When It's Up to Us to Save the World - sun_rae (2024)

Chapter 1: This is JYP Industries

Chapter Text

The drive from the Incheon Airport to Seoul had taken a good three hours. Agent Go didn’t check his watch before getting out of the van, but he guessed it was past midnight. He sighed as the van turned into a narrow alley and puttered to a stop. He unbuckled his seatbelt and followed a few other agents to the back of the van to unload their cargo.

One of the other agents popped the trunk and grabbed one end of the stretcher and someone else steadied the other end. Agent Go tried not to look at the body bound to the stretcher by thick straps as he reached up to close the trunk of the van.

Agent Go walked alongside the stretcher as the agents made their way out of the alley and headed toward a building all of them were much too familiar with. JYP Industries and Tech. Agent Go shuddered as he passed under the logo on the front wall of the building and held the door for his fellow agents.

Once inside, Agent Go could finally breathe normally. Sure, he wasn’t fond of this place, but it’s always reassuring to know he’s completed a mission. He gave a little sarcastic salute to the receptionist, who rolled her eyes at him before gluing her eyes back to her computer screen. As the agents crossed the lobby to the elevator, Agent Go took a quick look at the stretcher and felt his heart plummet in his chest.

The person couldn’t be much older than sixteen, maybe seventeen, with a little bit of baby fat still noticeable in his cheeks. With tons of freckles and a small nose, he looked so peaceful, pure, lying there that for once, Agent Go wished his life wasn’t on the line when carrying out his missions. He’d give anything to unstrap the boy and get him as far away from here as possible.

Agent Go shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts as the doors of the elevator opened. He allowed the agents who were carrying the stretcher to enter first before stepping inside. He waited for the doors to close completely before flipping the panel of buttons up to reveal a concealed panel with one button. Agent Go reached forward to press it and waited with his hands clasped in front of him as the elevator carried him and the other agents to the secured underground portion of the facility. Agent Go wouldn’t let himself look at the stretcher.

Agent Go lead the others out of the elevator and through the steel-lined halls of the facility to the largest room, the one where he’d always been instructed to drop off his cargo. At the double doors, he stopped and pulled off one glove and pressed a finger to the touchpad on the wall. It blinked green after a moment and the doors opened, revealing a circular room with lots of lab equipment and rickety hospital beds.

Agent Go steeled himself before stepping over the threshold. He avoided eye contact with all the workers, keeping his gaze forward. The other agents followed suit with the stretcher.

“Would you look at that?” a voice boomed from above. Agent Go stopped at the voice and heard the skip of footsteps coming to a halt as the other agents nearly tripped to keep from bumping into him. It took all his fear and unease to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

Instead, Agent Go looked up to the balcony, if you could even call the flimsy staircase that, to the man in charge. His Boss wore a grin like it was the most expensive thing he owned and gingerly put his hand on the railing as he made his way leisurely down the stairs.

“You’re back in a timely manner, I see,” the Boss said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. His gaze pierced right through Agent Go’s eyes. Agent Go gulped as his Boss came closer. He stopped right in front of Agent Go, and even though they’re about the same height, Agent Go still felt like he was being looked down at.

“This one wasn’t hard to track, sir,” Agent Go said, choosing his words carefully. “Only took a few days, plus clean-up.”

“May I have a look?” Agent Go stepped aside at his Boss’s request. The Boss took a few steps closer to the stretcher, eyes gleaming as he looked the boy over. Agent Go could feel his lip trying to curl in disgust as his Boss’s hand trailed over the boy’s body. Now is not the time for your sibling reflexes to start acting up, he scolded himself.

“It’s in great shape,” the Boss finally said, looking at Agent Go before turning back to the boy. “It’s beautiful, too. You don’t see that very often.” The Boss let out a chuckle at his comment and turned away from the stretcher. “Let’s begin the tests right away. You know what to do.” The Boss walked away as Agent Go nodded, motioning to the other agents to bring the stretcher to an unoccupied bed.

Agent Go tried to swallow the bile in his throat as he watched the agents undo the straps binding the boy to the stretcher, only to reattach and tighten them as soon as the boy was secure on the bed. As the agents scurried away with the stretcher, Agent Go knelt down and sifted through the drawers of the table next to the bed, pulling out a bracelet no more than a centimeter thick. He unclipped the bracelet and moved to secure it on the boy’s right wrist.

The boy stirred in his sleep, shifting under the bindings, and Agent Go jumped back so quickly he almost fell over. Looking around to make sure no one saw, he crept back to the edge of the bed, and carefully wrapped the bracelet around the boy’s wrist. He clicked it closed tapped a button to activate it.

The bracelet molded to the boy’s wrist and started scanning his body, mostly vitals and other information the workers could use. Once the initial scan was complete, the bracelet sent an electric current running up the boy’s arm, aiming for the brain. The boy’s eyes shot open and he started screaming, the shook of the electricity too much for him to contain.

Agent Go stepped away from the bed as workers rushed to the boy, trying to silence his screams. Agent Go looked up to the balcony as he tried to ignore the strangled sound of the boy’s voice. Sure enough, the Boss was up there, hands gripping the railing as he leaned over to observe. He looked almost amused as the workers tried to get the boy to stop screaming. Agent Go almost threw up in his mouth.

The scariest part of it all was that this was normal. These lab workers had been here as long as Agent Go, some even longer, and yet none of them seemed to acknowledge that their work, the work put upon them by the Boss, was devoid of humane treatment. When Agent Go had been new, he’d voiced his concerns to the Boss, who’d reassured him that humane treatment wasn’t necessary simply because the subjects they worked with were far from human.

“They’re a danger to humans, every single one of them,” the Boss had said, gesturing to the cryo-frozen subjects in giant tanks lining the walls of the laboratory. “That’s what makes them not human.” He’d clapped a hand on Agent Go’s shoulder and squeezed, steering him away from a guy – no, a boy – with dark curly hair. Leaning close to Agent Go’s ear, the Boss had said, “We use such measures to protect ourselves from them, so that one day, perhaps they will be able to help us.”

Normally, Agent Go wouldn’t leave without his Boss’s permission. But today felt like a different day. He ducked out of the laboratory and walked briskly to the elevator. Pressing the buttons, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, not without seeing the look on the boy’s face when he realized he was being electrocuted.

When the doors closed, Agent Go leaned against the back wall of the elevator and looked at the ceiling, willing the tears away from his eyes. From the gleam in his Boss’s eye, he knew the Boss was going to turn that boy into a pawn and send him across the chessboard so he could turn into a queen. Agent Go clutched at his hair as he realized he’d just dropped a powerful piece into the Boss’s hands.

I’m so, so sorry, Agent Go thought. For everything that’s going to happen to you.

Two Years Later

I need a better hiding spot.

Felix only knows this because just a second ago he almost got hit in the arm by a stun laser. Clearly, the large receptacle bin isn’t giving him much cover. Especially from above. From his squatting position, Felix tries to reconfigure his staff into a rifle.

“f*ck, I thought they upgraded this thing already,” he mutters. Felix throws a glance over his shoulder as he fiddles with the controls of the staff. He’s got three bullets for the staff if only he could make it work.

Tzing! The stun laser whirs past his ear this time. Felix groans and gives up on the staff, reaching for his shield. Once he’s got the shield strapped on tightly to his arm, he stands up out of his squat and turns. The clash of metal on metal is deafening for anyone in the vicinity, even Felix winces at the sound.

Felix looks up over his shield and grins when he meets his opponent’s eyes. “’Sup, dude,” Felix says, and lashes out with his staff. He throws the shield to the ground as he advances on his opponent. One hit, two hits, three hits, all blocked, and Felix grits his teeth. He lashes out one last time and when his opponent parries his hit, he twists his staff up and around, prying his opponent’s weapon out of his hands.

“Gotchu,” Felix says, holding the tip of his staff to his opponent’s neck. Hyunjin just grins.

“Perhaps,” he concedes and raises an eyebrow. Hyunjin tilts his head forward and Felix barely has time to turn his head before a stun laser hits his arm. Felix drops to his knees from the stun’s impact and his staff falls out of his hand. His other arm goes to clutch his limp, now useless arm.

“I guess I got you,” a voice says. Felix looks up from the ground and it takes all his willpower not to roll his eyes.

The person that’d shot Felix is flying, literally flying, with a pair of mechanical-looking wings attached to his back, like a jetpack. Felix doesn’t know what he can’t stand more: the fact that Jisung is flying or that stupid smirk on his face.

“Where’d you get the wings, Jisung?” Felix asks. He tries to stand up but wobbles as he does. Hyunjin’s arms go out to steady him and even though Felix tries to swat Hyunjin’s hands away, Hyunjin ends up pulling him up from the ground. “Thanks, man,” Felix whispers to Hyunjin as Jisung’s mechanical wings whir to a stop and his feet touch the ground. “But you don’t need to hold onto me.”

“Right, sorry, my bad,” Hyunjin says as his hands slide off Felix’s shoulders. Felix puts on a smirk as he turns to Jisung, who starts strutting over to Felix like he invented strutting. One of Hyunjin’s hands rests on Felix’s upper arm as Jisung comes closer, gently rubbing Felix’s arm through his shirt, and Felix takes a deep breath and narrows his eyes at Jisung.

“Oh, those wings?” Jisung asks, eyes wide and innocent as he juts his thumb towards the backpack-looking thing on his back. “I made them. Found some spare parts lying around, figured I’d put ‘em to good use. Not like any of the knuckleheads in this facility would be able to do anything with ‘em, right?” Jisung dares to give Felix a little bro-punch on the arm, the stunned one, and Felix swears he feels his eye twitch.

Maybe his eye did twitch because Jisung backs off. “Nice training sesh though. Same time tomorrow?” Jisung says, his voice just a bit more timid than before.

“Yeah, same time tomorrow,” Felix says. He averts his gaze from Jisung as he makes his way to the training field exit. And if his limp shoulder bumps into Jisung rather roughly on his way out, who’s going to challenge him.

***

“You know, we are roommates. It wouldn’t kill you to be a little friendly.” Felix pokes his head around the locker door and gives Hyunjin a strong side-eye when he says this. Hyunjin shrugs in defense and turns back to folding a towel. “I’m just saying. It would make our room feel a lot less… tense.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Felix says as he rolls his head to look at Hyunjin. “Does our rivalry mess with the feng shui?” Hyunjin stares at Felix for a long time and says nothing, just shakes his head and stuffs the towel in his locker and shuts the door.

“I just – ” Felix starts, laughing to himself as he finishes wiping down his staff, “I don’t know how you put up with him,” he says, finally looking at Hyunjin. “Practically makes you a saint.”

“Ha!” Hyunjin barks. He walks over and leans against the lockers next to Felix’s. “If I were a saint, then I wouldn’t even be here in the first place.”

Felix tilts his head in mock confusion. “You mean, in the locker room?”

“No, you little dipsh*t,” Hyunjin says and slaps Felix’s arm. He makes a big swooping arm gesture. “I mean, here, at JYP. It’s not like any of us signed up for this.”

Felix shrugs and tips his locker door closed. “Well, Jisung might’ve,” he says. He holds his hands up in mock surrender when Hyunjin narrows his eyebrows at him. “Aw, c’mon, Hyunjin! The kid’s a tech genius. His billionaire parents probably put his name down on the list before he was even born.”

Hyunjin sighs and pushes off the lockers, and Felix follows him to the exit. “Okay, you have a point. But that doesn’t mean everything else in his life was picture perfect. sh*t happens, even to rich people. Look at Tony Stark,” Hyunjin says, raising his eyebrow.

Felix sighs. He thinks he’s made a good point. “That’s a comic book character. We live in real life, Hyunjin. Real. Life.” Felix emphasizes his point by pointing at the floor they’re walking on.

Hyunjin shakes his head. “I can never catch a break with you, can I?” He stops in front of the doors to the canteen. Felix just grins.

“Nope! But you’re stuck with me, so…”

“Actually, I’m eating with Jisung today,” Hyunjin says. Felix’s happy expression vanishes at the sound of the name. “Sorry.”

Felix swats his hand. “Nah, it’s fine. Seungmin’s probably in there somewhere, I’ll find him.”

“Tell him hello for me!” Hyunjin says, grinning before he pushes open the doors of the canteen and disappears in the crowd. Felix waits for a second and takes a deep breath before he pushes open the doors.

Chapter 2: Meet Seungmin: the softie and Jeongin: the innocent, savage boi

Chapter Text

“He had wings?”

Felix set down his cup. “Yes, Seungmin, he had f*cking wings. Made ‘em himself, too,” Felix says. He picks up his cup and takes a long sip of water as he watches Seungmin consider the abomination that is Han Jisung.

“He made them? By himself? I mean, I already knew he was a genius, but this is a whole other level. Like, from an engineering standpoint, he’s exceptional, I mean – ” Seungmin shuts himself up when he sees the look on Felix’s face. “Sorry, man. You’ll get him next time.”

“Tch,” Felix snorts, setting his cup down again. He glares across the canteen to the table occupied by Jisung and Hyunjin. Jisung’s cracking a joke and Hyunjin looks like it’s paining him to laugh along (but that could be Felix projecting). Felix turns back to Seungmin. “The only way I’ll ever beat him is if we face off without all his fancy tech. When it comes to a fistfight, he doesn’t have the first clue.”

Seungmin nods approvingly. “Being a genius only gets you so far in this world,” he says sagely and goes to pick up the apple on the table in front of him. Before his fingers can close around it, the apple moves out of Seungmin’s grip and into the air. Felix’s eyes follow the apple, hands ready to attack when the apple stops in midair, and the sound of someone biting into an apple cuts through the air.

Seungmin sighs and rolls his eyes. “Jeongin, I already told you, if you’re too shy to get food yourself, just ask me to do it, instead of stealing from my plate.” Seungmin’s voice is surprisingly gentle and Felix starts to get a little worried. For all he knows, Seungmin’s talking to thin air. Knew I should’ve had him stop by the medical bay earlier this week, Felix thinks.

“Sorry,” a voice says. Then a boy materializes on the chair next to Seungmin’s, holding the apple. Felix would’ve fallen out of his chair if his reflexes weren’t so good. “You’d already gotten up to get food, it just seemed like a bad time. I didn’t wanna bother you anymore,” the boy says. Jeongin, Felix thinks, that’s his name.

Once Felix rights himself on his chair, he points a finger at Jeongin while looking at Seungmin. “You made a new friend without telling me?” Felix asks, his voice flat.

Anyone else would’ve shuddered under Felix’s glare, but Seungmin merely shrugs. “He’s a good kid, Felix. Needed a friend just as much as I did.”

“Hey, I’m your friend!” Felix says indignantly.

“Yeah, but you’re you. This one’s still innocent, I like that,” Seungmin says, and reaches one hand up to ruffle Jeongin’s hair. Jeongin practically hisses and ducks out of the way. Felix snorts and has to cover his mouth with one hand to keep himself from laughing obnoxiously. Seungmin glares at Jeongin, then Felix in turn. “Okay, this just in: I hate both of you.”

“Sure, Seungmin,” Felix says and holds out his hand to Jeongin. Jeongin freezes when he sees Felix’s hand. Felix has never been the best at reading people, but he knows the look of fear in someone’s eyes when he sees it, and that’s the look on Jeongin’s face.

I guess being the deadliest person in the facility comes with a price, Felix thinks. Or maybe he’s just scared more people are gonna hurt him.

“I just want a high-five, you gonna leave me hangin’?” Felix asks and wiggles his hand. The scared look seems to abate from Jeongin’s face and Felix’s lips twitch up as Jeongin smiles and slaps his hand.

“Sorry,” Jeongin says. “People are… hard for me.”

“You don’t need to apologize for everything, bud,” Felix says. His hand goes to rest on Jeongin’s shoulder and he gives it a soft and hopefully comforting squeeze. Jeongin’s smile grows a bit wider at this, and there’s a rush in Felix’s chest.

“Cool,” Jeongin says and takes another bite of the stolen apple. Seungmin looks on in disbelief.

“Did you just steal my new friend from me?” he asks. Felix winks at him and throws a few finger guns and Seungmin’s eyes practically fall out, he rolls them so hard.

“Anyway, Jeongin,” Felix says, turning towards their new friend. Jeongin looks up from the apple. “How long have you been able to… you know.” Felix waves his hand in Jeongin’s general direction. Jeongin smiles and looks down at his lap.

“I – I’m not sure exactly when,” Jeongin mumbles to his lap. Felix watches him spin a ring on one of his fingers. Nervous habit. “Or why. All I know is one day I woke up, and I couldn’t – ” he chokes up and Seungmin rests a hand on Jeongin’s back. Jeongin looks up and manages a small smile in Seungmin’s direction. He turns back to Felix and says, “I woke up and I couldn’t hug my mom. I just – passed right through her.” Jeongin moves his hand horizontally through the air and drops his hand in his lap. His eyes are hard and his lips are pressed into a line. “She couldn’t even see me. So all she could hear were my screams as I ran through her over and over and over.”

“You can stop now, Jeongin, you don’t have to say any more,” Felix says.

Jeongin shakes his head. “I showed up a few hours later in the shower, curled in a ball with the water running. We went to a doctor, who sent us to the hospital, who sent us to the labs in this facility. Every time they poked and prodded me, they promised they’d figure out how to fix me. But,” Jeongin stops and holds up his hand. Felix watches in awe as Jeongin’s hand appears and disappears like it’s phasing in and out of reality. “I’m still doing this. It means nothing to me that I can control it when all I’ve ever wanted was for it to stop.”

Jeongin picks up the apple core and tosses it into a trash can. Felix stares at him, analyzing him, and Seungmin wraps his arm around Jeongin’s shoulders in a half-hug.

“They’ve been training you?” Felix finally asks.

Jeongin nods. “I’m with Seungmin for a lot of training exercises, actually,” he says. “Most of the people we’re with are the stealth operatives, you know. We’re like the secret spy division, or something.”

“Uh-huh,” Felix murmurs. He sneaks a quick peek behind Seungmin and Jeongin at Jisung and Hyunjin. Jisung’s reading something on the ridiculous holo-projection device he’d come up with and Hyunjin is staring at Felix’s table. Scratch that: he looks like he’s trying to pierce through Felix’s head with his eyeballs. Felix tilts his head toward the door and Hyunjin briefly nods, getting up out of his seat.

Felix leans in toward Seungmin and Jeongin. “I’m gonna go get my staff checked out. See you in the dorms, Seungmin,” Felix says. Seungmin nods as Felix gets up and Jeongin holds out his hand.

He gives Jeongin a high-five and says, “See you around, kid.” Felix makes his way to the door Hyunjin had left the canteen from and nods at the guard before pushing it open. Hyunjin’s leaning against the wall to the left of the door.

"You know, I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with that kid,” Hyunjin says under his breath. The two start walking toward the dorms.

Felix tries not to roll his eyes, but he fails miserably. “I don’t need to be reminded of your impeccable hearing every day, Hyunjin. Every morning is enough when you give me updates on the hertz levels of my snoring.”

Hyunjin laughs one of those one-syllable laughs. “Hey, if I had better combat skills than you, I wouldn’t have to hold that over your head,” Hyunjin says, pointing one finger sternly at Felix. Felix rolls his eyes and chuckles as he makes a sharp turn to the tech labs. Hyunjin continues walking down the hall to the dorms for a bit until he realizes Felix isn’t next to him and backtracks down the hall and sprints to catch up with Felix. “Where are you going, anyway?” Hyunjin asks, taking a deep breath.

“Gotta update my staff. I probably could’a shot Jisung out of the sky if the thing decided to function properly,” Felix says, yanking the staff out of his belt. He nods and waves to the woman at the entrance of the tech labs, handing her the staff. “Can Dr. Park fix this by tomorrow? I’ve got another training session,” Felix asks.

“Absolutely, Mr. Lee. It’ll be fully operational and up to date by tomorrow morning,” she says, smiling and bowing as she leaves him and Hyunjin for the depths of the tech labs.

Felix turns to Hyunjin. “Anyway, what were you saying?”

Hyunjin sighs and beckons for Felix to follow him back to their dorms. “His situation… it’s tough. He only wanted a cure, wanted to be normal, then he got forced into all this sh*t,” Hyunjin says. He gestures vaguely to the sturdy walls of the facility and Felix grunts. Hyunjin shakes his head. “It’s messed up, but we already knew that. What I’m saying is that there is someone who’d be able to figure him out.” The two stop in front of a door and Felix flicks his bracelet in front of the identification sensor and Hyunjin pushes open the door.

Felix looks Hyunjin in the eye once the door to their room is closed. “If you’re talking about who I think you’re talking about,” Felix warns, and Hyunjin nods. Felix sniffs haughtily and purposely looks away. “Then I don’t wanna hear it.”

“Felix think about it. He’s got better tech than the people that work here and design tech for a living. I know you don’t like it, but if anyone can fix him, it’s Jisung,” Hyunjin says. Felix sighs and rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms. He groans loudly and flops onto Seungmin’s bed, the bunk below his.

“Seungmin’s gonna kill you when he sees you messed up his sheets, you know,” Hyunjin says. Felix lifts his torso up from the bed so he can properly glare at Hyunjin.

“You think I don’t know my best friend will kill me for messing up his sheets?” Felix says. He wriggles around on the bed, tugging the perfectly tucked sheets from the mattress. Hyunjin cradles his head in his hands, peeking through his fingers as he watches Felix.

“Okay, but seriously,” Hyunjin says, “he’d probably be happy to do it.”

Felix groans and sits up on the bed. He rolls his head around a couple times before making eye contact with Hyunjin. “Fine,” he concedes. “But this doesn’t mean we’re magically friends, okay?”

Hyunjin nods. “Okay.” He goes to the other side of the room and flops down on his own bed, the bottom one of the bunk he shares with Jisung. The room isn’t very big, so Felix could reach his arm out from Seungmin’s bunk and touch Hyunjin’s mattress.

They’re silent for a couple minutes before Hyunjin sits up quickly. He points at Felix and says, “There was something else Jeongin said. What was it – what was it – ”

“He’s training with Seungmin?” Felix offers. Hyunjin points at Felix even more frantically and nods. “And the other stealth operatives?”

“Bingo!” Hyunjin says loudly. He blinks once like he’s surprised at his voice’s decibel level. Felix snorts and hides a smile behind his hand at the vaguely cross-eyed look Hyunjin has on his face. He shakes his head before continuing. “It makes sense why he’s doing it, I mean – he’s able to be f*cking invisible, that’s pretty stealthy. Seungmin’s got the brains for it – he seems like the guy in a chair type. But then look at you and me and Jisung,” Hyunjin says, pointing to himself and Felix. “Usually, you want spies that can fight their way out of stuff – I mean, you’ve seen Black Widow in action, right?”

Felix nods, remembering the night Jisung hacked their way out of the facility’s servers and streamed all the Avengers movies from their room. Even though the fights were choreographed for the movie, Felix found himself in awe of her skill. That was one night Felix managed to hate Jisung a little bit less than normal.

“Anyway, what I’m saying is, why train us to fight? They’re no wars, no alien attacks, no terrorists, so why waste resources preparing us like there is one?” Hyunjin crosses his arms and shakes his head. “It makes no sense.”

Felix nods again. “Yeah,” he says, and flops back down onto his bed. “It doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Chapter 3: What's Hidden in JYP's Basem*nt

Chapter Text

“Okay, I figured it out,” Jisung says. He’s standing next to a bed in the medical bay, on which Jeongin is sitting with a mildly nervous look on his face. Seungmin’s holding Jeongin’s hand, trying to reassure him and calm him down.

Felix raises an eyebrow. “That fast?” he asks. If his arms weren’t already crossed, he’d cross them, so he pushes off the wall he’d been leaning on and approaches the bed. A hand falls on Felix’s shoulder and his muscles tense then relax when it gives him a light squeeze. He turns his head and Hyunjin smiles at him, and also gives him a pointed look like, ‘be nice.’

Jisung nods and grins. Can I just wipe that grin off his face already, Felix thinks. “The results of the MRI were normal, nothing’s wrong with his body – physically. Except, well, the massive amounts of radiation that he gives off.”

Jeongin whips his head toward Jisung, eyes big. “I’m – emitting radiation?” he asks, voice shaking.

Jisung’s smile turns sad when he sees the worry on Jeongin’s face, and nods again. “It’s not so much radiation as it is energy, but even that’s a cause for concern. Jeongin, real quick, can you make your hand do the flickering thingy?” Jeongin gulps and holds his hand up. It appears and disappears, flickering, but not his entire hand at a time. Jisung nods as he watches and scribbles something down on a sticky note.

“Okay, can you put your hand under this and do it for me again?” Jisung asks. He gestures to a large microscope and Jeongin nods. He slides off the bed and sticks his hand under the lens. Jisung mashes his face on the eyepiece and watches as Jeongin’s hand flickers again and again. “Great,” he says, standing up from the microscope and walking Jeongin back to the bed.

“Alright, basically, our Jeongin here – ” Felix frowns when Jisung calls Jeongin ‘our’ “ – is, somehow, manipulating his molecules, his atoms, to phase between what our eyes can see and the quantum field. His hand isn’t actually disappearing or invisible, it’s entered the quantum field.”

Jisung’s explanation takes a minute to set in. No one says anything, the only noise is the heavy breathing from Jeongin – He’s probably trying not to cry, Felix thinks. It’s probably scary to find out that your molecules occasionally don’t exist in a visible reality – and the sound of Seungmin rubbing Jeongin’s back through his hoodie.

“Can we fix him?” Felix asks, stepping forward. Hyunjin’s grip on his shoulder tightens and Felix grits his teeth. Why does he think he needs to hold me back? “We can fix him, right?”

Jisung plays with his fingers while he searches for an explanation that won’t make Felix go ballistic on him. “I think so. Since Jeongin has a quantum imbalance in his molecular structure, all we need to do is, well, balance out the quantum energy.” Jisung sighs and looks at Jeongin, who’s slightly shaking on the bed, and turns his gaze to Felix. “Only thing is, I don’t know how to go about generating enough quantum energy to counteract the energy he has.”

Felix rolls his shoulder out of Hyunjin’s grip and dodges Hyunjin’s attempts to hold him back, and he walks toward Jisung and pushes him up against the wall, holding fistfuls of Jisung’s shirt.

“You mean we cleared out this section of the medical bay, lied to the tech staff so you could get the equipment, and you don’t know how to fix him?” Jisung shakes his head rapidly and his hands clamp around Felix’s wrists, trying to pry them off his clothes.

“I don’t know right now, but I promise, I’ll figure something out, Felix!” Jisung’s voice becomes strained as Felix holds him up higher.

Hands rest on Felix’s upper arms and gently pull Felix away from the wall. “Felix, you gotta let go,” Hyunjin says under his breath. Felix grunts and lets go of Jisung’s shirt and allows Hyunjin to drag him to the other side of the bed, away from Jisung. Hyunjin’s hands stay there, keeping Felix from raging at Jisung again.

Jisung sighs and goes back to the microscope, studying the recordings he’d taken of Jeongin’s phasing, plastering sticky notes with unintelligible handwriting everywhere. Felix glares at him the whole time, leaning into Hyunjin because that’s easier than standing on his own.

Seungmin pipes up. “Jisung, there’s one way we could do it.” Jisung pries his eye away from the microscope and looks at Seungmin quizzically.

“Really? How?”

“It’d be dangerous, probably forbidden by the staff, but it’s possible. I mean, if my calculations are right, which they might not be, then – ”

“Spit it out, Seungmin,” Felix says. Seungmin looks at Felix and gulps, then nods.

“If we built a – a power source that contained quantum energy equal or greater than the level of Jeongin’s, then if Jeongin exerts enough energy near the power source, the power source would latch onto Jeongin’s energy and, kind of, pull it out of him, I guess? It’s just a hypothesis though. I don’t think it’d actually work,” Seungmin says, swatting his hand into the air.

Felix and Hyunjin both have looks of utter confusion on their faces, trying to figure out what Seungmin’s talking about. Jisung, however, has his jaw dropped and walks over to Seungmin. He grasps his hand and says, “You, Seungmin, you beautiful genius you, you’ve figured it out.”

Seungmin’s eyes bug out and he shakes his head and tries to wrench his hand out of Jisung’s grasp. “No, no, I’m really not, I mean, I didn’t, I just – ” he looks at Jeongin, who’s looking hopefully up at Jisung and Seungmin, and smiles. “I want him to feel like himself. And if the only way we can do that is by equating the imbalance of quantum energy, then so be it.” Seungmin’s smile widens when Jeongin wraps his arms around Seungmin in a big hug, so much so they topple off the bed.

Felix finds himself smiling at the two as they laugh at themselves and Jisung trying to help them up. He turns to look at Hyunjin and sees a smile spread across his face as well. Felix takes Hyunjin’s hand and wrings it, and Hyunjin looks at him.

“He’s gonna be okay,” Felix says, relieved, with a smile still on his face.

Hyunjin smiles with his eyes and squeezes Felix’s hand. “Told you so,” he says and looks away from Felix. Felix’s mouth is agape, and he swats Hyunjin.

“Hey, it was more Seungmin than Jisung anyway,” Felix whispers up to Hyunjin, craning his neck back to look at him. Felix catches Hyunjin rolling his eyes and lightly punches his stomach.

“You’ll never let him catch a break, will you,” Hyunjin says, more of a statement than question. Felix nods, completely unashamed, and Hyunjin snorts.

“Why don’t we go eat, then,” Hyunjin says and drags Felix out of the medical bay with a wave in Jisung’s direction. Jisung smiles and waves back before turning back to Seungmin and their plans for the energy source. Jeongin salutes to Felix, who salutes back jokingly.

***

“I still don’t get why you hate him so much,” Hyunjin says as they grab a food tray. Felix wrinkles his nose in disgust, partly at Hyunjin’s question and partly at the horrid looking mashed potatoes being served at the sides bar.

“It’s not hate, Hyunjin, it’s strong distaste,” Felix corrects as they sit down. Hyunjin sighs as he pokes at his food across the table.

“He’s been through a lot, you know,” Hyunjin says softly. “More than you know.”

Felix sets down his fork and spreads his arms wide. “Look around, Hyunjin. Everyone here’s been through a lot of sh*t, some of that sh*t’s what brought us here.” He picks up his fork and spears a vegetable. “He’s not the only one. And until he realizes he’s not that special, I can’t stand being in the same room as him.”

Hyunjin sighs. “Felix, hating him – sorry – strongly disliking him because he’s like everybody else isn’t helping your cause. He wants to like you, Felix, wants you to like him too. Just – ” Hyunjin stops and sighs again under Felix’s scrutinizing gaze. “ – Give him a chance, okay?”

Felix groans and rolls his eyes. “Fine. Maybe I’ll give him a chance. Just one,” Felix says, holding up one finger. Hyunjin smirks and goes back to his rice.

“Whatever you say, chief,” Hyunjin says and ducks under the table to dodge Felix’s hands.

Felix grins and sits back down in his seat. “You’re a good friend, Hyunjin,” he says.

Hyunjin pretends to do a hair-flip. “I know. And you’re welcome.” Hyunjin has to duck under the table again.

***

“Hey. Hey, Felix!”

Felix jolts awake when the owner of the voice shakes his arm. He preps a fist and nearly strikes before he opens his eyes. “Jisung, the f*ck are you doing? I was sleeping.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jisung says. “But I found something I think you should see.” He jumps off the edge of Seungmin’s bed and makes for the door. Felix groans and throws off his blanket and clambers out of his bed, careful not to shake the bed and wake Seungmin.

“This won’t take long,” Jisung says, opening the door and slipping through it. Felix shuts the door quietly and follows Jisung down the hall.

Felix catches up to Jisung. “What were you doing up anyway?” Felix asks in an attempt at civil conversation. Jisung looks at him, surprised Felix was the one to talk first.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Jisung says. “Don’t sleep much these days. I figured I’d better get started on the energy source, and that’s when I found what I’m about to show you.”

Jisung steps into the elevator, Felix close behind him and flips open the panel of buttons. Felix’s eyebrows join together. “How’d you know to do that?”

Jisung smirks. “I found that the first night I was sneaking around for parts. They didn’t hide it very well, see the inlaid edge?” He points to one side of the panel and Felix realizes that there is, in fact, enough space for someone to pry off the panel.

Jisung taps the button revealed by the false panel and the elevator jolts and starts moving down. “This thing goes down?” Felix asks. He looks around in surprise. He’s learning tons of new things today.

“Yep,” Jisung says. They wait in silence for the elevator to shudder to a stop. Jisung’s the first one out the elevator doors, with Felix quick on his heels, and runs down a dimly lit corridor. As they rush by, Felix notices the walls are old, thin layers of corrosion enveloping the edges. The whole place gives him an eerie vibe. He shakes his head and catches up with Jisung, who’s stopped at a big metal door.

Felix looks at the door. “Why aren’t you opening it?”

“Because you need a fingerprint to get in, that’s why,” Jisung responds, and gives Felix a ‘isn’t it obvious?’ look. Felix tries to ignore the urge to tackle Jisung, for Hyunjin’s sake.

“Then how are we supposed to get in?”

Felix flinches at a bright flash of light and steps back when the heat becomes too much. Shielding his eyes, he watches Jisung burn a hole through the door with a laser that’s attached to an armband just above his bracelet.

When he’s done outlining, Jisung kicks the part of the door he’d cut a few times. It doesn’t budge. Felix rolls his eyes and pulls Jisung back by his shoulder, then pushes the door through the hole with a perfectly aimed spinning back kick.

“Thanks, man,” Jisung says. Felix grins. Jisung ducks through the hole in the door first and Felix follows, nearly singeing his shirtsleeve on the hot metal Jisung cut through.

When Felix stands up, his eyes go wide. Jisung’s standing next to him in similar levels of surprise and grabs his arms, shaking it.

“You’re seeing this too, right?” Jisung asks, voice wavering. His eyes have a hint of fear in them when Jisung turns to look at Felix, and of its own accord, Felix’s heart softens.

Felix looks away and nods. “Yeah.”

In giant glass tanks lining the back wall, are three humans, secured to the back wall with metal clamps around their arms, legs, and torsos, seemingly frozen in time.

Felix steps closer to one of them. The human inside looks like a boy with curly black hair, and Felix’s heart hurts when he realizes this guy couldn’t be much older than him. He puts a hand on the glass, letting the cold seep into his palm. “Are they real?” he whispers, turning to Jisung.

Jisung seems mesmerized with another boy on the other end of the room. He points to the tank. “I don’t think this one is. Far too pretty,” Jisung humphs and crosses his arms.

Felix turns his gaze to the other two tanks. “You think we could get them out?” Felix asks.

Jisung shudders. “Thing is, I dunno if we should. I mean, they were probably frozen for a reason, right? What if they’re super dangerous or something?”

Felix takes a moment to glare at Jisung before looking back at the tanks. He curls and uncurls his fingers slowly as he gazes at each of the humans. They look so ethereal from the outside, and Felix wonders what kinds of pain they had to endure before someone locked them up like this.

“I don’t think someone else has a right to determine how dangerous you are,” Felix says, “especially if that – ” he points at the frozen humans “ – is the consequence.”

Chapter 4: Meet JYP

Chapter Text

Felix is sliding on his boots the morning after his escapade with Jisung when something taps him lightly on the shoulder. Felix looks up from the laces of his boots and sees Jisung flashing a not so discreet ‘shh’ signal with his finger in front of his mouth. It takes all his willpower to not roll his eyes.

Jisung removes the finger from in front of his mouth and mouths, “Stay here. We’ll go later.”

Felix nods and looks to Seungmin, who’s waiting patiently by the door of their room. “Felix, are you coming?” Seungmin asks and tilts his head to the door.

Felix shakes his head and swats his hand. “Nah, you go ahead without me. Save me a seat, will you?” Seungmin nods with a smile and leaves the room.

Hyunjin finishes fixing his belt and crosses to the door, and looks between Felix and Jisung. “You guys gonna be okay by yourselves?” he asks. Felix watches Jisung nod frantically out of the corner of his eye and mentally facepalms himself. He’d never hold up under interrogation, Felix thinks and looks back at Hyunjin.

