Archive of Our Own

If today were like any other Monday, Felix would be stepping into one of five run-of-the-mill suits and spritzing himself with a bottle of perfume that is most definitely expired. Except today is not like any other Monday, for Felix is no longer an employed individual. In fact, he's told his family and friends that he'll be travelling for an unknown period of time, in hopes that somewhere along the way, he will find a piece of himself he didn't even know was lost.

Armed with a small suitcase and a backpack, he rolls up to one of many ticketing counters at the airport and buys a one-way ticket to the first city he sees amongst all the advertisements: Seoul.

Felix ends up stuck in the middle seat, and the woman to his right doesn't seem to know what personal space is, but that's alright. He's on a journey to discover himself, and this journey has already taught him that he has the patience of a fucking saint.

By the time he gets off the plane, his back is stiff and his throat feels like it's been wrapped in sandpaper. But anticipation is enough to keep him going, and even his mediocre Korean fails to prevent him from getting a cab and making his way to a hotel.

Due to his impulsive travel decisions, there wasn't much of a choice when it came to accommodations. In fact, there was only one choice available that would keep him within his budget, and he wasn't about to be picky.

The sky's a ripe orange when the cab slows to a stop. Felix peers out the window and takes in what is probably the most unique building he's ever seen in his life. With its chrome finishes, emerald green glass panels, and a red neon sign, the hotel stands out like a sore thumb amongst its ordinary peers.

The Odd House.

As the cab drives off behind him, Felix closes a hand around the handle of his luggage and walks up to the front doors. The lobby is brightly lit, thanks to a grand chandelier proudly displayed in the middle of the hall, and for a fleeting moment, Felix wonders if he's imagining the tinge of red that accompanies the fluorescent glow.

But when the sole person behind the counter greets him, he forgets all about the light.

"Good evening, sir. Are you checking in?"

Out of habit, Felix glances at the man's nametag: Chan.

"Yes," he replies, already fishing out his passport. "I have a reservation for seven nights."

Chan accepts his passport with gloved hands. He smiles, gleaming teeth lined up in a row like soldiers. "Of course, just a moment."

As the soft clacking of keyboard keys reaches his ears, Felix takes another look around. The interior of the hotel looks nothing like its exterior, all warm wood tones and plush carpets. It's rather inviting, and Felix finds himself looking forward to a hot shower and a good night's rest. Who knows, maybe he'll even indulge in room service.

"Here you are." Chan slides his passport and a set of room keys across the counter. With the nib of a pen, he points at Felix's room number and the Wi-Fi information below. "If you have any questions, please feel free to dial the front desk. Have a pleasant stay here, Felix!"

Chan smiles again, the thin chain of his glasses swaying ever-so-slightly. Felix thanks him before gathering his things and heading towards the direction of the elevators; the last thing he sees before the elevator doors slide shut is Chan waving merrily at him.

The bed is expansive, the water pressure is glorious, and the bathrobe is the softest thing he's ever had against his bare skin. Felix steps out of the shower feeling reborn, skin pink from the heat and sticky with lotion. It's an easy decision to beeline for the room service menu after that, because the other way to end a luxurious shower is with equally luxurious food.

As he waits, he flicks through the offered channels on the television until he lands on a rerun of an old Hollywood movie. The picture quality isn't the best, but the sounds are crisp, and Felix is halfway to melting into a puddle on the bedding when the doorbell rings.

"Room service!"

Felix opens the door to a smiling young man, and at the sight of those dimpled cheeks and crescent-moon eyes, Felix finds himself smiling in response.

"Shall I push this into the room for you?"

Felix steps back to let him — Jeongin, according to his shiny nametag — do just that, and as the cart rolls by, he gets a whiff of something so delicious his stomach rumbles in happy anticipation.

When the cart is in place, Jeongin transforms it into a small table and gestures to it with a bow.

"Enjoy your meal, sir! When you're done, you can leave the cart outside in the hallway."

Jeongin takes his leave, and Felix barely waits until the door shuts behind him before he's hopping into a chair and picking up his utensils. He's halfway done with his meal when he notices a little placard resting on the edge of the makeshift table: it's a coupon for 15% off at the hotel's bar.

Maybe tomorrow, he thinks, swallowing another mouthful of food. Tonight will see him take not a single step out of this room, for he plans to spend his time tucked under the covers and watching whatever movie plays until he passes out.

After all, who can fathom doing anything else with a full belly and moisturised skin?

Later, when the room service cart is outside and all the room lights have been dimmed, Felix wriggles under the covers and exhales into the still night. It's weird, not having an alarm set for a work day nor having his laptop within reach. No report deadlines, no useless meetings…not a single thing on his agenda that he dreads.

He pulls the covers up to his chin and grins to himself.

Yup, quitting was the best decision he's ever made. He doesn't know what the future holds, but he's almost certain no other decision will top this one.

His second day starts late.

Felix wakes to the sound of the city instead of his incessant alarm, and he spends a good ten minutes starfishing on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as he waits patiently for his brain to gear up for the day ahead.

He figures out the Bluetooth speaker the hotel has so generously included in the room, and his whole morning routine is completed to a soundtrack made up of his favourite tracks. He whistles his way into his shoes and out the door, and when he sees Chan at the front desk, he waves in greeting.

"Have a great day," Chan calls after him, and Felix steps out onto the street feeling like he's been blessed.

He spends the day being the tourist that every tourist wishes they could be. His camera roll fills with photos at the same speed his backpack fills with trinkets, and the only reason he doesn't feel stuffed to the brim with street food is because of how much walking he's doing to burn it off.

The sky is already dark when he gets back to the hotel. His feet hurt and his back is in dire need of a life-sized cat's kneading, but he's in high spirits, and a sore body will not do anything to change that.

Chan greets him with yet another smile, the chain attached to his glasses glinting in the light. He's not working the front desk alone tonight, Felix notices, gaze flitting over to the other employee who's busy talking to a guest.

"Did you have a good day, Mr. Lee?"

Felix nods, "I had a wonderful day, thank you."

Hearing that seems to make Chan genuinely happy.

"That's amazing! In that case, I hope you have an equally wonderful night."

It's a wish that Felix is more than willing to grant, starting with a nice, hot shower and a new pair of sweatpants he'd bought earlier today. He climbs into bed with the intention of winding down, but he soon finds out that his mind is still buzzing with the adrenaline of the day.

He's never been one to force himself to sleep when he can't, so Felix pulls on a shirt and hops into his shoes, then picks up the coupon resting on his bedside table.

It doesn't take him very long to locate where the bar is, not when there are more than enough signs for the average directionally challenged person. He worries for a moment that they won't let him enter dressed in sweatpants and a tee, but no one stops him when he steps inside and he takes that as implicit permission.

Compared to the other parts of the hotel Felix has seen (not that he's seen much yet), the bar is considerably busier. Booths are occupied and the hum of conversation is audible even over the music in the background, and Felix takes a moment to scan the bartop for an empty seat.

He finds one with enough space around it to act as a buffer; Felix may be outgoing and friendly even on his worst days, but after all the excitement he had during the day, there's nothing better than a quiet night.

"Hi, what can I get you?"

Felix, who has been reading through one of the few menus resting on the bar, glances up to see the bartender standing right in front of him.

The bartender moves to set a polished glass aside, and in that split second when the honeyed lights above hit just right, Felix catches a flash of blood red in his eyes, one that matches the shade of his hair. Then the shadows shift again and Felix sees nothing but a warm, chocolate brown.

"What would you recommend?"

"If you trust me, I can whip something up that's not on the menu."

"Yeah," Felix says, setting the menu aside. "I trust you."

A nod and a faint smile, then the bartender heads off to work his magic. Felix is in the middle of sending his family a bunch of photos when a glass is set in front of him.

The liquid inside swirls blue, a shade that the deepest of oceans would envy. A faintly sweet scent floats up to him and Felix feels the sharp zing of his salivary glands kicking in.

"What drink is this?"

The bartender shrugs. "It doesn't have a name or a recipe. I just put it together."

"Oh. Like on the spot?"

"Yeah, this is inspired by you."

Felix blinks, surprised at the sensation of heat prickling at his nape. He takes a sip of his drink to keep his hands and mouth busy, but the burst of flavour across his tongue proves to be a better distraction.

"Wow, this is really good. There's actually alcohol in this?"

He earns himself a laugh for that question.

"Yeah, two shots of vodka, actually."

Another sip, this time in disbelief.

"There's no way."

"I'll take it as a compliment."

Felix nods, already taking more sips. "I'm not the biggest lover of the taste of alcohol, so this is most definitely a compliment. Do you make a lot of these…custom drinks?"

Someone steps up to the bar then and places an order, and Felix watches as the bartender handles bottles like he was born to do so. Then there's a complete cocktail set atop the bar, where it sits all prim and proper before a server whisks it away and sets it on a serving tray.

"I do," comes the belated answer. "I get my fair share of requests for drinks made by me, so I started making them based on whoever ordered them. They were pretty bad in the beginning, but let's just say I've had a lot of time to practice."

