Chapter Text
Two days before the Hwang family arrived, Senator Seo threw another extravagant party, this time, for his most loyal and passionate political supporters as well as the local elite members of society. Changbin, once again locked in his bedroom until the party concluded, entered the West wing that night to find Felix with torn feathers, bruised skin, and tears streaming down his face as he sobbed into the floor of his cage. He rushed to the boy’s side, reaching for him and asking if he was okay, but Felix couldn’t respond and winced away from every touch. Changbin knew, now, after learning that his father threw this party as a last hurrah with a mutant trophy, and he must have let things get out of control. In that moment, he only knew he would move the earth itself to never hear Felix cry like this again; to never see him hurt like this again. He kept his fear and anger to himself as he spoke to Felix in a gentle voice, guiding him to focus on his voice and breathe as deeply as he could. The smaller boy tried, but he shook too violently to relax. Instead, he remained curled up on the floor, hugging his bruised ribs and making himself as small as possible. His coughs and sobs settled into shuddered breaths, and Changbin decided that was good enough after what Felix had just been through. He rested his hand on the inside of the cage like he had the second time they’d met, just in case Felix decided to take it. Changbin breathed as steadily as he could, hoping the other boy would begin to follow his pace. Felix’s eyes were open, but he couldn’t look at Changbin. He just looked down at the floor, blinking hard every once in a while, trying to erase the images of the night from his brain.
“Felix.” Changbin tried to get his attention, but the angel boy didn’t move. “Felix, I-“ I what? I’m sorry? What good will that do? Silence settled over them once more. After a few breaths, Felix’s hoarse voice broke through.
“Hyung.”
Changbin’s heart tightened in his chest. Felix had never called him that before. They learned early on in their friendship that Changbin was a year older than Felix, but told him to just call him by his name since it was just the two of them. Felix had lived in a few different places, and didn’t have a full education. He spoke very simply, occasionally slipping into an accent Changbin didn’t recognize or using a word Changbin didn’t know. But Felix understood the importance of terms like hyung, so his reaction was mixed when Changbin told him to call him by his name. Changbin perceived this, but he wasn’t sure he could handle the guilt associated with being so close to someone his father was holding hostage.
“Hyung, I can’t do this anymore.” Both boys were crying now. “I’m so scared, and I feel so weak. I just want to leave.”
Changbin couldn’t hold his emotions back anymore. He pleaded with Felix through tears, begging him to fly out of the cage. He didn’t care about the consequences, he didn’t care that they didn’t have a plan. He would carry Felix to a hospital and hold the doctors under threat of violence if that’s what it took. He would nurse him back to health in the middle of the woods if he could. He’d give his own life if it meant Felix could be free.
“Please, please, Felix. I know you’re tired, I know you’re hurt. Just fly out and we’ll leave. We’ll leave and never come back just—“
“I can’t.”
“Please, you have to try-“
“I can’t.” Felix took a deep breath in, at last, needing to convey important, devastating information. “They’ll catch us before we even leave the house. I heard your father tell someone at the party that he put a tracker in my arm the night I got here. I barely remember it but…” He looked off towards the room with the table and medical supplies. “It’s here, in my arm.” He rubbed the upper part of his forearm, right beneath where his elbow bends. “If I even leave the cage, it’ll set off all kinds of alarms.”
Changbin, unable to contain his own sobs now, clasped his hand over his mouth. He didn’t want to upset Felix, but this news felt like death itself. As he hunched over, sniffling violently, he heard Felix move across the floor of the cage. Then, a light, gentle touch on his head.
“I’m sorry, hyung. I wanted to try, I wanted to leave with you. I’m sorry.”
Changbin held Felix’s wrist, keeping his hand on his head. Then, gently, he moved Felix’s hand down to his face, looking up at him as he does, grasping his arm now with two hands.
“Listen to me,” Changbin said, shakily. “I’m going to get you out of here. I promise you. I don’t know how yet, but I’m never going to stop trying. Do you understand?”
Felix nodded slowly, approaching sleep now as he accepted the comfort of Changbin’s gentle grasp.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes. You’ll be safe, and we’ll be together.”
