Chapter Text
The shots followed Felix as he sprinted along the concrete.
He zipped side-to-side in a zigzag, crashing into walls and sliding on his feet. The bullets crashed all around him, smashing holes into the ground and whizzing past his ears. He didn’t quite know where they were coming from, the enemy hidden in a window somewhere far away in one of the surrounding high-rise buildings, too high up for Felix to have any chance of fighting back.
He should have known better than to agree to his part of the mission alone.
Felix was simply supposed to be a lookout. The rest of his team were in one of their building, using their drones and robots and bombs to break their way through, searching for the brief case that they’d been tracking for so, so long.
The shots had come of nowhere.
Felix had been deliberately pretending to be a scout. He peered in the windows, tried the doors, made it look like he was there to merely scope out the place, not stand watch for his team that were already in there. It was a very genius way of ensuring no one suspected that Stray Kids had already broken in. They didn’t quite consider, though, that it made Felix into a very obvious target.
Whatever gun was being used to drive Felix away from the building, it was powerful. Much better than the mere handguns that Felix had strapped to him. They’d do no good aiming up at wherever the shooter was tucked away, not even if Felix could see wherever his attacker was hiding.
There was nothing else for it. Felix had to run and hide. It was the only way he’d survive.
He dived behind a car, wincing as his body slammed into the concrete, his cap tumbling off his head and elbows stinging with the impact. Bullets rained down all around him, the car windows shattering into piece and raining onto his back. He curled up on his stomach, hands wrapped protectively round his head.
“Fuck,” Felix seethed to himself. It had been a long time since he’d felt so useless, so out-gunned.
His hand shook as he shifted to press a button on his earpiece, hoping his team would be able to hear him over the endless thunder of gunfire raining down all around im.
“Come in, come in,” Felix said into the earpiece, “We have a shooter.”
“A shooter?” Changbin’s voice was instant over the line, the sound a little tinny with the transmission, “Where?”
“In the opposite building,” Felix said, daring to raise his head a little to see more bullets landing on the ground too close to the car, “I don’t think you have access to the cameras there.”
Changbin was the only other one in the team not helping with the break-in. He was behind a ridiculous number of computer screens back at their base, unlocking alarmed doors and hacking security cameras.
“Nope I don’t,” Changbin replied, “You think the shooter knows what we’re doing? That the rest are inside?”
“Oh, he doesn’t have a clue,” Felix almost snorted, “He is way too distracted by me.”
“That’s-” Changbin started to say, but Felix stopped listening when suddenly a bullet landed less than an inch from his face.
“Shit!” Felix screamed, not hearing it over the way his ear started violently screaming. He scrambled to his feet, one hand clutching the side of his head and the other scraping against the ground.
He had to move. The goddamn shooter had changed position.
Felix’s steps were even faster this time as he took off, the adrenalin crackling like sparks inside him. His whole body seared with the flames, feet thundering against the ground and fighting to keep him upright. The bullets followed him mercilessly, sounding even more determined as they pelted down all around him.
It was when Felix was about to worry that he had nowhere to run that he saw it.
His beacon of hope. His knight in shining armour.
A goddamn telephone box.
A hyper shot of lightning zapped all the way through Felix, a cackle tumbling from his lips. Felix didn’t think he’d ever be so glad to see one of those.
It had been an idea from their company higher-ups. Meticulously placed phone boxes in all the usual troublesome locations. Except they weren’t average phone boxes; bullet-proof glass, an unbreakable lock, hidden technology inside capable of helping in a whole range of scenarios and, of course, a phone connected directly to the company rescue team.
A jacked-up, state-of-the-art panic box. The perfect hiding place.
Felix grinned as he dashed towards it, his hair flying back and jacket billowing behind him. He was no longer running away, he was running towards something.
He barely stopped himself in time to not crash into right into the doors. He ripped them open, throwing himself inside and slammed them closed behind him.
It took a minute, Felix’s hands stuck firm on the doors as he listened to the automatic lock click into place, but he managed to pull in a jagged breath of relief.
A grin pulled at his lips as he collapsed into one of the side walls, almost laughing at himself and the absolute chaos he’d escaped. The box stood comfortingly around him, the noise of the bullets drowned out as they barely even made a dent in the glass.
Felix really did laugh then, vowing that he was never going to doubt the company again. He was going to have to send them a thank-you card.