“Yeah, don’t worry, Jinnie, we’re all good here,” Felix assures him. Hyunjin’s eyes go wide after Felix’s reassurance, and he hangs his head before reaching for the door handle. Felix’s brows scrunch up in confusion as Hyunjin fails to grab onto the handle at least three times before he successfully opens it.

Hyunjin giggles awkwardly as he turns back to Felix and Jisung, a light flush decorating his cheeks. “I’ll get going, then,” he says and slips out the door.

When Felix turns back to Jisung, his mouth is hanging open in shock. “Did you see that?” Jisung says, pointing to the door, his mouth still comically wide open.

Felix frowns. “Yeah, that was weird,” he says, propping his chin up on his hand. “I’ve never seen Hyunjin like that before. He’s usually always on top of his sh*t.”

Jisung looks like he’s about to correct Felix or point something out but decides against it. Felix is glad. He just wants Jisung to say what he’s got on his mind so they can both go to breakfast.

“Doesn’t matter. What I was gonna say is that we need to keep the, you know,” Jisung gives Felix a dramatic look and Felix can’t help rolling his eyes, “on the down low, at least until we know more about them.”

Felix stands up and leans against the bedpost. “Shouldn’t we at least tell our friends? They wouldn’t say a word about any of this, and besides, Seungmin could probably be a big help in figuring out more about them.” Felix crosses his arms when he’s finished as a way of saying ‘discussion over.’

Jisung pouts and stands up too. “Fine,” he says, grabbing the door handle. “We’ll tell Seungmin, but no one else. That way, if someone finds out we know, only three people have to die.” He turns to open the door

Felix screws up his eyes and says, “Wait, wait, wait, who says we’re going to die?”

Jisung sighs and turns to Felix with a sad look in his eyes. “Someone in this very building did that to those people and locked them in the basem*nt. Obviously, they didn’t want anyone finding out, and yet we did anyway. How do you think they’re gonna deal with the only witnesses to an obvious violation of basic human rights?”

Felix gulps after Jisung’s explanation and decides that his question is a rhetorical one. “Right, you’re right,” he says and stuffs his hands in his jacket pocket. He waves one hand for Jisung to open the door. “Let’s just go eat, then.”

***

Felix snorts and nearly spews coffee all over the table. When he looks up, Seungmin is looking at him completely scandalized, and Jeongin’s laughing so hard he smacks the table.

Seungmin crosses his arms. “Will you two quit ganging up on me?” he whines through a pout.

Jeongin covers a giggle with his hand. “Hey, you can hate me all you want, Seungminnie,” he says and points at Felix, “but don’t criticize my fanbase!” Seungmin groans in disappointment as Felix reaches across the table to high-five Jeongin.

“What did I do to deserve this?” Seungmin says and puts his face in his hands.

“Aw, Seungmin, it’s okay,” Felix says and tries to stifle his giggles when a hand lands on his shoulder. He cranes his neck and smiles when he sees Hyunjin grinning down at him. “Hi, Hyunjin.” Felix turns his head and sees Jisung standing a little ways away from the table, scuffing his shoes on the floor.

“Hi, Felix,” Hyunjin says. His hand trails down Felix’s upper arm before falling off. “Anyway, we gotta go. Apparently, the CEO wants to see us,” Hyunjin explains and Felix turns around in his seat abruptly.

“The CEO wants to see us? What for?” Felix asks.

Hyunjin shrugs. “I dunno. One of his assistants just came up to me and Jisung two minutes ago that the three of us are supposed to meet him. And she specifically told us not to be late.” Felix nods and stands up, and moves to clear his breakfast dishes.

Seungmin’s hand covers them. “We’ll clean up. You go, this seems important,” he says. A small smile spreads across Felix’s face.

“Thanks, Seungmin. See you guys later,” he says and waves at Seungmin and Jeongin as he follows Hyunjin and Jisung out of the canteen.

“So, you really don’t know what this is about?” Felix asks as he falls into step with Hyunjin and Jisung outside the canteen.

Both shake their heads. “I don’t even know what the CEO looks like,” Hyunjin says, chuckling at his joke.

“He’s a man that likes to keep secrets, I suppose,” Jisung murmurs, probably to himself, but Hyunjin hears it anyway.

“What do you mean by that, Jisung? It’s not like you’ve met the guy,” Hyunjin says, laughter consuming the last few syllables of his sentence.

Jisung ignores Hyunjin and gives Felix a pointed look. “All I’m saying is we should be careful with what we let him know,” he says, and Felix nods, pursing his lips. Jisung’s right: if anyone knows about the humans frozen in the basem*nt, it’s got to be the CEO.

“Alright, science boy, if you say so,” Hyunjin says. He points down a hall near the tech labs. “I think his office is over there, right?” Jisung nods and the three continue down the hall and Hyunjin knocks on the door. It’s an opaque glass door, much different from the others in the facility.

“Come in.” At the voice, Hyunjin pulls on the handle and opens the door. He beckons Jisung and Felix inside first before closing the door behind him.

“Jisung, Felix, Hyunjin,” the CEO says from behind his desk. His hands are clasped on the table in front of him. “Please, sit down. Make yourselves comfortable.” He gestures to the three chairs opposite his desk, and while they do look more comfortable than the seats in the canteen, Felix shifts in it uncomfortably when he sits down.

“Nice to see you all,” the CEO says. Hyunjin nods politely and Felix dips his head forward. Out of the corner of his eye, Felix sees Jisung nod as well, but he looks like he’s about to throw up, or someone shoved a dirty sock down his throat.

“Yes, you too, CEO Park,” Hyunjin says. Felix watches him fiddle with his fingers in his lap. So it’s not just him: this whole meeting is giving everyone bad vibes.

“Now, to get down to business,” CEO Park says, unfolding his hands and leaning back in his chair, “I’ve got a task for you three. Your supervisors have informed me of your progress in training and I think it’s about time you all had your first task in the field.”

“Thank you, CEO Park,” Hyunjin says. Felix is grateful he’s taking charge of the talking; Felix doesn’t trust himself not to start subtly inquiring the CEO about the humans and he doesn’t think Jisung is in any state to talk right now. Ever since they sat down, Jisung’s normally honey-golden skin has taken on an unpleasant hue.

“We’ve received word from a source at the international port that a gang is going to be smuggling unauthorized weapons onto the mainland. All you have to do is intercept the weapons and apprehend the offenders,” CEO Park explains.

Felix speaks up. “I’m sorry, CEO Park, but how would you like us to do this?”

CEO Park smiles and Felix represses a shiver. “How you carry out the mission is irrelevant to me, just complete the task.” Felix’s eyebrow furrows and he shuffles his feet on the floor. This doesn’t feel right at all. CEO Park must notice Felix’s confusion and clarifies, “I trust you three to get the job done. Otherwise, I’d have someone else do it. Understand?” Felix and Hyunjin nod and Jisung attempts to nod but it looks like he can barely move.

CEO Park looks at Jisung with concern. “Jisung, are you alright?” Jisung’s eyes go wide when he’s addressed directly and his hands grip the arms of his chair.

“Ah, yes, CEO Park, he’s fine, he just – ” Felix steals a glance at Jisung, “ – didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

CEO Park snaps and points at Jisung. “Ah, right. Developed any groundbreaking tech lately?” the CEO jokes and Jisung gulps, shaking his head slowly.

Felix stands up and grabs Jisung’s arms and tries to get him out of the chair. “We should probably get him to our room, you know, to get some rest before our mission,” Felix says. He pries Jisung’s hands off the armrests and loops Jisung’s arm around his shoulder. “Thank you again, sir,” he says to the CEO.

“Of course, of course,” CEO Park says. He waves the three out of his office. As Hyunjin holds the door open for Felix and Jisung, CEO Park says, “It was good to see you again, Jisung.”

Jisung’s knees seem to give out from underneath him; the only reason he doesn’t collapse onto the floor is that Felix is holding him up. Hyunjin lets go of the door to help Jisung up.

“Is he okay?” CEO Park’s voice sounds from behind them.

“Yes, he’s fine!” Hyunjin shouts. “He just fainted, probably dehydrated.” Felix glares at Hyunjin because what the heck was that explanation, and Hyunjin shrugs and gives Felix a look that says ‘what, I tried.’

“Alright, then. Get some rest before your mission, you three,” CEO Park says, and Hyunjin responds with a “yes, sir,” before pulling Jisung’s other arm around his shoulders.

“Dude, are you okay?” Felix says to Jisung as they make their way through the halls. “Should we go to the med bay?”

Jisung shakes his head. “No, just… let’s just go to our room.” He doesn’t look up from the floor as they walk. Hyunjin gives Felix a worried look, and Felix shakes his head. Not here. Hyunjin nods and flicks his wrist out in front of the sensor to unlock their room.

Felix drags Jisung inside and lays him down on Hyunjin’s bed. He rests his hand on Jisung’s arm and waits for the scrunched-up, pained look on his face to go away. Felix hears Hyunjin sigh from behind him and a soft thud as Hyunjin sits down on the floor next to Felix and rests his head on Felix’s shoulder.

“Jisung, you wanna talk now? What was that about?” Felix says, lightly shaking Jisung’s arm. Jisung sighs and turns his head, and there’s a pang in Felix’s chest when he sees the pained look in Jisung’s brown eyes.

“I’ve lived in this facility for a very, very long time,” Jisung starts, “as a charity case after my parents were killed,” he spits out. “You wanna know how they died, you wanna know how they were ripped from my life like a page in a book?” Jisung asks, his voice growing more and more strained as he continues. “They died in a plane crash on the way to a technical conference in Malaysia when the engines mysteriously failed. But that plane was a self-piloting plane, top of the line production too. The only way that plane could’ve failed was deliberate tampering with the internal systems.” Jisung closes his eyes before a tear can slip out of his eye. “I should know, I reviewed their case myself once the police investigation was over. They deemed it a cold case, but I figured it out soon enough.” Jisung breathes in sharply and chokes back a sob. Under his breath, he whispers, “They were murdered.”

Felix squeezes Jisung’s arm. He knows he’s not the best with feelings, especially other people’s feelings, but he tries his best to comfort Jisung. “Hey, you’re okay,” he says, rubbing Jisung’s arm. “You just need some rest like CEO Park said – ”

“Don’t say that name around me,” Jisung growls, and Felix releases Jisung’s arm.

“Why?” Hyunjin asks in a gentle voice from over Felix’s shoulder. His voice rumbles through Felix’s body where Hyunjin’s leaning against him.

Jisung faces the two of them, a hardened expression present on his face. “Because the plane that killed my parents was manufactured by JYP Industries and Tech.”

Chapter 5: The First Mission

Chapter Text

“Remind me again why we had to get up at four in the morning?” Jisung whines from his seat, his voice groggy with sleep. Felix turns his head to look at Jisung and frowns at the sleep mask that’s covering his eyes. Felix sighs and reaches over the middle seat and swipes the mask off Jisung’s face, earning a disgruntled “Hey!” and a pout from Jisung, who crosses his arms in defiance.

“Hey, settle down back there, kids,” Hyunjin says from the passenger seat. His pokes around the headrest and his eyes scrunch up when he smiles mischievously.

Jisung groans again and says, “And why do you get the front seat? Life is just scheming against me right now, huh?” Felix snorts at Jisung’s existential comment.

“Well, that shipment we’re supposed to be intercepting is scheduled to arrive at the port by six o’clock sharp, to answer your first question,” Felix says, ticking off on his fingers, “and Hyunjin gets the front seat because he’s taller than you.” Felix holds up his arms to block his face from Jisung’s angrily thrashing limbs and Hyunjin cackles from the passenger seat.

Jisung points a shaky finger at Felix. “Hey, he’s taller than you, too!”

“Ooh, a seat-warmer. Nice,” Hyunjin comments, settling into his seat with a contented hum. Jisung balls his hands into fists and puffs up his cheeks in favor of screaming at the top of his lungs about life’s unfairness. Felix rubs some sleep out of his eyes as he grins, then looks out the window of the car.

The car they’re riding in is a simple SUV, nothing that will draw attention to the secret agents inside. It’s one of the newer self-driving models from JYP Industries, and yet there are no seat-warmers for the backseat. As the car hums and parks a few blocks away from the pier, Felix reviews the mission in his head: Find the boat, locate the weapons, apprehend the would-be-culprits.

Felix shifts in his seat. “Jisung, what time is it?”

“Asscrack o’clock, why?”

Felix rolls his eyes. “We get it, you need your beauty sleep. What time is it.”

Jisung sighs and holds his watch up. He taps on the face and a holo-screen pops up, projecting the time, date, and weather. “Five thirty-seven,” Jisung says and starts swiping through the news feed on the holo-screen. “Huh, the President of the U.S. tweeted something controversial and stupid again, who would’ve thought.”

Felix sighs and unbuckles his seatbelt. “Alright Hyunjin, let’s get the gear outta the trunk,” he says. He hears Hyunjin’s seatbelt click as Felix gets out of the car and heads to the back. Hyunjin appears behind him as he pops the trunk.

“Earpiece,” Felix says as he grabs one and throws it over the row of seats, hitting Jisung squarely in the head. “Put it on,” Felix tells him, ignoring the stream of profanities flowing from Jisung’s mouth. Hyunjin shakes his head, laughing silently as Felix grabs the last two earpieces and secures one in his ear.

“Here,” Felix says, reaching up to fasten the last earpiece in Hyunjin’s left ear.

“Felix, I am perfectly capable of putting in my own earpiece,” Hyunjin says, but his words come out all giggly. Felix smiles.

"I know,” Felix says. He tucks a piece of hair behind Hyunjin’s ear once he’s done. “Just wanted to help.” Felix steps back and watches Hyunjin watch him. Hyunjin’s head is tilted slightly and Felix can’t make out his facial expression in the darkness.

Hyunjin breaks eye contact first and laughs nervously, turning back to the trunk. “Think I’ll need that scanner?” he says, pointing to a small black square.

Felix shakes his head. “Nah, Jisung’s probably got one better than that anyway.” Hyunjin nods in agreement and bends down to strap a knife into his boot. He tightens his upgraded staff into his belt and looks at Hyunjin. Felix’s chest pangs when Hyunjin doesn’t look at him, even though it’s dark and they’d barely be able to see each other’s faces anyway.

“Are you old-schoolers done out there?” Jisung calls from inside the car. Felix rolls his eyes and slams the door to the trunk shut after Hyunjin snatches a couple cheese sticks from their supplies. Felix smiles when Hyunjin hands him one.

“Thanks,” Felix says and starts pulling at the wrapper.

Hyunjin smiles with his eyes at Felix then looks down. “I just know you like them,” he says, scuffing a pebble. “We should get going, or Jisung’ll have our asses.”

“Yeah,” Felix says. Hyunjin starts walking around the side of the car to Jisung’s door. Felix follows in time to see Hyunjin yanking open Jisung’s door and Jisung shrieking loudly in surprise when Hyunjin starts pulling him out of the car.

“Ay, don’t you know what stealth means?” Felix says, rolling his eyes. The corner of Jisung’s lip turns up in disgust and he slams the door shut behind him.

“Yes,” Jisung says, running a hand through his messy hair self-consciously, “I just get surprised easily.”

“Well, we’re not gonna want any surprises out there,” Felix says, pointing to the docks. “You got a scanner up and ready?”

Jisung nods, patting his back pocket. “Yeah, I’ve got it. I’ll get it online once we’re in position,” he says and gives Felix a squinty-eyed look. “We do have positions, right?”

“Yes, of course!” Felix says indignantly. He hears Hyunjin chuckle behind him and Jisung. “What agent arrives at a mission site without a plan?”

“Uh, me,” Jisung says, rolling his eyes. When they reach the security gate, Jisung approaches the identification panel and starts decoding and running sequences to get the gate open. Felix crosses his arms while he waits, trying not to get a headache from watching the speed the numbers are dashing across Jisung’s holo-screen. Hyunjin stands next to Felix, a beacon of warmth in the sharp ocean air, and Felix subconsciously shuffles closer to Hyunjin.

“Cold?” Hyunjin asks.

Felix shakes his head. “Nah, I’m fine.” Truth be told, he’s shivering even in the long underwear he’s wearing underneath his gear. It’s been a long time since he’s ventured out in the real world or been in a room without temperature control.

As Jisung cracks the gate’s security code, it hits Felix how sheltered he’s been for the past two years. It’s been two years? He shakes his head as he follows Jisung through the gate, Hyunjin close behind him.

Once they locate the dock the boat is supposed to be docking at, Jisung turns to Felix. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

Felix clears his throat as he surveys the area. “Okay, Jisung, I want you up high. Behind those shipping containers over there looks like a good spot,” he says, pointing to a mountain of shipping containers a few yards away. “You’re our eyes and ears, nothing gets past you, got it?” Jisung nods and dashes to the shipping containers.

He turns to Hyunjin. “Hyunjin, I want you at that gate. Let the gangsters in, but I don’t want anybody getting out. Jisung’s scanners will detect them, but I want you to tail ‘em until they get close to my position,” Felix says.

“Once they’re in, no one leaves, got it,” Hyunjin repeats, and sneaks back to the gate they’d entered through. Felix watches him disappear, blending in perfectly with the dark and foggy environment of the docks.

This is gonna be a piece of cake, Felix thinks as he slinks behind a stack of fishing crates. He touches a hand to his earpiece. “Jisung, is the scanner a go?”

“Affirmative,” Jisung’s static voice rings through Felix’s ear. “A car pulled up a few blocks out from the main entrance. Four life forms, all armed with hand pistols. Three are advancing; looks like they’ve planned for a getaway driver.”

“Right,” Felix says. “Hyunjin, don’t worry about the driver yet, focus on the others.”

“Got it,” Hyunjin’s voice crackles.

A headwind from the ocean breezes past Felix and he looks out to the water. Beyond the choppy waves he sees a ship about the size of a small ferry approaching. He taps into the comm channel. “I got eyes on the boat,” he says.

“Gangsters just entered the area, Hyunjin, you on ‘em?” Jisung asks.

“Roger,” Hyunjin’s voice comes quieter than before.

“Block off the exit, we’ll corner ‘em on the dock,” Felix says. His eyes go back to the boat, which is closer to the dock now. It turns slowly to park next to the dock and Felix hears the steady whir of the engines stop.

“The engines are cut, Felix,” Jisung says. Felix is about to respond when he hears the gentle pad of footsteps on the wooden pier. His hand goes to his belt and he unclips his staff and twirls it in his fingers in anticipation. Finally, all the training sessions are being put to good use.

“Uh, Felix?” Jisung’s voice crackles.

Felix rolls his eyes and taps his earpiece. “What is it?” he whispers. “Targets are approaching.”

“Sorry, sorry,” comes Jisung’s voice. Felix’s brow furrows. Why does he sound… worried? “It’s just… it’s the ship. No one’s on it.”

“What.” Felix and Hyunjin’s voices echo through the comm channel at the same time.

“Life form scan came back negative. That ship is being driven remotely.”

Felix’s heart rate starts picking up with all the new information. He breathes in deeply and tries to sort it out in his head. He brings his hand to his ear. “Jisung, I want you to track that signal, get a lock on where it’s being sent from. You can do that, right?”

A snort comes from Jisung’s end. “’Course I can. You two just focus on the targets.”

“That’s a copy,” Hyunjin says.

Felix is about to respond when he hears the three gangsters’ footsteps thump onto the dock. He peeks over the fishing crates and affirms their presence, then ducks back down. “Okay, Hyunjin, you here?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. You know what to do,” Felix says.

“Rush ‘em, disarm ‘em, knock ‘em out.” Felix swears he can hear the grin spreading on Hyunjin’s face as he talks. Looks like he’s getting antsy, Felix thinks. He expands his staff and stands up from his squat behind the fishing crates. So am I.

“Hey!” Felix shouts across the dock as he steps out from behind the crates. The gangsters whirl around at the sound of his voice. “I don’t think y’all are supposed to be here.” One of the gangsters, the smarter one, probably, reaches for their gun. Felix tries not to let the gangsters see him flinch. Sure, he’s trained in combat for years, but nothing could prepare him for the moment someone points a loaded gun at his face.

Hyunjin jumps out of the shadows and rushes the armed gangster, whacking the gun out of their grasp with a quick flick of his staff. Hyunjin whips the staff around to knock the gangster unconscious by hitting them full-force in the head.

As the first body hits the wood planks of the dock with a distinct thud, Felix races at the other two gangsters. He thrusts his staff into one of the gangster’s stomach, who falls backward and drops their gun. Felix frowns as the gangster pushes themselves to their feet and faces him, expressionless. They brandish a knife from a pocket and Felix’s eyes follow the glint of the metal as the gangster charges at him. Forgoing his staff, Felix steps to the side to avoid the gangster and grips on tightly to the arm wielding the knife. He elbows the gangster in the sternum and twists the knife out of their grip. Felix brings the gangster’s head down to his knee, knocking him unconscious before the knife even hits the dock.

Felix cracks a few knuckles and looks over at Hyunjin, who was finishing up with the last gangster. Hyunjin looks up at Felix for more instruction, not unlike a puppy, and Felix cracks a smile. “Getaway driver,” Felix says, and Hyunjin nods, sprinting away from the dock.

Felix taps his earpiece one last time. “Jisung, we’re all clear down here,” he says. He hears a sigh from Jisung’s end and the clattering of equipment as Jisung packs up and pokes his head up over his shipping container hideout. Felix waves at him and he swears he can see Jisung’s wide grin from where he’s standing.

Jisung clambers over the containers and patters over to Felix. “Whoa,” Jisung says, gaping in awe at the unconscious gangsters. He looks at Felix with wide eyes. “What did you guys do to them?”

Felix shrugs. “Cognitive recalibration,” he says, nudging one of the gangster’s arms with his foot. When Jisung looks confused, Felix clarifies, “We hit ‘em really hard in the head.” Jisung nods and purses his lips, humming softly in understanding.

“Most impressive,” Jisung says, “but I think I’ll stick to the techy stuff. I make a pretty good guy-in-a-chair, don’t I?” He grins as Felix gives him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Jisung,” Felix says, “you can always be our guy-in-a-chair.”

Their bonding moment is cut short when Hyunjin comes running back to the dock, panting hard and one hand on his lower abdomen. He breathes in and out deeply in an attempt to catch his breath before he tries to formulate words. “I couldn’t catch the car,” he says, all the words coming out in one breath. Felix comes to Hyunjin’s side and wraps one of his arms around his shoulder so that Hyunjin is standing up straight, letting air into his lungs. “I don’t know how they knew I was coming, but they knew.”

Felix and Jisung exchange a look. Something is fishy with this whole mission, and it’s not the literal fish in the water. Felix turns to Hyunjin and puts a hand on his chest. “It’s okay, Jinnie, it’s okay,” Felix says. Hyunjin’s knees start to buckle and Felix secures Hyunjin’s arm tighter around his shoulder. “It’s not your fault that the driver got away, it just happened. You’re okay, Jinnie.” Felix is having a hard time holding Hyunjin up at this point, so he gestures to Jisung. “We should probably get outta here.”

Jisung looks at the ground then at the gangsters lying on the dock. “What about them?” he asks in a small voice.

“Cleanup crew will take care of ‘em,” Felix assures him. “We did all the hard work anyway, it’s the least they could do.”

Hyunjin is gulping in large amounts of air by now, his whole body heaving with the effort. He looks up at Felix with large eyes. “Got shot.”

Felix’s eyes go wide. “What? Why didn’t you lead with that?” Felix’s voice comes out panicked and shaky. He beckons frantically to Jisung, who runs over with equally wide eyes. Jisung appears on Hyunjin’s other side and wordlessly wraps Hyunjin’s arm around his shoulders, taking some of the weight off Felix.

Can’t believe someone got hurt on our first mission, Felix thinks regretfully as they lead Hyunjin to the car. He turns his head to look at Hyunjin. His head is bowed and his breathing is shaky, blowing some of the longer strands of his black hair out of his face when he breathes out. Felix winces when Hyunjin gasps. But why did it have to be Hyunjin?

Felix deposits Hyunjin in the passenger seat of the car, despite Jisung’s complaint that Hyunjin had shotgun on the drive here. Felix had narrowed his eyes at Jisung, who’d raised his hands in surrender before Felix shooed him away to get the medical kit from the trunk. Maybe humor is Jisung’s way of coping with difficult situations.

Felix watches over Jisung’s tidings as he strips Hyunjin’s bloodied shirt from his body and cleans the area near the gunshot wound. Felix bites the inside of his cheek when he hears Hyunjin’s pained whimpers and yelps when Jisung touches too close to the wound.

“Hyunjin, man, I know it hurts, but I gotta get it outta there,” Jisung says. Hyunjin purses his lips and nods quickly as Jisung shoves a pair of glasses onto his nose and pulls a pair of tweezers out of the medical kit. “Okay, I’m going in.”

“Wait!” Hyunjin cries and Jisung stops short. Hyunjin looks at Felix standing behind Jisung. “Hold my hand?”

Something catches in Felix’s throat as Jisung shuffles aside and gives him space to stand next to Hyunjin. He doesn’t say anything as he holds out his hand and Hyunjin takes it, squeezing hard. He nods to Jisung. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Jisung goes back in with the tweezer and starts poking through the wound, looking for the bullet. It pains Felix to watch Hyunjin muffle his screams, instead choosing to let out his pain by squeezing the life out of Felix’s hand. But Felix doesn’t mind, as long as Hyunjin doesn’t die.

No, that can’t happen, Felix thinks, shaking the thought out of his head. He looks at Hyunjin’s face, all scrunched up with pain. You can’t die on me now.

Jisung straightens up after a minute, brandishing a bullet the size of a centimeter between the tweezers. “Got it!” he exclaims. Hyunjin sighs with relief, and his grip on Felix’s hand loosens.

“How much blood did I lose?” Hyunjin asks. Despite being on the brink of death, he sounds surprisingly calm. Maybe he’s in shock.

Jisung doesn’t respond for a bit. “I’m not sure, but probably enough that you’re gonna need a transfusion. We don’t have the stuff for that here, though,” Jisung says, worry seeping into his voice.

Felix puts a hand on Jisung’s shoulder. “Then we’ll just have to get back as quickly as possible,” he says. Jisung nods and goes to put away the medical kit.

Felix leans over Hyunjin to buckle his seatbelt for him. When he pulls back, he smiles at Hyunjin. “Good work today,” Felix says, reaching out a fist close to Hyunjin’s.

Hyunjin bumps Felix’s fist with his own and sports a sickly smile. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he says. Felix chuckles at Hyunjin’s ability to crack a joke in his current state. He goes to shut Hyunjin’s door, but not before he notices the tinge of pink coating Hyunjin’s cheeks that’s illuminated by the car light.

Felix smirks to himself, wondering if the flush in Hyunjin’s cheeks is because of him or the blood loss, and slides into his own seat in the back. Just the thought of him flustering Hyunjin makes something in the pit of his stomach feel warm.

Before Felix can reconcile this newfound feeling, Jisung plops into his seat and leans over the middle seat. “Felix, look at this,” he says, his voice low. With its last passenger finally seated, their car whirs to life, and Hyunjin sets the navigation to take them back to JYP.

Felix squints as he reads the tiny text on the holo-screen of Jisung’s watch. “I traced the wireless signal that was controlling the ship like you asked,” Jisung says. “But – well, just look.” He points to the bottom right corner of the screen, and Felix’s eyes widen.

Location: JYP Industries and Tech.

Chapter 6: Mission Report: Felix ver.

Chapter Text

Felix hears Jisung rustling in his bed before the tapping. Incessant tapping, that doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop any time soon. Felix groans and opens the eye that isn’t smushed into his pillow and sees Jisung’s hand reaching across the gap between their beds and tapping his bedframe.

Jisung gasps when he sees Felix’s eye, which is narrowed in disgust and pulls his hand back. “Sorry, I thought you were asleep,” he says sheepishly.

“Well, I was,” Felix says, shifting in his bed and propping himself up on one elbow, and resumes glaring at Jisung, now with both eyes.

Jisung flushes and looks down at his fingernails. He starts picking at a hangnail, only to jump when Felix clears his throat loudly. “Sorry, man,” Jisung says, finally looking at Felix. He rubs his arm with one hand. “I just thought… it’s just too quiet around here.”

Felix can’t help but look down at Hyunjin’s empty bunk bed right below Jisung’s. His heart pangs when it hits him: it’s been three days since the mission, and Hyunjin’s spent all the nights since then in the med bay. Felix can feel Jisung’s gaze boring into him, and he closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to see the pity crawling over Jisung’s face.

“It’s not your fault, you know,” Jisung says, his voice gentle. “He knew what he was getting himself into, we all did. He trusted you when you made the decision to go after that car because he respects you and he knew you had his best interests at heart, as well as the interests of the mission.”

Felix dares to open one eye to look at Jisung. A small, grateful smile twitches at the corner of his mouth when he sees the compassion in Jisung’s eyes. Maybe he’s not so bad after all, Felix thinks, opening his other eye.

“I trust you,” Jisung says simply. The smile envelops Felix’s face.

“Thanks, Jisung,” Felix says. Silence falls between the two before Felix asks, “Where’s Seungmin?”

Jisung flops back down onto his pillow. “I dunno. Prolly with Jeongin? I swear, those two are attached at the hip these days,” he says.

Felix grins. “Yeah. Seungmin seems really happy, too.”

Jisung lifts his head off his pillow so quickly, his hair flops into his face. He blows it out of his eyes, and says, “Do you think… are they together together?”

Felix snorts. “Highly unlikely. Both of them are dense as chocolate fudge brownies; the day they confess is the day I die.” Jisung’s laughter rings throughout their room, and Felix grins.

Jisung lays back down with his hands under his head. “We have to give our mission report today,” he says with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Felix says. He shudders at the thought. He’d be lying if he said he was looking forward to any interaction with the higher-ups of JYP Industries, much less the CEO himself. The wireless signal controlling the boat from their mission combined with the cryo-frozen humans in the secret basem*nt, Felix and Jisung have more than enough to be skeptical about, plus the fact that the company probably definitely had a hand in the death of Jisung’s parents.

“Could you… do you think you could do it alone?” Jisung’s voice comes out small. “The doc I talked to yesterday said Hyunjin’s good to go two days from then, so tomorrow I guess. But I don’t think he’s gonna be able to do the report. And…” Jisung trails off. Felix leans against the wall and wraps his arms around his knees while he waits for Jisung to find his words again. “…I don’t think I can go back there again. You saw what happened last time.”

Felix nods in understanding. “I get it. Don’t wanna be triggering some deep-rooted anxiety just to bring in a mission report,” he says. “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Well,” Jisung says, sitting up and looking at Felix, “you might not have to go alone.” Felix raises an eyebrow, and Jisung waves him off. “Don’t look at me like that, I won’t actually be going with you.” He scrambles down the ladder of his bunk and sifts through a pile of tech and unused parts that he’d collected over the past few days. Apparently, Jisung stress-invents things, and worrying about Hyunjin has definitely spurred a technological boom in Jisung’s inventions.

After a substantial amount of digging, Jisung turns to Felix and holds up his hand, beaming. Felix squints and he can barely make out a dark, circular object between Jisung’s pointer finger and thumb.

“What exactly am I looking at that’s so impressive?” Felix asks. Jisung makes a “tch”-ing noise and rolls his eyes, beckoning Felix to come closer. Felix sighs and climbs down the ladder of his bunk. His toes curl when they touch the cold floor he and thinks he probably should’ve put socks on. He walks over to Jisung, staring jealously at Jisung’s socked feet.

“It’s a micro-camera,” Jisung says proudly. “I can’t remember if I put a microphone in there, but I think I did. Anyway,” Jisung shrugs, “it’ll be perfectly disguised on the button of a shirt. It’ll be like I’m there, but not really, ‘cause I’ll be watching and listening from the sanctity of our room, and you won’t hear anything from my end. It’s a one-way thing.”

Felix nods. “Very cool,” he says, dragging out each word. Jisung beams again when Felix beckons to him. “C’mon, let’s get it set up, I think I have a black button-up somewhere. I’ll give the report after dinner.”

***

Felix runs a finger through the collar of his shirt as he walks down the hall to CEO Park’s office. It’s been a long time since he’s worn a nice shirt like this, but he doesn’t remember it being this suffocating. Maybe it’s not the shirt, Felix thinks as he undoes the top button so he can at least breathe. Even with more air coming into his lungs, the suffocating feeling is still pressing down on him like he’s underwater.

He stops in front of CEO Park’s door and breathes in. “Ready?” he murmurs to the camera, even though he knows there’s not going to be a response. Maybe he’s talking to himself more than Jisung. He grabs the door handle and opens the door slowly.

CEO Park’s face brightens when he sees Felix, and Felix’s stomach plummets. “Well, hello, Felix. I’ve been waiting for you.” Felix represses the shiver that dares to overcome his entire body when the CEO speaks, instead opting for a smile and a bow as he walks in the room and shuts the door behind him.

“Have a seat,” CEO Park says, gesturing to a chair in front of his desk. It’s the same deceiving chairs that are way less comfortable than they look from the last time Felix was here. He lowers himself into the chair and fixes his shirt, trying to make his adjustment of the micro-camera look like he’s just nervously fidgeting.

“So,” the CEO begins, clasping his hands on his desk, “your mission. It was a success, no?”

Felix clears his throat before he speaks. “Yes and no, sir. We prevented the gang members from obtaining the weapons, but their getaway driver, well, he got away, sir,” Felix finishes lamely. CEO Park chuckles at the joke Felix unintentionally made, and Felix gulps, trying to crack a smile and go along with the CEO.

“As long as the weapons were intercepted, I say it’s a success,” the CEO says. Felix sighs with relief. CEO Park’s gaze turns serious. “Will your fellow agents be giving their own reports?”

Felix shakes his head. “No, sir. Hyunjin is injured, he’s been in the med bay for a few days and I didn’t want to burden him. And Jisung is, um, preoccupied.”

CEO Park leans back in his chair. “Huh. How unfortunate. I would’ve liked to see Jisung again.” The CEO’s eyes flick to Felix’s shirt before going back up to his face. “That’s a nice shirt, Felix. Special occasion?”

Felix scratches his neck. “Uh, not really, sir. I was, um, going to visit Hyunjin after this,” Felix says, stumbling over a few words.

CEO Park nods. “Ah, yes. Well, send him my best.” Felix nods and stands up from the chair and goes to the door when CEO Park’s voice cuts through the air. “And Felix?” He turns to look back at the CEO, who’s hands are now clasped on his desk again. “I look forward to seeing more of your work.”

Felix nods again, this time more frantically, and bows his way out of the office. Once the door is closed, he breaks into a run, not stopping until he gets back to his room. He swipes his bracelet in front of the sensor and barges into the room, panting.

He looks up at Jisung, who’s sitting on his bed with a laptop displaying the live feed of the micro-camera. The expression on Jisung’s face could only be described as fear.

Jisung’s voice comes softly. “He knew. How did he know.” Felix shakes his head as he makes his way to Hyunjin’s bed and flops down face-first into the pillow. He breathes in and out, savoring Hyunjin’s scent left behind on the pillow, a combination of the shampoo and lotion he likes to use.

“Did you hear what he said? It’s like he wants to see me face to face just to torture me,” Jisung says. “Wait, that means he knows I know that his company killed my parents.” Felix hears Jisung’s breathing grow quicker. “Oh my god, what if he knows we know? You know, about the people down there?” Felix would comment on Jisung’s usage of the word ‘know’ so many times if he didn’t sound so stressed and nervous and… anxious?

Felix lifts his head off Hyunjin’s pillow. “Jisung, man, you gotta calm down,” he says, trying to make his voice as gentle as possible. “There’s no need to blow this out of proportion. You’re – we’re going to be okay.”

