Changbin avoided Felix for the rest of the day. It wasn't that hard to do so, since the rest of their classmates played their part in having Felix to themselves, which gave both males very limited time to actually talk to one another.

Changbin convinced himself that he was okay with that.

With Felix out of the way in most classes, Changbin could concentrate on more important things, like his school work or trying to sleep without the teachers catching him.

He always felt extremely tired during the afternoon periods, but he felt better at late at night and early in the morning. It was weird, considering how cold it could get at night, but that was how it always had been.

As soon as his classes ended for the day, Changbin sat up from his seat and once again waited for everyone to leave the classroom before he exited himself. Due to his short height, he sort of got pushed around a lot, and some of his classmates could be quite mean whenever he bumped into them.

As soon as he packed up his bag, he left the empty classroom, and wondered what he was going to do before he headed back home. His mother would still be at work, so he'd be all alone at home, and he didn't like that.

"Changbin."

Changbin froze in his footsteps, before turning around to see Felix leaning on one of the colourful pillars that decorated their school, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were cold and serious, and he wasn't smiling.

"Hey," Changbin greeted, feeling a bit nervous with Felix's intense stare.

Felix walked up to him, which the half demon didn't expect at all. He instantly looked away, not intending to maintain eye contact with Felix. If the Australian looked at him long enough, he'd see his strange reddish eyes, and Changbin wasn't ready for that yet.

"We didn't talk a lot today," Felix continued.

"Yeah, we didn't." Changbin adjusted his beanie just to make sure that his horns weren't noticeable, and scanned the area to see if any students were around. There weren't.

"Because you ignored me," Felix answered, his cool demeanor breaking immediately. If Changbin didn't know better, he would've thought Felix looked offended at that moment.

Changbin shook his head, even though he knew he was lying. "...I didn't ignore you, Felix."

Felix didn't look like he believed Changbin, but he nodded anyway.

"What are you doing by the pillars?" Changbin asked after a few seconds of silence. "Do you have extra classes or something?"

"No. I was waiting for my neighbour," Felix said with a smile. He laughed when Changbin's eyes widened, and he walked even closer, which made the half demon take a step back.

Felix didn't seem to know, or care, about personal space. Changbin had figured that out during the past three days he'd spent with Felix. The taller was always around him, being as close as possible, to Changbin's shock and confusion. Felix was a clingy human, but he didn't know why the Australian had chosen to latch on to him, of all people.

"Are you doing anything before you go home?" Felix asked, breaking the silence that had formed between them due to Changbin's overthinking.

"Uh--yes," Changbin stuttered, and Felix raised an eyebrow. "I have homework to do."

"Really? We didn't get any homework today though," Felix countered. His expression darkened, and he looked kind of disappointed.

"Oh. I must've forgot." Changbin bit his lip, because Felix's face became unreadable. Changbin looked around the vincinity once more, before adding, "I really need to go home now. See you later."

"Sure." Felix didn't say anything else, and Changbin took that as his cue to leave.

He had a feeling Felix wasn't happy with how he'd acted, but Changbin couldn't help it. It was better Felix got angry at him now, than get angry at him later. Changbin would save himself from hurting even more if he cut ties with Felix earlier, since he knew Felix would eventually stop being friends with him.

It was only a matter of time.

_______

As Changbin had previously predicted, his mother was not home when he entered.

He sighed, taking off his mask while he looked for something to eat in the fridge. Not finding anything that he was particularly interested in, he climbed up the steps to his room and placed his bag next to his bed.

Then Changbin found himself walking towards the window. He pushed it up, and stared at the other window opposite his. The curtain was pulled down, obstructing the half demon's view, which meant that Felix wasn't home yet.

Changbin knew Felix always opened that window whenever he was inside his room, and he knew the human was a full night owl with how late he stayed up.

He wondered what Felix was doing now.

If Felix was around, he would've seen Changbin without his mask on, and the half demon hoped that the Australian wouldn't show up unexpectedly. After a while of nothing happening, Changbin went back inside his room and sprawled himself on his bed.

What did he expect? He was the one who pushed Felix away, so why was he expecting Felix to come and hang out with him? The Australian was probably out in town, spending time with people who didn't make fake excuses because they didn't want to spend time with him.

"Whatever," Changbin mumbled. He adjusted himself on his bed and tried to sleep, but he couldn't. He was restless. His mother hadn't even shown up yet, since she was going to be home later today.

So Changbin spent the time surfing the net, and it did distract him for a while. Eventually, he got bored of it, and shut his laptop.

What should he do?

When evening came around, Changbin jumped off his bed and walked into the kitchen. He poured water into a plastic cup, and headed back into his room.

He was going to practice temperature warping again. The goal was for him to raise the temperature of the water without melting the plastic cup. It was going to be hard, but Changbin wanted to be better at it.

