It was almost two in the morning and Hyunjin was lying on his stomach, face buried in his pillow while his phone screen glowed in the dark. His entire TikTok for you page was some mix of gay thirst traps, pretty boys doing transitions, and edits of men with jawlines sharp enough to kill someone.

He kept scrolling, muttering under his breath every time another one popped up.

“I’m not gay,” he whispered to himself for maybe the tenth time that night, even though his phone clearly had other opinions.

From the living room, Bangchan and someone else were laughing way too loud. Hyunjin groaned, rolled out of bed, and stomped toward the noise like an angry cat.

He pushed the door open and snapped, “Shut the fuck up, I’m trying to sleep.”

Then he froze.

Sitting on the couch next to Bangchan was Felix. Hair soft and messy, eyes warm even in the dim light, voice deeper than it had any right to be when he said, “Sorry, mate. Didn’t know you were asleep.”

Hyunjin’s brain short-circuited. His heart slammed into his ribs. The guy looked unreal. Like one of those TikToks he kept pretending not to save to favorites.

“Oh,” was all Hyunjin managed, staring like an idiot.

Felix smiled at him, this soft, kind smile that made Hyunjin forget how to breathe for a second. Then he waved a little. “We’ll keep it down.”

Hyunjin turned around and walked back to his room way too fast, shutting the door gently so he wouldn’t embarrass himself more. He pressed his back against it and covered his face with both hands.

“Holy shit,” he whispered. “I’m so gay.”

Twenty minutes later he heard the front door close, meaning Felix left. He tried not to feel disappointed. He absolutely failed.

A moment later, Bangchan knocked on his door.

“Hyunjin? Felix left his phone here. Did you see it anywhere?”

Hyunjin got up and found it on the couch, picking it up carefully. He expected the lock screen to be like his own, boring, practical. Instead it lit up with a flood of messages from someone named Han, another from someone named Changbin, and like fifty missed notifications.

Hyunjin stared way too long.

It looked like Felix had someone blowing up his phone constantly. Best friends? Boyfriend? Someone he talked to every day?

Hyunjin’s chest dropped. Of course. Guys like Felix didn’t look at people like him. He probably thought Hyunjin was rude, or weird, or both.

He handed the phone to Bangchan and shrugged like it meant nothing.

“He’s probably texting someone he actually likes,” Hyunjin muttered, pretending not to care even though he absolutely did.

Bangchan raised a brow. “Hyunjin. They’re literally his best friends.” but in reality, it was just Han practicing his confession to someone

soon a frantic knock on the door and felix's voice echoed through

"can someone open the door i forgot something!"