PIXELATED | Lee Felix

Chapter 24

Eugene and Han are still staring at each other with the girl, having a smug expression still, while the other just awkwardly stares at her. It was truly, a weird exchange.

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" He becomes the first to break eye contact, his eyes wandering everywhere but Eugene. She grins mischievously as she crosses her legs and her arms—at this point, it's really hard to be all serious with him, she thought.

"Well. I can see that you have some, let's say, good vibes, with Hyunjin. But that doesn't mean you should treat Felix like that." She raises her brows, "If you got a problem, do talk with proper etiquette maybe?" 

"Ha?" He doesn't seem convinced. "You're not involved in this, so stop telling me what to do."

"I'm not involved directly, yes. But my beloved friend and neighbour, Felix, is involved and he's not handling it well at all. I hate to see him like that." Eugene speaks, her tone slightly serious this time. 

"Despite how objective I try to be, I still don't think it's fair for Felix to take all the blame." She shrugs her shoulders, "Did you think he could've predicted that stage failure? He isn't a fortune teller."

"But he could've just listened to his member's opinions and not insisted on practising in the auditorium?" Han rebuts her argument, his face is equally serious. 

"You realise you're only saying this after the accident happened right? You didn't have any complaints when you practised there a couple of times before, even though the level of risk is basically about the same. That's unfair, isn't it?" She smirks, making a valid point that the male just looks away with a tiny scoff. 

After a few moments of silence, Han faces her again with a mixed expression—despite most of them comprised of anger but also defeat. "Then? What do you want me to do? If you're gonna make me apologise to Felix, I won't do that." 

Eugene sarcastically laughs at that, waving her hands to calm him down. "Who said that I was going to force you to do that? I was just thinking if you can at least acknowledge that Felix's opinion is just as valid." 

"Ha? That's also not good." He rolls his eyes but gets surprised to see the girl inching closer to him with that same, smug look she had a few minutes ago. "Come on, this is the least you can do. Unless you want me to tell them about this good vibe you have with Hyunjin?" 

"You're not being serious, are you?" Han glares at her, "Are you blackmailing me right now?" 

"Oh hell yeah I am." Eugene smirks, "I legit can just reveal to them that you have been in love with Hyunjin so he—"

"I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HYUNJIN!" He yells, his cheeks turning red. "I just adore him, okay? He's my ride-or-die partner, it's PLATONIC." He emphasises it for her very strongly—but at this rate, it is already too hard for the female to take him seriously.

"Ooh... so it wouldn't be a big deal if he knows about it then?" She raises her brows, her lips forming another smirk. 

"NO!" He groans, "It's going to be awkward and embarrassing if he knows! So please." Han sighs and places his palm on his forehead, stressing out. 

"I gave you a fair trade, no? You do know that there's an ongoing problem between the three of you. So instead of shunning Felix like that, talk to him—along with Hyunjin too." The female shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, telling Han to either take her offer or he'll literally be exposed. 

"Since you're already here, all you need to do is prepare yourself mentally and then go into that room." She points at the slightly ajar door. "Easy."