HEART YOU, changlix

♡ 31 [ tape 01 ]

felix just knew he shouldn't have done this tonight, but his whole being itched to do it. he wanted to feel that same adrenaline rush that came whenever he struck the match, wanted to witness that same bright orange flame flickering over the end of whatever lucky stick he chose.

the surface of his irises glistened in excitement as he struck the first match hidden within the four walls of his dimly lit bedroom, transfixed with the way the vibrant flame swirled. almost translucent smoke wafted off from it and swam into the air, eventually disappearing into the darkness.

felix had always loved fire. he loved how brightly it shone, and thought the golden hue it often emitted was nothing short of eye-catching and magnificent. he admired how powerful fire could be, and how it never ceased to destroy anything in its way. fire was invinsible.

he pouted when the flame died out, encasing the room in darkness once more. without wasting anymore seconds, he lit up the next match, watching as the flame grew bigger and brighter.

"felix!" someone called right then, distracting him. felix looked up, recognizing the voice immediately. it was his brother. "i suck at playing this game and my teammates are making fun of me. care to help? i want you to crush them."

"okay!" felix replied back, his mind racing at the prospect of playing video games tonight. his parents had gone out for while and he felt he needed something better to occupy himself with. "coming!"

as a young teen, recklessness was felix's biggest weakness. it would also end up being his downfall.

jeongin was all too eager to pass the controller to felix once he got inside his room, and being the supportive little brother he was, cheered felix on as the older started to battle with their online friends. he'd always supported him during everything, and stood by him even when he'd been ostracized in australia before they moved. felix appreciated jeongin a lot.

it was during their fourth round when felix felt it. the air had grown thicker, warmer, and his throat started to burn. all it took was jeongin coughing into his arm for him to realize what he'd done.

"the matches!" felix cried out, getting up to his feet in shock. jeongin stared up at him, wide-eyed.

"w-what?"

felix heartbeat pounded in his ears, and he barely registered the chills running up his spine as he ran over the wooden floors of jeongin's bedroom with his bare feet. as soon as he opened the door, the air became much more dense, and the smoke coming out of the halls clogged up his throat and made his eyes watery.

for a while, he could only stand there in shock, not believing that this was actually happening. jeongin's hand grabbed his, and when felix looked at him, he could see he was just as terrified as he was at that moment.

"we need to get out of here," felix told jeongin, leading the younger male out of the room. the smoke had grown considerably, and the insides of felix's room had been lit up in flames. he tore off his jacket, quickly passing it to jeongin in order to press it against his nose. "w-we need to leave now."

"h-how'd this happen, felix?" jeongin questioned, his face stricken with fear. "how did the fire start?"

felix couldn't answer. he was too afraid and too guilty to. all he knew at that moment was that he needed to get him and his brother out of the house before it was too late.

a mass of orange and pale yellow sparked from felix's room, swimming through the halls and turning the floors a deep charcoal. the smoke was excrutiating, and it was at that moment that felix realized the true capacity of fire. it was something that didn't show any mercy.

"felix, we need to leave now!" jeongin cried out, "we need to get out through the back door!"

felix snapped out of his stupor, his legs feeling like jelly and his lungs fulled with poisonous air as he and jeongin ran out of the bedroom, the fire hot on their tail. the flames flicked wickedly, burning everything in its path and turning them into ashes. it'd only grown bigger and bigger, seeming to chase after the boys as if it had a mind of its own, as if it had an intent.

felix didn't know how a little flame could form this monstrosity, but he didn't have the time or patience to think about it too much. he just needed to get out of the house with jeongin by his side before the fire caught up with them.

breathing was difficult by the time they got to the back door, and as jeongin coughed into his jacket, his skin dirtied with soot, felix realized with a paralyzing sort of terror that the door was locked.

"well?!" jeongin exclaimed.

felix turned the doorknob forcefully, trying to get the door to open. "it's locked! there's no key!"

"what?!"

by now their skin had grown ten times warmer, sweat building up on the surface and trickling down their bodies.

felix started slamming his palms over the surface of the door, hitting on the glass until his knuckles were bloody. jeongin had joined him, using all his body's weight to try and get the door to budge.

"we -- we need something solid to break through!" felix said, his eyes wide with apprehension. he was deathly afraid. in the few minutes they'd been there, half the house had become submerged in flames, and it was all his fault.

"i'm -- i'm gonna go get one of those trophies i have. it'll be hard enough to break through the glass," jeongin started, but felix was already shaking his head. "no felix, listen to me. i'll be quick. i'll -- i'll grab it and come back as quick as i can. just continue to try and break open the door."

"there's fire everywhere!" felix shouted, "i can't let you leave."

"we'll die if we don't get out anytime soon!" jeongin argued.

"then i'll get the trophy myself." felix replied, but jeongin didn't listen to him. he'd already turned around, heading back despite felix's pleas. "jeongin!"

felix slammed his body against the door with utmost force, and tears sprung out of his eyes at the pain that suffocated his shoulder at that second. he just couldn't understand why the door wasn't budging and why it was even locked in the first place.

felix slammed his body against the door yet again, almost tripping over his feet when the door flew open, cold air gripping unto his skin. he could hear the commotion that went on around him, as well as the recognizable sirens that belonged to the police and the ambulance vans.

he headed for the front of the house, shouting at the people camped around the building to go get his brother. the firemen had already broken into the livingroom, combating the flames however they could, but they were being too slow.

felix was frantic as he raced back to the back of the house, dragging a fireman with him as well, only for his heart to still when he saw the back door had been slammed shut.

"please, you can't go inside -- " the fireman instructed, but felix didn't heed his word.

tears lept out his eyes when he latched his hands over the doorknob, only to see that it was, once again, locked. he screamed his brother's name over and over again as tried his hardest to unlock the door, but jeongin never answered.

he never answered.

***

a/n: thoughts?