(And he also wanted to occupy himself with it so he wouldn't think about when Felix was going to come back to his house.)

Setting the cup on the table, he sat in front of it and comcentrated on the cool water inside the cup. Changbin usually didn't try out the powers he had been given because he didn't want to embrace the demon side of him, but today he was really bored, and boredom made him do things that he didn't think he was capable of doing.

The water started bubbling due to the warmth suddenly emitted because of Changbin staring directly at it. Steam started rising, and Changbin smiled, but then the bottom half of the cup started shrivelling up, which the half demon didn't like at all.

Don't melt, Changbin commanded inside his mind, and the water started bubbling even more now. The cup was held in place for a few more moments, which was honestly longer than Changbin had expected.

Something soft hit the back of his head, and the half demon immediately turned around to see what it was.

It was a white paper, folded neatly into an airplane.

Changbin narrowed his eyes in confusion, and the plastic cup completely melted because he wasn't paying attention to it. Scorching hot water dripped on his knees, and Changbin winced only a bit.

Forgetting about the cup, he bent down to pick up the paper airplane and open it up.

Hi neighbour :)

If you want, you can meet me downstairs in front of your house. I want to talk to you.

Felix.

Changbin looked through his window, and spotted Felix in front of his house with a comfy looking hoodie and sweatpants on.

Changbin decided to dress in a hoodie too, and he didn't forget to put on one of his beanies and masks.

In a minute, he was out of his house, and it didn't take long for Felix to spot him.

"Hi," Felix waved.

"Hey, Felix." Changbin could look at Felix more than usual now because his eyes looked almost totally black at night.

"You're wearing that mask again," Felix stated, looking amused. "I'm starting to think you don't want me to see your face or something."

You aren't wrong. "I just...I'm not comfortable with showing people my face," Changbin explained, digging his hands into his pockets. "Well...what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Let's take a walk," Felix replied instead, avoiding Changbin's question.

The half demon nodded, wondering how long he and Felix were going to stay outside. The night breeze felt cold, and Changbin could only be tolerant of that for a limited number of time before he'd get affected.

When a few minutes passed and Felix still didn't say anything, Changbin broke the silence.

"What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh, I almost forgot," Felix shot Changbin a sheepish smile. He pointed to Changbin's eyes. "I like your eyes. They're deep and want me to keep looking, like watching the moon shine on a dark pond or something."

Changbin didn't know how to respond to that. No one had ever said that about his eyes before. "T-Thanks...?"

Felix gave him a thumbs up in response.

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?" Changbin asked, slightly shivering. He'd raised the temperature a couple of times, but it wasn't enough to stop him from feeling cold. Changbin should not feel cold, ever.

Why was Changbin walking with Felix at night, anyway? He could've just made an excuse as to why he couldn't go out at night. They could've talked from their windows like they always did.

Instead of answering Changbin's question, Felix hooked his arm with Changbin, shocking the shorter male. "You feel cold, don't you? I'm sorry for dragging you out tonight then. You should've told me something."

"I-It's okay," Changbin reassured Felix, but the Australian wasn't having it.

"Let's go back to your house. I can come in, right? Are your parents home? They wouldn't mind me over, right? I just want to make you something warm to drink. You like hot chocolate, right? That's about the only thing I can make, sorry."

Changbin couldn't keep up with Felix's rambling, so he just nodded along, letting the Australian drag him back to his house.

_______

Changbin sat on the couch in the living room while Felix was in the kitchen, making the hot chocolate. He was dreading his decision, because he knew he'd have to pull down his mask to drink the hot chocolate.

Why didn't he think of that?

It wasn't like Changbin's face looked that bad, but he was so used to hiding it all these years, that he wasn't ready to show anyone his full face. He didn't know how Felix would react.

The human would most likely be freaked out, because that was most people's reaction when they saw him barefaced. Changbin didn't want Felix to think badly of him, or ignore him after tonight.

Maybe he should send Felix out of his house, so say that his mother didn't like visitors. He'd be lying, but he didn't want to reveal his face.

"I'm done," Felix spoke up from the kitchen, before seating right next to Changbin, like he always did. He placed the mug on the table in front of them, and smiled at Changbin. "It took me a few tries but, I think you'll like this one."

"Thanks..." Changbin mumbled. He could tell Felix was expecting him to take the mug and take a sip, and that made him more anxious as the seconds ticked by.

"...You don't want to drink it?" Felix asked, the smile on his face disappearing.

"Of course I do. But--could you like, turn your face away? I don't mean to be rude, I just...don't want you to see my face..."

Gosh, Changbin sounded really pathetic, and he could literally read Felix's thoughts right about now. The taller was confused, no doubt about it, and after a few tense filled seconds, he nodded.

"Okay." He turned around, making sure that he wasn't facing Changbin. "But you don't need to hide your face from me. I swear I won't judge you. And I bet you aren't unattractive, Changbin."

