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Felix has a stalker.
He’s had stalkers before, though, a harrowing side effect of being who he is—a global pop star, four and a half years into his career. He’s part of an all-omega kpop trio, Eth3real, with two of his now best friends, Hyunjin and Minho. They’d blown up in popularity in their second year, particularly in the States and Europe, and signed on with an American record company for additional activities. Last year, Hyunjin asked for a hiatus and had unexpectedly eloped with Changbin, one of the group’s alpha bodyguards, and the whole scandal of it had their companies scrambling for a distraction.
Felix, who had already been secretly working with a popular producer in Korea, suggested a solo album, and the company agreed. The fans ate it up, sales hit record numbers for a soloist under their company, and the executives loved it so much that they’d even arranged for Felix to go on a world tour.
Which is where he is now, two weeks into the first leg of the tour, sitting in a hotel conference room as his manager Seonghwa explains something that Felix cannot be bothered to pay attention to. His phone buzzes in his lap, and when he glances down, he sees that Minho has sent him a picture: Soonie in a fisherman’s hat. Felix heart-reacts to it with a smile on his face, just before Seonghwa’s hand reaches down to wave in front of his face.
“Earth to Yongbok,” Seonghwa teases, a tight smile on the omega’s face when Felix looks up.
Right. The stalker.
“Sorry, Hwa,” Felix says sheepishly. He sets his phone on the table. “I know you’re worried, but I trust you, and I trust Yeosang, to look out for me.”
Seonghwa purses his lips, nodding once. “Right, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. This… threat, it’s much bigger than we realized. Yeosang and San are concerned, so we’ve decided to bring in a personal guard–”
Felix snorts. “Aren’t they all my personal guards? I’m solo right now.”
Seonghwa looks at him sharply, the kind of stern look in his eyes that a mother would give her disobedient child. “Technically the security team is still responsible for all three of you, and with Minho’s album releasing in a couple weeks, the decision to hire someone to focus solely on you is for your protection.” He sighs as he leans back in his chair. “Between Eth3real being split and our responsibility for Kim Seungmin for this tour, the team is a little more distracted than Yeosang is comfortable with. Especially after what happened with Bin and Hyunjin.”
True, their security team has been with them since their debut. That’s why two of the betas—Yunho and Mingi—are back in Seoul with Minho still. The team’s remaining alpha, Jongho, and another beta, San, have been protecting Seungmin, the omega soloist that Felix befriended a couple of years ago and had begged his company to let him bring on tour. Opening for Felix was Seungmin’s big break, his popularity skyrocketing since the tour announcement, and the small company he was signed with was so grateful that they had opened their company doors to Felix, extending a warm welcome and no-limit access to any of their staff or amenities.
With Changbin out of commission—a conflict of interest, now that he’s married to Hyunjin—and Wooyoung out sick due to a recent chronic health diagnosis, Yeosang has been spread a little thin hiring local security in each city they stop in. Hiring a more permanent bodyguard makes sense. Really, Felix should have seen this coming.
“Okay,” he says, leaning forward to curl his fingers around Seonghwa’s wrist. “Whatever you think is best, hyung.”
Seonghwa’s shoulders relax, and he pulls his wrist free, only to bring it to Felix’s own and rub them together as he speaks. “We interviewed someone this morning, an alpha that Yeosang immediately felt comfortable with. His name is Chan, he’s also Korean by way of Australia.”
Felix perks up a little, eyes wide. “You found me an Aussie alpha? What, are you my mother?” He teases, giggling when Seonghwa’s free hand comes up to smack his shoulder, even through Seonghwa’s own indignant laughter.
“Yah! You wish I was your mother!”
Felix laughs harder, leaning forward to throw his arms around Seonghwa. “You’re right, I do. The best mom ever.” He nuzzles his nose into the crook of Seonghwa’s neck, coaxing some of the sweet, strawberry and cream scent from the other omega. The milky notes are always a pleasant surprise, since that’s usually indicative of pups, but Seonghwa says he’s always smelled that way, even faintly before he presented.
Felix thinks it’s because Seonghwa tends to mother everyone. It’s what makes him such a good manager.
“Anyway,” Seonghwa continues when Felix draws back and settles into his own seat, “we asked him to do a short interview with each Jongho and San, and then if they approve of him, he’s good to start working as early as tomorrow.”
“Wow, really?” Felix glances at the far end of the conference room. There’s a frosted glass door out onto a balcony, where San had disappeared when they walked into the room together a short while ago. “He’s here now?”
The frosted glass door opens then, and Jongho steps through it. His earpiece is out, the coiled wire dangling down his chest. He exhales loudly, forcefully, as he approaches the table.
Seonghwa and Felix look at him expectantly when he sits down across from them, leaning on his elbows and folding his hands.
After a moment of silence, Seonghwa huffs. “Well?” He makes an urgent motion with his hand. “What did you think of Chan-ssi?”
Jongho looks between Seonghwa and Felix, letting his gaze linger on Felix. “He’s good,” the alpha finally says, eyes still locked on Felix. “Professional, strong, observant, smart.”
Felix’s heart kicks, an anxious flutter of excitement. “Yeah? You like him?”
Jongho nods. “He’ll keep you safe, Bokkie. He’s very dedicated to his work and he comes highly recommended.”
Seonghwa places his hand on Felix’s as he leans over. “Changbinnie actually helped us find him. He met Chan-ssi a couple of times over the years and knows other guards who’ve worked with Chan before—they all say the same thing.”
“And what’s that?” Felix asks.
“He’s the best in the business, Bok.”
Felix looks back toward the door, eager to see this alpha that’s ready to protect him. “So we’re hiring him, right?”
Seonghwa squeezes his hand, then stands up, gathering the leather folio in front of him. “I’ve already drafted the contract. I’m going to go make the offer now, since you seem to be on board. Then we can introduce you.”
Felix nods as Seonghwa steps away, striding toward the frosted glass door. Jongho stands too, moving around to sit next to Felix. He knocks his shoulder into Felix’s, laughing softly when Felix squeaks. “Yah, be nice to your hyung.”
Jongho raises his eyebrows. “I’m not even a full month younger than you!” He laughs when Felix turns to grab at his bicep, squeezing the muscle between both of his hands. Felix giggles, too, leaning forward to mime biting Jongho’s arm, when the frosted door opens again.
Felix angles his head to look, following Jongho’s lead, and then his heart swoops violently in his chest at the familiar face of the man walking in behind Seonghwa.
His ex-boyfriend, Chris.
He’s filled out a lot since Felix saw him last—his shoulders are wide, muscles bulging obscenely under the dark blue fabric of his button down. His hair is dark and long, nearly as long as Felix’s own, and ironed straight, pushed off of his forehead and tucked behind his ears. He’s wearing a face mask that emphasizes the piercing depths of his eyes as he stares—right back at Felix.
“Yongbok-ah, let me introduce you to Bang Chan-ssi,” Seonghwa says as they approach the table. Felix hasn’t moved, his hands still looped around the width of Jongho’s bicep, and Chris’ eyes flick down to the contact just briefly before bowing.
Felix drops his hands, clearing his throat awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet you, Chan-ssi,” he says, barely above a mumble. Seonghwa’s eyebrows knit together, but he doesn’t call Felix out on anything.
“Please, the honor is all mine,” Chris replies. Seonghwa gestures for him to sit, so he pulls out the chair that Jongho had abandoned across from Felix and sits down.
San steps over from behind Chris to lean down and kiss Felix’s cheek. “Close your mouth, you’re drooling,” the beta murmurs in Felix’s ear, a low rumbling laugh tumbling out of him when Felix shoves him off and glares at him. San pinches his cheek affectionately, avoiding the swipe of Felix’s hand, and moves to the chair on the other side of Jongho.
Felix meets Chris’ eyes again, noting the faint crease between his brows as he watches Felix interact with San. Then his gaze flicks up, just as the sound of the conference room door opening makes Felix turn his head.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Yeosang says, shaking his head to ruffle his hair as he flutters into the room. He places a hand on the back of Felix’s neck and squeezes softly, an affectionate action that he’s prone to doing to Felix and Seonghwa. “I was on a video conference with our staff back in Korea, we’re finalizing details for Minho’s solo album promotions.”
Yeosang takes the seat next to Chris, pressing a hand to his offensively large shoulder and saying hello. “It’s good to finally meet you in person, Chan-ssi.” Chris nods and says something too low for Felix to hear, but Yeosang laughs and shakes his head. “No, it’s fine. Seonghwa-hyung, what have I missed?”
Seonghwa opens his folio, pulling out a stapled stack of papers and setting it in front of Chris. “Well, Chan-ssi accepted the verbal offer, so now we’ve just got to sign the contract and let Felix and Chan-ssi get to know each other.”
Felix reaches for the iced coffee on the table, taking a sip to rewet his mouth.
Chris glances over at him, watching him darkly as Felix’s mouth curls around the straw. Felix half expects Chris to push away the contract, to shove off of the table, and storm out of the room. He doesn’t acknowledge the twist of his gut at the thought that Chris might leave.
But he doesn’t. Chris accepts the pen that Seonghwa proffers, looking down to flip through each page of the employment contract. Felix chews on his nails as Seonghwa and Yeosang point things out or elaborate on details as Chris reads through. Jongho’s fingers curl around Felix’s wrist to tug his hand free of his teeth, and Felix uses the movement to lace their fingers together under the table.
Before, Jongho and San had been Felix’s guards. He’d spent many weeks, maybe even months, of his life with Jongho and San by his side—local schedules, international trips, two Eth3real world tours. While he's happy that they're protecting Seungmin on this tour, he misses them, misses the casual intimacy he'd shared with them both.
Having Jongho’s hand in his, grounding him, helps slow the anxiety building in Felix.
“Alright, perfect,” Seonghwa says, pulling the contract away from Chris. “With that, you’re officially hired! You’ll start tomorrow before the show. Do you need any gear?”
“No, I’ve got everything I’ll need to do the job.” Chris clears his throat, looking back to Felix. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”
Felix swallows dryly, nodding quickly. “O-oh, yeah, yes, thank you.” San teases him later for it, taunting him for being flustered in front of the ‘hot new alpha guard,’ and Felix just smiles tightly and takes the ribbing.
The simple truth is that Felix broke up with Chris nearly six years ago and left Australia without ever really giving the alpha a chance to ask why.
Felix met Chris a few months before he graduated high school.
Chris was a lifeguard at Felix’s favorite beach, tanned and muscled, a messy mop of bleached blond curls atop his head. Felix had been enamored with the alpha immediately, pursuing any chance to talk to him whenever Felix’s friends could drag him to the beach between dance practices. Chris didn’t entertain the flirting right away—not ‘til Jordan had run up behind Felix and doused him with a bottle of beer in celebration of their graduation a couple of days prior.
Chris had laughed, dimples beaming, and grabbed a towel to wrap Felix up. They’d shared their first kiss under the lifeguard tower that night, and Felix had spent more time at Chris’ shitty studio apartment that summer than he had at his own house.
Chris was his first love.
When Felix had gotten the invitation to move to Korea and become a trainee, he’d panicked. He’d dreamed about becoming an idol his whole life, but his parents had made him finish school first. Felix had sent out applications and attended a few virtual auditions in his last year of school, but he’d started to lose hope. He hadn’t even told Chris about the last audition, the one with his current company, fully expecting to be looked over again. Instead, he was offered a position in the training program, set to start two weeks later. So, he’d dumped Chris and shut off his phone, leaving the sim card at home with his parents and picking up a new one with a new number once he’d landed in Korea.
It was easy to bury the heartbreak in his packed schedule, throwing himself into working hard and outperforming many other trainees. Barely a year into training, he was selected for pre-debut with Minho and Hyunjin, and the rest is history.
Now, he sits in his green room in the makeup chair, trying not to fidget too much as Risabae paints his face. He can see Chris in the reflection of the mirror, standing in the corner by the door next to Yeosang and San. He’s wearing a tight black t-shirt emblazoned with SECURITY and the logo of Yeosang’s team underneath, and he’d forgone the mask today.
Felix forgot how beautiful Chris is. Time has been kind to him, his hair darker now than before, skin smooth and paler than it had been in the Australian sun. Felix could spend hours staring at him and still feel like it would never be enough. Seungmin is warming up in the middle of the green room, running through a number of vocal trills and pacing, obscuring Felix’s line of sight to Chris every so often.
Risabae presses two fingers under his chin, prompting him to tilt up. “Mmm, you’re distracted today,” she says, stepping closer to apply a dusting of powder to his undereyes. “No, keep looking up.”
Felix shoots his eyes upward again. “Sorry. Just didn’t sleep super well.”
“Ah,” the beta replies, using the back of her hand to nudge Felix’s face to the side. “So it has nothing to do with the devastatingly attractive new alpha bodyguard?”
Felix whips his head back to balk at her, and she taps the flats of her fingers to his cheek in a gentle reprimand. The slap doesn’t hurt, but it makes him laugh incredulously anyway. “I–”
He’s cut off by a sudden growl beside him, and then Risabae’s hand is being wrenched away, a startled shriek torn from her.
“Chan-ssi!” Seonghwa gasps behind them, and Felix looks up to see Chris snarling at Risabae, her arm caught tight in his clenched fist. “Chan-ssi, what–”
“She slapped him,” Chris sneers, a dangerous rumble burbling in his chest. Felix’s pulse thunders as his own chest heaves with adrenaline—nerves, excitement, he can’t tell.
Risabae squeaks, attempting to wrest her arm free. “I-I was just being playful, I would never hurt Yongbok-ssi on purpose–”
“Chan-ssi, please,” Seonghwa pushes at Chris’ shoulder, but the alpha doesn’t relent. “She’s the makeup artist, she’s worked for him for years.” There’s a few more people talking, but Felix’s ears ring, and his vision blurs beyond the grip Chris still has on Risabae’s arm.
He reaches a hand out, the slight tackiness of his palm pressing against the cool skin of Chris’ elbow. Felix fights a full body shiver, feels his nipples pebble under his shirt at the contact. “Chan-ah,” Felix murmurs softly, perhaps too quietly. Chris’ posture relaxes, letting go of his hold on the beta to turn toward Felix. His eyes are wide, like he, too, is surprised by his own actions. “It’s okay, she didn’t hurt me. I promise.”
“Oh. Okay,” he turns to Risabae, who flinches when he bows apologetically. “I’m sorry, I overreacted.”