It took a couple of minutes for Felix to blink back into awareness, shaking his head to realise that his earpiece was going absolutely berserk. He quickly took it out, his ear on that side still ringing from the impact of the bullet, and put it in his other ear, pressing a couple more buttons before he could hear again.
“Lee Felix Yongbok, if you do not answer right now I will hunt you down and kill you myself!” it was Minho’s voice, Changbin having evidently told the rest of the team what was going on.
Maybe screaming mid-sentence and going radio-silent hadn’t been Felix’s nicest move, but he hadn’t exactly been given a choice.
“Hey, hyung,” Felix chimed into the earpiece, having to hold back a smile, “Please don’t kill me.”
“Yongbok!” came the responding shout, accompanied by so many others that Felix almost had to take his earpiece out again.
“Don’t do anything like that again!” Changbin’s voice could be heard over the rest, “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry, hyung,” Felix’s smile fell a little at that, “I was literally less than an inch away from taking a bullet to the face. I had to run.”
“Don’t apologise, Bbokie,” Changbin was quick to say, “Hyung was just worried about you.”
“Are you okay now?” Chan joined in, obviously trying to sound a lot less panicked than he felt, “No bullets to the face or anywhere else?”
“I’m actually more than okay,” Felix said, casting a glass around the box and feeling another trill of happiness shoot through his chest, “You’re gonna be super jealous.”
“Jealous?” Chan’s panic was overridden by his confusion.
“Yep,” Felix popped the ‘p’, “I found a phone box.”
With that, the earpiece immediately descended once more into chaos.
“No fair!” came Jisung’s voice, “I’ve always wanted to try out one of those!”
Felix grinned, thinking back to how intrigued everyone had been when the phone boxes had been introduced. It had turned out more than a little disappointing, Stray Kids having actually much littler use for them than they’d thought, meaning they’d had absolutely zero use. Until now.
“I’m gonna try the phone in a minute,” Felix decided to make them even more jealous, “To see if the company will send someone to take out the shooter.”
“I hope they end up taking you out,” Jisung grumbled, but Felix knew he didn’t really mean it. He laughed in response.
“That’s a good idea, Lix,” Chan’s voice was accompanied by a shoving sound, most likely towards Jisung, “You’re definitely safe, yeah?”
Felix smiled at their ever-so-familiar leader, “Yeah, I’m good,” he said, “Get back to your mission, okay? Keep me updated.”
“You too,” Minho said, “Let us know at any point if you’re not safe anymore. We’ll stop instantly. We really should have known better than to have just you as lookout anyway.”
“It doesn’t matter now, hyung,” Felix said, knowing Minho was right but also not wanting him to blame himself, “I’ve got my box. I’m okay now.”
“If you say so,” Minho sounded doubtful, but Felix knew he’d trust his answer, “See you later, Yongbok.”
“See you later,” Felix said, “Stay safe.”
With that, their line clicked off, leaving open the line of just Felix and Changbin.
“I’m going to leave our line on,” Changbin said before Felix could think to point it out, “I’m just a little paranoid after hearing you get shot at.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Felix winced a little, but Changbin was already cutting him off.
“We both know it’s not your fault,” Changbin said, “I’m just glad you’re okay. I’m trying to get into the camera in the box so I can see you.”
“Can’t resist my face, yeah hyung?” Felix said, smirking at Changbin’s scoff. Changbin would never admit it, but Felix’s words were likely true.
It was with that thought that Felix finally turned to the back of the box, looking at the polished black phone hung neatly on the wall.
“You can listen to me on the phone now, hyung,” Felix said into the earpiece, already reaching for the phone. Changbin just made a vague noise of confirmation.
The phone was heavier that Felix expected, but he held it up to his non-ringing ear. His hand reached out for the zero button, knowing that pressing it would connect him directly to the company.
But the moment he pressed it, there was no ringing, no reassuring voice, just one long rasp that wheezed out the almost gleeful words:
“Welcome to our trap.”
Felix flinched so hard he almost dropped the phone.
His heart spasmed in his chest, eyes widening and darting back to the dial pad. He instantly slammed the zero button again, the same words running right through him. He started smacking the other buttons, his heart racing as they all brought exactly the same response.
“Welcome to our trap.”
“What the hell?” Felix said, the phone clattering down to the end of his wire as he whipped round to the doors, fingers frantically grabbing at the lock to open it.
It didn’t budge.
That wasn’t supposed to happen. The boxes weren’t traps. They were supposed to be unlockable at any moment. Why the hell couldn’t Felix get it open?
