Athena flips one of the light switches as they enter the kitchen and heads to the cupboard to grab two mugs for the pair. Felix seats himself on a stool at the island, resting his head in his hands.

"Does this happen often?"

Athena shrugs and fills the kettle with water. Hopefully this won't wake the others. "Depends on the events of the day, what I'm feeling."

Felix hums. "You know what I do to go back to sleep?"

"Count the stars?" Athena says with a smirk, turning to face the boy.

"No, and I thought it was count sheep?" Felix replies, eyebrows scrunched together. "Anyways, I play games."

"Games?"

"Games."

Athena lets out a breath of disbelief and grins. "What games do you play?"

As Athena says this, she leans against the other side of the island absentmindedly, landing her directly in front of Felix. The boy feels a surge of confidence and leans forward as well, the gap shrinking between the two until Felix is right in front of Athena. Even in the low light, Athena is glowing, her caramel skin glistening as if the sun were shining on her. He watches as her cheeks start to dust pink and she tugs lightly on a strand of her hair.

"Depends on the events of the day, what I'm feeling."

The kettle makes a short, clicking noise, sounding that it's done and Athena slowly pushes herself away from Felix, letting out an awkward laugh. She turns once again and holds her cheeks lightly. What is wrong with me? In that moment, Athena felt like she never wanted to pull away. She liked his gaze on her, though it made her heat up to feverish levels. She wanted to stay like that, just for a few seconds more - the two together as though nobody else was there - but her head told her no and she was ever grateful for the kettle, that made a decision she was scared she may never be able to make.

"So, I'm assuming you don't whip out a board and start playing Scrabble alone at night, right?" Athena finally says after calming down.

"Scrabble is not my go to but some nights, when the time is right, I do indulge in the game of mixing and matching words."

Athena giggles as she pours the water into their mugs and adds three tablespoons of hot chocolate powder to each cup. Recently, the two had started to converse in English more. Felix tried to speak in Korean most of the time, to better himself really, but the times when the two were relaxing, he couldn't help but feel more comfortable slipping into his mother tongue. Athena didn't mind at all, popping in English words as much as Felix did. She hadn't spoken the language this much in a while and it was almost refreshing to do it with Felix. Something about it made her heart flutter. It wasn't like she couldn't have spoken English with Chan, Seungmin, or even Jisung (as the three were the most knowledgeable in the language), it was just, with Felix, it felt special, something just for the two of them.  Once the drinks have been stirred to perfection, Athena brings them to the island and takes a seat right beside Felix.

"So, what do you play?" Athena asks again.

"Twenty-one questions," Felix says.

"Twenty-one questions?"

Felix chuckles softly. "Are you going to keep repeating everything I say?"

"Sorry." 

Athena smiles cheekily and raised her hand in defense. Felix smiles back, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. As he does, the temperature of the drink is long forgotten and Felix hisses slightly before quickly placing the mug back on the counter. Athena shakes her head in false disappointment before lightly lifting his cup up and blowing cool air into it. Now it's Felix's turn to flush. It was a small gesture, one his mom had done countless times when he was little, but as Athena lightly let out wisps of wind, Felix felt like the action was so much deeper. It was oddly intimate in a way the boy couldn't explain. All he knew was that both his tongue and cheeks were on fire.

"Here you go."

Felix gives her a soft thanks and takes a sip again, this time with more care.

"Is it good?" Athena asks, held tilted curiously.

"Of course, though I do like hot chocolate better with milk."

"No way! Milk hot chocolate doesn't give you that homey, rustic, feeling you know?" Athena exclaims.

"Okay true. But, milk makes it creamier," explains Felix. "That's much better tasting than the wateriness of water."

The girl giggles for the nth time this night and nods her head slowly. "Alright, I guess you've got me there."

Felix pumps his fist in the air like he's won a battle and Athena just smiles.

"Since I've won this debate, let's play the game."

"The game?"

Felix rolls his eyes. "How is your attention span so small?"

"I don't listen to boring people. That wastes my energy."

The boy gasps, placing a hand across his heart with eyes opened wide. 

"The audacity! I am not boring."

"Whatever you say, no jams man," Athena shrugs as she speaks, eyes closed with no regard to Felix's dramatic performance.

The boy, not letting up on his stage, leans back in his chair,as if to fall to his death. This causes Athena to silently squeal, scared he really was going to fall.

"I kid, I kid!" Athena utters through bits of laughter. "I promise, Lee Felix is not a boring person."

"Good," Felix says with a pout. "Now, let's play."

~~~

a/n

hey guys, i'm back!!

first semester of uni was wild online but ya girl passed! let's hope I can have the same motivation for second semester lol.

just some quick notes to make. as you can see, when the characters speak english it will now be in bold. i tried to make them speaking english similar to how i've heard many idols who are multilingual speak with different languages, with the switching and random bits of one language between another. i  know it's kinda weird so if y'all don't like it or are someone who speaks multiple languages and doesn't speak like that at all then let me know! i'm always open for  criticism that can help me better my writing.

also, they probably won't be speaking it often, maybe in more serious conversations and just small sentences. i just figured it would make more sense that felix doesn't completely stop speaking english (lol i only noticed that now)

finally, thank you guys for all the reads and comments and votes!! i can't believe this story has 2.4k views!! it's my baby and i'm so glad you guys love it just as much as I love writing it!

until next time my lovelies!!

and happy new year!! i wish you all the best for this year!

~tallproud