"Well, the menu here should just be your customised drinks," Felix says, already halfway done with his drink. Perhaps he should've taken it a little slower, but it's just too delicious.

A smile spreads slowly across the bartender's face.

"You like it that much, huh?"

"Does the bar do room service?"

The bartender's smile splits into a grin. He seems pleased, feathers appropriately ruffled, and Felix finds that he quite likes that fact.

"No, but maybe I can work something out." He reaches into his pocket for a pen, then bends to scribble something on a slip of paper. "Here, why don't you call this number if you want a drink, and I'll have it sent to your room."

An elegant finger pushes the paper over to him and Felix peers down at it. It's definitely not an extension of the hotel's line, so he figures it must be the bartender's personal line.

"Is this your phone number?"

A hum in confirmation, and then Felix finds himself keying in the digits on his phone. He leaves the name field open and nudges the phone towards the bartender.

The keyboard taps, then Felix is looking down at a brand new, shiny contact in his contacts list.

"Well, I hope you're ready, Hyunjin. I may not be very good at holding my alcohol, but my taste buds don't know that."

Hyunjin's lips quirk. "I'm always ready."

On his third day, Felix strives for balance.

The first half of the day is spent roaming through the streets and pretending to be a local, and the second half of the day is spent lounging by the pool until his skin is toasty. It's been a long time since he has done this much walking in such a short period of time, and his feet are in need of some rest.

He might even make a trip down to the spa, but that's a choice he'll make later.

The sun is warm and the breeze is refreshing, and Felix is moments away from drifting off when he hears the unmistakable sound of someone falling into the pool.

Felix springs upright, heart going a mile a minute, and catches the exact moment a head bobs up in the pool. There aren't a lot of other guests around, but those who are present look just as alarmed as Felix feels.

Thanks to the sheet of hair plastered over his eyes, the poor soul currently spluttering in the pool can't see the commotion he'd caused, which Felix supposes is the silver lining in all this.

He grabs an unused towel lying on the empty lounge chair next to him and rushes over.

"Here, grab my hand."

Water droplets fly every which way when their hands meet, and there's a bout of unglamourous kicking before they succeed in getting the waterlogged man out of the pool.

"Are you okay? Do you need me to get anyone?"

Felix wraps the man's frame in the towel and smacks him on the back until all the hacking has petered out. A shake of the head sends even more water flying, but Felix doesn't mind catching some stray drops on his face.

"I'm good," comes a wheeze, "although I could use some balm for my bruised ego."

After a good few seconds of vigorous towelling, Felix finally gets a good look at the other's face. At almost the same time, he realises that he's wearing the hotel's uniform.

"God, Seungmin's gonna see me like this and he's going to have the time of his life making fun of me," the waterlogged stranger mutters. "I'm gonna be blackmailed for a century."

The towelling stops, then there's the clearing of a throat and Felix finds himself looking at a sheepish smile.

"Thanks for fishing me out. This is unfortunately not the first time it's happened, but it's the first time someone helped me out."

Felix frowns. "Really? That's not very nice."

"Some people just want to mind their own business, you know? Which I can understand." He offers up a hand and another smile that's brighter. "I'm Jisung, I work here. But maybe I should ask to be moved to another department? I'm not sure if working at the pool is the best decision…"

"Felix," Felix laughs, shaking Jisung's hand. "I'm a guest here, and you know what, maybe you should ask for that transfer if this isn't your first time falling in. Safety comes first, you know?"

Jisung grins at him. "Do you like ice cream? The poolside bar has a great ice cream selection. I'll get you one for free!"

In the end, Felix hangs out with Jisung long enough for the latter to get in trouble. Jisung doesn't seem to mind, however, happily bidding goodbye to Felix as he gets dragged away to do his job, which helps Felix feel a little less guilty about it all.

He turns to the guy with a tablet. The name tag spells out CHANGBIN, and Felix recognises him as the other person behind the counter yesterday.

"I'm sorry, it's really my fault. I hope Jisung doesn't get in too much trouble."

"Eh, it's fine. He does this quite regularly; we've gotten used to it." Changbin pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and taps away at his tablet. "You're Felix, right?"

Felix blinks. "Yeah, I am. Have we met?"

"No, but my colleagues have mentioned you a few times." A few more taps on the screen, and Felix suddenly wishes he could see what Changbin sees. "They seem to like you."

"Oh, well, they're nice people too."

Changbin studies him, eyes unreadable behind the light reflected off his lenses.

"That they are," he says eventually. "You have a good day, Felix."

Then he's off, tablet tucked securely under his arm.

Later that night, after a shower that does little to ease the warmth his skin still holds from the sun, Felix returns to the bar.

He's never been one to frequent a bar, but there's something about the personalised drink Hyunjin made that lingers in the depths of his mind. It's almost as if he's craving it, although he knows logically that that's not what's happening. Surely it isn't.

Hyunjin greets him with a smile when he slides into a seat at the bar.

"Hey, fancy seeing you here. I thought I'd be getting a room service request instead."

"My legs took me here," Felix says, dipping into the bowl of chips Hyunjin serves up. "This wasn't part of today's plan, that's for sure."

He licks salt off his fingertips as he watches Hyunjin work, the drink from yesterday coming together as the seconds pass until it's sitting on the bartop, waiting for him.

"This one's on the house."

"What? You don't have to do that."

"You're right, but I want to. Enjoy, Felix."

The bartender steps away from Felix's space to churn out a few drinks, leaving him to sip at his drink and crunch on salt and vinegar chips, accompanied by nothing and no one.

He's almost halfway through his trip, Felix realises, and he doesn't know where he'll go after. Home is not an option, at least not now, not when his entire being is still screaming for him to roam far and wide until he finds whatever it is that'll settle that deep, yawning void inside him.

"Penny for your thoughts."

"Nothing, just —" Felix waves a hand around him. "Time's passing too quickly. I'm only here for a week and it's already been three days."

"Where will you go after?"

Felix picks up another chip and stares at the salt flakes clinging to its surface.

"I don't know, actually."

Hyunjin stays quiet as he slices a lemon into even slices. The lemon slices go into an airtight container that then disappears into one of the many fridges below.

"You're not going home?"

A gentle swoop of the glass has the liquid inside turning a dozen different shades of blue. It reminds Felix of the ocean's depths, and he finds he quite likes the thought of that.

"No, not yet."

"Finding yourself?"

Felix looks up. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Many people who stay here have been on similar journeys. It's become easy for me to spot those who are."

"And how do these people turn out?"

"Some find what they're looking for," Hyunjin says, blowtorch in hand as he chars a strip of orange peel. Citrusy smoke floats over to Felix and he inhales a lungful of it. "Others…don't."

"I guess that's how life goes, huh?"

His bowl of chips, empty except for crumbs, is refilled.

"Yes, but I think you'll find what you're looking for."

"You have an awful lot of faith in someone you just met."

Another whiff of smoke, but when Felix glances down at Hyunjin's hands, he doesn't see a blowtorch.

"Perhaps, but I've never been wrong."

Felix spends the fourth morning of his vacation at a nearby church. There's no service, but there's a specific type of comfort that comes with sitting in a pew, candlelight flickering against the expanse of a wall.

He hasn't gone to church in a while. Back when he was employed, work sapped so much of his energy that the weekends were for recuperating, and it got to a point where he'd spend the mornings rotting in bed until hunger convinced him to get out.

So being here is like a lost lamb finding its mother again. A little awkward, as it usually is when one rediscovers something they used to be intimately familiar with, but comforting nonetheless.

He spent a good few hours there, simply sitting and breathing, feeling serenity curl itself around his ankles like a content housecat. Before he left, he prayed, knees cushioned by the hassock, and the only sign he was ever on his knees at all was the slight aches pinging as he stood.

The sun beat down on him when the church's doors closed behind his back, hot and heavy, but it's a weight he's happy to carry.

Now, as morning transitions into midday, he finds himself seated on a stretch of grass along a river, trying not to think about how the wind in his hair feels like his mother's touch.

He misses his family, that much Felix knows, but he also knows he doesn't miss the life he would be living if he stayed back in Australia.

The river flows, sure and steady, going where the current takes it.

Felix looks down the river, and when he takes his next breath, he inhales the tantalising aroma of freshly baked bread.

Which is how he finds himself walking back to the hotel, arms wrapped around a paper bag filled with baked goods. Chan, who seems to never leave his position at the front desk, perks up at the sight of him.

He reminds Felix of a lifesized pup, all pointy ears and fluffy tail, and when Felix presents him with a couple of goodies from his bag, he swears he can see that fluffy tail wag.

He's about to leave when Changbin materialises behind Chan, and Felix digs into his bag for another treat.

"Look," Chan chirps, waving a cupcake. "Felix brought us snacks!"

Changbin's eyes widen, and Felix cannot help but laugh.

He makes his way to the pool next, intending on finding Jisung, but he gets so distracted by going through a mental list of his haul that he ends up in the gift shop instead.

"Hello," someone says, and Felix looks around until he sees an employee standing by the postcards. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Felix is just about to answer when —

"Mr. Lee!"

