NINETEEN | CHANGLIX

YEAR THIRTEEN

THE THIRTEENTH YEAR Felix knew he was growing.

He had been brushing his teeth when he noticed it for the first time, excitement swirling in his stomach upon realising he could see below his shoulders in the cabinet mirror. Then came the second time, where he had been reaching for the jar of peanut butter, discovering to his delight that it didn't require nearly as much stretching to reach its home on the top shelf as it had before. Finally he became certain he had grown when he stood next to his friend Changbin, who did seem rather shorter than before.

"No way," Changbin shuddered, spotting the change the minute Felix came walking towards him with a suspicious smile plastered onto his face. Truth be told, he had found the sight of the boy walking into his room alarmingly pretty considering its frequent occurrence, heat crawling up his neck instantly.

Felix, who couldn't fathom as to why the boy was embarassed, couldn't help but feel more pleased then sympathetic, "By a whole two inches," he gloated delightedly, curving his fingers in a 'c' shape to emphasise the difference.

Changbin immediately swatted his hand away, taking a couple steps backwards due to finding the news unbearably irritating, "Don't get ahead of yourself  — I'm only thirteen — I haven't even started growing yet," he retorted, trying to convince himself more than anybody  else.

"Then I haven't either," Felix teased, "I'm only twelve."

"I'll be 6ft," Changbin smirked, walking closer once more and stretching his arm far above his head to indicate, "You'll have to look at my chest when you talk."

Felix tried to contain his smile, letting the look of satisfaction momentarily rest on his friend's features, "Is that so?" he questioned, stepping closer, "Because I think..." he lingered, watching as Changbin continued to smirk at him, "You're bullshitting."

The second the words left his mouth he grabbed the boy's hand and tackled him onto the bed behind. From then onwards, it was a series of half-heartedly thrown punches, leg kicks in defence and shrieks due to instinct that were instantly followed by laughter.

At one point Changbin, who was undoubtedly stronger, had gained the position of being ontop, legs on either side of the younger therefore making it near impossible for him to throw another hit. Unfortunately for him, Felix's new title of being the tallest amongst them didn't change the fact that the boy was still rather small, his flexible limbs finding a way to snake around in such a way that he managed to flip them over, a process which dropped boys off of the bed with a sudden 'thud'.

"Aha!" Felix cried in victory, scrambling to sit atop of Changbin and pinning his arms down to secure his defeat.

Changbin struggled against the grip, trying hard to reclaim his win. After thrashing to the point where even his stubborness knew it was pointless, he let his arms relax, eyes snapping upwards with a glare as they met Felix's triumphant gaze.

If Changbin had been intending to make the younger feel in the slightest guilty, he had gone in the completely wrong direction. The way Felix saw it, the raven-head being annoyed was something similiar to tempting a toddler with a toy that caused it great amusement — a situation far too tempting not to play around with.

The lack of guilt still remained as always, however there was something different about that particular moment, where both of them heaved heavily in order to catch their breaths, a soft pattern of sounds surrounded by the quiet of the afternoon which  gave Felix a sense of comfort. Maybe it was just the physcial task of play-fighting which had made him feel warm and quickened his heart, but it was in no way displeasing.

He knew that from the way he hadn't moved either, that Changbin felt the same. Felix liked looking down at the older, who looked just as handsome as he always had except... "Hang on you've got dirt on your nose, " Felix frowned, reaching down to remov—