“How, though? How do you know?” Jisung shouts from above. Felix stills at Jisung’s tone and doesn’t say anything. He hears some rustling that sounds like Jisung pulling his fingers through his hair. “We are being fed, clothed and housed by the very people that killed my parents, that hurt those people in the basem*nt, that refuse to help Jeongin, even though he’s just a kid and shouldn’t be here. Heck, we’re all kids and they’re training us like full-fledged spies.”

Felix stays silent as he lets Jisung work through his worries as he flops his face back down onto Hyunjin’s pillow. He realizes it’s probably better to let him vent, rather than keeping it pent up. Felix sighs and wonders if he’d known Jisung displayed anxiety-like symptoms on top of suffering so much if he still would’ve been adamant about strongly disliking Jisung from the beginning.

“Felix? Are you still there?” Jisung’s voice floats down from the top bunk, still laced with worry.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Felix says after a beat. “Just… thinking.” He sits up and leans against the wall with his knees tucked into his chest.

Jisung sighs. “That’s valid. There is a lot of stuff to think about.” Felix hums in agreement. “Like the signal, from that boat on our mission. It came from here, like this building,” Jisung says. Felix can imagine the hand motions he’s doing to accompany his words and smiles. “That means someone, also in this building, drove that boat with the weapons on it to the port.”

“But why would they do that?” Felix interjects. “That would mean someone else tipped off the gang about the boat that they planned to drive to the port with the weapons on it. The tip-off could also work for JYP, along with the driver of the boat.”

“Well, that’s just stupid,” Jisung says. “If that were the case, it’d be easier to hire trained people to pose as criminals for us to fight. That way, a gang doesn’t actually get involved and no one gets hurt. Either that or there were no weapons on the boat in the first place.”

Felix snorts. “So you’re saying our mission was for nothing?” He starts to chuckle at the ridiculous conclusion Jisung is drawing from the evidence they have, but his laughter fades after a second. Felix’s eyes widen as he comes to a realization. “But someone did get hurt.” His voice is monotone as he says, “Hyunjin got hurt.”

Jisung’s quiet for a moment. Then he says, “Yeah. He did.”

Felix’s gaze is fixed on the wall across from him as he says, “My friend got hurt. My friend is lying in the med bay recovering from a gunshot wound that shouldn’t have even happened. f*cking JYP – ” his voice starts to break “ – JYP f*cking hurt my Hyunjin – I mean, my best friend.”

Felix’s body starts to shake with silent sobs as he buries his face in his knees. He grabs Hyunjin’s pillow and wraps his arms around it, stuffing his face into the fabric. It smells like Hyunjin, which only makes Felix want to cry into the pillow even more than he already has. Everything is so messed up, Felix thinks. He hugs the pillow closer to his chest and pretends it’s Hyunjin. What he wouldn’t give for a hug from his best friend right now.

“You okay, man?” Jisung’s voice sounds closer than before. Felix lifts his head off the pillow and sees Jisung’s upside-down face peering at him. Jisung winces when he sees Felix’s tear-stained face. “Okay, I guess you’re not okay.” Felix barely has time to glare at Jisung before his head disappears and he hears the familiar thump of Jisung moving around in his bed. He sees a foot appear on the highest rung of the ladder, followed by the other until Jisung is standing in front of Hyunjin’s bed, which is currently occupied by a crying Felix.

Jisung stands there for a bit, watching Felix sniffle and snort. Felix is about to comment that he doesn’t need Jisung’s pity, but Jisung beats him to it. “You know, it’s okay to not be okay,” is all Jisung says.

Those words alone send Felix into another bout of crying. He stuffs his face back into the pillow and a few moments later, he hears the mattress shift underneath him and warmth next to his shoulder. Felix turns his face to one side and sees Jisung huddled up next to him, looking hesitant. Felix raises an eyebrow and waits for Jisung to do something. Then he realizes Jisung’s waiting for him, so he nods his head and disentangles one of his arms from his self-hug and pulls Jisung close to him.

Jisung grins one of the biggest grins Felix has seen since he’s met him and wraps his arms around Felix’s middle, resting his head on Felix’s shoulder. Felix hums as Jisung sidles up next to him and lets his head rest on Jisung’s head.

In the comfort of Jisung’s arms, Felix lets himself close his eyes and breathe. There’s a strange relief in being allowed to cry. Felix had spent so much of the past two years prioritizing training over his emotions and relationships with other people, he’d forgotten how nice it feels to have someone be there for him. Yet, he still feels like something is missing.

Felix falls asleep thinking about Hyunjin before the tearstains have a chance to dry on his face.

Chapter 7: The Glitch, The Plan, and The Slightly Jealous Man

Chapter Text

When Felix blinks awake in the morning, the first thing he notices is the horrible crick in his neck. He tries stretching out his neck but it still hurts. He curses himself for not going back to his own bed.

The second thing he notices is Jisung leaning up against him, mouth open, and little snores coming out of his nose. Anyone else’s first thought would probably be ‘cute,’ and somewhere in the back of Felix’s mind, there’s a voice cooing at Jisung, but all Felix can process right now is that Jisung is drooling on his shirtsleeve and there’s a f*cking crick in his neck because he fell asleep next to a wall and a very bony human.

So Felix shoves Jisung off him and crawls off Hyunjin’s bed. A yelp from behind him tells him that Jisung is awake.

“Dude,” Jisung says in his normal groggy morning voice. Felix turns around and nearly snorts at Jisung’s bedhead and puffed out cheeks. Only one of his eyes being open just adds to the look.

“I’m not gonna tell you that you look atrocious,” Felix starts, a giggle already forming in his voice. “But you should probably brush your hair or something before we go eat. That’s all I’m saying.”

Jisung looks at Felix with a deadpanned expression. “First of all,” he says before stopping to stretch his arms over his head as he yawns, “no one asked you. And second of all, aren’t we getting Hyunjin before breakfast?”

A smile twitches at the corner of Felix’s lips as he remembers that today is the day Hyunjin gets released from the med bay. The smile overtakes him as he turns away from Jisung to find some fresh clothes. “Yes, yes we are.”

***

Felix makes it to Hyunjin before Jisung, partially because he runs faster than Jisung and also because Jisung isn’t running.

He tackles Hyunjin in a hug, nearly bowling over his friend and the nurses that had been briefing Hyunjin on what to do and not to do so that the stitches can keep his wound together.

Hyunjin stops the two from face-planting on the ground and looks over his shoulder at Felix with a warm smile. “Good to see you too, Lix,” he says, laughter tinting his voice. Felix gives Hyunjin an extra hard squeeze before he pulls back but holds onto Hyunjin’s arms like he’s afraid Hyunjin’s going to float away.

"It’s nice to have you back, Jinnie,” Felix says. Hyunjin bows his head and laughs before looking back up at Felix. Felix could’ve sworn Hyunjin’s cheeks looked a bit pink, but he tacks it up to having the air squeezed out of him in Felix’s crushing hug.

“It’s not like I really left, you visited me,” Hyunjin says.

Felix shakes his head. “Yeah, but it wasn’t the same. Our room was too quiet without you. Wasn’t it, Jisung?” Felix turns to Jisung as he hears his footsteps approaching.

“Hmm? Wasn’t what?” Jisung asks.

“Our room. It was too quiet without Hyunjin.”

“Oh, yeah. It really was,” Jisung says. Felix tilts his head. Jisung sounds… far away. He watches Jisung play with his fingers before Hyunjin speaks up.

“So, should we go eat? I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving,” Hyunjin groans. He leans over dramatically on Felix like he doesn’t have the strength in his limbs to walk by himself. Felix squawks under Hyunjin’s weight and Jisung snorts, bending over into a full-on cackle by the time Felix rights himself and Hyunjin.

“Okay, enough of that,” Felix says, swatting Jisung’s arm. Jisung grips his arm in mock-hurt for a second before grinning at Felix. “Weakling,” Felix says with absolutely no mockery. Jisung laughs and the two start walking, not noticing the frown on Hyunjin’s face.

“You coming, slowpoke?” Felix calls, turning around when he notices Hyunjin hasn’t followed them. Hyunjin snaps to attention and his face clears, and he jogs out of the med bay.

“You two seem to be getting along now,” Hyunjin comments on the way to the canteen.

“Well, we kinda bonded last night,” Jisung says and bumps Felix’s shoulder, a knowing smile spreading on his face. “After I had a minor anxiety attack and Felix broke down into tears, we just hugged it out and fell asleep in each other’s arms.”

“Ah,” Hyunjin says, his voice flat. He steps ahead of the other two to scan their way into the canteen. “Seems like some sh*t went down while I was gone, huh.” He taps Felix on the shoulder as he spots an empty table. They make their way through the canteen and sit down, Hyunjin sitting across from Felix and Jisung. “Mind telling me what exactly went down?”

Felix and Jisung exchange a look. “I dunno about that,” Jisung says delicately. “It’s, uh, highly classified information.”

Hyunjin seems to bristle at that and his lips thin into a line. He clasps his hands on the table and leans forward. His voice is low when he speaks. “Just because I was MIA for a bit doesn’t mean I shouldn’t get to know.” He looks between the other two, and Felix can feel Jisung tensing up beside him. I knew he wouldn’t be able to hold up under interrogation, Felix thinks, biting his bottom lip. On the other hand, what has gotten into Hyunjin?

Felix is about to say something when Jisung grabs his hand under the table, and he lets out a small “eep.” Hyunjin raises an eyebrow when Felix makes the noise. “Something wrong, Lix?” Hyunjin asks. The tone of his voice almost makes Felix squeak in and of itself, but he takes a deep breath and puts a smile on his face.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he says and tries to untangle Jisung’s fingers from his. Apparently, Jisung’s grip is as strong as the titanium he works with on the daily, so Felix turns to Jisung and says, “Jisungie, could you go grab us some food? Pretty please?” He gives Jisung a pointed look as he delivers the last phrase, and Jisung seems to understand.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Jisung says, finally letting go of Felix’s hand. Felix sighs at the release because Jisung’s grip was starting to hurt as much as the annoying crick in his neck. He watches Jisung get up from the bench and get in line for food.

“Hope he doesn’t drop anything while he tries to carry three trays at once,” Hyunjin says. Felix turns to him, a little surprised. That’s the meanest thing Hyunjin has ever said about Jisung. To Felix, anyway.

“Hey, lay off him. You’re always the one telling me to be nice to him,” Felix says. He leans on the table with his forearms. “What’s gotten into you, man?”

Hyunjin cracks a pained smile and rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms. “I don’t know, Felix, maybe it’s that my two best friends are going behind my back,” he finally says, removing his hands from his eyes. The stare he gives Felix is enough for him to know what this is about.

“It’s not that you won’t get to know,” Felix says, lowering his voice, “but we can’t talk here. Jisung meant it when he said, ‘highly classified.’”

“It’s not just that, Lix,” Hyunjin says, his eyes boring into Felix’s. “What exactly happened last night between you and Jisung?”

Felix leans away, taken aback. “Why do you wanna know?” he asks.

Hyunjin sighs and rolls his eyes like it’s obvious. “Because I care about you, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Felix snorts. “You think Jisung would hurt me? C’mon, Jinnie, he’s not even capable of killing a mosquito.”

“I didn’t mean physically,” Hyunjin clarifies.

Felix’s face is one of pure confusion, and he looks at Hyunjin until something in the back of his mind, the same something he ignored this morning, surfaces. “You think Jisung likes me?”

Hyunjin shrugs like he doesn’t need to explain himself any further. “Seems like it. He did grab your hand under the table, didn’t he?” Felix rolls his eyes at that comment because of course Hyunjin noticed that.

“It’s nothing like that, Jinnie, I swear,” Felix pleads. He starts grasping for words to prove himself. “It was just two bros having mental breakdowns together, nothing happened! I don’t even know if Jisung’s gay, heck, I don’t even know if I’m – ”

He stops. His eyes start losing focus on Hyunjin even though he’s sitting not a foot away. He blinks multiple times until the fog clears. When he looks back up at Hyunjin, his face is no longer menacing like before. Instead, his features have softened and a look of worry so pure adorns his face that Felix swears it’s pity.

Felix shakes his head before he remembers what they were talking about. “It’s not that you won’t get to know,” he says, keeping his voice low, “but we can’t talk here. You’ll understand why when we tell you.”

Hyunjin’s brow wrinkles and he leans closer to Felix. “Lix, are you okay?”

Felix co*cks his head. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“Because you just – you know what? Never mind,” Hyunjin says. He’s about to cross his arms but Felix reaches across the table and catches Hyunjin’s hands and holds them with both of his.

“Please, Jinnie. Trust us,” Felix pleads, gently squeezing Hyunjin’s hands. Hyunjin looks up from his hands caught in Felix’s, and his gaze softens when he meets Felix’s eyes. “There’s a lot of wrong things we need to make right, and we can’t do it without you. I won’t do it without you.”

Hyunjin bites his lip in worry before he lets out a breath and his shoulders slump. “Okay.” His voice comes softly, but Felix manages to hear it. “But for the record,” Hyunjin says, “I wouldn’t let you do any dangerous sh*t without me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Felix responds, and he smiles gratefully. He barely notices that Hyunjin doesn’t pull his hands away until Jisung returns with the food, the third tray he was haphazardly balancing on his arm with the help of a miniature robotic claw crashing onto the table.

***

“So, lemme get this straight,” Seungmin says from his bed. Felix is sitting across from him on Hyunjin’s bed with his body pressed against Hyunjin’s. He stares Seungmin down as he waits for him to go on.

“There’s a basem*nt in this facility, which you discovered,” Seungmin points at Jisung, who’s lying on his bunk bed, “because you randomly noticed a fake panel in the elevator and pulled it off. So you pressed the button and found the basem*nt, is that correct?”

“So far, yeah,” Jisung says. Felix smirks and huddles closer to Hyunjin, who wraps his arm around Felix’s shoulders. If anyone can deal with Seungmin’s bluntness, it’s Jisung, he thinks.

Seungmin continues without fail. “Then, you found a secret room full of humans that have been cryogenically frozen, and you want to free them because you think JYP is gonna come after you because you know they killed your parents.”

“That sounds accurate,” Jisung says, peeking over the edge of his bunk. “Right, Felix?”

Felix nods in agreement. “Basically, yeah.” He sighs into Hyunjin and scoots closer to him on the edge of the bed, tangling their feet together on the floor. This is nice, he thinks. “All you really need to know, Minnie, is that this company is keeping secrets, and is probably evil, or something.”

Seungmin snorts and crosses his arms. “You do realize this all sounds like it comes straight out of a drama, or an anime, right? You know, scary corporation, secret agents, tragic backstory – no offense, Jisung,” Seungmin says.

“None taken,” Jisung says. Felix hears him flop onto his pillow.

"Anyway, Seungmin, none of that is important,” Felix says. “What’s important is that you’re gonna help us. We can’t just let those people stay down there. It’s immoral.”

Seungmin purses his lips. “But what if there’s a reason they’re down there? If I’m going along with your drama plotline, they might even be superhuman. What if they’re dangerous?”

Felix tenses up at ‘dangerous.’ Hyunjin starts rubbing circles into Felix’s shoulder through his shirt. “Seungmin,” Felix says, “lemme ask you this: are you really in the position to judge the character of those humans? I’ve seen them, and by the looks of it, they probably went through some sh*t a million times over.”

Seungmin clams up and sighs. “I suppose you’re right,” he admits. He leans back on his bed and smooths the sheets with one hand. “Alright, I’m in.” Resounding whoops and cheers come from Felix and Jisung. Hyunjin just smiles and shakes Felix in his arms excitedly. “When do you plan on freeing them, anyway?” Seungmin asks.

Felix grins and looks up at Jisung’s bunk. Sure enough, Jisung is looking over the edge and smiling down at him with an equally mischievous grin. Felix looks at Hyunjin, who confirms with a nod, and turns back to Seungmin.

“Tonight.”

Chapter 8: Meet the Monsters in the Basem*nt

Chapter Text

“So these are the monsters in the basem*nt,” Seungmin says in awe as he looks up at the glass tanks. Seungmin makes a point of observing each human before moving on to the next tank. “Fascinating,” he says under his breath, but Felix still hears it.

He bristles at the comment. “They’re not experiments, Seungmin, we’re not gonna run any tests on them,” he says forcefully. “I think they’ve already had enough of that.” Felix says the last part softer, and Seungmin turns around.

"Sorry,” he says. He looks back at the tanks over his shoulder. “This is just… unprecedented.”

“Yeah, only unprecedented because according to the JYP database, these three don’t even exist,” Jisung says, poking his head out from behind the control panel of the middle tank. When everyone gives him a questionable look, he rolls his eyes and clarifies, “I hacked the JYP database for a trace of these guys, like, yesterday. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch.”

“Okay, that’s enough of that, Jisung,” Hyunjin says, effectively cutting Jisung off from further ranting. Felix shoots him a grateful smile, which Hyunjin returns.

“How’s that control panel coming, Jisung?” Seungmin asks as he rams a screwdriver into the third tank’s panel. Felix feels Hyunjin wince beside him as Seungmin uses the screwdriver not to loosen or tighten a screw, but to pry a piece of junk out of the circuitry.

“Almost done,” Jisung says from behind the panel. All Felix can see is his fluffy brown hair poking over the top of the panel. “They really didn’t want anyone messing with this stuff. I don’t think anyone that works here besides me and Minnie could get these things working again.”

“Maybe that was the point,” Felix mutters under his breath, quiet enough that Jisung and Seungmin can’t hear, but Hyunjin does.

“You don’t think they’re dangerous, do you?” Hyunjin asks, looking from Felix to the tanks and back to Felix again.

Felix shakes his head and crosses his arms. “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: no one has the right to determine how dangerous you are. I mean, look at us,” Felix says, gesturing between him and Hyunjin. “We’re the youngest and yet, the most capable agents in this entire f*cking building. We’ve been trained to fight and kill if necessary. They – ” Felix points at the tanks “ – are no different from us.”

Felix’s speech seems to resonate with Hyunjin, who shifts his weight onto his left leg like he does when he’s thinking. “Then why,” Hyunjin starts, “do you think they ended up like that?” He waves a hand at the three tanks in front of them.

Felix follows Hyunjin’s hand, his gaze resting on the face of the boy furthest to the left. His jaw clenches when he spots a few veins of ice crawling up the sides of the boy’s face. It’s like the cold is devouring him. Again, he wonders what these people did – or what happened to them – to deserve this.

He has an answer when he turns back to Hyunjin. “I think their training was a little different than ours.”

“Whose training?” a new voice chimes in. Jisung squawks and bangs his head on the control panel in his panic to stand up and find the source of the voice. Felix puts his hands up in defense and Hyunjin does the same a second later. Seungmin only rolls his eyes and lowers the screwdriver in his hand.

“Jeongin, you’ve gotta be kidding me, we talked about this,” Seungmin says, somewhat exasperated. Felix and Hyunjin lower their guard when Seungmin says their friend’s name.

Jeongin phases into their reality with an innocent look on his face. “And I thought the conclusion of that talk was that I follow you, pretty much everywhere,” Jeongin says facing Seungmin.

Seungmin huffs. “Well, you’re not wrong,” he says with a shrug. “Next time, just tell me you’ll be tagging along.” There’s not a hint of reprimand in Seungmin’s voice and everyone notices. Jeongin wears a triumphant smile and waves at Felix and Hyunjin, who are standing awkwardly watching the scene unfold.

“Sorry for scaring you, Jisung,” Jeongin says before flouncing over to Seungmin’s project with the third control panel. Felix takes one look at Jisung and snorts. Jisung is wearing the angriest pout of all time on his face as he crosses his arms, one of his lasers still in hand.

“You lucky you cute, Innie,” Jisung says before his face goes back to normal and disappearing behind the control panel. No one can ever stay mad at Jeongin for long. Besides phasing, making everyone love him is pretty much his superpower.

“Well, that’s one more person to keep this secret,” Felix says.

Hyunjin nods and grasps Felix’s shoulder, pulling him into his chest. “Jeongin will be fine, he’s got a good head on his shoulders. That one,” Hyunjin says, nodding to Jisung’s hair floof sticking up from behind the panel, “I’m more worried about.” Felix snickers and covers his mouth with his hand.

“Me too,” Felix says.

Seungmin stands up from his panel. “We’re finished over here. Jisung, you done?”

Jisung sticks a thumbs up from behind his panel as he makes one last finishing touch before he stands up. “Good to go,” he says with a salute. “Everyone, to your stations.”

Felix doesn’t have time to roll his eyes before Hyunjin pulls him to the first control panel. “I’ll help Jisung, okay? This one seems to mean something to you,” Hyunjin says before dashing to Jisung’s side. Felix looks up at the boy inside the first tank, the one with the curly hair. Please be okay, Felix thinks, even though there’s no way he’s telepathic, or this all goes to waste.

“Everyone ready?” Jisung asks. A chorus of “yes” follows and he nods. “Okay, reset the temperature of the tanks to 15 degrees Celsius, now.” Felix turns to the panel and finds the temperature control, turning the dial from negative 150 to 15. He shivers just thinking about how cold that might be – it’s unfathomable.

“Now, press the third button to the left of the dial,” Jisung instructs. Felix looks for the button and presses it firmly, a little blue one. He nearly jumps when some of the generators occupying the room start whirring after everyone pressed the buttons.

“Jisung, should that be happening?” Felix asks.

“Yeah, it’s fine! This is totally normal!” Jisung shouts above the noise. “Now, this is the last part! Grab that lever, the big one, and pull it toward you! It’s probably a little stuck, just keep with it!”

Felix cracks his knuckles before he grips onto the metal lever. “On the count of three!” Jisung yells.

“One!” Felix tightens his grip on the lever and looks up at the curly-haired boy.

“Two!” He closes his eyes and hopes Jisung knows what he’s talking about.

“Three!”

The lever creaks as Felix yanks it toward him. It just goes to show how old it is. The lever stops moving about halfway and Felix wishes he brought some of those sticky gloves Hyunjin always wears during training. He grits his teeth and pulls harder, bracing his feet on the base of the control panel.

Felix flies back and falls onto the floor when the lever slides into place. He winces as he stands up, rubbing the hip he’d fallen on. He looks at Jisung and Hyunjin, then Seungmin and Jeongin, who are all stepping back from their panels. Felix looks up at the tanks and realizes why they’d been staring.

The seals on the tanks seem to be breaking, a combination of being released with the lever and the drastic change in temperature inside the tanks. Steam starts seeping out of the cracks and turns into a full-on mist when the tanks open completely.

Felix feels Hyunjin press up against him as Hyunjin pulls everyone close to him, like if they’re close together maybe he can protect them better. Felix smiles and pats Hyunjin’s back, letting him know he’s here. Hyunjin sends him a grateful smile.

When the mist clears, the five look up at the tanks. Felix wants to throw up when he sees the inside of the tanks.

Each human is bound to the back wall of the tanks with thick metal clamps on their arms and legs. Nothing secures their necks, so their heads are lolling forward and to the side without any support. The veins of ice covering their bodies melted during the temperature change, and streaks of water slide down their faces and bodies. On the curly-haired boy, Felix swears the water streaks look like tears.

“Get them out.” Felix’s voice comes out gruff, and everyone but Hyunjin jumps.

“H-how?” Jisung asks in a tiny voice.

Felix fixes him with a stare and Jisung cowers. “Use the laser cutter,” Felix says, trying to make his voice sound more gentle. Jisung nods quickly and goes up to the curly-haired boy and starts working on the metal. Felix comes up behind him, beckoning to Hyunjin.

"Once Jisung removes the clamps, we’ll catch him, okay?” Felix says, and Hyunjin nods. Felix’s eyes follow Jisung’s movement like lasers themselves as he cuts through the metal clamps and pries the boy’s leg out from underneath them. Jisung secures his arm around the boy’s torso after he cuts through the leg clamps and works on the arm clamps. Felix bites his lip in concern.

“Okay, you ready?” Jisung asks. He’s holding the boy’s body in his arms, trying to keep him from falling out of the tank and onto the floor.

Felix looks at Hyunjin, who nods. He turns back to Jisung and holds out his arms. “Let him go.” Jisung’s eyebrows scrunch together as he squats down and lets go of the boy’s torso. The boy falls into Felix’s and Hyunjin’s outstretched arms, and they bend their knees to soften the fall.

"You got him?” Hyunjin asks. Felix grunts in response and feels Hyunjin let go of the boy, leaving him to Felix. Felix sits the boy down on the floor as he watches Hyunjin and Jisung move to the second boy.

Felix finally gets a good look at the boy. With a strong jaw and prominent features, he looks a lot older than Felix, but that could be from the cold eating away at his body, and the lack of nutrients. Felix wonders if he looked like this when he was first frozen.

A loud thump sounds from nearby and Felix looks up with a start. Hyunjin and Seungmin have caught the second boy and are laying him on the floor. Jisung’s already approaching the third boy’s tank. Felix watches him climb up onto the platform and get to work on the boy’s clamps, and maybe Felix smiles when Jisung’s gaze lingers a little longer than it’s supposed to on the boy.

Felix turns his head to the boy in his arms when he coughs and starts wheezing. Felix doesn’t know what to do, so he just holds the boy upright in his arms and pounds on the boy’s back, like he’s choking.

“C’mon, man, wake up,” Felix says, more to himself than the boy. You can’t die, not after all this. He sighs in relief when the boy’s eyes open with a start and his breathing starts becoming less peppered with coughs.

“Oh my god, you’re alive,” Felix says. He holds onto the boy’s shoulders as his breathing slows, and the boy looks around. When he makes eye contact with Felix, he tenses and starts backing away, scooting on the floor.

“No, no, this can’t be happening. Not again, not again. I won’t do this again!” The boy starts murmuring to himself, then ends in a shriek. Felix can’t understand what he’s saying except for ‘no,’ but it sounds like English. And it sounds frantic. And scared. And…

Felix’s vision starts blurring and he holds a hand to his forehead, trying to make it go away. He blinks rapidly and tries to clear his vision. After a bit, the fog in his eyes goes away, and he can see the boy again. But the boy doesn’t look so scared anymore. Instead, he crawls closer to Felix and reaches out a hand. Felix watches the boy’s hand warily as it shakes, and touches Felix’s cheek so gently, it might as well have been a feather.

“You’re like me,” the boy says.

Felix jerks away at the boy’s words, even though he doesn’t understand. He looks around at the others, who’ve finished freeing the other frozen boys. The boy follows Felix’s gaze and lets out what might’ve been a sob when he sees. He scrambles up from the floor and dashes away from Felix so quickly, Felix thinks he was moving at the speed of sound.

“Changbin. Changbin, wake up!” the boy says to the second boy Jisung had cut the clamps off, who seems to be Changbin. Felix pushes himself up from the floor and stands a little ways behind the two freed boys. Changbin’s eyes open a lot slower than the first boy’s did, and when he looks up, he doesn’t scurry away like the first boy did from Felix.

“Chan?” Changbin’s voice is hoarse and his hand grips Chan’s wrist as he pulls himself up to sitting. Chan starts whimpering and slaps Changbin’s hand repeatedly until Changbin releases his hold on Chan’s wrist. “Sorry, man,” Changbin says. “It’s just – it’s been a long time.”

Chan doesn’t say anything, he just nods and sniffles. Felix thinks he’s tearing up. Changbin looks around. “Where’s Minho?”

There’s a loud crash, and Chan, Changbin, and Felix all turn their heads toward the noise. By the looks of it, something had fallen out of the third tank, and by the loud squeal of pain that follows, the something had fallen on Jisung.

“Aw, f*ck!” Jisung grunts, clutching his left shoulder with his right hand. Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin are standing near the control panel, watching as the third boy, presumably Minho, glares at Jisung.

Jisung looks up from his shoulder at Minho. “Why the f*ck would you do that?” Jisung shouts then tilts his head. “Wait, wait, back up. I have a better question: how the f*ck did you do that?” Minho doesn’t answer, just shrugs and stretches his hand out in the direction of the tank.

Felix’s eyes go wide when light greenish-blue wisps form around Minho’s fingers, and then the same color starts glowing around one of the metal clamps in the tank. The metal seemingly wrenches itself from the tank and flies at Jisung. Jisung screams again and ducks for cover behind the control panel of the second tank, narrowly avoiding getting hit in the head.

“Minho! Minho stop!” Chan yells, standing up from Changbin’s side and holding his hands out. Minho’s head whips around when he hears Chan’s voice and his hard features seem to soften.

“Chan?” he asks, his voice light. He looks down at Chan’s feet. “Changbin?” Changbin gives a half-hearted salute from the ground and Chan nods frantically.

“Please, don’t hurt them. They helped us, they freed us. And they’re just like us,” Chan says. At that, Minho lowers his hands, and the strange greenish-blue glow fades from his fingertips. Jisung peeks out from behind the control panel to check if the coast is clear, then steps out from behind it.

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘we’re just like you?’” Jisung asks. Felix cringes and hopes Jisung’s curiosity doesn’t ruin this situation for all of them. “As far as I know, none of us can do that,” he says, pointing at Minho. After a moment’s thought, Jisung reconsiders. “Well, maybe Jeongin could do that.”

Jisung and Felix turn to where their friends are standing, and the freed boys follow their gaze. Seungmin looks rooted to the spot in fear, and Hyunjin gulps so hard Felix can see his Adam’s apple bob. Jeongin just waves good-naturedly, although his smile looks a little more forced than normal.

Chan smiles back at Jeongin, then his gaze narrows as he spots something. “The bracelet,” he says in the most monotone voice. Changbin and Minho look at Chan in surprise, then look at Jeongin’s wrist. Jeongin looks too, even though he’s been wearing the JYP Industries issued bracelet since he started living here. All the trainees have one.

“Get it,” Chan says, and the three freed boys spring into action. Chan moves so fast that no one can see him; there’s just a tunnel of air in his wake. He appears behind Jeongin and holds him against his chest with his bracelet arm outstretched. When Felix and Seungmin start moving angrily toward Chan and Jeongin, Minho holds up his hands and the mint-colored wisps appear around his fingers again. Felix looks down and sees the mint color surrounding his body, and he finds he can’t move. Whatever magic Minho is doing, he’s preventing Felix from protecting his friends.

Felix looks around and sees Jisung, Hyunjin, and Seungmin all suspended in motion, not able to move to help Jeongin. Changbin marches toward Jeongin, and Felix can’t take it anymore. “You better not hurt him! After what we’ve done for you!” he screams. His voice comes out strangled, in anguish.

Chan takes one look at Felix. “We’re not going to hurt him. We’re just returning the favor,” he says. And with that, Changbin takes one step closer to Jeongin and grabs the bracelet in his fingers. He pinches the circuitry and in a second, sparks flare from the bracelet and Chan lets Jeongin go.

Jeongin falls to his knees and his breathing comes out labored. His arms start shaking and his palms won’t hold him anymore. He collapses onto his elbows, then falls onto his shoulder. He rolls onto his back and squeezes his eyes shut. His breathing gets slower as the seconds go by.

Felix struggles against Minho’s magic. “What did you do to him!” Felix screams. When none of them answer, Felix tries again. “I SAID, WHAT DID YOU DO!”

Even Chan, seemingly the most people-oriented person of the freed boys, doesn’t say anything. They just watch Jeongin lie there for who knows how long. Finally, after minutes of silence, Jeongin opens his eyes.

“Innie!” Seungmin shouts. Jeongin lifts his head up from the floor and looks for Seungmin. He smiles with his eyes when he sees him, and that seems to be enough for Seungmin to calm down.

The same can’t be said for Felix. “Jeongin, what happened?” he asks gruffly. Jeongin turns to face him, his expression solemn.

“I remember how I got like this,” Jeongin says, holding up a hand and phasing with it. Felix’s heart stops.

“What do you mean, you remember?” Felix asks.

Jeongin turns away from Felix and looks at Chan and Changbin. “Get them all off,” Jeongin says.

“Sure thing,” Changbin says. He approaches Seungmin first. “Minho, keep ‘em steady.” Minho nods like it’s no big deal, but Felix can see beads of sweat already appearing on his brow.

Changbin snaps Seungmin’s bracelet with the same ease he had Jeongin’s. The only difference is that Seungmin doesn’t react like Jeongin did. He just rubs his wrist and hurries to Jeongin’s side after Minho releases him from the magical tractor beam.

Hyunjin reacts like Jeongin when Changbin snaps his bracelet. Something pulls at Felix’s heart when he watches his best friend crumble to the ground after Minho lets him go. Felix struggles against Minho, but he can’t move.

When Changbin walks over to Jisung, he holds up both of Jisung’s arms but doesn’t find a bracelet. “Where’s yours?” Changbin asks.

“Oh, uh, I got rid of it a long time ago,” Jisung says. Felix thinks he’d be shrugging if Minho wasn’t preventing him from moving. “It’s signal kept interfering with my tech, so I deconstructed it.”

Both Chan and Changbin look confused, but Minho looks impressed. “Maybe you’re not so bad, then,” Minho says. He releases Jisung, who lands on his feet, but falls to the floor when his knees buckle. Felix swears he hears Minho giggle.

“Now, for you,” Changbin says as he comes up to Felix. Felix’s gaze flits around the room, looking for someone to save him. Seungmin and Jeongin are huddling on the floor, Hyunjin hasn’t woken up yet, Jisung’s on his hands and knees, still recovering from his wobbly legs, and Chan’s looking at Felix intently with his arms crossed.

Changbin looks to Chan for confirmation. Chan nods, and says, “Go for it.” Changbin grins and grabs Felix’s bracelet. It breaks under his grip, and Felix feels this current, almost like electricity, flow through his body. His heart starts beating faster and his fingers start twitching. Changbin steps back cautiously and Minho releases Felix. Felix falls onto his knees, breathing hard.

When he looks down at his hands, sparks are coming out of his fingertips, flickering like electricity, and with each spark, a new pain travels down his arm. If that sight wasn’t enough to make him faint, a searing pain shoots through the back of his head, and he screams. His eyes roll back into his head and close shut. Felix is unconscious before he even hits the floor.

Chapter 9: A Trip Down Memory Neuropathways

Chapter Text

Felix opens his eyes, but everything is dark. He blinks to clear his vision. He wants to scream because his eyes are f*cking open but he can’t see a f*cking thing.

Then Felix feels something on his feet. He scrunches his toes and little particles fall between his toes, scratching the skin. It doesn’t hurt, it feels almost nice. He scrunches his toes again and relishes in the feeling of the particles between his toes.

Then something wet washes over his feet, drenching them. He breathes in and a strange scent tickles the back of his throat. The wetness washes over Felix’s feet again and he closes his eyes, letting the feeling take over. The feeling is nice; the particles between his toes, his wet feet, and that tantalizing smell.

It feels like… home.

When Felix opens his eyes, he can see. He throws his head back and laughs in triumph at the light of the sun. He shields his eyes as he looks around. This place is… familiar, Felix thinks. The sand stretches as far as the eye can see and the water is bluer than the sky. He looks down at his toes and it hits him where he is.

It’s the first time he’s been on a beach since, well, as long as he can remember. Felix doesn’t know if he’s ever been to the ocean, maybe just a tiny lake on the outskirts of Seoul with a mediocre excuse for a berm.

“Ah!” Felix groans, and clutches his forehead in his hands. A searing pain thrashes through his head. The pain lasts for a few seconds, but when he opens his eyes and removes his hands, the beach looks different.

There are people on it, for one. Dozens of families populate the beach, rolling out their blankets in the sand. Felix has the urge to smile as he watches a group of children, no older than five or six, running around on the sand, chasing each other with sticks shaped like weapons in their hands.

Felix lurches forward and collapses on his hands and knees in the surf. Something is pulling at his gut like he’s been lassoed. He grunts and pushes himself up, resigning to follow the pulling feeling. He’s pulled from the edge of the water and frowns as he finds himself nearing the group of kids. He gets close enough that he can hear them.

“Haha, none of you can defeat me!” one of the boys shouts from a sandbank. He raises his stick like a sword. “I have the high ground!”

Everyone else murmurs among themselves, twirling their sticks in their hands. Felix chuckles as he notices most of their sticks resemble guns. Though swords would be useless against guns in a real fight, stick-swords do have an advantage over stick-guns.