“It’s– It’s alright,” Risabae rubs at her wrist, at the blooming redness. “At least we know Yongbok-ah is in good hands.”
Felix laughs, a short, hysteric peal of laughter that punches out of him involuntarily. He probably looks like a lunatic as he drops his hand, fists it in his lap. “Yep! Great hands, very capable.” He clears his throat, forcing himself to shut up when Seonghwa presses the back of his hand to Felix’s forehead, checking his temperature.
“Come on, Risa, let’s take a quick break.” Seonghwa takes the makeup brush out of her hand, setting it on the vanity table behind her, and then leads her away. Felix looks back at Chris, who’s watching Seonghwa and Risabae leave the greenroom.
“Chris,” Felix starts gently. Chris’ eyes whip back to Felix, something hollow in them—as if he’s staring through Felix, instead of actually looking at him. “I’m sor–”
Chris’ back goes rigid, and he sidesteps just beyond Felix’s reach—not that Felix is reaching out again, but just out of principle, it seems. “I apologize, I misunderstood the situation. It won’t happen again.” He doesn’t meet Felix’s eyes, instead bowing and scurrying off back to the corner.
The next time Chris intervenes when someone touches Felix, it’s during the show. Felix is at the end of the thrust stage, singing one of his higher energy party songs, and he jumps down onto the floor before the barricade. Some of his fans reach out eagerly, and he touches a few hands as he starts running down the barrier. One fan manages to snag him by the neckline, nearly choking him as his voice cuts off.
The grip on him is removed immediately, a wall of muscle shoving between Felix and the crowd. A growl bellows out, rippling into the crowd as the fans in their immediate vicinity cower back. The backing for Felix’s song continues, and Felix has to consciously remember to bring the mic up to his mouth to keep singing, forcing a smile on his face as Chris turns toward him and herds him over to the stairs, back up to the stage.
After the show, Chris storms into the greenroom ahead of Yeosang and San, stomping over to where Felix stands in front of the mirror, gulping down water. “Are you insane?”
It’s the first time Chris has spoken directly to him unmasked. Felix has a split second thought that he’s always loved how beautifully expressive Chris’ eyes are. Then, he’s bristling at the rage directed his way. “What?”
“You got too close, Lix. You could have been hurt.”
Lix.
Chris had always called him that, his dimple shining as he beamed at Felix.
The dimple is nowhere in sight right now.
“Chan-ssi,” Yeosang chides softly. “Yongbok always jumps down to be with the fans during that segment.”
Chris straightens, his face going slack. “He what?”
Felix cows, ducking his head. “I maybe got too close today,” he admits, tilting his head slightly in submission. “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”
But it does.
It happens two shows later.
Felix drops down from the stage, climbing onto the barricade and pointing the mic at one of the fans. She belts up into it, Felix cheering her on despite the other hands that grab at him.
An arm wraps around his waist and pulls him down.
Chris spins him around, lifts him up, and pushes him back onto the stage.
Felix flies backstage at the end of the show, a flurry of blond and in-ear monitors, anger twisting his face as he beelines directly over to Chris. “What,” he heaves, poking Chris’ chest, “the fuck?!”
Chris’ face remains impassive, arms crossed as he stares back at Felix. “What part of ‘you could have been hurt’ didn’t you understand last time?”
Seonghwa interjects before Felix can answer. “Yongbok-ah, Chan-ssi is right. We still don’t know who the stalker is, so we need to be more careful.”
Felix bares his teeth at both of them. “We? You mean me—I need to be more careful, that’s what you’re saying.” Chris huffs, as if Felix should know this already. Seonghwa at least has the decency to look sympathetic.
“I know it’s hard, Bokkie, but it’s for your safety.”
Felix rolls his eyes but lets Seonghwa crowd him into a hug, ushering him over to the stylist noona to take off his stage outfit.
Three days later, he’s in New York City.
He has a show tomorrow night, but never able to resist the opportunity to promote himself, Felix is giving an interview at a popular radio station.
He’s been on the show before, once by himself the last time he was in the States and at least two other times with Eth3real, so he feels very comfortable with the host. They’re about fifteen minutes into a thirty minute interview, and Felix has spent most of the time so far laughing and cracking his own jokes.
“So Felix,” the host says as Felix wipes his eyes of tears after a particularly raucous joke. “This is the portion of the show where we have some questions sent in by fans.”
Felix nods. “Alright, bring ‘em on.”
“Interestingly, the majority of the questions came in just today, after your arrival at the hotel.”
Ah. Felix swallows, the smile on his face faltering. He had flown in early, landing in JFK just after 9am, and by the time they arrived at the hotel downtown, Felix had been exhausted—hadn’t been paying attention. He stumbled a bit, staggering to the side, closer to the grouping of fans waiting outside the entrance of the hotel.
A fan touched his arm, pulling his hand back.
Chris had ripped him away, twisting the fan’s hand up and off of Felix so forcefully that the crowd gasped. A series of flashes bombarded them.
“Your fans are very curious about your new bodyguard,” the host says, bringing Felix back to the present. “He’s garnered quite a lot of attention lately.”
“Chan is very good at his job,” Felix answers sharply. The host quirks an eyebrow, and Felix bites back a strangled noise of frustration. He doesn’t know how much he can talk about. “We’ve had some… security issues this tour, so we’ve hired new blood.”
“Security issues? Are they related to Hyunjin’s hiatus?”
“Ah–” Felix glances out of the studio, through the clear glass to where Chris and Seonghwa stand with the show’s producers. Seonghwa’s lips are pursed, but he doesn’t look annoyed—contemplative. Chris’ arms are crossed over his chest, his brow knitted. Honestly, Chris looks ready to barge into the studio to interrupt, but Felix isn’t in any physical danger.
Felix flicks his eyes back to Seonghwa, pleading. Seonghwa nods his head, mouthing it’s okay.
He looks back over at the host, giving him a knowing smile. “Hyunjin met the love of his life, actually.” There’s a pause, the host’s eyes going wide as Felix speaks. “Don’t worry, I’m not– I’m not spilling his secrets here. He hasn’t officially released anything about it, but he hasn’t exactly been hiding it either. Hyunjin fell in love with one of our security staff and went on hiatus so that they could enjoy their honeymoon together.”
“Honeymo– oh, I need to call Hyunjin and congratulate him immediately.”
Felix laughs, head thrown back. “Don’t worry, I imagine his phone is going to blow up after this. He’s going to be so mad at me.”
“Will he really?”
“No! God, no. He’s been waiting to brag about Changbin for months. He’s going to be thrilled.” Felix giggles, letting himself be bombarded with questions about Hyunjin, Changbin, and Minho.
They never quite circle back to the fan questions about Chris.
“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the fan questions,” the host says once they’re not recording. Felix shakes his hair out, setting the studio headphones down.
“It’s alright. Part of the job.”
The host grins. “You deflected perfectly. Are you sure that Hyunjin will be okay?”
“Ah, yeah. He’s been begging the company to let him talk about Changbin, but the company wanted to wait until my tour was over. Frankly, I don’t think it matters.”
They walk out of the studio together, and Seonghwa comes over immediately to press his wrist to Felix’s neck—a comforting gesture. “You did great, Lixie-yah,” he croons, smiling at the host as he pulls Felix out of the room. Felix can feel Chris’ presence following them, even if he doesn’t hear or see him.
“Did you warn Jinnie?”
Seonghwa nods. “He’s thrilled, he’s already posted an announcement and pictures of their elopement to his Instagram.”
Felix sags into Seonghwa. “Oh, thank God.” Seonghwa laughs, directing Felix down the hall.
“Come on. You’ve got one more schedule today, then we can go get some pizza.”
Felix tilts his head up, eyes wide. “I love you.”
“Ha! You love pizza.”
“That’s what I said.”
Seonghwa shoves him off of his shoulder while Felix laughs. “Yah!”
Felix falls into the wall, bending forward with the force of his laughter. A warm hand rests on his shoulder—he can see Chris’ steel-toed boots beside him. When he lifts his head, Chris’ face is wrinkled in some indecipherable expression.
His breath hitches.
“Come on,” Seonghwa says, reaching for his wrist again. “Let’s get you to the car.”
Later, after he’s recorded a video with another media outlet at an office in midtown, Seonghwa tells their driver to take them to Little Italy. Chris gets out first when they arrive, insisting on doing an initial scan, and then he’s holding his hand out first for Seonghwa, then Felix.
Felix swallows hard as he accepts the outstretched hand.
They opt to eat the pizza at the restaurant, ushered into one of the back tables, as far away from the entrance as possible. Chris demands to sit with his back to the wall, facing the rest of the dining room and the street beyond the open patio doors.
“Chan-ssi, do you have a preference?” Seonghwa asks while he and Felix are perusing the menus.
“I’m not hungry.”
Felix drops his menu to the table. “What? Chr– Chan-ah, you haven’t eaten all day.”
Chris looks over at him. “I’m fine.”
Felix orders a sausage pizza. When it arrives at the table, he serves the first slice to Chris. “Please?”
“Yah, Chan-ssi, don’t be so stubborn,” Seonghwa encourages with a smile.
Chris takes the plate. “You first, Lix.”
Felix takes a slice, brings it to his mouth. He holds Chris’ eyes as he bites down, then his eyes flutter closed and a delighted groan tears from his throat. “Oh my god, it’s so good.”
When he opens his eyes again, Chris is still watching him. Felix swallows—contemplates.
He opens his mouth, lets his tongue fall out slightly, showing his empty palate.
Chris’ eyes darken briefly. Then, they drop down to the plate, and Chris doesn’t look at him again.
Back at the hotel, Seonghwa kisses Felix’s cheek as he says goodnight. Chris watches the interaction, saying nothing, waiting for Felix to open his room door.
“He’s not going to stay with you?”
Felix whirls to face Chris. “What?”
Chris’ brows furrow. He gestures at where Seonghwa disappeared back down the hall, back toward the elevators. “Isn’t he going to stay with you tonight?”
Felix stares at him. “Why– why would he stay with me?”
“Aren’t you together?”
Felix chokes on air. “What?!” He coughs, and Chris takes a step toward him in concern. Felix holds a hand out. “You think– you think Seonghwa and I– oh, my god, Chris. No, no, Hwa is– Seonghwa has a mate back home in Seoul.”
Chris splutters. “He does?”
Felix nods. “My– my producer, Hongjoong? He’s Seonghwa’s husband. That’s how I found Hwa, actually. He was managing another idol who entered the military and he needed work. I was in the studio with Hongjoong, and then things just kind of worked out perfectly.”
Chris blinks, shaking his head. “Oh.”
Felix pulls his keycard out, swiping it at the door. It clicks, and he twists the handle to push the door open a few inches. “Do you want to come in and hear more about it?” He asks, trying not to sound too hopeful as he steps in, his arm extended behind him in invitation.
Chris shakes his head suddenly, straightening. “No, that would be inappropriate.”
“Chris, we should tal–”
“Goodnight, Lix.” Chris leans forward to grab the door handle, pulling it shut between them.
Felix doesn’t sleep much that night.
Two weeks later, the tour is in another continent. Chris still won’t talk to Felix.
Well, he talks to Felix just fine.
“Hey, step back from the crowd, please.” “Felix, you have to be more careful.” “Do you have a death wish, Lix?” “Are you fucking serious?”
Just… none of it is what Felix really wants to be talking about.
The flight across the Atlantic is the most uncomfortable. Chris is seated in front of him while Seungmin sits beside Felix, yapping away about his crush on his manager Jeongin.
“What about you, Bok-ah?” Seungmin asks, not quietly at all. “Any crushes or hook-ups lately?”
Chris coughs suddenly, choking on his drink.
Felix ignores it. “No,” he answers, cheeks flushing. “Been too busy.”
“That’s a shame.” He leans over and whispers in Felix’s ear, “Your new bodyguard is pretty hot.”
Felix smacks his hand over Seungmin’s mouth, eyes wide as he stares at the other omega. “Shut the fuck up, do you want him to hear you?” Felix hisses.
Seungmin licks his palm. “Totally,” he snarks when Felix pulls his hand away to wipe it on his leg. “In fact–”
“Yah! Kim Seungmin!”
Chris turns around, peering at them through the slight gap in the seat backs. “You okay?” Chris asks, and Felix nods, slapping on a forced smile.
“Yep! Seungmin’s just… being silly!” Felix wraps his arm around Seungmin’s shoulders and pulls him close in a side hug. Chris nods, then turns back around, settling his headphones back over his ears.
“You’re being so weird.” Seungmin reaches over and grabs the bag of chips that lays abandoned on Felix’s tray table. “Any news on the stalker?”
“Not recently,” Felix shakes his head. He drops his voice down to a whisper, trying to avoid Chris hearing. “Minho says the company got more letters though, and he overheard PD-nim saying that they might need to hire a detective.”
“I’m surprised they haven’t done that already.” Seungmin munches on a chip loudly. “My CEO would have done it immediately.”
“Yeah, well, you’re the star of your company.”
Seungmin shoots him a glare. “And you’re not? Look, I know your company is huge, but you’re still considered the Darling of JYPE. They should be taking better care of you.”
Felix sighs. “They take care of me just fine. The stalker is just… a nuisance."
Seungmin doesn’t say anything else, just chomps on the chips and stares at Felix blankly until he shrugs and puts his earbuds in. Felix lets his head thunk back against the seat, trying to fight against the worry clawing at his throat. He can’t do anything from the plane, so he might as well just let it go and try to keep himself occupied.
Felix lifts his head and opens his eyes, intending to reach for his Switch to play something, when he catches Chris looking at him through the seats. His gaze is scrutinizing, and Felix feels himself blushing for some reason. Chris doesn’t ask him anything, doesn’t speak at all, before turning back toward the front.
Pressing a hand to his cheek, Felix wonders what the hell his ex is thinking.
Felix still feels unsettled when they land and even the next day at a press event.
Chris is behind him for the whole thing, silent and stoic as Felix poses for pictures with a whole number of important people for his brand ambassadorship. The luncheon isn’t very long, just two hours, but Felix feels like it drags on for days. He steals surreptitious glances at Chris when he can, worrying his lower lip between his teeth and swallowing down more and more of the gloss he keeps layering on.
Near the end of the event, Felix lets the creative director of his brand escort him out of the ballroom, giggling at something he says as they step outside. The step down from the hotel entrance is small, but his heel catches on something, and then he’s careening forward as his arm is wrenched from Nicolas’ hold. Felix braces for impact on the thick red outdoor carpeting.