Felix leans forward a little to see a familiar face. It's the young man who brought his room service order on the first night, and while it takes Felix a hot minute to recall his name, he gets there eventually.

"Jeongin! What a great coincidence."

He pulls out two huge doughnuts and offers them up to Jeongin and his colleague.

Jeongin takes a sniff at his and does a little hop-skip in glee.

"Is this salted caramel? Oh my god, thank you." He turns to the other and nudges him. "Say 'thank you', Seungmin."

"Thank you," comes the obedient echo. Seungmin takes a bite of his doughnut, eyebrows raising as he chews. After he swallows, he continues with, "So you're Felix?"

Felix is hit with a sudden sense of déjà vu.

"Yeah, I am. Do all of the people who work in the hotel know me or something?"

Jeongin smiles, heedless of the smear of caramel on his lips.

"Well, we talk about guests we like. Sometimes it gets kinda boring around here, you know?"

"Do you have another doughnut? I'd like to give it to Minho if that's alright. He's our chef, and he always complains that food outside isn't as good as whatever he makes. This is pretty good, so…"

Felix digs around and manages to locate his last doughnut.

"Excellent," Seungmin says. "Here, have a postcard. On the house. I'll even let you choose."

Felix chooses a postcard of the very river he was at a few hours ago and carefully tucks it away.

"Thank you, but will you get into trouble for this? I can pay for it."

Seungmin waves his offer aside.

"Nah, don't worry about it. You're looking for Jisung, right? He's actually in the bar right now, hiding from Changbin. Pretty sure he's hungry and tired of the bar snacks."

How did he know..? Never mind, Felix isn't about to turn down free —and useful — information.

"I shall go and rescue him from the bar snacks," Felix nods, and takes his leave with a wave thrown over his shoulder.

"Bye, Felix!" Jeongin calls after him. "See you later!"

The bar is empty when he enters, save for Hyunjin in his usual spot behind the bar and the top of Jisung's head by his hip. Hyunjin looks up when he enters and smiles.

"Hi, I had a feeling you were coming."

There's a dull thud followed by a pinched exclamation of pain, and Jisung's face slowly appears over the edge of the counter.

"Felix!"

"Hi, I bought some stuff from this really nice bakery, and I'd like you guys to have some. I've already given away most of it though, so you guys might have to settle for the scraps."

Jisung scrambles onto his feet and paws at the paper bag, the sore spot on the crown of his head all but forgotten. Prize in hand, he skips over to the grand piano in the corner and takes a seat.

"He plays the piano when he's in a good mood," Hyunjin explains, offering Felix a glass of iced lemon water. "He's…a very multifaceted individual, so to speak."

Laughing, Felix extracts the final pastry from the bag.

"Looks like you'll have to settle for the fruit tart."

Humming, Hyunjin produces two dessert forks out of thin air.

"I'm not complaining, I love fruit. Would you like to share this with me?"

Finding it quite impossible to turn the offer down, Felix accepts a fork and leans forward onto his elbows, closing the distance between him, the tart, and Hyunjin.

Spearing his fork into the tart, he breaks a piece off and pops it into his mouth. It's light and sweet, the tart itself buttery and with a nice snap, and Felix cannot help the happy moan that escapes.

"Wow, it's that good?"

"The fruits are so fresh," Felix gushes, "and they definitely used the good butter for this tart base."

Felix looks on expectantly as Hyunjin takes a bite and nods gleefully when the bartender's eyes widen.

"Good, huh?"

"Yeah, really good. Thanks for this, by the way, it's super nice of you."

Slightly flustered from the praise, Felix shakes his head and nudges the tart closer to Hyunjin.

"You can thank me by eating," he says firmly, and spears a slice of kiwi onto his fork.

Dinner is non-eventful, although he does venture out of the hotel once more in search of a quiet place that serves home-style dishes. Dessert is a little more exciting, especially since he gets to watch a group of youngsters dance out on the streets, uninhibited in the way that youths are, in a way that speaks of outlandish dreams.

He stays there even when his cup of boba runs dry, attention completely stolen by the music and the way they all speak the same language of dance. He stays until the sky turns an inky shade of black, until the crowd around the youths swells and ebbs.

On the way back to the hotel, Felix finds himself wondering what life would've been like if he had the passion those teenagers did. Maybe he would've made something of himself by now, instead of someone whose biggest accomplishment is saying fuck you to his full-time job.

Maybe he'd wake up every day feeling like he has a purpose, and maybe he'd actually have tangible goals that he can chip away at, one day at a time.

He doesn't regret quitting his job, and he still does believe it's what's best for him, but Felix has always been susceptible to the what ifs.

At least he's met really nice people during this brief experience of escapism — Felix can't imagine what it'd be like if he didn't.

He's feeling a little despondent by the time he returns to the hotel, but a cheerful smile from Chan does wonders to ease the gloominess.

"You look tired," Chan calls, and Felix lets his feet bring him over to the front desk, where he sees Chan digging around inside a drawer. "Here, have some of this tea. It's a special blend, it helps with sleep and recovery."

Felix accepts the offered tea bag packet, nose already picking up on a gentle floral fragrance. There's a hint of earthiness in it too, and Felix is curious as to what it'd taste like.

"Thank you. Do I look that tired?"

"I see a lot of people on a day-to-day basis," Chan says, "I've learned how to see things the average person cannot, you know?"

He sends Felix off towards the elevators with fluttering fingers and his trademark smile, dimple and all.

Later that night, when the moon is heavy in the sky and Felix's limbs feel like they've been weighed down with lead, he drops the tea bag into a mug and fills it with hot water.

Waiting for the tea to steep feels like an eternity is passing him by. But a sweet aroma soon permeates the air, and Felix adds a splash of cold water into the steaming mug in hopes he won't scald his tongue when he takes a sip.

Carefully, he carries the filled mug over to his bedside table, where it sits patiently as Felix switches off all the lights in the room. When the only source of illumination left is the television screen, he stumbles into bed and slumps against the pillows.

Now that the day's over and he's not moving, he realises that he is, in fact, rather tired. Feeling bad for himself was enough to push the tiredness aside for a while, but Felix feels it now.

He takes a sip of the tea and lets it warm him up from the inside out. It's light and floral, not a groundbreaking flavour profile at all, but uniquely nice all the same.

Felix sips at it until the liquid turns lukewarm, then drains the last of it and sets the mug aside. The second the room plunges into darkness and his head touches the pillow, sleep claims him and takes him under.

The first thing he registers is the heat. It seeps through his clothes and eats into his flesh, and directly leads to the second thing he registers.

Even with the heat, there is no pain.

Felix opens his eyes with a gasp, lungs seizing like he's just learning how to breathe. He's on his back, every muscle in his body pulled taut as he drinks in all the oxygen he can get.

When the spots in his vision clear, he finds that all he sees is darkness. Trying his best not to panic, he digs the heels of his palms into the ground and pushes himself up, looking around until his vision adjusts to the dark.

Shadows in the shapes of trees appear, as well as tiny pinpricks of light that Felix eventually realises are stars. He's looking at a vast expanse of the night sky, surrounded by trees and — are those rocks? Cliffside rocks?

Where is he and how the hell did he get here?

He's about to get to his feet when the entire ground beneath him moves.

Felix yells in shock, fingers scrabbling at the rough surface under his hands, but once he finds some sort of purchase, the movement ceases. For a while, all Felix hears is the rush of blood in his ears.

When his heart stops pounding on the rungs of his ribs in a demand to be let out, Felix calls out tentatively, "Hello? Anybody here?"

He doesn't get a reply, but overhead, the clouds shift. The moon comes into view, burgeoning in its fullness, and Felix stares up at the sheer size of it. He has never seen the moon this big.

In the distance, a wolf howls.

Felix exhales, a strong push of air out through his mouth in an effort to centre himself. He's pretty sure he's not injured, which means he should be able to move around and figure out where on earth he is and how —

The ground rumbles again, and this time, Felix smells smoke. Dread settles in the pit of his stomach. The presence of fire is the exact opposite of good news; he doesn't know where the hell he is, and yet he needs to find a way out fast.

He waits until the movement stops before trying yet again to stand. When he manages to balance on his feet, knees shaking from more than just the seemingly uneven ground, his eyes immediately land on a large body of water. The surface is calm, a sea of diamonds under the moonlight, and Felix feels oddly drawn to it.

Except when he takes a step forward in the direction of the water, he comes face-to-face with a pair of eyes that are most decidedly not human.

Felix sees nothing but red. They remind him of garnets, raw stones yet to be polished and carrying a fire in their depths. They hold Felix's terrified gaze, blinking ever-so-slowly, unmoving and unflinching as it waits. For what, Felix doesn't quite know, but as the seconds tick by and he keeps his mortal life, he begins to believe that whatever this is, it is not out to kill him.

He swallows, mouth sandpaper dry, and reaches out towards those eyes. He reaches and reaches until his hand comes into contact with something solid — it's hot to the touch, like the ground he's on, the same heat that doesn't hurt. Then he touches something wet, and what follows is a huff of air that nearly knocks him onto his butt.

