Deep End | Hyunlix

61

Hyunjin swallowed hard, the silence between them heavy and fragile. The sunlight filtering through the curtains had warmed the room, but it didn't reach the cold pit in his stomach.

"I should probably head back," he said quietly, breaking the stillness. His voice was hoarse but steady. "I don't want them coming to look for me and finding us together."

Felix's eyes flicked toward him, sharp with disbelief. "I'm not worried about that right now."

Hyunjin looked up, startled by the firmness in his tone.

"I'm worried about you," Felix continued, voice low but unwavering. "You left my house saying we couldn't keep doing this, and then I find you passed out drunk on the floor of your destroyed studio. And now you want me to what? Pretend none of it happened?"

Hyunjin's breath caught in his chest. The quiet intensity in Felix's voice felt like a hand gripping his heart.

"Hyunjin," Felix said softer now, leaning forward slightly. "I care about you. Maybe you don't see a future for us, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to walk away and let you drown. Let me help you. Let me help you get out."

Hyunjin shook his head, eyes dropping to the sheets twisted between his fingers. "No," he said, almost to himself. "I can't ask you to put everything aside. You're supposed to arrest me, Felix. Take me in. That's your job."

Felix didn't answer right away. The silence stretched thin, trembling with the weight of truth. Because Hyunjin wasn't wrong.

Felix's jaw clenched, the faint tremor of conflict flickering behind his eyes. He was an agent, a soldier, and Hyunjin was part of the very network he was meant to dismantle. Every rule, every line of duty told him what he was supposed to do next. But none of it mattered when he looked at him.

He could still see Hyunjin as he'd found him, broken, surrounded by paint and ruin, walls down for once. That image had carved itself into his mind, deeper than he wanted to admit.

Was he really willing to throw everything away for this man? A man who'd been his enemy. A man who'd once held him captive. Felix drew in a shaky breath. The answer sat in his chest like gravity.

Yes.

Because somewhere between the missions and the lies, between the danger and the endless pretending, he'd fallen for him. For his fire. His fear. His fractured honesty. For all the baggage that came with the name Hyunjin.

"I don't care what I'm supposed to do," Felix said quietly, meeting his gaze again. "I care about what's right in front of me."

Hyunjin's throat tightened. He didn't know what to say. The truth in Felix's eyes was both a comfort and a curse.

He wanted to believe him. He wanted to let that warmth in. But he couldn't forget the world waiting outside this room, a world that would crush them both if it ever saw them like this.

And yet, sitting there in the quiet glow of morning, with Felix watching him like he was something worth saving, Hyunjin couldn't bring himself to look away.

Hyunjin's shoulders slumped. The weight he'd been holding up for too long finally started to crack, the truth leaking through before he could stop it.

"You don't get it, Felix," he said quietly, his voice trembling just enough to betray him. "It's not just about leaving. It's about surviving it."

Felix frowned, but said nothing. He knew better than to interrupt now.

Hyunjin's gaze fell to his lap, hands twisting in the blanket. "Lee Know, he's not just a second in command. He's been waiting for me to slip, waiting for a reason to take over."

Felix's brows knit together, his pulse quickening.

Hyunjin huffed out a humorless laugh, shaking his head. "He acts loyal, but it's all a game. Every move I make, every person I talk to, he's watching. And if he even gets a whiff of doubt from me, if he suspects betrayal... he won't just come for me." His voice dropped, low and hoarse. "He'll turn the entire clan against me."

Felix sat frozen, eyes fixed on him, the full scope of what Hyunjin was saying starting to sink in.

"You're the leader," Felix said slowly, disbelief flickering through his tone. "He can't just..."

"He can," Hyunjin interrupted, sharp and raw. "He would. And they'd follow him. You don't understand what kind of man he is. He doesn't need permission. He just needs an excuse."

The words hung between them, heavy and brittle. Felix swallowed hard, his chest tightening. He already knew that walking away from a syndicate like this wasn't simple. It wasn't freedom or prison, it was stay and rot or run and die. That was the truth he'd seen written in too many case files, too many corpses.

And now, sitting here, watching Hyunjin's composure splinter, he realized it was worse than he'd imagined.

Hyunjin's fingers tightened in the blanket, knuckles bone-white. "If Lee Know even suspects that you and I..."" He stopped, breath stuttering, eyes darting away. "Then it's not just me on the line. He'll go after you. Your team. Everyone you've ever worked with. He'll burn the whole city to the ground if it means getting rid of me."

The silence that followed felt endless.

Felix leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his expression carved from something between anger and heartbreak. "You think I don't know what kind of risk this is?" he asked quietly. "You think I don't know what happens when someone tries to walk away from men like him?"

Hyunjin looked at him, startled by the emotion in his voice.

"I know," Felix continued, voice rough now. "It's either stay or die. Or worse, stay and watch everyone around you suffer."

Hyunjin's throat closed. He hadn't expected Felix to say it aloud. To understand it so completely.

Felix's eyes softened just a fraction. "But I'm not walking away from you," he said, steady and certain. "Not when you're already standing on the edge."

Hyunjin swallowed hard, guilt and something dangerously close to hope warring inside him. He wanted to tell him to stop, to leave, to save himself before it was too late, but the words never came.
Because deep down, part of him didn't want Felix to go.

He lowered his gaze, voice breaking just enough to betray the truth he couldn't speak. "You shouldn't have come for me, Felix."
Felix's answer came without hesitation, quiet but firm. "Yeah," he said, eyes unwavering. "But I did."

The room fell silent again. Neither of them moved. And in that fragile, dangerous stillness, both men knew it was already too late to turn back.

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