It never comes.
Instead, two firm hands grip his waist, dragging him upright and back against a hard body. Felix recognizes the sound of Chris’ breathing before his hold, relaxing back into the alpha almost out of habit. Chris’ hands shift as Felix slinks back, sliding over his tummy before gripping Felix tight—and pulling him away.
“Oh my god! Felix, are you okay?!”
Felix forces a smile at Nicolas, reaching for his outstretched hand as he clears his throat. “Yes, sorry, just a bit clumsy.”
He ignores the flashes of the press cameras and the wildly beating thrum of his heart.
Out in the crowd the following night, Felix sees a sign that makes him stop dead in his tracks.
CHANLIX <3
It flummoxes him, caught so off-guard that he misses his vocal cue for the next song and has to catch up.
After the show, Seonghwa questions him on it. “Bokkie, what happened at the start of Surfin?”
Felix stares blankly at the floor, only looking up when Chris’ boots come into view. Chris looks mildly concerned. “Lix?”
“There was a sign,” Felix whispers, eyes swinging over to Seonghwa as he swallows. “It said ‘ChanLix’ on it.”
Chris makes some sort of surprised yelp while Seonghwa’s eyes get very wide. “It said what? Oh my god, this is– no, wait, I can work with this. Where’s Jeongin—I need to strategize with him.” Seonghwa spins on his heels and stalks from the room.
The stylist comes over to start removing Felix’s stage outfit. Chris doesn’t move, staying close. Stylist noona has to step awkwardly around him, but Chris makes no attempts to leave. Once she’s done and Felix is left in just his pants and a thin tank top, Chris averts his eyes, stepping over to where Felix’s bag and spare clothes are. He brings them over, handing Felix the hoodie at the top of the pile.
“Thanks,” Felix mumbles, shrugging it over his head.
“Back to the hotel?” Chris asks, and Felix nods. Chris slings Felix’s bag over his shoulder and tilts his head. “Come on.”
It’s the most Chris has looked or spoken to Felix of his own volition.
Felix follows him out to the car, letting Chris open the door and usher him in, crowding into the backseat beside Felix. The ride back to the hotel isn’t very long, but the rented car is smaller than usual—Chris’ knee presses against Felix’s for the entirety of the trip.
For the first time since Chris showed back up in his life, Felix catches the familiar notes of Chris’ scent: smoky tobacco and vanilla.
It nearly makes Felix moan, his body reacting as slick suddenly floods his cunt in memory.
“Chris, god, please– Alpha, I’m gonna– Oh!”
Felix shakes his head, silently begging his body to cooperate as he tries desperately not to let his own scent fill the car. When Felix finally makes it into his own hotel room, the scent of Chris lingers in his nose. He hurries into his bathroom, shoving his pants down as he wraps a hand around his cock. It barely takes him two full minutes, a litany of long-past memories flashing behind his eyes.
“Chris,” he whines, biting his lips as his orgasm slams into him, slick gushing from his cunt as his knees buckle. A whimper tears from his throat as cum spurts from his cock.
Later, when he crawls into bed, exhausted from the orgasm and the concert, his mind drifts back to the sign. How pretty their names look together like that, he thinks, smiling to himself as he drifts off into sleep.
“You want us to do what?”
Felix stares at Seonghwa across the table. His manager merely smiles and nods encouragingly. “Come on, Bokkie, you should be excited about this.” He glances conspiratorily over at where Chris is standing on the other side of the room, his arms behind his back as he scans the space—they’re at the airport, in one of the first class lounges as they wait for their flight. Chris had refused Seonghwa’s offer to join them for lunch. “Chan-ssi is exactly your type.”
Yeah, that’s the problem.
“I–” Felix shakes his head. “Does he know about this plan?”
Seonghwa purses his lips. “Not yet. I wanted you to be onboard first.”
Felix chews on his bottom lip, shooting another furtive look over at Chris. “What if he doesn’t want to do it?”
“I’ll remind him that he signed a contract with an extenuating circumstances clause,” Seonghwa says, baring his teeth in a faux-menacing grin.
Felix can’t help the delighted laugh that bubbles out of him, his head thrown back and his hand held in front of his open mouth. Seonghwa’s smile shifts to a more genuine one, and then he’s moving a piece of bacon from his plate to Felix’s.
“Hurry up and finish your food, Yongbok-ah.”
As it turns out, Chris is entirely okay with Seonghwa’s proposition—a development that startles Felix.
“Really?” He asks, eyes wide as he looks over at Chris, who shrugs.
“Sure, why not? If the company thinks it might help discourage the stalker, I’m all for it.”
Felix tries not to visibly deflate. “Right. Yeah,” he mumbles, shifting his eyes down as Seonghwa begins explaining the plan to Chris.
The plan.
It starts as soon as they land in the next city. Chris takes Felix’s bag, slinging it over his shoulder alongside his own backpack, and places his free hand on Felix’s low back. The press is waiting for them at the exit, reporters asking him questions in broken English as cameras flash over and over. Felix answers a few of them, then Chris moves his body between Felix and the crowd, ushering him to the big SUV waiting at the curb. Chris pulls open the door, hand bracing Felix as he climbs in, and then Chris slides in beside him. Seonghwa is in the car behind them with Yeosang and Jeongin, and Seungmin’s team is in the third car.
“Chris,” Felix starts, once the car is moving. “Why did you agree to this?”
Chris turns to look at him, eyes raking down before he averts them. “I told you. For your safety.”
“Why did you take this job, Chris?” Felix chews at his lip. “I thought... you should hate me.”
Chris meets his eyes. “I did,” he replies in earnest, and Felix’s stomach lurches. Chris continues, “For a long time, I did. But then, my sister recognized you on MusicBank. I watched some of your interviews and realized why you left. I was angry, but the more I saw how talented you are, how happy you’ve been… kinda made it hard to stay mad.”
Felix wants to cry. “You’ve– you’ve kept up with my career?”
“Of course, I have. Hannah is like, the biggest 4ng3l.” Chris snorts a laugh. “We’ve been to every Eth3real concert in LA.”
“No way!” Felix is shocked. “You’re a fan?”
Chris’ face softens. “Yeah, Lix. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Felix shrugs. “I was an ass. I left without saying anything.”
“You did what you felt was right.”
He says it with such casual confidence that Felix has to swallow a lump in his throat. “That doesn’t mean it actually was the right thing to do.”
Now it’s Chris’ turn to shrug. “We were kids, Lix.” He reaches his hand out, tucks a stray hair behind Felix’s ear. It makes Felix’s heart pound in his chest, eyes widening. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m still sorry,” he whispers, tilting his head into Chris’ touch when the hand splays, fingers trailing along his jaw. “I was a jerk. You deserved better.”
Chris drops his hand. “Apology accepted. Start over?”
Felix thrusts his hand forward. “Hi, I’m Felix, nice to meet you.”
Chris laughs, taking the hand. “I’m Chris, or Chan.”
“You never told me your Korean name before.” Felix scrunches his nose. “Why do you go by Chan now?”
“Ah, I think I just have more Korean friends nowadays. I put Chris on my application, but the second Seonghwa realized I was Korean–” Chris shakes his head, laughing a bit. “I keep telling him to drop the -ssi, but he said he doesn’t know me well enough to call me hyung.”
“Should I call you hyung?” Felix asks, batting his eye lashes exaggeratedly.
Chris stares at him for a second. “Yeah,” he breathes, blinking rapidly before straightening in his seat. “Actually, you should, if we’re gonna sell this.”
Felix sighs. He drops his eyes down to his hands, twisting in his lap. “Are you sure you want to do this? To pretend to date me, after…”
“Felix,” Chris murmurs, ducking his head into Felix’s field of vision. “It’s fine, okay? Water under the bridge. I promise.”
Felix nods, slumping into his seat. “Okay.” He sighs again, rubbing at his eyes, and then he recalls something. “Wait– who is Hannah’s bias?”
Chris throws his head back and laughs. “Hyunjin.”
Felix gasps. “That traitor!” Chris laughs harder. “She’s known me longer!”
“Yeah, well.” Chris wipes at his eyes, the laughter subsiding but humor still evident in his smile. “Just because I didn’t hold a grudge doesn’t mean she’s the same.”
“Oh,” Felix says, realization hitting him. “She hates me, doesn’t she?”
Chris shakes his head. “No, not at all. She might want to yell at you a little bit, though.”
“Fair. I deserve that.”
Chris sighs. “She buys the membership every year.”
Felix gasps. “What?! Oh, she’s a fan fan.” Chris laughs again, nodding. “I should send her something.”
“She’d like that,” Chris agrees. “Maybe when you go back to LA next–”
“You said you’ve gone to every LA tour date?” Chris nods. “Were you at– did you go to the start of the Unfair tour in LA?”
Chris ducks his head almost sheepishly. “We didn't. We actually had tickets for the Chicago stop.”
Felix’s eyes widen. “We hired you in Chicago.” Chan nods, and Felix furrows his brows. “Oh, no, Hannah–”
“She was still in the audience.” Chris smiles at him softly. “She brought a friend instead.”
“But you didn’t get to watch the show.”
Chris shakes his head. “I did—I just got a better view.”
Felix blushes, stammering to reply, but the car rolls to a stop and the driver tells them they’ve arrived at the hotel. There’s no real crowd waiting for them, but Chris opens the door and helps Felix out, still carrying Felix’s bag. Seonghwa sidles up to Felix and drags him to check in, and so Felix doesn’t get to say anything until fifteen minutes later when the entire group has dispersed to their rooms, spread out on the top floor of the hotel.
Seungmin begs Felix for some ‘omega cuddle time’ later as he skips down the hotel corridor to his room behind Jongho, leaving Chris and Felix alone at their doors. Chris is assigned the room right next to Felix, as he has been every stop since he was hired.
Felix turns to face him, eyes searching Chris’ face. “Can I be vulnerable for a second?”
Chris nods, eyes flicking down briefly before coming back to Felix’s. “Sure, Lix, you can trust me.”
He wets his lips. “I’m– I’m glad you’re here, that we talked. I didn’t realize how much I missed you, how much your presence calms me.”
Chris brings his hand up to Felix’s cheek, grazing the bone with the back of his knuckles and letting his fingers trail into his hair, curling over his ear. “Me too, Sunshine.”
Sunshine.
“Hey baby, do you want to do anything tonight?”
Felix glanced up, smiling when he saw Chris beaming down at him. “I want to dance.”
“Yeah?” Chris swiveled so he could sit down on the edge of Felix’s towel, bumping against Felix’s hip where he laid. “Like at a club?”
Felix nodded bashfully. “I– I’ve never been, but I think it could be fun. With you.”
Chris’ smile widened, and he leaned over to leave a soft kiss on Felix’s mouth. “We can absolutely do that. Dinner first?”
“Hmm, at your place?” Felix squinted his eyes against the sun until Chris straightened and blocked it out. “Something chill before the fun?”
“Perfect.” Chris got to his feet, dusting sand off the back of his lifeguard swimtrunks. “Gotta get back to work before Austin kills me, but I’ll see you at seven?” Chris grinned when Felix nodded, and then he winked, spinning around to jog back to the guard station.
The quiet dinner at Chris’ apartment turned out to be the perfect start to the evening as Chris pulled Felix into the densely packed club. Felix pressed himself tightly to Chris’ back, eyes roaming over everything—the crowd of people dancing, packed so close that they appeared to move as one; the pulsing lights overhead, streaking the entire club in technicolor; the DJ booth raised at the far end of the large space, stacks of speakers aimed at the crowd.
Chris had offered to buy Felix a drink, but he declined. “Just wanna dance with you.”
So Chris led him to the dance floor, nearly halfway into the crowd before he’d stopped and dragged Felix to him. “How’s this?”
Felix nodded, and Chris settled his hands onto Felix’s hips as they began to sway with the crowd, legs slotted together. Felix rested his forearms on Chris’ shoulders and closed his eyes, immersing himself in the music as his body reacted to the beat. After a couple of minutes, he opened his eyes and let his head fall back, watching the lights dance across the ceiling. “The lights are pretty,” he said, hoping it was loud enough for Chris to hear.
Chris spun him around, pulling Felix’s to his chest. Felix’s head landed on his shoulder as he leaned back into his boyfriend. “You are the most beautiful thing in this entire club, baby,” Chris murmured directly into his ear, making Felix shiver. “Can’t see past my own personal sunshine, blinding me for anyone else.”
Chris had called him sunshine every day after that.
Felix blinks out of his memories, feeling his cheeks heat up when Chris cocks his head slightly. “You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah! Just… remembering,” Felix trails off into a mumble, blushing harder as he turns to swipe the key card to the door. “I should go inside, I’m sure they’ll be bringing up our luggage any minute.”
Chris hands Felix his bag and steps back, swiping his own key card. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
Felix nods, pushing open the door. “Thanks, Chris.” He enters the room quickly, tossing his bag onto the bed and then falling face-first onto it, groaning loudly once his mouth is muffled by the soft duvet. I’m such an idiot.
Yeosang drops off his luggage a little later, forcing Felix to roll over as he sits next to him and scents him casually. “Team dinner tonight?”
Felix rests his head on Yeosang’s knee, letting the other omega play with his hair and rub his wrist into Felix’s neck. “Where?”
“We could ask San and Jongho to scope out some places. Or, I’m sure we can rent out the conference room here, get something delivered. Whatever you want, Bok-ah.”
He decides they should get food delivered.
Seonghwa knocks on his door an hour later, and when Felix steps out into the hall, Chris and Seonghwa are standing there waiting. Chris smiles at him, dimples out, and it takes everything in Felix to remain upright when his knees go weak at the sight.
Chris places his hand on Felix’s low back as they walk to the elevators and down to the conference room. Inside, the rest of the team has already arrived, the familiar buzz of chatter and laughter filling the room. Chris takes his hand off of Felix as he steps over to where San and Jongho are taking boxes of food out of bags, so Felix wanders over to take the seat next to Seungmin.
“There’s my Bokkie,” Seungmin says when Felix rests his head on the other omega’s shoulder. He feels a faint press of lips to his forehead, but when he tilts up to look, Seungmin is decidedly not looking at him.
“Cute,” Felix murmurs. He listens to the conversation Seungmin is having with Yeosang, letting his eyes close as he enjoys the close presence of his team.
Pack, his brain supplies, and Felix rolls his eyes at himself. Packs are an outdated concept.
