It was around nighttime that the harsh reality began to dawn on Changbin. He was once again awake, seated on his bed in a fetus-like position. His bedspread was discarded--probably somewhere that Changbin didn't care too much about now--and his arms were hugging his knees.

They were shaking--why were they shaking?

Changbin tried to convince himself that maybe Seungmin and Woojin were wrong, that maybe they mistook his symptoms for something else. But everyone knew that elves were always correct in their predictions. They had the uncanny ability to read people, and Changbin hated that fact so much at that moment.

Changbin would break the news to his mother soon, but then what? She'd probably take him to the hospital, but the hospital didn't specialize in supernatural diseases. And he'd rather not go there for treatment, considering what people thought about him and his kind already.

He was going to die.

Changbin knew that now, alright. But the question was, when would he die?

Demon hybrids usually lived until their mid-thirties, or if they were lucky, late forties. It was probably because demons weren't meant to reproduce with creatures other than demons, and if that was the real reason, then why did Changbin's mother get with his father?

She'd told Changbin time and time again that she fell in love with his father, but he just couldn't believe it. How could someone fall in love with another person without taking into consideration their physical imperfections? It seemed almost impossible to Changbin, and sometimes, he'd wished his mother never had him.

He was going to die.

Woojin had also said something about how he'd start getting unwanted side effects. His eyes were already the start of it. They weren't as red as they were in the morning and afternoon, but they still shone.

Changbin was basically experiencing something that was similar to cancer, but it wasn't, since otherworldly creatures didn't have cancer. They didn't really have health problems in general, but here he was.

His eyes fell on the phone next to his school bag, and before knowing it he grabbed the device and dialled Felix's number.

Changbin knew it was dumb, and he couldn't just call Felix like that. It was late at night, and that was around the time everyone was asleep. The chances of Felix being awake were slim to none.

"Hey, it's Felix. If you hear this it probably means I'm sleeping or eating, either one. You can always try again, or leave a message!"

He sighed. The call had went to voicemail, but what did he expect? Just like voicemail Felix had instructed, he dialled the number again.

Voicemail. Again.

He couldn't even hear Felix's phone in his room, even if he wanted to. His ability to hear even the slightest of sounds had always been something he actually liked about himself, but now he couldn't even use it.

Okay, one last time. Changbin tried calling Felix again (since he didn't want to leave a message), and his heart jumped when the call went through.

"Uh...hello?" Felix's voice took over the other line, and Changbin felt like he was smiling. The Australian's voice sounded gruff and deeper than usual. He also sounded tired, which he should've been, considering the fact that Changbin had woke him up from his sleep. "Changbin?"

"...Hey. I'm sorry for waking you up. Really sorry," Changbin apologized.

"Nah, it's okay," Felix replied. Changbin could hear some shuffling on the other line, which meant that Felix was probably sitting up. "What's up? Are you okay?"

I'm not. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Felix asked, his tone holding a teasing lilt to it. "I want you to be really fine."

"I am," Changbin nodded, before realizing that Felix couldn't see him.

"That's good," Felix chuckled, "so what do you wanna talk about?"

Changbin blinked, his mind blank. Now that Felix had said it, what were they going to talk about? The half demon felt incredibly stupid for not thinking over what he'd actually called Felix for. "Uh..."

Felix laughed, and Changbin's heart did that little jump again. "So you called me...but you don't have any reason why?"

"Mhm," Changbin replied without thinking. He quickly added, "Okay...the truth is, I'm not feeling too great right now, and I can't sleep. Can you...talk or sing for me? You don't have to, if you don't want to."

"I don't mind," Felix uttered, surprising Changbin.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean--I don't mind singing for you. I'm not the best singer, but I know I won't make your ears bleed."

Changbin couldn't stop the laugh that escaped from his lips after Felix's words. "Okay."

"Okay," Felix chuckled, before clearing his throat. "Stay by my side, stay with me. Don’t let go of my hand you hold. If you take one step away, I can just take one step closer."

