Maze >> Stray Kids

Chapter 14

I know that I'm a mess,
did things that I regret
Can't help that I can't help myself
ㅡ

Sober, Hyoyeon

∞

3rd Person

Felix walked into the house, throwing his keys across the room and slamming the door loudly. He combed through his locks with his hand and let out a tired sigh.

It was just 2:48 am and he was just coming home. His absence worried Syd, but not just Syd. The boys were worried, too. They knew his father was dangerous. They knew that he was way farther up the food chain than they were. They knew that Felix sometime came up bruisedㅡ speaking of, he did this time.

He slipped his shoes off and walked up the stairs quietly. As he was about to enter his room, Felix's eyes travelled to Sydney's door. He bit his lip and thought about going in for a while before walking over to the door and knocking softly.

There was no answer.

He gently twisted the knob and pushed the door open. Sydney was sleeping on her bed, twisting and turning every now and then. Felix sighed and turned to wall out of the door. He just hoped he wouldn't lose her.

∞

"Pancakes?" Asked Changbin as he hopped from the last step.

Syd sighed and shook her head. "Not today, Binnie." Sydney leaned on the wall in the kitchen as Changbin grabbed two bowls and milk. He opened the top cupboard door and grabbed some cereal. He poured some fruit loops into the two bowls and added the milk after, grabbing two spoons.

Sydney rubbed her eyes tiredly as Changbin slid the bowl over to her on the counter. "Thank you, Changbin."

"You're welcome. Now, what's up? Talk to papa." He said, sitting on the stool by the island.

She sighed loudly. "Just tired, and worried."

"About Lix?" Changbin asked, shoving a spoonful of fruit loops in his mouth.

Sydney nodded and twirled the spoon between her fingers and dipped it into the cereal. "And about Hyunjin... I need to talk to him. Anyways, I woke up at three in the morning and was about to go knock on his door, when I heard...crying."

She filled her cheeks with the fruit loops and milk.

"Did you talk to him?" Changbin raised an eyebrow.

"No, I was too afraid."

"Of what?"

Sydney shrugged, taking some more of her breakfast in.

"You should talk to him."

Sydney froze and looked at Changbin. "I...guess."

It was silent as the two finished their breakfasts. Changbin got up and washed his dish before walking out of the kitchen, throwing Syd a wink as he did. Syd shook her head and washed her dish. She thought of some ways to approach both Felix and Hyunjin went with a simple one. She made them some french toast and a ham and cheese omelet. Her own mouth watered at the sight. Thank you, Chris, she mentally said, walking up the stairs.

Sydney

I knocked on Hyunjin's door, wanting to talk to him first. The door swung open and he looked at me tiredly. "What?"

"Morning to you, too." I pushed past him and placed the two plates down on his desk. Hyunjin stayed silently watching me with crossed arms.

"What are you doing?"

"I made breakfast for you." I mumbled and sat on his bed. He sighed and joined me, grabbing the plate, muttering a small 'thank you'. I smiled knowing that I made some type of progress.

He ate quietly as I thought of how to ask him about his attitude. I don't want to be yelled at again, nope. "Do you like it?"

"It tastes good."

My smile grew. "Wanna talk about last night?"

"What about it?"

"You don't have to tell me what happened between you and Lix, but at least tell me what is going on with you." I said.

Hyunjin sighed loudly. "You don't wanna know what's going on with me, trust me."

"I do."

"That's what you think. Little do you know, it's exactly why Felix and I were at it yesterday." He admitted, making me look at him in surprise.

"Really?" He hummed, placing his plate down.

"I don't know how to tell you this, Syd." He looked at me seriously.

"Tell me what?" I asked, leaning closer. He closed his eyes for second.

"That Felix's dad is a threat. To us. To you. To him."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Only then did I realise that I didn't know as much about Felix that I thought I knew.

Hyunjin opened his eyes and took in a deep breath. "Not my story to tell but...Felix's dad is in a gang. All I can tell is that, sometimes Felix comes home in the middle of the night, beaten and bruised. Sometimes he just pushes all away or sometimes he doesn't. Felix and his dad don't get along so when Felix stupidly says stupid remarks, he gets punished for it."

"He tries to hide it but maybe it's way bigger than we all think. His own dad is a threat to him. To us. Now that you're in the picture, to you, too. I was arguing with Felix about it. I don't want you to be hurt because you're my best friend and sister and I couldn't imagine losing you."

I gulped, taking in everything. "S-So, yesterday, wh-when he told me that he u-used the makeup to cover his freckles because he feels out of place, he was really--"

"Covering the bruise? No, Felix really feels like that. It's all my fault. I snapped at him and have him feeling worse. I gotta talk to him." Hyunjin stated, beginning to tear up.

I pouted and hugged him tightly. "It's not your fault. You were just angry and protective. Brother instincts, remember?" I kept repeating. He nodded and hugged me back. As much as I didn't want to move, Felix's breakfast was getting cold. "Now, I have to get going before Felix's breakfast gets cold... er."

∞