Still, he slips into a state of contentment, not even realizing that he begins purring until the slight rumble in his chest stops suddenly when someone touches him and startles him.
“Sorry, Lix,” Chris murmurs as he leans over the chair, over Felix, setting down a plate of food on the table. “Just wanted to make sure you got your food.”
“Oh,” the vibrations in his chest kick back to life, low and unnoticeable to anyone but Felix as he blinks up at Chris. “Thank you al– Chris.”
Chris smiles at him, then runs his bottom lip between his teeth. “Any time, Sunshine.”
Seungmin kicks his shoulder up, forcing Felix’s head off with a rather aggressive bounce once Chris walks away. “What was that about?”
Felix shrugs, cheeks reddening as he picks up his chopsticks and snaps them apart. “Shut up and eat your food, Kim Seungmin.”
Seungmin lets it go, but across the table, Seonghwa is grinning wide when Felix catches his eye. Felix wants to say something about it, but then Chris is filling the empty seat beside him and Felix decides whatever Seonghwa is plotting can wait until later.
The next day, there’s a crowd in front of the hotel when Felix and the team leave for rehearsals at the venue. Chris presses close, wrapping a protective hand around Felix as he waves to his fans and the press. A little girl no older than six stands at the front of the crowd, holding a small stuffed Bbokari, so Felix stops and crouches to wave at her. The girl squeals and launches herself out of the protective hold her mom has on her shoulders, leaping forward at Felix. He catches her with both arms, stumbling back a step as he laughs, and the mother begins apologizing profusely.
“It’s okay, it’s alright,” Felix says, feeling Chris’ presence behind him as he indulges the girl in a quick hug, then pulls her back and encourages her to return to her mom. When he stands upright, Chris’ hands find his waist, gently coaxing him away from the crowd. “Bye! I’ve got to go!” He waves again and then turns toward the waiting car.
Chris’ hands don’t leave his waist until Felix enters the car, sliding into the backseat with Seonghwa. Chris shuts the door behind him after he climbs in next to Yeosang.
“That was interesting,” Seonghwa whispers in his ear. Felix turns to him, confusion evident on his face. Seonghwa glances pointedly at Chris then back to Felix. “I bet that will get the fans talking.”
“That’s the point, isn’t it?” Felix deflects, settling into the seat as the driver pulls the car into traffic.
“Yes,” Seonghwa agrees. “But the way Chan-ssi reacted there was even better than I could have imagined.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.
Felix rolls his eyes. “Sometimes, you’re worse than my mother.” Then he groans, loud enough that Yeosang and Chris both turn to look back at him. “My mother is going to call me today, isn’t she?”
Seonghwa laughs, bringing his hand up to pet down Felix’s flyaways. “Probably, yes.”
And she does. Halfway through the first stage rehearsal, his phone rings.
“Hi, eomma,” Felix says, stepping down from the stage after pausing the run through.
“Felix,” his mother already sounds exasperated. “Why am I finding out from Mrs. Shin and not my own son that Christopher is working for you?”
Felix sighs, walking over to rest against a wall. “Because I forgot to tell you.”
“You forgot to tell me that your ex boyfriend is your new bodyguard?” His mom makes a tutting noise. “Really?”
He scuffs his shoe against the floor. “Mum, it’s fine.”
“I just worry about you. I don’t want you to get hurt, baby.”
“I won’t.” Felix glances up, looking across the venue, heart skipping a beat when he finds Chris among all of the staff. Chris must sense his eyes, because he turns then, cocking his head questioningly. Felix smiles at him, giving him a thumbs up, and Chris grins back at him. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”
“Good. I love you, honey. I know you’re busy, but call me more often, yeah? And call your sisters. Rachel has big news to share.”
Felix sighs fondly. “Alright, I’ll call her on my way back to the hotel tonight.” He says goodbye to his mother and returns to the stage, ready to finish rehearsals.
When Felix gets back to his hotel room that night, his blood chills in his veins.
The entire room is a mess.
The sheets have been stripped from the bed. Felix’s luggage has been pulled from the closet, his clothes torn down from the hangers. The contents of his backpack have been overturned onto the bare mattress, everything spread out and rummaged through. His favorite compact mirror lays smashed to pieces on the ground.
Without thinking, he backs out of the room, slamming the door shut as his throat constricts. He bowls over, blinking his eyes shut forcefully as panic creeps into bones.
“Felix?” Chris’ voice cuts through, and Felix nearly jumps when Chris touches his shoulder. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
Felix straightens, looking over at Chris through the tears gathering in his lashline. “I– someone–” his chest hitches, and Felix crumples, legs giving out.
Chris catches him before he hits the floor. “Felix,” there’s concern in his tone now, and Felix curls into his chest. “You’ve gotta tell me what happened.”
“My– my room,” he whines, gulping. “S-Someone broke in– to my room.”
Chris tenses, unmoving for a moment, before he steps away from Felix’s hotel room. The door to Chris’ room is ajar, and Chris walks in, carrying Felix over and setting him on the bed. He crouches down in front of Felix as he shrugs off his zip-up hoodie, and then he’s wrapping it around Felix. “Can you stay here while I go check?”
Felix reaches out to grip Chris’ shirt, almost begging him not to go, when another voice rings out through the open door.
“Channie? Is that– Oh, Yongbokkie, what happened?” San rushes into the room, falling onto his knees beside Chris as he reaches to stroke Felix’s hair.
“He said someone broke into his room.” Chris grabs Felix’s hands, gently removing them and setting them in his own lap. “Would you wait with him while I go check it out?”
San nods. “Yeah, of course.”
Chris stands while San shifts onto the bed beside Felix, pulling him sideways into a hug. “Lix, can I have your room key?” Felix hands Chris the key card, hand trembling as he does. Chris thumbs over the back of his hand when he takes it, a reassuring gesture that has Felix shuddering. “Sannie, please let Yeosang and Seonghwa know. I’ll be right back.”
Chris squeezes his hand once more before he lets go and walks out of the room.
Felix zones out while San pulls out his phone, too focused on the hoodie Chris placed on his shoulders. He shrugs out of San’s hold so he can shove his arms into the sleeves, wrapping both sides of the zipper tightly across his body and inhaling deeply. The warm, woody vanilla of Chris’ scent hits Felix’s nose, and all remaining fear and panic drains from him.
San answers a call, standing to pace at the end of the bed, so Felix kicks his shoes off and shimmies up the bed, pulling the hood up over his hair and curling up against one of the pillows. He must drift off, because he blinks and then Seonghwa is in the room, standing near the window as he taps away at his phone. The next time Felix blinks, Yeosang has replaced Seonghwa, except he’s on a call and he’s yelling.
“No,” Felix hears Chris from somewhere behind him just as he’s about to drift, too exhausted to turn over. “He’s going to stay here with me.”
“Chan-ssi,” Seonghwa answers in a low voice. “It’s hardly appropriate for Felix—an unmated omega, your charge, no less—to stay in your room overnight.”
There’s the low sound of a growl in the room, and Felix’s skin prickles in response.
“Felix is safer with me than anywhere else,” Chris grunts, his voice rough with something Felix cannot place. “You hired me for this reason. He is my singular focus—I don’t have to manage his calendar like you do, or oversee the entire security team like Yeosang. I am his and his alone.”
Felix shuts his eyes and bites back a whimper at the growl that Chris’ words end in.
Seonghwa sighs. “He is vulnerable, hyung.”
The tension in the air seems to dissipate with the use of the honorific. “I know. And I am aware that I’ve only been part of the team for a month, but I swear to you, I would never hurt Felix. I’d rather die, Seonghwa.”
Seonghwa makes some sort of choked sound, and Felix wants to sit up, to go to both of them. “That’s– okay, no dying, how about that?”
There’s a knock on the door, and Jongho’s voice rings out. “The police are here.”
More voices fill the room as police officers file in. After a few minutes, Felix feels a hand on his forehead, pushing the hood back from where it has fallen into his eyes. “Hey, Sunshine,” Chris says, smiling down at him. “The local police are here, they need you to answer some questions.”
Felix blinks a few times, nodding. “Okay.”
Chris helps him get up, walking him over to the small table in the corner of the room. Felix sits down, bringing his knees to his chest as one of the officers sits down across from him and starts asking questions. Chris stays nearby, leaning against the wall behind Felix, for the entire thirty minutes.
Eventually, the police leave, promising to reach out to Seonghwa with any updates. San comes over with one of Felix’s suitcases, telling Felix that he gathered what he could from the drawers and the hangers that weren’t of interest to the police.
“My skincare, my toothbrush– I didn’t even go into the bathroom,” Felix says, and he watches as San and Seonghwa both wince. Chris’ mouth presses into a line. “What?”
“Most of your bathroom products were destroyed,” Seonghwa tells him. “We’ll get you new ones tomorrow.”
Felix doesn’t understand. “But–”
“Bokkie, it’s better this way.”
Something about the way Seonghwa says it makes Felix flinch. “What did he do?”
“Lix–”
“Tell me,” Felix demands, turning toward Chris when no one else says anything. Chris sighs, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He unlocks it, swipes a few times, and then turns the phone to face Felix.
The gasp tears out of him before he can stop it. The picture shows the bathroom in his hotel room, but everything is ransacked and smashed. On the mirror, written in Felix’s favorite red lipstick, are the words ‘YOU’RE MINE’ with three underlines. Chris swipes to the right, and a second picture shows the countertop where Felix’s makeup kit lays, broken eyeshadow and moisturizer smeared all over everything.
And then Felix realizes it isn’t moisturizer; one of his briefs lays across the end of the makeup bag, soaked in the same milky fluid as everything else.
“Is– is this cum?” Felix looks up at Seonghwa and Yeosang first, eyes wide with disbelief. He can feel the heat spreading across his face, blushing at such an indecent act, so he refuses to look at Chris. “What the fuck?”
Chris draws his hand back, locking his phone. “I'm sorry, Lix.”
“Send me a list,” Yeosang says, shifting the conversation. “Whatever you need replaced, Jongho and I will get it for you.”
Felix nods. “I– I think I need to take a shower.”
“Go on, there's still clean towels in my bathroom,” Chris says, and Felix walks toward it, stopping to grab the suitcase from San. Once he's alone inside the bathroom, he collapses against the door and sinks to the floor.
When he does finally manage to drag himself into the shower stall, he realizes he has to use Chris’ products. It feels so familiar, so intimate, to reach for the same shampoo Chris has been using all this time. It's a hydrating curl shampoo, one that Felix had helped him find after Chris’ sun-bleached curls had needed some help. Opening the bottle, Felix takes a sniff, whimpering when the coconut and sea salt smell hits him.
The shower takes longer than he means it to. Felix takes advantage of the circumstances, allowing himself to indulge in using each item in the shower—he even uses some of the body wash to half-heartedly tug at his cock, bemoaning his inability to actually get off. Any other time, being surrounded by Chris’ belongings and using his soaps and creams would have him dripping, but the strain of the day, compounded by the destruction of his room, just doesn’t let it happen.
After his shower, he dries off and dresses himself in some of the clothes San packed up for him. Felix pulls Chris' hoodie back on, inhaling his scent at the collar and delighting in the trace of his own cinnamon blending in now. He rifles through the skincare neatly organized on the counter, applying a moisturizer but nothing else, simply because he's too exhausted to do more.
“Hey,” Chris greets him when he walks out of the bathroom, getting up from the table. “You were in there a while.”
Everyone else is gone, it’s just Chris in the room. Felix shuffles over to the end of the bed, collapsing onto it. “Sorry.”
Chris makes a strangled noise as he rushes over. “Why are you apologizing, Felix? Oh my god, after everything you’ve been through–” He cuts himself off, sitting down beside Felix. Felix tips over, his head landing on Chris’ shoulder. Chris wraps his arm around Felix to hold him upright. “You don’t ever have to apologize to me, baby.”
Felix hums, his eyes drifting shut. The warmth of Chris’ skin comforts him, and he lets himself remember what it feels like to crawl into Chris’ lap and be cared for.
“Lix,” Chris whispers, lips brushing over his forehead. “Come on, let's get you into bed.”
“What about you?” Felix lifts his head, blinking over at Chris. “Oh my god, I'm totally putting you out,” he squawks, just realizing that Chris will have to sleep either in the bed with him or on the floor. Secretly, Felix hopes it's the first option.
“You know I don't sleep much. It's fine, I'll feel better knowing you're safe.” Chris stands up, pulling Felix to his feet and manhandling him around the bed. Felix goes without much complaint, letting himself bask in Chris’ attention. “Come on, Lix. Time to get comfortable.”
I was comfortable leaning on you, he doesn’t say. Instead, Felix climbs onto the bed, slipping under the duvet Chris holds up for him. He pulls the hood up over his damp hair, sinking down into the mattress and letting his body relax. “Fuck, I’m tired.”
“I know, sweetheart.” Chris drapes the duvet over him, tucking it in just a little and smiling down at Felix. “Get some rest.”
Chris reaches over to shut off the light next to the bed, darkening the room considerably. The large floor lamp in the corner is still lit, illuminating the table and chairs. Chris’ laptop is open, the blue light faintly reflecting off the wall. Felix watches as Chris straightens, pausing for a moment before walking back over to sit at the table in front of his laptop.
“Chris?” Felix calls softly.
Chris stops, leaning slightly toward the bed. Felix can’t really see his face now, since the light is behind him and the computer light hits his shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Chris settles back in his chair, allowing Felix to vaguely make out the smile on his face, his teeth reflecting blue. “Any time, baby.”
Felix dreams of a carnival; of running through a funhouse full of mirrors being chased by manic laughter, tumbling out into the night air into thick strong arms; of coconut scented curls and cotton-candy stained teeth.
Waking up the next morning, Felix realizes he has a problem.
He’s hard and leaking, slick drenching his thighs.
When he peels open his eyes, he’s thankful that Chris isn’t awake. He’s slumped in the small armchair near the table, one of his shirts draped over his eyes and his mouth half-open as he snores quietly. It’s almost cute.
He pulls himself free from the covers, cringing when he feels the squish between his legs. Standing up quietly, he tip-toes to the bathroom, grateful that he left his suitcase in here last night. Felix makes quick work of his clothes, stripping out of them and stepping back into the shower stall. It’s easier this time, using Chris’ body wash to pump his cock with one hand as he shoves three fingers of the other hand deep into his cunt, swallowing a moan as he fucks himself. He gets off faster than he thinks he ever has before, cum swirling down the shower drain as his legs tremble.