“Oh yeah?” another voice calls from the huddle of kids at the bottom of the sandbank. Felix turns his head in time to see a small boy make his way through the ranks and plant his feet bravely at the front of the crowd. He slams a long stick into the ground before twirling it around his body expertly, earning a chorus of ‘Woah’ from the onlookers. Even the boy with the high ground looks impressed.

The staff-wielding boy looks up at the boy on the sandbank with a stoic expression. “Only a Sith deals in absolutes,” the boy says before running up the sandbank. The crowd erupts in cheers when the two boys’ sticks clash with a deafening thud. The staff-wielding boy thrusts forward and both boys tumble down the bank.

The two boys continue their fight, the staff-wielding boy pushing the other boy back with quick jabs. Felix is amazed at the technique for a boy so young. When the boys get near him, Felix finally gets a good look at the staff-wielding boy.

Besides the determined look on the boy’s face, his other defining features include a smattering of freckles across his cheeks and eyes. Freckles that Felix sees every time he looks in a mirror. He shakes his head. No, it can’t be, Felix thinks, rubbing his eyes. When he opens them, the freckled, staff-wielding boy knocks the sword out of the other boy’s hands.

The crowd of kids cheers, rushing over to congratulate the freckled boy. He smiles when the kids, probably his friends, give him high-five after high-five. One of them pulls the freckled boy in for a bro-hug, which Felix snorts at, because what six-year-old knows about bro-hugs, and the bro-hugger says something to the freckled boy.

“That was awesome, Felix.”

Before Felix can process exactly what just happened, he’s whisked away into the darkness again. That’s my name, Felix thinks as he fights against the darkness. He lashes out, trying to find his way back to the beach with that kid who looked like Felix and had Felix’s freckles, not to mention wielded a staff like Felix does.

The darkness starts to brighten again, and Felix finds himself standing in a large, open room, similar to an auditorium. Or maybe it’s a giant warehouse.

What’s disorienting is that there are tons of people crowded in this large room. Most of them seem to be parents, who are standing at the back of the room. All their kids are dressed in similar, loose-fitting clothing and are sitting cross-legged near the stage at the front of the room. Felix looks up to the stage and sees that boy from the beach. He looks older than he was at the beach, maybe twelve or thirteen, but he’s unmistakably the same boy.

Felix watches the boy accept a trophy from an adult wearing the same loose-fitting clothing as the kids, a thick black belt tied around his waist. The black belt adult makes sure the boy doesn’t drop the trophy before he picks up a mic from the table behind them.

“And, in first place for sparring in the age twelve through sixteen group, Felix Lee!” the black belt says into the mic and gestures to the boy beside him. The boy smiles a huge smile and holds the trophy up gleefully. He’s met with rounds of applause, but Felix can hear disgruntled whispers among the older kids sitting on the floor.

“He’s like the youngest in our age group. How’d he get the trophy?” one boy asks.

Another punches him in the arm. “Dude, you got eliminated in the first bracket. You didn’t have to go up against him.” The second boy shudders. “If you had, you wouldn’t be talking like that.”

Felix frowns at the conversation and looks up at the stage. The boy is still smiling widely as he runs down the steps on the side of the stage. He passes Felix on his way to sit back down. When he does, Felix is hit again with the realization that that boy looks exactly like me.

The scene changes again and Felix is thrown back into darkness. Again, he closes his eyes and as he fights against the darkness, he tries once again to make sense of it all. That kid… he can’t be stealing my life, can he? I don’t even remember my life. It’s not like my past was important for my future as an agent. But if he is me, then…

Am I watching my memories?

Felix forces his eyes open as the darkness fades away. Now, he’s attacked with lots of bright colors and loud noises. He shields his face with his arms and squints. The colors aren’t lights, but ribbons and flags.

He lowers his arms and looks around. He’s standing next to a barrier that’s blocking people from going into the street. The people behind the barriers are holding signs and waving flags while they cheer for the people in the middle of the street.

Felix turns back to the people in the middle of the street and sees a giant float being pulled by a car down the street. People are standing on the float, waving at the people on either side of the street. Felix looks down the street and sees more cars pulling floats and even more people marching next to the floats.

He wants nothing more than to get out of the street, but that gut feeling keeps him rooted to the spot. He watches as the floats pass by one by one, the people behind the barrier cheering for each one.

Felix doesn’t figure out what kind of parade this is until a float decked out in rainbows passes by. A Pride parade? he thinks. Is this one of my memories too?

Felix’s suspicion is confirmed when the next float passes by. It’s decorated in pinks, blues, and purples, and the riders of the float are waving flags of the same colors.

And marching alongside the float is memory-Felix. Memory-Felix has pink, blue, and purple striped face paint streaked across his cheeks, and the flag of the same colors is tied around his neck, flowing behind him like a cape.

Felix finds himself smiling widely at memory-Felix, who’s grinning like it’s the end of the world. Dressed in ripped Bermuda shorts and graphic band tee with a flannel tied around his waist, memory-Felix looks like he’s on top of the world.

“Bi Pride!” memory-Felix shouts.

“Bi Pride!” the float riders shout back.

“Bi Pride!” some of the crowd behind the barriers chorus.

Felix’s smile almost splits his face in two. This, this was the part of him that was missing. The part of him that felt like a hollow weight in his chest whenever he watched the cheesy rom-coms or dramas that Hyunjin is obsessed with.

This part of his identity completes him, and Felix couldn’t be more euphoric at the realization.

As the bisexual pride float rolls down the street, the scene starts getting darker. This time, Felix closes his eyes and accepts it. Truth be told, he can’t wait for his next memory. Maybe he’ll get to see his parents, or siblings if he has any. There’s a lump in his throat at the thought that he wouldn’t be able to recognize his family if he saw them, and he tries to will away the tears building in his eyes.

When the darkness lifts and Felix opens his eyes, there’s barely any light, unlike his previous memories. He’s in a small room with tiny windows on one wall. The only light streaming through the tiny windows is from a streetlight outside the building.

He observes the room and finds a few Korean characters on the walls. His brain goes haywire trying to decipher them after the last three memories being completely in English. Wait, does that mean I speak English? Felix wonders. When he sees a few staffs leaning against one of the walls, he knows where he is. What is memory-me doing practicing taekwondo this late at night? Felix thinks. And where is memory-me?

Felix turns around when he hears a loud thump from the other side of the room. He spots memory-Felix shoving stuff into a sports bag as he squats on the floor. Memory-Felix stands up and slings the bag over his shoulder and pulls out a phone from one of the pockets. He grins at his phone screen and leans on one leg as he quickly types something out.

Felix wants to walk over to memory-Felix and read over his shoulder, he wants to know what made memory-Felix so happy. He takes one step before a clicking noise, followed by a crash, sounds from the entry of the dojang. Memory-Felix jumps at the noise and holds one hand up in defense, his phone clutched in his other hand. Felix tenses at the noise, even though it’s just a memory.

But… memory-me looks really scared.

Memory-Felix jumps again when three people dressed in black with masks covering their faces storm into the dojang. Two are holding what look like guns while the third stands further back.

Memory-Felix raises the hand that isn’t holding his phone. “Please, don’t hurt me,” he pleads, his voice shaky. “ii promise, I’ll get the hell out of here if y’all let me.”

“Tranq him,” the person standing back says.

Memory-Felix looks confused. “The hell did you just say?” It’s then that Felix realizes the man had spoken Korean, and that memory-Felix didn’t understand.

The two men with guns flick a switch on the side, and a red laser light streams out of each gun’s scope. The light lands on memory-Felix’s chest, who whimpers and holds his hand up even higher.

“Please, can I at least call my – ” he pleads before the two men pull the trigger and a ray shoots out of the barrel of each gun. When they reach memory-Felix, he convulses, and his eyes roll into the back of his skull. He falls to the floor with a sickening thud and his phone bounces out of his grasp.

Felix stares on in horror as the two men stow away their guns and pull memory-Felix up from the ground and follow the third man out of the dojang. When they’re out of sight, Felix scrambles to where memory-Felix’s phone had fallen and turns it face up. He sighs in relief when he sees the screen didn’t turn off.

He taps on the messages app and finds the most recent text thread. The contact is named (annoying) sister. Felix’s heart clenches when he taps on the thread and reads the last sent message.

(annoying) sister: i finished my homework and mom said i could play with u when u get home!!

(annoying) sister: we could play Minecraft or Mario kart!!

me: yay sounds awesome!! see u when i get home

Something wet drips onto the screen and Felix can’t see the texts clearly. He wipes it away before realizing it’s a tear, that he’s crying. He rubs his eyes with the back of his hand and sniffles. His body starts to shake and he curls into himself. My sister… I have a sister… and she doesn’t know I was… I was taken.

Loud footsteps echo from the entry and Felix springs up, dropping memory-Felix’s phone. One of the black-clad men comes back into the dojang and makes a beeline for Felix. Felix scurries back until his back is pressed against a wall, breathing hard. The man picks up memory-Felix’s bag and phone. He sees the messages from his sister and Felix can see his eyes droop even though he’s wearing a mask.

“Now that’s just sad,” the man says, still looking at the texts. Then, he shrugs. “Then again, the Boss has an incredible track record for ruining people’s lives.” He pockets the phone and leaves the dojang, leaving Felix alone in the dark, hyperventilating.

He grips his knees and closes his eyes shut tight, and tries to even his breathing. Never in two years has Felix felt so out of control. Watching himself get kidnapped and not being able to do anything broke something inside of him. The messages from his sister only rub salt in the wound.

As his body shakes and the darkness returns, all he can think of is the people that took his memories, his life, his identity from him, and built him into one of the most dangerous combat fighters in Seoul. He’s still shaking as he feels something cold on his cheek, and voices surrounding him.

"Felix! Lix, hey, you awake?” Felix knows that voice, he knows that voice all too well.

He peeks open one eye. “Hy – Hyunjin?”

He blinks and Hyunjin’s worried face comes into focus. “Oh, thank god,” Hyunjin sighs, and helps Felix sit up. As everything becomes less blurry, Felix notices they’re still in the basem*nt, in the room where they freed Chan, Changbin, and Minho.

“You’re awake,” Felix comments when Hyunjin sits down next to him.

Hyunjin smiles, and it looks almost pained. “Yeah, I am,” he says. “But I sure wasn’t asleep for as long as you were. Guys, he’s awake,” Hyunjin calls across the room.

Seungmin and Jeongin are the first ones to Felix. They walk over, holding hands, and bend down and envelop Felix in the warmest hug he’s received in a long time. They don’t let go of each other’s hands, even after they pull away from Felix. When Felix looks pointedly at their hands, Seungmin flushes and Jeongin smiles proudly.

Jisung comes barreling out of nowhere, screaming, “You’re alive!” at the top of his lungs before skidding to a stop at Felix’s side and squatting down to hug him.

“Yep, I’m alive, sorry,” Felix says to Jisung, who pouts at the comment.

Chan, Changbin, and Minho approach Felix slower and stand farther away than the others. Chan scratches the back of his head before he speaks. “You, uh, were out for a while,” he says. He fixes Felix with a strong gaze and Felix would squirm if he weren’t pressed up against Hyunjin and Jisung. “What do you remember?”

It’s a loaded question, and Felix sighs as he leans his head back against the wall Hyunjin had leaned him on. “I saw… my whole life,” Felix says.

Minho snorts and Changbin crosses his arms. Chan waves a hand at both of them and turns back to Felix. “What do you mean, your whole life?”

Felix gulps. “I saw my childhood, where I used to live. I saw myself as a teenager and accomplish things that mattered to me. I was a taekwondo champion,” he says, pausing. “I saw myself at a Pride parade, and I remembered that I’m bi. That part of me was lost for so long. And then,” he stops when his breath catches in his throat and feels tears coming to his eyes again.

Hyunjin nudges him gently. “And then?” he asks, urging Felix on.

Felix nods. He looks Chan in the eyes as he says, “And then I saw myself get kidnapped by the thugs that work for this company before I could even call my family.” Felix blinks and a tear rolls down his cheek of its own accord. Hyunjin reaches up and brushes it away before Felix can. “I don’t think my family knows I’m alive. As far as they know, I never came home that night,” he says.

Felix looks around at his audience. They’re silent, save for Jisung sniffling. Felix turns to him. “What,” he says, then nearly dominoes onto Hyunjin when Jisung tackles him in a hug.

“That,” Jisung says between sniffles, “is so sad.” When he pulls back, Felix sees tear streaks running down his face. He points to them, and Jisung pouts and wipes them away with his shirtsleeve. “We’re twins,” Jisung says, pointing at Felix.

Felix touches his face and finds it wet. He hadn’t noticed he’d been crying. He wipes his face with his shirt and looks back up at the group.

“What?” he asks. They’re all staring at him and it’s getting a little creepy.

“Well, we need a plan,” Minho says, simple as that. “You seem like the guy for that.”

Felix looks at Chan, who gives him a small nod. Felix feels a tiny smile on his lips. Hyunjin’s grip tightens a little on his shoulders and he’s pulled closer to Hyunjin. He gravitates toward the warmth of Hyunjin’s body before looking up at Hyunjin. His eyes are wide, waiting for Felix to speak. Something flashes in Hyunjin’s eyes as Felix nods firmly and turns back to the group.

“Well, first things first,” Felix says, “we have to get out of here.”

Changbin frowns and Minho rolls his eyes. “Um, yeah, getting out of the basem*nt sounds like a great first step,” Minho says, his voice drawling with sarcasm.

Jisung opens his mouth, probably to say something snarky to Minho, but Felix holds up his hand. “No, what I meant was,” he pauses and looks at each of his friends, and the freed – superhuman? – boys. “We need to leave JYP Industries and Tech. Like, we need to get the f*ck out of here.”

Chapter 10: Getting to Know Each Other

Chapter Text

“Like, we need to get the f*ck out of here.”

Everyone’s silent after Felix speaks. He purses his lips and huddles closer to Hyunjin for protection because despite being the most highly trained in combat in the room, Minho and Changbin are giving him some strange looks, and from what he’s seen so far, neither of their capabilities are fully human.

Felix sees Changbin roll his eyes, and Minho finally breaks the silence. “And how exactly are we supposed to do that?” he asks. “Are the eight of us, three of whom are supposed to be cryo-frozen, just going to walk out the front door in broad daylight?”

“Well we obviously wouldn’t be escaping during the day, that’s a stupid idea,” Jisung mutters from beside Felix.

“I agree,” Seungmin pipes up from behind Minho, who whips his head around at Seungmin’s voice. Felix bets he’d forgotten Seungmin and Jeongin are here. “Nighttime would provide much better cover.” Seungmin nods professionally and Jeongin smiles, showing his agreement.

Minho groans and covers his face with his hands, and Changbin pats him gently on the back before crossing his arms again. That seems to be his default position. Like a Sim, Felix thinks and nearly laughs out loud at the thought. God, I’m turning into Jisung with all these pop culture references.

Chan steps forward, completely ignoring his fellow superhumans, and faces Felix. “Look, based on the fact that you guys were able to get us out of those tanks, I have no doubt we’ll be able to escape.” Chan narrows his eyes at Minho while he’s speaking, then looks back at Felix. “But when we do, where the hell are we supposed to go? I mean, it’s not like there are many five-star hotels for people like us.”

Felix bites his lip at Chan’s question. Despite being the planner of the team, it’s not like he’d thought that far ahead. He doesn’t know anyone in Seoul besides his friends, all of whom live in the facility with him.

Felix is about to respond with ‘I have no f*cking clue,’ when Seungmin sighs and says, “I know a girl.” Everyone looks at him in varying stages of bewilderment, and Seungmin rolls his eyes at the attention. “My cousin. She was living with my family for ‘cause her parents kicked her out, but after she graduated high school, she practically disappeared off the face of the Earth, pretty sure she went abroad for a while. But, uh, I have her phone number, so, I’ll hit her up and see what I can do.” Seungmin shrugs once he’s done.

Minho doesn’t look convinced. “Can we trust her?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at Seungmin.

“I trust her,” Seungmin says. Jeongin moves closer to Seungmin when Minho’s gaze doesn’t soften.

Minho steps closer to Seungmin, who stiffens. “But can we – ” Minho points to himself, Chan and Changbin “ – trust you?”

Seungmin gulps. “I – I don’t – ”

“You know what, dude, back off!” Jisung says and stands up from Felix’s side. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but this company has been f*cking with our lives for the past few years, going as far to make him – ” he points at Felix “ – forget his entire life, kill my parents, and I don’t even want to know what they did to the others,” Jisung finishes his rant, breathing hard, and stands toe to toe with Minho. Chan flinches when Jisung lays a finger on Minho’s chest, pushing him back slightly. “So excuse us if our priority is getting out of here alive, and not whether we can stay alive once we’re gone.”

Minho stumbles back, his eyes wide. If Felix had to guess, he’d say this is the first time someone’s opposed Minho so blatantly. Even Chan looks a bit shell-shocked. Minho recovers quickly and brushes off his shirt where Jisung touched it, and Jisung scoffs at that.

“Okay, everybody, let’s just take a chill pill,” Felix says. He wants to look everyone in the eye as he addresses them, so he pushes himself off the floor. But his legs won’t cooperate, they just keep sliding out from under him. Felix’s face flushes more and more each time he fails to get up, and he gets frustrated the longer he fails. Eventually, Hyunjin grabs onto his shoulders and forces Felix to sit back down. Felix collapses into Hyunjin, breathing heavily, and blows a strand of hair out of his face. He can’t look at the others.

“Lix, just relax,” Hyunjin whispers in his ear, and wraps an arm around Felix’s shoulders. “Why don’t we all just sit down, yeah?” he says, motioning for everyone to sit. They oblige and form an odd circle that’s really more of a disjointed oval. “That way we can see each other, and it’ll be like we’re having a civilized discussion.” Hyunjin looks pointedly at Jisung when he says this, and Jisung puts his hands up in surrender.

“And what should we be discussing civilly?” Changbin asks. This is one of the first times he’s spoken to the group, besides Chan and Minho.

Hyunjin shrugs, moving Felix when his shoulders move. “I dunno, uh. Maybe we should get to know each other?” His voice goes up at the end of his question, and Felix knows that means Hyunjin’s not so sure of himself. Felix would talk just to fill the silence, but he’d already told everyone about his past, and he doesn’t want to look at anyone, especially after they just saw his legs decide to bail out on him like they did. So, he settles for comforting Hyunjin by resting his head on Hyunjin’s shoulder. Hyunjin inhales sharply when Felix does so, and Felix smiles and just nestles his head further into Hyunjin’s neck.

Jeongin clears his throat. “I’ll – I’ll go, I guess,” he says nervously. Felix’s eyes flit to the youngest boy as he prepares to tell his story. “I guess I’ll start with how I ended up here. I don’t know how well I can tell the story since I just remembered it like half an hour ago.” Jeongin pauses when Seungmin, who’s sitting next to him cross-legged, nudges Jeongin with his knee. Jeongin smiles at the action and continues. “What I remember is that my parents, um, they were both physicists. They might still be physicists, I don’t really know. I haven’t seen them since – since an energy bomb went off in the lab they worked at. Oh, they’re not dead,” Jeongin says quickly to clarify when he sees several shocked faces in their oval. “That energy bomb was what made me like this, made me able to phase through matter. After that bomb went off, they took me here. The doctors and researchers said they’d have a better chance of fixing me if I stayed here, and once they found a cure, they’d send me home.” Jeongin takes a deep breath in. “They never found a cure, so I never went home.”

Most everyone is quiet, except for Jisung, who asks, “Your parents never came to visit you?”

Jeongin shrugs at the question. “Who knows. If they did, I was never informed. Besides, the stupid bracelet made me forget all that. When I was wearing it, I always thought that I had volunteered to be trained because I had this ability. It never occurred to me that I’d be able to be a normal person until Jisung and Seungmin figured me out,” Jeongin finishes. He leans into Seungmin, who wraps an arm around Jeongin’s shoulders and pulls him closer.

“We will help you, Jeongin,” Jisung says. “Just to be clear, we’re not abandoning our work just because we have to leave this horrid place.” Jeongin nods his head in thanks, and Jisung sends him a heart-shaped smile.

“Um, I’ll go next,” Seungmin says. “My story’s not as interesting as most of yours. My parents shipped me here once they realized it was kind of like a boarding school. They just wanted me to do something with my life, instead of spreading malicious lies and radical agendas at school.” Seungmin bristles at the thought.

“What exactly were you spreading at school?” Chan asks.

“My previous school was very, ah, conservative, so I took it upon myself to educate the masses. My activism for the LGBT+ community and thoughts on classism were not appreciated by the staff,” Seungmin says, grinning evilly. He looks so proud of himself that Felix has to smile.

“I bet you did a great job, Seungmin,” Felix says.

Seungmin looks at Felix and smiles even bigger. “Thanks, Felix.”

Hyunjin looks around their misshapen oval while Felix and Seungmin are busy beaming at each other. “Who’s next?” he asks, looking between Chan, Changbin, and Minho.

Minho sighs and looks at Chan. “Do you wanna explain, or shall I?” Chan shrugs in response, so Minho nods and faces the group again. “We were trainees at one point. Chan and Changbin were training for the field, and I trained for stealth and intel. But that doesn’t really matter, because we all got the same short end of the stick.” Minho sighs and holds his face in his hands, and Felix furrows his eyebrows in concern. Maybe reliving their experience is too much for him.

Chan speaks up when Minho doesn’t seem like he’ll be talking any time soon. “One day, our trainers told us we needed some testing done, just harmless stuff like DNA and physiology. The only strange bit about those tests was that we went under anesthesia, which isn’t normal for that kind of stuff. I didn’t catch that before I went under and I wish – ” Chan stops and grits his teeth, his hands balling into fists. He sighs and uncurls his fingers. “I wish I’d realized. I could’ve… Anyway, first thing I saw when I woke up was Changbin tearing apart a metal gurney with his bare hands. I looked around for Minho and saw him floating a couple meters above his bed with that weird minty light surrounding him. I remember he looked so, so scared.” Chan stops again and looks over at Minho.

Felix’s heart pangs when he sees Minho’s body silently shaking, his head still in his hands. What’s surprising is that Jisung is rubbing Minho’s back gently. Felix sees Jisung’s mouth slightly moving, and he faintly smiles because he knows Minho’s going to be okay. Jisung’s comforting words haven’t failed yet.

Chan starts up again once he makes sure Minho’s in good hands. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure that Changbin wouldn’t try to rip me in half since he was normally so good-natured and soft when we weren’t in a training session, so I panicked and ran. Weird thing was, I made it to the other side of the med bay in two seconds when it should’ve taken at least fifteen.”

Changbin interjects after Chan finishes. “They froze us shortly after that. I think they dubbed us ‘too dangerous,’” he uses air-quotes when he says that, “and called the experiment a failure. Because that’s what we were: experiments.” Changbin scoffs out the last word and crosses his arms once more.

Everyone’s silent for a moment. No one wants to follow up on what Changbin just said. Until Jisung breaks the silence because of course he does. “So, are you guys, like, superhumans, or whatever? Like Captain America?” Felix wants to facepalm himself, but he’s too comfortable next to Hyunjin to move, so he mentally facepalms himself instead.

Minho chuckles under Jisung’s hand, which is still rubbing his back, and Chan snorts. “I wouldn’t say superhuman, maybe just genetically enhanced,” Chan clarifies, then gives Changbin a light punch. “This one reminds me of Cap, though, so you’re not totally wrong,” Chan smirks, a dimple appearing on his right cheek, and scoots away at the speed of sound when Changbin raises a fist in retaliation.

Jisung nods in approval. “Well, that’s still a hardcore origin story,” he says. Minho sits up slightly and whispers something Felix can’t hear, but Jisung nods and starts scratching Minho’s back as gently as he’d been rubbing it to comfort him earlier. “Oh, it’s my turn. Well, you guys know my parents were murdered by the psychos that work here, but, uh, I didn’t know why until I hacked into the companies database looking for your records,” Jisung says, nodding to the three enhanced boys. He gulps before continuing. “I found a file on my family, but most of it was filled with info about me. I mean, hardly any of it was about my parents. I think… I think JYP killed them because they wanted me to train here. And there’s no way my parents would’ve let that happen if they were alive,” he finishes, shivering a little at the memory of his parents. Jisung sighs. “I’m just glad we’re finally gonna get out of this hellhole soon.”

Murmurs of agreement float around the oval. From his place on Hyunjin’s shoulder, Felix sees Chan look their way with a curious stare. “What about you, um, Hyunjin, was it? What’s your origin story?” Jisung chuckles gleefully at the use of his pop culture reference.

Felix feels Hyunjin giggle and his head bounces on Hyunjin’s shoulder. He sighs before speaking. “Mine’s not that interesting either. Before I started training here, all I wanted to do was be an idol. I loved watching people perform, and I loved dancing and singing and rapping, and, I dunno, I just wanted people to feel happy watching me perform as well.” Hyunjin stops and ruffles his hair shyly with the hand not holding Felix, before going on. “I sent my application out to a ton of companies, and I got accepted to a lot of them. JYP, strange enough, was one of them,” Hyunjin says, his expression visibly darkening. “I didn’t think too much of the fact that they’d never debuted a real group, just funded other company’s groups. In fact, the only reason I chose JYP was that they were the largest shareholder of my favorite group, GOT7. So, when I arrived for my first day of being a trainee, it didn’t exactly go as I expected,” Hyunjin says bitterly.

“I’m sorry,” Felix mumbles, his voice low and rumbly. His throat vibrates against Hyunjin’s shoulder, and he feels the muscles in Hyunjin’s shoulder shift as he turns his head. Hyunjin’s hand lays on top of Felix’s head and combs through his hair once before resting back on his shoulders, then falling down to trail down his back. Maybe Felix shivers, maybe he doesn’t.

“It’s – it’s fine, it was a while ago,” Hyunjin says, more to Felix than the group. He exhales loudly and says, “I will admit, I miss dancing. I’ve been dancing ever since I was a kid, and while I don’t think I was ever really that good, I just… wish I could go back sometimes.”

“Don’t we all,” Minho mutters, but it’s without malintent. Agreeing murmurs follow Minho’s statement, and of course, Jisung chimes in with a pop culture reference to lighten the mood.

“Back, back, back, back, back, go back to before,” Jisung sings. His voice suits singing surprisingly well, his voice swells and sounds like vocalized honey. Felix doesn’t realize how much he enjoys it until he finds himself smiling at Jisung.

“What song is that Jisung? It sounds nice,” Felix says.

Jisung’s cheeks are dusted with a light flush, and he scratches the back of his neck that had been scratching Minho’s back. “I, uh, it’s actually a poem that I wrote a few weeks ago,” he says sheepishly. “The melody just came to me.”

“I like it,” Minho says softly. Jisung grins and lays his hand back on Minho’s shoulder blades. Felix hums and cuddles into Hyunjin, and just watches his newfound friends exchange smiles across their misshapen oval.

Eventually, Seungmin claps his hands and pushes himself to his feet. “Well, it’s getting close to morning, so I think you three are stuck down here for the day,” he says, looking at the enhanced boys.

“Is there any way we can get something to eat?” Chan asks, and Changbin perks up at the word ‘eat.’

Jeongin jumps up next to Seungmin, and exclaims, “I can bring you guys food! I think I might be able to phase the food with me when I go quantum.”

Chan snaps his fingers at Jeongin, ending with finger guns. “You are now my new favorite person. Do they still have chicken in the canteen?” he asks, and his face lights up when Jeongin nods.

“Hey, guys, we should get back to our room before the staff wakes up,” Seungmin cuts in. Hyunjin nods and helps Felix to his feet. Luckily, his legs seem to hold his body weight, but he lets Hyunjin help him walk to the door.

“Coming, Jisung?” Hyunjin calls.

“Yeah,” Jisung says. He gives Minho a quick side-hug before hopping to his feet. “See you guys tonight.”

Changbin frowns. “Tonight?”

Jisung rolls his eyes like it’s obvious. “Aren’t we escaping tonight?” he asks, and looks at Felix with a sly grin on his face.

A smile spreads across Felix’s face. “Hell yeah, we are.”

Chapter 11: "We're in the Endgame Now"

Chapter Text

“Does everyone copy?” Felix asks, tapping his earpiece.

“I’m almost in position,” Hyunjin says, voice slow and steady, even as he’s scaling the side of a building. Felix smiles at the mental image, then shakes his head. As their eyes in the air, Hyunjin would watch over the escapees as they left the building.

“Seungmin?”

"I’m near the elevator. Innie just went down,” Seungmin says.

"I can speak for myself, Seungminnie,” Jeongin says without a hint of annoyance. Felix hears the slight ding of the elevator as it drops Jeongin off in the basem*nt, and Jeongin’s footsteps as he pounds down the corridor, breathing heavily.

Felix turns to Jisung, who’s sitting with his laptop and a few other select gadgets in front of him on the table. Jisung taps his earpiece and gives Felix a thumbs up, and turns back to his screen.

Felix pads away from Jisung’s table and checks all the doors of the canteen, making sure they’re secure. The canteen makes for a good mission control, at least until Jeongin and Seungmin bring the enhanced boys up to the main floor, mainly because it’s in the center of the building. If any staff or security personnel were to walk in, Jisung would claim he couldn’t sleep, and Felix would say he wanted a midnight snack.

The plan is practically foolproof. But, escaping the facility isn't going to be the hard part. That comes in getting away quickly enough that nobody will figure out where they've gone.

Jeongin’s voice crackles through the com set. “I’m in. Everyone’s equipped, right guys?”

“Yep,” comes Chan’s soft voice.

"That’s right,” Changbin says, voice just as gruff as the last time Felix heard it.

"Jisung, are these company-issued?” Minho asks, but his voice sounds further away than the others.

"Minho, just put it on, please,” Chan says exasperatedly through the com channel.

“Don’t worry,” Jisung says from across the canteen, finger on his earpiece. “I modified them. They won’t shock you. Promise.”

"Good,” Minho says, and there’s some static as Minho fits the earpiece into his ear.

“Okay, Jeongin, bring ‘em up,” Felix says, walking back to Jisung’s table. He gathers some of Jisung’s less delicate tech into a backpack and zips it up, throwing it over his shoulder. “Almost ready?” he asks Jisung.

Jisung looks up from his laptop, the light illuminating the dark circles under his eyes. Even tired, he manages to smile at Felix. “Yeah, I took care of the elevator cam before Jeongin went down,” he says and turns back to his screen. “There’s just one more thing I need to do. You can go ahead.”

Felix nods. “Okay. Just don’t take too long,” he says, resting a hand on Jisung’s shoulder and squeezing. “You know the rendezvous point?”

“Yeah.”

"Felix, we’re up,” Jeongin says, his voice followed by the ding of the elevator.

Felix taps his earpiece. “Great, meet up at the east canteen door,” he says. He smiles softly at Jisung, even though Jisung isn’t looking, and crosses the canteen.

“Hey, Felix,” Jisung says from his table, raising his head above the screen of his laptop. Felix raises an eyebrow in response and waits for Jisung to go on. An absolute sh*t-eating grin devours Jisung’s face as he says, “We’re in the endgame now.” Felix can’t help but smile as he rolls his eyes at yet another one of Jisung’s pop culture references. He holds his hand up and snaps before leaving the canteen. Jisung’s muffled giggles get quieter as he closes the door.

Once he closes the door, Seungmin pops his head around the corner of the next hall. Felix gives him the ‘go’ sign, and Seungmin turns, beckoning to the others.

Seungmin and Jeongin lead the pack down the hall, Chan bringing up the rear. It’s the first time Felix has seen the enhanced boys without the sickly light of the basem*nt, and it’s jarring. Chan doesn’t look as pale as he did before, and Changbin looks a little less sharp and a little more soft. The darkness has vanished from Minho’s eyes and they look like they’re shining, but the ethereal feeling is lost when Felix sees how skittishly Minho glances around at the walls like someone’s going to jump out and throw him back in one of those tanks.

Felix falls into step next to Minho if anything to make sure he feels protected. “Hey, you good?” Felix asks, lightly elbowing Minho in the arm.

Minho’s head whips around to Felix, eyes wide until he realizes who it is, and sighs. “Um, yeah, I think so,” he says. His eyes flit around when they walk by the med bay, and Minho purses his lips. “Just… a lot of memories.”

Felix hums and looks at the back of Seungmin’s head. “Yeah, I bet,” he says.

***

CEO Park cringes at the harsh dial tone of his desk phone and rolls his eyes before he picks it up. He was just leaving the company, he’d already shrugged on his coat and collected his umbrella, and now he’s got to deal with one of the dunderheads he employs.

He barely holds the phone to his ear before a voice crackles on the other end. “CEO Park,” one of the employees says, their breathing slightly heavy. CEO Park wrinkles his forehead before answering.

“Yes, speaking.”

“Well, I hate to tell you this, sir, but, uh, we’ve been hacked.”

CEO Park’s eyes widen in shock, then narrow. “How?”

“We – we don’t know, sir,” they say shakily. CEO Park appreciates that; it’s good that his employees are afraid of him. “We only found out because one of our systems picked up an unauthorized download of sensitive material. There’s a high possibility this isn’t the first time we’ve been hacked.”

CEO Park’s eyes narrow even further. “What was downloaded?” he growls, tapping his fingers rhythmically on his desk.

"Uh, just a few profiles, sir. Of the Hans, sir.”

CEO Park intakes a sharp breath, holding the receiver away from his mouth, and exhales strongly. He holds the phone near his mouth again, and says, “Alright, thank you. Are we cracking down on the hacker?”

“Yes, sir. Actively, as we speak,” the employee says.

“Good,” CEO Park says, and goes to hang up the phone, but a tinny ‘Wait!’ comes from the receiver. He rolls his eyes and holds the phone back up to his ear. “What?”

“The security cam for the elevator has been disabled, sir,” they say, and clear their throat. “But we’ll get a team to fix it in the morning.”

CEO Park purses his lips before answering. “Fine, the earlier the better.” He pulls the phone away from his ear as the employee wishes him ‘goodnight.’ CEO Park scoffs at that. If there was ever a good night, it wouldn’t be this one.

Han Jisung, I should’ve killed you like I did your parents, CEO Park thinks, clutching at his hair. If the Han boy was able to find the information on his parents, maybe he found… No, they’re protected. But what if he found the basem*nt on one of his scavenging explorations…

CEO Park feels himself getting worked up and breathes out a large sigh as he resigns to checking up on his anxious hunch. He leans his umbrella on the side of his desk and boots up his laptop, fidgeting with the mouse when it takes too long to start up. He grits his teeth and sighs when the laptop finally starts functioning and clicks into the security cam files.

He scrolls past the thousands of files from the past few hours on multiple different cameras until he finds the file marked, ‘Experiments.’ He double-clicks on the file and sorts through the collected footage, clicking on the file displaying the live feed of the camera.

The video shows the room in the basem*nt in low-color, high resolution. Most everything in the room is where it should be; the tanks backed up against the walls, the middle of the room cleared, the control panels clean and untouched.

Except there’s nothing in the tanks. And no one in the room.

CEO Park lets out a roar and bangs his fist on the desk, shaking the tabletop. He doesn’t register his umbrella clatter to the floor as he yanks his private phone out of his pocket and dials the head of the private security force.

“Yes, Boss?”

CEO Park tightens his grip around the phone. “The basem*nt’s been breached. I want a full lockdown of the facility and a sweep of the immediate area.”

“On it, Boss.” The security head stays on the line, waiting for further instructions.

“Those experiments couldn’t have gotten out without help,” CEO Park says, too calmly for the current boiling point of his blood. “If you find them, set to stun. They cost me too much to throw them out now.”

“And their aides, sir?”

CEO Park considers this for a moment, humming into the phone. “A non-lethal shot sounds good to me. If you catch them, bring them in. But if they choose to bleed out on the side of a road, well,” CEO Park smirks, chuckling to himself, “that’s a well-earned lesson.”