The song in itself was slow, and kind of sad, but it made Changbin feel calm and okay. True, Felix wasn't the best singer in the world, but his voice held emotions, and it was soothing to hear. Changbin loved his voice.

"Thousands of times a day, my thoughts come back to you. All the cruel words you said to me. That icy look, those cold expressions. You were such a pretty person. You were such a pretty person. Please don’t do this to me. You know me well."

Changbin's heart hurt at the lyrics, but he couldn't tell Felix to stop them. No, not when Changbin was too transfixed with the song and meaning. He liked it more than he expected, and during that moment, he felt the closest to Felix than he'd ever felt these past few weeks.

"Just hug me, please hug me. Just run to me without a word. With a lonely and anxious heart, like this I wait for you. I love you, I love you, I’ll shout out from this long silence. My foolish and weak heart," Felix finished, and then silence dawned upon the two males. "Changbin...are you awake?"

"I am..." Changbin whispered. His heartbeat was ringing in both his ears, like an alarm that had no intention of stopping. His heart was being like this due to the song that Felix sang, Changbin convinced himself, and not because of the fact that Felix sang it.

"How was the song?"

"It was...sad."

Felix laughed. "I'm sorry for that. I really like emotional songs. This one in particular."

"Why?"

"...Because it relates."

"To who?" Changbin asked, his eyes drifting over to his window. He wondered if Felix would be at his own window if he decided to walk over to it.

"To me...and you."

Changbin's eyes widened. "What?"

"Like, I want you to hug me, because, you know, you're feeling sad and I want to comfort you."

That didn't stop Changbin's heart from beating excessively though. And because of the current situation he was in, that made him really worried. "Comfort me?"

Felix paused, before saying, "Come to your window."

Changbin stood up, before grabbing his mask and beanie, and started walking until he got to the opening of his window. Felix was already there, his phone in his hand. Felix's face brightened up as soon as he saw Changbin, and he looked adorable, despite his slightly disheveled hair and clothes.

Felix proceeded to place his phone next to his right ear. "Can you come downstairs?"

"...Okay," Changbin replied, and Felix shut his curtains and disappeared. Changbin placed his phone on his bed, and grabbed one hoodie he spotted on his closet. He pulled it over his head and arms, and trudged over to the door, careful to make as least noise as possible.

Stepping out and closing his door, he saw Felix in front of the porch, his hands inside the pockets of his sweatpants.

"Felix?"

Felix turned around and smiled. He quickly stepped closer to Changbin and softly nudged the shorter's arm with his elbow. "You actually came."

"Of course I would," Changbin answered.

Felix was full-on grinning now. "Your eyes are still glowing. I like it."

Changbin's smile faltered slightly, and he tried to find a way to change the topic. "Uhm, why did you want us to meet now?"

"Well," Felix's eyes drifted everywhere, except at Changbin, "I just wanted to do something."

"Do what?"

Felix closed the last remaining space between them, his arms engulfing Changbin in a tight hug. "I wanted to hug you." His hand inched upwards to gently caress Changbin's arms. "Hope you don't mind."

Changbin shook his head. He was highly confused, yet he didn't want Felix to stop what he was doing. Everything felt nice, and why would Changbin not want something that made him feel nice?

But still, seeds of doubt were planted in Changbin's mind, until they grew and became anchored within him. Before he could stop himself, he muttered, "Why are you doing this?"

Felix was still holding Changbin's arms. "Doing what? Hugging you?"

"Y-Yeah, and the other things that you do too. I just want to know why you're being like this, because it highly confuses me at times."

Felix pulled back, and lowered his head until he and Changbin looked each other in the eye. He placed his palms on Changbin's shoulders and sighed. "I...uh, is this the time when I say that I like you?"

"I like you too," Changbin muttered, but Felix shook his head.

"Not 'like', as in a friend kind of way. I like you more than that. Way more than that."

Changbin's mind started racing, but Felix wasn't done.

"I kind of confessed to you using that song earlier, but you didn't get it, so, I'm telling you now."

