Chapter Text
Not everyone was born with powers. Amongst the world population, only about thirty percent was composed of “super” beings. It wasn’t magic, it wasn’t a mysterious asteroid or a worldwide virus, it wasn’t some secret government research gone wrong or the influence of a parallel dimension.
It just… happened.
It was a natural evolution, scientists and experts and researchers assured. With the world slowly falling apart – climate change, rise of the ocean levels, damaged ozone layers, overpopulation, pollution, mass production, fauna and flora alike going instinct at an alarming pace, etc, etc. – it was only natural that humanity would instinctively seek to protect itself. All of the “powers” recorded throughout the past few decades could be linked, in one way or the other, to the animal kingdom - superhuman abilities that are actually derived of what different species can naturally do, be it thermoregulation or enhanced regenerative abilities, for example.
Though frightened by this unexpected development, it didn’t take long for everyone to realize that fearing the unknown wouldn’t lead them anywhere – even more so when they were informed that even if they got rid of any who gained powers, only more would appear, because evolution simply wasn’t something that could be stopped.
(Many were also convinced to figure out a more peaceful way than outright annihilation to deal with the situation seeing as all experts agreed to say that, in fifty years from now, they’d go from thirty percent to fifty percent of the world population being affected.)
Powers could be developed at any given time throughout childhood and adolescence, but there was no record of someone developing powers past the age of twenty-five. It could happen randomly, or it could be triggered by a traumatic event, and there was simply no telling if there was a limit to the kind of abilities that could be uncovered.
All in all, the development of powers was completely unpredictable, which made it even more difficult to manage. However, the world government eventually came to an agreement in regard to the measures that should be taken to deal with those people, who earned the name “Variants”.
The moment a person developed a power, they became a ward of the world government, regardless of their age. They were taken to a special facility where, for a time that could range between weeks and months, they would undergo a series of tests and evaluations that would ensure they wouldn’t become a danger to others or to themselves. Once the Variants became able to control themselves, they would be given a choice – be reinstated into society and become civilians, meaning they would never be allowed to use their powers again, or begin to train in order to become Heroes.
With superhuman abilities popping out left and right, it was only natural that bad people would only become worse and, unfortunately, normal weapons and artillery wasn’t always effective against the rebelling Variants. As such, the world government came up with an easy enough solution: fight fire with fire.
Heroes became special law enforcers directly paid and handled by the government. It was a job regarded with envy and pride, and Heroes were absolutely adored by the civilian populace, who could now go about their lives without worry knowing such powerful people were looking after them, and it didn’t take long for Heroes to become almost the equivalent of Idols – popular, influential, and practically worshipped.
Heroes had secret identities, meaning they could still go around as civilians during their days off. However, many took up other gigs on the side, such a modeling or acting or other jobs that allowed them to use their popularity to make more money – but all in all, Heroes were still allowed a life outside of their duties, hence why the project was so well accepted by the civilian populace.
(Had they been treated like prisoners, civil right fanatics would have caused a ruckus, and conspirators would have seen nothing more than a government-affiliated army of super-humans.)
Powers. Variants. Heroes and Villains.
It was this world’s new reality and, as per human nature dictates, everyone would eventually have a choice to make.
.
Lee Felix became a Variant at the tender age of eight.
It happened randomly. One moment he was focusing on beating everyone else at the jump exercise and, next thing he knew, he was flying over a tree and crashing into the grass on the other side of the field. He was stunned, somewhat in pain because of his now broken wrist and the bleeding scrapes and blooming bruises scattered over his little body, but mostly in awe.
He had a power.
He’d been taken to the hospital and, after a quick check up, specialized agents came to his home to have a talk with him and his parents. He’d explained everything in as much details as possible and, next thing he knew, his mother had his bag packed up and he was leaving with the agents.
He’d been a little scared, of course, but he facility he was taken to was grand and welcoming, filled with colors and other children of varying ages. He was quickly put into a room to share with a slightly older kid named Bang Chan – he could produce ultrasounds and ultrasonic vibrations like a bat, how cool was that? – and another boy named Hwang Hyunjin – he could change the color of his skin like a chameleon!
Through a series of quick tests, it only took a few days for the nice doctors working there to come to the conclusion that Felix’s leg muscles were like that of a frog’s. He could leap either really high or really far and, once he got the hang of landing without breaking another bone, Felix could always be found jumping outside.
