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Felix was sure he was starting to lose his mind.
Everytime he passed by Hyunjin, the man seemed to have a lawn mower on him at all times! It was strange for the ave, someone so used to Australian species of hybrids, to come across the enigma that was cat hybrid Hyunjin. This didn’t happen to the other members, he was sure of it!
He was concerned! Maybe the sound was from Hyunjin’s stomach, from malnourishment! He was being a good teammate, a good friend, being so worried for him!
Okay that was a little lie, maybe Felix was a little paranoid that Hyunjin wanted to eat him. As a bird species, it was only natural for the feline to think of him as prey! What if Hyunjin was really just waiting for a chance to corner him, and turn him into his next meal? He couldn’t be blamed if his good-natured worry had a bit of self-preservation mixed in with it.
He would support Hyunjin, pretend that nothing is wrong, but be careful! That’s right, cheering him on in the sidelines!
Hyunjin was sure he was starting to lose his mind.
Felix was, dare he say, avoiding him! Or, at least trying to. Whenever Hyunjin tried to cozy up with the smaller man, or give him some friendly affection (as friends, he swears), the chick would scamper off! Well, scamper off after cramming his hands full of brownies.
He wouldn’t even let Hyunjin eat him in front of him! How is Hyunjin supposed to show Felix how happy he is, how secure he feels around him if he can’t even do this bare minimum! This was absolutely ridiculous .
Was it the purring? Was Felix uncomfortable with his affection? How dare he, when everyone else always complimented him for his soothing rumbles! This was a betrayal, from Hyunjin’s closest friend, and dare he say man he was trying to pursue!
He was going to do something about it, and he was going to do something about it now .
Hyunjin was sulking.
He wasn’t even trying to hide his dramatics. The rest of the members could only watch in dismay and slight disgust as the feline non-subtly followed Felix around their dorms, draping himself over every nearby furniture and sighing greatly. His glances towards Felix to see if this was being observed were even more pitiful than anything they had ever seen.
Worst of all, Felix didn’t even realize it! He was too busy being paranoid that Hyunjin was out for his neck! The poor little bird, wearing three jackets and sweating profusely in the dead of summer and obviously sleep deprived from stress and intensive midnight baking. Really, they couldn’t even tell who was stupider in the situation.
“Felix, you idiot, are you trying to boil yourself alive?” Changbin burst out, after witnessing the 10th bead of perspiration roll down Felix’s neck. “Is that what it is, huh? You’re trying to become boiled chicken?”
At this Felix startled, and stammering an excuse, bolted from the room. Or, waddled. Right after the man’s leave of absence, Hyunjin let out one final gusty exhale and slinked away to his own room. To probably sit there and mope or continue scheming, the members didn’t even want to know at this point.
Boiled chicken.
Boiled chicken . He was no boiled chicken! Oh no, is that what Hyunjin thought of him too? Boiled chicken??
He had been trying to look as unappetizing as possible, but what if he had ruined it! This was going terribly, all of his plans were ruined!
That night Felix went to sleep terribly afflicted, dreaming of the grumbling of motorcycles and running away from huffing felines.
Felix had looked so cute wrapped up in all those layers.
That was besides the point though! Felix was staying up all night baking pastries for Hyunjin and still avoiding him! This wasn’t going to work, he needed to be confrontational, and he was going to be aggressive about it!
It was their weekly movie night. Cozied up together, everyone took turns eating from their popcorn bowl as a film blared in the background. A film no one paid attention to.
Everyone was too busy watching Hyunjin slowly scoot from his side of the couch over to Felix, completely bulldozing over all of the members in the process. An accidentally stepped on tail, the shoving of Chan, everything was justified for his end goal of reaching the bird!
Felix, in a much better mood after a successful night of practice, allowed for Hyunjin to approach him, even making space for him. The feline noticed this, and brightened up immensely, immediately tangling his legs with the boy as if to prevent him from changing his mind later.
As he adjusted himself comfortably next to Felix, he began purring again. Loud rumbling, coming deep from his chest as he closed his eyes in contentment.
While everyone seemed nonchalant about this action, Felix began to stiffen up. He stared at Hyunjin in horror, and frantically reached for the popcorn bowl, stuffing it into Hyunjin’s hands and motioning for him to eat. There would be no chicken eaten tonight, thank you!
Eventually, Hyunjin grew frustrated.
“Felix, what’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable?”
Felix avoided eye contact and simply picked at his sweater. “Well, I just, aren’t you hungry? You should eat more. That’s all, that’s all.”