By the time he’s dressed again, Chris is starting to stir. The room still smells like a needy omega, but the scent of body wash rolling out of the open bathroom door does help a bit.
Felix is halfway through his list for Yeosang when Chris groans and sits up fully. “Good morning,” he says softly, biting back a smile when Chris squints at him, hair in disarray from how he’d fallen asleep in the chair.
“Hey,” Chris husks, scrubbing a hand down his face. “How’d you sleep?”
“Better than you, at least,” Felix teases, giggling when Chris scowls at him.
“It’s too early for bratting.”
“I’m not bratting!” Felix lies, indignant at being caught.
Chris nods his head once. “Uh-huh, I’m sure.” He stretches then, a yawn overtaking his face and body. Felix glances down at the exposed skin of his stomach when his shirt rides up. “How long have you been awake?”
“Not long. I took a quick wake-up shower and now I’m just writing out the list Yeosang asked for. He’s going to go buy replacements for all of my stuff.”
Chris hums in approval, standing up from the chair. “Good, I’m glad. Let me wash up and we can get you some breakfast, yeah?”
He doesn’t seem to notice his own morning wood.
“Sure,” Felix swallows, trying not to look too hard at the noticeable bulge in Chris’ pants as he walks by. He manages to focus back on his phone, finishing the list and sending the email to Yeosang, just as there’s a knock on the door.
He’s almost to the door when Chris steps out of the bathroom, blocking his path. “Wait, Lix, we don’t know who that is.”
Felix doesn’t hear any of it though, because Chris is wet and naked, nothing but the flimsy hotel towel wrapped low on his waist, water still dripping from his hair. He stares at the rippling muscle of his back as Chris looks through the small peephole, sighing in relief before flipping the security locks and opening the door.
Seonghwa’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline when he sees Chris, eyes flicking back to Felix. “Good morning,” Seonghwa says, blinking pointedly as Chris steps aside to let him in, shutting the door behind them.
“Morning. I’m gonna–” Chris points to the bathroom. “I’ll be in here.” The tips of his ears are bright red as he disappears again.
Seonghwa turns toward Felix. “Well–”
“Nothing happened, hyung.” He turns around, stomping back over to the bed.
“And that’s why it smells like slick in here?”
Felix whirls around, eyes wide. “What?!” He slaps a hand over his face. “Oh my god, this cannot be happening.”
He slumps down, staring ahead vacantly as Seonghwa sits beside him. “You didn’t sleep with him?”
Felix whips his head up, staring at Seonghwa with wild eyes. “Of course not!” He flops backward, staring up at the ceiling. “I woke up wet. I was hoping the smell had dissipated by now.”
“Maybe he didn’t notice,” Seonghwa says as he pats his knee, chuckling when Felix thumps his fists against the bed in a little tantrum. “I have scent neutralizer in my bag.”
Felix glances at him. “Are you fucking with me right now?”
“No.” Seonghwa reaches into the slouchy saddle bag slung across his shoulder. It takes him a second, but then he’s pulling out a travel-sized aerosol can of neutralizer. “Here.”
“I love you,” Felix says as he tears the can from Seonghwa’s hands, popping it open and aiming it at the room at large, arcing his arm as he sprays. “Oh, I feel calmer already.”
They begin reviewing Felix’s schedule for the day, huddling over Seonghwa’s iPad Mini and scenting each other’s wrists, when Chris emerges from the bathroom again, fully dressed. Felix looks up, meeting his eyes as Chris smiles and moves past them to sit in the chair. He begins pulling on his boots as Seonghwa nudges Felix in the shoulder.
“Alright, we should be leaving in an hour. There’s breakfast being served in the restaurant downstairs,” Seonghwa says. “I’m pretty sure Seungmin and his team are down there already.”
“You wanna go, Lix?” Chris asks, and Felix nods enthusiastically.
“Yeah, I’m hungry.” He turns to Seonghwa. “Are you going to come down with us?”
Seonghwa shakes his head. “I grabbed something quick already. I’m going to call Joongie in a few minutes, we keep missing each other’s calls and– well, I miss my husband.” Seonghwa blushes slightly, and Felix leans into him and coos.
“Aww! That’s so cute. Tell Hongjoong I say hi, and remind him that I really liked the demo he sent me.”
Seonghwa palms Felix’s face, shoving him away with a laugh. “Okay, got it. Chan-hyung, you’ll be okay to take Felix alone?”
Chris makes a face. “That’s literally my entire job, Seonghwa.”
Seonghwa giggles, conceding. “Alright, you got me there.” He presses his palm to Felix’s cheek after he stands, using it to tilt Felix’s face up. “Behave.”
“Behave?!” Felix squawks, mouth agape as Seonghwa slinks out of the room. There’s a quiet, squeaking on his other side, and when he looks, Chris is suppressing a laugh behind his hand. “What’s so funny?” he snaps.
Chris laughs harder, coughing into his fist as he clears his throat. “Nothing– who’s laughing?” Felix narrows his eyes, which makes Chris break out into a full laugh.
“Unbelievable,” Felix mutters, shaking his head. “I’m being bullied by my manager, and my personal bodyguard is laughing at it.”
Chris’ laughter dies down, a wry smile taking its place. He stands, taking two steps to reach Felix, and holds a hand out. “Breakfast?” Felix lets Chris pull him to his feet, their hands lingering as they walk out of the room. Chris finally lets him go in the elevator. “How do you feel today?”
“I feel fine, I think.” Felix tilts his head. “Why?”
Chris shrugs. “I noticed that you used a scent neutralizer in the room,” he says as he rubs the back of his neck. “I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t– wasn’t me.”
Felix notices the tips of his ears are red, so he takes a step closer to Chris. “It wasn’t you,” he affirms softly, reaching out to lay his hand on Chris’ forearm. “I love your scent, you know that.”
Now it’s Felix’s turn to blush, mouth slamming shut as he realizes what he said. Chris looks at him beseechingly, eyes scanning over Felix’s face for a moment before he smiles faintly. The elevator comes to a halt before either of them can say anything else, and then Chris is moving his arm under Felix’s hand, reaching to twine their fingers together.
“Come on, let’s get you fed.”
It begins a new routine with them. Chris touches him more, not just the casual instances on his shoulders or low back as he guides Felix places, but intentionally—grabbing Felix by the hand to lead him through crowds, soft touches to his hips to reposition him, helping Felix fix his jackets or a flyaway hair.
Felix is too indulgent to resist touching him back.
He’ll grip Chris’ bicep and huddle close, slipping his other hand into Chris’ as they walk through hotels and airports, his face half hidden by masks or Chris’ shoulders. On the flights, he doesn’t hesitate to push the dividing arm up between their seats and lean on Chris, only barely resisting the urge to push his nose into the alpha’s scent gland and breathe in deeply.
Chris makes Felix stay in his hotel rooms, too. At check-in, Felix still gets a key to his own room, but he never steps inside—instead, Chris ushers him right into the room he’s been assigned, making a fuss about Felix getting comfortable. Seonghwa at least has the forethought to switch Chris’ room to double beds, so Felix feels less guilty for disrupting Chris’ potential sleep habits.
Regardless, he falls asleep before Chris closes his laptop every night and still wakes up after him. Chris will have a hot cup of coffee waiting for Felix, along with a pastry or two, and the gesture makes Felix want to climb in his lap and kiss him stupid.
All in all, the sleeping (and waking and bathing and eating) arrangements have Felix feeling particularly crazed, delusional even, once they’re compounded with the way Chris treats him.
“Lix, I brought you some water.” “Hey, they had your favorite chips.” “You should shower first, you worked hard today.”
It has Felix’s little omegan heart beating just a little too fast every day.
“I want to climb that man like a tree.”
Beside Felix, Seungmin makes a gagging noise. “You’re literally here for me, can you please focus?”
Felix gives him a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Seung.” He wiggles closer, pulling his fellow omega in. “Are you going to be able to make it through this time?”
Seungmin nods, nuzzling into Felix’s neck. “Yeah, Innie’s going to help. Between that and my birth control, my heat should only last a day.” Seungmin’s tongue darts out to lick Felix’s scent gland, and Felix giggles when it tickles. “The pre-heat is worse, honestly.”
“All the cuddling?” Felix teases, and Seungmin gags again. Felix throws his head back to laugh. He gets a swat to his chest for it.
Luckily, when he returns to his own bed a few hours later, Chris isn’t in the room. He’d gotten a text thirty minutes before, letting him know that Chris was going to work out with San and Jongho, so Felix made sure he didn’t linger in the hallway and peered anxiously into the room to confirm that it was empty and intact before walking in.
He collapses on the bed, exhausted from travel and the past few weeks in general. He doesn’t even realize he falls asleep until Chris returns from the gym, the heavy hotel door slamming shut and pulling Felix from his slumber.
“Felix?” Chris asks. It sounds—wrong.
“Yeah?” He pushes up to his elbows, blinking as he looks over his shoulder at Chris, frozen near the door with wide eyes. “Chris?”
“Uh–” Chris chokes, clearing his throat. “Are you– are you going into heat?”
“No?” Realization strikes Felix suddenly, the urge to smack himself in the forehead growing strong. “Seungminnie is, though.”
“Oh. Hm, well– Ah. You smell like—like heat.”
Unbidden, memories flash before his eyes. Felix spent a heat with Chris once, back in Sydney. He can almost remember exactly how Chris’ knot felt and– he shakes the thought away before it can consume him.
“Oh. I can– I can shower.” Felix pushes up all the way, getting to his feet faster than he means to. He stumbles toward the bathroom—past Chris, who takes a sharp breath in. “Sorry, shit.” Felix locks the door behind himself, pressing his hand to his chest, heart thumping wildly below it.
After his shower, he walks out of the bathroom in his towel, slowly shuffling over to the closet to grab clean clothes. Chris is out on the balcony, sitting in the deck chair and leaning over his phone, so Felix relaxes and picks the clothes he wants. Chris’ luggage is open beside his, and right at the top, there’s a plain black t-shirt, so Felix steals it and pulls it on.
Once he’s dressed, he steps over to the balcony doors.
Chris glances back at him when it slides open. “Lix–”
“It’s fine,” Felix cuts him off when Chris immediately starts to speak. “I wasn’t thinking, I’m sorry.”
Chris sighs, slumping back in his chair. “You have nothing to apologize for.” He rubs his eyes. “I shouldn’t have reacted like that.”
Felix reaches out and pulls Chris’ hand away. “It’s okay, I’m not– I’m not upset.” Tentatively, he releases Chris’ wrist and instead combs his fingers through Chris’ still-matted bangs. “I just wanted to tell you that the shower is free now. I’m going to go to bed.”
Chris looks up at him, something unrecognizable on his face. He leans into the touch Felix provides, and when Felix’s hand falls away, Chris stands slowly.
“Come on, little one, time for bed.”
Felix settles in the sheets as the shower starts, expecting to fall asleep quickly, but it doesn’t happen. His skin itches, a curling ache in his teeth making him whimper. By the time Chris emerges from the bathroom later, Felix is whimpering softly in pain.
“Hey, Lix– baby, what’s wrong?”
Felix reaches out, gripping Chris’ waist and pulling himself closer to the alpha. His head lands on Chris’ thigh, and a hand comes down to pet over his hair. “I dunno.”
Chris flattens his hand to Felix’s forehead and sighs. “You’re not feverish, and you don’t smell of heat anymore. You actually don’t smell much like anything right now.”
Felix whines, and Chris grips his shoulders. “Will you– Chris, will you scent me?”
Chris doesn’t gasp, but it’s a near thing. “What?” he asks shakily.
“Just– can we cuddle? And you can scent me? I think—I think maybe washing off Seungmin’s scent did something… please, hyung.”
Chris grips him by the shoulders. “Are you sure you’re not near your heat?”
“No, I had mine a few weeks before the tour started, ‘m fine for a few more months,” Felix says. Chris relaxes, fingers toying with Felix’s hair for a few moments.
“Come on,” he says, pulling Felix up to a seated position by the armpits and then sliding under the covers with him. Felix lets Chris lay down first, then ducks down between Chris’ spread arms to lay his head on his chest—a mimicry of how Seungmin had laid on Felix earlier.
Once he’s comfortable, Chris reaches for his wrist and gently brings his to it, rubbing them together slowly. Felix thinks he whines, but soft lips press to his forehead, and then he’s out like a light.
Someone catches them backstage, a picture of Chris’ thumb on Felix’s cheek and a smile on his face.
BREAKING - ETH3REAL’S FELIX LEE INTIMATE MOMENT WITH BODYGUARD CHAN [PICTURES]
In a series of photos captured by an anonymous reader, we can see Felix Lee (Eth3real, Soloist) smiling fondly at his newest bodyguard, who we only know as ‘Chan’ from a recent candid moment outside of the star’s hotel in Madrid.
Chan seemed to join Lee’s security team somewhere in the States, and he’s been shaking up the fandom. Some 4ng3ls [Eth3real’s fan name, the four and three symbolizing ‘love’ and ‘you,’ in addition to the three referencing the stylization of the pop trio’s name] began shipping the star and his bodyguard immediately, saying that their chemistry is "palpable."
There have been multiple instances of the security employee physically handling Lee for his protection, increasing in intensity and intimacy, leading to more fans suspecting that the two may be growing closer than their professional relationship dictates.
Now, with these new photos, we wonder if those fans might be on to something. Check it out below, and tell us what you think: Is ChanLix real?
Written by B.Spear, August 1, 2025
Felix chews his thumb, sliding the iPad back to Seonghwa. “This is good, though—right?”
Seonghwa nods, a warm smile on his face. “This is great, exactly what we wanted.”
Felix glances over at where Chris is pacing outside of the restaurant, staring down at his boots while he listens to whatever the person on the other side of his phone call is saying. “Seonghwa, I think I’m actually crushing on him,” Felix admits.
“Are you just now realizing that, Bok-ah?”
Felix glares at his manager, rolling his eyes when Seonghwa giggles. “I'm going to bite you.”
Seonghwa laughs harder.
“Hyung, I have to tell you something.” Felix bites his lip as Seonghwa’s laughter trails off. He lets Seonghwa reach across the table to grab his hand.
“You can tell me anything, honey.” His thumb grazes the back of Felix's hand. “I'm your friend first, manager second.”
“I know,” Felix nods, casting one last glance out the window at Chris, who speaks animatedly into his phone now. “I wasn't entirely honest with you when we hired Chan.”