“Yongbok?” Changbin’s voice reached his frazzled ear, but Felix didn’t respond, too busy pulling harshly at the lock and growling at its refusal to move.
“Come on,” Felix grit his teeth as the angry words left him, but they did nothing. The doors remained almost scarily closed.
The word ‘trap’ rang menacingly through Felix’s mind.
What in the hell had that meant?
Felix turned again to look down at the phone, hanging just above the ground. It definitely wasn’t the company at the other end.
“Hyung,” Felix didn’t move his gaze as he spoke, knowing Changbin would hear him, “Is there any chance these boxes can be hacked?”
“Hacked?” Changbin sounded almost surprised by the question, “What the hell makes you ask that?”
But Felix didn’t answer, too preoccupied by the way that, just below the phone, a puddle of water had appeared on the ground.
Felix furrowed a brow. Water?
The weather outside was sunny and dry. There hadn’t been rain in days. Where the hell had the water come from?
The puddle was small, but it was hard to miss the way it got bigger and bigger. A slow process, but undeniably happening. It took a second for it to click for Felix why that was very, very bad.
“Oh shit!” Felix’s shout echoed off the walls, panic shooting through his chest.
“Felix!” Changbin responded, sounding almost equally panicked, “Why are you asking if the box is hacked?”
Felix made a frightened noise in response, his head whipping up to the ceiling as he closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind.
“The phone isn’t working and the door won’t open,” Felix eventually said, his eyes falling back down to the water that had now covered the whole ground of the box, forming a tiny little pool at the bottom, “And...”
“And what?!” Changbin said when Felix took too long to elaborate, frustration bleeding into his tone.
“And,” Felix could barely get the words out, too shocked by the way his feeling of safety had been replaced by one of utter and undeniable dread, “And the box is starting to fill with water.”
There was one tiny, miniscule pause.
“What?!” Changbin yelled and Felix’s heart squeezed.
“Please don’t make me say it again,” Felix whispered.
“Oh my god,” Changbin said, voice springing up and down with fear, “Oh my god.”
“This is a trap,” Felix carried on needlessly, the words tangling together, “This is a death trap. This is the perfect death trap.”
“It is not a death trap!” Changbin was practically shrieking now, “It was, but it will not stay that way.”
Felix paused a little, furrowing his brow, “What?”
“If the box was hacked, that means it can be hacked back,” Changbin said, his words accompanied by the tell-tale tapping sound of his hands flying across his keyboard, “I’m getting you out of there.”
Felix was afraid to admit it, but those words flooded with him relief. His heart calmed a little. There was no one more technologically advanced than Changbin. If there was anyone who could save Felix, it was him.
“In the meantime,” Changbin spoke as he typed, “I’m going to tell the others. They need to know.”
“No!” Felix screamed the word before he even realised he was speaking, the sounds of Changbin’s typing stopping for a second, “Don’t… don’t tell them.”
“Felix,” Changbin started, but Felix shook his head as he cut him off.
“We’ve been working on this mission for months,” Felix said, “We need that briefcase, hyung. There’s no point pulling the others away unless we know for sure that the situation is bad.”
“You’re in a small, locked box filling with water!” Changbin almost yelled, “That sounds pretty bad to me!”
“But I may be able to get out,” Felix tried not to sound too desperate, tried to keep his voice steady, “The water is barely even covering my feet yet. We don’t need to worry the others yet.”
Now those words made Changbin pause. They both knew how important the mission was. They both knew that pulling the others away meant potentially not having another chance for months.
“Okay,” Changbin’s voice was almost strangled, “But you tell me the moment, and I mean the very moment, that water reaches your waist. Then I tell the others.”
“Alright,” Felix nodded frantically, watching the way the water started trickling over the tops of his trainers, “Deal.”
“Now whilst I do this,” Changbin resumed his computer noises, “Why don’t you see if there’s a way you can stop the water.”
“Good idea,” Felix couldn’t help but smile at that, “I’ll do that.”
“Keep me updated,” Changbin said, and Felix made a vague noise of recognition.
It almost hurt Felix to kneel down, his expensive trousers immediately getting soaked. But there was nothing else for it; the water was obviously coming from the bottom of the box. He had to start there.
Felix started with running his fingers along the edges, looking for a hole or a jet or a tap, something that could be leaking water. He traced the whole box three times, finding nothing. He tried not to focus on the way his lungs constricted slightly, the fear becoming a little harder to push down.