Those garnets shimmer, and Felix suddenly feels himself getting lifted off the ground, belly down and limbs flailing. It's over as quickly as it began, and Felix is gently deposited onto a bed of pebbles that feel far too smooth to the touch.

The water is right by his feet now, lapping gently at the pebbles. A wolf howls again, and this time, it sounds much closer.

Then a rustling, not of leaves but something reminiscent of heavy fabric, reaches Felix's ears. He swivels around, vision adjusted enough that he's able to detect some sort of movement, and takes a gust of hot air right to the face. It has him closing his eyes involuntarily, and when he opens them again, he sees the outline of a creature he has never thought possible.

They exist in stories, in movies and in imaginations, but they most definitely do not exist in real life.

Except he's looking right at one.

The dragon rises up onto its haunches, steam curling out of its nostrils as it shakes the way dogs do. Well, Felix thinks faintly, at least this would be an insanely cool way to die. Maybe his family will even get some sort of fame from this, and the money they'll get from interviews will count as him supporting them from the grave.

Yeah. Yeah, that's a great way to look at it; his parents would totally be proud.

Felix is just about to resign himself to his fate when he hears the wolf's howl for the third time. This one, however, sounds like it's coming from somewhere right behind him.

Felix wonders if it's acceptable to feel peeved at this very moment. As if the danger from a goddamn dragon isn't terrifying enough, now there's danger from a wolf, too?!

He'd rather die at the hands (claws?) of a dragon, so maybe he should find a way to climb back onto the —

Something distinctly furry brushes up against his arm and Felix freezes. Everything ceases to operate, from his brain to his heart, and he only remembers to breathe when the biological need for air breaks through the dam.

He turns his head, just a few inches, and comes face to face with a wolf. At least, what Felix thinks is a wolf, because he's never seen a wolf this big before. He's looking up at it, despite how it's sitting on its hind legs, and Felix suddenly feels like he's the size of an ant.

The wolf's gaze is sharp, its nose twitching as it studies Felix.

Then it leans forward and Felix screws his eyes shut, waiting for the excruciating pain he knows will come from the wolf's jaws around a mouthful of his own flesh. But as seconds pass, the only thing he feels is a cold, wet smear across his cheek.

Startled, Felix opens his eyes to see the wolf right where it was, bushy tail swishing slowly behind it. The dragon chuffs, sending a cloud of hot air over them, and the wolf doesn't bat an eye.

Felix can't quite comprehend what he's in the middle of. He's fodder for these creatures, that much he knows, so why on earth is he still alive?

As if the universe can sense how much he wants an answer, a shimmery burst of light flares, bright enough for Felix to duck behind the crook of an arm. The glare lingers, technicolour against the darkness of his eyelids.

"Felix."

Someone just said his name, and Felix recognises the owner of that voice.

He blinks away the spots in his vision to see Chan standing within arm's reach, stark naked and with an expression Felix has never glimpsed before on the man's face. The wolf is nowhere to be seen, and the only evidence that it was ever there is the spot of dampness on Felix's cheek, already drying up.

"Felix, there is something we need to tell you."

Consciousness crashes into him with the weight of a thousand suns, sending Felix jerking awake with a heaving gut and a parched mouth. He fumbles for a bottle of water on the side table, and after a too-long struggle with the cap, finally manages to pour the contents down his throat.

Felix stares down at himself. He's in bed, in his pyjamas, and everything seems awfully normal. The empty mug is exactly where he'd left it, the label of the tea bag swaying in the gust of air coming from the air conditioning above, and Felix suddenly tastes the remnants of the tea on his tongue.

He remembers every second of his dream like it's been etched into his memory. He calls it a dream because it has to be one — it's the only logical explanation for it, and if he even tries to consider the other possibility, he thinks he might have to check himself into a hospital.

Felix forces himself out of bed, upon which he grabs the empty mug and beelines for the nearest trash can. The tea bag goes straight inside, and Felix resists the urge to throw the mug inside as well. Instead, he powers through his morning routine, changes into the first set of clean clothes he sees, and books it out of the room.

Except when he makes it down to the lobby, he doesn't see the front doors. Even after rubbing his eyes and pinching the inside of his elbow, Felix doesn't see a single door. The front façade of the hotel is nothing but glass now, and this time, Felix knows he isn't hallucinating the red that accompanies the green. The colours shimmer in the sunlight, switching depending on the angle, and for the briefest of moments, Felix thinks it's beautiful.

"Good morning."

Felix doesn't turn around. He stays where he is, gaze fixed on the people walking up and down the street outside. Everything seems so normal, but Felix knows it's anything but.

"Am I unable to leave?"

He already knows the answer, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

"I'm sure you remember the conversation we had last night."

It's not a dream after all. Felix, despite his refusal to acknowledge that truth, knows that too.

"I have forty-eight hours?"

"Forty-eight," Chan confirms.

"Before I either leave this hotel or stay here forever."

Chan hums his confirmation. Through the glass, Felix sees a mother and her young son walking hand-in-hand, the woman smiling while the boy chatters on. Two decades ago, he was in the very same position. It's a bizarre thought, knowing that these memories would disappear from his mother's mind should he choose to stay. Would she miss the son she never knew she had?

"Alright," Felix says eventually. "Forty-eight hours."

The elevator dings then, and he turns to look over his shoulder. It's another guest, phone pressed to his ear, a furrow between his brows as he listens to whoever is speaking on the other end. Felix watches as he walks right through where the doors would be, free hand lifting to shield his eyes from the sun.

"Why wasn't he chosen?"

"His heart wasn't open," Chan answers, then pauses for a split second before continuing. "Also…Seungmin doesn't like him very much."

Felix snorts, feeling equal parts hysterical and calm. It's an odd feeling, to say the least. Something in his chest tightens, like a fist wrapping around an invisible thread binding his ribs together. It quells the noise inside, and Felix takes a slow, deep breath.

"Alright," he repeats.

Then he turns on his heel and ventures into the depths of the hotel.

He stumbles, quite literally, into Jeongin when he rounds a corner. Jeongin's elbow collides with the housekeeping cart behind him, but the impact doesn't seem to faze him in the slightest. For the longest time, neither one speaks.

"Did you sleep well?"

Felix thinks about answering Jeongin's question, but ultimately decides to ask one of his own in response.

"So what are you?"

Jeongin breaks out into a smile. He steps aside and gestures into the room he'd been (supposedly) cleaning. Felix peers inside and sees a room swathed in sunlight, looking like any other hotel room out there. Felix knows now that looks can be deceiving.

"If you'd like, I can tell you all about us. I know that Chan tends to focus on the big picture instead of going into the details."

Felix wets his lips, then takes a step into the room. Something tells him that this room has not housed a guest in recent days, so he's not entirely sure why Jeongin needs to be here, but perhaps some questions don't need to be asked or answered.

He sits on the edge of the bed, every muscle in his body strung tight. Jeongin notices, and as he settles down into the singular squeaky armchair by the table, he gestures towards the mini fridge.

"There's beer inside, if you want something to ease the nerves. Although there's really nothing for you to be worried about, none of us will even think of hurting you."

Felix goes for the beer anyway, finding a frosty can waiting for him when the fridge's door swings open. The can cracks open with a satisfying hiss, and Felix takes a large gulp before reclaiming his vacated seat.

Jeongin waits until Felix's butt has touched the bedspread before he opens his mouth.

"I'm a gumiho."

Felix chokes on his second mouthful of beer, nearly sending it foaming up his nose.

"Y-you're a fox?"

"With nine tails, yes. I have auburn fur!"

Tears in his eyes and beer in his nose, Felix waits until he can breathe with relative ease before he voices the next question that comes to mind.

"How old are you?"

That has Jeongin pausing, but not out of hesitation. In fact, Felix thinks the guy is actually trying to do the math. Fingers are flipping up and down, his brows are dipping, and he's mumbling at himself like it's a puzzle he can't figure out.

"Ballpark figure…two-hundred and something years?"

Felix feels his jaw fall open.

"You're two-hundred and something years old?!"

"Hey, I'm still young! Chan's close to crossing five hundred."

It's dark outside, the sky a sheet of ink unmarred by stars. Only a crescent moon hangs low. Felix's ears are sore — is that even a thing? — from hours spent listening to Jeongin talk, and his brain feels laden down with everything he has learned. Walking itself feels sluggish, but somehow his feet have brought him to the bar.

There are a few taken booths, guests who are going about their normal lives, completely unaware of a whole 'nother reality coexisting with the one they know. Felix wonders if that is a blessing or a curse.

Jisung's there, perched on the piano bench, although his attention is on the television rather than the instrument. Jisung doesn't seem to notice his presence as he weaves his way over to his usual seat, where Hyunjin welcomes him with a glass of iced water and a bowl of mini pretzels.

For a while, all Felix does is sip at the water. Hyunjin doesn't bother him, hands steady as he washes glasses and wipes them dry. He looks up when Felix crunches on a pretzel and their eyes meet, and Felix realises with a start that he was never in danger last night.

"How did I end up…" Lying on your dragon body last night seems a little too absurd to voice, but Hyunjin seems to understand the unspoken words regardless.