Felix’s thumb moved slightly to stroke Changbin’s face. Eventually, his hand fell limp as he drifted into a desperate sleep. Changbin worried he would wake up in the night, but he couldn’t sit there all night. He laid Felix’s hand down softly inside the cage and walked away quietly. He spent the next hour or so digging in his father’s office for helpful information, stuffing a few papers in his pockets to reexamine later. He checked on Felix, sat with him for a while, then left for his own room. He cried again once he lay in his own bed, hugging his ribs the way Felix had.
Now, as he told the full story to Hyunjin, there were no tears to be found. He was determined; hopeful, for the first time since he met Felix, that they might have a way out. Hyunjin could hardly believe it, but when the two boys snuck across the house together and entered through the large wooden doors, he could only stare, speechless, at the beautiful boy in the cage. Felix greeted Changbin brightly, if a little weakly, but recoiled and scuttled backward when he saw Hyunjin.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Felix,” Changbin said reassuringly. “This is Hyunjin, he’s a friend. He’s… a mutant, too.”
“Wh-who…where…” Felix stuttered, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Hyunjin’s parents are here visiting my parents. I think you may have met his dad?”
Felix nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off Hyunjin, who looked ashamedly to the corner of the room.
“Hyunjin has a power I think might help us get out of here.” He gestured for Hyunjin to come forward. “Hyunjin has this power called phasing. He can basically make his body go through things, like a ghost. He doesn’t disappear, he just passes through them.”
“Yeah, that’s the simplified version,” Hyunjin said with as much sass as he could muster in these unusual circumstances. “Hi, I’m Hwang Hyunjin.” He bowed slightly, and Felix greeted him cautiously, still unsure of this new person. He glanced back and forth between Hyunjin and Changbin, trying to feel reassured by his friend’s confidence. “Changbin tells me we’re the same age. What month were you born in?”
“S-September.”
“Ah, I was born in March. Six months ahead of you, but who’s counting?” He smiled and winked cutely at Felix, hoping the charm he’d practiced in his extensive social training as the son of wealthy parents would help Felix feel comfortable with him.
Changbin, feeling impatient now, began to explain their plan to Felix.
“Hyunjin can make objects and other people phase, too, when he touches them. We can come into the cage with you, remove the implant, and then leave. It’s that simple.”
Hyunjin, recognizing Changbin’s desire to protect and encourage Felix, added, “It sounds simple, but—“
“It is simple. We’re getting out of here, finally. Everything’s going to be okay.” Changbin insisted.
Hyunjin sighed and looked at Felix. “Felix, I’ve never attempted anything like this before. I think I can do it, but I might not be able to and it’s probably going to hurt a lot. Even if I succeed, it could be dangerous.”
Felix thought for a moment, looking from Hyunjin to Changbin. He took a deep breath in and stated, “It can’t be worse than what I’ve already been through. Let’s give it a try.”
Changbin grinned widely, and Felix tried to reciprocate.
“Is it okay if we come in there with you?” Hyunjin asked.
Felix nodded, and Hyunjin phased through the bars, stepping up onto the floor of the cage. Felix scooted backward again, unfamiliar with being this close to another person without the walls of the cage. Hyunjin reached for Changbin’s hand and helped him step up into the cage. The two of them sat down slowly, satisfied with the success of the first stage of their plan. Changbin held out his hand to Felix, who was sitting in the corner with his legs pulled to his chest, wings folded behind him. Felix took his hand and moved closer, but not too close. He showed his arm to Hyunjin, who explained in lots of detail what he was going to try to do to remove the tracker. Felix listened intently, holding Changbin’s hand tighter with every word.
“Hyung,” Felix said softly. Changbin thought to himself that he would never get tired of Felix calling him that. “I’m scared, what if it doesn’t work?”
Changbin squeezed Felix’s hand in return and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “If it doesn’t work, then we’ll try something else.” He smiled to reassure Felix once more, but his heartbeat quickened at the thought of doing more unnecessary harm to this lovely boy. At Hyunjin’s request, Changbin held Felix’s arm tightly on his lap, and Felix bunched up the corner of his thin sheet and bit down on it to muffle the noise. Hyunjin took a few deep breaths, felt around in Felix’s nervously twitching arm to confirm the location of the tracker, and flexed his fingers in preparation.
“Okay,” Hyunjin said with a sigh, “Here we go.”