"But--"

"Don't try to invalidate my feelings using the fact that I haven't seen all of your face. That didn't stop me from falling in like with you, and that still wouldn't stop me now. I just..." Felix cupped Changbin's face with his hand, before using the other to part his hair a little to the side. Looking Changbin straight in the eyes, he asked, "Can I?"

Butterflies multiplied within Changbin's stomach when he shakily nodded. He didn't even know what he was doing, and didn't know what was happening. His heart was beating too fast, too erratically, and his hands shook as Felix gently pried off Changbin's mask off his face. He almost wanted to stop Felix, but he was too stunned to move.

He stared straight at Felix, intently observing his expression when he finally took off the mask. Changbin felt like like curling into himself when the taller's eyes ran over the contours of his face without a word.

He should've never let Felix take off that mask from his face. He should've said no to avoid this situation entirely. He should've--

"Shit, you're cute."

Changbin definitely did not expect Felix to say that. He turned his face away, feelimg strange with the way his lips freely moved. "I'm not."

"Wait--" Felix grabbed one of his hands, "don't go. You don't need to look away from me, and you don't look like a monster in my eyes. You just look adorable."

"I'm not adorable," Changbin denied, looking up at Felix. His cheeks became red, and it wasn't due to the cold this time.

"You are. And--I've been meaning to do this for as long as I can remember," Felix whispered, holding Changbin's head in place. He stepped closer, and closed in the space between his and Changbin's lips.

Changbin was shocked beyond compare, because here he was, kissing the boy he'd started having feelings for, thinking that they'd never get reciprocated. Felix was actually kissing him, his hands desperately tugging at Changbin's hoodie to make them as close as possible.

Everything looked like a dream, but it felt too real to Changbin for him to consider it so. He could feel Felix's warm breath ghosting over the side of his lips, could feel Felix's hands running over the fabric of his hoodie in beautiful, unique patterns. Felix was close enough for Changbin to count all his freckles, and they each reminded him of chocolate chip cookies, and he liked chocolate chip cookies.

Felix was also grinning now, trailing his fingers down Changbin's arms until they arrived at the shorter's palms. "Can I...kiss you again?"

"I..." Felix was staring so intently at him, and his hands were roaming over Changbin's waist now. Changbn felt great, but also extremely overwhelmed. "I don't want my canines to bother you..."

Felix laughed, before shaking his head. "They didn't bother me. They just make you look like a sexy vampire."

Changbin's ears felt like they were on flames. "V-Vampires are different from demons."

"I know," Felix chuckled, before focusing his gaze on Changbin's hair. "Can I see your horns?"

Changbin almost shook his head, but then he realized he didn't have to hide anything anymore. Felix had already seen his face, and he didn't act as horribly as Changbin had expected. "O...kay."

He pulled off his beanie, and Felix's eyes immediately landed on his horns. Changbin felt really self-concious, and he wanted to run away.

"They l-look weird, right? That's why I usually hide them."

"Sure, I've never seen another demon apart from you, but I have no problems with your little horns. I find them endearing in a way," Felix stated.

Felix's reaction to his bare face and horns had exceeded Changbin's expectations. The Australian had never said anything bad about them, and he'd still kissed Changbin like it was nothing even though his canines must've been in the way. Changbin had never received any kind of positive response from anyone apart from his mother when he showed his face before, but now that Felix had done so, it made the demon hybrid strangely emotional.

He abruptly brought Felix closer to him in a hug, startling the taller male. "Thank you, Felix, for still being with me even if you saw my face."

Tears trailed down the eyes of Changbin, and he was pretty sure he was wetting Felix's shirt by now. But the blond didn't look bothered by it.

"Why wouldn't I want to be with you? I want to stay with you for a long time."

"But...what if I don't last long? I...I can just disappear in the blink of an eye."

Felix rested his head on Changbin's shoulder. "I'd rather that not happening. I wouldn't want you to die or anything. Why did you ask?"

Silence.

"...I was just curious."