It took him a few months to eventually regain control of his own body. He sometimes got too excited and jumped headfirst into the ceiling, or he would try to play basketball only to end up stuck in the hoop instead of the ball but, after a while of training and a lot of encouragement and patience from his new friends and his mentors alike, he finally managed to go back to “normal”.
Which was when they asked him to make his choice.
It wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime chance, so to speak. He could always come back if he decided the civilian life wasn’t for him, and he could always leave if his training to become a Hero was too hard. Plus, he was allowed to visit his family once a week, and he got to discuss the situation with his parents.
In the end, Felix knew one thing for certain: be it as a civilian or as a Hero, all he wanted was to be able to help people and, right now, becoming a Hero looked like the easiest way to do that.
And so, Felix decided to stay.
Chan and Hyunjin also decided to pursue training, much to his delight. Even if they didn’t share classes, since the two were older than him, he always loved hanging out with them and participate in their hands-on practices.
Now, to officially become a Hero, one needed to be at least twenty. Felix still followed regular classes outside of his Hero training, and he had a lot of time ahead of him before having to make his ultimate decision – meaning that, at any given moment, he could easily stop and decide to go to university and pursue another career instead.
But he didn’t. As difficult as the training could get, as physically and emotionally draining as it could be, Felix didn’t give up. He wanted to help people, and that’s what he was going to do.
And, barely a few weeks after he turned fourteen, he met Han Jisung.
Han Jisung was barely a day older than him, and he’d only just developed his power following a traumatic car accident – another driver was on his phone, Jisung’s mother tried to swerve to avoid impact, and they ended up breaking through the ledge of the bridge and falling into the river. His mother had died upon impact, and Jisung was trapped, unable to get out because his belt was stuck. Instead of drowning, however, Jisung developed the ability to breathe underwater. When the car was eventually pulled out of the river, rescuers were dumbstruck to find him very much alive, with the barest hint of gills closing up as they sent him on his way to the hospital.
Jisung’s power was difficult to deal with because it wasn’t something he could control. The gills were now a part of him and, though he could still breathe air like any human being, he was forced to also breathe underwater for at least a few hours a day, else he’d suffocate and, well, die. As such, he was kept under careful supervision for weeks until the researchers of the facility eventually managed to develop a special “oxygen” collar.
Jisung was forced to wear that thing twenty-four/seven, along with carrying a tank of water that was always filled to the brim, which was attached to the collar. It covered his neck where the gills were located and, the moment they randomly opened up, Jisung only had to press a button to send water into the collar in order to breathe again.
(It was also pretty hard to learn how to breathe through his gills instead of his nose and mouth whenever that happened. When he tried to breathe normally, it felt as if his lungs were set on fire and he suffocated, so he had to learn how to switch his breathing technique quickly.)
Also, it was always activated when he slept, since his gills instinctively opened up the moment they were submerged in water, and it was better that then risk Jisung suffocating in his sleep because his gills opened up randomly during the night.
Jisung had a room to himself, so as to allow proper monitoring, and also because he was… well, unstable. It was no wonder, considering the trauma he’d undergone, but it made him snappy and aggressive toward anyone who tried to befriend him and, as such, only the supervisors in charge of him talked to him.
Or at least, such was the case until Felix found him.
He’d just stepped outside to enjoy some sunshine during his break when he saw Jisung lying in the grass further away, completely still. Felix and everyone else had heard of him and his peculiar case, of course, so the freckled boy instantly knew who he was – and that’s why he got so worried when he realized Jisung’s collar was nowhere to be seen. He quickly ran up to him, and panic seized him when he pressed down on Jisung’s neck and realized he couldn’t find a pulse. Not thinking straight, he didn’t hesitate before picking up the other boy and leaping in direction of the large lake that belonged to the facility. In barely two leaps, he made it there and aimed to fall directly into the water.
Almost instantly, the other boy started struggling in his arms. Felix was so surprised he let him go and, a few seconds later, the two of them were bursting through the surface, hacking and wheezing harshly.
“What- what the hell was that for!?” snapped Jisung.
“You were dying!” snapped back Felix.
“I was sleeping, you dumbass!!!”