"The hotel summons us randomly," Hyunjin answers, glancing over at a monitor when it updates with a new order. He grabs a clean glass and a cocktail shaker. "It chose Jisung and me. When I came to, you were already lying on me."

"Jisung was there too?"

Hyunjin hums. "Yeah, according to what he told me. Pretty sure I felt him next to me on the ground; can't be sure though, he is rather small compared to me, and that's just in his regular form. There was one time he transformed into a hamster, and I almost flattened him by accident."

Felix isn't exactly familiar with the size of jinns, but he supposes they can't be as big as a dragon.

"Is it really a random choice?"

The bottom of the glass meets the bar counter, and the drink sits there for a few seconds before it's whisked away.

"That's what Chan tells us. Personally, I suspect there's something more to it than randomness, but we haven't exactly done this often enough for me to detect a pattern. For me, you're my second experience."

Fair enough, Felix thinks. He chews on another pretzel and washes the dryness down with water.

"Do you like it here?"

He's gotten a full biography of everyone off Jeongin, but biographical information is all surface-level, facts about someone you memorise and maybe forget a few months or years down the road.

"I do." Hyunjin leans against the counter behind him, towel still in hand. "You might think it's a bleak life, being stuck here forever, but it's the only place I've ever felt like I belonged. I don't remember much of my life before coming here, but what I do remember is feeling pretty miserable all the time."

"You think being here is what saved you?"

Hyunjin's lips press together, then soften into a smile.

"No, I wouldn't say it saved me. I wasn't in need of saving, you see, but I was in need of joy and comfort. Ultimately, being here brought me enough peace that I chose to stay."

Peace? Comfort?

Before Felix can ask another question, however, someone bursts into the bar and yells, "Han Jisung, did you take it?!"

Jisung springs up from his seat like he's been electrocuted, the TV show all but forgotten, and shrieks his way behind the bar counter. Minho follows, skidding to a stop next to Felix, where he narrows his eyes menacingly (or tries to, anyway) at Jisung.

"Give it back."

From his hiding spot behind Hyunjin's frame, Jisung chirps, "Nope."

"Give —"

"You still haven't returned what you stole from me."

Minho snorts. He turns to Felix and jerks a thumb over his shoulder at Jisung. "Listen to this." He turns back to Jisung and asks, "Do you even remember what I took from you?"

"…No."

"So does it even matter anymore?"

Jisung sticks his tongue out. "Yes, it does. I'll know it when I see it, anyway."

Minho's sigh nearly draws a laugh out of Felix.

"I'm changing the locks on my hoard. You're banned."

This time, it's Jisung chasing Minho, and the duo book it out of the bar and down the corridor in a cloud of thundering steps, soon vanishing from sight.

"You'd think they would've changed over the years, but no, they haven't changed at all."

"Jeongin told me they're together."

Without being asked, Hyunjin moves to refill Felix's bowl of pretzels.

"I'd say they're much more than that; after all, they've lived through several lifetimes together. And to think it all began because Minho stole one of Jisung's shoes."

Felix reaches over the counter and picks up one of the little cocktail umbrellas. He spins it between his thumb and forefinger, watching as the colours blur into each other.

"Living forever means you will probably never experience what they have, then."

"Yes, and we have made peace with that." He cocks his head to the side, hair following the movement like a sheet of rubies. "But never say never."

It's dawn, and Felix is spending it out by the poolside, lying on a lounge chair as he watches the sky bleed through different colours of life.

Changbin finds him there, his ever-present tablet resting in the crook of his elbow.

"You're up early."

"Haven't slept, actually. You?"

"Don't need to sleep." Changbin shrugs and flops down onto the vacant lounge chair by Felix's right. "What's on your mind?"

Felix's gaze drops to the water, where the colours reflected on its surface seem infinitely brighter. Reflections look different now that he knows what exists beyond the veil of ordinary life — the water, mirrors, windows. Their surfaces gleam too brightly, and Felix wonders if these reflections are truly what they seem.

"The idea of staying isn't as scary as it should be. There are reasons for me to leave, of course, namely my family, but otherwise…"

The confession-of-sorts settles between them, so big it's almost corporeal.

"Yeah? Gotta say, that doesn't surprise me much." He stretches out, and in the muted light of dawn, he looks just as human as Felix is. "I've seen enough humans walk through those front doors to know how to spot a lost soul from miles away," he says after a while. "You ticked all the right boxes."

Felix pulls a face.

"Was it that bad?"

"Maybe it is for the average human, but not in my opinion. After all, this place yearns for more."

A breeze skims across the pool then, kicking up the locks of hair curled around Felix's nape.

"What made you choose this place?"

Changbin clears his throat. "I was avoiding work."

Felix blinks.

"What?"

"You know what I am." At Felix's nod, Changbin continues. "Working in hell was cool for the first couple of decades, but it got stale really quickly. You think paperwork on Earth is bad? Try processing soul disputes continuously for two hundred years."

Changbin waves the tablet in the air.

"I'm not free from it, by the way. I still have to do my job, even though I can't physically return to hell anymore. That's why I always carry this around with me. They've upgraded their systems down there, you know. There are even complaint forms now."

Felix promptly bursts into laughter, sending a few birds nesting nearby into the air in alarm. Changbin looks deeply unimpressed by his reaction, which only makes Felix laugh harder.

"Oh my god," Felix wheezes. "I'm sorry, it's just — you said it so casually —"

"I'm glad at least one of us is amused by this."

"You're telling me hell has paperwork?"

"Endless paperwork. It's constantly growing, so there has to be a way to manage it lest it gets completely out of control."

"That is somehow the most believable thing I've heard since arriving here."

The screen lights up before Changbin can respond, and they both glance at the notification in unison.

"Dare I ask?"

"It's a complaint form," Changbin hisses. "Oh, to hell with these —"

Another peal of Felix's laughter escorts Changbin back into the building.

Felix has just stepped out of his bathroom when his phone rings. Eerily good timing, although he makes a conscious effort not to think about it.

"Would you like to join us for lunch?"

It's Hyunjin's voice. Felix finds himself agreeing.

It's only when he's out of his room that he realises he doesn't know where dinner is. But he keeps moving, and his feet take him through hallways he never knew existed before now.

Eventually, he ends up standing in front of a set of double doors. Voices trickle past the panels of wood, and Felix pushes one open to see the seven of them seated around a table.

Jisung waves at him, Seungmin nudges an empty chair with his foot, and Felix steps through the doors. He takes the proffered chair and settles down between Hyunjin and Jeongin, lungs filling with the fragrant aroma of cooked food.

Chopsticks in hand, Felix is about to take a mouthful of whatever Chan has put into his bowl when —

"Wait, if you're all here, then how is the hotel running?"

"Oh, it's running," Changbin says. "Soda? Beer? Tea? Normal tea this time, promise."

Mildly bewildered, Felix watches Changbin set a can of soda, a bottle of beer, and a mug of tea in front of him.

"Eat," Changbin insists, and pops a piece of meat into his mouth.

He does, dormant hunger making itself known as soon as the first morsel of food touches his tongue. His mouth busies itself with chewing until his stomach stops demanding for more, at which point he allows himself to take a breather and look around at his companions.

Changbin's squabbling with Seungmin, chopsticks wielded as weapons, and Chan seems to be taking pictures of them with the air of a proud dad. Something glimmers in the corner of his sight then, and he turns to see crimson flickering down the line of Hyunjin's throat.

Scales, he realises. They're thicker than fish scales are, but bear the same iridescence. His hand moves before his brain can catch up, and while he stops himself before he can make contact, Hyunjin notices the movement nonetheless.

Hyunjin looks quizically at Felix for a moment, then Felix sees it click.

“You can touch them,” Hyunjin says quietly, barely audible above the ruckus.

Felix hesitates. “Really?”

Hyunjin nods, turning back to his food like whatever Felix decides to do won't bother him.

Carefully, Felix reaches out again. His fingertips brush against the scales peeking above Hyunjin’s collar, and the sensation has his fingers jumping. The scales are warm, far warmer than the average human's body temperature, and smoother than he expected. He strokes over the patch of scales again.

Hyunjin goes still, chopsticks stopping centimetres from his lips.

The dancing glimmer of crimson flickers, catching the light whenever Hyunjin breathes. Now that he's felt it, Felix can't ignore the heat radiating from Hyunjin, subtle but constant, and something strange curls low in his stomach.

"Does that feel weird?"

"It's not something I'm used to," Hyunjin admits, "but it's not bad."

"The others don't…?"

That has Hyunjin chuckling, chopsticks resting across the rim of the bowl.

"Them? Nah, I wouldn't let them. Jeongin, maybe. And Chan occasionally. But the rest?" Hyunjin points at where Jisung's licking his fingers clean. He grimaces. "Definitely not."

Felix snorts out a laugh.

"Well, they're missing out. Your scales are very pretty."

Hyunjin smiles at him, soft and private.

"Thank you."

Somehow, Felix finds himself with Minho when lunch ends. Everyone disperses back to their duties, one by one, until Minho is the only one left.

"I cooked all this food," Minho says, gesturing at the mostly-empty plates decorating the table. "I deserve a break."