The next step was running his hands over every inch of the ground, not wanting to discount the idea that even if an enemy couldn’t get in the box, there was nothing stopping them from accessing under it.
After many tries after finding nothing, Felix eventually took a deep, steadying breath and plunged his head into the water. It reached the bottom of his calves now and it was hard not to get completely submerged in his sitting position.
Felix flinched hard when the icy trill pierced like little bullets in his face, instantly chilling every bone in his body. But he forced himself to open his eyes under the water, spotting it instantly.
A tiny, barely noticeable jet nestled in one of the cracks in the concrete. Small but obviously powerful. Felix wondered how the hell anyone had managed to install that unnoticed.
He did the first thing he could think to do, brought down both hands and pushed them directly onto the top of the jet, hoping to use his strength to plug the water.
It was instant. Strong, sharp blinding pain.
Felix screamed into his earpiece, jolting back and smacking his head on the glass behind him. His whole body seized, limbs tensing and shaking and his teeth chattering.
It was only a moment, but it felt like a lifetime.
It took some time for Felix to blink back into himself, jaw locked and body strung tight. The world gradually became less white, his vision falling clumsily into place.
Felix cast a glance back down at the jet, at its invisible but utterly perfect defence system.
Electricity.
It was just a warning shot, a tiny zap made infinitely worse by the fact that Felix was submerged in water. If he continued touching the jet, the shocks would get worse, and the water would become lethal. Felix would die a painful, electrifying death.
There was no way to stop it. No way to stop the water.
Fuck.
Felix jumped when, a second later, he realised that the noise in his ears wasn’t just more ringing, but also shouting.
“Yongbok!” Changbin was yelling, “You have to stop doing this! What the hell happened?”
“Sorry hyung,” Felix pushed his dripping hair away from his forehead, pulling in a shaky breath through chattering teeth, “I, um, I tried to stop the water. I can’t do it.”
“You can’t stop it?” Changbin sounded almost scared, “Why not?”
“I found the jet,” Felix swallowed heavily around the words, “It’s booby-trapped. It electrocuted me the moment I touched it. I can’t touch it again or the electricity will be too much for the water.”
“Shit,” Changbin’s reaction was instant, the curse clawing through gritted teeth, “What kind of sick bastard thinks of that?”
“A clever one,” Felix hated to admit it, but the defence was perfect, “How far have you gotten with the hacking?”
Changbin went silent at the answer, Felix trying not to wince at the way his throat squeezed.
“Hyung,” he said.
“I’ve only managed to hack one thing,” Changbin was dangerously quiet, “The camera.”
“The camera?” Felix looked up to where he knew it was, trying to school his face now that he knew Changbin was watching.
“It was almost too easy to hack,” Changbin said, “Everything else is ridiculously protected, but the camera took me seconds to get into.”
“That makes sense, hyung,” Felix didn’t look away as he spoke, his chest swooping, “They want you to watch me drown.”
“I’m not going to watch you drown!”
“Good,” Felix’s voice was treacherously steady, “I’d rather you look away when it happens.”
“That is not what I meant!” Changbin was shouting now, “It is not going to happen!”
Felix dropped his gaze, swallowing heavily, “I hope you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” Changbin said, but the usual humour was missing from the words, “How high is the water now?”
Felix took the change of topic, sighing as he braced both hands on the glass either side of him and pulled himself to stand on shaky legs. He tried to keep his composure, knowing Changbin could see him, but it was hard with the way the electricity continued to send painful little aftershocks through him.
The water was now just about covering his knees. It almost scared Felix how he couldn’t tell if it had sped up or not.
“It hasn’t reached my waist yet,” his voice was almost a whisper.
“Lix…” Changbin said, but Felix shook his head.
“Let me try another way first,” Felix said, mustering up his most determined look as he raised his head towards the camera, “Let me try to break the glass. Then we call the others.”
“Okay,” Changbin said, but it sounded like the word was painful for him to say.
Felix didn’t, couldn’t, let himself be deterred. He turned to look at the glass, holding back a gulp at how thick he knew it was. As much as neither of them would be willing to admit it, they both knew Felix’s chances were slim. The glass was made to withstand bullets, and Felix was hurt, wet and shaky with electricity. He was also not one of the strongest members; he was fast and nimble and sneaky, but the brute strength was usually left to someone else.