Felix flushed, a bit embarrassed, but still couldn’t shake off his worry. “But… but you’re not wearing your collar…”
Jisung clicked his tongue. “It’s in my backpack. I briefly took it off because it’s irritating and it gives me rashes.”
“Then- then what about your pulse? I couldn’t find it!”
“That's because you're a dumbass who don't know how to look for one,” huffed the other, unamused. “But why the hell does any of that matter to you?”
“Because I was worried!”
“Why? What does it matter to you if I die or not? We don’t even know each other!”
“Who cares? I’d never let someone die like that, that be cruel!”
Jisung narrowed his eyes a bit. “Huh. So you’re one of those people.”
“What people?”
“The idiots who want to become Heroes.”
“What’s wrong with Heroes?” protested Felix, a tad defensive.
Jisung scoffed and, without saying another word, he started swimming away. A tad annoyed at his attitude, Felix didn’t think twice before using his legs to propel himself at him and cling onto his back.
“H- hey!” spluttered Jisung, struggling to keep afloat with the added weight.
“Thank me for helping you!”
“What? No!”
“Then I’m not letting you go!”
“You crazy bastard, you’re going to drown me!”
“You can breathe underwater you moron!!!”
And that’s how the most unlikely of friendships was struck between the two.
.
Jisung didn’t want to become a Hero. He’d always been a pretty cynic guy even before the car crash, and he thought that the concepts of Heroes and Villains were childish, simplistic, and overall nothing more than government propaganda meant to keep everyone in check. However, he knew Felix firmly believed in his goal to help people, so he always refrained from saying too much about the matter.
Since Jisung’s case was so peculiar, he was allowed to stay under supervision in the facility for as long as he needed to get over his trauma – with the help of a very good psychologist, of course – even if he refused to become a Hero.
(Though his ability didn’t give him much of an advantage in a head-on fight, it was definitely suited for rescue missions in water-based environments, so he begrudgingly agreed to attend some rescue training, if only so he could hang out with Felix some more.)
After a few months of blooming friendship with Felix, Jisung eventually broke down and confessed all of the fears and anxiety that had been crippling his mind ever since the accident. It was one of the nights Felix had been staying later in Jisung’s room to watch a movie, and he’d been so caught up in it that he failed to notice his gills had opened until he started choking. Felix had been faster than him, pressing down the button before Jisung could even think to do it while rubbing his back and murmuring reassurances to try and help him calm down – and that’s when Jisung’s tough persona completely crumbled.
“I still see her,” he cried, holding on tightly to Felix as he wept in his chest and soaked his shirt with tears. “It was so- so dark all around, but I could- I could still see her…! I tried to- to turn on the light and she was- she was floating, halfway through the windshield and the water was red and- and I breathed it…!”
He cried a lot, that night, before his heartbreaking words eventually turned to mumbled gibberish and he finally passed out from exhaustion. And yet, when he woke up the next morning aching all over with his face dry and his eyes all puffy and irritated, Felix was still there, fast asleep and holding him tightly. Gazing at his peaceful expression for a moment, mindlessly counting the freckles scattered on his face, taking great relief in the soft, rhythmic breathing that mad his chest rise and fall…
That’s when Jisung realized that Felix was there to stay, and the thought made him feel like crying all over again.
Instead, he simply shifted a bit so as to wrap his arms around Felix’s waist and nuzzle a little more into his chest, making himself more comfortable and relishing in how Felix simply hummed softly, seemingly content with this new position.
Felix was warm. Felix was safe. Felix… Felix was his friend, and Jisung finally felt at peace.
.
This particular incident instantly brought them closer. As if any remaining walls had crumbled to the ground, they became inseparable. Jisung started getting mentally better, finally opening up and cracking jokes and being really touchy and affectionate with Felix, and the freckled boy was all too happy to comply, overjoyed at the prospect of having someone to fill his need for cuddles (Hyunjin and Chan were always busy nowadays, so he didn’t want to bother them with that).
Felix moved into Jisung’s room when they turned sixteen. Chan and Hyunjin had just come out about being in a relationship and, not wanting to invade on their privacy, Felix had instantly jumped on the chance to become roommates with Jisung. Jisung had been eager to welcome him, of course, but he was admittedly a little annoyed at the reason behind Felix’s move.
