Deep End | Hyunlix

63

The entrance doors slid open with a low mechanical hiss, but Felix stood just outside them for a breath too long, frozen in place. His pulse hammered beneath his skin, loud enough that he swore he could hear it in his ears. You can't turn back now. Just breathe. He stepped forward.

The moment he crossed into headquarters, the atmosphere changed. Heavy. Suffocating. Like walking into a room filled with smoke after the fire's already burned through. The entire team was waiting for him.

The conference room lights flickered overhead, casting harsh illumination on the tense scene. Han stood with his arms crossed, eyes on the floor, refusing to look up. I.N hovered near the screens, lips pursed with worry, thumb tapping anxiously against the edge of his tablet. Seungmin leaned back in a chair, posture deceptively relaxed, eyes sharp and tracking Felix's every move. And Chan, Chan stood front and center, jaw clenched tight enough to crack teeth, energy radiating from him like a storm waiting to break.

Felix swallowed hard and stepped fully inside, trying to steady the racing rhythm in his chest. The doors slid shut behind him, quiet, final. On the screen behind the team were the photos. Grainy, zoomed in, timestamped. Him, Changbin, and Hyunjin inside Club Apep.And then, Felix and Hyunjin in the alleyway, bodies angled close, Felix reaching for him, faces near each other's shadows like a secret caught mid-breath. But implication is a weapon, and these photos were loaded. Felix's stomach twisted. Someone sent these intentionally. Someone wanted this to blow up.

Before he could speak, Chan took a step forward, voice cold enough to frost the walls. "Felix. Start talking."

Felix's jaw tensed. "About what, exactly?"

Chan stepped forward, eyes sharp and furious, but not with the clarity of someone who understood the truth. His voice cut through the silence. "Felix, why were you seen talking to Changbin?" he demanded. "A known clan commander. Alone. Off-mission." That alone made everyone tense.

"But what I really want to know," Chan continued, pointing to the screen again, "is who the hell that guy is."

Felix's pulse spiked, Hyunjin's face in grainy grayscale, standing close to him in the alley, Felix reaching for him.

Han crossed his arms. "Is he a civilian asset? Someone you recruited? Why wasn't he cleared through intel?"

Felix forced a blank expression, control razor-thin. "He's nobody," Felix said flatly. "Just someone I ran into. Coincidence."

"That's not a coincidence," Seungmin snapped. "Normal people don't meet with Changbin in VIP corridors. And they definitely don't follow our commander into alleyways afterward."

I.N shifted uneasily, voice softer but pointed. "He's the owner of HH Art," he said. "The one Felix saw a few weeks ago."

That hit like a stone dropped in still water. All eyes snapped to Felix.

Chan's glare sharpened. "So you do know him. And you hid it."

Felix clenched his teeth, heartbeat roaring in his ears. "It wasn't relevant."

"The hell it wasn't," Seungmin shot back.

Han's voice wavered, worried rather than angry. "Lix... is he working with the clan?"

Felix's stomach turned violently. "No," he said immediately, too fast. A beat of silence followed.

Chan's voice dropped dangerously low. "Then why is a random artist showing up in photos with a clan commander?"

Felix had no answer he could survive giving. Felix's silence was its own confession.

Chan stepped closer, eyes narrowing.  "This isn't just some casual civilian. There's a connection, and you didn't tell us. Why?"

Felix forced his jaw to unclench. "Because it didn't matter. It still doesn't."

"That's bullshit," Chan snapped. "Everything matters when we're dealing with the Snake Eyes. And if he's tied to Changbin, "

"He's not," Felix cut in sharply, voice cracking through the room like a whip. The floor went still.

Han's brows furrowed. "Then why was he there?"

Felix's chest tightened. He could feel the walls closing in, logic, suspicion, and truth all barreling toward him. "He just... got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time," Felix said carefully. "You're spinning this into something it's not."

Seungmin scoffed, low and humorless. "Funny. That's exactly what someone compromised would say."

The words hit harder than a bullet. Felix stiffened, fingers curling into fists. "I'm not compromised."

Chan's expression softened, only slightly, but the suspicion didn't fade. "You lied," Chan said quietly. "Not just now. Before. You knew this guy. You met up with him. You hid it from us." His voice trembled, not with anger, but with something closer to betrayal. "Why?"

Felix swallowed hard, pulse stuttering. Because I love him. Because touching him feels like breathing. Because if you knew who he really is, you'd drag him out in cuffs or shoot him on sight. None of those answers could leave his mouth. Instead, he choked out, "It wasn't mission-related. I didn't want to bring personal shit into this."

"Personal." Chan repeated the word slowly, like it tasted foreign.

Seungmin's eyes sharpened.  "So it is personal."

Felix's silence gave the answer he didn't want to say aloud.

I.N shifted where he stood, voice hesitant but gentle.  "Felix..." he began, "if you care about this guy, we're not attacking you for it. We just need to know if he's a threat."

Felix's heart twisted, both from the kindness and from the fact that he couldn't tell them the truth without destroying everything. "He's not," Felix said, softer now. "He has nothing to do with our mission. Nothing to do with the Snake Eyes." That lie tasted like blood.

Seungmin stepped forward. "We should bring him in and question him, "

Felix reacted before he could think. "Absolutely not." The room snapped to a halt.

Chan's eyes narrowed. "Why not? If he's clean like you say, questioning him won't hurt anything."

Felix's voice dropped low, dangerous, instinct taking over. "No one goes near him."

Han blinked. "Felix, "

"I said no," Felix repeated, tone final. The silence that followed was suffocating.

Chan stared at him like seeing him for the first time. "Who is he to you?" Chan asked, not demanding, not yelling, just searching. And that was worse.

Felix's throat closed, words clawing up but refusing to come out. He didn't know how to answer without unraveling everything. A beat passed.

Chan exhaled slowly, stepping back like he finally understood the shape of the danger. "If you're lying to protect him, whoever he is, it puts all of us at risk."

Felix looked down, voice barely above a whisper. "I would never put you in danger."

Seungmin muttered under his breath, "You just did."

Felix flinched. And behind all of it, Hyunjin's face flashed through his mind. His trembling hands. The paint on the floor. The broken look in his eyes.Is this how it starts? he wondered. Lies layered so thick no one can breathe? A shiver ran through him. Could Lee Know have sent the email? Was this a warning shot? A message: I know you're with him. His stomach twisted. If that was true, the team wasn't the only one in danger. Hyunjin was too.

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