Decieve || Hyunlix

Part 4. Stranger

. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ stranger ࿐ྂ

Hyunjin was an interesting character. And I don't mean that in sense that he's weird or abnormal, but in the manner that he's an enigma of characteristics that somehow add up to make this gentleman and radiant person. So quickly, so easily, we were spending quality time with one another.
Typically, I would never be spending so much time with some stranger I met at a funeral, but he somehow just drew me in. He was comfortable to be around and it made me feel relaxed after the hours upon hours of being tense.

We walked upon the large array of trees, all kinds of shapes and sizes. Each one with years of growth behind it before it's unhesitatingly chopped down with a machine. Each one having its own path of life, devoted to providing us with what we need to live.

Everything I looked at was symbolic.

I ran my hands along the earth-made wood chip carvings on each stump, feeling its rigid and imperfections rest so easily. Hyunjin walked beside me, a good distance between us, and allowed me to take lead. If I wasn't talking, he wouldn't. If I was laughing, so was he. It was an odd, silent game of Simon Says, but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed his efforts to be sensitive with me. I'm sure it was evident that any wrong move or word could make me switch my entire mood in an instant.

I tried my hardest to seem as "normal" as possible, but there's only so much you can pretend when your best friend was just murdered. Especially when you realize you won't be able to spend your back-to-back birthdays together in two weeks.

"Felix, you're an odd one." The male next to me suddenly broke the silence that my clouded mind was racing in. I looked over to him at the statement.

"Me? What makes you say that?" He breathily chuckles at my response, as if the answer was obvious.

"We've known each other for roughly a few hours, including the funeral, and yet I feel so comfortable around you." He walked with his hands in his pockets and looked straight ahead as I looked at him.
Genuinely, I thought he was pulling my leg because of how unreadable I'd made this walk.

"I apologize for my mood swings, I know this was supposed to be a joyous thing-"

"No, Felix, I mean it. Even in the silence, I feel no strain or awkwardness. You're just.. comfortable." He breathed out the last bit and I smiled with a light blush. The sudden compliment was startling as I had been consistently thinking the opposite- my mind had been boggling with so many questions about the male next to me. Why was he so empathetic? What could possibly make him feel this way? Is he only with me for the period that I am vulnerable? Why did he seem so... so perfect?

At the time, I didn't realize how easily I would succumb to empathy due to my weak state.

"Thank you, Hyunjin. I suppose I could say the same for you." He raised a brow at my response, making me giggle.

"You suppose?" He questioned with a slight smirk.

"I suppose." He scoffed, jokingly poking his cheek with his tongue before speaking.
"Trust me, Sunshine, I will make that statement way different eventually." He said in an unreadable tone, and it made my smirk drop and my stomach explode with butterflies. A simple sentence, said by him, could make me crumble in an instant- what is happening to me? But I had to seem unfazed.

"And how will you do that, mister crow?" I could tell he wasn't exactly expecting me to continue responding, in which made me hold back a smirk.