However, Felix didn’t have a choice. It was either he broke the glass or he drowned. He knew which of those options he preferred.
So, Felix started with his fists. He pulled his arm back and, with a deep angry roar, plunged his knuckles directly into the glass. Pain detonated all the way up to his elbow, exploding under his skin and gripping tight to his bones. He grit his teeth and tried again, using the pain to fuel his every hit.
The glass bloodied and Felix’s hand cracked, but the box remained completely undisturbed. His switched his punches to the other side, but there wasn’t even a little crackle, not the slightest inclination of a splinter.
It was only when a particularly gnarly hit had him crying out so loud that he fell against the box that Felix stopped. He pushed out a couple of breaths, fogging up the glass, his hands blistering in pain.
He definitely had to switch a tactics.
A quick glance down saw the water creeping up Felix’s thighs. He had time.
So he turned and shook the hair away from his face, allowing himself some quick warning breaths that hollowed his cheeks before Felix threw his whole body forward and rammed his entire right side into the glass.
It was like the whole box shook, hope igniting like a firework in Felix’s gut as he did it again. His elbow and shoulder protested the action, his knee springing something fierce. If he succeeded, he’d have bruises colourful enough to be a painting, but he’d be alive.
Unfortunately, the rattling of the box seemed that all he could achieve. His whole body was pulsing with the pain, the water bloodied around him, his head even aching from where a couple of over-enthusiastic attempts had his brain meeting the glass. But nothing.
Felix hated to admit it, but if he had his team they could try using their big heavy guns or other machinery to shatter the glass. They’d have a much better chance. Felix’s body had already taken one hell of a beating with his efforts and he’d still lost spectacularly to the box.
He rubbed stinging palms over his face, shivering with the way the water now circled the tops of his thighs.
“Hyung,” he said into the earpiece, hating how he defeated he sounded.
“Bin-hyung already called us, Lix,” it was Hyunjin’s voice that responded, Felix’s eyes widening and darting up to stare accusingly at the camera.
“Don’t give me that look,” Changbin was instantly replying, “You start a fight with a phone box then I definitely have to call the others on you.”
Felix dropped his gaze as he grumbled, “Technically, the phone box was the one who started the fight.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Minho said, his words accompanied by obvious sounds of movement, “We’re on our way back. Next time you get caught in a box filling with water, you tell us straight away.”
“You’re probably right,” Felix couldn’t hold back his sigh, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” Changbin tacked on, “I thought I could handle this quicker.”
Felix had to actively stop himself from visibly wincing, “Is the hacking not going too well?”
Changbin paused before he answered that, Felix practically hearing the way the rest of the team held their breath.
“It’s hard,” Changbin eventually said, voice restrained, “But don’t worry, Lix. I’ll get there.”
Felix swallowed as he nodded, “I trust you, hyung.”
And it was true. Felix did trust Changbin’s skill. He did trust his team’s ability to get back in time. But there was no running from the fact the water completely covered his waist now. There was no hiding the fact that it had definitely sped up.
The water was rising faster.
“Guys,” Felix’s voice was a whisper, “Please hurry.”
“We’re coming,” Jisung’s reply was lightning-quick, almost too quick, “Just hang on. We’re coming to you.”
Felix nodded even though he knew most of them couldn’t see it. He forced himself to keep quiet, knowing his chances were better if none of them were distracted. His team could move quicker if they weren’t talking. Changbin could work faster if he wasn’t keeping an ear out for Felix.
So, Felix forced himself to think. His Australian childhood spending all seasons on the beach and most weeks in the pool had given him a decent pair of lungs. He was a strong swimmer and could tread water for a long time, and would last more than most people when completely submerged. But that still wasn’t a huge amount of time. Felix still wasn’t immune to water.
That was still an absolutely terrifying way to die. Drowning in a tiny box.
Felix shivered, bracing wet cold hands on the glass either side of him. The pain was still great, his knuckles still leaking blood, his bones and bruises twinging with every movement. He didn’t know if he’d prefer going with the pain of electrocution, or the slow torture of suffocation.
A gasp left Felix as he quickly shook his head. His team were coming. He couldn’t have thoughts like that. He couldn’t give up.
No matter what, Felix would fight to stay alive until his very last second.
That didn’t make it any less scary that the water was now at his chest. He would be off his feet soon, trying to float until the room above him completely disappeared.
“Whoever did this,” Felix said more to himself than anyone else, “Is going to hurt.”
