I'm Also A We // Hyunlix

One Step Back, Part II

NOW

F E L I X

Felix is not even thinking, reaching for Chan, but he comes up empty, a wall firmly back in place. He tries, again and again, until a very real hand on his arm makes him halt.

"Yongbokkie, stop," Hyunjin says softly, and he doesn't let go until he sees something he must deem good enough.

Felix wants to ask him how he knew, but his hands unclench slowly where they sit on his lap and it probably wasn't that hard to figure out to begin with.

Jackson watches them both and Felix can't help but shiver under the weight of that gaze.

"Channie kicked you out of the connection?" Jackson repeats as if to make sure he understood. "All of you?"

"Yeah," comes the broken reply from Hyunjin, and Felix knows they both feel the same. Changbin, raging in the dorm; Jisung, tense and trying to fight off a real panic attack; Seungmin, who's swallowing down all the anger and the fear until he makes himself sick, and then Minho, who shields them all from what he's feeling, concentrated on calming down Jeongin, who isn't connected to any of them but still knows that something is very wrong.

"We don't even know if he is—," Felix stops himself only when he realizes where his thoughts are going. They can't see what's happening in that office now. Don't know anything about what Chan and JYP are doing. They could take Chan away, just like they'd taken Hyunjin.

Jackson speaks up before Felix's racing thoughts can make him actually sick. "Let me try something." He places a phone on the coffee table, already dialing a number. A female voice answers, and Felix doesn't think he recognizes it. Jackson greets her like an old friend, but they're speaking Chinese and Felix only grasps bits and pieces.

"Look, can you do me a favor, love?" Jackson switches to English.

"You got it," comes the clear reply.

"I need to look into an office. Make sure someone's okay?"

Laughter at the other end, and Felix has the impression this is not the first time he's asking this specific favor.

More Chinese, but Felix can make out the gist of it. Jackson wants his friend to hack into the security cameras at JYPE.

A few minutes later, they're all staring down at Jackson's phone screen. The quality is greasy and flickers, but it's unmistakably JYP's office.

The other members are surrounding them now. Felix doesn't remember calling them into the connection, maybe Hyunjin did, but now they're all staring at the screen.

JYP and Chan are still talking. They don't move a lot, neither of them, so Felix can't really tell what's going on, but at least Chan is safe.

Felix glances over to where Changbin eyes the screen as if his own life depended on it, and he wants to reach out so badly, wants to comfort him. He doesn't. He crosses his arms over his chest so he doesn't reach out to anyone, contains all the emotions in his chest, and instead follows what's happening on the screen.

Chan stands up. Tension runs through the members like electricity traveling, but all Chan does is give a short bow and then he leaves. Walks out of the office alone, JYP watching him go.

"Leelee?" Jackson says and it's the first time Felix hears her name.

"On it."

The screen switches and now they're following Chan out of the building, flicking from one camera to the next.

No one stops him. No one follows him.

Chan takes the shortest route out of the building, and then takes the car back he came with, driving alone this time. They follow him along a few traffic cameras outside until he dips into an alleyway where they lose him.