***

“Seungmin, take Minho and Changbin around the left side. Jeongin, you and Chan take the right,” Felix says once they reach the main doors. Felix would have them exit from somewhere less conspicuous, but the facility doesn’t have any, for ‘security reasons.’

Seungmin nods and beckons to Changbin and Minho before slipping out the door. Minho glances back at Felix nervously, but Felix shoos him away with a little nod and mouths, “It’s okay,” and Minho shuffles out the door after Changbin.

Felix watches Jeongin smile widely at Chan, who smiles back before following him out the door and around the corner of the building. He takes a few steps away from the door before tapping his ear. “Jisung, status?” Felix says into the earpiece.

"On my way,” Jisung says, and Felix hears distinct shuffling from Jisung’s end and pattering footsteps as Jisung hightails it out of the canteen.

Felix nods to himself and pushes open the main doors of the facility. “Great. Hyunjin, how we looking from up there?” Felix asks, craning his neck to the sky, scanning the building for Hyunjin, even though it’s too dark to see him.

“Hmm… Jeongin and Chan made it, but Seungmin’s group is slowing down, I think Minho’s freaking out a little,” Hyunjin says, the occasional static interrupting his voice due to the height he’s at. Felix doesn’t know how far up Hyunjin scaled the building, and even though he knows Hyunjin’s perfectly capable of being safe at that height, Felix would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little worried for his best friend.

Something tingles in his stomach when he thinks of Hyunjin as his best friend, and he shoves the thought back down. It’s not like they’d be able to be something more than that, even though that empty feeling Felix dragged around with him for the past two years is finally gone. Rediscovering his sexuality healed him in a way, but it also made everything ten times harder because he now has a name for the feeling in his chest and his throat when he’s around Hyunjin.

Hwang Hyunjin… f*ck, I’ve got a crush on you, Felix thinks, inwardly groaning at himself as he allows himself to admit it.

Felix shakes out of his thoughts when Jisung comes pounding down the corridor. He stops in front of Felix, out of breath, before meeting Felix’s eyes. “Someone… someone knows,” Jisung pants, and bends over, resting his hands on his knees. “They – they know we’re leaving.”

It takes Felix a second to register what Jisung said, then he latches onto Jisung’s shoulders and pulls him up to standing. “What the hell did you just say?” Felix asks slowly, his voice dropping to its deepest point.

“Hey, guys, we got incoming. Looks like a full-scale security squad, about five minutes out,” Hyunjin says. Felix barely registers Hyunjin’s voice as he puts all his focus on Jisung.

Jisung’s eyes widen at Felix’s voice and he takes a shaky breath. “My hacking got tracked,” he says, his breathing starting to even out. “I downloaded something… and they found out.”

Felix’s grip on Jisung’s shoulders tighten. “What was so important,” he growls, “that you risked all our lives to get your hands on?”

Jisung gulps. “Just some information – files on my parents,” he says, and his gaze drops to his feet. Felix releases his grip from Jisung, and Jisung shrinks about three inches in height from shame. “I couldn’t – I need this, Felix. They murdered my parents!” Jisung says desperately. He looks up from the ground, hoping that Felix will understand him or trust him or even look at him, but Felix keeps his eyes away from Jisung as he starts down the sidewalk, not bothering to look for cover.

“Felix, please, listen to me!” Jisung pleads, trying to keep up with Felix.

“Hey, Lix, you gotta stay on the down-low, okay?,” Hyunjin says, his voice slightly frantic. “f*ck it, I’m coming to you guys, we gotta go.” Wind rustles through the com channel as Hyunjin makes his descent. Felix shakes off the tiny shiver spiraling down his neck at the nickname because when did Hyunjin saying his name like that start making him feel like this and continues down the sidewalk.

Jisung’s breath fans across the back of Felix’s neck because even if he’s not that close, Jisung’s breathing so hard you’d think he’d just run a marathon. “Felix,” he pants, “I can explain!”

Felix stops so abruptly, Jisung crashes into him, and Felix hears something snap inside the backpack he’s wearing. Good riddance, then, Felix thinks. He’d break all of Jisung’s tech himself if Jisung didn’t need any of it to help Jeongin.

He turns to face Jisung, who’s covering his nose with his hands. “What is there to explain?” Felix says. “You downloaded some sensitive information and alerted the company that something was wrong, and now they’re on our trail because of you.” Felix pokes Jisung’s chest with one finger as he says this for emphasis. “We could get captured, or worse, killed, because of you. How f*cking selfish can you be that you can’t even think about the consequences of what you did? Because all of us came out here with a plan and I think it was going pretty f*cking well until you ruined it. And for what? So you could get revenge on JYP for murdering your parents?” Felix scoffs. “Look, I completely condone that behavior, I think all of us would, but at the risk of getting us all killed? Jisung, I know your family was important to you and what happened to them was terrible, but,” Felix pauses and takes a deep breath before saying, “they’re dead. The rest of us, however, still have people to go home to, and I just can’t wrap my head around why you’d want to take that from us.”

Jisung’s mouth gapes open for a second before he closes it, and tears start brimming in his eyes. If Felix wasn’t so livid, maybe he’d feel bad about bringing Jisung to tears. But the resentment for Jisung that Felix thought had been quenched when they became friends is boiling over, so all he can do in his momentary rage is stand and watch Jisung crumble to pieces a block from the manipulative company that kidnapped Felix two years ago.

“Guys, we gotta get out of here,” Hyunjin says, but it’s not over the com channel. Felix barely registers Hyunjin’s presence as he walks over to the two of them and steers them both down the sidewalk towards the designated rendezvous point. They’re walking so fast, Felix almost trips over a crack in the sidewalk and Jisung falls off the curb as they try to keep up with Hyunjin.

Hyunjin’s hand on his shoulder feels warm and comforting, but at the same time, there’s a fierceness in his grip that Felix can’t place. Is Hyunjin mad about Felix blowing up like a ticking time bomb and reducing Jisung to a blubbering mess?

Felix looks up at Hyunjin, peering through Hyunjin’s long dark hair, but for the first time in a long time, he can’t tell what Hyunjin’s feeling. Hyunjin directs the three of them to the rendezvous point, a tree near a café that Seungmin knows the owner of. He separates Felix and Jisung by shoving Jisung into the arms of the nearest person.

“Just calm him down and don’t f*ck him up more than he already is,” Hyunjin says sternly to Minho, who looks very surprised at the tear-stained Jisung in his arms. Felix watches out of the corner of his eye as Minho tentatively pets Jisung’s head and runs his fingers through Jisung’s hair. Jisung’s crying and sniffling abate with every passing second.

Hyunjin drags Felix to the other side of the tree trunk, and Felix crosses his arms as Hyunjin stares him down. “What the hell did you say to him, Lix?” Felix represses a shiver because Hyunjin’s angry with him and he shouldn’t be feeling certain feelings right now. Like how Hyunjin looks kinda hot when he’s mad, Felix thinks. Yep, that’s definitely not one of the thoughts I should be having right now.

“Told him he was selfish,” Felix says and shrugs. He figures it’s best to keep his answers short and least detailed as possible. “It’s his fault people were coming after us.”

Hyunjin doesn’t look like he’s buying all of what Felix is selling. “And?” he prompts.

Felix sighs. “And… I told him that trying to get revenge was pointless because it’s not gonna change the fact that his parents are dead, so why risk the rest of our lives, you know?” He can’t bear to look up at Hyunjin after he says this. The disappointment in his eyes… Felix doesn’t even want to imagine it.

Luckily, Seungmin saves him from having to endure Hyunjin’s response. “Just called my cousin, she should be here any minute,” he says, popping out from the café. Felix figures the manager let him use a phone after a few minutes of debating, and Seungmin is very good at debating.

The group falls into a thick silence as they wait. Felix clasps his fingers and looks at his feet, but he hears Hyunjin lean against the tree with a huff and the quiet murmurings of Seungmin and Jeongin near the bike rack. Felix looks for the others and sees the way Chan watches Minho comforting Jisung. Chan looks almost proud, and something glints in his eyes as he elbows Changbin roughly and points at the two. Changbin looks like he’s about to take revenge on Chan for elbowing him, but his face softens when he sees Minho and Jisung, and Felix realizes that despite the intimidating front, Changbin is the biggest softie he’s ever met.

And watching how gently Minho holds Jisung in his arms, wipes a tear from Jisung’s cheek, and whispers something in Jisung’s ear that makes the corner of his lip turn up, Felix thinks he was a little too harsh on Jisung. Each of the eight boys standing outside the café, bathing in the neon street lights, has gone through some awful sh*t in their so far short lives. And who am I to judge who’s sh*tty life is less sh*tty than everyone else’s, Felix thinks, and he feels a small smile creep onto his face.

Hyunjin nudges him in the stomach, and Felix jerks away like he’s been tickled. “What’re you smiling for?” Hyunjin asks, a smile of his own ghosting his lips.

Felix shrugs. “Because I can, I guess.”

Hyunjin nods in approval and slowly turns his head in the direction Felix had been staring when he’d started smiling. He jerks his chin at Minho and Jisung. “They’re kinda cute,” he says.

“Yeah, they cute.” Now that Jisung’s not so much of a crying mess, he and Minho are talking to each other quietly, and Felix grins even wider when he sees that the glimmer in Minho’s eyes has returned, and shines even brighter as Jisung yaps at him.

“I’d put them in a boat,” Hyunjin says. Felix whips his head around to Hyunjin, eyebrows furrowed in the utmost confusion. Hyunjin tilts his head. “Isn’t that what you call it when you think people would be cute together? You put them in a boat?”

The realization of what Hyunjin’s trying to say dawns on Felix, and he giggles. “You mean you ship them?” he asks through laughter.

“Oh, so that’s what it’s called,” Hyunjin says, and starts snickering along with Felix to cover his embarrassment.

“You know, for someone who watches a lot of dramas and rom-coms, you’re not very well-versed in the terminology,” Felix says and narrowly avoids a punch to the arm. He knows Hyunjin’s not really mad though because he gets pulled into a tight hug and Hyunjin ruffles his hair. Felix smiles into Hyunjin’s scent and wishes their lives could stay like this, easy banter and laughter and holding each other in their arms, forever.

The screech of a car on the road turns everyone’s heads, Hyunjin actually jumps in surprise and nearly whacks Felix in the face, and the car in question, an older SUV type, parks neatly in front of the café.

Seungmin smiles. “Hey, look, there she is,” he says and saunters up to the passenger side window. He knocks on the glass and the window rolls down. “What’s up, Noona?”

Seungmin’s cousin scoffs from inside the car. “Yeah, yeah, I missed you too. Now get everybody in here before someone sees you guys.”

Hyunjin ushers Felix to the car, his touch light on Felix’s arm as they wait for everyone to climb in. Despite being an older model, the car has three rows of seats, two in the front, and three in the middle and back. Seungmin offers the front passenger seat to Chan and opts for sitting in the middle row next to Jeongin. Changbin crawls into the far backseat, and Minho and Jisung follow suit, leaving one seat for two people.

How cliché is this? Felix wonders as he lets Hyunjin get in first and settle himself in the last empty seat. Upon realizing the other seats are full, Hyunjin looks at Felix, who’s standing on the curb, and smirks, sending Felix’s stomach into cartwheels, and pats his lap. “Wanna share a seat?” Hyunjin says too sweetly for the smirk on his face.

Felix swears his face heats up to the temperature of the sun. Pursing his lips nervously, he gulps and nods as he steps off the curb and climbs into the car, shutting the door behind him as he lowers himself onto Hyunjin’s lap.

Hyunjin’s arms encircle Felix’s waist as soon as he sits down, and Hyunjin rests his chin on Felix’s shoulder. “Not so bad, huh?” he whispers into Felix’s ear, and Felix represses yet another shudder, and hums in agreement as he’s unable to form proper sentences at the moment. His face must be red as a tomato.

Seungmin’s cousin turns around in the driver’s seat after Felix shuts the door. Her grin reaches her eyes as she looks over her new passengers. “Seatbelts, everyone?” she asks. A chorus of ‘yes’-es follow, and Seungmin’s cousin turns back around. “Okay then, off we go.”

The car rumbles to life and pulls away from the parking spot in front of the café. Felix watches the towering buildings as they go by, and the feeling of dread and entrapment that had been coiled up in his stomach ever since he found out he’d been kidnapped starts to unwind and disappear. He finds himself relaxing into Hyunjin as he watches the scenery change. As they cross the Han River, Felix places his hands on top of Hyunjin’s that are locked around his waist. His hands barely cover Hyunjin’s, and Hyunjin snickers at the size difference before tangling his fingers with Felix’s.

Maybe this won’t be so bad, Felix thinks as the car slows to a stop in front of an apartment complex near the park next to the river. He’s the first one out of the car, and Hyunjin clings to him once he climbs out as well.

Seungmin’s cousin locks the car once everyone’s out and leads them up to her apartment with a smile. The nine pairs of feet, the eight boys plus Seungmin's cousin, trekking up the stairs make for an interesting sound, a sound Felix could get used to.

Seungmin’s cousin unlocks the door to her second-floor apartment and bars the door with her arm before she lets anyone inside. “There are a few ground rules I have before I let any of you into my living space,” she says, eyeing each of the boys individually. Seungmin rolls his eyes at his cousin’s dramatics before she continues. “One: there will be no assassinations within these walls, and two: there will be no setting things on fire. If that means I’m the only one doing the cooking, then so be it.”

“Yeah, yeah, Jimin, we get it, you’re a stickler for rules and safety,” Seungmin drawls. He steps to the front of the crowd of boys with Jeongin’s hand in his. “Can we go in now?”

Seungmin’s cousin, Jimin, sighs. “Fine. But if even one of those rules gets broken, I’m kicking y’all out.” Felix doesn’t believe Jimin when she says this solely because of the smile on her face as she steps inside her apartment and shows everyone where to put their shoes. Felix is about to follow Hyunjin inside when he sees a ratty pair of Converse disappear up the stairs at the end of the hall out of the corner of his eye.

Hyunjin stops in the threshold of the apartment, waiting for Felix. “You coming, Lix?” he asks.

Felix subconsciously nods, even though he has no intention of going inside at the moment. “Yeah,” he says slowly, and shrugs the backpack off his shoulders and presses it into Hyunjin’s arms. He heads for the stairs he saw the Converse, unmistakably Jisung’s, ascend earlier. “See you in a bit, Jinnie,” Felix says as he leaves Hyunjin clutching the backpack in the doorway, light streaming out into the hall from Jimin’s apartment.

If Felix wasn’t so intent on following Jisung, maybe he would’ve noticed the blush that covered Hyunjin’s cheeks at his nickname.

Chapter 12: Felix's Feelings... and Friends

Chapter Text

Felix hears Jisung’s footsteps pounding on the stairs about a flight above him as he follows Jisung up the staircase. After about five flights, Felix grabs onto the ornamental railing for support because apparently, the apartment complex is really tall, and Jisung seems insistent on making it to the top.

At the top of the stairs, Felix is embarrassingly out of breath for someone with his previous job description. He leans against the fake-gold railing as he catches his breath, panting as he wills away the dizziness from climbing all those stairs so quickly. When he looks over the edge of the railing, he realizes how many floors up he’d followed Jisung, and the dizziness starts to make a comeback.

Isn’t Jisung a little afraid of heights? Felix wonders, clutching his forehead. If he’s remembering that correctly, then he feels even worse about what he said to Jisung. The guilt hits him so hard in the gut, he almost throws up. Jisung must be really hurt if his fear of heights isn’t stopping him from getting as far away from me as possible.

After his breathing regains a normal tempo, Felix pushes himself off the railing and makes his way to the door that leads to the rooftop. He steels himself before pushing the door open, silently hoping it doesn’t make a noise.

The door squeaks when he opens it, causing Jisung to turn his head in Felix’s direction. He rolls his eyes and turns away again as Felix lets the door slam shut behind him. Felix walks over to where Jisung’s sitting, near the ledge but not on it, and crouches down next to him.

Jisung doesn’t acknowledge Felix’s presence, just clutches his knees tighter to his chest, and keeps his eyes on the landscape in front of them. If Felix wasn’t so worried about making up with Jisung, he’d be able to appreciate the view of the park and the river. It’s a stark contrast from the windowless dorms he lived in for the past two years.

After a few minutes of silence, Felix figures he’s going to have to be the one to initiate a conversation, so he sighs and opens his mouth, hoping whatever comes out doesn’t make Jisung angrier than he already is. “Um,” Felix starts, cringing when his voice cracks from nerves, “you and Minho seem to be getting along pretty well.”

Jisung snorts at Felix’s voice crack, and he gives Felix a quick glance before shrugging. “What can I say, he’s a good person. Good people tend to get along with each other.” Jisung’s words hit Felix like a punch to the face, and he winces.

“Yeah, I deserve that,” Felix admits. At this point, he’s got no excuses for himself, so it’s best to just accept whatever Jisung throws at him. Jisung huffs at that, but Felix notices Jisung’s shoulders relax as he turns his body slightly towards Felix’s.

There are a few more moments of silence before one of them talks again, this time, it’s Jisung. “I just – I can’t believe you said what you said.” He puffs out a big breath of air, but Felix doesn’t cut in. He has a feeling Jisung has more to say. “I thought we were, you know, friends. Or becoming friends, at least.”

Felix purses his lips. “I thought so, too,” he says and looks down as he fiddles with his fingers. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t really know where that outburst came from.”

“It doesn’t. And yes, you do,” Jisung retorts. His words are sharp, but they don’t sting as much as Felix knows they should because they’re true, and Felix knows that.

“Okay, you’re right,” Felix says. “Again. I just – two days ago, I found out I have a family, and they loved me and cared about me, and I went and disappeared off the face of the earth with no memory of their existence. And now that I know they exist, I kinda want to see them, give them a hug, tell them I love them, I don’t know,” Felix says as he inspects the nail of his pointer finger. Looking at Jisung doesn’t seem like something he has the strength to do right now, and by the weight of a stare coming from Jisung’s direction, he’d have to make direct eye contact. “They’re my only family, and I couldn’t deal with the fact that I might not see them because you gave us away – unintentionally, of course,” Felix is quick to add. “I’m just so, so sorry. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose your family because it’s hard for me to remember a time when I had one.”

He finally manages to look up and meet Jisung’s eyes, expecting resentment well-deserved. Instead, Jisung’s expression is anything but anger; his eyes are full of pity, and Felix isn’t sure how he feels about that emotion being directed at him.

“Well, are you gonna say anything?” Felix asks, then nearly falls over when Jisung tackles him in a hug. Felix’s eyebrows knit together in confusion and he tentatively pats Jisung on the back. “What’s this for?” he asks as Jisung pulls away.

“Felix,” Jisung says seriously, “I’m so sorry none of us were there enough for you. We never noticed if you were having a hard time or a bad day, and that’s on us. Me, Hyunjin, Seungmin, even Jeongin are supposed to be here for you. Because – ” Jisung chokes up and Felix notices the tears brimming in his eyes. He breathes in and regains his composure. “Because we’re your family. We’ve been by your side for years, even now, we’re still here with you. I know you probably miss your other family a lot, and I get that, but just know that you’ve already got a family, and they’re all in this building.”

Felix blinks, and a hot tear comes rolling down his cheek. Jisung cracks a smile when Felix hurriedly wipes it off his face, but more keep coming, so Felix ends up covering his face with his hands. Jisung just laughs and grabs Felix’s wrists and tugs his hands away from his face. “You don’t need to hide, Felix,” Jisung says through giggles.

“But – but I’m an ugly crier,” Felix whines and sniffles. “That’s why I don’t do it much.”

“Aw, Felix,” Jisung says, holding onto Felix as he crumples in on himself while he cries. “It’s always okay to cry, I hope you know that.”

Felix nods and takes that sentiment to heart, and cries in Jisung’s arms for a good five minutes. Once his tears start to dry on his face, Felix sits up properly and looks out over the ledge. Apparently, they’ve been up all night because the pretty colors of the sunrise are clashing in the sky, brightening the city around them.

Jisung follows Felix’s gaze and smiles at the horizon. “Pretty, huh?”

Felix hums. “Yeah, it is.”

“Like Hyunjin?”

“Yeah…” It’s the first time Felix has admitted it out loud, that he likes Hyunjin, that he has a crush on Hyunjin. Felix can practically feel the smirk Jisung’s giving him, so he tears his eyes away from the sunrise and raises an eyebrow at him. “You gonna follow up that stupid grin on your face and tell me something I don’t know?”

Jisung snorts and rolls his eyes into the back of his head before he looks at Felix again. “All I’m gonna say is, the next time you call him ‘Jinnie,’ pay close attention to the color his face turns into.” Jisung turns away from Felix, leaving him open-mouthed in shock.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Felix pries, and grips onto Jisung’s shoulder, shaking him violently.

“Aye, get your hands off me! I’m gonna fall off the ledge!”

“We’re not even close to the ledge,” Felix reasons.

“Fear has no boundaries, Felix!” Jisung screeches before Felix relents and pulls Jisung even further away from the ledge for his comfort. “Thanks,” he says, panting a little, and Felix waits for him to calm down before poking Jisung’s arm, prompting him to speak again. “What I meant by that was – ugh, Felix, I’ve gotta say it: Hyunjin looks at you like you’re the brightest star in the f*cking sky. I can tell – heck, everyone can tell – just by the way his eyes soften or his face goes pink or he smiles that one smile reserved for you.”

Jisung waits for Felix’s reaction, but nothing comes out of Felix’s mouth. He can’t think, can’t process what Jisung’s telling him. Hyunjin… likes me? As much as I like him?

“Impossible,” Felix says, shaking his head. “I would’ve noticed all that. You’ve gotta be messing with me.”

Jisung shakes his head strongly. “No, man, it’s all real. You just gotta open your eyes and see. Hey, wait,” Jisung says, holding Felix’s shoulders. “I can help you.”

Felix narrows his eyebrows. “Help me what?”

“Help you confess, duh,” Jisung says like it’s obvious. There’s a glint in his eye that Felix would almost categorize as evil, except for the fact that Jisung said he would be helping Felix, not hindering him. “I have the most perfect idea.”

Felix tilts his head. “I’m listening.”

Jisung grins. “I’ll tell you later. Besides, this idea only works if it’s nighttime,” he says. Then, Jisung’s stomach growls and he looks sheepishly at Felix. “I, uh, also kinda need some food.”

“Me too,” Felix says, grinning, and wraps his arm around Jisung’s shoulders, Jisung doing the same to him, and they walk to the rooftop door. Maybe it’s a signal of their friendship, a new, firm bond, that they don’t detach from each other as they walk down the endless flights of stairs to the second floor.

***

When Felix and Jisung leave the restaurant early to prepare the apartment for Felix’s confession, Jimin sends Seungmin and Jeongin with them, claiming that she’d already identified Jisung as the most potentially destructive person she’s ever let inside her apartment the moment Jisung tripped over the nonexistent bump in the threshold of the apartment’s front door.

“Do you guys even know what you’re doing?” Seungmin asks, giving Jisung the side-eye as he wriggles the key into the door. The key gets stuck and won’t turn once Seungmin shoves it in, and he grunts as he tries to turn it in the lock. After a few moments of watching him suffer, Jeongin pries Seungmin’s hands off the key and fits it into the keyhole on the doorknob instead of the lock above it. “Oh,” Seungmin whispers as Jeongin opens the door. The four of them shuffle inside, Jisung taking care not to trip this time, and shake off their shoes in the entryway.

Felix smirks as he watches Jisung try to hold in his laughter for Seungmin’s sake, and turns to Seungmin after rearranging their shoes neatly by the door. “Of course we know what we’re doing,” Felix assures him, then turns to Jisung, who’s sitting on the floor with his face scrunched up in concentration trying to pry his high-top off his heel. “Right, Jisung?” Felix asks through a giggle.

Jisung tugs the sneaker off his foot and falls backward with the amount of extra force he’d been using, and throws his shoes to the door, ruining the neat rows Felix had made seconds ago. Jisung glares at Seungmin, who’s clutching his stomach on the couch as Jeongin pulls him into a hug before nodding at Felix. “That is absolutely correct, Felix,” Jisung says, voice louder than necessary so Seungmin can hear above his cackling. He pushes himself off the floor and wanders to the tiny kitchen, and starts perusing the cabinets. “Where do you think Jimin keeps the candles? Seungmin, do you know?” Jisung asks, slamming the cabinet door shut.

“I have no idea, man,” Seungmin says, a little breathless from laughing. “But, uh, what do you want with candles?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure setting things on fire was one of the rules Jimin said breaking would get us kicked out,” Jeongin adds, running a hand through Seungmin’s hair. Seungmin closes his eyes and smiles as Jeongin massages his scalp, and Felix grins at the two. Maybe Hyunjin and I could… Felix thinks, one day.

Jisung snorts at Jeongin’s jab, then groans when he comes across another candle-free cabinet. “I think Jimin would make an exception if she knew it was for a good cause,” Jisung says, and bends down to look inside the bottom cabinets. He whoops with excitement and nearly hits his head on the countertop when he stands up, holding at least six candles in his arms. Felix shoots him a weary thumbs up as Jisung crosses the room and starts arranging the candles precisely on the small coffee table. “Besides, the candles would only set everything on fire if they got knocked over, and no one here is that clumsy,” Jisung adds, then nearly knocks one of the candles over as he reaches across the table to adjust the position of another.

“Yeah, not that clumsy,” Jeongin mutters under his breath, sending Seungmin into another fit of laughter.

Jisung pouts as he picks up the candle that rolled off the table, and turns to Felix once he’s finished the arrangement. “Are you ready for this? Like, you know what you’re gonna say?” he asks.

Felix scratches the back of his neck. “I was honestly just gonna wing it,” he admits, earning a groan from Jisung. “It’ll be right from the heart that way, Jisung!” he protests.

Jisung pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “Fine, it’s your confession. But don’t come at me when he rejects you,” Jisung says, then ducks for cover behind the couch when Felix’s expression turns nasty. “I'm kidding, Felix, you know he likes you already,” he says but doesn’t come out from behind the couch, just fiddles with the curtains on the window. “Do you have any mood lighting in mind?” Jisung asks once he’s done with the curtains.

Felix furrows his eyebrows. “Um, not really – ”

“Low-light it is,” Jisung cuts in. He pulls a set of matches out of his pocket that Felix hopes he’d found with the candles and lights all six of them, then blows out the match. Felix watches him toss the matches onto the kitchen counter and rushes around the apartment, flicking off all the lights, save for the lamp in the living room that emits an orangey glow. Jisung comes back from turning off the hall lights and gasps when he sees the scene. “It’s perfect,” he whispers, hands cupping his cheeks in awe.

Felix has to agree. The lamp’s glow bathes Jimin’s white couch in a warm light, and the flickering candles only add to the mood. Felix can picture himself sitting on one end of the couch when Hyunjin walks in, then taking Hyunjin’s hands in his when Hyunjin sits down, and telling Hyunjin why he makes his cheeks heat up, or his heart beat faster, or that undeniable feeling of wanting Hyunjin’s lips on his own. Felix closes his eyes and smiles as he imagines it.

Jisung’s voice snaps him out of his reverie. “Except for you two, you’re ruining the mood. Get outta here,” Jisung says and goes to shoo Seungmin and Jeongin off the couch.

“Fine, we’ll be in our room,” Seungmin says, looping an arm around Jeongin’s shoulders.

“No funny business!” Jisung shouts after them, then reconsiders. “Actually, I don’t care what you do! Hormones be damned!” He turns to Felix like he’s expecting a giggle or a laugh or some reaction, but his grin falls when Felix doesn’t even snort at his joke. “Am I not funny?” Jisung asks. “Or is it something else?”

Felix sighs and crumples onto the couch, Jisung following suit. “I just – I’m kinda nervous. I mean,” he says, sitting up a little, “I know you said he likes me, but what if – what if something goes wrong, and we end up hating each other, what if confessing ruins our friendship? I don’t – I don’t want that,” Felix says, his voice breaking a little.

“Aw, Felix,” Jisung says, scooting over on the couch and wrapping his arms around Felix. “You’ve lost a lot of people in your life, so I get why you’re scared. But just because you lost people doesn’t mean you can’t let others in.” He squeezes Felix in a tight hug. “You deserve to be happy, and if Hyunjin makes you happy, then you deserve him.”

Felix sniffles and blinks away the tears brimming in his eyes. “Thanks, Jisung. You always know what to say,” he says, smiling up at Jisung.

“I spend all my spare time thinking, of course I know what to say,” Jisung grins. “You think I come up with designs for all that tech by not thinking?”

Felix laughs. “Well, I didn’t know your area of expertise extended to having people skills,” he says, chuckling at the offended look on Jisung’s face.

“I can’t believe this. You think I’m not a good conversationalist?” Jisung says, one hand placed dramatically on his chest. “For your information, I – ”

Jisung gets interrupted by at least five rapid-fire knocks on the front door. Felix gulps; the rest of their friends are back, and Hyunjin, the man he’s about to confess to, is one of them. “Coming!” Jisung shouts practically in Felix’s ear and jumps off the couch. He unlocks the door and looks at Felix with his hand on the doorknob. Felix takes a deep breath and folds his hand in his lap, and gives Jisung a curt nod.

Jisung nods back and opens the door. The rest of their friends trickle into the apartment single file, and Felix bites his lip nervously as he looks over everyone’s heads for Hyunjin. Chan, Changbin, and Minho marvel at Jisung’s decorations, while Jimin purses her lips anxiously at the lit candles on the table.

After a moment of hoping, Felix’s heart sinks. Hyunjin isn’t with them.

“Where’s Hyunjin?” Felix asks. His voice comes out nearly a whisper. From the way Chan looks at him from the entry, Felix guesses he sounds like he’s about to cry.

“Hyunjin, um, took a detour getting back,” Minho says delicately, then turns his eyes back to the decorations like he can’t bear to look at Felix much longer. “I love what you’ve done with the place, by the way.”

“It was all Jisung,” Felix says dejectedly, and looks down at his hands in his lap.

“Well, now I love it even more,” Minho says, and Felix almost smiles when he hears Jisung sputtering across the room. If Jisung being a panicked gay can’t cheer me up, what will? Felix thinks and sighs, slumping into the couch cushion. He stays like that for a good thirty seconds until the cushion next to him dips down.

Felix glances over and sees Changbin sitting on the other end of the cushion. “Hi,” Felix squeaks out. He really does sound like he’s about to start crying.

“Um,” Changbin says, playing with his fingers, “I’m pretty sure I saw Hyunjin heading for the park near the river, in case you were wondering. And if it makes you feel any better,” he pauses and looks Felix right in the eye, “I think you’re the best person to bring him home.”

Felix manages a tiny smile. “Thanks, Changbin,” he says, nodding in thanks. Changbin says something along the lines of ‘no problem’ as Felix pushes himself off the couch and makes his way to the door, narrowly avoiding running into Chan as he laughs at what looks like Minho trying to flirt with Jisung but is being very awkward about it. Felix chuckles when he sees the panicked expression on Jisung’s flushed face, and turns to the front door.

A sudden thought pops into Felix’s head, and he smiles widely and turns around with his hand still on the doorknob. “Hey Jimin, do you have something I could play music with?”

Jimin breaks away from laughing at Jisung and Minho. “Um, you could play music on my phone, I guess,” she says, pulling it out of her pocket and turning off the passcode function for Felix.

“That’ll do, thanks,” Felix says, clutching the phone after Jimin drops it into his hand.

“Why exactly do you need music to go retrieve Hyunjin?” Jimin asks to Felix’s retreating back as Felix opens the door.

“You’ll see!” Felix shouts over his shoulder and slams the door shut behind him.

“Teenagers,” Jimin says, shaking her head.

***

The night air isn’t too cold, but it’s chilly enough that Felix feels goosebumps through the sleeves of his shirt, and he wishes he’d thought to borrow a jacket or something. He shakes his head and steels himself for the cold as he runs across the street without waiting for the crosswalk sign.

Felix runs through the line of trees on the outskirts of the park and slows down once his shoes start thudding on the gravel pathway. He takes a moment to look around, surveying the park when his eyes land on a small hill close to the water. At the top of the hill is Hyunjin, sitting down with his back to Felix, looking over the river.

Felix pads across the grass and walks up the hill, clearing his throat when he’s about a foot away from Hyunjin. Hyunjin jumps at the noise and turns around abruptly, but his eyes soften when he sees who it is. “Hey, Felix,” Hyunjin says, turning back to look at the water.

“Hi,” Felix says, and sits down next to Hyunjin, tucking his feet underneath him. Hyunjin doesn’t say anything, so Felix sighs to fill the silence. “Um, what are you doing here?”

Hyunjin chuckles softly and glances over at Felix. “Just… thinking, I guess,” Hyunjin says.

Felix nods. “There is a lot to think about,” he says, a smile creeping onto his face. He always thought the moment he’s about to confess to Hyunjin would be the most nerve-wracking moment of his life, but surprisingly, it isn’t. Felix supposes that’s a good thing; it’s good that he can just sit in silence with the person he has feelings for.

“Speaking of thinking,” Felix starts, and Hyunjin turns his head. “I have also been thinking recently.”

Hyunjin giggles. “That’s a relief.”

Felix glares at him, but there’s a hint of a smile on his lips. “Anyway, I’ve been thinking about, um, well, feelings.” He pauses and waits for Hyunjin’s reaction. Hyunjin’s lips form a thin line, then he nods hesitantly, so Felix continues. “About my feelings. And I just wanted to say, that, um,” Felix stutters to a stop and looks down at his legs.

“Say what, Lixie?” Felix feels his face heat up at the new nickname, so he jumps to his feet with the phone in his hands, hopefully getting his flushed face out of Hyunjin’s line of sight.

“I know we just escaped the clutches of an evil corporation that was brainwashing us, like, just yesterday,” Felix rambles, the words tumbling out of his mouth. There’s a grin spreading on Hyunjin’s face as Felix rants, so Felix holds himself up a little higher and keeps going. “And if I’m being honest, we’re probably gonna have to face said corporation sometime soon because they’re evil and we’re the good guys and you know how superhero stories go. So, we’re probably gonna end up saving the world or whatever…” Felix trails off.

Hyunjin nods and pushes himself off the ground and looks Felix in the eye. “But…” he says, goading Felix on.

Felix bites his lip and tries to ignore the thumping heart in his chest as he says, “It’s just a really nice night, and, uh, Jimin lent me her phone, and I think I can play some music on here, so – ”

“Lee Felix, are you about to ask me to dance with you under the moon?” Hyunjin eyes Felix with a grin on his face, one corner of his mouth tipped up higher than the other. Under the light of the moon and the streetlights, Felix can see the little mole under Hyunjin’s eye and he melts under his gaze.

Felix scuffs his feet, looking down at them before gazing up at Hyunjin. “…Yes.”

Hyunjin throws his head back to laugh, and when he looks back at Felix, his dark hair covers his eyes, but Felix can still see how brightly they’re shining. “f*cking finally,” he says and holds one hand out to Felix. “C’mere.”

Felix grins his biggest grin and takes Hyunjin’s hand, letting out a squeak when Hyunjin pulls Felix toward him. Felix hits Hyunjin’s chest and gazes up at him apologetically, but Hyunjin just smiles at him. Hyunjin’s hand that isn’t holding Felix’s lands on his shoulder near his neck and Felix wraps his free arm, the one holding the phone, around Hyunjin’s waist. He clicks ‘play’ on the song he’d prepared as he was leaving the apartment, then turns off the phone and leans into Hyunjin.

There’s no complicated footwork involved in their dance; they just sway under the moonlight, Felix’s head resting on Hyunjin’s shoulder, and Hyunjin rubbing soft circles into Felix’s shoulder with his thumb. Every now and then, Hyunjin hums along with the song, and Felix smiles into Hyunjin’s shirt as he listens to Hyunjin’s voice.

“I like your voice,” Felix murmurs as the next song starts playing.