Seonghwa’s eyebrows raise. “About what?”
It takes Felix a moment, but then he says it. “He's my ex-boyfriend.”
To Seonghwa’s credit, he takes the news in stride. “Oh.”
Felix’s voice breaks a little when he says, “Do you remember when I told you that I was in love once?”
Seonghwa nods slowly, head turning as he looks out of the window. When his eyes return to Felix, there's sadness in them. “Oh, Yongbokkie.” He stands up, skirting around the table to fill the vacant seat next to Felix, pulling him in for a hug that makes Felix want to cry. “What happened?”
So Felix tells him, recounting how he met Chris and fell in love, the time they spent together, and then how Felix left. “I’m so– I was so terrible to him, and he forgave me.” He wipes away tears he doesn’t remember spilling. “And now, being around him like this, I think– hyung, I don’t think I ever stopped loving him.”
“My poor Bokkie,” Seonghwa coos, smoothing down his hair, tucking it behind Felix’s ear in a familiar fond gesture. “I think it’s possible he never stopped loving you either.”
Felix follows Seonghwa’s eyes to the window. At that moment, Chris turns around, catching his eye. Chris’ eyes widen, and he says something before hanging up his call, quickly walking toward the door to the restaurant. He’s inside and falling to his knees in front of Felix in an instant. “What happened, Lix? What– who do I have to kill?”
Seonghwa makes a little noise as Felix shakes his head, sniffling. “No one.”
Chris rests his hand on Felix’s forearm, giving it a small squeeze. “Then why–”
“I told Seonghwa,” Felix says, licking his lips nervously. “About us—our history.”
Chris’ head snaps back slightly, and he looks over at Seonghwa. “I’m sorry, Seonghwa-ssi. I can resign–”
Felix squawks indignantly as Seonghwa cuts Chris off. “That will not be necessary, hyung.” He smiles, squeezing Felix’s shoulder. “You’re still perfect for this job. No one is better suited for our Yongbokkie.”
Felix squawks again, blushing and shoving Seonghwa away as his manager laughs. “Hyung!” He hides his face in his hands as Chris joins Seonghwa in laughing softly. “Oh my god, I hate you both.”
“No, you don’t.” Seonghwa’s tone is fond, and Felix grumbles some more. “I’m glad you told me. After that article, it’s possible that someone will dig up your history.”
Felix drops his hands, braving a look at Chris, before addressing Seonghwa. “That’s why I figured I needed to fess up. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“It’s fine, Yongbok-ah.” Seonghwa pats his head as he stands, reaching across the table to grab his phone. “I’m going to make a few calls and take care of the bill. I’ll be right back.” He disappears, and Chris slips back into his seat on the other side of Felix.
“Lix,” Chris murmurs, his fingers twisting a few strands of Felix’s hair.
Felix turns to face him fully, nerves and fear and an urge to puke probably evident on his face as he asks, “Are you upset with me?”
“Upset? Sweetheart, why would I be upset with you?”
Felix shrugs, looking down at his hands, picking at his cuticles. “I could have asked you how you felt about telling the team.”
Chris shakes his head. “It’s not my career on the line, baby.” Felix’s breath hitches at the familiar pet name. “I don’t– I don’t care about anyone but you, okay?”
Felix leans into the touch when Chris runs his hand through Felix’s hair, thumb grazing his cheekbone. “I’m so scared,” Felix admits in a whisper.
“Why?”
He closes his eyes, tilts further into Chris’ hand. “I thought I was over it—over you.” He sighs, imagining a sharp inhale in front of his closed eyes. “But the more time I spend with you, the more I don’t think that’s true.”
“Felix,” Chris says softly, and for a moment, Felix fears the worst—he’s crossed the line, dredged up the past and stepped all over his second chance to know Chris. “Baby, look at me.”
He opens his eyes slowly, gasping when he sees Chris leaning toward him, his eyes glittering.
“I fucking love you.”
It knocks Felix’s breath from his chest, and Chris continues. “I love you so much. I’ve never stopped,” he breathes, eyes flickering between both of Felix’s own. “You’ve owned me, body and soul, since I met you at the beach that day.”
“Chris,” Felix whimpers, tears swarming his vision. “I... fuck you for doing this in public!”
Chris barks out a startled laugh, wrapping his arms around Felix and pulling him close. He presses a kiss to Felix’s temple as Felix tucks his face into Chris’ neck. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs into Felix’s hair, humming when Felix noses at his scent gland. “We should probably head back to the hotel now, huh?”
Felix nods, inhaling the smoky tobacco of Chan’s scent deeply before pulling away. He turns to look for Seonghwa, finding him talking to their waitress near the kitchen. After a minute, Seonghwa bows slightly, then turns to walk back to their table. “Hey, everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Chris says, rubbing Felix’s back. “I just think we should get Lix back to the hotel.”
Seonghwa nods. “Okay, come on. I’ve already paid our bill.”
By the time they make it back, Seonghwa drops them off at Chris’ room with a knowing smile and a wink behind Chris’ back. “Enjoy the rest of your day off, Bokkie. Call me if you need anything!”
Felix gives him a playful shove, then lets Chris steer him into the room.
He’s pinned to the inside of the door faster than he can blink.
“Baby,” Chris says, nosing along Felix’s jaw. Felix’s arms curl around his neck, angling his head to give Chris more space. “Lix, please, God– tell me I can have you again.”
“Yes, yes, Chris, please.” He fists Chris’ hair, tugging his head up and looking down at his perfect mouth. “I’m yours, alpha, I always have been.”
Felix’s knees buckle when Chris kisses him, grateful to be held up by Chris’ hands and the door at his back. He moans into it, immediately opening his lips and seeking the familiar taste of Chris. Their tongues meet as Chris does the same, and Felix nearly cries. It’s everything he’s missed—the warmth, the soft vanilla, the way Chris flicks his tongue up and presses it behind Felix’s teeth possessively.
“Chris,” Felix whines when Chris pulls away to kiss his way down Felix’s throat. His teeth graze the raised skin over Felix’s scent gland, and Felix feels himself slick up. “Alpha,” he moans, eyes rolling back when Chris’ chest rumbles in response.
“Want you so bad,” Chris growls, sinking his teeth into the skin of Felix’s collarbone, not hard enough to break skin, but enough that Felix cries out, his hips bucking upward unconsciously.
“I'm yours, baby. Take me,” Felix gasps, hands scrabbling at Chris’ shoulders when he’s hoisted up into his arms and carried to the bed. “Oh my god.”
Chris lays him down gently, backing up to drop to his knees and grab Felix’s foot as he begins the process of untying and removing the shoe, taking the sock off before switching to the other foot. When Chris looks back up at Felix, his eyes are ringed in red, and Felix reaches down to cradle his cheek.
“Alpha,” he whispers, heart somersaulting when Chris closes his eyes and nuzzles into Felix’s touch. “You gonna make me feel good?”
Chris nods, and when his eyes open, the red has intensified. It makes Felix’s blood sing.
“Lix,” Chris rasps, hands reaching up to grip Felix’s waist. “Lay back for me.”
Felix complies, falling backward onto his elbows as Chris hooks his fingers and tugs his pants down. Chris exhales slowly, eyes raking up Felix’s legs and settling between them. He runs his hands from Felix’s knees to the tops of his thighs, stopping just before reaching his hips.
“Can I touch you?” Chris asks.
“Yes, you can– please, Chris, need you.”
Felix watches as Chris dips down slowly, pressing his lips to the tender skin of Felix’s inner thigh. His eyes flutter closed, and he pauses for a couple seconds before shifting his position, trailing soft kisses up toward Felix’s groin. Chris inhales deeply once he’s close to the juncture of Felix’s hip, nuzzling at the scent gland there, a broken moan tumbling out of him before he pushes back.
“Want to show you,” he murmurs, dragging his eyes up to meet Felix’s, “how much I love you, how much I’ve missed you.”
Felix trembles when Chris wraps his hand around Felix’s cock, gasping as Chris’ thumb smears the precum dribbling out of him. The touch is gentle, Chris stroking him slowly, and Felix lets himself fall back fully when his elbows give out. “Oh. Feels good, hyung.”
Chris doesn’t increase the pace, but his lips return to Felix’s skin, kissing up the other thigh just as slow as he had done previously. At the apex, however, he doesn’t stop, kissing across Felix’s skin until his lips graze the base of Felix’s cock. Felix gasps, a faint whine coming out of him when Chris opens his hand, dragging kisses up the side of Felix’s entire cock until he reaches the head. He hovers there, plush lips molded to the leaking tip, and Felix opens eyes he hadn’t realized he’d closed to look down at him.
Chris holds his gaze as he opens his mouth, wet lips gliding over the heated skin as he sinks down on Felix’s cock at an agonizingly slow pace.
“Oh my fucking god,” Felix groans, hands fisting in the sheets as his eyes roll backward. Chris hums in response, which makes Felix’s hips buck, and then there’s an arm laid across his waist to keep him still.
He can feel the slick gushing out of him.
“Chris–”
As if he can read Felix’s mind, Chris’ other hand squeezes his thigh, and then Felix can feel the graze of fingertips along his seam. It’s a gentle touch, followed by another, and then one more, each one firmer and more purposeful than the previous. Felix groans, low and long, when Chris finally sinks a finger into his sopping cunt. Chris swallows around Felix’s cock and curls his finger up simultaneously, the dual sensation sending tingles across every inch of Felix’s skin.
“Alpha,” Felix gasps, eyes rolling back when Chris bobs his head. On the withdrawal, he opens his mouth wide and licks a broad stripe over the tip, pointing his tongue to press it against the frenulum before sealing his mouth around it again. He sucks Felix down, tongue pressing firm each time his head backs up to the tip. Felix whines as Chris sets a rhythm, slow but intentional. A second finger bullies into Felix, and then a third not long after, every thrust of Chris’ fingers squelching in. Felix’s head kicks back, neck pushing up as if to meet the intoxicating scent of Chris’ arousal slowly filling the room. He chokes on tobacco smoke and spice, pussy pulsating as Chris pushes his fingertips into the tenderness of his g-spot, and then Felix is crying out as his orgasm runs him through.
Stars explode behind his eyelids, throat constricting as his entire body spasms. Chris sinks his mouth down, nose pressed against Felix’s pubic bone, throat tightening around his cock and coaxing forward every drop of cum.
Just as Felix is relaxing, coming down from the pleasure high, Chris pulls off of his cock and shifts back, angling his hand to drive his fingers deeper into Felix’s pussy. “Come on, pretty baby, you can give me another,” he croons, grunting in approval when Felix moans.
Felix’s thighs tremble, attempting to close, but Chris knocks them open wide again with his shoulders, bending down to bite the skin there. He works his fingers faster this time, fucking in and out at a brutal pace that has Felix struggling to speak, to breathe—gasping greedy lungfuls of air and then hitching to a stop until the lack of oxygen has the cycle repeating.
“Chris–” he finally manages, moaning around his alpha’s name as Chris scrapes his teeth up, dragging his mouth to suck harshly at the scent gland in Felix’s upper thigh.
“You smell so good, omega,” Chris sighs, tongue darting out to lick the skin. “Wish I could bite you, claim you.”
Felix keens, clenching down around Chris’ fingers so hard that Chris swears. “Do it,” Felix chokes, one of his hands flying to tangle in Chris’ hair and push his mouth further into Felix’s skin. “Mate me, baby—right there.”
Chris’ neck stiffens, as if trying to fight back, so Felix props up onto his other elbow, growling faintly until Chris’ eyes dart to his.
They’re bright red.
“Bite me, Alpha,” Felix demands, posturing as much as he can until a whimper escapes him, and he adds, “please.”
Chris curls his fingers then, and Felix’s head falls back, eyes closing so he doesn’t see it, but he does feel when Chris sinks his teeth into his thigh. Felix cries out, pain lancing through him as Chris’ teeth puncture the skin just as he presses hard against Felix’s g-spot again.
What feels like a million things to Felix happens all at once: Felix goes lax, slumping to the bed and releasing Chris’ hair; his second orgasm floods his body, slick pouring from him in excess; Chris moans into his skin, into the bite, which sends heat blooming through his body; most importantly, though, is the way Chris threads into his mind, a glittering presence weaving into the fiber of his being as the bond takes hold in him.
Felix feels lighter than air, floating weightlessly in his happiness.
“-lix, baby,” Chris murmurs, voice rich and warm in Felix’s ear. “Sweetheart.”
“Mm,” Felix tries to answer, but his tongue feels too big for his mouth.
Chris sighs, breath heavy on Felix’s neck. “God, you scared me,” he mumbles, lips pressing up under Felix’s jaw. “You’ve been unresponsive for a few minutes.”
“S’rry,” Felix slurs, slowly blinking his eyes open. He moves his head, and Chris pulls away to look down at him. “Hi,” Felix manages, and then Chris’ face splits in a beautiful grin.
“Hi,” he whispers back. There’s a smear of blood in the corner of his mouth, but his eyes are clear, back to their normal chocolate brown. He’s so handsome, his dimpled cheeks pushing his lower lids up, eyes creasing in the corners with his joy. Felix’s heart constricts, realizing he’ll get to spend forever with Chris now that they’re mated.
Mated.
A burning ache spears through him. “Alpha,” Felix gasps, clutching at Chris. “Need– fuck, need your knot.”
Chris makes a noise, shifting off of Felix to stand up, making quick work of his clothing. “Shit, I forgot,” he says, probably more to himself than to Felix. When he unzips his pants and pushes them off with his underwear, Felix moans at the sight.
Fuck, it’s been too long since he’s seen Chris’ perfect cock.
“Well, whose fault is that?” Chris asks playfully, apparently in response to Felix. Felix starts to reply, but then Chris is climbing back onto the bed and lifting Felix’s legs over his thighs, settling between them. He pauses suddenly, glancing up at Felix with wide eyes. “Are you on birth control?”
He isn’t.
“No,” he shakes his head. “Not since I was a trainee—had a bad reaction, so the doctors took me off.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.” Chris sucks his teeth. “I don’t– I don’t have any condoms.”
Felix shakes his head. “It’s okay, I’m not in heat, the odds are so low right now. Just fuck me, baby, it’s fine.”
It must be enough for Chris, for he shuffles forward and grips his cock by the base. “You ready?”
“Yes, god, so ready.”
