Sunlight flitted through the curtains inside Changbin's room, falling directly on the half demon's forehead. It got annoying at one point, but Changbin knew it would help him wake up. It always did.

Changbin didn't see the need to use alarm clocks because of that reason, and he could hear better than the average human. He sat up on his bed, and mentally prepared himself for the long day ahead.

His mother never bothered him to wake up, because she knew he'd always be on time for school, and she respected his privacy. Those were some of the many things his mother did that Changbin loved her for.

Changbin went into the bathroom to take a shower. He finished quicker than he usually would, avoiding staring at his body as much as possible. It wasn't like he wasn't used to his body, it was that he was too used to seeing himself. Everyday he'd see the same thing, even when he wished for a different outcome each time. Each time, he'd get disappointed when he saw that he didn't change from how he had looked the day before.

He made sure not to use all the hot water, because he couldn't stay in cold water for long or else his body was going to turn this hideous shade of red. He'd look like he had a blushing problem, or he'd look like a tomato.

Changbin brushed his teeth soon after, trying as much as possible not to stare at his face in the mirror. He remembered when him and his mother first moved here, and he'd begged his mother to have that mirror removed, but she never listened to him. Changbin figured it was one of her schemes to get him to like how he looked, but it hadn't worked yet.

Afterwards, Changbin dressed up (and he didn't forget to bring his shades this time), and headed to the living room with his backpack in hand.

As expected, his mother was already up, but she wasn't dressed for work yet. She grinned when she spotted him, and waved him over.

"You haven't left the house yet, so why are you wearing that mask?" She asked him.

Changbin just shrugged, and took it off, because he could see her point. And he wouldn't be able to eat his breakfast with a face mask on anyway.

As Changbin ate his breakfast, he leafed through his books to see if he completed all the homework he'd been given, and was satisfied with himself when he found out that he did.

"Bye mom," Changbin waved as he left the house, smiling to himself when she mirrored his statement before closing the door.

The negative thing about waking up early for school was that Changbin got to experience the air at its coldest moments. He didn't like it. The breeze caressed his hands, and Changbin immediately dug his hands into his pockets to fish out his cotton gloves.

He'd always disliked the colder seasons, simply because it really affected how he felt, and made his skin more coarse and therefore more painful to touch at times.

After putting on the gloves, he settled his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and started his daily stroll down the street. He was in no rush, simply because the public buses wouldn't be around for another thirty minutes.

Changbin heard the sound of boots crunching on dead leaves long before someone started walking with him.

"Hi neighbour!"

Changbin's hands fisted themselves within the material of his jeans, and his eyes were trained forward. "Hi."

He felt Felix's eyes on him, and he could literally hear the questions buzzing through his head. He knew Felix wondered why he was basically covering his whole face up, but he figured that he'd get the answer soon, when everyone started telling him to stay away from Changbin because he was a demon.

"Changbin, why are you wearing shades when it's like 6:30 AM?" Felix asked, his eyes tracing over Changbin's hidden face.

"Bad eyesight," Changbin stated. He rounded a corner, feeling slightly irritated when Felix followed behind him. He knew that they had to head in the same direction because they were going to the same school, but that didn't make him any more tolerant of Felix's presence.

"And you're wearing your mask again. Are you sick or something?"

"Maybe. I don't want to get you sick, so maybe you can like, stay away from me."

Felix shook his head, an easygoing smile taking over his face. "Nah. I don't get sick easily."

"Okay." Changbin wondered how much of what Felix said would be true if the Australian saw him without his mask on, and if he saw his horns. He bet Felix would get scared, and would immediately start avoiding him. Changbin wouldn't be surprised if that happened, so he wanted to be nothing more than strangers to Felix to avoid getting hurt over that in the future.

"We have some classes together, right?" Felix asked once more, staring at Changbin again.

"Yes."

"I saw you during Literature yesterday," Felix admitted.