Hyunjin’s body shudders with his laughter. “And I like you,” he says, catching Felix completely off-guard. Felix pulls his head away from Hyunjin’s shoulder and looks at him with wide eyes. “What?” Hyunjin asks. “It’s not like you don’t feel the same way. At least, I hope you do.”

Felix manages a smile. “Oh, don’t worry, I definitely like you,” he says and holds a little tighter onto Hyunjin’s hand. “It’s just, I dunno, a little surprising to hear you say it out loud.”

“Should I say it more often, then?” Hyunjin asks, grinning cheekily. “I like you, I like you, I like you a lot, I like you – ”

Hyunjin shuts up when Felix leans in and presses his lips to Hyunjin’s. They connect only for a few seconds, but when Felix pulls away, he knows Hyunjin’s the one caught off-guard now. He returns Hyunjin’s cheeky grin while Hyunjin regains his senses.

“How you like that?” Felix says through his smile.

Hyunjin’s soft eyes start glimmering with what looks like hope, and his hand on Felix’s shoulder trails up his neck, cupping his face as his thumb runs along Felix’s jaw. Felix’s smile falls as Hyunjin leans in and presses their foreheads together.

“I like that a lot,” Hyunjin says, voice low, and connects their lips again. Felix closes his eyes as Hyunjin’s lips push against his, soft and loving yet rough at the same time. Their noses bump into each other as Hyunjin tilts Felix’s head for a better angle, and Felix grins into Hyunjin’s lips as Hyunjin kisses him harder. Maybe he underestimated how long both of them wanted this.

When Hyunjin pulls away and looks at Felix from between the strands of his hair, Felix becomes hyperaware of the heat of Hyunjin’s back under his hand, and the tingling feeling of their hands clasped together.

“So…” Felix says, his voice barely a whisper as Hyunjin nuzzles their noses softly.

“So…” Hyunjin says, smiling.

“Wanna go back now?” Felix asks.

Hyunjin hums and sits down on the grass, pulling Felix down to cuddle up beside him. Felix snuggles into him as Hyunjin wraps an arm around Felix’s shoulders, and Felix intertwines their fingers in Hyunjin’s lap.

“Nah,” Hyunjin finally replies. He reaches for Jimin’s phone that Felix had dropped once Hyunjin kissed him back and pauses the music. “I just wanna sit here. With you.”

Felix leans in closer to Hyunjin, so much so that he can smell the shampoo he’d used this morning. Since it’s Woojin’s, it smells different than the one Hyunjin used to use, but Felix figures he can get used to it. It is Hyunjin, after all.

“I’m okay with that,” Felix replies and leaves a kiss on Hyunjin’s cheek before turning his gaze to the river. All Felix can think as he sits on the grass with Hyunjin, and as they walk hand in hand back to the apartment is I’m so glad Hwang Hyunjin likes me as much as I like him.

Chapter 13: In Which Breakfast is Ruined

Chapter Text

Jimin calls Seungmin into the master bedroom, the biggest bedroom only by a couple of square feet of her apartment after Felix drags Hyunjin through the front door by the hand, wide smiles adorning both their faces.

“What?” Seungmin asks after Jimin shuts the door. He jerks a thumb toward the rest of the apartment. “It sounds like they’re having a lot of fun out there, and I for one don’t wanna miss out on giving Felix any noogies.”

Jimin snorts at her cousin. “Of course you don’t. Just hear me out, this won’t take long.”

Seungmin crosses his arms and flops down on the edge of Jimin’s bed. “Fine, what’s up?”

Jimin sighs and leans against the door. “It’s about your friends. The superpowered ones,” she says.

“They prefer ‘enhanced,’” Seungmin interjects, and Jimin narrows her eyes at him.

“Fine, ‘enhanced,’” Jimin says, rolling her eyes.

“The air-quotes aren’t helping your case,” Seungmin snips and grins one of his sh*t-eating grins as Jimin groans angrily at him. Jimin drags her hands over her face before she regains her composure, and digs her phone out of her pocket.

“Look, whatever they are,” Jimin says, shuffling over to Seungmin and shoving the phone in his face. Seungmin squints to see properly. “They’re on the news.”

“Three promising interns from JYP Industries and Tech have gone missing: Security camera footage shows five persons leading them away from the company building.” Seungmin looks up from the article in horror. Eight pictures, one for him and each of his friends accompany the article. Some are from varying angles, none quite straight on, but a passerby on the streets who’ve seen the article would be able to recognize them.

Jimin purses her lips as Seungmin tries to form words. “This… this is not good,” Seungmin stutters. He shakes his head and pushes off the bed and starts pacing around the blow-up mattress Chan and Changbin camped out on last night. “But, we could get out of this… I mean, you can’t believe everything you read on the news, anyway.”

“Well, yeah, maybe for idol dating scandals leaked by Dispatch,” Jimin scoffs, “but this, this is serious. I don’t see how any of us – sorry, you – are making it out of this without some jail time on your permanent record!”

Seungmin snorts, but it’s a halfhearted snort. “I’d be more worried about dying before going to prison if I’m being completely honest with you,” he says to the floor near the end of Jimin’s bed.

At a small squeak from the other side of the slightly cramped room, Seungmin stops pacing and turns to look at his cousin. For the first time in his life, the cousin he’d always known to be unwavering and sure of herself, who left the comfort Seungmin’s family provided for her to forge a place for himself in life, looks at Seungmin like her world is shattering like a stained glass painting.

“Jimin, I – Noona,” Seungmin squeaks out when Jimin practically tackles him in a hug. He pats Jimin gently on the back before pulling his cousin into his arms. Seungmin’s legs crumple under the full weight of her, and the two fall to the floor near the bed. It’s not until Seungmin feels the sleeve of his shirt get soaked that he realizes Jimin’s crying.

“Hey, hey, we’re gonna be fine,” Seungmin assures her, “all of us.”

Jimin looks up from Seungmin’s tear-drenched sleeve. “You guys… are the first family I’ve ever had.”

Seungmin smiles a painful smile. “Don’t be silly, Noona, you have your parents – well, okay, maybe not them – you have my mom and dad! They’re your family.”

Jimin shakes her head and looks up at Seungmin with sad eyes. “Being blood relatives doesn’t carry any meaning to me,” she says slowly. “The others, and you… I’ve only known most of them for twenty-four hours, but I trust you all with my past, my secrets, my home… Standing by while each of you get hurt isn’t something I – I can’t do that,” she chokes out. Seungmin feels his tear ducts welling up and he blinks furiously to keep them at bay. He can’t cry, not while Jimin is already in pieces. Can’t I just stay strong for one second?

“We’re all gonna get out of this,” Seungmin says, trying to assure his cousin once more. “If we work together, if we trust each other, we’ll be free of the disease that is that corporation.”

Jimin sniffles. “Yeah? And how are we gonna do that?”

Seungmin sighs and leans into the side of the mattress. The only way to clear their names is to clear them with JYP. That’s obviously not going to happen since the company seems to be on a warpath to get Chan, Changbin, and Minho back, their precious ‘experiments.’ Seungmin’s lip curls at that thought, and he pushes it aside. The only way to go about it is by taking JYP Industries and Tech out of the picture.

We don’t have a way to take down the company, especially since over half of us aren’t in the right mental state to even think about going back there again. Seungmin sighs the heaviest sigh of the night as he contemplates the eternal conundrum. How are we supposed to fight something we were trained to fight for?

“I don’t know,” Seungmin admits, rubbing a hand up and down Jimin’s back. “I really don’t know. But I can promise that we – all of us – will stay with you. We’ll be here for each other. None of us are going anywhere.”

***

Felix blinks awake to a loud clanging sound that probably came from the main area of the apartment. He groans and rolls over from the side of the bed, jerking away when the arm he splays out hits something that feels suspiciously like a someone.

He turns his head and sees Hyunjin squinting up at him. “Really, Lix? This early in the morning?” Hyunjin says in his morning groggy voice.

“Wasn’t my fault,” Felix protests sleepily, flopping back down in the crook of Hyunjin’s arm. “Loud noise.”

“Hmm, really?” Hyunjin murmurs, nestling his nose into Felix’s messy bedhead, then planting a kiss on the crown of his head. “I bet you’re just hearing things.” Felix hums and snuggles into Hyunjin’s shoulder and closes his eyes, fully intent on going back to sleep.

“Alrighty, lovebirds! Get your asses up and outta bed ‘cause we are starting the day!” Felix’s eyes fly open at the shout from the bedroom door, and he glares at a smiling Jisung who looks way too put together for – Felix glances at the bedside clock – ten in the morning.

“f*ck, Jisung, we’re sleeping here,” Hyunjin groans through shut eyes, and pulls the blanket over his and Felix’s heads.

Felix can hear Jisung pouting from the doorway. “What kind of lazy-ass sleeps when there’s light coming through those curtains?”

He does have a point there, Felix admits internally as he peeks over the blanket Hyunjin threw over them.

Jisung flashes his megawatt at Felix and leans against the doorframe in an attempt to be casual, but ends up bending his spine into a less than comfortable-looking position. “We’re – I mean, me and Minho are making breakfast, so, uh, come eat once you’re decent,” Jisung says, and gestures vaguely at the bed.

Heat creeps onto Felix’s cheeks when he realizes Jisung probably walked in and saw him and Hyunjin less than fully-clothed. Jisung smirks at Felix’s embarrassment and shoots him a finger gun. “Remember: pancakes, ten minutes,” he says before spinning out of the doorway. Felix watches Jisung’s socked feet thud down the hall and scurry back to the kitchen.

“The absolute nerve,” Hyunjin says in a monotone voice, face smushed into the pillow. Felix sighs and props himself up on his elbow and combs through Hyunjin’s tangled hair with his fingers.

“Right?” Felix murmurs. He leaves his hand at the nape of Hyunjin’s neck and gives his shoulder a light squeeze. “We should probably get out there, though. I don’t particularly trust Jisung’s cooking skills.”

Hyunjin sighs and kicks the blanket off as he sits up and rubs at his eyes. “Yeah,” he says, then pulls Felix into a hug, wrapping his arms snugly around Felix’s waist. “Maybe just a few more minutes though?” he mumbles into Felix’s hair.

Felix smiles and cups Hyunjin’s cheek, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “Fine. But if we get out there and have to eat burnt pancakes, it’s on you.”

***

For the most part, the breakfast is edible, much to Felix’s surprise. The pancakes are soft and fluffy – but at the same time, a tad crispy – and Minho’s bacon is cooked to perfection. Felix’s favorite part of the meal has to be the satisfied hums from Hyunjin whenever he took a bite of tasty food and smiled at Felix with his eyes. Or maybe it was when Hyunjin hand-fed him a fresh strawberry, Felix can’t be sure.

Of course, the meal isn’t complete without the main event, which Seungmin kindly announces. “Jisung, what the hell is that?” Felix looks up from his plate at Seungmin’s voice. The look on Seungmin’s face is a combination of pure disgust and disappointment. Felix slowly turns his head to where Seungmin’s looking.

Jisung is dragging a large thing about three feet tall, covered in a big sheet out of the room he shared with Seungmin and Jeongin. Once he lugs it to the living room, he stands proudly next to it with his hands on his hips.

“The future is now, thanks to science!” he says loudly before pulling the sheet off dramatically, revealing a squat, drum-like hunk of metal with a panel on top that has an outline of a handprint, and sensors coating the sides of it that blink a light orange color. “I present to you, the ‘Jeongin Fixer Upper,’ complete with 360-degree mobile wheels for your transportation needs.”

When no one says anything or moves to react, Jisung’s arms fall to his sides and his lower lip juts out. “C’mon, guys, give me some reactions!” he whines. Jeongin starts slow-clapping, and Jisung narrows his eyes at him.

“Um, what does it do?” Chan asks warily.

Jisung brightens up once Chan speaks. “Well, I’m glad you asked. This device is a quantum energy regulator, meaning when it detects energy of the quantum wavelength, it absorbs it and repurposes it. It’s basically a reusable energy generator,” Jisung finishes with a grin. Felix finds the corner of his lips twitching up; it’s hard not to smile at Jisung with how pleased he seems with himself.

“When did you find time to make this?” Jimin cuts in after draining her glass of juice.

Jisung crosses his arms. “Last night. I couldn’t sleep ‘cause I was thinking about, uh, things and stuff,” he says with a short glance at someone. Felix bets his last piece of bacon Jisung looked at Minho, so when he turns his head, he’s not surprised to find the tips of Minho’s ears turning pink. “But I digress,” Jisung recovers quickly. “I work better at night anyway. But, um, I had to borrow some parts from some of the contraptions in your apartment, Jimin. So, in case you go to use the microwave and it doesn’t work, that’s why.”

Felix watches in delight as Jisung cowers under Jimin’s glare, and elbows Hyunjin to clue him in. Hyunjin’s eyes curl up into those moons when he sees Jimin’s face, and he laughs silently into Felix’s shoulder.

“Uh, Jisung?” Seungmin pipes up from the end of the kitchen island. “I hate to be the one to break it to you, but, uh, that thing looks a lot, and I mean a lot like a bomb.” Everyone’s eyes go wide at Seungmin’s accusation, and Felix turns his head to look at Jisung’s invention again.

Though it doesn’t resemble the bombs from the Manhattan Project Felix remembers learning about when his history class studied World War II, Felix can see why Seungmin would think that. Now that he thinks about it, the flashing sensors on the sides of the regulator look more ominous than innocent beeping lights should look, and the circular shape of it doesn’t ease the foreboding feeling that radiated from it once Seungmin pointed it out.

Jisung looks from Seungmin to his invention and back to Seungmin again. “Okay, I kinda see what you’re getting at there, but really, it’s completely safe! Jeongin, why don’t you come test it out,” Jisung says, beckoning Jeongin over eagerly. Jeongin sighs and gives Seungmin an apologetic look before pushing his chair out and padding over to Jisung and the quantum energy regulator.

“Just put your hand on the scanner,” Jisung directs, guiding Jeongin’s hand to the handprint. His fingers align perfectly with the outline, and Felix wonders how long Jisung spent making that outline, especially without the help of the micro-cutters he had access to at JYP. “Now, try to phase.”

Jeongin purses his lips in concentration. Felix leans across Hyunjin to get a better look. Even though Jeongin is phasing, his hand stays in the visible reality while the regulator thrums as it feeds off the energy.

A smile spreads across Jeongin’s face when he looks down at his hand and can actually see his whole hand. “Oh – oh my god, it’s working. It’s working!” he squeals, and stamps his feet in excitement. Felix grins and hugs Hyunjin because he can’t contain the feeling of knowing that Jeongin’s going to be okay.

But just as quickly as Jeongin smiled, the grin falls from his face. “Ow, it’s getting – ow – hot, really hot,” he says, panicked. He yanks his hand away from the scanner and cradles it with his other hand. Jimin leaves her spot at the island and grabs a kitchen towel, soaking it with cold water before bringing it to Jeongin. Jeongin thanks her after wrapping it around his burn.

“Should it be making that noise?” Hyunjin asks to no one in particular. Felix frowns; he can’t hear anything coming from the machine except the low sound it made when Jisung turned it on. Right, he remembers, crazy-good hearing.

“Jisung, turn it off,” Seungmin says harshly, followed by the ting of a fork on his plate. “Jisung, turn it off.” Jisung turns away from Jeongin with a panicked look on his face, then kneels down next to the regulator and fumbles with the switch. The longer it takes Jisung to shut it off with his trembling fingers, the louder a strange high-pitched noise seems to get, and Felix realizes it’s the sound Hyunjin heard moments before. It’s the same sound a kettle filled with boiling water might make when it needs to let off steam.

“Everybody, get down!” Felix and Changbin yell simultaneously. Felix drags Hyunjin to the other side of the island, pulling Seungmin down with them, while Changbin grabs Minho and Chan superspeeds over to push Jimin and Jeongin into the hallway.

“Jisung!” Minho screams and tries to stand up, but can’t get out of Changbin’s iron grip. Felix glances wide-eyed at Changbin when mint-green light rips Changbin’s hand off Minho’s wrist, and Minho jumps to his feet. Changbin gives him an equally worried look as he yanks at Minho’s shirt. When Minho falls to the floor after a particularly strong tug from Changbin, his hands are glowing that same mint color from the basem*nt of JYP, and his eyes are screwed up in concentration.

Seconds later, a low rumble fills the apartment, followed by short tremors that shake the cabinet doors and knock a pan off the stovetop that had been used to make pancakes. Felix latches one hand onto Seungmin’s shoulder and secures the other at the back of Hyunjin’s neck and pulls his two friends close to him. Seungmin has his knees tucked to his chest and Hyunjin is plugging his ears with two fingers. Felix peeks over at Changbin and sees him holding Minho steady by the forearms, the minty light still flickering around his fingers.

When the rumbling stops and the floor doesn’t seem like it’s bouncing half a foot into the air, Felix releases his grip on Seungmin and Hyunjin and sighs, cradling his head in his hands. The hell just happened? I thought Jisung said it was safe – wait, Jisung! Felix clambers to his feet, using the island to help him stand up. His legs shake once he’s fully standing, and his heart is beating faster than it has in a long time. He can’t be dead… he can’t.

When Felix turns around, he expects to see Jisung’s body sprawled out on the floor, limbs at awkward angles, and his hair and clothes completely singed from the explosion. Instead, Felix’s shoulders drop a few inches in relief when he lays his eyes upon a burn-free Jisung that’s curled up in a ball a foot away from the regulator.

What’s surprising is the glow of mint-colored light that surrounds Jisung’s shaking body like a barrier. Some of the parts of the regulator that flew off in the explosion are strewn about the floor near Jisung as if they’d bounced off the shield of light. Felix barely has a moment to put two and two together before the glow around Jisung fades and Minho scrambles out from behind the island on his hands and knees and goes to Jisung. Felix follows suit, using the island as a crutch to get to Jisung.

“Sung, are you okay?” Minho whispers faintly, but Felix can hear him. His voice trembles like he’s holding back tears. “You better be okay, I didn’t save your life for you to be dead right now.”

Jisung’s eyes blink twice before they focus on Minho’s face, and the glint of fear in his eyes vanishes when he sees Minho crouching over him. “You… you saved me,” he says, a firm statement.

Minho nods and takes one of Jisung’s hands to pull him to a sitting position. “That’s right,” he says and doesn’t let go of Jisung’s hand.

Felix tests his balance without the island countertop to help him before he stumbles to where Jisung’s sitting on the floor. “Jisung, are you – you’re okay, right?” Jisung nods and Felix exhales in relief. “Thank whatever god that’s up there for that,” Felix says. He grabs onto the hand that Minho isn’t holding and looks Jisung seriously in the eyes. “ Wha – what happened? Why did it do that?”

“I think we’d all like to know that.” Felix looks up at Chan, who’s dragging Jimin and Jeongin back into the living room with a frown on his face. Once he sits Jeongin down on a barstool, he turns and says, “I thought you said that thing was ‘completely safe.’” Felix cringes on behalf of Jisung at the air-quotes Chan uses.

“I – I don’t know,” Jisung says, his voice shaky. He tries to look up at Chan and the others, who’ve stood up from behind the island, but falters under their stares. Felix sees Minho squeeze Jisung’s hand before Jisung continues. “I really thought it would work. I… I don’t know what went wrong.”

“But it did work,” Jeongin pipes up, swiveling the barstool around. “I felt it take the energy from me, I felt that,” Jeongin insists. He looks down at his hands and whispers hoarsely, “I felt normal.”

“But that doesn’t explain why it turned into a bomb,” Changbin points out. Hyunjin nods along next to him, and Seungmin’s face screws up in thought.

“Well, it kinda does,” Seungmin says after a moment. Chan looks at him with a raised eyebrow and Jisung perks up as he waits for his fellow resident genius to explain. “You said it was supposed to repurpose the quantum energy it absorbed, right?” Jisung nods. “Right. So, it was supposed to repurpose the energy into clean energy the way solar panels do with solar energy. Obviously, that didn’t happen – ” Seungmin gives Jisung an apologetic look. “Sorry, man.”

Jisung nods his head in defeat. “No offense taken.”

Seungmin goes straight back into his analysis. “So, instead of transforming it into usable energy, the regulator turned the quantum energy into chemical energy, essentially making it a bomb, which explains the heat.” Seungmin smiles triumphantly when he finishes and looks around like he’s waiting for a round of applause. He sighs at the lack of reactions.

“And, um,” Hyunjin gulps, making circular motions with his fingers, “you’re kind of talking about the, uh, bomb with an inordinate amount of excitement, so I was just kind of wondering whether the rest of us should be excited about it, or…” Hyunjin trails off awkwardly as Changbin and Jimin fix him with confused looks and Jeongin buries his face in his hands like he can’t bear to listen to the conversation anymore.

“Hyunjin, I hate to break it to you, but in no way, shape or form is a bomb ever the right answer to anything,” Chan says pointedly. “Though the Americans would probably disagree with that statement,” he adds quietly, making Changbin cover a snort with his hand.

“Plus I, uh, don’t think I’ll be able to rebuild that… thing,” Jisung says, shuddering at the end of his sentence. Minho rubs Jisung’s shoulder reassuringly with his free hand, and Felix nods thankfully at him. Minho gives him a small smile in return before squeezing Jisung’s hand.

Seungmin heaves a deep sigh. “You might have to, Jisung,” he says finally, “because that thing is the answer to all our problems.”

“Seungmin, did you not hear anything I just said?” Chan says incredulously. “Bombs are never the right answer! Oh god, please tell me you’re not just saying that to spite me because you’re actually American,” Chan says quickly, slapping a hand to his forehead.

Seungmin scoffs and puts his hand on his chest in mock offense. “I take much offense to that, truly. But that’s not what I meant,” he says, looking around the room. “What I meant was that if we use the bomb the right way, JYP won’t be a problem for us anymore.”

Felix squints at Seungmin. “Are they being a problem for us right now?” he asks curiously.

Seungmin purses his lips and nods regretfully. “JYP leaked our names and faces online, and now every person with access to the internet knows what we look like and probably believe every lie packaged into that article, one of which being that us five kidnapped you three – ” he points at Chan, Changbin, and Minho “ – and they need help finding their ‘promising interns’ and their kidnappers.”

Felix shudders at the weight of the statement, and he scoots a little closer to Minho and Jisung for comfort. Minho pulls Jisung and Felix into the embrace of his arms as if he could shield them from the news with a warm hug. Felix’s heart breaks when he hears Jisung whispering into Minho’s shirt, “It’s my fault… I should never have stolen those files, this is all my fault.” Felix squeezes Jisung’s arm in reassurance, but Jisung’s eyes stay dead open, filled with guilt.

The apartment is quiet, save for the drumming of Hyunjin’s fingers on the countertop, until Changbin clears his throat. “And you didn’t think to tell us this until now?” he says calmly, but his tone only makes him sound more passive-aggressive.

“Hey, I didn’t even know until last night!” Seungmin protests with his hands up. Changbin shrugs and crosses his arms, but there are remnants of suspicion on his face.

“Wait, back up,” Chan says. “In what way would we be using the bomb, specifically?”

A maniacal grin spreads across Seungmin’s face, and a shiver runs down Felix’s spine. Hyunjin shuffles the teeniest bit away from Seungmin. “We, my friends,” Seungmin says with a nod to everyone, “are gonna blow those f*ckers to kingdom come.”

Chapter 14: Putting Together the Plan and the Team

Chapter Text

“Seungmin, I could give you a million, no, a billion reasons why that’s a bad, no, the worst idea,” Chan says, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“No, no,” Changbin says, waving a hand at Chan before he goes on a rant. He holds his chin in thought and looks at Seungmin. “I wanna hear him out. This sounds… interesting.”

“Thank you, Changbin,” Seungmin says, nodding graciously in his direction. Changbin just humphs and crosses his arms more, if that’s even possible. Seungmin looks around at his audience, then sighs. “Maybe we should all sit down, for comfort’s sake,” he suggests. A chorus of agreement fills the room as the group moves out of the kitchen. Minho pulls Felix and Jisung off the floor, holding onto Jisung’s hand slightly longer than Felix’s, and Jimin gets Jeongin a new damp towel for his burned hand.

To fit everyone onto the couch, Hyunjin offers up his lap to Felix, who quickly takes him up on the opportunity. Felix snuggles into Hyunjin’s chest as Hyunjin holds onto his upper arms and rests his head on Felix’s shoulder. Felix nudges Hyunjin, who snickers along with Felix when they see Minho and Jisung sitting next to each other, thighs pressed together, yet acting like they’re as far away from each other as possible. Seungmin and Jeongin take up the chair that’s normally meant for one person only, leaving Chan and Changbin to make themselves comfortable on the plush carpet. Jimin takes a seat on the coffee table, leaning forward with her hands on her knees.

“Okay, Seungmin, let’s hear it,” Jimin says, clasping her hands together as she looks at her cousin. Seungmin clears his throat and adjusts himself in Jeongin’s grip as everyone’s heads turn towards him.

“Lemme just get straight to the point. We’re never going to be free, be able to live our lives as humans, not as experiments or agents if we don’t do something about JYP Industries. They’re the ones that kept us under lock and key for the past few years, maybe even longer than that. But they’re a powerhouse of money and technology, so we can’t just hit them with something they’ll be expecting, like superpowers,” Seungmin stops to glance at the enhanced members of their group, “or spy tactics they taught us themselves.”

There’s a pause as Seungmin waits for the group to catch up with him. Felix hums thoughtfully as he realizes what Seungmin is suggesting. It’s not a bad idea, Felix thinks, but as he looks around and sees the apprehensive look on Jisung’s face, he reconsiders. Is it?

“So you’re saying – ” Chan pieces together slowly.

Seungmin grins. “They’re not gonna be expecting a bomb that would blow the place to smithereens,” he says with a little too much glee to be considered healthy.

Everyone nods in agreement, happy at the prospect of completely obliterating the company that ruined their lives. Felix spots the look on Jisung’s face, a frown etched even deeper into his features than before, and says, “Jisung, you wanna comment on that?”

Jisung glances at Felix gratefully before turning to Seungmin. “While I love a good revenge plot, the logistics of this specific plot are, uh, shaky at best,” he says. Seungmin raises an eyebrow and nods for him to go on. “Think about it: JYP’s a tech company, they’re bound to have most of their data backed up, and have backups of the backups, just in case. The bomb may destroy the physical company, but not their business or their research.” Jisung sighs before continuing to his next point. “The other problem is the collateral. For this to work, Jeongin’s gonna have to give that machine all of his energy to be able to destroy a place of that size. Once it’s destroyed, the remnants of the building won’t just disappear; they’re gonna hurt people, innocent people, and I – we can’t have that on our conscious,” Jisung finishes, his voice catching in his throat toward the end. Minho rubs his back soothingly.

Seungmin points at Jisung approvingly. “I agree with everything you just said. And that is precisely why we have a diverse team that can handle every problem you listed,” Seungmin says, a grin tipping up the corners of his lips. “Minho, Chan, Changbin, I trust you guys would be able to work with the collateral of the building once it, you know, blows up. Getting people off the scene would be your first priority.” The enhanced members nod, Changbin cracking a few knuckles to show he’s prepared.

“Jisung, as one of the most capable hackers I’ve ever met, you and me would be tracking down all of JYP’s data, research, anything they could use to start up their business again, should they make it out alive,” Seungmin says, adding that last part under his breath.

Felix gulps at that. Sure, the higher-ups of the company and a few of the workers probably had a hand in the manipulation of his memory, but the majority of people employed by JYP most likely have no idea about the dirty work that went on behind the scenes, such as experimenting on teenagers to give them superpowers. Felix feels his heart start to beat faster and he picks at a hangnail on his pointer finger.

Hyunjin must’ve felt Felix’s increase in heart rate because he pulls Felix flush against his chest and drapes his arms over Felix’s shoulders. “You aren’t meant to kill people,” Hyunjin whispers into Felix’s ear, drowning out Seungmin and Jisung’s technical conversation. “You’ve got a good heart, Lix. We’ll get every innocent person out of there, make sure everyone’s safe.”

Felix turns his head slightly and peeks at Hyunjin out of the corner of his eye. “Promise?” he asks timidly.

Hyunjin nods and squeezes Felix in a hug. “Promise.”

Felix reaches up and holds onto Hyunjin’s wrists, attaching Hyunjin to him. “Good,” he says, lips tipped up in a smile. “Thanks for saying that.”

“Anything for you,” Hyunjin says sweetly as he nuzzles into Felix’s shoulder. Felix giggles through his flushed cheeks as Hyunjin holds him closer.

“And Felix!” Seungmin calls, jolting Felix and Hyunjin out of their world. Seungmin smirks at them. “You and Hyunjin are in charge of getting Jeongin and the bomb inside the building, arming it, then getting out before it blows.” Felix finds Jeongin’s eyes, which look stone cold for a moment, but his eyes brighten when he smiles at Felix, so Felix smiles back.

“Got it,” Hyunjin says, his voice rumbling through Felix’s body. Felix can hear the smile spreading on his face. “Jeongin, you good with that?” Hyunjin asks gently.

Jeongin purses his lips and nods slowly. “Yeah, I just – yeah,” he says, clapping his hands together and folding them in his lap. “It’s for the greater good, you know?” He phrases it as a rhetorical question, but Felix has a slight inkling that Jeongin’s trying to convince himself rather than Felix and Hyunjin.

“Wait, what about me?” Jimin complains from the coffee table.

Seungmin eyes his cousin with a smile. “Oh, don’t worry, Jimin. There’s a special job for you,” he says.

Jimin crosses her arms. “Oh, yeah? Enlighten me, please.”

One of Seungmin’s eyebrows goes up as Jeongin shifts out of the chair and lands on the floor with a thud. “You still have that commercial truck license?” Seungmin asks.

Felix doesn’t hear Jimin’s response. His focus goes to Jeongin, who uses the end table with the lamp to pull himself up from the floor and starts slinking toward the front door of the apartment. Felix makes eye contact with Hyunjin the moment Jeongin’s hand lands on the doorknob.

After a silent communication, Hyunjin lifts Felix off his lap and pushes himself off the couch. “We’re gonna go grab, um, something for…” he says, trailing off.

“Lunch,” Felix cuts in, a smile plastered on his face as the group looks at them. Chan regards them with a look of great suspicion. “We’re getting lunch,” Felix repeats, grabbing Hyunjin’s hand to confirm. Hyunjin squeezes his hand thankfully and both of them sprint toward the door while Seungmin and Jisung go into planning mode.

“Hope Jeongin didn’t go too far,” Felix says as they run down the hall to the staircase.

Hyunjin tilts his head. “He didn’t. He’s just one floor above us,” he says, pointing to the ceiling. Felix sighs and resigns to climbing the winding staircase for the second time in three days, which is two too many times, in his opinion.

“What do you think got into him?” Hyunjin puffs as they climb the third flight of stairs. Jeongin stays one flight above them, his pace not slowing one bit, and Felix figures they’re in it until they get to the top.

Felix sighs, or maybe pants as they run around the banister. “I dunno, probably the thought that he’s gonna be the one setting off the bomb that’ll obliterate the company building and the people in it,” Felix says. He doesn’t mean for it to come out that sarcastically, but it does, and he hears it. Hyunjin’s hand tightens around his, and they stop in the middle of the staircase, Felix standing a couple stairs above Hyunjin.

“That’s understandable,” Hyunjin admits, “but it’s also necessary. Seungmin’s right, we can’t be free until that company is out of the picture.”

“But he shouldn’t have to kill everyone in a fifty-foot radius to feel normal – ”

“If the company wasn’t completely corrupted, the doctors would’ve found him a cure and he wouldn’t even be in this mess!” Hyunjin shouts. “Why should we care about our morals when our friends were experimented on, our memories were manipulated, and the doctors were holding out on a cure for Jeongin because the company wanted to use his powers for their own personal gain?” Hyunjin takes a deep breath. “Nothing about this is right. But we were wronged, and if this is the necessary evil that’s going to right those wrongs, then so be it.”

“But the least we can do is make sure no one gets killed after the detonation,” Felix says, pleading to Hyunjin, even though Hyunjin has no control over whether that would happen anyway.

Hyunjin fixes him with a sad stare. “We can’t always take the high road, Felix. Especially not this time,” he finally says.

Felix looks at the ceiling and purses his lips before tipping his head down to look Hyunjin in the eyes. “Look, even if that’s the case, I don’t think we should sell the idea of mass destruction to Jeongin by packaging it as a well-deserved revenge scheme,” Felix says, his voice shaky.

“Maybe it’s not all about revenge,” a voice says from above. Felix and Hyunjin tilt their heads back and find Jeongin leaning over the railing of the next flight of stairs. His head disappears and his footsteps grow louder as he descends the stairs. He appears at the landing above Felix and Hyunjin and smiles sadly at them. “The only way I’ll ever be normal is by detonating that bomb,” he finally says. Hyunjin closes the distance between himself and Felix and wraps an arm around Felix’s shoulders as they look at Jeongin. “And if I’m being honest… it’s the least those doctors could do for me.”

Even though Jeongin probably meant it to be funny, none of them laugh. Felix and Hyunjin just open their arms and accept a teary-eyed Jeongin into a hug that has them nearly toppling down the stairs domino-style. After a few seconds, Jeongin lets himself cry, but he doesn’t make a sound. The only tell that he’s crying is the wet patch forming on Hyunjin’s shirt.

Felix hugs Jeongin a little tighter. “You’re brave, Jeongin,” he whispers, his voice low. Jeongin sniffles and Felix smiles to himself. “You deserve so much better than this, but the world doesn’t always dole out good lives to good people.”

“That’s… thanks, Felix,” Jeongin says after a moment. He pulls out of the hug and swats at the tearstains on Hyunjin’s shirt. “And… you’re good people too, both of you. All of our friends, actually,” he adds. “Speaking of whom, we should go back now. Wouldn’t wanna miss a moment of planning.” Jeongin goes down the stairs two at a time, leaving Hyunjin and Felix smiling at their friend as he races back to the apartment.

“He’s a good kid,” Felix says as he takes Hyunjin’s hand and they follow Jeongin down the stairs.

“He’s hardly a kid,” Hyunjin points out, threading his fingers through Felix’s. “But yeah, he’s good. I wonder what he’s gonna do when we get out of this.”

Felix smiles and scrunches up his face in thought. “I don’t know about you, but I kinda pegged him as a kindergarten teacher.”

Hyunjin turns to him, shock evident on his face. “That’s oddly specific. You think so?”

Felix shrugs. “He seems like he’d be good with kids. Besides, he told me that’s what he wanted to do when he was in school, so – ” Felix dodges an attack from Hyunjin’s elbow while sporting a grin on his face.

“You could have just told me you knew what he wants to do instead of being all mysterious about it,” Hyunjin gripes as they reach the second floor. The grin stays on Felix’s face and he squeezes Hyunjin’s hand as an apology. “So, um,” Hyunjin starts, “what’re you gonna do?” His voice sounds so much smaller than before, so Felix stops, turning to Hyunjin.

“You mean, what am I gonna do with my life once we get out of this mess?” Hyunjin nods in response, but he doesn’t look Felix in the eye. Felix’s heart sinks. He’s scared… of losing this? What we have? “Well, I haven’t really thought about it, I guess.” He runs his thumb over Hyunjin’s knuckles. “I mean, I was thinking about going home – going to Australia and finding my family.”

“Oh.” Hyunjin’s voice comes out in a tiny squeak. “That’s… that’s reasonable. I mean, they are your family, after all.” He makes like he’s going to keep walking to the apartment, but Felix holds on tight to Hyunjin’s hands.

“Hey,” Felix says and uses one hand to tip Hyunjin’s chin up. For the first time since they started talking about Felix’s future, Hyunjin looks him in the eye. And when he does, Felix knows why he’d refused to before.

Because looking Hyunjin in the eye after Felix had told him he’s thinking about going to a whole other continent is painful. Felix can’t quite put his finger on it, but the emotion swimming around in Hyunjin’s dark brown eyes that he could stare into for hours looks a lot like broken hope.