The half demon nodded, before pushing down his mask to take the hot chocolate. He loved the taste, and he loved how it felt on his tongue. He finished everything in a couple of seconds, and thanked Felix.

"You're welcome. Your voice sounds clearer. I like it. Can I turn around now?"

Changbin pushed up his mask. "Yeah. You can now."

Felix did as he was told, and stared at the empty mug. "Wow, you finished everything. Was it that great?"

Changbin nodded, and a grin spread across Felix's face. It made the half demon feel strangely content, and he concluded that he liked Felix's smile.

Felix had a nice smile.

"Are your parents home?" Felix asked Changbin a few seconds in.

"Parent. Mom's not home, but I think she'll be here soon."

"Oh, okay." Felix took the mug to the kitchen and came back, leaping on the couch which startled Changbin. He giggled, leaning sideways on the couch to stare at Changbin.

Changbin discovered that second that it wasn't only the cold that made his face and ears turn red, it was Felix's stare.

"You're really shy, you know?" Felix pointed out, inching closer to Changbin. "Why is that? Are you afraid of people or something? Are you afraid of me?"

Changbin stared at the TV that wasn't even on. "I'm not afraid of anyone."

"Then why don't you want to show me how you look like?" Felix asked, poking Changbin's side. "I won't laugh, and I won't hate on you because of your appearance." He batted his eyelashes. "Please?"

Changbin stared at Felix. "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, actually...I was wondering if you were human. It's totally fine if you're a hybrid. It's just some guys in math were talking bad about you and I told them to stop, but they told me I'd hate you once I saw how you really looked like," Felix trailed off, staring at his hands. "I won't hate you, Changbin."

Changbin stared at the table in front of him, his previous good mood dampening. He knew his classmates would say something like that, and it would be only a matter of time before they told Felix that he was a demon. Changbin wasn't looking forward to it.

Changbin was used to their taunting, so he was numb to them and didn't display his emotions that easily. But at that moment, he felt like crying.

"You keep on saying that you won't hate me or judge me if you see how I look like, but how are you so sure?" Changbin questioned. Before Felix could reply, he continued speaking. "I--I like you, Felix. I like your company. You're really nice to me, which no one, except for my mother, has been to me. I don't want that to change. Yes, I'm a hybrid, and trust me, you're better off not seeing my face."

Felix didn't say anything, and Changbin glanced at him.

"I'm sorry for saying that..."

Felix shook his head. "It's fine. I'm sorry you think so lowly of yourself. No one deserves to think that way about themselves." His shoulder was touching Changbin's own now, and the half demon felt warm. Once again, Changbin liked the feeling. Felix was always warm, and Changbin told himself that was the only reason why he was so drawn to the Australian. "But I'd like you to know that I'll always be your friend. I want to be your friend. You seem really cool and interesting, and I just like being around you."

Changbin stared at his hands. His fingernails didn't look as prominent as the ones on full demons, but they still looked weird when someone stared at them for long enough. "Thanks."

Felix appeared in his line of sight, smiling at Changbin. Then, his smile slowly disappeared, and in its place was an unreadable expression. Changbin couldn't gauge what Felix was thinking.

Someone knocked on the door, and Felix moved away, which confused Changbin greatly.

The half demon stood up, and walked towards the door. "It's probably mom," Changbin told Felix, and the Australian just nodded.

As Changbin had predicted, his mother showed up behind the door.

"Welcome back, mom," Changbin told her.

She smiled, looking slightly confused that Changbin was still covering his face up. Realization flashed through her once her eyes fell on Felix.

"Hi, Mrs. Seo," Felix greeted, and Changbin's mother looked taken aback. It was very understandable though, because Changbin rarely had friends over. He never had friends over. "I'm Lee Felix. It's very nice to meet you."

"Same to you, Felix," Changbin's mother replied, a soft smile taking over her face at Felix's presence. "Are you sleeping over?"

"Uh, no--" Felix glanced at Changbin before continuing, "--I actually live next door. I just wanted to hang out with Changbin for a bit."

"That's good," she replied. "You're always welcome here."

Felix nodded and walked next to Changbin. "Thank you, Mrs. Seo. I actually have to go now, since my parents would be expecting me by now. So I'll see you all later, then."

"Sure," Changbin's mother replied, while Changbin himself shrugged.

Felix softly squeezed Changbin's shoulder and looked at him. "See you tomorrow, yeah?"

Changbin smiled, although it wasn't visible. "Yeah, see you."

Felix waved at them before leaving the house.

"Are you friends?" Changbin's mother asked a few seconds later.

Were he and Felix friends?

"I guess so. He came a few days ago and we hang out sometimes." That was all Changbin was planning on saying though. He didn't want to say anything else, for fear that something bad was going to happen to change that.