Changbin watched him, surprised. Felix wasn't looking at Changbin this time, but was staring at the road he was walking on instead.

"I wanted to give you a piece of my mind when I'd spotted you, but I couldn't do so because of all the students. Our classmates are really curious, right? At least about me. I was always bombarded with different questions, and it was hard to keep up. Who knew being a new student would be this hard?"

Changbin shrugged, his pulse quickening when Felix watched him again. For a brief second, he thought that Felix would be able to see through his shades and see how his eyes really looked like. That thought made Changbin flicker his eyes away. He glanced at his wristwatch to pass the time, and heaved a sigh of relief when a public bus showed itself.

"You aren't going on the school bus?" Felix questioned, his eyebrows knitting in genuine confusion.

Changbin shook his head. He wanted to say something, but he decided against it at the last second. His voice would just sound muffled, and his voice sometimes sounded gruff because he didn't speak a lot.

Without any further delay, Changbin stepped into the public bus, and took his usual seat off to the side by the windows. He didn't see Felix again, so he guessed the taller had crossed the road to enter their school's official bus.

Changbin looked up when the door opened once more, and found it hard to contain his surprise when he saw Felix step inside the bus.

The Australian looked completely surpised at first when he entered, and his eyes scanned over the area as if they were looking for something. Felix started walking again when his eyes landed on Changbin's form.

"Hey," Felix smiled after he took the seat right next to Changbin. The bus obviously had other empty seats to seat on, but Felix had chosen the one that was as close to the half demon as possible.

"You--" Changbin cleared his throat, "aren't going on the school bus again?"

"I figured there would be too many students inside it. I don't really like crowded areas."

"Oh, okay." Changbin took off his shades and avoided looking Felix's way for the majority of the bus ride.

Felix talked the most throughout the ride. He asked Changbin way too many questions about this and that, and Changbin gave the shortest answers as possible to try and discourage the Australian from asking any more questions.

"Korean Literature sucks ass," Felix said as soon as the two males stepped out of the bus. "The teacher makes everything boring."

Changbin shrugged, even though he agreed with Felix. A lady with bouncy green hair walked in front of them with a bag hanging from her arms, and Changbin could see soft looking white cat ears coming from the woman's eye-catching hair.

Animal hybrids. They were another kind of hybrid, apart from angels and fairies, that also got praised because of their looks. Though, they tended to get highly sexualized more than anything, but others generally liked them.

Changbin noticed Felix staring at her, so he guessed he must've liked what he saw. "You like her?"

Felix quickly shook his head. "Her ears just look nice. Wish I had cat ears too. They look cute."

What about horns, then? Do they look cute too? Changbin thought. Probably not.

"And, I'm not straight. I mean, I am, kind of, because I'm bisexual," Felix rambled, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. He looked like he felt cold, even in the navy blue sweater that he was clad in.

Changbin bit his lower lip, and focused on everything and nothing at once. Gradually, the air around them got warmer, and Felix took out his hands from his pockets, sighing in content.

He looked peaceful with his small smile, and Changbin was glad Felix wasn't cold again.

Temperature warping was something Changbin could do, just to make his surroundings warmer so he wouldn't freeze. He didn't use it that much though, because it was hard for him to get the right temperature he needed without burning himself or causing harm to his surroundings.

He was glad he didn't hurt Felix or anyone in close proximity to them, and felt satisfied that Felix was able to feel better in some way, even if the Australian didn't know it was him who made the temperature warmer.

_______

As soon as they entered the school, a couple of their classmates hollered at Felix and waved at him to come over.

Any moment from now, Changbin knew they'd think Felix was weird for walking with him inside the school.

He snuck a peek at Felix's face, and saw how indecisive he looked. He didn't know how or why Felix would act like that, so he decided to take matters into his own hands before everything escalated.

"Go and hang out with them. I have to do something else anyway," Changbin said. The truth was, he didn't have anything to do. He just wanted his classmatses to stop watching him like he was committing a mortal sin or something.