"You do," Felix nods. "The hotel will run without you anyway, right?

Minho grins, wide and toothy. "Exactly." He stands, stretches, and beckons to Felix. “Come with me.”

He's already striding out of the room before Felix is on his feet, forcing Felix to jog down the hallway to catch up. Minho leads him through a veritable labyrinth, winding through hallways Felix swears he's never seen before. The air grows cooler as they walk, until Minho stops in front of an unassuming door and produces a key out of nowhere.

He unlocks it, the lock turning with a heavy click.

“Welcome,” Minho announces as the door swings inward, “to my hoard.”

Stepping inside feels like being transported into the heart of the world's biggest thrift shop. The room is massive, and shelves climb from floor to ceiling, every available surface overflowing with objects. There are glass bottles of varying sizes and shapes, jewellery that look like they've come from previous centuries, and stacks upon stacks of books. Photographs are everywhere, some framed and some tacked to the walls. There's a violin resting atop a velvet cushion, a porcelain bowl filled with assorted coins, a grammophone almost as big as he is.

The room hums faintly, like it's living and breathing — at this point, Felix wouldn't be surprised if it is.

"This is…"

Minho looks pleased by his reaction, chest puffed out like a proud bird.

“Wonderful, isn't it? Okay, I'll admit this isn't only my hoard, but Seungmin hasn't bothered stealing anything in centuries, so it's basically only my hoard.”

Felix wanders deeper into the room, gaze catching on item after item. Some things look ancient enough to belong in museums while others are bizarrely ordinary; Felix picks up a pair of broken sunglasses and peers through their blush coloured lenses, through which he sees a studded dog collar with Luna engraved on the tag.

“You stole a dog's collar? The poor pup!”

"She got another collar the day after," Minho scoffs, "I checked, I'm not a monster."

Felix continues on, pausing to marvel at a tiara that most definitely belonged to a monarch at one point. The gems glint prettily, and the rubies remind him of a certain someone's scales.

“Is Jisung's shoe somewhere here?"

“Probably.”

“You don’t know?”

Minho shrugs, as if he's utterly unbothered by the whereabouts of Jisung's shoe. “I steal a lot of things. Besides, he said he'd leave me if he ever found his shoe, so it's not like I'm about to go look for it."

"…You totally know where it is."

"No comment."

Felix laughs, intentionally turning away from the mountain of shoes stacked neatly against one wall. Right then, something catches his eye.

At the very corner of one shelf sits a small glass bottle filled with a gentle, shimmering liquid. Something Felix reaches toward it instinctively.

“Be careful with that.”

Minho’s voice cuts through the air sharply, and Felix's fingertips stop a hair's breadth away from the bottle.

“The liquid inside isn't kind to most."

Felix worries at his lip, but makes no move to lower his hand.

"What would happen?"

"I don't know, Chan has always told us to stay away, but he wouldn't tell us why." Minho steps closer, until he's shoulder-to-shoulder with Felix and peering down at the bottle as well. "It's water from the lake."

The lake — oh. A mental image of a dragon lying by a body of water pops into mind, and Felix realises that's what Minho is referring to.

Felix itches to grab hold of the bottle.

"Go for it," Minho says. "You're really curious about it, huh?"

Felix doesn't know if it's curiosity at play, but he does know something is urging him to pick it up. So he does, closing his fingers around the slim bottle, the glass cool against his skin.

The itch settles instantly, and from where it rests in the cradle of his palm, the bottle glows bright. Felix startles and nearly drops it, but Minho grabs his wrist just in time.

"That's interesting. That's never happened before."

The light bleeds through the crack between Felix’s fingers, steadily getting brighter and brighter until Felix is fighting the urge to look away. He squints against the glare, watching threads of silver-blue swirl inside the bottle, tiny currents spiralling against the glass.

"Minho," Felix says slowly.

"Yeah?"

"This is gonna sound crazy, but I think the water is…calling out to me."

Minho meets his gaze.

"Nothing is crazy around here."

Minutes before midnight, Felix walks right to the bar instead of his room. He's got until the sun rises to decide, that much he knows, and he also knows he's not about to get any sleep tonight.

The bar is surprisingly empty.

Hyunjin's wiping down tables, hair in his eyes and shirt clinging to all the right places. Felix makes his way over to the other, taking advantage of Hyunjin's momentary distraction to snatch the cloth and spray bottle away from him.

"Let me," he says. "I need the distraction."

Hyunjin lets him, probably because Felix moves to another table out of reach before he can argue otherwise. The bartender stays quiet for a minute or two, until Felix is done with three tables and is moving onto his fourth, at which point Hyunjin clears his throat and speaks.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Felix spritzes the surface of the table with far too much soapy water.

"Did the hotel ever speak to you?"

"Yes." Hyunjin takes a seat at the table Felix is cleaning, and waits until Felix's hand is within reach before he covers it with his own. "Through a fireplace. It's long gone now, but the first room I ever stayed in had its own fireplace. On my fifth day, I stoked the fire for the first time, and that's when I felt it."

"What did it feel like?"

Hyunjin gestures to an empty chair. When Felix takes a seat, he leans forward, weight resting on his forearms.

"It beckoned. I followed."

Felix is painfully aware of how dry his mouth is. The weight of Hyunjin's hand on his is grounding.

"You followed?"

Hyunjin smiles, the scales on his neck dancing with the movement.

"Right into the fire."

The bar is silent save for their breathing. Then Felix reaches into a pocket and pulls out the small bottle of lake water. He sets it onto the table next to their hands, where it sits almost innocently. The water inside swishes, like it wants out.

"This is beckoning to me."

"Will you follow?"

Felix, deliberately slowly, turns his hand until his palm faces upwards. He curls fingers around Hyunjin's and squeezes — for the briefest moment, he hopes his palms aren't as clammy as he thinks they are.

"Will you come with me?"

Logically, Felix knows he has no idea where the hell he's headed. He's wandering the halls like a lost fawn, jiggling locked doorknobs and sometimes doubling back just because a path doesn't feel right. Hyunjin follows him quietly, the sound of his footsteps constant and comforting, and it's what keeps Felix's sanity at bay until he comes across an elevator tucked away in a corner.

The door is open. Felix stops inches away from the threshold, eyes darting around the interior like there is a hidden answer he just has to discover. Felix, of course, turns up empty-handed.

It's unlike any elevator he's ever been in, much less the other ones in the hotel.

One side of the elevator is made out of nothing but glass. The marble floor shines under the singular fluorescent light, so spotless compared to its dingy exterior.

"I've never seen this elevator before."

Hyunjin's confession has Felix's pulse stuttering. He feels Hyunjin step up next to him, the scent of embers curling around him like a content cat, and watches as the bartender peers curiously inside the elevator.

"Do you think," Felix swallows, "that this is meant for me?"

Hyunjin looks over his shoulder at him.

"There's only one way to find out."

Above their heads, a light flickers. Felix takes a breath, smoke and all, and lets the air inside his lungs out in one long exhale. His feet carry him forward, one step, then two, then three, then he's inside with Hyunjin by his side.

There are no buttons for him to press.

"Felix."

Felix whips his head around at the sound of Hyunjin's voice and sees him standing by the glass panel. He joins him there, following Hyunjin's line of sight to see none other than the back of the hotel, where Felix's tea-induced 'dream' took place. It's all jagged rocks and blackened earth, but the lake that sits right under them is what catches Felix's attention.

The water's surface is still, like nature's mirror, and it reflects nothing but the pitch-black sky. Felix's breath fogs up the window, and when he wipes at the condensation with the side of his fist, he feels the glass thrumming violently.

"I need to get down there. How do I get down there?"

Hyunjin's silent for a moment, eyes flitting from the lake to the doors of the elevator. He presses a palm against the glass, fingers splayed for equal pressure displacement, then turns to Felix.

"Do you trust me?"

Felix nods, unable to blink as he watches Hyunjin walk around him. Hyunjin takes a step closer, then another, until Felix can either step back towards the glass or let Hyunjin's presence swallow him whole. He doesn't take a step back.

Hyunjin sets his hand — the same one that was just pressed against the glass moments ago — onto Felix's chest, the heel of his palm over Felix's heart. Felix can feel the heat of Hyunjin's skin, and he wonders if Hyunjin can feel the sprint his heart is on.

"Take a breath," Hyunjin murmurs. "If you're scared, close your eyes."

He waits until he feels Felix inhale, then with a smile that makes Felix's already racing heart skip a beat, he pushes against Felix's chest with a mighty shove.

The glass shatters so softly behind him; for a moment, Felix feels like he's lying on a bed of clouds. The glass shards fall away almost immediately, however, and that split second of peace is soon broken by the screeching wind.

He opens his mouth to scream, but he doesn't know if the wind is swallowing his scream or if no sound comes out of him at all.

If you're scared, close your eyes.

Maybe he should close his eyes?

Before he can, he sees a tiny, flickering speck in the distance, like a star in the night sky that's been switched on. Felix stares up at it through the whipping locks of his hair, and realises that the tiny speck is growing in size.