“Oh, Jinnie,” is all Felix can say, and he pulls Hyunjin in for a tight hug. Hyunjin buries his head into Felix’s shoulder and wraps his arms around Felix’s waist like he’s a stuffed animal he’s going to squeeze the fluff out of. Felix’s hands go to Hyunjin’s back, and he just rubs Hyunjin’s back in a manner he hopes is soothing until Hyunjin’s grasp on him starts to loosen.

“I just got you,” Hyunjin chokes out into Felix’s shirt. His arms tighten again. “And now I’m gonna lose you.”

“No,” Felix says firmly, so firmly that Hyunjin pulls away to look Felix in the eye again. “No,” he repeats, “you’ll always have me.”

Hyunjin blinks and a tiny tear rolls down his face. “That’s so corny, Lixie,” Hyunjin says as he wipes his cheek with the back of his hand.

“Well, it’s true,” Felix states, his lips spreading into a smile. Hyunjin chuckles and leans in, kissing Felix’s smile and the corners of his lips, then his forehead and cheeks.

“I guess it is,” Hyunjin says, a little breathless after he drags himself away from Felix’s face. Felix knows Hyunjin can and will attempt to kiss every single one of his freckles once they’re within the walls of the apartment. But for now, Hyunjin just takes Felix’s hand, and the two of them walk through the door of the apartment with twin smiles on their faces.

They do get yelled at by a vehement Jisung, who really believed they’d be bringing back lunch.

Chapter 15: It All Comes Down to This

Chapter Text

“You don’t know how to drive this thing? I thought you said you had a commercial driver’s license!”

“I said I had one, I never said how I got it!”

“Well, it’s just a stickshift, surely you can drive that.”

“Seungmin, both our parents were tech investors. I learned how to drive on a top of the line automatic, same as you.”

“Well, that just gives me another reason to hate them! Shame on them for not teaching us proper survival skills.”

“Seungmin, pretty much all cars these days are automatics.”

“Well, apparently not all of them! What is that thing right there, huh? It’s a clutch, Jimin, because this vehicle is a stickshift.”

Felix has to stifle a snort with his hands. Seungmin and Jimin’s argument is getting a little heated in the cab of the truck, but to the passengers riding in the container of the truck, their outbursts are comedic masterpieces.

Felix turns to Hyunjin, who’s trying his best to hold in his laughter. “This is quality entertainment, I say.” He tickles Hyunjin’s side, and Hyunjin’s eyes bug out as he tries to keep quiet. “Better than most of your dramas, I bet.”

At that, Hyunjin glares at Felix. “Never underestimate melodrama writers,” he says, pointing a finger at Felix. “One second, you’ll be laughing your ass off, and the next, BAM, the protagonist gets hit by a car.”

Felix humphs and crosses his arms as he leans back against the wall of the small semi-truck Seungmin borrowed? Stole? Who knows, Felix thinks. Rich people are strange. Too many family feuds and brand-name clothes.

Nevertheless, the truck with questionable ownership that Seungmin procured somehow is filled with its cargo: one getaway driver, two guys-in-chairs, three damage control handlers, three field agents, and a bomb. They’re an interesting bunch, to say the least.

Felix’s head whips around at a noise from the other end of the container. Jisung’s staring wide-eyed at the quantum regulator, cradling his right hand in his left, a miniature screwdriver lying a few feet away from him. Jeongin scoots over from his spot leaning against the wall of the container to make sure Jisung’s okay, but Jisung frantically spreads his hands out and shoos Jeongin away, saying, “No, not you! You’ll get hurt!”

Jeongin just looks at Jisung incredulously when he says this. “You do realize you just got hurt, right? I mean, ever heard of hypocrisy?”

Jisung bristles at the comment. “Um, of course I have. What I meant was, it’s okay if I get hurt ‘cause I’m not that important for this mission – or in general,” he mumbles, just quiet enough that if people weren’t paying attention, they wouldn’t have heard him. “But you, Jeongin, are an integral part of the mission, so we need you in tip-top shape. That includes not getting electrocuted or burned again by this hunk o’ junk right here.” Jisung finishes his statement by giving the regulator a friendly little kick, but when the regulator’s lights start flashing after Jisung kicks it, he backs away quickly, butt-scooting across the floor of the container.

“Um, ouch,” Minho deadpans when Jisung crashes into him in his effort to put as much distance between himself and the regulator. When Jisung turns his head and meets Minho’s eyes, his cheeks become considerably more pink than they were moments ago, and Felix has to hide behind Hyunjin’s shoulder to keep himself from cracking up at the awkwardness of his friends.

“Sorry,” Jisung squeaks out and butt-scoots away to sit at a point equidistant from Minho and the regulator. He wraps his hands around his knees and eyes the regulator curiously like he can’t quite figure out what’s wrong with it. Felix wants nothing more than to be able to help Jisung, but he’s not good with delicate machinery like the regulator. Plus, he doesn’t really want to accidentally activate the bomb before they’ve even made it to the company building. Eventually, Jisung heaves a sigh and scoots back to the regulator, picking up the screwdriver on his way over and going back to tinkering with it.

The jerk of the truck moving forward jolts everyone riding in the container, causing Hyunjin to topple over into Felix and the bomb to start rolling around on the wheels Jisung equipped it with. Jisung’s eyes go wide at the bomb’s sudden movement, but Chan comes to the rescue and rushes to make sure the bomb doesn’t hit one of the container walls. He even wheels it over to Changbin, who takes it from Chan and wraps one strong arm protectively around the machine as if it’s a baby in a car seat. Well, that’s just ironic, Felix thinks as he tries to get Hyunjin back to a sitting position, since that thing has the ability to kill people.

Seungmin appears in the doorway to the container from the cab looking slightly worn out, his hair sticking up in places, probably where he’d grasped onto it in frustration while he was arguing with Jimin. He claps his hands together. “Good news: we got the truck moving,” he says.

“I got the truck moving!” comes Jimin’s shout from the cab, prompting an exaggerated eye-roll from Seungmin.

“Anyway,” Seungmin says, plopping down against the container wall near Jisung, “we should get to the company building soon. Now would be a good time to do some last-minute planning with your respective teams.” A disjointed agreement hums through the container, and the team members move to huddle around each other. Felix gives Jeongin a smile when he sits down cross-legged in front of him and Hyunjin.

“So,” Jeongin starts, dragging his finger in patterns across the floor, “we ready for this?”

Felix looks at Hyunjin for confirmation and turns back to Jeongin after Hyunjin nods decidedly. “We’re ready if you’re ready, Innie,” he says. He fixes Jeongin with a look that hopefully says, ‘you can tell us any concerns you’re having about this mission because honestly, we’re nervous too, and it would be really great if we could all just spill out our nerves before the mission so it all goes smoothly once the mission starts.’

Unfortunately, Jeongin doesn’t understand Felix’s look, or maybe Felix’s look was too hard to read. Instead, he just gulps and nods his head, keeping his eyes trained on a spot near the end of Hyunjin’s shoe. Hyunjin peers over his leg a few times to find what exactly Jeongin’s looking at, but comes up short each time. He shrugs at Felix after the third time he follows Jeongin’s gaze and finds nothing, then tilts his head in Jeongin’s direction, his eyes turning soft.

Felix purses his lips and nods sadly at Hyunjin, then reaches one hand out and rests it on Jeongin’s knee. He whips his head up at the sudden contact and looks at Felix with a mixture of confusion and shock. Felix just keeps his hand on Jeongin’s knee, slightly rubbing it, and holds his eye contact with Jeongin.

Soon enough, Jeongin places his own hand on top of Felix’s and squeezes lightly, sending Felix the tiniest of nervous smiles. Hyunjin adds his hand to the pile and Felix can see the comforting smile resting on Hyunjin’s lips. He feels a smile of his own on his face when he looks back at Jeongin.

“We’re here with you,” Felix says, nodding his head for emphasis. “Till the end.”

A wave of realization washes over Jeongin’s face, then he steels himself before nodding back at Felix and Hyunjin. “Till the end.”

They’re all silent for a bit before Hyunjin jumps in. “Just so you know, the end means, like, the end of the mission. Not, like, death, or anything. We are definitely not gonna die doing this mission,” Hyunjin clarifies, and Jeongin laughs.

“Yeah,” he agrees, a grin spreading on his face. “That would be a horrible way to go. Not an ideal location, either.” Felix snorts at that and removes his hand from the pile on Jeongin’s knee to pat him on the back.

“Speaking of location,” Seungmin says, popping up behind Jeongin so suddenly that Hyunjin startles and topples into Felix again. Seungmin’s signature grin appears on his face as Felix narrows his eyes at him for scaring Hyunjin. “We’re almost to the building, so, suit up, or whatever.” He walks away just as quickly as he came, and Felix rolls his eyes as he pushes himself off the floor to collect his team’s earpieces from Jisung.

He taps Jisung on the back, and Jisung breaks away from rummaging through a backpack of his tech. He looks startled, but his face clears when he sees Felix. “Hey, man,” Jisung says, turning back to the backpack. A few seconds later, he holds out three earpieces to Felix and deposits them in Felix’s open hands. “I made some adjustments to the volume settings, so just fiddle around with that before you get the green light on the mission,” Jisung advises, and turns back to the backpack once more. Felix just nods, swaying back and forth on his feet. When Jisung realizes Felix is still hovering behind him, he turns around, looking much more exasperated this time, and says, “What.”

Felix shakes his head quickly. “Oh, uh, nothing, I just – ” he pauses, and Jisung raises an eyebrow at him. Felix sighs, and looks down at his feet before meeting Jisung’s eyes again. “You – you didn’t really mean it when you made that offhand comment about how you think you’re not important?”

Jisung tilts his head in confusion, then his eyes widen when he remembers what he said fifteen minutes ago. “Oh, Felix, you can never take stuff like that seriously, especially when I say it,” Jisung explains, standing up from his squat. He gestures to himself grandly. “I mean, self-deprecating humor is my thing.”

The frown on Felix’s face doesn’t seem to want to go away, even after Jisung’s explanation. “Just – just know that we love you, okay?” Felix blurts out, his mouth saying everything he’s thinking without going through the filter first. “I love you, Hyunjin loves you, Seungmin and Jeongin love you, Chan, Changbin and Minho love you.” Felix swears Jisung’s cheeks go pink again when he mentions ‘Minho’ and ‘love’ in the same sentence, but he shakes that particular observation away for now. “You’re not useless or incompetent, Jisung. You’re smart and talented. And funny, too, just – less so when you make comments like, well, you know,” Felix finishes awkwardly, gesturing weirdly with his hands. “And to top it all off, you’re a good – no, a great friend. To everyone, but to me, especially.” Felix watches as Jisung’s eyes start getting a little shiny like he might cry any second. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you into my life sooner, but I’m glad we had what little time we did together.”

Jisung sniffles when Felix’s impromptu speech is over and wipes his nose with the back of his hands. “You say that like we’re not gonna see each other again,” Jisung points out, blinking furiously to dry up the tears in his eyes.

Felix chuckles and shakes his head. “Don’t worry, we definitely will,” he assures Jisung, “but it might be over FaceTime for the foreseeable future.” When Jisung co*cks his head in confusion, eyebrows furrowed, Felix remembers he hadn’t told anyone but Hyunjin. “After we’re done with this whole mess, I – I’m going back to Australia. To find my family.”

Jisung sniffles again, and Felix watches something flash through his eyes. Before he can figure out what it was, Jisung pulls Felix into a hug, wrapping his arms tight around Felix’s shoulders. It takes Felix a moment to respond, placing his hands gently on Jisung’s shoulder blades.

“That’s really brave of you, Felix,” Jisung whispers close to Felix’s ear. “I'm so, so proud of you.”

Felix smiles into Jisung’s shirt after his friend shares that sentiment. After pulling away from him, Jisung holds Felix at arm's length and stares at him for a good long moment before smiling and squeezing Felix’s shoulders. He gives Felix a gentle pat before spinning him around and shoving him in the direction of Hyunjin and Jeongin.

“You and Jisung sure were hugging for a while,” Hyunjin comments, trying to be casual about it as Felix distributes the earpieces among them. He gives Felix a look from under lidded eyes.

Felix just rolls his eyes as he adjusts the earpiece in his ear. “Oh, put Jealous Jin away for a while, will you?” Felix snarks, returning Hyunjin’s look with an overly sarcastic look of his own. “Besides,” he says, and hooks a finger loosely under Hyunjin’s chin simply because he likes the color Hyunjin’s cheeks turn when he does. “I don’t think I’ll be leaving you any time soon.” Felix’s eyes dangerously flick down to look at Hyunjin’s lips for less than a second, but it’s long enough to have Hyunjin coughing so he can get away from Felix before he does something stupid. Felix just grins. He’s so easy to fluster.

“Uh, are you two done with the weird mating dance? We’ve got a show to do,” comes Seungmin’s voice. Felix tears his gaze from the blushing mess that is Hyunjin and sees Seungmin standing at the back door of the container with his hands on his hips. Felix gives Seungmin a sarcastic salute and collects Jeongin and Hyunjin, dragging them out of the truck container by the arms.

Jisung follows them out of the truck, scratching his head. “I dunno if I’d call it a show,” he says and hikes the strap of his backpack higher on his shoulder, carrying another backpack with his free hand.

“Oh, come on, we’re basically putting on a musical,” Seungmin says as he slams the door of the truck closed. He turns around and points to Chan, Changbin, and Minho. “We’ve got the stage crew – they’re the stagehands and we,” he gestures between himself and Jisung, “are the SFX and lighting. Those three are the actors – I mean, they’re literally gonna be on a set complete with props,” he says, looking at Jeongin, Hyunjin, and Felix. “And Jimin is the exasperated drama teacher who’s only here because we need adult supervision.”

Seungmin looks proud of himself when he completes his analogy, hands on his hips and all, but he seems to be the only one impressed. Changbin’s crossing his arms again and Chan has that ‘why am I still here’ look on his face. Minho looks like he wants to leave while Jisung looks completely unbothered. Either that or Jisung’s doing a very good job of hiding his disappointment. Hyunjin just sighs, and Jeongin ducks behind Felix in embarrassment; he can’t take much more of Seungmin’s antics at this point. Felix feels bad for him, but at least his boyfriend isn’t comparing a life or death mission to a high school drama class’s musical production.

Wait… is Hyunjin my boyfriend? Felix wonders. He steals a glimpse at Hyunjin’s side-profile, which is immaculate if Felix does say so himself. Hyunjin catches his staring because of course he does, and gives Felix an easy smile and winks at him like they’re sharing an inside joke. Within their friend group, Seungmin’s mission/musical analogy is sure to become a staple in their inside joke material, but Hyunjin’s smile feels different, a little more personal. Felix imagines Hyunjin smiling and winking at him like that when they’re much older, and hopefully still together, and his heart swells.

No, this is not the time to be a simp, Felix chides himself. We’ve got a mission to do. He claps his hands and everyone’s heads swing in his direction. “Okay, thank you for that, Seungmin,” Felix says, nodding his head towards Seungmin, who grins. “Now, if your earpieces are in, let’s get this show on the road.” Felix expects the groans he elicits from his friends at the reference to Seungmin’s analogy.

Seungmin gives Felix a fistbump before relieving Jisung of his second backpack, and they hightail it to the same café from when they first escaped. Felix watches Seungmin and Jisung as their shoes pound down the sidewalk, and he sighs deeply once they’re out of sight. He hopes their ‘college students with a f*ck-ton of homework’ cover will be enough for them to not get harassed by people that saw the news article.

Felix turns to the cleanup crew. “You guys know what you’re doing?” he asks, trying to keep his voice casual. Even though he leads most of the missions that his other friends are apart of, he doesn’t know where he stands with Chan, Changbin, and Minho in terms of authority.

Luckily, Chan smiles warmly at Felix and nods. “Yup, we do. Don’t worry, Felix, we’ll be okay,” he says. Felix thinks Chan might want to place a reassuring hand on Felix’s shoulder, but he hesitates and shoves his hands in his pockets instead.

“Just keep talking to us,” Changbin says, tapping his earpiece. “You know, so we know you’re alive, or whatever.”

“Yeah. We’ll be right here,” Minho adds, smiling a smile that makes Felix feel like he’s going to be okay. Everyone’s going to be okay.

“Thanks, guys,” Felix says. He glances over his shoulder at Hyunjin and Jeongin, who are trying and failing to pull up the handle Jisung attached to the regulator so Jeongin could drag it like rolling luggage. “I think I’d better go over there now.” He jerks his thumb at his team members and quickly gets shooed away from the enhanced team, but there are smiles on their faces as Felix walks away to help Hyunjin and Jeongin.

“Urgh! Why – does – this – not – work?” Jeongin huffs as he struggles with the handle. Felix crouches down next to the regulator and presses a button near the handle attachment, and the handle springs upward, nearly giving Jeongin a bloody nose.

“Oh,” Hyunjin says plainly. “So that’s how that works.” Jeongin glares at the machine, cursing it with his eyes before grabbing the handle reluctantly.

“We going in?” Jeongin asks, and Felix nods. Jeongin heaves a deep sigh and lets his gaze fall to the concrete. Felix doesn’t miss how Jeongin’s knuckles are getting whiter by the second as he grips the handle.

Felix taps his earpiece. “Seungmin, Jisung, you set?”

There’s a bit of static before Seungmin’s voice bounces through the comm channel. “Up and ready. You are clear to enter.”

“Hear that, guys?” Felix asks and receives nods from Hyunjin and Jeongin. One by one, their gazes turn to the giant blue logo plastered on the side of the JYP building a block away. To steel himself, Felix closes his eyes and breathes deeply twice before opening them. Hyunjin and Jeongin seem to have mentally prepared themselves as well. Hyunjin’s eyes have a sharper shape to them and his expression is stone cold, and while Jeongin’s knuckles are still white around the handle, he’s standing up a little straighter than before.

None of them have to exchange words as they start their walk to the building. It towers over them, lording its cruelty over their heads as they approach. Felix represses a shudder as he passes under the logo. Well, we can’t quit now, he thinks as he pulls open the front door. He pushes Jeongin and the regulator inside first, then lets the door shut after he follows Hyunjin inside.

“Front security cams redirected,” Jisung says after an audible keyboard click. Felix doesn’t respond, but he’s thankful that Jisung and Seungmin did their work so quickly.

Felix isn’t too surprised that the halls are empty – most of the employees’ shifts end before the sun sets – but the lack of people in the building gives off an eerie vibe. Felix shakes off the disconcerting feeling as they head down the hallway towards the elevator.

“Elevator cam?” Hyunjin asks into his earpiece as Felix presses the button on the outside panel.

“Disabled. You’re clear,” Seungmin confirms, and Felix ushers Jeongin into the elevator first, then he and Hyunjin squeeze in after. Felix pries off the false panel and taps the button that leads to the basem*nt while Hyunjin closes the doors. Only after the elevator doors are completely closed does Felix feel like he can breathe.

Once the elevator drops them off at the basem*nt floor, Jeongin steps out of the elevator first. He looks back at Felix and Hyunjin, a worn look present on his face. He’s too young to look this battle-ready, Felix thinks, a pang of regret shooting through his chest. He purses his lips and tries to keep the regret off his face, and gives Jeongin a little nod. Jeongin smiles a sad little smile before he turns around and starts down the hall, dragging the regulator behind him.

Felix sighs loudly as he watches Jeongin’s figure get smaller in the distance, and turn into the room closest to the center of the building. “He’s gonna be okay,” Hyunjin says, breaking the silence. Felix glances over at him and finds a sad, hopeful expression on Hyunjin’s face. “Wait, Jisung did fix the overheating problem, right?” Hyunjin asks, concerned.

Felix huffs out a laugh as he beckons for Hyunjin to follow him a few doors down the hall, to the room they rescued Chan, Changbin, and Minho from. “Yeah,” Felix says as he steps through the makeshift door, which is really just a hole Jisung lasered through all those nights ago. “He added some cooling vents or something to the interface, I don’t know the details.” He straightens up and surveys the room. It’s mostly how they left it; broken tanks, electrical tools strewn about where Jisung left them, and remnants of the bracelets used to brainwash them.

“That’s good,” Hyunjin comments. He nearly trips as he steps through the hole in the door, so Felix latches his hands onto Hyunjin’s arm to keep him from falling on his face. “Thanks,” Hyunjin says, smiling gratefully at Felix.

Felix just smiles in return and makes no plans to let go of Hyunjin’s arm anytime soon. Instead, he holds Hyunjin closer and sighs into him as he looks around the room. Hyunjin seems to realize this and chuckles, and just lets Felix hold him.

Looking over the room one last time is therapeutic, especially after Felix starts kicking around the broken bracelets like a soccer ball. Hyunjin joins in, trapping the piece with his foot and sending it back to Felix, who scores by shooting the piece between a door that had fallen off a tank and a control panel. Hyunjin whoops when Felix scores, pumping his fist in the air and jogging over to hug him. Felix lets himself get wrapped in Hyunjin’s arms, and he basks in the simplicity of being hugged so tightly by his maybe-boyfriend. We really need to talk about that before I leave, Felix thinks, but for now, I’ll just let him hug me. He hums into Hyunjin’s shoulder as Hyunjin nuzzles his nose into Felix’s hair, planting a kiss on the top of his head for good measure.

But their happy moment alone is short-lived.

“I knew you’d come back.” A voice cuts through the silence and both Felix and Hyunjin jump into self-defense mode, Felix in a squat with his hands up and Hyunjin standing behind him. Felix can feel Hyunjin slowly move his hand to the sheath he’d stuffed a knife into before they left the truck as they stare down the intruder.

CEO Park is standing in the doorway – not the laser doorway, he’d actually opened the doors to the room – and has one of those stereotypical evil smirks on his face. Felix scans the CEO’s body; he doesn’t appear to have a weapon, but it could be concealed. Felix keeps his guard up, and tenses when he hears the soft swish of Hyunjin silently pulling the knife out of its sheath.

“You wanna know how I knew?” the CEO asks, and pauses for an answer from either boy, even though the question was clearly rhetorical. Felix and Hyunjin stay silent as CEO Park crosses over the threshold of the door and strides into the room slowly and purposefully. “I knew – ” the CEO continues “ – because you’re nothing without this company. I made – we made you who you are, we saved you from being complete monsters like the experiments you stole.” The CEO spits out the word ‘monsters’ like it’s the worst thing anyone could be called. “Of course you would come back.”

Then, the CEO puts a thoughtful expression on his face, which is almost worse than the evil smirk. Felix wishes he would go back to the evil smirk. “You know, we were this close to perfecting them,” CEO Park says, holding up his thumb and index finger about half an inch apart. “Those powers took years to develop, you have no idea. But it appeared that those boys were just not ready for perfection.” The CEO shakes his head in disappointment. Felix’s chest burns. He has no idea what they actually went through… they’re less than human to him now, Felix thinks.

“But then,” CEO Park says, turning back to Felix with a slight glint in his eyes. “We found you. We got word of this martial arts prodigy in Australia, and when I heard of you I was like, ‘How can a scrawny little kid be the best of the best?’ And then it came to me: natural ability. From a young age, it appeared that you had a talent for taekwondo, and joining the martial arts academy only helped you to become more skilled. That’s when I realized: you can’t force a bunch of powers onto completely incompetent and untalented people, you have to find people with a good foundation and a skillset that we can build on.” CEO Park sighs.

“You know, before you made your departure, we were about two weeks away from enhancing you. That includes you, Hyunjin. And your other buddy, Mr. Han Jisung. Yes, for him, we were going to have to do a deep memory clean, the poor boy knew too much already.” The CEO lets out a chuckle at that, and Felix feels his face heat up almost as much as his chest. His eyes are burning, and if he was that one kid from ‘The Incredibles,’ his eyes would be shooting lasers right now.

I have to get us out of here, Felix thinks, Jeongin could have the bomb ready any second. His eyes flicker around the room and he tries to think of an escape route. It’s almost impossible with the CEO on guard and standing near the doorway. We’re gonna have to get him on a verbal defense… that’s the way he’s been attacking.

Felix lets out a shuddering breath and straightens his knees, daring to drop his guard for a second. “I – I’m sorry, could you rewind to the beginning of your big speech?” he asks. The CEO quirks an eyebrow at him, clearly confused by his nonplussed attitude. Hyunjin stiffens next to him, and Felix can almost hear the telepathic message Hyunjin must be trying to send him: ‘What the hell are you doing?’

“Which part?” CEO Park asks. Felix nearly smiles. He’s taking the bait.

“The part where you said something really funny, I think it was, ‘you’re nothing without this company.”

CEO Park laughs. “Oh, that bit. Looks like you remembered it, but I’ll say it again, for emphasis: You’re nothing without this company,” the CEO sneers at them.

Felix finds that the smirk on his face comes easily to him, and he’s thankful for that because it makes his act look more real. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but that’s just not true at all,” Felix says. He dares to cross his arms, which earns an even higher eyebrow raise from the CEO.

CEO Park walks around the edge of the room, and Felix and Hyunjin move the other direction so that they’re circling each other like they’re in a sparring match. After a good ten seconds of circling, Hyunjin stops abruptly and Felix almost bumps into him. Felix glances over his shoulder and sees the door wide open behind them. Smart, Hyunjin, Felix thinks.

The CEO stops across the room from them. “Oh, really? Then tell me what you are, if you’re actually something without us.”

Felix squares his shoulders and uncrosses his arms, grabbing for one of Hyunjin’s hands. He needs all the support he can get right now. “I’m human, dude. I’m f*cking human, and so are all of my friends,” he says, narrowing his eyes at the CEO as he speaks. “If anything, the monster is you.”

At that, CEO Park makes a noise that’s some weird cross between a snort and a sputter. “I’ll – I’ll have you know that my genetic code is free of any manipulations,” he says as if that’s the end of the argument. Unfortunately for the CEO, Felix was on debate club in high school for a short while, and with his memories back, he’s already got a closer in mind to shut the CEO down completely.

“That’s just it,” Felix says, squeezing Hyunjin’s hand once. When he receives a gentle squeeze back, he plows forward. “You don’t need manufactured powers or natural intelligence or capabilities to be a monster. The only ingredient for monster soup is a haywire moral compass. And if I’m being completely honest with you, Jinyoung, I don’t think you’ve ever come close to magnetizing yours.”

The CEO makes the sputter/snort noise again. “That analogy doesn’t even make any sense,” he says, trying to defend himself.

“To you, maybe not,” Felix says, and he feels the shake of Hyunjin giggling next to him. “But I quite like it. It’s very poetic, almost like the sound of popcorn popping or a bomb going off. Speaking of which,” Felix pauses and taps his earpiece, “Jeongin, you ready?”

There’s a small giggle from Jeongin’s end before he sighs like he’s trying to compose himself. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” he says, and Felix lets a grin spread on his face.

“Fantastic,” Felix says and turns to look CEO Park dead in the eyes. “Well, I’d say it’s been nice knowing you, but my moral compass doesn’t like it when I lie, so we’re just gonna get going now.” He taps his earpiece again. “Jeongin, it’s blow time.”

“Is it bad that I’m actually kinda excited now?” Jeongin asks, his voice a mixture of giddiness and nerves.

Felix finds himself laughing. “Not at all, kid.”

“Wait,” the CEO says, “by ‘blow time,’ did you mean – ”

“There’s a bomb?” Felix says. “Yes, yes we did. It’d be a shame though if you didn’t get to witness the flame show, so, Hyunjin?”

“On it,” Hyunjin says, and with precision most normal people are incapable of, he throws the knife at the CEO. The blade buries itself into the CEO’s shoulder, and the man falls to the ground with a strangled scream.

Felix watches through narrowed eyes as the CEO gulps for air. He’s not stupid enough to pull the knife out of his shoulder so he just holds the handle like that's going to ease the pain. When it appears that CEO Park won’t be getting up any time soon, Felix cordially extends his hand to Hyunjin. “Shall we?”

Hyunjin giggles and takes Felix’s hand somewhat daintily. “Yes, let’s.” Felix leads them out of the door, and Hyunjin looks back over his shoulder and says, “Sianara, bitch.” Both their faces split into grins as Felix kicks the door shut and they take off running towards the elevator. Jeongin’s holding the door open for them with a nervous grin on his face, and he closes the door immediately once they’re inside.

“I almost thought you weren’t coming,” Jeongin says, heaving for air as the elevator lurches upward. Despite the smile on his face, it looks like he’s having a hard time breathing. We’ll have to get Jisung to take a look at him, Felix thinks.

Felix sends Jeongin a toothy smile; he’s still in over his head with adrenaline. “We said we’re in this till the end,” he reminds Jeongin. “We meant it.” Hyunjin nods his head rapidly next to Felix and holds on tighter to Felix’s hand.

The nervous part of Jeongin’s grin seems to vanish as the elevator door opens with a ‘ding’ and the three jog down the hallway. Once they make it outside, Felix searches for the cleanup crew. He brightens when he sees Minho waving at him from down the block at the corner of the building. A harsh wind blowing past him lets him know that Chan’s ready to go, and he figures Changbin must not be far away.

“T-minus 20 till it blows,” Jisung says over the comm channel. “Felix, Hyunjin, Jeongin, get your asses outta there.”

“Roger, roger,” Felix says in his most droid-like voice and hopes that Jisung appreciates the reference. He motions for Hyunjin and Jeongin to follow him, and the three of them sprint the few blocks to the café, not bothering to stop at the crosswalks.

Seungmin smiles brightly at them as they walk through the café door, a tiny bell ringing above their heads. Jisung is focused on the computer screen in front of him. Felix pulls up a chair as Jisung mutters, “Three, two, one – ”

And there’s a deafening noise from a few blocks away, followed by the ground rumbling like an earthquake. Despite the tables and chairs bouncing up and down about a foot in the air, Jeongin latching onto Seungmin for support, and Hyunjin plugging his ears with all his might, all Felix can think is, Mission: success.

Chapter 16: And so it Comes to an End

Chapter Text

The next few days pass Felix by like he’s riding a train, watching the landscape become a blur out the window. Only bits and pieces of his surroundings get lodged into his memory, but there are a few moments that stick out to him like the first orange leaf of fall.

He vaguely remembers holding onto Hyunjin after the ground shakes, planting his lips in Hyunjin’s dark hair because Hyunjin refuses to take his fingers out of his ears. Maybe he remembers Jisung ejecting a shiny silver flash drive triumphantly, and Seungmin rushing Jeongin out of the café after Jeongin collapses onto the floor, his breathing shallow.

Hyunjin wails when Seungmin and Jeongin leave, pulling Felix to the ground with him as he curls into a little ball. Felix just wraps his arms tightly around Hyunjin, pressing his lips onto Hyunjin’s temple to say, ‘I’m here.’ Jisung kneels on the floor as well, rubbing an assuring hand on Hyunjin’s back, and occasionally looking up at Felix with worried eyes.

He barely remembers standing in front of a judge in the courtroom, testifying as a witness to all the heinous crimes committed by JYP Industries and Tech. Jisung telling him the eight of them got a portion of JYP’s assets that weren’t frozen as compensation goes in one ear and out the other, especially since they’re in a car on the way to see Jeongin and Chan in the hospital.

Even though Jeongin is breathing, Felix’s breath catches in his throat because the only reason Jeongin is breathing is that there’s a tube in his nose. Chan doesn’t look much better, with a cast hugging his entire right leg, but without fail, he’s got a smile on his face as Felix, Hyunjin and Jisung step inside his room with some good chocolate.

“Not so speedy now, eh?” Chan says as he points down at his cast. His grin is lopsided, but one of his dimples is showing, so Felix cuts him some slack for the injury joke and presses the chocolate into Chan’s hands.

Jisung stands near Minho, who’s cradling his head as he sits in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs. “It’s my fault,” Minho whispers just loud enough that Felix can hear. Jisung rubs circles into the back of Minho’s neck as Minho spills his guilt onto the floor. “Could’ve helped him.”

“Minho, you weren’t even near Chan when the beam fell,” Changbin finally speaks up, jolting Minho out of his panic. He narrows his eyes at Minho, and Felix thinks that would have the opposite effect of comforting had he not known Changbin at all. Since he knows Changbin, it makes perfect sense that he’d get mad when his friends blame themselves for something out of their control. Changbin is big on self-love and protests his friends’ self-loathing.

Nevertheless, the corners of Changbin’s eyes soften as Minho looks up at him with watery eyes. “He knew what he was getting into, going into that parking garage by himself,” Changbin spits, flicking his gaze over to Chan, who shrinks in the hospital bed. “If anything, he’s lucky it fell on him. He’ll never have to use his powers again.”

Silence hangs over the room, only being broken when Seungmin coughs and mutters something about finding a vending machine.

“Guys, just think about this,” Jeongin pipes up from his bed. Everyone turns to look at him and the smile on his face despite the breathing tube. “Once me and Chan are out of here, everything’s gonna go back to normal! Doesn’t that sound great?”

Yeah, normal, Felix thinks, his gaze shifting over to Hyunjin. He’s standing right next to Felix with an arm around Felix’s waist, but his eyes look so far away. Felix lays a hand on top of Hyunjin’s, and Hyunjin turns to him, his eyes lighting up when he looks at Felix.

Felix loves when Hyunjin’s eyes light up like that. Like they’re sharing a secret. Like his eyes are putting on a firework show for Felix alone. Hyunjin pulls Felix a little closer to him, fingers threaded through Felix’s as they rest on Felix’s hip. Felix feels good, nestled into Hyunjin’s side, like he belongs, and yet, he wonders:

Are you apart of my normal?

***

Everyone comes to the train station to tell Jeongin goodbye, but Seungmin’s the only one that gets on the train with him.

“You don’t have to do this,” Jeongin says to him, even though it’s useless because Seungmin already bought his train ticket, and because trying to get Seungmin to change his mind is like talking to a wall. An adorable wall, but still.

So, Seungmin just loops one arm around Jeongin’s neck as they enter the train car and find a couple of open seats next to each other. Jeongin takes the window seat because he knows he’s going to be looking out the window and contemplating no matter what seat he takes, and he thinks it’ll be easier to do that if he’s not distracted by Seungmin.

Unfortunately, Seungmin finds other ways to distract Jeongin. The first thing he does is interlock his fingers with Jeongin’s between their seats, rubbing his thumb over Jeongin’s knuckles as the train engine starts up. Jeongin feels Seungmin jolt in his seat as the train starts moving, and he involuntarily squeezes Seungmin’s hand to comfort him. He regrets doing it immediately, only because it’s going to make what he has to do hurt even more.

The second thing Seungmin does is rest his head on Jeongin’s shoulder fifteen minutes into their three-hour train ride. Jeongin keeps his eyes on the blurring landscape out the window, but he shifts in his seat to make his shoulder a more comfortable pillow. He wishes he could just push Seungmin away, but he can’t bring himself to do that, so he listens to the soft sound of Seungmin breathing as he looks through the glass.

The third thing Seungmin does, twenty minutes before they arrive, is ask, “Are you gonna be okay?” The tone in his voice makes Jeongin want to cry, want to hold on tight to Seungmin, want to prolong this train ride until the moment they’re going to have to say goodbye.

But Jeongin doesn’t cry because he knows if he cries, Seungmin might cry, and then he might start crying again because he made Seungmin cry. So, he lets the tears in his eyes well up and die down before he answers. “The doctors said I was good to go, Seungmin.” He keeps his gaze out the window.

Seungmin lets out a half-laugh, half-sigh, and lifts his head from Jeongin’s shoulder. “Innie, look at me,” he says, ever so softly. Then, when Jeongin doesn’t, “Please.”

And, because Jeongin can never refuse Seungmin when he talks like that, he turns his head and meets Seungmin’s gaze. His eyes are a bit teary, but other than that, he looks almost happy. A smile stretches across his face but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and he sniffles twice. He’s smiling and somber, Jeongin thinks. Melancholy personified.

“If you – if you think you’re going to be okay, then – ” Seungmin stops and blinks quickly, grabbing Jeongin’s other hand. He takes a deep breath in, then blows it out, and looks strangely relieved when he does, like he’s come to a final decision. “I’m okay if you’re okay.”

