Chapter Text
Felix POV
“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” I hear it coming from the living room room in the apartment. It can only be my roommate and best friend Jisung. But I have no clue what he’s freaking out about.
I open my door and make a beeline towards the living room. He’s sitting on the ground with his laptop in his lap. His head is leaning back against the couch, but his hands are pressed into his face. His breathing is unsteady.
Jisung has a history of anxiety, it’s something he’s very open about and, with therapy, he’s been able to handle it better than before. There was a time when panic attacks were a constant in his life. Something would always trigger him. Whether it be his nightmares, or large crowds at school, something would make him so overcome with anxiety that he wouldn’t be able to function properly. Sometimes he would have to miss classes which would send him into a deeper panic. Eventually, I was able to convince him to seek counseling services through the school because lord knows his parents would never agree to something like that for him.
“Jisungie?” I ask, my tone even and calm as I approach.
“Felix!” he pulls his hands from his face and turns around to face me, “I am so screwed.” His pupils are wide with panic as he talks to me. I try to glance at his laptop, sneaking a glance at an email sent from the school.
Jisung and I met in one of our gen ed classes, but we are different majors. He is an architecture major with a music minor while I am a business major with a dance minor. We instantly clicked the first day of classes and we have been inseparable ever since.
“What happened?” I ask, sitting down next to him.
“I-I forgot,” is all he can manage before crumpling into me. I hold him tight to my chest. Quiet sobs escape from his throat. He hasn’t had a panic attack this bad in a while. Usually he just dissociates and goes into his own head. It’s been at least a year since a panic attack has made him cry. I gently comb through his curly brown hair with my fingers. We sit like this for a moment. I know to wait until he is ready to talk.
When his breathing evens out, he pulls away. I offer him a smile, “Can you tell me what this is about?” I ask.
“Felix, I’m so stupid-”
I cut him off before he can finish his sentence, “No one is allowed to talk badly about my best friend. Not even my best friend. Try again.”
“I forgot to apply for an internship, Felix,” he says calmly, “It completely slipped my mind and since it’s our last semester I have to find one. I need a certain number of hours to graduate and if I don’t…I…Felix I need to graduate. My parents will…they’ll…” he begins to sob again. I pull him back into a hug.
“Okay, let’s think,” I suggest, “There are no more spots left?”
He shakes his head.
“What about that applied experience class you had to take, didn’t that count?” I ask.
“No,” he groans, “Apparently since it was sanctioned by the school, it doesn’t count. I have to go out and find my own internship for whatever reason. My advisor emailed me today reminding me that I haven't submitted information about my internship to the portal and have until the end of the semester to do so.”
“Is there something else you could do for the hours?”
He shakes his head again. I take out my phone subtly and send a quick text before pulling Jisung off of me.
“How about you go drink some water and rest? You’ve done a lot of crying and need to rehydrate. I have to step out for a minute, but I’ll come back with cheesecake from your favorite spot a few blocks from here, okay? Then we can try and come up with a plan, yeah?”
“You have to go?”
“Something came up at the dance studio and they need me there. I don’t know, but I promise I won’t be gone for longer than an hour,” I give his shoulder a squeeze before standing and heading out the door. I walk to my car and inhale deeply as I turn the car on.
*********
Thankfully, traffic isn’t that bad. I make it to the office building in fifteen minutes. I turn into the parking garage next to the ominous building. It stands imposing, tall and sturdy next to the surrounding buildings. It is grey and looks unwelcoming. Two security guards stand at the double doors at the front.
I don’t have to show ID, they just nod as I walk through the doors. I wave at the receptionist before heading to the elevator. To get to the twelfth floor, you need special access. I take out my badge begrudgingly and head up.
The doors open, revealing Bang Chan. My brother’s right hand man. He’s tall and buff. His broad shoulders are intimidating and his features look sculpted and defined, as if he were carved by the gods himself. He’s wearing a simple black suit that I know holds a gun underneath the jacket. A plastic earpiece sits in his left ear. I’m lucky to call him my boyfriend. His dark brown hair is slicked back with gel, a hairstyle I don’t prefer, but I know it’s protocol. The dark eyes are watching the surroundings of the floor closely, almost like a hawk’s. They look intense when our eyes meet. His face fills with warmth as I step out of the elevator.