“Damn fucking right they are,” Jeongin’s reply was so quick, so certain, so fierce that Felix laughed despite the situation.
“Oh maknae,” Felix grinned around the words, “I knew I could count on you.”
Jeongin made a very proud noise at that, the rest of the team all joining in. Felix’s fear retreated temporarily to a dark corner, pushed away by Felix’s favourite voices.
If Felix was going to die, at least he could die listening to them.
But then Felix sucked in a breath, his heart stuttering as suddenly the water made a colossal move and crashed above his face, moving like a great wave all at once as the surface shot upwards, dragging him under.
Felix almost let out a scream as he frantically kicked upwards, surfacing with a strangled breath and wet hair stuck over his eyes. He whipped it away, scrambling for a couple of seconds before he settled into a familiar tread, keeping himself afloat.
He looked up. There was less than a foot between him and the ceiling.
“Felix!” Seungmin’s voice was the loudest over the earpiece, “What the hell was that?”
“The water level rose,” Changbin answered for Felix, obviously seeing his distress, “A lot.”
“Whoever this is must have figured out that you’re getting close,” Felix’s voice was water-logged and unsteady, his feet no longer able to touch the floor, “They want me dead and they want me dead fast.”
“Well, fuck them!” Jisung was almost comically angry, “They’re not getting what they want!”
“How much longer do you have?” Chan said, for once not caring about Jisung’s cursing habit.
Felix tensed as he looked upwards, “Not long.”
“We’re nearly there,” Chan said, calmly enough that it reassured Felix a little.
“I’m almost in,” Changbin said too, Felix hearing the sounds of his aggressive typing, “You’re gonna be fine. Whoever did this is panicking because they know they’re about to lose.”
Felix carried on treading water, his hands staining the liquid red, “I hope you’re right.”
But the water wasn’t just running now. It was filling the whole box. It was rising.
It didn’t take long for Felix’s breaths to get shorter, for his body to get tired, for his head to hit the top of the box.
He pushed out a panicked breath, his heart taking a hammer and battering it against his rib cage. He looked all around him. The water was at his chin. His head was touching the ceiling. He had nowhere else to go.
He was going to drown.
Felix was quick to angle himself up, body whistling in agony as he contorted himself to press his whole face against the ceiling, breaths steaming up the glass. The water chilled his neck, menacingly circling closer and closer.
“I’m sorry,” Felix was speaking before he even realised it, thanking every god out there that the earpieces were waterproof, “I’m so sorry. I tried.”
“Felix?” Chan sounded panicked like Felix had never heard him before.
“I can’t,” Felix braced both hands against the ceiling, vision blurred by the tears that sprang to his eyes, “It’s too much.”
There was no way to describe it, no way to push through the feeling of water creeping up his cheek, crawling up his whole face, burying him until it reached his nose.
“GUYS!” Changbin’s shout was unbearable, so devastatingly earth-shattering, “YOU NEED TO GET THERE NOW!”
Felix tried to speak, tried to beg Changbin to please, please not watch this. But he couldn’t get anything out over the water filling his mouth.
He could only manage a tiny, garbled, barely understandable I love you before the water pulled him under and he couldn’t breathe.
~
It was like Chan’s whole world was thundering as he sprinted along the concrete.
The shooter was gone, having evidently thought there was nothing they could do after pushing Felix to the phone box, but the ground was still freshly littered with the bullet holes, still hot from the chase that had happened there.
It made Chan seethe, made his teeth grind and his body burn. Felix, his Felix, chased by speeding bullets, forced into a place he thought was safety. And now, now, he’d gone unbearably silent and Changbin was screaming at them all in a way that chilled Chan’s soul to the very core.
Changbin was an extremely level-headed person. He never screamed like that.
It felt like Chan couldn’t run fast enough, like his every step was useless. They were all running faster than they ever had, one pack sprinting to save their fallen member, but it didn’t feel like enough.
It was only when they rounded the corner and saw it that Chan’s whole world went out from under him.
Felix. In a small glass box. Completely submerged in bloodied water. Eyes open and panicked as he thrashed unbearably, skin white like paper.
Chan could see it, the absolute pure desperation in his movements, the complete and utter helplessness as he clung to the very large whispers of life.
It almost had Chan’s knees buckling.
Never was any of his team ever supposed to look so vulnerable, so awful, so close to a slow and painful and dreadful death.
