Chapter Text
FELIX POV:
The rain felt angry tonight.
It hammered against the windows of Midnight Brew, blurry streaks smudging the glow of passing streetlights. Felix Lee leaned over the counter with the exhausted theatrics of someone who’d had enough. His chin rested on his palm, his curls drooping, his soul leaving his body a little more with each passing minute.
“This rain personally hates me,” he muttered. “I can feel it.”
The café was almost empty — two students silently fighting over a laptop, and an old man asleep in the corner with his newspaper slowly sliding off his face. Not exactly thrilling company.
Felix wiped the counter again, despite it already being spotless.
“Something interesting needs to happen. Preferably something fun. Not, like… a murder.”
The universe heard him.
And got the idea wrong.
The door slammed open.
Felix jumped so hard the mug in his hand nearly launched itself into orbit.
A man stumbled inside — drenched, shaking, gasping like he’d run for miles. Water dripped from his hair, coat, fingertips. He looked like he’d seen something horrible.
Felix froze mid-step.
“Uh… sir? Are you okay? You’re kind of… melting.”
No answer.
The man staggered to a table and gripped the edge so tightly his knuckles went white. His chest rose and fell unevenly, eyes darting around like he expected something to burst through the walls.
Felix’s pulse ticked up. His anxiety always noticed danger five seconds before his brain did.
He approached slowly, palms up.
“Do you want me to call someone? Or get you water? Or—uh—a blanket? A new life?”
Still nothing.
The anxiety buzzing in Felix’s chest tightened. He wasn’t sure why, but everything about this felt wrong.
Then the man grabbed him.
Felix gasped, nearly tripping over his own feet.
“Okay—hello! A warning would’ve been nice.”
The stranger shoved something into his hand.
An envelope.
Small, heavy.
Red smudges stained the corners.
Felix stared at it, horrified.
“Oh no. Nope. I don’t want this. I don’t even like mail.”
Before he could shove it back—
A gunshot cracked through the night.
Felix flinched violently, heart slamming upward.
“What was that?!”
The students screamed. The old man jerked awake. Felix ran to the window, breath catching.
Outside, blurred by rain, figures were fighting — fast, clean, deadly. Not random violence. Professionals. The kind of people who didn’t fumble, didn’t hesitate.
Felix felt his stomach twist.
“What is this…?”
Then the chaos parted.
A man stepped into the open.
Tall. Perfect posture. Coat flowing behind him.
Unbothered by the rain.
Strikingly calm in a scene filled with panic.
Hwang Hyunjin.
Felix didn’t know him, but everything in his body reacted as if he should. Hyunjin scanned the street, expression unreadable.
Then his eyes lifted to the café window.
And found Felix.
Felix’s breath caught.
Those eyes didn’t just look — they assessed, dissected, understood. And Felix felt pinned in place.
The café door burst open again.
Three men stormed inside.
Chan.
Minho.
Changbin.
Felix didn’t know their names yet, but their presence was unmistakable — controlled danger wrapped in black coats and urgency.
Changbin seized the trembling stranger like it was nothing.
Chan remained near the door, speaking low into a phone, voice steady in a way that made Felix even more nervous.
Minho walked straight to Felix.
Felix instinctively backed into the counter.
“Um—hi. I promise I didn’t do anything. I was literally wiping a table.”
Minho’s eyes lowered to the envelope in Felix’s hand.
Felix held it up helplessly.
“This was forced on me. I didn’t ask for it, and I definitely don’t want it.”
Minho grabbed Felix’s wrist.
Felix gasped softly. “Okay—wow—firm grip. Little too firm.”
Chan’s voice cut in from the doorway.
“He’s coming with us. Hyunjin wants him.”
Felix blinked rapidly.
“I… don’t think he does?”
Minho began pulling him toward the exit.
Felix tried to protest. “Wait—hold on—there has to be a misunderstanding. I’m not part of anything!”
Minho didn’t slow down.
They dragged Felix outside. Rain soaked through his clothes instantly. He stumbled, nearly falling, but Changbin caught him by the back of his jacket and pushed him upright.
“Thanks,” Felix blurted automatically. “But also please let me leave.”
Then Hyunjin approached.
And Felix forgot how to breathe.
Up close, Hyunjin was almost unreal — sharp features, dark eyes reflecting the streetlights, calm in a way that was more frightening than the chaos behind him.
Felix forced a shaky smile.
“Hi. Uh. So… I think there’s been a mix-up.”
Hyunjin didn’t speak at first.
He simply looked at the envelope in Felix’s hand, then at Felix himself — slowly, deliberately, making Felix feel both seen and trapped.
“You shouldn’t have touched that,” Hyunjin said quietly.
Felix swallowed.
“Well, I didn’t exactly get a choice. It sort of… happened to me.”
Hyunjin stepped closer.
Felix tensed, anxiety rising sharply beneath his attempt at humor.
“This isn’t up to you,” Hyunjin said. “You’re coming with us.”
Felix’s voice wobbled. “I really don’t think that’s necessary.”
Hyunjin held his gaze.
“Take him.”
Felix’s heart dropped.
“No—wait—listen—I’m not useful! I panic easily! I cry during sad commercials! You really don’t want me—”
Minho and Changbin lifted him by the arms. Felix stumbled helplessly between them.
“I can’t be kidnapped,” he protested weakly. “I haven’t even eaten dinner yet.”
They shoved him into a black van. Felix fell onto cold metal. The doors slammed shut behind him.
The van pulled away.
Felix stared at the envelope still clenched in his fingers, chest tight, adrenaline pulsing.
Through the window, he saw Hyunjin watching them leave, unreadable and unmoving.
Felix exhaled shakily.
“This is… really bad.”
He leaned his head against the metal wall, eyes closing for a moment.
He had been bored an hour ago.
Now he was kidnapped by the mafia.
Felix let out a thin, nervous laugh that sounded nothing like humor.
“I should’ve taken the day off.”