“I didn’t know you were coming to the office today,” he says, his voice light in tone.
“Neither did I,” I mutter. He pulls me into a tight hug.
“Minho didn’t mention anything-”
“I told him I was coming a bit ago. Is he in a meeting?” I ask.
“No, he just got back, just…he’s in a bad mood. He’s been stressed recently and the meeting hadn’t exactly gone the way he wanted.”
“I’ll be fine,” I say.
“I know, I just worry,” he presses a kiss into the top of my head, then walks me to Minho’s office. This floor is mostly empty. There are two meeting rooms set up on either side of the floor and in the middle sits Minho’s office. Dark wooden double doors are the only things protecting him from the outside world. There are windows on either side of the doors, but the curtains are drawn. That’s never a good sign. I inhale sharply as I knock on the door.
“Chan? I told you to-” his smooth voice calls from the other side.
“It’s not Chan, it’s Felix. Can I come in, Minho?” I ask.
“Come in,” he says.
I open the door without hesitation and step inside of the dark office. The windows on the back wall are open, but the sky is cloudy, making the room feel more ominous. My brother sits at his desk, a few tall stacks of paper surround him and he is intensely staring at something on his laptop. He stops once I enter the room. I sit in one of the two chairs in front of his desk.
“Lix, I don’t have time for this,” Minho says, his eyes never leaving the screen.
“I know, but I have an idea of something that could help,” I say.
His fingers stop on the keyboard, “Really? You think you can help?”
“Well, not me per se, someone else though…”
“Please get to the point, Lix,” he sighs.
“Okay, fair enough. Hear me out fully before saying no. What if you hire an intern?”
“No.”
“Just let me explain-”
“The mafia doesn’t do interns.”
“You said you would hear me out.”
“I never agreed to that-”
“Minho!” I say exasperatedly, “Please.” I give him my best pout.
“You have five minutes to convince me,” he says, his sharp eyes finally meeting mine.
“Thank you,” I say, “Now, I have a friend. No, my best friend is an architecture major. He had forgotten to apply for an internship and now he can’t graduate without one.”
“And how is this going to help?”
“I don’t know if you noticed, but this is, supposedly, a contracting company. He can help out with this business side of things and maybe take some of the stress off of you. I mean, how many people in this building actually do architecture work?”
“Floor five is full of employees for that reason.”
“Exactly, one more couldn’t hurt.”
“He’s got a point, Minho,” Chan’s voice comes from behind me. I didn’t even notice him walk in.
“Not you too,” Minho groans.
“All I’m saying is, with the new territory your parents took over, and the new project coming up, it wouldn’t hurt to have some extra help. He could even be a glorified secretary if you don’t want him handling actual paperwork.”
“Who is he, again?”
I roll my eyes, “My best friend and roommate Han Jisung. He is the most hard working and kind individual on the planet. He is one of the purest souls on Earth.”
“Hard working, but forgets an important aspect of his degree?”
“It was a misunderstanding with the university, they didn’t notify him until now! That’s not the point. He’s also quiet and a bit socially awkward at times, but he’s a total people pleaser. If you tell him to do something he will do it. Please Minho, I’m calling in the favor you owe me.”
“This isn’t something you should use your favor on, Lix,” he says.
“Why? Would you have done it without the favor?”
He exhales, “No.”
“Then it’s agreed.”
“Hold on,” Minho turns to Chan, “I want a full background on this ‘Han Jisung’. If anything pops out that could be flagged as involved in any way with any of the other syndicates in the country it will automatically be shut down. Get Jeongin on that and have him create a false ad online. We obviously will only choose his, but it needs to look real to keep Lix’s cover. We will have a proper interview and then I will decide, okay?”
“Minho, you won’t regret it,” I run around the desk and pull him into a hug, “Thank you! I have to go grab him cheesecake! Text me when the ad is up and I’ll make sure he looks into it. You are the best big brother ever!”
I sprint out of the room before Minho can change his mind. But before I close the door, I say,
“Oh and one more thing, if anything happens to him, I will kill you myself.”
I give him a wink before returning to the elevator.