PIXELATED | Lee Felix

Chapter 14

The pair leaves the aquarium after a good, peaceful, 2-hour tour inside.

Eugene scrolls through her phone, admiring all the pictures and videos she took earlier from the exhibitions. Her favorite was definitely the baby penguin exhibition; it was amusing for her to see these creatures being fed by the staff.

"That was good." Felix stretches his body, his head now facing the grey sky. "I really needed that after grinding hard on my assignments."

"Maybe try not to procrastinate next time?" She teases him, and he reacts with a groan. "Not everyone has the same level of motivation and discipline as you when it comes to approaching studies." He goes on, "Honestly, how do you even manage your time and duties so well?"

"It's just a habit." She shrugs, putting her phone away. "But it's definitely supported by my choice to romanticize studying. Believe it or not, it works."

"Ew, romanticizing studying?" Felix squints his eyes in confusion and a slight disgust. "How the hell do you even do that..."

"Hm." Eugene tries to think of an example, but it's indeed best if she can show him how she does her things directly. So she snaps her fingers and smiles at him. "Maybe we can do our assignments together next time? I can show you some tips and tricks."

"Ha?" Felix chuckles at the idea, though, not finding it bad at all. "You want to study with me? With a gamer slash procrastinator?"

"I'm gonna fix you." She jokes, with Felix following after. "What a pick-me."

They both chuckle softly until her phone starts ringing. Eugene says a small 'sorry' to Felix before she picks up the call. Her shoulders drop when she hears who is talking on the other line.

And that, obviously, did not go unnoticed by Felix.

"I'm hanging out with a friend." Eugene's intonation changes. She returns to her calm self, but this time, almost as if she's speaking to someone who deserves the utmost respect. It's a different type of calm—Felix thought.

"Hm." Her head turns to Felix for a bit, then goes to face the other way. "It's mid-semester break, mom. We're supposed to take a break, not to study."

Felix nods aggressively at her statement even though she doesn't see him doing it. While he waits for her to finish her call with her parent, Felix also goes to grab his phone in his sling bag to play one of his mobile games.

"What...? No. No way." Her tone then changes into something more anxious right after Felix is about to log in. His fingers stop touching his phone, and instead, goes for the lock button to turn his phone off. He places it back into his bag, somehow, alerted by the girl's body language.

"Scores are not merely achieved from constant grinding and hard work alone. Breaks and self-care also play a role." This time, she sounds firmer, having the confidence to fight for what she believes in against her mother.

Felix finds himself unconsciously admiring her for that.

"I'm still getting 80 and above. So chill, please." Eugene heaves out a heavy sigh, and her grip on her phone seems to tighten as well.

The male just awkwardly stands next to her, as she finally says goodbye and turns off her phone. She puts it back into her bag in a rather aggressive manner—her mood is clearly ruined by that one short phone call with her parent.

"Oof. Sorry about that." Eugene giggles to keep things upbeat and fine, but anyone can tell that it is a forced one.

Felix frowns at the mask that she puts on. It seems like she isn't ready to talk about whatever issue she has with her mother, or maybe she doesn't even intend to tell him at all.

So, he asks a simple question to make sure he doesn't cross her boundaries,

"Are you okay?"

"Were you worried? Haha, I'm fine." She laughs at his consideration, surprised that he asks.

But it really ticks him off. Felix can tell, even without seeing her expression, that the girl is clearly not fine. Yet, he doesn't know if reaching out would be the right thing to do. Especially when he's still not confident with his... people skills.

What if I hurt her even more? Something deep inside him wants to comfort her, yet this is also a risk of crossing her boundaries. Before his mind comes to a conclusion, Felix feels some raindrops on his hand. He was aware of the grey skies but didn't expect that it would rain very quickly.

"Uh." Felix looks at the sky and then back to Eugene, waiting for her to decide on what they can do next. But the girl nonchalantly takes out her umbrella from her sling bag, "I've got mine. What about you?"

"That..."

"Come here then." She waves to ask Felix to move closer and get under the umbrella together with her.

Why is this so awkward? He still stands on his spot, not sure of what to do in this situation. But Eugene waves her hand again, even quicker this time. "Felix? Quickly get under unless you want to get drenched?" She asks, confused because the weather is not being friendly at all.

With more drizzles coming, Felix finally snaps out of his thoughts and gets under her umbrella. Since it's a small one, they find their shoulders touching against each other to fully get undercover.

And that feels so awkward for Felix.

"The weather prediction didn't say anything about rain. But Australia's weather is always inconsistent, so..." She chuckles lightly, hearing the drizzling rain fall on her umbrella.

"Right." Felix replies, "Maybe I should bring my umbrella at all times regardless of the prediction."

"Hm, you should. Or else you'll be in so much inconvenience." She laughs, "Shall we go home?"

"Yeah." The male softly speaks while the two start making their way back to the dorm. Felix reminds himself again internally; that he really must bring an umbrella next time so that he doesn't have to share with Eugene again if they happen to hang out together.

Because whatever he is feeling from the proximity, Felix doesn't think he's supposed to feel that way. 

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Author's Note: AYOOO there's some lore about our FL! :3 Yes yes ngl this is inspired by my friend's experience, and also myself SMH but anyways--

Hope you enjoyed this short chapter! :3

- Howley.