Chris presses the head to Felix’s cunt and pushes in slowly, aided by the excessive slick coating Felix’s skin. Felix gasps when he’s breached, centimeter by torturous centimeter, reaching for Chris and squeezing his hands around his alpha’s biceps. “Felix,” Chris rasps, falling forward when Felix pulls him close, hands on either side of Felix’s head. “Baby, fuck– you feel incredible.”
“So do you,” Felix whines, eyes fluttering closed as Chris bottoms out. He feels so deliciously content, full in ways he hasn’t been in years. “Missed this, missed you so bad.”
Chris groans, shifting his knees wider. The movement knocks Felix’s thighs higher, and he feels the sting of Chris’ mark—still open—press against Chris’ hip. “You– god. Nothing could ever feel better than this, no one else compares.” He slowly pulls his hips back, rocking forward in a fluid motion that has Felix whimpering.
“No one– there was no one, no other alphas,” Felix mewls, gasping when Chris slams into him suddenly.
“Christ, Lix–”
“I mean it,” he says, moving his hands to curl under Chris’ arms, around his back. His fingers splay wide over the muscle, feeling it ripple with every roll of Chris’ hips. “I never– a couple betas or other omegas for heats here and there, but never alphas.”
“Baby,” Chris moans, dropping down to his elbows, caging Felix’s head. “There hasn’t been– I haven’t dated anyone. Just some meaningless sex, but I always thought of you.”
Felix slides his hands up to pull Chris closer, flattening him as he kisses his alpha. Chris fucks him steadily, licking into his mouth and sucking on Felix’s tongue when he gasps and whimpers.
“I’m not gonna last long,” Chris warns when he pulls back. Felix shakes his head, mouth dropping open as his eyes fall shut.
“It’s okay,” he mumbles, “I’m close, too.”
Chris flattens one hand to the bed, angling his chest up so that he can look down at Felix better. “You’ve got to bite me back, Lix.” He grunts with a particularly hard thrust, groaning when Felix clenches. “Where do you want to bite me? The neck?”
Felix shakes his head. “Not yet,” he slurs, “want to keep this secret—just for us right now.”
Chris moans, hips faltering. “Yeah? Will we do a public mating later, then?” Felix nods, and Chris adds, “For our friends and family?”
“Yes, please– want that.”
“How about my wrist, yeah?” He moves then, getting his arm turned so he can angle his left wrist in front of Felix’s mouth. “Just gotta open your mouth now.”
Felix’s lips smash into the skin, tongue pushing between them to flatten against the skin. Spicy vanilla blooms on his tastebuds.
“Come on baby, bite me back.” Felix forces his jaw open, and Chris pushes his wrist between his teeth. Chris growls. “Do it now, omega. Complete the bond.”
His alpha commands it, and so Felix does. His teeth bear down, and Chris hisses. It doesn’t break the skin, though—not immediately. Chris’ pace stutters, and then Felix is jostled just so that Chris’ cock punches right into his g-spot.
His jaw snaps shut from the force of his orgasm, the metallic tang of blood filling his senses. Suddenly, he’s freefalling, every synapse on overdrive as golden warmth encapsulates him. Felix hears Chris howl, a loud rumble from his chest as his knot buries in Felix and expands beyond capacity.
He’s never been so full, both physically and not, mentally and spiritually. Felix can feel Chris—his body tensing around Felix, sweat-damp forehead pressed to Felix’s neck; his knot locked inside of Felix, pumping out wave after wave of cum; his presence in Felix’s mind, the muted hum of delight and fondness and love that brings tears to Felix’s eyes.
“I love you,” Felix gasps, reaching to pull Chris’ face up as the tears fall. “God, I love you so much. What– Chris,” he whines, pressing his lips to Chris’ mouth.
Chris kisses him back just as fervently, hands squeezing Felix. “Lix,” he gasps between kisses, voice wet and ragged. “I love you. I fucking love you, don’t ever– you can’t ever leave me again.”
Felix chokes on a sob, opening his eyes to see the tears running down Chris’ face. He smears them away as he shakes his head. “I won’t, never ever– you’re mine, Chris. My alpha, my mate.” He leans up, kissing each of Chris’ cheeks and then over his eyes and nose and mouth. “Mine.”
Seonghwa takes the news better than Felix expects him to.
“Well,” he says with his brows raised, picking up his coffee. “That is certainly not what I expected to hear at seven a.m.”
Chris ducks his head, rubbing at his reddened ear. The bandage around his wrist draws Seonghwa’s attention.
“Thank you for not marking your necks, at least,” he sighs, but there’s a smile playing at the edges of his mouth. Felix giggles, and Seonghwa turns his eyes to him. “Where is yours?”
“My thigh,” Felix replies, tilting his head to rest it on Chris’ shoulder. Some of the tension there bleeds out as it drops under Felix’s head.
“Okay,” Seonghwa nods. “That’s actually perfect. No reason any of the stylists should ever have to see it. So, as long as Chan-ah keeps his mark hidden, it should be easy to prevent the public from finding out.”
“Thank you, Hwa,” Felix says, reaching to thread his hand into Chris’ and pulling it to his lap. “I know I don’t make your job easy, but I really would be lost without you.”
Seonghwa smiles, wide and beaming. “I know.” He sips more of his coffee, then tilts his head. “Hongjoong is going to be so excited for you, you know. He’s been worried about you, and everything he knows about Channie is enough for him to approve. I imagine he’ll be blowing up your phone once I tell him.”
Sure enough, later that day when they’re on the way to the venue, Hongjoong calls Felix. “Ah, Lixie-yah, I hear congratulations are in order.”
Felix giggles, glancing over at Chris. “Thank you, hyung. You’re gonna love him when you meet him.” Chris turns to smile at Felix, dimple peeking out when Felix winks at him.
“If he’s anything like Seonghwa claims, I’m sure I will. As long as he understands that I’m going to be very attentive to how he treats you.”
Felix rolls his eyes fondly. “Yes, dad,” he teases, giggling some more when Hongjoong scoffs. “I know you’re just protective of me.”
“Exactly, you’re my little star. You can’t blame me for caring.”
“Is that all I am to you, a paycheck?” Felix asks cheekily.
“Yah!”
Felix laughs harder, teasing Hongjoong for a few more minutes until the car arrives at the venue. “I’ve got to go now, Joong, but we’ll be in Korea in a few weeks for the last show.”
“Can’t wait to see you. Miss you! Give my love to everyone else, yeah?”
As they walk through the parking lot, Chris puts a hand on Felix’s low back. “You’re closer with Seonghwa and his mate than I realized.”
“They’re my parent-friends. They’ve been together basically forever, and they tend to take on a mom-and-dad role for most of their friends,” Felix explains. “It’s nice, knowing that I have that kind of unconditional support so far away from my family.”
Chris stares at him for a few moments—long enough that Felix considers apologizing for his words—and then he smiles. “I’m so glad that you do,” he murmurs, the hand on Felix’s back rubbing a small circle. “I’ve heard horror stories about the industry in Korea, and I worried about you for a long time.”
Felix wants to wrap himself up in his alpha’s arms, but unfortunately they’re approaching the door. Chris yanks it open, holding it for Felix, and then Felix gets pulled immediately into rehearsal.
They don’t get a chance to really talk until the car ride back to the hotel, but Felix is so drained that he slumps against Chris as Seonghwa and Yeosang chatter in the row before them.
“Baby,” Chris whispers in his ear a short time later, “wake up, we’re at the hotel.”
Felix sits upright, then lets Chris help him out of the van. They make it to the elevators and up to their floor before Chris stops and scoops Felix into his arms.
“Sleepy Lixie,” Yeosang says, reaching over to finger-comb his hair. “You worked hard today.”
Felix grumbles softly against Chris’ shoulder, and Yeosang rubs his eyebrow. “Just three more shows, then we’ll be back in Seoul.”
“Two shows in Seoul, though,” Seonghwa adds, and Yeosang sighs.
“Alright, five more shows, and then you’ll have a whole month off.”
“Really? A whole month?” Felix asks, picking up his head to look at Seonghwa.
“Yeah. I mean, you’ve got a couple of photoshoots and one radio interview, but we can move those around if necessary.”
He glances at Chris, who has stopped the whole group in front of the door to his room—their room, technically. Felix hasn’t been allowed to stay in his assigned hotel room since the stalker broke into the one he’d been in over a week ago.
“Can we take a trip?” Felix asks Chris.
“Sure, baby,” Chris replies easily. “Where to?”
“Home,” he answers. “I want to go back to Sydney.”
Chris’ face lights up immediately. “I would love that.”
“I can look for flights.” Seonghwa pulls out his phone. “Do you need accommodations, or would you stay with family?”
“A rental please. I don’t think my eomma would appreciate the frequency in which I want to be stuck on Chris’ knot.”
“Felix!”
The other omegas giggle, despite Chris’ chastizing, and then they’re saying goodnight, allowing Chris to carry Felix inside the room. He sets him down, crowding him to the wall next to the bathroom door. “You’re such a menace.”
“You love it,” Felix replies breathily.
Chris doesn’t say anything, merely kisses him hard. Felix’s knees go weak, his arms wrapping around his alpha’s neck as Chris devours him.
“How do you feel?” Chris asks, dragging his mouth away to kiss up Felix’s jaw. “Are you sore? You took my knot twice last night and then had a full day of rehearsal.”
“I’m fine, alpha,” Felix tells him earnestly, his head falling back against the wall. “I can take it again, please—want you.”
Chris groans, pulling Felix off the wall and then walking him backward into the bathroom. He guides Felix to sit on the closed toilet, then steps over to turn on the shower. “Is it okay in here?”
Felix’s brows raise. “You want to knot me in the shower?”
Chris shrugs. “I can carry you to bed when we’re tied.”
Felix’s dick twitches and he licks his lips. “Yes, please.”
With a laugh, Chris strips out of his clothes and helps Felix out of his. “Come on, gorgeous,” he says, kissing Felix’s cheek. “Wash up first, then the fun stuff.”
He pouts a little, but Felix steps under the water and immediately slumps into it. “Oh, god. Perfect temperature.”
“I remember,” Chris says, stepping in behind Felix with a hiss. “One degree below scalding.”
Felix flicks his hand back and swats Chris’ thigh, which makes Chris squeak.
“Hey!”
Felix gets a slap on the ass in return. He laughs, tipping his head back and falling against Chris’ chest, humming when Chris wraps his arms around him and kisses his temple.
“Love you,” Felix murmurs, angling his face to see Chris’. He catches the smile, watches the way those perfect lips move when Chris returns the sentiment.
“Love you, angel.”
Chris helps him wash up, scrubbing Felix’s shampoo over his scalp, rinsing the conditioner out, even helping him with his face cleanser. Once he’s done, he leans against the tile and watches as Chris meticulously cleans himself.
Then, he gets a face full of hot naked alpha grinning at him. “Hi,” Felix says airily.
Chris’ smile widens, his dimple deepening. “Hi.” He pins Felix to the wall, hands on his hips when he asks, “still want that knot?”
Felix nods, tilting his hips as he lifts one of his legs up and hooks it around Chris’ waist. Chris catches it, using the hold to rub their cocks together. “Come on, Alpha, we’ve still got like five years of knots to catch up on.”
Chris swears, shifting so he can line up and slide right into Felix. They both groan, and Felix lets Chris pick up his other leg, wrapping them tightly around his waist as Chris fucks up into his tight heat.
“Lix, baby,” Chris says, reaching to pull him into a filthy kiss. Felix’s back slides across the wet tiles with every thrust, and Chris has to readjust, but then Felix is clenching around him in pleasure as Chris makes him cum on his cock. The knot blows a few minutes later, and Felix cries out when Chris reaches between them to pump Felix to completion for his second orgasm.
True to his word, Chris rinses them off in the warm water and then carries Felix to the sink, where he carefully sets him down and lets his mate walk him through helping Felix with his skincare routine. They dry off as best as they can while they’re still tied together, and then Chris gets them comfortable in bed, playing with the ends of Felix’s hair as Felix tries not to drift off on his chest.
“Go to sleep, my love,” Chris whispers, kissing his cheek.
“Wanna spend time with you,” Felix grumbles.
Chris huffs a small laugh, kissing his cheek again, then once more. “We’ve got the rest of our lives, baby. You’re exhausted, and you still have a show tomorrow. Get some rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Felix wants to fight it, but the way Chris’ chest rumbles underneath him and the hand running through his hair feels, he simply cannot resist the pull of slumber.
The last stop on the tour is Seoul.
It was an uncommon move in their industry to start the tour overseas, but Felix has always been a little unconventional.
He’s thrilled to be returning home, ready to see his friends, to introduce them to Chris, and to sleep in his own bed.
An arm throws over his shoulder, and Felix turns to see Seungmin’s face. “We did it, Bok-ah.” He pumps his other hand into a fist as he grins. “We survived the tour!”
Felix laughs, shrugging out from Seungmin’s arm as he watches Chris retrieve their luggage. “Yah! We still have the shows here in Seoul.”
“Yeah, but this is like– home turf. And we have a few days. Meanwhile, I’m going to see my parents and ask for some homemade kimchi jjigae.” He tugs playfully at a strand of Felix’s hair. “What about you?”
“I’m going to see Minho and Hyunjin first, and then everything else after.”
“I bet you’ve missed them,” Seungmin says, and Felix nods.
“I’ve never toured without them before.” He gives Seungmin a smile. “You’ve been my saving grace this tour, I wouldn’t have survived without you.”
Seungmin nudges his shoulder. “You don’t have to placate me, Felix. I know we’re good friends, but I also know Minho and Hyunjin are your brothers.”
Joy lights him up from the inside when Felix says, “Yeah, exactly.”
By the time the rides arrive, Felix and Seungmin have already hugged and said their goodbyes, and Felix watches Seungmin exit the terminal past the crowd of fans and reporters. Jeongin opens the van door for him, and then they disappear as the crowd closes in behind San and Jongho.
“Who is that?” Chris asks, watching someone get out of the passenger seat to pull San in for a hug.
“That’s Wooyoung, he’s on our team but he had a new diagnosis when the tour started so he had to sit this one out,” Seonghwa says.
“He’s also San’s mate,” Yeosang adds when Wooyoung kisses San in full view of the fans. “And my stupid best friend.”
“We’re a big family,” Felix reminds Chris, smiling at him even though his fingers itch to touch his mate.
“That’s us,” Yeosang says when the next van pulls up. “Let’s go.”