His right hand phased through Felix’s arm while his left hand held it, still feeling around for the tracker. Felix winced and looked away, indicating that he had found it. Changbin stared, half in amazement, half in disgust, and held Felix’s arm securely, feeling nauseous with anxiety and anticipation. Hyunjin took another deep breath, closed his eyes, and twitched slightly. Felix let out a pained cry and balled up his hand into a fist, fighting Changbin’s grasp. Hyunjin lifted his hand to reveal a small, pill-shaped object covered in blood. He did it. We did it. The two older boys paused for a moment and looked down at Felix’s arm, which was bleeding from a deep wound, dripping onto the floor with small, soft noises. Changbin slid his hand over the wound to stop the bleeding, his grip on Felix shaking slightly.
“Hyunjin—first door on the right—medical supplies,” he said between panicked noises and attempts to soothe Felix’s agonizing yells, tearing his eyes away from the blood still seeping out from between his fingers.
Hyunjin returned with gauze and bandages, which Changbin wrapped around Felix’s arm tightly as best he could with no medical training. Felix wiped his tears with a small, single shaking hand, and dared to look at his arm.
“Did—did it work?”
Changbin let out a relieved chuckle. “It worked.”
From the window, they heard the soft morning call of a bird and saw the sunlight begin to shine through the glass. They were running out of time now.
“We have to go. Hyunjin, phase me back through. Felix, I’m just going to grab a bag from my room, a little bit of food and water, and some more medical supplies. I’ll be less than 10 minutes, I promise.”
“Wait, you’re leaving now?” Hyunjin asked.
“We have to,” Changbin replied assuredly. “His tracker’s been removed, it could have set off an alarm and he’s obviously bleeding. Plus, your dad’s supposed to leave with him in a few hours. It has to be now.”
Hyunjin thought for a moment. “I’m coming with you.”
Changbin shot him a look. “What? No, you can’t.”
Felix chimed in now. “Why not?”
“Be-because—“ he didn’t know why. Somehow, it felt more dangerous. More high-risk, with three people instead of two. He had always imagined it just being Felix and himself against the world. They didn’t know Hyunjin, why would they run away with him?
“Please,” Hyunjin said earnestly. “It’s not like I can keep hiding forever. Most mutants run away eventually.”
“It won’t be easy, Hyunjin. We’ll be sleeping outside and going hungry and—“
“I know,” Hyunjin replied. “I can do it. Let me come with you.”
“Hyung,” Felix said again, in his deep, hushed voice. “They’ll know someone helped us. We have to protect him, too.”
Changbin stood, at last. “Fine.” We don’t have time for this.
He walked as quickly as he could, without making too much noise, across the house and up the stairs to his room, where the bag he’d packed after the last party was waiting for him. A blanket, spare clothes for Felix and himself, and other essentials were crammed into a small backpack he’d once used on a school overnight trip. He hurried next door to where Hyunjin requested he pick up a few things for him- spare clothes and a cross-body bag he’d been wearing the first day they met. His hands had stopped shaking, wiped off Felix’s blood, and they moved with steady purpose to aid Changbin in his gathering. His mind was clear, save for the singular thought to get Felix out of this house, to finally escape with him and give them both, them all, a chance. Changbin stopped in the kitchen next, grabbing only a few bottles of water and some overpriced bread and cheese his mother instructed the cook to keep out at all times just in case his culinarily challenged father found himself in need of a snack. He shoved the food and water in his backpack and sprinted silently back to his friends, stopping in that awful room to gather medical supplies, both for Felix’s butchered arm and for any future needs.
He entered the big room with the cage and set down the bags with the intention of taking out a jacket and the old pair of shoes he’d found for Felix, but he could only stand and stare at the two boys in front of him. Hyunjin had phased himself and Felix out of the cage and was now admiring Felix’s wings up close. Felix turned from where he’d been softly smiling at Hyunjin’s fascinated gaze to meet Changbin’s eyes. For the first time, they were standing here together with nothing between them but empty air. The two could barely breathe at the thought of what happened next. Felix, much to Changbin’s surprise and delight, made the first move, eagerly stepping towards his hyung, arms outstretched and a smile that took up the whole width of his face. Changbin followed suit, leaning over slightly out of instinct, despite being shorter than Felix, to wrap his arms around the other boy’s waist. Felix embraced Changbin in a rush of gratitude and joy, with the slightest hint of sadness at their mutual desperate situations. His left hand found the back of Changbin’s head and he pulled him closer, both clinging to each other lest they be separated once more. Changbin had imagined hugging Felix this way before. He had imagined wrapping his arms around him, holding him close, and Felix feeling so small that Changbin feared he would break him or that he would simply disappear within his embrace. Now, in this moment, his arms felt full as if they held the whole world. Felix’s small frame now felt like a welcome weight, a burden he’d been begging for since he laid eyes on his angel. They held each other and breathed together at last.
