Chapter Text
Hyunjin still remembers the best day of his life. When he was eleven, he had a best friend. Bahng Christopher Chahn also lived in Sydney, with a family who spoke Korean and with Korean heritage, like Hyunjin himself. They’d grown up together until Chris was fifteen, and he’d suddenly moved away. Hyunjin had biked to his house one day only to find a moving truck in the driveway. Chris had come out to greet him.
“I’m so sorry, Jinnie, I- I didn’t even know until this morning. I’m so sorry. They’re not going to let me stay-” his voice broke, and Hyunjin already knew what was coming next.
“Will we ever see each other again?”
“I don’t know. I’m- I’m sorry.”
“I’d like to think we will.”
“Me too.”
Just like that, Chris’s mom had called him inside, shutting the door behind him harshly. As Hyunjin biked home, holding back tears, he heard the moving truck leave Chris’s driveway. He didn’t dare to look backward.
Twelve years later, Hyunjin presented as an Omega and finished college in his motherland of Korea, now a hairdresser in Seoul and living with his best friend, Lee Felix, a Beta. Felix boasts six mate marks, one each from the members of his pack. When Hyunjin had asked why he doesn't live with his pack, the only answer was ‘it’s complicated.’
Now, as masked men brandish guns at Felix and Hyunjin, something starts to click in Hyunjin’s brain. They’re forced into a windowless van, phones crushed on the ground outside, and when Hyunjin looks over at Felix, the Beta seems completely unbothered by the situation. Hyunjin gives him a look, and Felix simply shakes his head subtly.
They’re unloaded into an abandoned truck docking station and tied to chairs back to back. They’re both blindfolded, and Hyunjin hears the sound of a gun cocking.
“Lix-ah,” he whispers.
“Sh,” the blond scolds.
“What do we have here? The Bahng Clan’s precious baby Beta?”
Felix says nothing.
“Lips sealed, hm? Maybe we’ll have to make you talk.”
Something is pressed against the side of Hyunjin’s head, and every muscle tenses.
“Don’t be scared,” Felix says. “Everything will be fine.”
Hyunjin can hardly breathe.
“So brave for your friend, hm? Let’s see how your attitude changes when…”
A gunshot rings out, and Hyunjin cries out in fear. He hasn’t been shot…
“Lix, are you-”
“I’m fine.” His voice shows no signs of pain.
“So, you didn’t fall for the bluff. Unsurprising, from the Bahng Clan.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Tell us what they’re planning.”
Felix laughs, deep and sharp. “Never.”
The Bahng Clan. They keep saying that. Is Felix involved with the mafia? Is that why he doesn’t live with his pack? But then… here he is anyway.
“Are you sure?”
The gun presses harder against Hyunjin’s head.
“I’d never betray my Clan.”
“What about betraying your friend?”
Two gunshots ring. Hyunjin screams again, the chair he’s tied to falling over as pain radiates from his knee.
“Oh Gods, Jin-!”
A door slams open.
“Lix! Are you okay?!” someone shouts.
“I’m fine, but Hyung-”
Felix’s hands touch his face. He’s faintly aware that he’s crying now.
“Hyung, please- we have to get him out of here.”
“Sung, Lino, Bin, cut the rest of them down and get out fast. We’re going to the hospital.”
“Yes, Hyung!” Someone yells, and Hyunjin realizes that there are multiple guns shooting now. Someone lifts him up, and he yells as his knee bends.
“It’s okay, Jinnie, just hold on,” Felix says. They’re running, and Hyunjin is out of energy to keep screaming as his knee is jostled. The sound changes once, twice, and then someone says
“Drive.” Hyunjin’s head is laid into someone’s lap, and he recognizes Felix’s honey scent above him.
“Jinnie, open your eyes for me. Look at me.”
He peels his eyes open, vision blurred by unshed tears, and looks up at Felix.
“Hey, Jin. Hey, can you understand me?”
Hyunjin nods.
“That’s good, Hyung, that’s amazing. We’re going to get you taken care of, okay? We’re going to a really good place, and they’ll take good care of you-”
Felix’s voice breaks.
“Don’t worry,” Hyunjin says shakily. “I’ll be just fine, you know that.”
“I’m so sorry,” Felix says, now crying himself. “I let you get hurt.”
“You couldn’t have controlled it. You were doing your best.”
“I’m so sorry, Hyungie.”
“Don’t apologize, Lix-ah.” Hyunjin gasps in a heavy breath, vision dotted with black.
“No, no, stay awake. Don’t go to sleep, Hyung, open your eyes and look at me. Hyunjin!”