Then they are walking out of the terminal, past the fans and reporters. It isn’t a super large crowd, for which Felix is grateful for, and he waves at the fans and answers a few of the questions. “Yes, the tour was so much fun, but I’m happy to be home in Seoul now. The first thing I’ll do is go get barbecue with my hyungs, since I haven’t seen them in so long.” He dodges the questions about Chris, especially when Chris pushes a hand between Felix and an excited fan to keep her away.
Once they’re in the car, Felix pulls off his mask and reaches across the seat to grab Chris’ hand. It settles both of them, the tension on Chris’ face disappearing.
Seonghwa and Yeosang pull themselves into the van, and then they’re off. The drive into the city goes by quickly as their driver Jun asks them questions and makes them laugh.
The van pulls up in front of Felix’s building first. Chris helps him pull his bags out and walks him to the elevator. “Give me one second to get my bags.”
“Just come up when you’re ready,” Felix says, pushing the button for his floor. “I’ll leave the door open.”
Chris nods, and then he’s scurrying back to the van. The elevator doors close, and Felix lets his eyes fall shut as it carries him to the twenty-fifth floor. It takes him a second to get all of his bags out and to his door, but then once the door is unlocked, he’s able to push all of them in and leave one in the door so it doesn’t close all the way.
He wheels the rest of them over to his laundry room, vowing to start washing them once he’s relaxed a little bit. Felix is in the living room flipping through the stack of mail that his neighbor had collected from him when he hears the door swing open again.
“I’m in here!” he calls out, hoping Chris will find him. He smiles when he hears footsteps, and then he drops the stack of envelopes to turn around.
The man in front of him is not his mate.
“Who the fuck are you?” Felix asks in shock. The man smiles, then reaches out to grab Felix.
“I’m your new man, cutie,” he sneers, squeezing his hand around Felix’s arm as Felix shouts. “And you’re coming with me.”
“Fuck you, let me go!” Felix kicks out, catching the man’s thigh hard enough that he lets go, and Felix runs. The man is blocking his path to the door, so Felix darts toward his bedroom, attempting to get a locking door between them. His phone is still in his bag in the living room, but he hopes that Chris is on his way up the elevator.
“Where are you going?” The man yells from behind him. “You stupid bitch, you think you can escape me?” The man laughs, shrill and manic, and icy terror shoots down Felix’s spine.
He rounds the corner of his hallway, passing the spare bedroom and his office. Felix hears the man’s footsteps following him as he races to his door. Once he’s in the room, he spins around and slams his body against the back of the door as it shuts, trembling hands reaching for the lock.
The handle twists before the lock engages, and the man presses against Felix’s hold on the door. “Dumb little omega, you can’t run from me. You’ll never be stronger than an alpha.”
The door cracks open as Felix sobs, trying to push harder against it, but the man on the other side is too strong. “No,” he cries weakly, gagging when the scent of alpha pheromones drifts in through the crack.
Oh god, the man is trying to subdue him by scent.
Felix chokes on the cloying scent of lemongrass and pine, covering his mouth with his elbow as the door flings him forward, losing the battle against the man’s strength.
“There you are,” the alpha says, his eyes glowing a dull red. Felix’s heart hammers in his chest as he backs up, backs away from the man.
“Please,” he begs, muffled beneath his own arm. His eyes burn, tears streaming down his face. “Whatever you want, I’ll pay it, just leave me alone.”
“You think I want your money?” The alpha laughs, and then he’s dropping to his knees, crawling forward when Felix’s back hits his closet. “No, I’m here for you, omega. You’re the whore that’s ruining my life, so I’m going to make you fix it.”
The man reaches out and grabs Felix, frozen in his fear. The alpha pulls Felix down to the floor, pins him there with his hands trapped below the man’s knees.
“You smell so sweet, my little omega. I can practically taste the milk in your scent. When I pup you, you’ll be perfe-”
The man’s weight on top of him disappears, a vicious snarl ringing out instead. Felix blinks his eyes open to see—the man is slumped against the opposite wall, clutching the side of his neck where blood seeps through his fingers. In front of him, Chris crouches defensively, putting his body in front of Felix’s.
“Chris,” Felix sobs, and Chris growls. He can’t see his mate’s face, but he can see the other man’s. There’s something akin to rage on it.
“You! What the fuck are you doing here?”
Chris surges forward, like he’s going to hurt the man, but Felix cries out. “No! Chris, no– you’re not… you aren’t a resident, and I don’t know what the legal process entails.” The ‘please don’t get taken away from me’ remains unspoken.
Chris pauses, sighing. The other man snickers, shifting toward Felix.
“Stay the fuck away from him,” Chris warns, chest rumbling with the threat of another growl. “Lix, you okay?” His tone softens only marginally when he asks, and Felix whimpers in relief.
“Y-Yes, yeah, ‘m fine.”
“Grab my phone, call the police. Can you do that for me, Lix?”
Felix nods, then clears his head and answers verbally. “Yeah, yeah, I can.” He pushes himself up shakily, scooting over to Chris to reach for the phone sticking out of his back pocket. Felix’s fingers tremble as he dials, then relays the request for help to the dispatcher. She promises to send out a unit to arrive in a few minutes, and then Felix hangs up.
All the while, Chris and the other alpha have an unspoken dominance showdown.
Felix pulls himself to his feet. “I’m– I’m going to call the building’s security.”
“Good idea, Lix.” Chris shifts closer to the man, blocking Felix from his reach as Felix crosses the room to the door. Once he’s in the hall, he runs—slamming into the wall at the end as he fails to bank properly, then he’s running again, reaching the security panel near his front door. He activates the emergency alarm, and then his legs give out completely, sinking down to the marble floor and drawing his face to his knees.
Felix barely registers the sound of the door slamming open. He lifts his head, points to the hallway as three of the building’s security staff run in and follow his direction. A couple minutes later, two of them walk back out while restraining the unknown alpha, and the other has his hand clamped on Chris’ shoulder.
“Felix-ssi, this one says he works for you?” The guard asks, and when he looks up, he finally sees Chris’ face.
He shudders. “Yeah, that’s– he’s mine, yes.”
Chris’ eyes are bright red, nearly glowing, his face flushed in his rage. Felix’s omega whimpers at the sight, and he tilts his head faintly in submission. It’s not much, but it seems to settle Chris just enough for him to rein in his alpha instincts.
Felix stays on the floor, curled up, until the police arrive. They immediately take the man into custody, not even stopping to ask questions. They do ask Felix and Chris a few. Mostly, Felix is in too much shock to answer properly, but they take down his information, leaving him with a business card and a promise to call him later.
Finally, after what feels like hours, Felix and Chris are alone in the apartment.
“Felix,” Chris rushes over to him as soon as he closes the door behind the last officer. “Baby.”
Felix melts into Chris the moment his arms wrap around him, breaking down as the shock begins to wear off. Chris guides him to the couch, sitting down and pulling Felix into his lap, rubbing his back and kissing his temple. He doesn’t know how long they sit like that, but when Felix finally pulls his face from Chris’ neck, the sun streaming through the wide windows has started to turn golden for the upcoming sunset, and Chris’ eyes are bloodshot and wet, too.
“I was so scared,” Felix whispers, throat scratchy and sore from the screaming and crying. “I knew you were coming but I was still so scared.”
“I know,” Chan whispers back, closing his eyes when Felix cups his cheeks. “I could feel you, through the bond. I didn’t know what was happening, I could hear you screaming once the elevator passed the twenty-third floor. I was so mad that I got stuck with two of your lower floor neighbors.”
“It’s okay,” Felix says, leaning forward to kiss Chris’ tear-stained cheeks. “You made it in time, he didn’t hurt me.”
“He never should have been able to touch you in the first place,” Chris growls, and Felix’s skin prickles.
“I’m alright, Alpha, I swear. Look–” He picks up one of Chris’ hands, brings it to his own neck and presses Chris’ fingers to his pulse point. “See? I’m here, I’m yours.”
“God, Lix.”
Chris slides his fingers back, hooking around Felix’s neck to drag him forward for a kiss. It starts frantic, but then it smooths out, trailing into soft, gentle pecks that Felix places on his alpha’s lips and cheek.
“I love you,” he murmurs. Chris squeezes his fingers, both around his neck and the ones on his hip.
“I love you, too.”
“Will you–” Felix chews on his lip for a second before shaking off the nerves of asking. “Will you make love to me? Help me forget what that man– Just help me forget?”
“Of course, baby.” Chris turns, laying Felix down on the couch. He takes his time peeling Felix out of his clothes layer by layer, pressing kisses to every inch of skin he exposes. He worships Felix with his mouth and hands, and then when he slowly feeds his cock into Felix’s dripping pussy, Chris bows forward to kiss his lips.
He makes Felix cum twice nearly immediately. Felix has accepted that Chris can play him like a violin, as evidenced by the past three weeks that they’ve been mated. Chris has taken him in nearly every position in their shared hotel rooms, and even once in a greenroom before a show—Chris didn’t knot him, but Felix had dropped to his knees and milked the knot with his hands while swallowing down the whole load.
Now, he luxuriates in his post-orgasm bliss, contemplating whether or not he wants to chase another. Instead, he stares at his mate.
“You’re amazing,” Felix tells Chris, looking up at the man he loves in wonder. “How did I get so lucky to have a second chance?”
“Felix–”
“No, I mean it,” he says, lifting his hips to meet Chris’ slow strokes. “You’re perfect, just absolutely perfect for me.”
Chris gasps, his forehead knocking into Felix’s. “Baby.”
“I love you,” Felix reaffirms. “I’ll love you for as long as there are stars in the sky.”
Chris doesn’t answer. He sinks into Felix one final time, crashing their lips together. Felix moans in approval when he feels Chris release inside of him, locking his ankles over Chris’ ass and encouraging him to sink deeper.
“That’s it, good alpha.”
Later that night, when they’re laying in bed together after scrubbing the apartment floors and changing all of the sheets, Felix gets a call from the lead officer on the case.
“Felix-ssi, we have reason to suspect that Mr. Kim is the stalker you’ve been dealing with for months.”
“Mr. Kim?”
“Yes, the alpha we took into custody at your apartment. We did a search of his residence and found plenty of evidence to confirm our suspicions. Additionally, he was in Madrid a few weeks ago, which lines up with your manager’s testimony and the files we were sent by the Madrid Municipal Police.”
“Oh my god,” Felix’s eyes widen as he remembers the hotel room. “That’s crazy.”
The officer sighs. “It is quite extensive, the lengths he went to. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this.”
“Thank you,” Felix replies in earnest. “Do you still need me to come to the station to answer questions?”
“You can come any day to sign the paperwork, but he’s going to be prosecuted regardless. You can rest easily now, Felix-ssi.”
The call disconnects, and Felix looks at Chris, wondering if he’d overheard everything. “It’s done?” he asks hopefully. “No more stalker?”
Felix shakes his head, grinning as he starts to laugh in delight. “Nope. You did it, Alpha, you protected me.”
Chris pulls him closer, notching his chin on top of Felix’s head when he rests on Chris’ chest. “I’m going to keep you safe every day for the rest of our lives, baby.”
Felix smiles, nuzzling into the warm skin below his cheek. “I know, my love.”
The crowd pulses with energy as Felix steps out onto the stage.
He grins wildly, unable to control himself as he laughs in disbelief. The stadium is packed, the flashing lightsticks and the buzz of the crowd making him feel jittery. He turns to look over, seeing Minho and Hyunjin in the same sort of awe.
Then the music starts, and they begin the show.
It’s a one-two punch of their newest song, still unreleased but set to be promoted in three weeks, followed by their favorite b-side. They pause to take sips of water, then slide right into their biggest hit ever. By the time they get to greet the crowd for their first ment, the three of them are already sweating.
Hyunjin greets the crowd first, the most comfortable since he’d just wrapped up his own solo tour about two months ago. Minho speaks next, having promoted his album more recently than Felix, and he thanks the fans for being patient with him during his breaks.
When it’s Felix’s turn to speak, the crowd amps up in volume, and Felix laughs shyly.
“Hello, 4ng3ls! I’ve missed you so much! Did you miss me?” He pauses for effect, smiling as he sweeps his gaze across the stands. “It’s been two whole years since I last performed here in Seoul, and so much has happened, but I’m so happy to be back with you all. Are you ready to have some fun tonight?!”
The three of them banter a bit about the upcoming show as they walk to the thrust stage. Then, they’re slipping into the next set of songs. After the third, the lights dim as a VCR begins playing, and the three of them slip backstage to change outfits. Felix is excited for this one, since he was able to work with the stylists and the company to really surprise the fans.
The first song in the new outfits is one of their ballads, followed by another slower song. It gives them a chance to cool off, and they do their next ment from the thrust stage. Minho talks a little bit about his recent wedding, even pointing out to the crowd vaguely that his husband Jisung was out there. Hyunjin chimes in that they are lucky like that, because his mate is also in the crowd, and then, following the script of the ment, they both turn to Felix, asking if his mate is in the audience tonight.
“Actually,” Felix grins, “he is! And he has a special guest with him tonight as well.”
The stage screens change cameras, and then the feed shows Chris in his seat with a baby dancing on his knees. The crowd gasps nearly in unison as Chris makes the baby wave, leaning forward to kiss the baby’s cheek around the oversized ear protection.
“Everyone, say hi to Chris, my baby daddy,” Felix announces, sending another wave of excitement through the crowd. “And that’s our son, Bang Minjoon.”
“How old is Minjoon?” Minho asks, blinking at Felix. “He looks big.”
“His first birthday was a few months ago.” Felix walks to the edge of the stage, looking into the crowd at where he knows his mate and son are seated. He makes a waving motion at Minjoon, and Minjoon bounces on Chris’ knees, waving back with a big smile. The audience makes sounds of adoration.
“Whoa, Felix!” Hyunjin says into his mic, playing up his role. “You hid a whole pregnancy? That must have been difficult.”
Felix nods, glancing around. “It was, it really was. I would never do it again.”
“No?” Minho asks, and Felix shakes his head.
“Nope. That’s why, this time, I’m going to tell everyone right now: Bang Baby Number Two, coming soon!”
He unties a part of his jacket, letting the lapels open, and he pushes both sides out to reveal the small swell of his belly. The crowd roars in excitement, and Felix laughs again, his eyes shining as he finds Chris’ face.
“I love you, Chris,” he says into his mic, and on the screen, everyone can see Chris shout it back. Felix turns to Minho and Hyunjin. “I think you both need to catch up.”