“They’re supposed to be your friends,” he huffed when Felix had asked him about it. “Even if they’re dating, they shouldn’t be making you feel unwanted.”
“Moving was my idea,” shrugged Felix, unbothered. “And now, we get to spend even more time together, so it’s a win-win!”
(Felix had admittedly grown a little distant with his two childhood friends. Though the thought saddened him a bit, he knew it couldn’t be helped – they were older, and Chan was already busy with internships, so of course they wouldn’t have as much time together as they used to.)
“Fair enough,” sighed Jisung, opening his arms in the universal sign of ‘come here and let me hug you’ – to which Felix happily complied. “But I still don’t like them.”
Felix chuckled, leaning his head against Jisung’s shoulder as the day-older closed his arms around him, rocking them a bit.
“You don’t like anyone.”
“That’s not true. I like you, don’t I?”
“Yeah, but it’s impossible to not love me, so your point is moot.”
Jisung flicked his nose for the cheeky answer, but Felix simply laughed, hugging him more tightly. His friend rolled his eyes a bit but returned his embrace – it’s not like Felix was wrong, anyway.
Felix was absolutely breathtaking. He was beautiful inside and out. He was the sun and everyone else just naturally gravitated around him. He was so pure and so kind, always eager to help anyone without asking for anything in return, always genuinely happy to just be able to lend a hand and make someone’s day a little better.
Felix was adorable. He had cute charms, could pout his way into any favor, had everyone wrapped around his cute little finger. He was easily excitable, he always laughed at Jisung’s jokes even when they weren’t all that funny, he always really listened when Jisung talked, he genuinely cared for Jisung and…
… and Jisung was so irremediably in love with him, it wasn’t even funny.
.
Upon turning eighteen, Felix started interning at different Hero agencies all over the city to gain field experience. He wasn’t home as often anymore, and Jisung admittedly felt a little lonely, but he still encouraged him as much as he could and supported him, because becoming a Hero was Felix’s dream and he wasn’t selfish enough to put a damper on his ambitions when they were so genuine.
It was during one of those patrols that Felix met Yang Jeongin.
Felix was on his way back from patrol when he heard some scuffling and grunts in one of the nearby alleys. A tad worried, he quickly made his way over there and found a young, white-haired boy effortlessly pinning a man twice his size against the wall with a single hand latched onto the man’s collar, the man’s feet dangling above the ground.
“Hey! What’s going on here?” exclaimed Felix, frowning.
He might not be a Hero just yet, but he still had earned his permit a few months ago, meaning he was allowed to interfere and use his powers should the need arise. The moment he spoke up, however, the boy released the man, who almost instantly collapsed, wheezing and curling up on himself.
“He tried to bully me,” replied plainly the boy. “He dragged me into the alley and tried to beat me up to take my money, so I just answered in kind. Problem?”
Felix was a tad taken aback by the stare the boy gave him. It was filled with all sorts of emotions, ranging from anger and annoyance to sheer disdain – and Felix had never had a look like that directed at him before, so he was a bit at a loss as to what to do.
“He- he’s an unregistered Variant!” suddenly wheezed out the man on the ground, turning to Felix with distinct glee piercing through his voice. “That’s- that’s illegal, right? You should arrest him right away!”
Felix frowned a bit as he quickly thought over the situation. It was obvious the boy wasn’t lying – Felix was a very good judge of character, and the man hadn’t denied the boy’s earlier accusations, either. However, it was true that the boy was also in the wrong – either he was an unregistered Variant, like the man claimed, or he was registered but had chosen the civilian life and, as such, wasn’t legally allowed to use his power.
In the end, Felix decided to do what he did best: forego technicalities and focus on what was right.
“You tried to assault him?” he asked simply, walking over to the pair.
“Who cares? The little brat used his power—”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The man inhaled sharply as Felix stopped before him, quirking a brow. “All I saw upon arriving at the scene was you lying on the ground after he defended himself.”
“W- what? You’re lying! You saw it—!!!”
“Leave. If I catch you causing trouble again, you’ll get your ass kicked behind bars before you even have the time to curse me out,” deadpanned Felix, gesturing for him to get up.
The ruffian glared, obviously unhappy about the turn of event, but certainly not about to pick a fight with a future Hero – Felix’s uniform was a dead giveaway, after all. The moment he was gone, the boy heaved out a tired sigh and started walking away, too.
