↱KISS YOU TOO↲ ⇾hyunlix⇽

Stars

It was autumn when Felix met him again.

Two winters since his family's reunion, a summer before the laws separating vampires and humans had been abolished, surprisingly by an activist group supporting governing human rights. To his surprise, Chan had spearheaded the argument that vampires had deserved just as many rights as people, since the bodies they inhabit were not considered corpses, but just as alive as someone who needs to breathe and live through the pounding of their hearts; that vampires shouldn't be considered as anything less. Needless to say, the advisor's facts and arguments were largely backed by the public, who were just as sick of killing as Felix had been ever since Jeongin brought him out of Minho's place that one night, when the hunter's brain felt largely swollen and blank and had left the acclaimed hunter with an empty sort of heartache.

Felix's family, however, had been less than amused to find out that their advisor was the one against the protests of the Lee family's cruelty, having left Felix to fend for the Seoul post alone. It hadn't lasted long before his parents had ushered him out of the building one night while he was on patrol, slamming him inside a car before rushing away and allowing the hunter to look back upon the once-shining Lee building as flames had begun to lick up the sides.

Fighting the arguments had been fruitless, and his parents seemed to have deflated at the loss of the Seoul outpost while Felix congratulated Chan for winning the case, the older man allowing for the ex-hunter to settle down, Jeongin visiting at strange hours with Minho as soon as the youngest found out where Felix had settled.

At first, the visits seemed to be out of politeness, Jeongin dropping in at around five am for the first time, seemingly searching for Felix and immediately checking the ex-hunter for injuries. Felix had assumed that it was a joke then, and laughed it off good-naturedly for the following visits too, joking that he was still okay to hunt if need be.

Then the visits got frequent. And then Felix realized why.

While Felix had admittedly forgotten most of his hunting skills by the first year anniversary of the Lee's closing, there had been a nagging feeling in his mind ever since Jeongin brought him home from Minho's, the ex-hunter whining about his dizziness and tiredness all the way there. It was that moment that came back to Felix a year later, when the ex-hunter had been sitting down to play video games with the Chan and Jeongin to relax after a particularly difficult case appeal to a separate court, one that had rejected Chan's subordinates multiple times.

"Say, Jeongin," Felix hummed, eyes not leaving the screen as his kart picked up speed, turning around a particularly sharp angle; sliding up to the younger's position. "What happened when you brought me home that night?"

"Shut up, Felix-ah," Chan grits, his kart trailing into 6th. "No one wants to hear about your sexcapades while you were on field duty."

We better not get caught for this, I swear.

Felix's heart throbs for a moment, gasping as a phantom voice rang in his ears, remote clattering to the ground. Beside him, Jeongin yelped before dropping their controller as well, Chan's abandoned kart zooming past both ex-hunters and into the wall as the two huddled around Felix, concerned.

"Lix? Felix, are you alright?" Chan swore, digging around in their pockets. "Shit, wait for me, I'll call for someone to pick Lix up, hang on."

"Felix, what's happening?" Jeongin's face came into Felix's view, blurred from the pain in the Felix's chest as they whined again, curled in on themselves. "Hyung! Hyung, hang on; don't call yet. Felix?"

"I— yes?" Felix wheezes, hands grasping at his shirt where it hurt, Jeongin's calloused hand on top of his own. "I'm here, I'm here— oh fuck, you mother f—"

"Felix, are you alright? Can you tell me what happened?"
Jeongin's face swam into Felix's vision again, and Felix winced as a new wave of pain radiated from his chest.

"I— oh, fuck; I heard a voice?" Felix groaned, "They s-said something about not getting caught... right after Chan mentioned the sexcapade thing and I don't know why it hurt me so much to hear something but—"

"Felix, you're crying."

"I— huh?"  Felix brought up his hands to his cheeks, and sure enough: they were wet. A shuffling noise came from the hallway, and Felix whirls around to see Chan at the doorway, Jeongin kneeling beside him and the room feels too small and—

"I'm going out," Felix gasped, stumbling up to his feet. Chan let out a noise of protest, but Jeongin barred the elder, staring at Felix as he tugged on a jacket and stepped into his shoes, one hand clutching at his chest. "I— I need some air, fuck. "

"Suit yourself," Jeongin called, Felix having already turned the doorknob to get outside. "Come back soon!"

With a slam of the door, Felix's feet carried him downstairs, the ex-hunter shivering in the fall breeze as he wandered around the complex, eventually taking a path down the side. Around him, fallen leaves blew around in a frantic dance of oranges and reds, and Felix smiled at that, watching the fluttering of the leaves.

What if I dyed my hair like fall, Lix? Do you think your parents would get mad?

Another wave of pain, fresher this time, and Felix nearly doubled over, biting back a groan as he leaned up against a brick wall, scanning the plaza he had walked into and spotting a chair underneath a parasol in front of one shop decorated with faux lace trim. Without thinking too much about it, he dragged himself over, clutching at his heart as it continued to ache, the ex-hunter curled in on himself like a wounded animal until he realized the pair of legs before his vision.

"Excuse me, sir; would you like to order?" A voice greeted him through the pain, oddly familiar as Felix tried to compose himself. "I'm sorry, formalities; but the shop states that only paying customers are allowed to stay."

"I..." Felix's mind blanks, eyes still casted down and screwed shut as he replies;

"A coffee, please. Instant if you don't mind— fuck, sorry."

A hum came from above him, and Felix sighs into the table as the server left, his mind fuzzy and cloudy like someone had replaced his thoughts with stuffing. After a while, a door opened and shut from somewhere behind him and Felix makes out the familiar chime of a bell before a presence is next to him again, the smell of coffee wafting up to meet his nose.

"Thank you," Felix  groaned, a chuckle coming from the server as they set the drink down. From behind the cup, a crinkle of plastic caught the ex-hunters eye, hand coming to reach behind and—

"Go on, take it."

Felix's world seemed to tip on its edge, lollipop held tightly as his head started spinning, a hand there, a smile there; dimples poking out from the aforementioned smile and

"It's not anything bad, I promise. There's no reason to hurt you, anyway."

Felix turned his head up, meeting those oh-so familiar grey eyes crinkled at the corners, and fangs glittering in the afternoon sun.

"Hyunjin?"

"Welcome back, Felix. I told you we would find each other. Remember, Stars."