The Art of Cheating | changlix

Question 4

Waiting and Hand Holding
-

The halls were packed, expectedly since it was the end of the school day. Hooligans jumping up and down, pushing against each other to make it out the doors to freedom.

Felix, though, was standing in a door way of a classroom, watching the current of students. Once the halls were scarce of people, Felix started his small journey to the dance studio.

Dance was something Felix enjoyed, sometimes too much. It was the one physical activity his parents didn't force him into doing, and it was something he was passionate about. No one ever questioned why Felix liked moving his body to music, mostly because they were just happy he wasn't cooped up in his room playing those "god awful" video games, as his father would call them.

Felix was one of the star dancers on his team, and he knew so. If it wasn't for Hyunjin and his skills, Felix could've been captain, and Hyunjin knew this just as well as everyone else.

Hyunjin has been dancing since he was a child. It was common knowledge because he always bragged about how he got first place for big state competitions all the time.

Felix had never been jealous of the boy. He had no reason to be. He knew Hyunjin was a better dancer, and he knew Hyunjin was devilishly handsome, and Felix was amazingly fine with that.

He was only ever jealous of Hyunjin because he was dating Changbin, that he was the one making Changbin smile.

But now it was Felix's turn to do that, even though it was for show only. That thought alone made Felix gain a little prep in his step. His smile and excited mood didn't go unnoticed by the members of the dance club either. Especially the all but happy Hyunjin.

"What are you smiling about, Lee?" Hyunjin asked, a little grin moving to his lips as he looked the other boy up and down. It was hard not to get the contagious smile Felix had.

"I'm just in a good mood." Felix shrugged, unsure of how Changbin wanted their "relationship" to be outed. He never wanted to make Changbin angry or annoyed.

Hyunjin smiled, happy that his friend was happy. The boy and Felix had been friends since Felix joined the dance team.

But they weren't close.

"I'm glad you're in a good mood. We have an upcoming competition coming up and we need to make choreography for it." Hyunjin explained, hoping the news didn't come to Felix as a burden.

Felix almost jumped for joy.

"What songs?" He asked, giddy with ideas for the dances already flowing through his head.

-

Two hours have passed. 120 minutes passed before Changbin showed himself at the door of the dance studio. He had a sort-of smug smile on his face, knowing Hyunjin would be there with Felix. Knowing Hyunjin would be there to witness him and Felix interact.

He had already texted Felix, to make sure he wasn't taking the boys first kiss, which he wasn't. Changbin had it all planned out.

Now he just had to get rid of the nerves eating away at him. Rubbing his face, taking multiple deep breathes, and rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants, he walked into the studio.

Many gasps could be heard, the students packing up their things to leave gaining shock to accommodate their facial features. He knew they knew him and Hyunjin were rocky. They knew Hyunjin cheated. But they didn't know if they were officially broken up. Changbin didn't mind the stares much, all he could focus on was Hyunjin's wide eyes and Felix's warm, welcoming smile.

Two different options. Kiss Felix and make a fool of Hyunjin, or wait for Felix like he used to for Hyunjin, and walk out of the studio holding Felix's hand like he used to with Hyunjin.

The latter option would cause more hurt personally for Hyunjin, if he ever even had feelings for Changbin. The first option would just make him look like a bitch. He felt dirty, making a decision out of two mean options. Just to get revenge.

So Changbin returned Felix's warm, welcoming smile, and walked up to him. And he just stood there waiting for him, making small talk with him as he packed his bag. When he was finished, Changbin intertwined their fingers.

They peacefully walked out of the room, ignoring the whispers of the dance team. They ignored the burning stare Hyunjin left on their backs. They both knew Hyunjin would be angry with the sudden occurrence, but neither seemed to care in that moment.

Once out of the school, Felix turned to Changbin, confusion adorning his face instead of the smile Changbin was desperate to see again. "Why didn't you kiss me like you planned?"

Changbin tensed at the question, knowing the answer would make him look like an asshole. But he shrugged nonchalantly, "I thought if Hyunjin still had any feelings for me that waiting for you and stuff would hurt his feelings more."

Changbin noticed how the look of hope, and a glint of pure joy vanished from Felix's eyes as Felix kept quiet, only nodding in pleasure at Changbin's good strategy to make his ex jealous. He noticed how Felix had let go of his hand he was still holding.

With knowing Felix was happy to know Changbin would kiss made the shorter boy feel guilty. Guilty for giving him false hope, and taking away his happiness.

"So, do want to hangout over the weekend." Changbin asked, hoping the happiness and excitement Felix had would return, even for a moment.

Felix smiled, the small gesture lighting his face up. "Yeah. You can text me the details, or just show up at my house."

"Your parents wouldn't be confused why a random kid was ringing their doorbell?" Changbin laughed, just imagining how awkward the situation would be.

Felix shook his head, grinning, "They work weekends. As long as they know you're coming over and your parents are okay with it, their okay with it."

"How you have such freedom exerts my mental capability to understand how you work." Changbin says, proud he could form such a sentence in a second. That and the look of exasperation on Felix's face.

"Wh-what the fuck does that mean?" Felix says, voice so small because he was confused. Changbin felt warm, the sight so cute.

Changbin laughed almost fondly, restructuring his sentence so the taller could know what he meant, "I don't understand how your parents don't care who comes over. My parents would have to meet your parents and a bunch of other shit before you came over to my house."

Felix sighed in relief, which made Changbin laugh again. "My dad let my mom make most decisions, and she trusts me enough to pick good people to hang out with."

"That's nice." Changbin said, and then started walking. "I'll see you tomorrow. Might even come to dance practice to get you."

"O-oh," Felix said, suddenly flustered. "Okay. Bye Changbin!"

"Bye Felix." The smaller waved.

Now that he could think in silence, he realized he was falling. And he couldn't. Not after Hyunjin. But he was so desperate to see the pretty smile on the stupid Australian's face.