And then they ran. Changbin hated running. Three sets of legs raced together into the unknown, three hearts beating faster, as they reached the edge of the lawn and continued into the woods at the edge of the property. Changbin, by habit, found his feet taking the path toward his greenhouse, keeping his hand in Felix’s and an eye on Hyunjin to make sure they would not be lost. In the back of his mind, he grew the grass over the small worn path he had made here over the months, covering their tracks as best he could. The small sapling trees reached for each other as the group walked past, closing the gaps in the wood to hide their journey from anyone else; they did not need this path ever again, they were never going back. They were in his world now and he would keep them safe. Felix’s feet faltered at the edge of the creek but Changbin led him across, his heart aching with joy at seeing his angel out in nature, the woods he was so fond of cradling the boy he was so fond of.
When they reached the edge of the clearing, Felix’s eyes lit up with understanding and he stared in awe at the greenhouse before them. They all three stopped, catching their breath in the early blue light of the morning, taking a moment to rest this far from the house. The world seemed so big, so daunting to simply run into with no familiar places to turn to, so Changbin’s heart had taken him to the nearest safe place he could think of. He glanced around this small clearing, the earth surrounding them still disturbed from earlier in the evening before when he had grown thorns that had torn out of the earth in his anguish, where he and Hyunjin had first connected, where he had first grown this idea of a possible escape. It had only been hours ago, but it felt like so much time had passed. He had held Felix in his arms, could see him eye to eye now, and was finally taking Felix away from this terrible place. He was finally taking himself away from this terrible place.
His breath slowing to settle in his chest, Changbin stepped forward, crossing the threshold into his greenhouse, the sanctuary that had served as his first home, the very physical space he had learned the truth about himself and been safe enough to grow and nurture his abilities. He was overwhelmed now, with the idea of leaving it behind, after spending so long caring for the plants here. He wanted to do something, somehow thank this place for being what he needed. He knelt down there, in the dirt, feeling Felix and Hyunjn behind him, his two homes sharing space for the first time, and dug his fingers into the earth one last time. He breathed, and the plants began to grow.
All around them, the greens of the leaves seemed to shine as Changbin breathed slow, sure breaths. The trees outside groaned and from beneath the ground their roots came, gently approaching the glass frame of the greenhouse around him. With their strength, Changbin pressed again the lower glass panels, shattering them with sharp, glittering noise. From there, the plants inside the greenhouse erupted with overgrowth, all spreading and moving and flourishing towards the rising sun outside, returning to their wild places. They would continue to live then, after Changbin was gone from here. They would thrive and so would he.
Wordlessly he stood and turned around back to face the other two. Hyunjin was looking away, his eyes following the bursting green, the colors of the flowers, but Felix was looking right at Changbin. Glistening tears ran tracks down his freckled face and stopped as his lips as they lifted at the corners in a small, proud smile. Backlit by the rising sun, Felix shone as he reached out his hand for Changbin, the light shining on them both, the warmth seeping into their skin.
Together, they walked. Deeper and deeper into the forest they walked, farther and farther from the world they knew; the world that had kept them trapped for so long. Within a few minutes, Changbin could see that Felix’s energy was faltering, so he held the smaller boy’s small hand even tighter and pulled him along next to him. Hyunjin, the tallest of the three, slowed every so often for the other two to catch up a few feet to him. Already, Changbin could feel himself growing attached to the other boy. Hyunjin felt an odd comfort in this foolish decision he’d made to give up a life of material comfort and security for one of sincerity and fraternity. Changbin, on the other hand, felt no comfort in their current circumstances. He felt worry for Felix and guilt for bringing Hyunjin into their dangerous new life as outlaws.
Another feeling began to stir inside of him, one that he would continue to bury until they were safe. If they would ever be safe again. Until they stopped running. If they ever could.
Changbin hated running.
Changbin loved Felix.