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It started that night.
Hyunjin opened the apartment's door and Felix's drenched state was the last thing he expected from the other side.
The area Felix passed created a mess of puddles, eliciting a deep sigh from the man inside the house who just finished cleaning the entire house.
Hyunjin didn't expect Felix to turn his heels and said with a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, I'll clean this after changing my clothes."
They didn't talk that much after that, they never did before, too. The school work kept Hyunjin busy and when he got home it was always Felix's turn to leave their shared house.
Basically two broke strangers that were forced to live together for the sake of a safety and comfort under one roof, for the sake of surviving the next day, compromising their life just as little as what's needed.
Hyunjin never thought of Felix that much, too. Until tonight when the sudden urge coming out of nowhere to actually do something.
Maybe its the way Felix looked extra delicate today. Maybe its his soaked white shirt and hunched back that made him appeared so lonely. Maybe its the way he said the sentences as if he didn't have anything left to give.
"Let me wash your hair,"
Hyunjin realized it was too late to recoil from his own slip-away the moment he met a foreign sparkle he never noticed from Felix, on his cheeks, and on his almond eyes.
There was just the sound of running water as Hyunjin sat awkwardly on top of the small area above the edge of the bathtub, Felix underneath him, straightening his legs nonchalantly, his head almost leaning fully to the taller, made him flinch occasionally, heightening his already high self-consciousness.
Felix was topless but he kept his pants on, and Hyunjin tried not to think how uncomfortable it must be for the lad to be even more drenched after this whole process.
You always ask for what you can't handle, Hyunjin mentally winced.
"What are you waiting for?"
Felix's voice woke him up from his inner mess. Guilt crept up when his eyes caught the way Felix's naked shoulder slightly shivering.
In an instant Hyunjin craned his long arms to the toiletries, and he pondered a little bit too long after he realized the green shampoo bottles were too similar. Which one is whose?
"The one with little yellow sticker, it's apple," Felix said like he could read his mind. "Yours are green tea... right?"
Hyunjin just nodded quickly and grabbed the said one, pouring the celery-colored substance to his free hand.
Felix closed his eyes the moment Hyunjin's hand touched his scalp and Hyunjin didn't know why the sight made him bit his cheek. He reminded him of a newborn chick or a cat inside a box, in need of shelter.
"Does it feel nice?"
There was no answer from Felix but the way he leaned towards the back almost entirely until Hyunjin could feel all the former's weight just from his head, gave him away.
It must be the steady breath of the blond, the only sound accompanying them in the cramped room, that let Hyunjin get carried away, manifested in drifting his palm to the other's temple and start massaging it in a circular manner.
It certainly was a futile attempt to ignore the tugging on his chest everytime he started zoning out and Felix would lay his own hand on top of Hyunjin's hand to keep him going.
Hyunjin never knew he had that much of emotions just by doing something to help others, not to mention cleansing his roommate's hair whom he'd never exchanged more than 5 words with throughout their 8 months of living together— and the prospect of it scared him so much he wished he could just unfeel it.
He would never admit how he found a puny stretch from one to another edge of his mouth while his hands never stopped rinsing the trace of rain from Felix's hair.
It became a silent agreement and their unwritten ritual.
Felix just stood there with a fresh towel in his hand, Hyunjin could feel his hesitation in case he bothered the older and his k-drama time.
But Felix didn't have to know how his eyes inspected the younger one earlier, ever since he went to his own room, and how it wasn't surprising anymore for Hyunjin if he eventually had to damp his favorite shirt again at 3 am in the morning.
And Hyunjin tried his best to hide his jittery feet, his jelly legs, as he followed his roommate to their bathroom—because he still didn't know the reason why, so he thought it was a given not to let Felix know, too, just yet.
"I met an old acquaintance today,"
It was the first time Felix talked talk about himself, other than when will he came home or if Hyunjin would come home late, too, and Hyunjin's brain had scolded him for not so subtly stopping the movement on Felix's head, but who can blame him for his body always reacting in the most honest way possible.
And it seemed like Felix didn't want him to process, "I hit him square in the face, and it felt good, Hyunjin,"
Hyunjin really didn't know to position himself but the way Felix said those words as if the heaviness surrounding him was promptly lifted made him blurted the first thing that came to his mind,
"Good for you, Felix,"
His eyes peered at Felix's head that was slowly turning to face him properly.
"Shouldn't you scold me for beating someone's ass and resorting violence?"
"I'm not a headmaster and you're not a school boy anymore,"
"Shouldn't you question me for my questionable behaviour?"
"It's not like you hit him while you're sleep-walking or something,"
"Shouldn't you at least be upset with me?"
"You have too many should, I feel like a "term and condition" box that pops up before you install adobe-
"Why adobe?"
Hyunjin never knew Felix was this much of a chatterbox and he was not going to lie, it kinda overwhelmed him.
"I like it better when we use telepathy to communicate,"
He couldn't be more convinced of how Felix intentionally made him lost his composure because the lad striked him again by flashing his first ever genuine chuckle.
Hyunjin just wouldn't waste more time taking notes of how the corner of his eyes crinkled, and his whiskers that were suddenly more prominent, delivering some kind of fever to Hyunjin.
And fever made you do irrational things or the type of things you'd regret later when your body cooled down.
"Could you wash my hair too?"
Among any things that would never change, the Felix from 8 months ago, or the recent Felix he spent time with, it was his unpredictability.
So it shouldn't surprise Hyunjin if the next minutes later he was already being the one slouching on the cold floor, red-faced as a hand found its way to tug his sleeve, demanding the whole shirt to be removed.
It did feel nice, the moment his scalp met the combination of half-warm water and a tiny but surprisingly strong fingers of Felix's.
Its his fever, (at this point, such an overused justification for the way he stopped Felix's hand from grabbing his green tea shampoo).
Hyunjin was sure he was at the very least drunken, in no way he'd acknowledge all his impulsive behaviour and outspoken thoughts that night.
To add another knock down for Hyunjin, there came the no-question moment from Felix as he poured his own apple shampoo and made some foam out of it.
Hyunjin felt dizzy.
Especially after they both have dried themselves and he opened his arms, in which Felix willingly succumb into, where they cuddled until the morning came.
And if Hyunjin was a little too intoxicated by the apple's scent that filled his nostrils, leading him to buy the same product when his green tea one still had sufficient amount to survive the week—just to experience Felix's presence overflowing in him— it's certainly and solely his personal business.