Jeongin sucks in a breath. He was expecting this, but he thought he was going to be the one to start the conversation. He would never want Seungmin to have to be the one to break it to him. That they have to break up.

But now that the words are out in the open, Seungmin looks much more tranquil than he had before. The sad tilt is gone from his eyes, and though his smile isn’t as big, it’s genuine. It’s only then Jeongin recognizes the feeling that’s covered them like a blanket. It’s finality, Jeongin thinks, and as sad as it sounds, he’s not upset by it, or even surprised, really. It’s just there, resting on their shoulders with the weight of all the moments they shared with each other.

Jeongin finally exhales, feeling the blanket lift off his shoulders, and squeezes Seungmin’s hands. “I’ll be okay, Seungmin.” For you, Jeongin finishes in his head because Seungmin would hate if he said it out loud, so it goes unspoken, but somehow he knows Seungmin will understand.

When the train pulls into the Busan station, Jeongin lets Seungmin hold his hand for as long as possible. He doesn’t mind the stares of the tired-looking businesspeople, who for some reason still find the energy to be judgmental despite it being too early in the morning for that. Jeongin just pulls Seungmin through the train station, reveling in the undeniable feeling of home.

It’s at the exit of the station that Seungmin slips his hand out of Jeongin’s hold. He smiles sheepishly at Jeongin. “I have to catch a train back to Seoul,” he says and starts making sweater-paws out of his shirtsleeves.

“I wouldn’t want to keep you,” Jeongin says. “But, uh, before you go – ”

“Yes,” Seungmin blurts. Jeongin raises an eyebrow at him, specifically the tinge of pink spreading across his cheeks.

“I didn’t finish.”

“You didn’t have to.”

So, Jeongin pulls Seungmin in for one last kiss. One last kiss before Jeongin goes home for the first time in years, before Seungmin gets on the next train, before they part ways and leave each other to live their lives.

Jeongin’s hands still cup Seungmin’s face when they pull apart, both of them flushing up a storm by now. Seungmin giggles and ducks his head, and Jeongin’s hands fall from his face. A little voice in Jeongin’s head tells him that will be the last time he ever touches Seungmin again, and since he can’t bring himself to ignore it because the little voice is right, Jeongin puts a smile on his face, one that feels genuine to him, and takes one step back.

Seungmin grins and does the same, hooking his fingers behind his back. “Goodbye feels a little cliché, doesn’t it,” he says.

Jeongin just shrugs. “What else are we supposed to say?”

“Fair point,” Seungmin concedes. He clears his throat. “Bye, Jeongin.”

“Goodbye, Seungmin.”

And as Seungmin turns towards the ticket booth and Jeongin turns towards the streets of Busan, Jeongin realizes that this moment might’ve been inevitable. Saying goodbye was something he was always going to have to do to Seungmin. But he’s not mad at the way the moment turned out, rather, he’s quite proud of him and Seungmin.

So, with a little skip in his step as he walks down the street, Jeongin smiles.

***

With Chan not discharged from the hospital, and Felix and Hyunjin on a date that’s been a long time coming to kill time until Seungmin gets back from Busan, only Minho and Jisung see Changbin off as he leaves for Yongin.

Minho absolutely crushes Changbin in a hug, claiming it’s double-strength to make up for the fact that Chan can’t be here too. With Changbin’s face mushed in Minho’s shoulder, Minho says lovingly, “You know I love you, you little sh*t.” He squeezes Changbin a little tighter, and Jisung feels his ribs start to hurt with sympathy pain. Changbin may have super strength, but pain resistance doesn’t come with that power set.

Changbin manages to say a muffled, “God, Minho, you’re crushing my ribcage,” and Minho releases him from his hold. Changbin has to put his hands on his knees to catch his breath, but the upturn of the corner of his mouth tells Jisung he didn’t really mind being hugged to death.

Since Jisung isn’t super good friends with Changbin, he offers a tiny fist-bump as a goodbye. Changbin looks at Jisung with a raised eyebrow, eyes flitting between Jisung’s face and his extended fist. Then, Changbin smiles and bypasses Jisung’s hand to wrap his arms around him.

Jisung’s eyes widen and his arms hover above Changbin, not sure what to do, until he hears Minho giggling, probably at him. “You can hug me, Jisung,” Changbin says, and Jisung nearly jumps at the voice so close to his ear.

“Oh – okay,” Jisung says, then tentatively lays his arms on Changbin’s back. After an awkward second, Jisung relaxes and feels a smile ghosting across his lips. Changbin squeezes Jisung a little tighter before pulling away and stuffing his hands inside his pockets. Jisung’s smile grows a little wider as he says, “I’m glad I met you.”

Changbin chuckles softly and takes on of his hands out of his pocket to clap Jisung on the shoulder. “Same goes for you,” he says, looking Jisung right in the eye. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us.”

Jisung scoffs and waves his hand. “It was nothing, really. Anyone would’ve done the same if they were in our shoes.” Changbin narrows his eyes and Jisung sighs, figuring he’d better take the praise. “Fine, you’re welcome.”

“That’s better,” Changbin says, grinning. He jumps at a horn and a soothing voice over the intercom announcing the departure of his train. “sh*t, I gotta go,” he says, dropping his hand from Jisung’s shoulder but not breaking eye contact. “Take care of Minho. He’ll be lonely without us.”

Jisung can’t do anything but sputter at Changbin and hope that Minho didn’t hear. He watches open-mouthed as Changbin hightails it to the train car and tries to keep the blush that’s bound to appear on his cheeks to a minimum. He shuts his mouth in a hurry once he feels an arm loop around his shoulders, and someone leans into him.

“I’m gonna miss you!” Minho shouts after Changbin. He waves over his shoulder at Jisung and Minho with a grin on his face before he steps inside the train. Jisung tries to follow Changbin as he makes his way to his seat, but he loses him in the cluster of people onboard.

Minho sighs once the train pulls away, sinking into Jisung a little more, and Jisung turns to him, pursing his lips in worry. Minho doesn’t look too sad that Changbin’s gone. He’s just slightly deflated, like a balloon that’s lost some helium. Jisung worries his lips with his teeth. He’s just gonna get worse once Chan leaves too, Jisung thinks.

As much as he wants to be the friends that Changbin and Chan are to Minho, he can’t, not even if he tried. Those three have been through so much together that Jisung will never be able to understand. He can’t just try to replace them so that Minho won’t feel like he’s missing something in his life.

Besides, Changbin and Chan don’t have crushes on Minho like Jisung does. So there’s that.

But as quickly as Minho deflated, he seems to blow some life into himself again as he meets Jisung’s eyes and smiles the one smile that makes Jisung’s heart do funny things. Jisung grins back and interlocks his fingers with Minho’s, which only makes Minho smile more.

“You know, Chan doesn’t get discharged until tonight,” Minho starts as he tugs Jisung out of the station. A breeze blows Jisung’s hair into his eyes and he reaches up to fix it, but Minho beats him to it, brushing Jisung’s hair away and resting his fingers near Jisung’s jaw a little longer than necessary.

Something stirs in Jisung’s chest, the something he’s gotten accustomed to feeling whenever he’s with Minho. We should probably talk about… whatever this is, Jisung thinks as they walk down the street, Jisung’s hand growing warm the longer Minho holds it.

“So I was thinking,” Minho starts up again, pulling Jisung out of his thoughts, “we should go shopping!” The smile on Minho’s face is enough on its own for Jisung to melt like a snowman, and coupled with the way the smile reaches Minho’s eyes turns Jisung into a figurative puddle.

But apparently, Puddle Jisung can’t make words sound right, which is why the next thing out of Jisung’s mouth is, “Why?” He instantly regrets saying anything at all with the way Minho’s smile falters. “Sorry, that sounded so bad,” Jisung recovers. He grips Minho’s hand tighter because he doesn’t want Minho to let go, and with how hurt Minho looks he’s afraid he might.

Minho blows out a breath of air and his face softens, the hurt look vanishing, but the smile doesn’t come back as strong as it was before. “No, no, I should explain. I just – oh god, this is gonna sound so stupid.” He chuckles to himself and his gaze goes to the pavement. Jisung just squeezes his hand and waits until Minho’s ready to go on. Once he takes a breath, Minho continues. “I wanted to go shopping for decorations for an apartment.”

Jisung blinks once before the words hit him and he responds. “An apartment,” he says, but it’s not a question. If he’s not mistaken, the corners of his lips turn up as the word ‘apartment’ rolls off his tongue. He thinks he knows where Minho’s going with this.

“But,” Minho sighs, “I wanted to go with you because I wanted to get an apartment with you. You know, pool some of our money from the lawsuit and get a decent place, I was thinking near the college.” Minho keeps his eyes on his shoes as they cross the street, which means Jisung can’t see Minho’s eyes and that’s driving Jisung crazy because he wants to know if now is the right time to talk about them.

So, to get Minho to look at him because he wants to see Minho’s beautiful eyes, Jisung stops abruptly on the street corner once they step over the curb, yanking on Minho’s hand to turn him around. Minho stumbles and nearly trips over a bump in the sidewalk, sending him into Jisung’s chest. Jisung puts a hand on Minho’s shoulder to steady him. Now that Minho’s face is close enough that Jisung could kiss him, Jisung can clearly see the blush creeping up Minho’s neck onto his cheeks.

“You want to live with me?” Jisung’s voice comes out breathy, maybe because Minho being this close is making his heart beat faster but also because Minho’s so close he doesn’t need to talk that loud at all. Minho’s arms encircle his waist and it makes Jisung feel like he’s on a cloud.

“I want to be with you all the time,” Minho says as his eyes soften, just as breathy, and Jisung’s heart does a thing again. Did Minho’s heart do that when I talked like that? Jisung wonders. Minho breaks into a small smile. “Living with you would just make that easier.”

“I…” Jisung doesn’t know what to say, so he lets his heart speak for him. “I really like you, Minho.” Minho giggles and Jisung ducks his head. “In case you didn’t know that already.”

“Oh, believe me, I did,” Minho says, shifting back and forth on his feet. A silence falls over them, Jisung just tapping his fingers on Minho’s shoulder until Minho lets out another giggle. “Um, I like you too, in case you were wondering.”

Jisung laughs and unhooks his hand from Minho’s and loops his arms around Minho’s neck. “Good to know,” Jisung says and runs his tongue over his bottom lip. “This is the part where I kiss you, right?”

Minho nods, but Jisung doesn’t do anything because he wants to hear Minho say it, so Minho rolls his eyes and pulls Jisung a little closer as he says, “Yes.”

And then Jisung connects his lips with Minho’s, right there on the street corner. It’s soft and hesitant and gentle, but Jisung wouldn’t have it any other way. It just feels right, the way Minho’s mouth opens as Jisung pushes against his lips, the way Minho’s grip on his waist tightens and pulls them closer together.

Maybe Jisung can’t fill the void Changbin and Chan will leave. Maybe Minho will have a day where he misses his friends so much he can’t move. But Jisung will be there. Jisung will be there not to fill the space in Minho’s heart, but to make Minho’s heart bigger so he can fit there too.

When they pull apart, Jisung is breathless. Minho blinks at him a few times, cheeks flushed to oblivion, then smiles, the one that makes Jisung’s heart do flips. “Let’s go shopping?” Minho asks, stepping away and holding out his hand.

Jisung grins and grasps Minho’s hand tightly. “Absolutely.”

***

Out of their group of friends that’s catching a flight at the airport, Seungmin’s the only one with luggage. Well, Chan has his crutches, but that classifies as life support if you ask Seungmin.

The only reason Seungmin has luggage is that, once he stepped off the train from Busan, he went straight to his family’s house. The day maid let him in with a warm smile and said something about how it was good to see Seungmin again. The smile she put on Seungmin’s face stayed there as he traipsed up the stairs to his room.

He didn’t pack much into his rolling suitcase, just the necessities and a few of his favorite clothes. At the last second, he stuffed his camera, the nice one his parents got him for some holiday a few years before they stopped liking him, into his suitcase. He wasn’t sure why exactly he did it, maybe his subconscious had an inkling that he would find the place he was going a whole lot more picture-worthy than here.

On his way out of his bedroom, Seungmin ran into something – no, someone – very solid and nearly let go of his suitcase. When he stepped back, already prepared to have an intense verbal discourse with one of his parents, Seungmin froze.

“Wonpil?” he stuttered, staring up at his brother. “You’re – you’re home.”

Wonpil pursed his lips and managed a nod. “Not for long, I’m afraid,” he said, then jutted his chin at Seungmin’s suitcase. “Looks like you won’t be either, huh.”

“Yep.” Seungmin shifted on his feet with his fingers locked together in front of him. He was grateful that his brother didn’t look away from him or leave yet; there were still some things they needed to say to each other.

“I’m leaving Korea,” Seungmin blurted when he couldn’t stay quiet anymore. He winced as he waited for his brother’s reaction.

To his credit, Wonpil hid his surprise well, if he was surprised at all. He sighed before he spoke. “I always knew it was going to be you who broke out of here first,” he said with a wistful smile.

Seungmin winced as he realized the implications of his words. “No luck with the band yet?”

“We just got signed to a label, but they haven’t told us how many albums were getting. If any,” Wonpil added, spitting the words out bitterly. Despite his harsh words, Seungmin could see him start to crumble, could watch as his eyes betrayed all the doubts Wonpil had about himself and his career. Seungmin was no stranger to the doubts, he’d talked Wonpil out of this dark headspace multiple times when they still lived under the same roof.

Seungmin just wasn’t sure if he still had it in him to help. But he could try.

“How many songs has Younghyun got stored up?” Seungmin asked.

Wonpil perked up, and Seungmin did an internal fist pump. “A lot, actually. Probably enough for a full album, which is insane. If the label people listen to any of ‘em, we’ll probably have an album out within the next month.”

Seungmin grinned at his brother. There’s the glow. “That’s great!”

“It is,” Wonpil hummed. They stood in silence for a moment, shifting their feet at the top of the landing. It was a comfortable silence, like when they were younger and Wonpil practiced piano while Seungmin hummed along.

But after a few seconds of peaceful silence, Seungmin remembered something. “Um, have you checked the news recently? Seen any coverage of a lawsuit?” He hoped he wouldn’t have to explain everything to his brother now, he kind of wanted to get out of his parent’s house.

“The past week’s been pretty rough, can’t say I’ve had much time to,” Wonpil said thoughtfully. Then, he smirked at Seungmin. “Why, should I be worried?” But even though he was smirking, Seungmin could tell he was worried. Worried about him.

“No, I just… I love you,” Seungmin said simply. It was the truest thing he can think to say at the moment, and by the way his brother’s eyes soften, it was the right thing.

“Love you too, Seungmin. I’ll miss you.” Wonpil sighed as he looked at the clock on the wall at the end of the hallway, then turned back to Seungmin. “You should get outta here before Mom and Dad get back, they went golfing about an hour ago, which means they’ll be home soon ‘cause Dad hates losing.”

Seungmin snorted. “You’d think he’d have found a sport he’s actually good at by now, but no, it’s always golf.”

“Rich people, am I right?”

“You’re absolutely right,” Seungmin said, a smile ghosting his lips. “Bye, Wonpil.”

“Goodbye Seungmin.”

Wonpil hugged Seungmin before he thudded down the stairs, leaving his little brother basking in the warmth of the embrace. It had been a while since anyone hugged him like that besides Jeongin, so needless to say, Seungmin is kind of looking forward to the hugs he’s going to get from his friends.

Chan’s hug is short and sweet, and a little awkward due to the crutches under Chan’s armpits, but they make it work. Chan flashes Seungmin one of his dimpled smiles as he crutches backward, and Seungmin smiles back. Chan had been a good mediator for their little group, strong and supportive, but maybe not quite as physically strong as Changbin. Chan always questioned Seungmin’s ideas, trying to bring out the best in them and in Seungmin, and Seungmin is grateful for that. For too long, he went unchecked thinking he was some genius. Chan helped him to see that not everyone thinks like Seungmin, whether Chan realized it or not.

Hyunjin hugs Seungmin next, pulling him in tightly and whispering, “Take care of yourself, Seungmin,” near Seungmin’s ear before stepping back and smiling softly at him. Seungmin regrets not getting to know Hyunjin earlier, especially since he’d been one of the more approachable agents-in-training in the facility. Hyunjin was fair, always looking out for the people on both sides of the fight. During their time at the facility, Hyunjin did something even Seungmin couldn’t do: get Felix and Jisung to become friends. Through Hyunjin, Seungmin realized that not everything is one-sided, that at the end of the day, the people on the other side of the argument are human just like Seungmin.

Felix hugs Seungmin last, wrapping his arms around Seungmin quickly to try to hide his watery eyes. “Thank you for being my friend, Seungminnie,” Felix says, his voice barely above a whisper, and tightens his arms around Seungmin. Felix was Seungmin’s longest-standing friend and roommate at the facility, most others not being able to put up with Seungmin’s tendencies. Felix though, Felix embraced Seungmin wholly from the moment they met and took Seungmin under his wing. Not a day went by after Felix became his roommate did Seungmin eat alone in the canteen. Thanks to Felix, Seungmin learned to love being around people, learned to love giving and receiving smiles and teasing that showed just how much people care for each other.

Something catches in Seungmin’s throat as Felix starts to pull away, but he manages to say, “Thank you too, Felix,” even though he strangely feels a bit like crying. Hyunjin loops an arm around Felix’s shoulders as he steps back, Felix resting his head on Hyunjin’s shoulder as he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. Chan takes one hand off his crutches to rub Felix’s back gently.

These people helped me so much, Seungmin thinks as he looks over the three of them. And they don’t even know it. His grip tightens around the handle of his suitcase. Did I help them too? I hope I did.

Seungmin’s head whips around as a voice announces Seungmin’s flight over the intercom. Flight 6A from ICN to LAX is now boarding. Please make your way to the plane. He takes a deep breath before he looks back at his friends. Despite his best efforts, a few tears make their way down Felix’s cheeks, and Hyunjin looks like he’s smiling through teary eyes. Chan’s dimple vanishes as he nods proudly at Seungmin, though judging by his white knuckles, he’s sad to see Seungmin go, too.

Seungmin fishes around in his sweatshirt pocket for his ticket, just to make sure it’s still there, then smiles at his friends. “Bye, guys,” he says as he starts to walk to the boarding ramp. He waves at them over his shoulder, grinning a little wider when they all wave back, Chan dropping one of his crutches on the ground with a clank.

Thanks for everything you’ve done for me, guys, Seungmin thinks as he boards the plane, looking from the seat number on his ticket to the numbers on the rows of seats. He shoves his suitcase in the overhead compartment and flops down in his seat with a sigh. He props his elbow up on the armrest and rests his chin in his hand.

On his side of the plane, he can see the airport building out the window. He knows his friends are all still inside because Felix and Chan have their own flight to catch soon. Though he can’t see them, it’s kind of comforting to Seungmin that he knows where they are, at least for now. Who knows where we’ll all be in the next few years, Seungmin thinks, but I’ll always remember us.

***

Felix has known for a long time that he and Hyunjin wouldn’t last. Even before he confessed, Felix knew that they wouldn’t be able to stay together forever, and that’s part of the reason he confessed when he did. He just wanted to soak up as much time with Hyunjin as he could, like some kind of lovesick sponge. And while it’s not incredibly realistic as a nineteen-year-old to have a long-lasting relationship, Felix wishes he could’ve had a little bit more time, maybe even just a couple more months.

But as it is, Felix is homesick. He has been since he got his memories back. He misses the sun that makes the freckles on his cheeks pop out even more, he misses the warm air blowing through his hair, sweeping it into his face. He misses taking the bus everywhere, from school to hanging out with his friends, to the beach. He misses having somewhere to come home to at the end of the day, he misses having a home.

More than anything, Felix misses his family. He hopes desperately that they haven’t forgotten about him, or cleared out his room, or took his birthday out of their calendars.

Hyunjin and his other friends have been a good family to him for a long time, but there are some yearnings even his found family can’t satisfy. And that’s why Felix has known for a while that he’d have to say goodbye to Hyunjin sooner rather than later.

Felix jumps out of his daze when Hyunjin squeezes his arm. At Felix’s shocked expression, Hyunjin’s face softens and he rubs Felix’s arm gently. “Chan told me your flight’s boarding in ten. He went ahead and boarded ‘cause of his crutches.” Felix nods in understanding, his eyes trailing down to Hyunjin’s hand on his arm. He can’t believe he didn’t see Chan leave their table, he must’ve been really deep in his thoughts.

“Thanks,” Felix manages to say, his voice a lot softer than he’s used to. He gulps and blinks a couple times, then breaks out into a sad sort of smile. “I’m sorry, Hyunjin,” he says, finally meeting Hyunjin’s gaze again. “I didn’t think this would be this hard.”

Hyunjin mirrors Felix’s sad smile and squeezes his arm again. “I don’t want this either, Lix,” he says, his hand trailing down Felix’s arm until it reaches his hand. He slips his fingers in between Felix’s and thumbs over the back of Felix’s hand. “But I can’t keep you here. That wouldn’t be fair to you.”

A sob wrenches its way up Felix’s throat and he does all he can to keep it down, but one look at Hyunjin’s watery eyes and Felix knows he’s going to cry. “I just – ” Felix starts, squeezing his eyes shut to stave off the tears for a second before opening them. Hyunjin looks at him like they’ve got all the time in the world to say what they want to say, instead of just short of ten minutes.

Felix basks in Hyunjin’s gaze, imprinting it in the back of his mind so that he can take it out like a photo and look at it even once Hyunjin is gone. You really don’t know what you have till you lose it, Felix thinks, and shakes his head.

Sometimes he wishes he could go back, go back and change a few things so that he wouldn’t have so much to lose. In the superhero stories, the protagonist saves the world and then goes back to their normal life with everything pretty much figured out. They get their family – unless the villain killed their family – and their friends and usually a love interest, and Felix wants all of those things so badly.

“I thought we were going to save the world,” Felix blurts, startling Hyunjin a bit after being quiet for so long. Hyunjin co*cks his head at Felix in confusion, and Felix continues. “I thought after we brought the company to justice, everything would get fixed and we’d all have perfect lives. We’d live together in some kind of Avengers tower and laugh and eat together.”

He sighs, and his body shakes with another sob. “But no, nothing’s perfect. Seungmin left, Chan’s leg is broken, Changbin and Jeongin went home, Minho and Jisung are going to college, and me and you – ” his voice breaks. Felix doesn’t think he can finish that sentence. He looks down at his and Hyunjin’s hands clasped together.

They’re both silent for a minute before Hyunjin draws in a breath. “Felix,” he starts, and squeezes both their hands. Felix looks up at Hyunjin reluctantly, afraid of what he might see in his gaze. But Hyunjin looks at him like he loves him, and Felix forgets why he was scared. “You did – we did save the world, Felix,” Hyunjin says. “Everyone got out of there alive and intact for the most part, which is all we could really ask for. Yeah, we’re all going our separate ways, but that’s because the only thing that brought us together was the thing we destroyed.” Hyunjin sighs loudly and his shoulders drop at least two inches. “If anything, all of us going back to our lives like they were before is kinda fitting.”

“And we would never have met if the company hadn’t brought us together,” is the unspoken truth behind Hyunjin’s words. Neither of them wants to acknowledge it, but it’s there, hanging over them like a droopy, rain-laden storm cloud. Felix thinks the truth didn’t have to be so blunt, especially when it’s already attacking his heart.

Both of them are silent when Hyunjin’s done talking, save for Felix sniffling the last of his tears away. Felix squeezes his eyes shut to dry up the last of them. He feels the light brush of a finger on his cheeks and squints his eyes open to see Hyunjin thumbing away the droplets. Felix sighs into Hyunjin’s hand, reveling in possibly the last touch he’ll ever get from Hyunjin.

“I just wish it was different,” Felix admits, voice hoarse from crying. Hyunjin bites his lip and nods in agreement, still cradling Felix’s cheek with his hand.

“Me too,” Hyunjin says, and then he leans across the table and presses his lips to Felix’s. Once Hyunjin captures Felix’s mouth with his own, Felix closes his eyes and his hands drift up to cup Hyunjin’s face. As Hyunjin’s lips move against his, Felix forgets about his flight for a moment, turns a deaf ear to the white noise of the crowded airport, tricks himself into believing that he’ll be able to make this moment last forever.

Of course, the moment doesn’t last forever. Hyunjin pulls away from Felix with sad eyes and red lips, and Felix decides he hates the look of those two things together. Hyunjin takes Felix’s hands off his face and lays them on the table as he stands up and pushes in his chair, the legs squeaking on the flooring.

“Your flight’s leaving soon,” Hyunjin says, linking his fingers together. “Don’t wanna be late.”

“Right,” Felix says, wincing at the sound when he pushes his own chair in. He looks at Hyunjin one last time, taking in his sad eyes and nervous fingers and red lips and tries to convince himself that there will be other people like Hyunjin.

Except no one can be Hyunjin, Felix chastises himself.

Felix opens his mouth to say, ‘See you around,’ except that would be horribly inaccurate, so he settles for a simple, “Goodbye,” instead.

Hyunjin smiles a sad smile and says, “I love you, Lix.”

“Love you, too, Jinnie,” is out of Felix’s mouth before he can think, and Hyunjin’s smile grows wider. Felix smiles along with him for a few seconds before nodding his head and turning to go through airport security. His brain is in a fog as he gets scanned and detected and directed towards his plane, but as he steps onto the ramp he thinks it’s quite fitting that he left Hyunjin with love.

He slumps into the seat next to Chan, who’s got his crutches propped up against the wall of the plane. Felix wonders if he’s thinking about Changbin and Minho, and whether they’ll be okay. When Felix sits down, Chan whips his head away from the window. “So?” Chan asks, shifting in his seat as much as possible with his cast.

Felix sighs as he leans his head back until it hits the seat. “I cried.”

“That’s understandable,” Chan says, patting Felix’s knee. Then, in English, “You gonna be okay?”

Felix turns his head until he can see out the little window next to Chan. Soon, right outside that window is going to be the country where he grew up, where his friends live and his home is and, most importantly, his family.

But right now, just outside the window is the airport where he said goodbye to Hyunjin, the parking lot that Hyunjin’s walking to so he can get home. Outside that window, somewhere, is Hyunjin.

Felix looks away from the window and focuses his gaze on the seat in front of him. He sighs once more before answering Chan. “I hope so.”

***

Watching Felix go through the airport security may be the hardest thing Hyunjin’s ever done, and he’s thrown a knife with deadly accuracy into someone’s shoulder.

Realistically, this has been a long time coming. Felix made it clear even before the lawsuit that he wanted to go home or his family.

Home.

Hyunjin isn’t Felix’s home, and he never expected Felix to think that of him. It would’ve been nice, though, if he had. Maybe they would’ve been able to go on more than one proper date. Timing and circ*mstance, Hyunjin thinks, and wonders if the god of time has it out for his love life.

When Hyunjin loses Felix’s shock of grayish-blond hair in the throng of people, he sighs and stuffs his hands in his coat pockets. He makes his way to the parking lot where Jimin said she was parked. Maybe he’ll go crash at Minho and Jisung’s apartment for a while until he gets a place of his own. He can’t go back to his own home, he’s sure his parents disowned him once they found out about the whole dancing thing.

Maybe he’ll build his dream up again, find its broken pieces that got scattered around his heart. Maybe he’ll find that passion, that drive to do something that he loves with his life.

But there’s one thing for sure.

I want to see you again, Lee Felix. I don’t know when, and I don’t know how, but I’ll keep you in my heart until then. Just… be there when I come.

Chapter 17: Epilogue: The World as We Know It

Chapter Text

Three Years Later

Global Music: Korean songwriter Han Jisung’s newest single ‘Close’ makes it to the Billboard Hot 100, his second song to do so, the first being the reflective song titled ’19.’

Felix smiles when he sees the headline on his news feed. He briefly looks up from his phone to see if the bus is nearing his stop near the university, then clicks on the article.

He’d already listened to the song once or twice when it came out, and he’d smiled through the whole thing. There’s something so beautiful about Jisung’s voice, the way it can perfectly capture a feeling within three minutes. It’s like a message in a bottle floating in the ocean: you never knew you needed those words until you found them.

Felix smiles to himself again as he thumbs through the article, full of praise for Jisung’s music. He knows his friend is talented, but it hits different when someone else is shedding light on it for a change. Jisung’s social media is linked at the bottom of the article, and Felix clicks on it without a second thought. It’s been a while since he checked up on his friend.

The first picture on Jisung’s Instagram feed is a selfie of him and Minho, Jisung flashing a peace sign and Minho his signature kissy face, in front of Namsan Tower. The caption says, three years with this one! hopefully there will be more years to come! love you lots, baby. Felix snorts at the cheesiness of the caption, but that doesn’t take away from the soft pang in his heart that he’s had to learn to get used to.

It’s been three years since Felix last saw Hyunjin, three years since he held Hyunjin in his hands and called him his. Sometimes, it catches Felix by surprise how potent his feelings really were for Hyunjin, as they have yet to fully disappear. They weren’t even officially together for that long, but maybe the experiences they shared during that time strengthened their bond to something beyond what was already there.

Either that or Felix’s heart is the most stubborn heart on the planet.

The bus lurches to a stop as Felix is digging his earbuds out of his pocket, and he frantically shrugs on his backpack when he sees it’s his stop. He struggles to untangle the earbuds with his fingers as he trips his way off the bus. He blinks a couple times as he steps off the bus, adjusting to the bright sunlight. Sure, the bus was stuffy, but outside in the direct sunlight, it’s hot. It’s times like this Felix resents his country’s default climate, just a little bit.

Felix wiggles the end of the headphone cord into the jack and slides one earbud into each ear. He clicks play, and Jisung’s lower register flows through the earbuds after the opening chord.

‘Would you tell me about yourself / The you, who I see from afar.’

Felix’s eyes land on the jumbled crowd of students milling outside the Sydney University building. He spots the skaters near the stairs; it appears that a girl in an oversized T-shirt is trying to teach an incredibly uncoordinated boy how to skate. The boy gets both feet on the board successfully, but when the girl lets him go, he makes it about three seconds before the board jerks underneath him and he falls. The girl runs over to help him up, apologizing for letting go, then scolding him for his mediocre balancing skills, but there are smiles on both their faces, so Felix grins and keeps walking.

‘You colored all the blackened walls / And I’m surprised at the first feeling I got.’

Felix shields his eyes from the sun as it peeks over the top of a building, bathing the shady courtyard in a swath of light. Even if he squints, the glare of the sunlight still pierces his eyes when it bounces off someone’s sunglasses, or a shiny keychain hanging off someone’s laptop bag. Felix does a little double-take when his gaze flits over the keychain. It looks a bit like a llama, but as he walks past, he sees that it’s just a chibi-style sheep. The weight that sinks in his chest at the realization is more numb than anything else; he’s had to get used to it over the past three years.

“Look, it’s me!” Hyunjin says, pointing between himself and a llama plushie.

Felix chuckles at Hyunjin, and stores the memory of Hyunjin’s crescent eyes away for safekeeping. “It totally is.”

Felix finds himself smiling at the memory, one of those close-lipped smiles for thinking about what could’ve been. Bittersweet, Felix thinks.

‘So I’m still not used to it babe / What am I saying, why am I like this / My heart’s pounding, babe.’

Felix has one foot on the steps to the building when he hears a familiar voice, a voice he hasn’t heard in years. He whips his head around, trying to locate the speaker, but there aren’t any heads of dark hair he recognizes amongst the student body. He’s about to turn around when he hears the voice again, this time, they’re laughing. Something tugs at Felix’s heart as he scans the crowd again, trying to find the source of the laughter that’s unmistakably Hyunjin’s.

Stupid memories, Felix thinks, shrugging the strap of his backpack higher on his shoulder. His heart’s beating too fast now; he probably imagined the voice. He places his foot on the next step and keeps his gaze on the concrete stairs when he hears someone calling his name.

But not just anyone, Felix thinks wishfully as he pivots on the stairs. Please, not just anyone.

‘In the crowd of so many people, you’re shining bright.’

The sunlight is hitting Hyunjin’s hair just right so he looks like he’s glowing under the sun’s rays. Like an angel, Felix thinks. There might even be a halo above his head, but he could be imagining that. But I better not be imagining all of you.

Felix steps down the stairs in a daze, approaching Hyunjin like he’s a wild animal that might get scared and run away. As Felix comes closer, Hyunjin’s crescent-eyed smile becomes wider. He’s practically beaming when Felix stops a few steps in front of him.

Felix slips his earbuds out of his ear as a grin spreads across his face. “H – hi,” he says, cringing when he stutters. It’s like they’re meeting for the first time and Felix is a nervous wreck approaching a beautiful stranger. It doesn’t help that the Korean syllables don’t roll off his tongue quite the way he’d like them too.

But Hyunjin doesn’t seem to notice or care about Felix’s pronunciation. He’s too busy smiling like he’s one of the sun’s rays himself. “Long time no see,” Hyunjin says. When Felix balks at the sudden English, he explains. “I was recommended for a fine arts exchange program. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, considering there’s more than just academics waiting for me in Sydney.” Though Hyunjin seems confident with his words, his eyes are wide and have a slight downward tilt. He purses his lips nervously, and then Felix gets it.

He’s vulnerable, Felix thinks, and his heart clenches. Even though Hyunjin said he did, he really doesn’t know if he’s got more than academics waiting for him in Sydney. He doesn’t know if Felix would want to be with him after all these years. There was no guarantee Felix wouldn’t get over him, but Hyunjin came anyway and spilled his heart onto the courtyard not knowing if anything would come of it.

Taking in the weight of Hyunjin’s words, Felix has to blink a couple times before he responds. He doesn’t know if he would be able to make his words sound right if he addressed the second part of Hyunjin’s explanation, so he settles for a congratulation instead. “That’s – that’s great,” he says, cringing once again at his stutter.

Hyunjin giggles, bringing a smile to Felix’s face. His eyes are doing the crescent thing again, and his dimples appear in his cheeks. It’s all so familiar, and Felix wonders if he should allow himself to get used to it again, if he should let Hyunjin’s laugh surround him like a warm hug and hold his hand like he’ll never let go.

To put his wonderings to the test, Felix bravely reaches for one of Hyunjin’s hands and threads his fingers through Hyunjin’s. A warm feeling floods through him when he realizes his hands fit into Hyunjin’s like he never left. He tilts his head at Hyunjin, taking in the blond strands of hair that frame his face. It’s different, but Hyunjin’s still beautiful.

I’ve changed too, Felix thinks, his mind thinking of his clothes, which are rattier than the ones he wore in Korea, and his body, which is less toned than before due to inconsistent exercising. Does he still think I’m beautiful?

Hyunjin squeezes Felix’s fingers and gives him a little nod, almost like he read Felix’s mind. Felix isn’t exactly sure why Hyunjin did that because mind-reading isn’t a thing, but it gives him enough strength to ask the question that’s his heart’s been shouting ever since he saw Hyunjin standing in the courtyard two minutes ago.

“Do you – ” Felix falters, clearing his throat. Hyunjin gazes at him like he knows what Felix is going to ask, and already knows what his answer will be. “Do you still – ”

“Yes,” Hyunjin says, cutting Felix off as he takes one step closer. He leans in and the words, “A thousand times, yes,” topple messily out of Hyunjin’s mouth, and Felix reaches up to meet Hyunjin’s lips.

It’s exactly as he remembers it: warm, soft, and overwhelmingly right. With Hyunjin’s lips on his, Felix doesn’t care that he’s kissing in public, that people have started to cheer and whoop and whistle, that he’s definitely going to be late to class. None of that matters to him as he lives this moment.

My world is here, Felix thinks, pressing against Hyunjin with a bit more fervor at the realization. We saved the world so we can be here and do this. Felix is holding Hyunjin’s hand and he’s kissing Hyunjin and Hyunjin is staying right here because, finally, they’re in the same orbit and their lives are aligning like planets that were bound to crash into each other.