✔️ BAD NEIGHBORHOOD | hyunbinlix

VIII

➳ if my fate is to disappear like this

➳ then this is my last letter

he wasn't mute at birth like some rare dryads. he didn't talk, but SEO CHANGBIN had heard him groan when those bastards had shoved him against a locker, and heard him make a pained noise when the nurse sterilized a cut.

having grown up in the non-human world, HWANG HYUNJIN had some idea as to what was really at the crux of the mystery that was LEE FELIX. he'd seen the boy around school countless times, but had never engaged with him, purely because it was hard to talk to someone mute when you only knew the basics of sign language. all the things that changbin noticed, he'd noticed too. except he had an answer.

dryads like lee felix were usually shy, and often possessed some sort of anxiety issue. hyunjin would have to be careful not to startle him or anything when he woke up - both him and changbin were sitting near his bed after he'd passed out, and he'd realized how frightening it could be to have two complete strangers in a room alone with you when you have problems with social anxiety.

'do you think he'll be okay?'

'nurse said yes.'

'adults are frequently incorrect.'

'oh, shut up-'

'shh! he's waking up.'

when lee felix opened his eyes, hyunjin and changbin both had to take a moment to calm themselves down. despite looking as if he'd just crawled his way out of a grave, the boy was breathtaking. there were flowers and leaves peeking out from his hair slowly, becoming greener and healthier. 

changbin being changbin, and changbin being a supremely awkward teenage bisexual, went completely against the plan and started blabbering. 'oh, uh, hi! you're okay. this is the nurse's office. wait, you probably knew that. yeah. we're not just random weirdos! those dudes were, y'know, doing the stuff with the punching and the blood, whatever it's called, and we got you out of there. so yeah.'

'stop saying rubbish, bin.' hyunjin paused for a second before laughing. 'hey, rubbish bin. that's your new nickname. anyway, uh, you're lee felix, right?' lee felix, who had surprisingly not made an attempt to run away yet, managed a small nod. 'nice! i'm hyunjin, and this is rubbish bin.'

'changbin,' the annoyed brunet corrected, swatting away his friend's hands when he tried to ruffle his hair.

lee felix stayed quiet and still for a few seconds, before he started to sign something. do you know sign language?

yes. not good, the half-breed signed back. he could have sworn he saw a tiny bit of a smile reach the other boy's eyes at his bad grammar, but the flicker disappeared as soon as it had made its appearance.

the boy with freckles signed something, and the other just looked at him confusedly. changbin was the most confused out of all of them, having never learned a single bit of sign language in his life and thinking that they must be talking to each other about dicks because that's exactly what some of the signs looked like. lee felix reached down to his backpack, which was resting beside the bed, and pulled out a notebook and a pen. he wrote something down and then frowned at it for a second before handing it over to the boys. he looked away, some of his flowers wilting.

the writing read, in terrible korean handwriting, "please don't hurt me". both boys' eyes immediately widened. 'hurt you? we would never. i promise! why would you even think that?'

another reply came on paper. "everybody says 'hyunjin has raped someone' and 'changbin kills non-humans for sport'".

changbin was outraged; hyunjin was just quiet. the former said that he'd never do that, not in a million years, and that he wasn't like all the other disgusting humans out there.

'felix.' the redhead turned to face hyunjin. 'i promise you, you won't be hurt. we won't hurt you.' 

he nodded.

[ edit: there used to be a mention of hyunjin being raped here but i felt like i was romanticizing rape by putting it in here. it was only there because i couldn't be bothered to think of a good end to a chapter and honestly i think that's a really shitty move on my behalf - sorry to anybody who might have been triggered by that. rape is very serious and i don't want to make it seem like anything less than that. :) ]