Deep End | Hyunlix

62

Felix had been reluctant to leave. Even after Hyunjin said he'd be fine, even after the older turned his back and disappeared into the shadowed doorway of his studio, something in Felix resisted letting go.

The drive back was quiet, tense in a way that settled deep in his chest. The hum of the car engine filled the silence between them, but neither spoke. Hyunjin stared out the passenger window, shoulders rigid, eyes distant. Every so often, Felix caught the faint twitch of his fingers, a nervous tic, or a tell he was trying to suppress.

He's watching every reflection, every car behind us, Felix thought. He's already on edge. He wanted to reach over, to tell him it would be okay, but the words felt empty. There were too many eyes on them now, too many ways things could go wrong.

When they finally pulled up outside the studio, Hyunjin didn't move right away. His hand hovered over the door handle, hesitation thick in the air. Felix turned toward him, trying to catch his eye.

"Hey," he said softly. "Whatever happens next... you're not alone. Don't shut me out. Don't push me away."

Hyunjin's jaw flexed, but he didn't answer. He gave a short nod, barely more than a twitch, before Felix held out the car keys.

"Your car," Felix murmured.

Hyunjin hesitated for a heartbeat before taking them, their fingers brushing in the handoff. The contact was brief, but enough to make Felix's chest tighten. Then Hyunjin slipped out of the car and closed the door behind him.

Felix sat there for a moment, staring at the empty space where the older man had stood, the faint echo of his presence still clinging to the air. He told himself to move, to focus, but his chest felt tight, like something important had just slipped through his fingers.

He exhaled slowly, pressing his palms against the steering wheel before finally climbing out of the car. The morning air was cool, carrying the faint scent of rain. Hyunjin's studio door had already shut behind him, leaving Felix alone in the quiet street.

His bike was still parked where he'd left it the night before. The black frame glistened faintly under the gray light, a thin layer of dew gathering on the metal. Felix brushed a hand over the seat and swung a leg over, the familiar hum of the engine grounding him as it came to life.

As he sped down the nearly empty streets, the wind cut through the tension in his chest but didn't erase it. His mind was still tangled in the image of Hyunjin standing at the door, silent, haunted. He told himself to focus on the road, but his heart was still somewhere in that quiet studio.

He was barely five minutes from the compound when his phone buzzed. The name flashing across the screen made his stomach twist. Felix hesitated before answering, thumb hovering over the screen. He finally swiped answered through his headset.

"Yeah?"

"Felix, where have you been?" I.N's voice came through fast, uneven, desperate. "Chan's freaking out. We got an anonymous email that I've been trying to decrypt, but..." He paused, voice shaking. "Felix... it has pictures."

Felix's knuckles whitened on the throttle. "What kind of pictures?"

There was a short silence, the sound of rapid typing on the other end. "You. At Club Apep. With Changbin. And Hyunjin."

Felix's breath caught. His heart skipped and then slammed hard against his ribs.

"There's more," I.N continued, voice lowering. "There are pictures of you and Hyunjin... in the alleyway." A pause. "You... you need to get in here. Now."

Felix's vision tunneled. For a moment, it felt like the world stopped moving.He knew this could happen. He always knew this could happen, that the wrong eyes would see, that the walls between his two worlds would crumble. But knowing the risk never prepared him for the weight of it actually collapsing.

"Y-yeah," Felix breathed finally, the word rough, fragile. "I'm almost there." He ended the call with a tap to his comm, the line going dead.

What am I going to do now? he thought, the words echoing under his helmet. His pulse thundered in his ears, louder than the bike's engine, louder than reason.

Because the truth was, there was no plan for this. No briefing. No recovery protocol for being caught between loyalty and love. The pictures weren't just evidence. They were a fuse, and someone, somewhere, had just lit it.

Felix pulled into the parking lot behind the compound, the low rumble of his bike echoing off the concrete walls before fading into silence. He didn't move at first. His hands stayed on the handlebars, leather gloves creaking faintly as he gripped them tighter.

The world around him felt muted, the wind barely stirring, the gray sky hanging heavy overhead, even the distant hum of the city seemed to fade beneath the rush of his heartbeat. He sat there, the engine ticking quietly as it cooled, staring at the building that suddenly looked more like a cage than a base of operations.

Get it together, he told himself. You've handled worse. But had he? The anonymous email. The pictures. Changbin's smirk. Hyunjin's name whispered through blood and gunfire. It all blurred together until his stomach twisted.

His first instinct was to pull out his phone, to warn Hyunjin, to tell him something was coming, to give him even a few hours to cover his tracks. His thumb hovered over the screen, hesitating.

He pictured the older slumped on the studio floor the night before, surrounded by torn canvases and broken color, too drunk to stand, too hollow to fight. The image was seared into his mind, not as weakness, but as proof of how far Hyunjin had already fallen.

He's barely keeping himself together. The thought made Felix's chest ache. His thumb slid across the phone screen, pulling up their thread, but he didn't type. No, he told himself. I can't burden him with this right now. He doesn't need more heat on him.

If Hyunjin even suspected how close the walls were closing in, that someone had pictures, that their secret wasn't a secret anymore, it would break him.
And worse, it could get him killed.

Felix took a shaky breath and tucked the phone back into his jacket. Maybe I can diffuse the situation. Maybe I can spin it before it gets to him. It was a weak plan, one built on hope more than logic, but it was all he had.

He swung his leg off the bike, the movement feeling heavier than it should have. The metal of his helmet was cool against his palms as he removed it, setting it on the seat beside him. His reflection stared back from the tinted visor, a stranger wearing too many secrets.

"Okay," he muttered under his breath, voice low, almost steady. "You got this. Just breathe. Keep it together."

He squared his shoulders, grabbed the keycard from his pocket, and walked toward the entrance. Each step across the cracked pavement felt like walking into a storm he already knew he wouldn't escape unscathed.

Behind him, the clouds thickened, gray pressing into black, and for a fleeting second, Felix wondered if Hyunjin could feel the shift too.

————
1220 words