Shining Star//Dimming Light (VOL.2) (Felix X SKZ ONE-SHOTS)

Beggars Can't Be Choosers (ATZLix)

Pairing: ATZ & Felix

Genre: Foster Care AU

!!TW!! : angst, abandonment, implied child neglect, mentioned minor character death, mentioned suicide, trauma, mentioned abuse, mentioned rape, mentioned bullying, bullying, selective mutism, inaccurate representation of foster care system, miscommunication, symptoms of depression, actual bullying, slurs, degradation, violence, language

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"Everyone, this is Felix. Felix, this is everyone!"

The freckled teen eyed the people gathered before him with a certain apprehension. He wasn't exactly the best when it came to dealing with others his age, but it was even worse when they were teenagers stuck in the same situation as him.

Kids stuck in the foster care system, that is.

Felix had only been in it for a little under a year, but he was already one family away from packing what little belongings he had and taking off to live on his own. He'd been with three different foster families so far – the first one had given him back mere weeks after taking him in because he was "too different", the second one had taken him in for the money and ended up sending him back after they realized their blood-related children didn't like him, and the third one...

The third one hosted three other kids like him and, the moment Felix entered their lives, they made it their mission to render him absolutely miserable. They took what little food he was being given, stole his homework, mocked him constantly for his heavily accented Korean, shoved him into the walls just for the hell of it... He ended up getting pulled out because Mr. Bang witnessed one of the more violent incidents for himself and immediately decided that Felix wouldn't suffer through that treatment any longer.

(Felix had already suffered a lot. He'd ended up in the South Korean foster care system in the first place because he'd been shipped out of Australia after his father killed himself, and his only living relative was found living in another country. But his uncle was a horrible man with horrible wants and he'd hurt Felix more than his father's negligence and lack of care ever did.

Felix had suffered at the man's hands for two whole years before he eventually dropped half-dead on the porch of their sweet neighbor, who then proceeded with calling the cops on his uncle. The man was arrested on charges of abuse and rape, amongst many others, but his arrest didn't mean the end of Felix's torments – far from it.)

Mr. Bang was an incredibly nice person, to the point where Felix often wondered if he was actually real, or just a figment of his imagination. Mr. Bang was one of the many workers at Yellow Wood, and he was Australian just like Felix, meaning they got along wonderfully. He'd been in charge of Felix's case ever since it was created, and he always tried his best to find the perfect family for Felix, even if his efforts hadn't amounted to much so far.

As such, Mr. Bang had decided to take him in himself.

Felix and him had had a long conversation about it, and they eventually came to the conclusion that they both wanted the same thing. Mr. Bang was the only adult Felix trusted, after all. However, there was one small issue: Mr. Bang was already a foster parent for five other children.

His husband, a certain Hwang Hyunjin, had been a bit difficult to convince. While he had nothing against Felix personally, it simply wasn't easy to provide for the seven of them as it was, and they definitely didn't have the space needed to welcome someone else in their home, let alone provide proper care for him and his baggage. However, after some lengthy discussions, Mr. Bang and his husband eventually came to an agreement: they'd take Felix in as soon as they managed to find a bigger house they could move into.