✔️ BAD NEIGHBORHOOD | hyunbinlix

XXII

➳ i wanna know

➳ what is love

'i'm paying.' his boyfriends started protesting, but HWANG HYUNJIN just started walking to the ice cream parlor, leaving them to run after him.

'slow down, lamp pole! your legs are, like, too long,' SEO CHANGBIN huffed, speed-walking beside the non-human. chuckling, he and LEE FELIX slowed down a bit to compensate for the boy's height.

'yeah, well, no wonder you can't keep up,' felix joked. 'if you get any shorter, i think i'm gonna step on you.' changbin yelped indignantly and punched his arm. the redhead cringed, but pretended he was acting - he wasn't telling him about the bruises, not the one he'd just hit nor the other ones he'd hidden.

the ice cream parlor was one that hyunjin and his mother frequented when the boy was younger, just after she and his father had broken up. he didn't remember much about their visits there, but one thing he did remember was that he always used to get cotton candy flavoured ice cream, in a cup. he and his mother would sit in one of the booths, him with his bright pink treat and her with lemon sorbet in a cone. and they would talk about how he was going at school, how his classes were, if he had made any new friends. she'd laugh and call him silly when he got ice cream on his nose, and would put some of hers on her nose so they could be matching.

'hey, jinnie?' felix turned around, hair falling into his eyes. 'you want to order something?'

hyunjin blinked. 'oh, uh, yeah.' he reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind felix's ear before turning to the girl at the counter (chaeyoung, according to her nametag) and ordering. in a moment, they each received an ice cream. one honeycomb cone. one dark chocolate cone. and, one cotton candy scoop in a cup. the boys took a seat at the booth farthest from the main part of the parlor, so they could talk in peace - the place was quite busy.

'have you seen all those duolingo memes lately?'

'wait, duolingo is the language thin-'

felix gasped. 'uncultured swine. duolingo is god. we all answer to the duolingo bird. if you don't do your korean lessons, he'll kidnap your family.'

hyunjin, usually an active participant in the small group's conversations, found himself tuning out. he remembered the place he and his mother used to sit; it wasn't too far away from where they sat now. he wasn't sure of the exact reason why he was so nostalgic, but he suspected it was because of his parents - their breakup had been painful for everybody, and took a lot of work. his father, a siren prince, had made a love pledge to SANG SOYOUNG, a nobody demon. he broke it, and drove his kingdom into a frenzy. hyunjin's mother was hardly at home when he was growing up - she was either working, or away in the siren kingdom trying to deal with the mess she and her ex had created. although she tried to make it up to him now, he always felt like he'd grown up too fast, been lonely and neglected. but he had soyoung now - they were so close, they were like siblings. he had friends. he had his boyfriends.

speaking of his boyfriends, the dumbasses had gotten ice cream in changbin's hair ('my hair! it's never going to be normal again! i'll, like, never be able to wash it out, and it's all because of you, you punk.'). chuckling, hyunjin reached over and untangled the strands that were stuck together. 'peach, be careful. and this is why cups are superior to cones! they don't drip everywhere like cones do.'

changbin mumbled, 'what's with the pet name?' hyunjin couldn't really see, but he assumed the reason the boy was looking down was to hide a blush.

the hybrid grinned, and felix swore that if they were in an anime, he'd definitely get a nosebleed. 'because you turn peach when you blush! and you're cute, and peach is a cute nickname.' the boy couldn't help it, and he blushed - hyunjin was right, he did turn red.

'what about me?'

hyunjin thought for a second. felix panicked momentarily, as he often did. oh, god. what if he doesn't want to give me a nickname? what if it's because he thinks i'm not deserving of it or something, like he doesn't like me as much as changbin? i wouldn't be surprised, i don't deserve- 'baby boy.' hyunjin thought he could pinpoint the exact moment felix's soul left his body. both of his boyfriends were malfunctioning, actually - changbin was furiously avoiding eye contact and (still) blushing, and felix had his head on the table.

so hyunjin did the only sensible thing to do in that moment; he laughed at them, because even though he loves them, hwang hyunjin is still a bit of a bitch.

 [ hyunjin's nostalgia in this and his family is entirely based off me, so have fun with that lmao ]