Baffled, Hyunjin stood up abruptly, the popcorn spilling everywhere on the ground. A member, sounding suspiciously like Han, screamed angrily in the background but he ignored it. “Hungry? I’m so full from everything you’ve been giving me that I think I gained five pounds! Is that really everything? Is it–do you not like me anymore?”
Felix also jumped up from his seat, angrily pointing his finger at Hyunjin. “Me? I’m clearly not the problem here! Your stomach’s been growling everytime you’re around me, and I’ve been doing my best to feed you so you could be less hungry! I’m not food Hyunjin! I know you’re a cat and everything, but this is, this is the modern century! Chicken isn't even supposed to be your main food source!”
At that, the ave stormed out of the room and went into his own, slamming the door behind him. For a moment everything was silent, as all of the members stared at each other and then Hyunjin.
“So, you’ve been having a..growling stomach around Felix?”
Hyunjin began yanking at his ears, stressed out of his mind and so so confused. “No! What, that doesn’t even make sense! The only thing I’ve been doing around him is purring! Doesn’t he even know what that sounds like?”
Everyone paused. Did Felix know what purring is? They knew that he had told them that Hyunjin had been the first feline hybrid he ever met before, but they didn’t think that meant Hyunjin was the first cat he ever met! Gradually, things started to click.
“Guys, I don’t think Felix knows that you were purring around him.”
At this resolution, the members couldn’t help but enter another moment of silence.
Hyunjin then rushed out of the room.
There was a pounding at his door.
Felix knew it was Hyunjin. But he was upset! He wasn’t going to open the door, and he was going to stand up for himself!
After the knocking persisted for 1 minute, Felix finally got up and irritatedly cracked open the door. Yet, before he could even get a word out, the larger man grabbed the opportunity and rushed into the room before Felix could slam it on him.
“Felix! Felix, Yongbok, hear me out for a second! I love you!”
At that both paused. Hyunjin, realizing what he said, slapped his mouth.
“That was, not what I was going to say first. I was going to, um. One second.”
As Felix stood there, dazed, Hyunjin rushed out of the room, shut the door, then knocked again. This time much more politely. When Felix mechanically creaked the door open, he stared up at Hyunjin’s beet red face, which did its best to show an air of professionalism.
“Felix, I’d like to formally apologize for any misunderstandings I may have caused. Contrary to your belief that my stomach was growling out of a predatory instinct my species have held towards your own in the past, it actually originates from my vocal cords during a time of contentment and pleasure. I was purring around you. Not preparing to feast on you. Yeah.”
A minute passed by in silence.
“Anything, else you might want to add?” Felix hesitantly prodded.
“Oh, uh yeah. I,” Hyunjin paused, tugging at his ears in a rare showing of bashfulness. “I like you, Felix. A lot. More than a friend! And I have, for a while. I like you. I want to spend time with you everyday, I want to wake up to your face, I’m infatuated with you! I adore you, really. And I-”
Rapidly turning red himself, Felix rushed to slap his hands over Hyunjin’s mouth.
“Yes! Okay, I heard you! Can I, have some time to process this?”
At that, the cat, who had been lovingly stroking the hands of the bird on his face, had a sour expression.
“No, what? Give me an answer now.”
“What? Don’t you, I mean in the movies don’t you usually give them some time to process everything and then get an answer later? Like in a week, or 3-4 business days?”
“No! Tell me your response now!”
Hyunjin stubbornly stamped his foot on the ground, tail lashing anxiously in the background. There was time for hesitation in life, but not now!
Taking a deep breath, Felix took Hyunjin’s hands into his own and shakily brought them to his chest. The bird’s chest was pounding, the cat duly noted in the back of his mind, the rest of his focus on the sound of his own heart matching the rhythm of the ave.
“I think I like you too. And I’m not too certain yet, because this is so sudden, but I know that I always liked you. Whether it be as a friend, a teammate, or something different. Yes, I do think I like the idea of you and me together. I like the idea of us! I like you Hyunjin!”
Hyunjin couldn’t help but laugh happily, his cheerful astonishment mixed in with the intermittents of his purring. He crushed the smaller boy into his chest and rocked them together, rumbling loud enough for the world to hear. Finally, this boy was his, and they were on their journey to their happy ending. As he leaned down to brush his lips into his, his man, he realized how bright the world suddenly seemed to be.
“Oh but Felix, when you said that I was always hungry around you, you weren’t necessarily wrong though. I was just hungry for..different things.” Hyunjin sneakily bent over to pinch Felix’s ass.
Across the dorm a resounding slap echoed through the walls, followed by the loudest yowl any of the members had ever heard in their whole lives. Fuck.