But there wasn’t any time to look, Chan swallowed the taste of blood as he raced over, holding his bulk of a machine gun high over his head and bringing it down with a colossal war cry the moment he was close enough.
The whole box shook with the impact and Felix flinched like he was the one who’d been hit, the movement jagged in the water, but the glass remained unfazed.
The anger in Chan was replaced by a nauseating onset of panic. Felix was drowning, Felix was dying, and the glass wasn’t going to budge.
“FUCK!” Chan screamed, the sound starting in his stomach and blazing all the way up to his throat, massacring and contorting as it went, clawing out his lips like a feral animal and roaring through the air like an inferno.
The gun came down again and again and again, Chan screaming the whole time. His shoulders burned and his arms tensed, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop as Minho joined in from the other side, the whole team shouting around them.
Felix pushed himself to the very back of the box, watching them with panicked eyes and bubbles spewing from his lips. His hands kept coming up to cover his face, his body shaking at the sight of guns coming at him over and over again. Chan could see it in his face. The defeat. He didn’t have much longer.
“FELIX!” Chan screamed as he hit again, a vile puff of air leaving him when a sound quiet enough to be missed but loud enough to be heard over the screams of his team echoed through the air.
A crackle. A tiny crackle.
Chan’s heart jumped into his throat. There was a crack in the glass.
Even Felix, who was desperately struggling with lack of breath, went still.
And then the war broke out again. Minho came to stand next to Chan and they both focused on the weak spot, thrashing into it over and over and over again, the noise of it violent in the air. But they didn’t stop, the crack grew and grew with every hit.
It wasn’t enough. They both knew they weren’t going quick enough. The crack was gradually growing, not breaking apart, and Felix didn’t have that kind of time.
It was only when Felix stilled that they stopped. Chan’s entire body froze.
Felix’s eyelids were shaking, his chest wracking, his skin practically translucent.
Jeongin, who’d been stood at another side of the box, cried a horrifying sound from his mouth as he smacked a palm flat against the glass, face drowned by his tears.
Felix turned to look at him, his own tears floating in the water as he took his own hand and placed it right over Jeongin’s, the two of them staring at one another in a moment that stopped the world.
Then Felix’s eyes slipped closed and Chan’s vision went white.
“NO!” Chan screamed, the word like an explosion from his mouth, his heart blistering into detonation in his chest, igniting out of him like an unstoppable blaze.
Chan didn’t even realise what he was doing as the rage scorched through him, his leg coming up and planting an all-mighty kick against the glass.
That was all it took. The last straw.
None of them were able to move back quick enough when water descended on them like a tsunami, bringing down a rain of shattered glass upon them. Chan almost had to cover his ears at the sound of it, too close to the point of impact.
But then he felt it. A body landing on his. Throwing him to the ground and knocking the air out his lungs as their heads bashed together.
It took Chan a moment to connect the pieces, took him a moment to realise exactly what had happened. Felix’s body. Felix’s body was directly on top of his.
Felix was free.
Felix was free and not breathing.
Chan noticed the way his chest wasn’t moving straight away, but there were hands on them before he could even think to do anything. Hyunjin, Jisung and Seungmin were already there, holding tight to Felix’s limbs and pulling him away, moving him quickly but carefully as they laid him on his back a few feet away, nowhere near any of the shattered glass.
It was like Chan’s limbs went dead as he tried to pull himself up, flopping right back to the ground. Panic flared in his chest, but Minho was immediately at his side, clutching his own chest.
“They’ve got him,” Minho nodded in Felix’s direction, “They’ve got him. It’s going to be fine.”
Chan didn’t know if he could agree with that, just gave Minho a shaky nod as they both turned to watch with wide eyes as Felix’s body was surrounded.
His eyes were still closed, his face white, surrounded by yelling voices as he remained unmoving. It was Seungmin who rolled him on his side and smacked him loud and brutal on his back, Hyunjin who responded by whacking him right in the chest.
“His heart’s still beating!” Jisung yelled, his fingers on Felix’s neck, “He just can’t breathe!”
Chan had to hold back a cry at that, allowing Minho to help him crawl closer. Jeongin joined them as they settled by Felix’s body, managing to hold out a hand past Jisung’s to push the wet hair away from Felix’s face.
Minho did the same but with Felix’s chin, moving his head up to open his airways.
It was then that, after a few more hits from Hyunjin and Seungmin, Felix pulled in a wheezed, strangled, pained breath.
