Hybrid Discovery [SKZ fanfiction]| Lee Felix and Bang Chan

Dear sir, how about we mur- nevermind, want a new job?

'I'll come with you,' Changbin says.
The Estrela mountain dog has been glued to Felix's hip ever since the kidnapping of Chan.
'I think it's better if we all go with you,' Minho suggests, but Felix shakes his head. 'Someone has to stay with Hyunjin. Jeongin also has to stay. We'll be fine.'
His friends follow his decision and Changbin leads the way over to the neighbor's old home. They are all curious about what the neighbor told Felix when he left.
The lock clicks open and Changbin immediately retracts his face as a whiff of stale air fills his nose. Felix doesn't notice as his nose isn't as sensitive and steps inside the home for the very first time. Chan and Jeongin shared minor details when they were in this place and Mimu herself never talked about her home. All Felix knows is that Chan described the home as neglected and old. Something Felix and Changbin can both agree on when they walk into the living room. The first thing they see is a big dresser with shattered glass doors. On the ground lay shards of glass and porcelain plates.
'Watch out,' Changbin warns his human, who's walking on slippers and is most likely to hurt himself. Changbin scans the room for a broom or dustpan, stepping over the shards and opening a few cabinets. Even though it isn't his own house, he starts cleaning the shards whilst Felix looks around for the mentioned "will" the neighbor left for Mimu. He finds it on the small coffee table next to a rocking chair, together with other papers laying around in a messy pile.
'Did that man have debts or something?' Changbin scoffs, seeing the reminders of payments along the other post. None of those have the granny's name.
'Would explain selling Mimu,' Felix mumbles whilst opening the letter containing the will. There's papers explaining the old lady got transferred to a retirement home and the date of her death.
'Not that old for a human,' Changbin states whilst peeking over Felix's shoulder.
The lady's death was only at the age of seventy two. Some consider it old, but with the current healthcare and medical advances humans normally live up to somewhere in their eighties of nineties. Something tells Felix the considered "young" death of the granny has something to do with the neglected state of the home and reminds him of how unhealthy Mimu looked when they first met her in her human form. He remembered Chan and Jeongin nagging about mold in the apartment and the lack of clean drinkwater.
He shivers and quickly reads the will left behind.
'Do you think the granny knew?' Changbin asks when Felix rereads the will for the fourth time.
She left the house to her cat. Miss Muffles. Not to her grandson, nor another family member if she had one, no, to her cat. Payments made up for the next three years. The old woman used up her last money to pay off the home and left none of it for her grandson.
'Can a cat even inherit something?' Changbin is confused to say the least.
Felix points at the official looking sign on the bottom of the will and the other papers stating Miss Muffles name on it.
'It says here only the rightful human owner of the cat can try to claim the property in the name of the cat,' Felix reads to his hybrid who chuckles.
'Too bad he just sold his cat and the papers away. I know the whole selling sucks, but I have to admit, this is karma at its best,' Changbin snickers.
Felix has to agree with him. He folds up the papers and carefully places them back in the envelope before scanning the other mail. He knows it's all private stuff, but how the neighbor tossed him the keys he believes he has the rights to snoop around some more.
Changbin goes back to cleaning the mess in the kitchen and opens the balcony door to get fresh air in the room. Dust flies up and the papers from the coffee table blow off the table.
'Ah, sorry, my fault,' Changbin says whilst closing the door a little bit to keep the wind out. Felix reaches out for the papers when his eye falls on a particular piece of paper. It's a business card from Ficx research facility. there's a number written on the backside and Felix can't help but wondering where he heard the name of the company before.
'Could this be the facility he sold Mimu to?' he asks himself and puts the card in his pocket. He could try to call the number to ask about Mimu.
'Let's go back home,' he tells Changbin.