There's a burst of flames, strong enough for him to feel the heat, followed by the unfurling of a huge pair of wings, the silhouette unmistakable.

"Hyunjin," Felix says in wonderment, and everything promptly goes black.

Is this what death feels like?

Or perhaps he's experiencing limbo for the first time.

He feels weightless, yet pinned down on all fronts by a strange pressure. Coolness brushes against his skin and wraps around his limbs, silk-soft and endless, and Felix thinks limbo might be the worst place to be.

It's dark all around, and no matter how many times he blinks, he sees nothing. Felix is so preoccupied with the utter darkness that it takes him far too long to realise he's not breathing, either.

He really should panic. Who stays calm in the face of uncertainty like this?

But the urgency never hits, and Felix just stays where he is, unmoving, unseeing, and unbreathing. Time passes at a rate unknown to him, but something tells Felix that time isn't important right now.

Then something ghosts across his fingertips, something…wet. The sensation creeps upwards, inch by inch until his whole body feels nothing but the rushing of liquid over it. Felix can't quite make heads or tails of it, but that's alright. Surely it doesn't matter.

He keeps his eyes closed.

"Felix?"

Felix's eyes fly open, and suddenly, he can see. He's underwater, surrounded by a deep blue, and Hyunjin floats before him, no longer in dragon form but not completely human either.

Scales cover his skin in patches, horns standing tall and proud on his head. But his features are human, somehow softened in the water, and Felix finds himself reaching out with a hand that's suddenly able to be moved.

Hyunjin pushes into Felix's palm, hair swirling around his horns like fiery threads of fate. He lets Felix touch to his heart's desire, unbothered by the fingertips running down the slope of his nose and over the pout of his lips.

Felix glances down at the constellation of scales painted across Hyunjin's nude body. He drops his hand to Hyunjin's sternum, the tip of his middle finger dipping into the hollow of the man's throat, and trails a line through the water down to his navel. Again, Hyunjin doesn't stop him.

"Felix, breathe."

Felix obeys, airway opening and lungs filling, and bubbles leave his nostrils in streams when he exhales. Hyunjin nods in approval.

"Good, that's good. Can you say something? Can you say my name?"

Of course he can. He does just that, hearing his own voice through the flowing water. Hyunjin closes his fingers around Felix's wrist, keeping his hand there, and closes the gap between them with a swish of his tail.

"Look," he says, lifting their hands away from his stomach. He turns Felix's hand over, and together, they look down at the river-like lines branching across his skin, some blue and some green, weaving their way around the scales flickering in and out of sight.

There are gossamer webs growing between his fingers, webs that Hyunjin's hand partly obscures. The other man's nails are long and black, sharpened to a point at the tip that will pierce through skin like melted butter. Felix twists his hand around and threads their fingers together, marvelling at the contrast of their bodies.

"You'll stay?"

With his free hand, Felix traces the line of Hyunjin's collarbone, following the curve of his shoulder and down the length of his arm. He counts the number of ribs and skates a thumb over a perked nipple, at which point Hyunjin grabs onto the other wrist in a bid to keep him still.

"Felix, you'll stay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll stay."

The tension in Hyunjin's shoulders melts away, and he pulls Felix so close to himself that they'd be fusing into one if they could. Another flick of his tail and they're propelled upwards, gliding through the water like a hot knife through butter.

"You look good like this."

"Like what?"

"Like one of us."

Felix peers over the rim of the tub and watches as Hyunjin putters around, the latter humming to himself as he goes. The tub is absurdly large, large enough that Felix can lie on his back and stretch out completely, but it took barely a minute for it to fill up.

Another one of the hotel's quirks, Felix supposes.

He tears his gaze away from Hyunjin and looks down at himself. He can still see the scales, shimmering faintly beneath the water, scattered randomly across his body like someone pressed pale river stones into his skin. Whenever he shifts, the water responds vibrantly, rippling against his body in a way that has him thinking the water is alive.

"I thought we were unable to change indoors."

"Not fully," Hyunjin answers, voice slightly muffled from where his head is stuck through a cupboard. "But in the early days, you'll experience a fair bit of…fluctuations. They'll settle soon, and you'll learn how to control it in due time."

"How long did it take you?"

"To control it?" Hyunjin returns to the tub, where he pours in a bunch of random liquids from vials and mixes them into the water with his hand. "A while, honestly. The sheer size of my other form made it extra difficult. There was a point where I had to walk all funny — I couldn't turn around for weeks because my tail wouldn't go away. Sure, most humans wouldn't be able to see it, but anyone susceptible to the hotel could."

The water goes through the colours of the rainbow before clearing up.

"What'd you put in the water?"

"It should help with the itching."

Felix frowns. "What itching?"

"The scales. They're gonna start itching soon, and I speak from experience. No one else here has them, so I had to figure out how to deal with it by myself. But you have me, so I'll make sure you won't suffer as much as I did."

That pleases Felix to a degree that has him sliding further into the water to hide the heat on his cheeks.

"So…what now?"

Hyunjin moves over to the head of the tub and squeezes out a dollop of shampoo onto Felix's hair.

"Now, the hotel does its magic. Over the next week, everyone who's ever known you will forget you. Your name will be erased from documents, your face from photographs."

Hyunjin's fingers are firm in his hair, but gentle all the same. The shampoo smells faintly like the one he used to use back home. Is that considered home, now?

"They won't grieve you," Hyunjin says quietly. "In case you're wondering."

"Will I forget them?"

Hyunjin scrubs around his ears and down the sides of his neck. It's soothing, and Felix is happy to melt into the steady pressure.

"No. You'll remember everything."

"Do you remember your family?"

"Yeah. I've sketched them from memory far too many times."

"Can you draw my family for me?"

Hyunjin carefully thumbs away a streak of soap suds close to Felix's eye.

"Of course. I'll draw them for you."

The minutes pass steadily after that, Hyunjin thorough in the washing and rinsing of Felix's hair until he feels the cleanest he's ever felt. Then Hyunjin's fetching a towel, holding it out for Felix to step into.

Felix should ask Hyunjin to turn around, or at the very least close his eyes, but he finds that he doesn't care. They've already seen each other as naked as the day they were born down in that lake, scales and all, so what difference does it make now?

He steps out of the tub and into the warm, fluffy embrace of the towel. Hyunjin wraps the towel around him, but he doesn't step away once Felix is bundled up. In fact, he stays there for a moment, just holding Felix, until Felix relaxes and lets Hyunjin take his weight.

The beat of Hyunjin's heart is steady, deceptively human.

Eventually, Felix pulls back and turns to face the mirror. He hasn't gotten a good look at himself since Hyunjin pulled him out of the lake, and he has no idea what to expect.

"You were already beautiful before, but it seems like the hotel managed to push its limits."

Felix gapes at his reflection. His hair is pale, far paler than the bleached blond he had just hours ago. It's like all pigment dissolved into nothingness, leaving behind a white unattainable even with age.

His ears are pointed at the tips, skin translucent and baring the tributaries of his veins underneath. His eyes are a shade of green he's never seen in the cities before —

"Sea green," Hyunjin says, stepping up behind him. "Stunning."

Felix meets Hyunjin's gaze through the mirror.

"Will you join me in bed?"

It won't be long until the sun rises and the first day of his eternal life begins. But for now, while it's still dark and the city is still quiet, Felix can just exist in the present.

Knowing that Hyunjin runs warm, Felix sets the thermostat a few degrees lower than he usually would before climbing into bed, into the space Hyunjin's left for him. He rolls onto his side and faces Hyunjin, briefly glancing down at the respectable amount of space between their bodies, and promptly scoots closer.

Right as he opens his mouth, Hyunjin does too.

"I'll be here when you wake up."

Felix blinks.

"Is mind-reading a thing now that I'm one of you?"

"No," Hyunjin smiles. He pulls the sheets up over Felix's shoulders. "I just find you very easy to read. Sleep, Felix. You've had a long day."

Hyunjin's words wash over him like a balm, and Felix soon feels sleep claim him, a hug from a family he's lost and a family he's gained. When he closes his eyes, he prods at the once-yawning emptiness inside a hollow spot in his chest and finds that it's gone.

"Wakey wakey!"

Felix jerks awake, sending his forehead careening into the edge of Hyunjin's jaw. There's a whole bunch of groaning in pain and apologies and tangled limbs in sheets, and it's in the middle of it all that the door flies open.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

Footsteps and a rustle of fabric later, and the room is soon flooded with light. Pushing up onto his elbows, Felix squints through the sudden brightness and lingering pain to see Changbin standing at the foot of the bed, a poster board clutched in one hand and a grin plastered on his face.

"We had a good night's sleep before your ass came barging in," Hyunjin grumbles, pulling the sheets over his head. "Why —"

"Rise and shine! It's time for — oh hello." Jisung appears at the door, where he leans against the frame looking like he's just struck gold. "Be right back, gotta get Minho for this."

Hyunjin's groan is audible despite being buried under the covers, and Felix splutters out an incredulous laugh. Jisung's footsteps fade down the hallway, and Changbin lifts the poster board up into the air.

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!