It was like Chan’s whole world came apart, his body collapsing into Minho’s arms. He clawed at his chest in relief, the feeling like an overwhelming aphrodisiac in his blood.
Hyunjin, Jisung and Seungmin’s cries got louder, the three of them descending further over Felix as they shifted him and slapped his back, tears covering their faces as they watched Felix spew water all over the ground.
“That’s it,” Seungmin rubbed his shoulder, voice a little more aggressive than he probably realised, “That’s it. Let it all out.”
Felix continued to do as he was told, gagging and spluttering and choking as water flowed from his lips. He drew in choked breaths between every heave, desperately chasing the oxygen that still didn’t seem to be pumping back through his system yet.
“You’re doing so well, love,” Hyunjin said, voice shaky but quieter this time, leaning over so he could watch Felix’s face.
Felix didn’t respond, but Chan could see some recognition starting to twist its way back onto face, not enough to ensure he was well, but enough to ensure he would get there.
Eventually, Felix’s chokes and heaves reduced. Minho gave Chan’s shoulders a squeeze at the action, handing him off to Jeongin before he walked away a bit, speaking into his earpiece. Chan realised that he must have been updating Changbin on the situation.
Felix went still, wheezing as he curled up on side on the ground, eyes still fizzling a little with panic but evidently exhausted.
After a moment, his mouth opened, surprising them all.
“I’m sorry,” he rasped out, tears springing to his eyes.
They were all on him at once, stroking his hair and squeezing his limbs and grabbing his hands as he sobbed softly. Chan could tell he was completely out of it, too in pain and emotionally rippled to really understand what they were saying. But he could understand their touches, their love, their fear, and it was enough to help him calm some.
It wasn’t long before Seungmin’s jacket was draped over him, Jeongin’s jacket being used to dry his hair. Chan smiled as he watched them, his protective instincts proud and gleaming as he watched Felix melt under their touches.
Changbin’s voice soon crackled through their ears, telling them that he’d sent Minho and Hyunjin to get the van. Felix didn’t flinch at the voice, Chan realising that Changbin must have taken him off the line. That was good. Felix wasn’t in a position to be worrying out those kinds of things.
After a few more moments of letting the relief run over him, Chan finally gently nudged Seungmin away from Felix’s face. Seungmin pouted but relented, obviously understanding Chan’s needs.
“Hey, little one,” Chan said softly as he lowered himself to Felix’s level, reaching out a hand to tenderly cup Felix’s face, “We’re going to get you home now.”
Felix didn’t respond to that, just brought his own hand up to rest over Chan’s, letting out a small, pained hyung.
“I know, I know,” Chan said soothingly, keeping his voice light, “You don’t need to try to talk, okay? We’ve got it now. We’re going to take care of you.”
A tiny nod shook through Felix’s head, his eyes slipping closed when Chan’s thumb started to rub up and down his cheek. Chan allowed himself a small smile.
The rest of them waited in quiet for Minho and Hyunjin to show up. Jisung, Seungmin and Jeongin sat curled around each other, eyes all plastered on Felix’s chest, watching him breathe. Chan stayed rubbing his cheek, close enough to hear his breaths.
The van arrived in a squeal of tires, Hyunjin leaping out the back before it had even stopped, clutching a whole heap of blankets to his chest.
“Here,” he said as he threw a blanket at Chan, already attempting to tuck another one round Felix’s shoulders.
Chan helped to get Felix bundled up. They stripped him of his outer layers, not letting him shiver for long as they coated his soaked body in the blankets. Felix leaned into their touches like it was instinct, eyes starting to droop.
“Come on then,” Chan eventually said, stretching his arms out before he wrapped them all the way round Felix, gently lifting him up.
Hyunjin and Jisung were immediately rushing to his sides offering to help, but Chan smiled them off, silently telling them to find their seats in the van.
Minho took his position behind the wheel, Seungmin at his shotgun. Jeongin ended up in the middle row between Hyunjin and Jisung. Chan took the back with Felix, holding him close enough that they fit into one seat.
It didn’t take long for Felix to doze off. Chan frowned at the sight of his closed eyes, flashing back to Felix’s last moments of drowning, the way his eyes had slipped, the way he’d looked so lifeless.
But Chan was holding Felix tight enough to feel his breaths, strong and gurgled now against Chan’s neck. Chan smiled as he pulled him closer.
“Sleep now,” Chan whispered into his hair, planting a kiss on the top of his head, “I’ll take care of you.”