'Hello?'
Felix holds his breath when the line connects and a manly voice speaks to him. They assemble in the living room and look with anticipation to their human making a call.
They tried asking their landlord if there were complaints about unknown people who entered the building three days ago, but to their disappointment the landlord shrugged.
'As if I have the time to check anyone who comes in and out.'
When they asked to see the CCTV the man scoffed at him and told them the camera's were only there for decoration. When they tried to ask further the man mentioned complaints about certain noises from their floor and that's when Felix dragged Changbin with him back to the apartment, afraid they would cause problems for themselves. Another dead end to their search for Chan.
All they could do for now was to use their energy to their sold off friend in the hopes they could trace her down and... Felix didn't know what to do after that. If their neighbor really sold off Mimu, they would've zero chances of getting her back. Especially to a big company like Ficx. Felix searched up the name as soon as they came back home. He knew he had heard of the company name before and wasn't surprised to find out the brand is known from television and advertisements around the city. He even bought some of their products in the past to test his hybrids for certain illnesses.
Why the hell their research facility is in need of hybrids he doesn't know, but based on the horrible experiences Chan had had with his past in a lab he could only hope they just wanted a new lab pet or something.
'Who's this speaking?'
Felix takes a deep breath. 'Ehm, Lee Yongbok, sir. I dialed up this number to ask about a black cat hybrid named—.'
His sentence is cut off by the man's angry voice. 'We're not interested in more black cat hybrids,' he says.
'B-but, Jeon Sora sold you his. I-I want to know—.'
'That brat of a Jeon?! We told him already we paid him for his hybrid. It's his own fault he gave us the wrong house number. We're not paying for two. The deal was for one. Now stop calling, or I'll warn authorities.'
With a click the man hangs up and Felix tries to process the information.
'That... went well?' Seungmin frowns. 'The man flipped when you mentioned his name.'
'What did he mean, not paying for two? He only sold Mimu, right?' Han asks.
It's Hyunjin who gasps and starts coughing again before waving his hand towards Jeongin. Minho pats the Slow Worm's back and hands him a glass of water.
'You think?!' Jeongin asks him, perking up on the edge of his seat. 'Hyung, Hyung, the people who were here were specifically in search of a black cat!'
A cold shiver travels down Felix's spine. His suspicion confirms.
'Did they mix it up and take Chan instead of Mimu?' Han asks with wide open eyes. 'Felix, you have to call them again! Explain that they made a mistake and that they have our friend!'
'And then what?!' Felix spits back. His head throbs, thinking of ways to get his friends back. 'Did you forget most of you are illegal hybrids? Even if they have Chan, we can't just ask them to give him back. I don't have his papers!' His voice trembles and the others fall silent.
'Let's call doctor Zeeps for help,' Hyunjin says resolutely. His eyes are watering from his coughing, but his face is determined. 'I know you don't want to endanger us, but he can help us. He's associated in the hybrid research field. Maybe he can bring us in contact and ask them to see him or something.'
Felix bites his lower lip and looks around to the faces of his hybrids. He feels powerless at the moment, but they don't want to give up. They trust the doctor and Felix knows he should as well, but the fear of losing them all makes him numb. He inhales deeply and closes his eyes while picking up his phone again to dial the doctor's number.
'Hmm, didn't expect you to call back this soon. What can I help you with, my friend?'



Are you sure it's the research facility of Ficx?' the doctor asks again.
Felix answers with a yes and tells him about the business card they found in the neighbor's apartment. He also explains what happened when he called the scribbled down number on the card and he can hear the doctor mumbling in concern to himself.
'Be certain, Felix, a hundredth percent. Does Ficx research facility has your cat and the neighbor's hybrid?'
'Yes! I am certain. It's no coincidence he sold her and on the same day people came in to abduct Chan and she disappeared as well.'
He hears the man sigh out loud and rummaging through his stuff. 'If that's true, they are in a lot more trouble than I thought,' he says. 'They're acquaintances within the field and are known for their shady practices when it comes to hybrids. I've been to their lab a few times in the past, but we never found evidence of something illegal. But with the way they spoke to you, we can be certain they're up to no good. If they have your hybrid friends, we can only hope they're okay.'
'Can we do anything?' Jeongin asks hopefully.
'If there's no evidence for illegal research, we can't do much. I can ask the association of hybrid rights to look into Ficx, but I have no idea if that will bring up anything for your friends. Without good reasons to search the facility, they can't do a thing.'
They thank the doctor for his help and hang up the call. The silence is deafening.