"Hungry? We prepared a welcome breakfast for you. It's been a while since someone joined us, so we're kinda excited about it." He eyes Felix's exposed chest and adds, "Nice scales. Want a shirt? Hyunjin, what about you?"

A hand snakes out from underneath the sheets and closes around Felix's wrist. One tug and Felix is sprawled out on his back once more. Hyunjin tosses the covers over Felix's face and holds it up just enough for their eyes to meet in the limited space.

"Fair warning for the future: we all have master card keys, so you'll need to latch your door shut if you want to avoid this happening again."

Felix's lips twitch.

"That's not going to stop some of us and you know it," Changbin chimes in from outside the covers. "Now come on, get dressed. You don't want to be in the middle of pulling on your pants when Minho and Jisung get back here."

It turns out that Changbin is, unfortunately, right.

After spending far too much time convincing Changbin to turn around and close his eyes, they've just managed to hop into their underwear when Minho and Jisung come speeding up.

"Aw," Jisung bemoans, hands on his knees as he catches his breath, "why didn't you two wait?"

Seungmin appears behind the couple, a mug of coffee sandwiched between his palms. He looks mildly interested in the proceedings, eyes sharp as he watches Hyunjin pull up his pants.

"You're all insane," Hyunjin deadpans before turning to Seungmin. "Why are you here too?"

"'Cause I heard you were both in bed naked," Seungmin says, like it's obvious. He takes a seat at the table and sips at his coffee. "So what happened last night?"

Hyunjin yanks his shirt on and sighs.

"He transformed yesterday, as you can tell. I brought him back to his room, helped him with a bath, and then we went to bed because it was late."

"No cuddling?"

After a beat, Hyunjin lunges forward and snatches the mug out of Seungmin's hands. He drains the contents, tosses it back to Seungmin, and points at the door.

"Everybody out. I need to pee, and I'm not doing that with you lot staring."

They file out obediently, and Felix finishes dressing while trying his best not to laugh. Hyunjin shuts the door behind their backs and exhales, shoulders slumped like he's just won a hard-fought battle. His hair is still a mess and there's the faint imprint of a pillow on his cheek, and Felix can't help but walk over to comb through those fiery tresses with his fingers.

"You'd better use the bathroom now while you have the chance."

Hyunjin looks at him balefully.

"Please don't let them make you regret your decision. It hasn't even been a day."

Felix presses his lips together.

"I'll wait a few more days," he promises.

A few days pass, then weeks, then months.

The weather turns, and Felix finds that The Odd House looks different in winter.

At the front of the hotel, the neon sign still glows red through the snow flurries, steadfast and bright against the city beyond that has slowed under the weight of the cold.

Behind the hotel, however, snow gathers along the edges of the rockface, softening the harshness of the blackened stone. Under the moonlight, the hidden world outside is turned into something quiet and silver.

The lake never freezes, a fact he thoroughly appreciates. Tonight, he sits by the edge, webbed feet submerged in water that's far too warm to be normal, the rest of his human body kept warm by the furs of Jeongin's tails.

They've come to spend more time outdoors during the dead of the night, each of them in various degrees of transformation. Oddly enough, it feels easier this way, like they've been stripped down to their bare bones.

Felix reaches into one of Minho's jacket pockets and extracts a brush. Wielding it, he pulls one of Jeongin's tails onto his lap and starts brushing, mindful of knots as he goes.

Jeongin, who had already fully transformed a long time ago for more comfort against the hard ground, continues snoozing his little head off.

Across the lake, Chan chases Changbin up and down the stretch of black sand, Changbin's paws leaving little bursts of embers in their wake as he goes. Not far away from them are Seungmin and Minho, playing chess using various trinkets they've stolen over the decades.

A sudden gust of wind has Felix glancing up at the night sky, where he sees the silhouette of a familiar pair of wings growing bigger with every passing second. Hyunjin lands moments later onto his feet, leathery wings folding back until they disappear from view.

He walks past a squirrel on the ground that promptly jumps up at him — Hyunjin grabs it by the scruff of its neck mid-jump and clicks his tongue.

"Jisung, it's getting real old."

The squirrel opens its mouth and says, "Aw, come on. Let me get you just once!"

Hyunjin drops him onto Minho's jacket, upon which Jisung immediately goes scampering off into the darkness, and toes off his shoes before dropping down next to Felix.

"Hey," he says, leaning in to press a kiss to Felix's mouth. "I've missed my little water nymph."

Felix watches with a smile as Hyunjin pulls off his socks.

"You saw me hours ago."

"A few hours too long," Hyunjin shrugs. "Shall we go for a swim?"

After finding out that Hyunjin has an affinity for water and takes to it almost as well as he does, Felix has made night swims a regular thing for them since they crossed the line from platonic to something more.

Carefully, Felix moves Jeongin's tails aside and strips down to his underwear as well, leaving his clothes in a neat pile next to Hyunjin's messy one.

Hyunjin's already in the water when he turns back towards the lake, his head bobbing above the surface as he waits for Felix to join him. Snowflakes settle in his hair like powdered sugar on a red velvet doughnut, and Felix plunges into the water with a visceral hunger gnawing at him.

He glides up to Hyunjin's side and pulls him to the farthest end of the lake, away from the ruckus of their found family. The water grows deeper the farther they swim, and when they're far enough for silence to approach, Felix dips under the water and lets it engulf him, feeling the water around him displace from Hyunjin's bulk doing the same.

Down here, where no one else can get to them, is Felix's favourite place to be. Sure, their room is nice and cosy, decorated exactly how they like it, but nothing really compares to the serenity of the water.

Hyunjin swims around him lazily, his body cutting through the water with an ease that never fails to fascinate Felix.

Even now, months later, Felix still catches himself staring.

A part of him wonders why the hotel thought Hyunjin suited fire more than water, but Felix isn't complaining, not when he thinks it's adorable that they fit the clichéd saying that opposites attract. He's a romantic, sue him.

(Also, he'll happily admit that his boyfriend's as hot as fire is.)

Scales shimmer faintly along his arms and throat, catching what little moonlight filters down through the surface. The strong horns curving from his temples seem softer here somehow, less intimidating than they do above water, not that they've ever struck fear into Felix to begin with.

He swims up to Hyunjin, curling fingers around one of the horns to pull the other in and angle his head just right. The lake water tastes sweet on Hyunjin's tongue, and Felix is greedy for it as he licks into Hyunjin's mouth, scales smooth under his fingertips.

"Tomorrow," Felix mumbles between kisses, "can you take me into the skies?"

"Of course I can."

"In your full glory?"

He feels Hyunjin's smile against his lips and can't help but kiss him harder.

"Are you sure? The last time we tried that, you nearly fell off."

"Precisely why we should keep trying, so I can learn how to ride you properly."

Hyunjin's smile dissolves into laughter, and Felix has to push through the bubbles to see the way those lovely eyes crinkle up in the corners.

"I mean, you already do that so wonderfully."

Felix smacks him across the arm, cheeks hot, and it isn't long before they're darting through the water, Felix hot on Hyunjin's heels.

They cause such a ruckus underwater that by the time they resurface, all winded, it's to see puddles all around the edge of the lake and a very waterlogged nine-tailed fox.

Jeongin shakes the water off his fur and fixes them with a very pointed stare, one that has the couple wincing.

"Sorry," Felix calls, "I'll brush your tails again later, I promise!"

They float over to the shore, where Felix climbs out onto land and hauls Hyunjin up with him. They're all wet limbs and heaving chests, and they only get a few seconds to catch their breath before they hear maniacal barking in the distance.

Felix lifts his head and watches Changbin sprint by, fur aflame as Chan pursues him. He knows that Chan is holding back — he's seen how fast the werewolf can run when he puts his mind to it —, and he also knows that this is the fastest Changbin can go.

"How long is this going to go on for?"

Hyunjin stretches out on the smooth rock, adjusting himself so his head falls into Felix's lap.

"When Changbin gives up, or if Minho and Seungmin decide to intervene. Once, they changed into bees and stung Changbin's flank as he ran by. His ass was swollen for days and he had a bruise on his chin he got when Chan tackled him to the ground."

Felix runs a hand down Hyunjin's chest, over the scales dotting his chest and down to the flat of his stomach. The waistband of Hyunjin's hangs low, and Felix traces the line of it until his fingertip dips under.

"Hey," Hyunjin drawls, eyes closed and looking all peaceful, "if you wanna go there, we shouldn't be out here."

"You're right. Maybe we should go back to our room then?"

Hyunjin cracks an eye open.

"You wanna go the normal way or the fun way?"

"The fun way, of course. Do you even need to ask?"

That has Hyunjin sitting up, a grin on his face as he shakes the last of the water droplets in his hair away. He stands and stretches, and in one great sweep, his wings unfold.

He extends his arms, beckoning to Felix with a crook of his fingers. Felix steps close and lets Hyunjin scoop him up, and in the blink of an eye, they're up in the sky.

"Hey," Hyunjin says, voice clear despite the wind rushing past, "you regret it yet?"

Felix circles his arms around Hyunjin's neck.

"Nope, not yet. Ask me again tomorrow."