“Hey, wait!” Felix quickly caught up to him and started walking with him. “What’s your name?”
“None of your business.”
“Okay… Well hi, None-of-your-business! I’m Felix! Well, my Hero name is Frolic but I’m not a Hero just yet so it doesn’t really matter if I gave away my civilian identity just yet – I think. The name was actually my friend Jisung’s idea and I wasn’t too sure at first, but I actually really like it! I think it’s pretty neat! It was actually meant as a joke so he was a bit horrified when I told him I actually picked it—”
“Oh my God, do you ever shut up?” groaned the boy, taking a sharp turn into the left street.
Felix easily kept up the pace with him, despite being a little smaller. “I will if you tell me your name!”
“Fine!” The boy abruptly stopped to properly glare at him. “Yang Jeongin. Happy?”
Felix beamed, then mimicked zipping his mouth shut. The other rolled his eyes but, seemingly satisfied, he started walking again. However, his peace of mind was quickly forgotten as Felix kept on walking with him.
“Why are you still following me?” he asked, exasperated.
“You told me to shut up, not to stop following you,” replied cheekily Felix.
“Ugh, you’re annoying! Leave me alone already!”
“Where are you going?” replied the freckled boy instead, uncaring of the other’s growing aggravation. “I’ll escort you there.”
“Look, if this is your way of checking if I’m registered or not—”
“What? No, I just want to make sure no one causes you more trouble.”
Jeongin stopped again, staring at Felix, and Felix stared right back. After a few seconds of silence, Jeongin seemed to realize that Felix meant what he was saying and, clicking his tongue in annoyance, he started walking once more.
“I’m heading home. Are you going to be a creep and follow me all the way there?”
Felix pouted a bit. “You don’t have to put it that way… Fine, I’ll leave. But only after you answer one last question, alright?”
“Fine. What is it?” sighed Jeongin, obviously eager to get rid of him.
“Are you okay?”
Jeongin’s step faltered, and he shot a confused look at Felix. The wannabe Hero waited patiently for him to find his bearings and, eventually, Jeongin spoke up again.
“What do you mean?”
“You were just assaulted. Even if the guy didn’t manage to hurt you, it’s still a troubling incident. So, are you sure you’re okay?”
“… and what’re you gonna do if I say no? Pat my head and say ‘everything will be fine, Heroes will always come to your aid’ and whatever other bullshit your type enjoys feeding to civilians?” he retorted, a tad bitterly.
“No, but I’ve been told I give really good hugs,” replied Felix with a small grin.
The white-haired boy snorted at that, shaking his head in exasperation. Glad to have finally managed to make him laugh, Felix’s expression softened.
“No but seriously, I don’t know what I’d do. Try to make you feel safe? Help out? Buy you hot chocolate? Whatever works, really, so long as you feel better.”
“… you’re a weird one alright.” After a few seconds, Jeongin extended his hand. “Give me your phone.”
Curious, Felix did as told. Jeongin quickly typed something into it before handing it back and, the phone Felix grabbed it, the white-haired boy spun on his heels and started walking away without another look back.
“You better not make me regret this! And don’t follow me home!”
“Okay? Bye, Jeongin! Have a nice rest of the day!” beamed Felix, waving at him.
Jeongin lazily waved back as he turned the corner and disappeared from sight. As soon as he was gone, Felix looked down at his phone and realized Jeongin had entered his number into his list of contacts – which was pretty small, with only his parents, Jisung, Chan, Hyunjin, and a few of his mentors and handlers in it.
And now Jeongin, too.
.
Felix couldn’t help but feel curious and, using the computer skills he’d learned during some advanced studies – if he wasn’t so dead-set on becoming a Hero, he’d surely become a computer major or something similar – he hacked into the city’s records of registered Variants.
Jeongin wasn’t there.
He wasn’t too sure of what he was supposed to do, to be frank. It was illegal to be unregistered, but it’s not like Jeongin was doing anything wrong, right? He’d have already been caught if he actually caused trouble with his power, anyway. And, after secretly discussing the matter with Jisung, he eventually decided to keep his mouth shut and trust that Jeongin wouldn’t use his power for bad reasons.
