The Sound | Hwang Hyunjin + Lee Felix

~𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛~

"Which one do you want?" Felix asked softly after placing his order, as if trying to match the tone of his voice with the calm silence of the night. 

The bright ice cream truck in front of us, parked indefinitely on the side of the main path, sprinkled tiny points of shimmering light onto Felix's already star-scattered face. Flashing strings of purple and green gave him a new color of highlights in his sleek black hair every second as he stood in front of the truck, patiently waiting for my answer. 

I scanned the menu board one more time, thinking about my answer throughly. 

Every picture of creamy dessert on the board looked enticing, even the interesting concoction of mint chocolate chip ice cream, blackberries and marshmallows named after the star attraction of the park, "Maniac Icecream."

But I settled for something a bit more familiar. "Mmm... Vanilla."

Felix nodded in approval at my choice, ordering for me and handing me my classic cone. He had taken a chance with the mix named after the love-themed ride 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘦 143, a blend of strawberry ice cream with Oreo pieces and cookie dough. 

Taking a lick at his cone, on which he had added a vibrant array of sprinkles, his eyes widened and he flashed me a thumbs up. "It's good!"

I smiled at his child-like excitement as he continued to scarf down his icecream, walking beside me on our trek to the Ferris Wheel on the opposite side of the park, a huge glowing landmark to mark the end of our journey.

The grips on the bottoms of our tennis shoes softly scraped against the pavement as we walked, making the sandpaper-like sound the only noise that interrupted the quiet night, which dared to envelope us in its darkness if we stayed completely silent.

A sudden sentimental remark from Felix surprised me as he voiced a simple, "Thank you," breaking the monotony of the repeated noise that came in unison with our steps.

I glanced at him over my ice cream, already half gone as I tried to keep up with his pace. "For what?"

"Just for being friends with me," he shrugged with a smile, but it wasn't exactly happy, his hair catching the reflection of a blue neon sign as he tousled it.

"I've never really had a lot of friends, and I still don't. So I'm just really happy that I have you, Hana." His eyes met mine as he watched me with a grateful depth to his warm gaze. 

"I find it hard to believe that you don't have many friends." I broke eye contact with him to take another bite out of my ice cream.

When I looked back over to him, his own cone was beginning to disappear even faster than I expected it to. I laughed as I watched him, thinking about his recent words. He was innocently sweet and kind, with a heart of gold, the universe in his sparkling eyes and his smile bright enough to outshine the sun. How could he not have many friends? 

Felix shrugged again, finishing the last of his dessert. "They all stay around for a while, but... they always end up leaving me." His brows furrowed as he stared at his shoes. 

Then, as we neared the Ferris Wheel, our long journey across the park coming to a final end, he took my hand again, looking up at me, his pupils like the night sky; dark and reflecting colorful points of light from the decorations around us. With a low voice, he whispered solemnly as he gazed into my eyes. 

"Hana, please... promise you'll never leave me," He said, and the night seemed to grow even more quiet. Probably because we had stopped moving, and the darkness was beginning to swallow us now that the white noise of our walking had ceased.