'They're hiring people!' Han jumps up from his seat on the kitchen table. He's surrounded with empty peanut wrappers and in the process of him jumping up he knocks over his cup of tea. He grumbles and quickly dabs the liquid up with a rag Minho hands him. 'Look! Look over here! They are searching for an assistant researcher.' The hamster hybrid can't contain his energy and the others assemble around him to look at the advertisement on the laptop. Felix is at work and they used his laptop to search for anything related to the research facility without anything better to do. 'Hiring in four to six weeks,' Minho points out. 'What was your plan, going in and infiltrating?' he asks with one eyebrow raised at Han.'Well, duh!' the hamster hybrid replies like it's the only obvious answer. 'May I remind you, we're no spies,' Minho scolds him, picking up some of the peanut wrappers to throw away.'Well, I was,' the hamster hybrid mentions whilst rereading the advertisement. 'What?' Jeongin giggles. 'Han, stop joking,' Seungmin reprimands him, but Han looks back as if they are the ones joking with him. 'No, I'm serious,' he frowns. 'Nobody ever heard of the rodent patrol?'Minho hisses and turns his head toward Han. He heard of the name back in his days as a street cat. They were renowned for accepting any quest as long as the payout was profitable. From a simple pickpocketing job to full on assassinations, the rodent patrol could be hired. 'Don't tell me you're affiliated with that bunch of idiots?' he spits at Han who visibly shrinks.'Not anymore. Or at least... Never mind.'Before he can scurry off, Minho grabs him in his neck and pushes him back in the chair. 'Talk,' he says.'Hyung? Is everything alright?' Jeongin asks his friends. They're glaring at each other before Minho gives in. 'Can you promise we're not in danger because of you and your group?' he sighs and Han immediately holds his hands up in the air.'I swear! They only have beef with me. If they ever find out where I am— but I swear I wiped out every trace that could lead them to me.''What kind of trouble?' Changbin crosses his arms and leans to the kitchen counter. Han stutters and tries to find the right words to explain himself. How is he going to tell them he left the group because he fucked up a mission to obtain information from a lab? To be specific, he set that place on fire by accident, refused to tell what information he obtained from the place and ran away as they threatened to kill him if he didn't pay for his mistakes.So he changes up some of the details and answers; 'I owe them money, because I refused to share information. But I swear, that was years ago!' Not the complete truth as it was in fact less than a year ago. It should've been his last task before honestly leaving the group, but it turned out in a disaster with him disappearing and hiding in the home of Felix. The others thought his anxiety spiked up, the reason why he stayed home instead of sneaking out like he did before, but in fact it was to hide in the hope his old group wouldn't find him. He was already part of the human's household and preferred the leisure days over the thrill filled ones he had with the rodent patrol. His friends all look at him with doubt and Han hates the idea of lying to them, but if it means he can get them aboard on his plan, he forgives himself for the maybe not so white lies. 'Look, It doesn't matter if I was part of the rodent patrol or not. What does matter is that I have a plan to help Chan and Mimu.' He raises both his eyebrows up in desperation to hear him out at least and Minho sighs seeing his pleading face.'Go on,' he grumbles.Han turns around to Changbin who's still standing against the counter. 'Bin, didn't you say someone named Jang Seon works out at your place?'The dog hybrid slowly nods and walks closer to see what Han is pointing at on the screen. The same name is scribbled down as one of the people hiring and Han smirks evilly. 'Wouldn't it be a shame if this person suddenly gets sick and they need an early replacement?' 'Are you planning on murdering him?' Minho asks and Han looks at him in horror.'No! You idiot! I said sick— Why does your mind go from that to murder,' he composes himself. 'No murder, just something that would keep him bedridden for a couple of days.''And then what? Send our human over to solicit for the job?' Seungmin snickers. 'Would love to see that. Our bubbly Felix trying to formulate any of those medical terms. He's doomed to fail.''Who said anything about Felix? We have two masterminds right here.' Han stears the attention to the Russian Blue and the Slow Worm. 'One has the aura of a researcher and the other is literally an assistant researcher.''I do not,' Minho hisses at Han who rolls his eyes. 'Oh please, the fact your mind first goes to murder proves enough.' Changbin snickers and puts his hands in his pockets. 'We can't send Hyunjin. He's still sick, so the murder enthusiast has to go. How will we fake a resume?'Hyunjin coughs and raises his hand to that answer. 'Leave that to me.'They all turn to Minho who looks at them in disbelief. 'Are you for real? I have to go undercover in that place?'They all set up their biggest puppy eyes and pouty mouths. Minho sighs and secretly smiles at the idea of him playing researcher. 'Okay, what's the rest of the plan?'