Felix started crossing paths with Jeongin twice a week during his patrols, and they kept in touch through messages and brief video calls, too. Jisung officially met Jeongin a few weeks after Felix when they organized a short outing at a cat café that had just opened, and the two instantly hit it off, much to Felix’s delight.
.
Jisung and Felix were now nineteen years old, and Jeongin eighteen. It took the trio over half-a-year for Jeongin to finally invite them over at his place. It was actually an apartment located above a coffee shop owned by his older half-brother, Lee Minho, whom they met briefly before being guided upstairs by their friend.
And that’s when they found the pictures.
“Who’s that girl in the picture, Innie?” asked curiously Felix, peering at one of the numerous frames hanging to the walls. “Your childhood girlfriend?”
Jeongin let out an incredibly heavy sigh, flopping down on the couch. “My little sister.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you had a sister. What’s her name?” asked Jisung.
“Her name was Lia.”
There was a moment of silence, before his answer sunk in. Felix instantly spun around to face him, his face falling and regret already shining in his eyes.
“I’m sorry—”
“You didn’t know,” cut Jeongin, shrugging off his apology. “I made a point of never telling you. That’s why I didn’t want to bring you here in the first place.”
“So why bring us now?” wondered Jisung, confused.
“Because… because you’re my friends. And I want to tell you. It’s just… difficult. And not just for the reasons you might be imagining.” Jeongin lifted his eyes to look at Felix, a strange resignation written all over his face. “I know you’re dead-set on becoming a Hero, Lix. I know you’re a good person. And that’s why- that’s why I can’t hide this from you anymore.”
Felix was quick to go sit beside him, grabbing his hands and squeezing them tightly in an attempt to comfort him.
“You can tell us anything, Innie. What’s wrong?”
Jisung silently sat on the lone armchair to Jeongin’s left, a mix of curiosity and wariness churning in his guts. He didn’t know what Jeongin was about to tell them, obviously, but he had a feeling that it wasn’t anything good.
“My sister… She was three years younger than me, but she was a real spitfire. She was always a bit reckless, always getting in trouble and scrapes but always coming out of them with the brightest smile on her face. And she- she always said that if she ever developed a power, then she would definitely become a Hero because Heroes are amazing, always saving everyone, right?” He let out a scoff at that, shaking his head. “If only she’d known… Though, I guess I didn’t know better at the time, either.”
Jeongin’s aversion for Heroes had always been a touchy subject for them, mostly left untouched so as to avoid unnecessary arguments. He had a great dislike for Heroes who only sought wealth and popularity, but he utterly loathed the heroic system and how it apparently made civilians “blind”.
Felix and Jisung only now realized that today was the day they were finally going to find out why Jeongin thought that way.
“We were out for her birthday. I was thirteen at the time, and she was turning ten that day. We’d gone out in the park to play with the brand-new soccer ball our dad had bought her, and we were the only ones in the park because it was actually a school day, but our stepmom allowed us to skip that day, for Lia’s birthday.” Felix started rubbing his back as he heard the tremors growing in his voice, and Jeongin cleared his throat before continuing. “A- anyway, we were outside and alone when- when a Villain showed up.”
Felix inhaled sharply, and Jisung’s felt his guts twist painfully. He had a feeling that he knew where the story was going, but it didn’t make it any less horrific or painful to hear.
“A Hero was following after him – Skybound. We went to hide under the slide because it was the nearest hiding spot and they- they started battling it out. The Villain could- could basically create shockwaves powerful enough to split the ground and everything was shaking and we were so, so scared… and then the slide started collapsing, and we had no choice but to run out into the open.” He let out a shaky breath, closing his eyes a few seconds to try and keep his composure. “The Villain spotted us first and I- I guess he figured it was his best bet to escape because next thing we knew, the ground was splitting open under our feet.”
A few tears slipped despite his best efforts to hold them back, and Felix gently wiped them away, pulling Jeongin into a hug. Jisung simply reached out to squeeze the younger’s knee, instinctively activating his collar as he felt his gills open up.
