea.

"We really do need to join them for dinner later," Hyunjin stated with a sigh. "I didn't realize our social skills had gotten this bad."

Felix chose not to reply; the tired breath he let out was good enough to convey his emotions. The elder's arm was around his shoulders now, both standing and looking towards the doorframe.

"I should probably go lock this place's front door," Hyunjin decided after a moment. "We're not gonna bring in any luggage anyway."

"Good idea," Felix approved, and Hyunjin gave his shoulder a light squeeze before beginning to walk towards the hallway.

"Remember. If I die while doing this," Hyunjin pointed back at the younger boy as he stepped into the hall, "the chihuahua is yours. Okay?"

"Stop saying that! You won't die and I'm not getting your dog!" Felix shouted back despite the stupid grin on his face, and his hands shooing Hyunjin to hurry up and go already.

Hyunjin held a hand to his heart as if greatly wounded, but promptly shot a playful smile back before running out of sight.

With the boy gone, Felix wandered back over to the bed, and took a seat at its edge. All he really felt like doing was... absently gazing down at his own hands, and just waiting.

Waiting for what, though?

A small sense of discomfort washed over the blonde, and he began to quietly tap his foot against the floor in anxiousness. Waiting for Hyunjin to come back? Felix knew he was getting somewhat attached to the guy, but not at that level.

So here he sat, in Temporary Hotel Room Number Whatever, with all of its unfamiliar features, not owning a single thing aside from the clothes currently on his body. But Hyunjin was something known— something safe, and trusted.

Felix supposed it was a matter of familiarity, then. Hyunjin was the only thing remotely close to being his, at the moment... in the broadest sense of the word, of course.

He really wasn't sure if that mindset was healthy or not, but to be honest, he wasn't in the mood to psychoanalyze himself anymore either.

Felix stood up from the bed, wandering aimlessly around the room and picking up different items on tables and such to examine out of boredom. He briefly wondered if that Jeongin kid would mind lending him any of his video games... if only he was brave enough to ask in the first place.

In the distance, he briefly heard the sound of a computer powering up and smiled to himself. That lady hadn't been wrong about her grandson's hobbies, at least.

With the comfort of the mattress at his disposal, Felix decided it might be best to simply take a rest. After all, it had been a long day, and he knew Hyunjin definitely wouldn't blame him for doing so.

Thus he lied down, settling for daydreaming about this and that, and wondering what else would await him that evening.