Felix nodded, before joining the other students at the corner where they'd been huddled up together. Changbin watched him go, and realized that it was better this way.

Felix didn't need to talk to him anyway. He was going to make friends, and Changbin didn't want to stand in the way of that. He also didn't want any unnecessary attention on him before of his and Felix's sudden 'friendship'. That was the last thing he needed right now.

Classes came and went, and Changbin and Felix only got to talk a few times throughout the day. It wasn't much, but it was okay with Changbin. At least, that was what he convinced himself with.

If they talked more than they already did, it would spark even more attention than needed.

When lunch rolled around, Changbin headed to his familar spot at the back of the school, eager to escape everyone's stares for a while. He made sure no one was around before pulling down his mask to start eating.

He checked his phone for a couple of times too, before dropping it back into his backpack.

Changbin quickly finished his lunch, and covered his lips and nose once more with his mask.

"Changbin, are you there?"

Changbin almost choked on air, but before he could do anything, Felix appeared in his line of vision.

"Oh, hi," Felix smiled, completely disregarding Changbin's expression of shock.

"Hi." Changbin stared at the floor. "What are you doing here?"

"Why aren't you at the cafeteria?" Felix asked instead of answering Changbin's question.

Changbin shrugged. "It's too crowded."

"I think so too," Felix agreed.

Awkward silence ensued between the two males, and Felix eventually broke it.

"Can I seat here?" He asked, pointing to the spot beside Changbin.

Changbin couldn't believe his ears. Did Felix actually ask if he could seat next to him? It must've been a joke, the half demon reasoned. It must've been some kind of dare or something. His schoolmates dared people to do outrageous things at times, and he had fallen victim to their dares more often than not.

So if Felix was being dared, Changbin would be disappointed for sure, but he wouldn't be surprised.

"Yes, you can."

Felix sat next to Changbin after that, and their shoulders and arms brushed a couple of times. It made Changbin tense, yet comfortable, since Felix's arms felt warm. Really warm.

Changbin didn't utter a word when Felix took out what he'd bought from the cafeteria and started eating. He shook his head when Felix offered him a salad.

"But salads taste great."

"Yeah, but they're cold. I don't like cold food," Changbin blurted out without thinking. He panicked, and avoided looking into Felix's eyes.

Felix nodded in understanding. "Oh. I get where you're coming from, Changbin."

There was also the fact that Changbin didn't want to show his face to Felix, which would have been unavoidable if he accepted that salad. Why don't you just show your face to Felix, so you can speed up the inevitable? He asked himself. He'll leave you soon anyway.

The truth was that Changbin sort of liked Felix's company, and he liked that Felix went out of his way to hang out with him. No one had ever done that before, that it almost felt foreign to the half demon.

By refusing to show his face to Felix, he'd be able to make the taller stay by his side, at least for a while longer. He wouldn't be that alone anymore. It sounded selfish, but what could Changbin do?

Felix was watching Changbin again.

"What?" The half demon asked, not really liking how many times he'd caught Felix staring at him for the past few minutes. It reminded Changbin too much of the way people used to look at him when he didn't wear his mask or beanie.

"...Ten said you had something to hide under that mask you always wore," Felix answered. "Is that true? Do you have like, acne or something?"

Changbin's heart raced. "I don't have acne. I just don't like showing my face."

"Why? I bet you look very handsome."

Changbin's widened and he stumbled over his words. "I-I--you haven't even seen how I really look like."

"Then show me. Come on, I won't judge," Felix smiled, staring right at Changbin's face once again.

Changbin's heart thundered against his chest at how close Felix was to him, so he quickly brought himself to his feet and took a few steps away from Felix.

"I need to go somewhere. Alone. So don't follow me. Lunch is going to end soon too." He grabbed his backpack, leaving a puzzled and slightly hurt Felix behind.