“I- I got lucky, I was tall enough to jump out of the way and get to safety but, the moment I managed to heave myself back onto firm ground, I heard her scream… She was- she was smaller than me, she couldn’t reach in time, and she was- she was holding on but just barely and- and the crevasse was so dark beneath her, so deep…” He let out a shuddering breath that twisted into a choked out sob, but he kept going. “I grabbed her wrist, tried to- to pull her up but I wasn’t- I wasn’t strong enough. I was just a scrawny kid, barely had any muscle, and I was already so tired from just saving myself earlier…
I called for help. I kept on holding onto her and trying to pull her up and I looked around and all I saw was the Villain running away, and Skybound was there, he was- he was looking at us and time just stopped and then he… he just left. He ran- he ran after the Villain, leaving us a- alone.
I cried. I screamed until my voice broke. I kept on trying and- and trying, but I wasn’t strong enough. And e- eventually, I got too weak and I couldn’t- I couldn’t hold onto her any longer and the ground was crumbling under my feet and suddenly she was just… she was just gone.”
Jeongin was staring down at his hands, now, seemingly frozen as the terrible memory played in a merciless loop in his head.
“She fell. She fell because I couldn’t- I couldn’t save her and I let her go and now she’s dead. And for- for years, I believed it was my fault, you know? But I grew up and I eventually came to terms with the fact that I wasn’t the one responsible for her death – that Villain and the Hero were. The Villain for endangering us in the first place… and the Hero for knowingly leaving her to die.”
“Skybound… was a really popular Hero,” whispered Felix, disbelief tainting his voice. “He- he wouldn’t have gotten away with something like this, not when everyone was looking at him—”
“It’s exactly because everyone was looking at him that he got away with it, Lix,” retorted sharply Jeongin, angrily wiping his tears away. “When I tried to tell authorities what happened, no one would believe me. And when- when Skybound was celebrated for arresting the Villain, there wasn’t a single mention of my sister in any of the articles, as if she hadn’t even existed in the first place.”
“That’s—”
“They covered it up, Felix! They covered it up because Heroes are supposed to be perfect and if they fail in any way, then civilians will lose trust in the government, and if civilians lose trust in the government, then the government loses control! They covered it up because at the time, Skybound was their figurehead, one of the first successful Hero stories and if word of the incident got out, then he’d definitely get demoted and the Hero project would have been nipped in the bud, and they didn’t want that! So they lied, they hid the truth and acted as if my sister had died in a freak accident, and they even fucking paid our family so we’d keep our mouth shut and move on with our lives!!!”
A heavy silence followed as the reality of what Jeongin was telling them slowly sunk in. As horrified as he was, Jisung wasn’t all that surprised, but Felix… Felix looked crushed.
“… I didn’t know,” he whispered, looking down.
“You’re not supposed to,” replied simply Jeongin, calming down. “They don’t want you to. They just want you to do your job as their perfect little tool and if you do happen to mess up, then they’ll just cover it up, give you a little slap on the wrist and tell you to do better next time.
You might believe that the heroic system was put into place to protect civilians, but the truth is that Heroes aren’t any better than Villains, in a way – they just happen to have a system strong enough to back them up should they do anything wrong.”
“… I’m sorry this happened. But I… I can’t…”
Felix didn’t know how to find the right words, but he didn’t need to, because Jeongin and Jisung knew him enough to understand what he was trying to say. With a sigh, Jeongin squeezed his shoulder.
“They’re using you, Lix,” he insisted, almost desperately. “The moment you make a mess that’s unsalvageable, or the moment you lose your usefulness, then they’ll kick you to the curb and let you deal with the consequences alone. Do you seriously want to work for an organization like that? Support a system like that?”
At that, Felix offered him a small, somewhat sad smile. “It’s never been about me, though. Becoming a Hero… My goal hasn’t changed. I still want to help people – now more than ever. If civilians really do get hurt by this system, then what better way to ensure their safety than to become a part of it? I won’t be able to do anything about the matter if I decide to become a civilian.”
“You’re going to get hurt.”
Felix was going to reply when he saw the tears welling up in Jeongin’s eyes. With a soft sigh, and a somewhat fond smile, he pulled Jeongin into a hug. The younger instantly broke down, sobbing as wrapped his arms around Felix’s waist, and the freckled boy opened his other arm in an invitation for Jisung, who instantly joined them.
“I’m going to be fine,” he assured softly. “And if does get too dangerous, if I realize that I’m truly in over my head with this… then I’ll stop. I promise.”